They're asking for a shit load. The reported ask from the Cardinals was Donovan, Nootbar and Graceffo. We passed and signed Contreras, obviously.
Just a little more info on the possible asking price for Murphy. You can fill in the players to hit the projected asking price… Great thread… Edit: saw some speculation of a Killian + Thompson + Morel + offer since Oakland is looking for MLB ready type package.
Reading the tea leaves… charms article + recent reports seems to make me feel like we’re not getting Correa or Swanson. Big Yikes. Hope Wrigley is empty all year if that’s the case.
I think the Rickets are getting a ride awakening this off-season on just what the going rate is going to be for players going forward. Top tier players under 32...better offer ten years and 30ish mil AAV. Pretty clear ownership wasn't ready for that new reality.
I’m at the point where they shouldn’t sign Swanson if they miss on Correa. It would have big time signing boozer in the initial lebron + d Wade + bosh free agency energy. Regardless, missing on Correa is inexcusable at this point, but if they do, they should just sign more short term semi-upside as trade piece deals (Justin Turner, JD Martinez, Bassitt, etc). The need in this offseason was elite hitters, not shortstops. It just so happened that all the elite hitters (sans Judge) were all shortstops. Obviously, this doesn’t remove the elephant in the room that some combination of Jed and Tom aren’t comfortable paying the new market value for elite players. And even if the contracts are irrational, you’re still sitting without elite talent because you’d rather be the smartest person in the room.
I think Swanson still makes you better… and you need to continue to get better. Now the question is going to be price tag but given our current payroll that shouldn’t even be a question making this entire thing all the more frustrating. I think my biggest issue with the entire offseason is we basically said that our franchise has not improved enough to be spenders and we basically have had the exact same offseason as the last two. Sign reclamation projects we can unload at the deadline. I guess the question becomes what do they need to see to end that cycle. Because clearly if they don’t land a bat they feel the franchise is still not where it needs to be.
I don’t think that was the case for the first tile. Maybe they want to have a young home grown core of stud prospects. Problem is we don’t have many top of baseball prospects like we did in our last cycle and so you need to start buying the superstars to go with the very good depth your building in the farm.
Fuck no, not with his injury history. There’s a reason the other guys have signed and no one wants to give Correa a huge long term commitment. That’s more like it.
He’s trying to set the market and a Boras client. If you don’t think a team isn’t going to either give him 10+ or 40+ or maybe both your not interested in getting the best hitter in the free agent class. Now you personally may not want to go that high but given everything we have seen so far this winter… dude is absolutely getting paid
I think there’s a reason he’s not gotten that contract yet and didn’t get it last year either. He’s worth less WAR over the last five years than both Bogaerts and Turner and that’s because he plays so many fewer games than them. He is the best bat for sure but if you’re only getting that for 100 games a year it’s not worth as much. And his younger age doesn’t mean much compared to the other two when he’s already less healthy than them. I guess he’s going to once again not get what he’s looking for and instead is going to sign something like 6 years for $200 million so that he can get another big contract at 34 if he proves he can stay healthy.
I wouldn’t bet against him getting creative again with a deal that would include a bunch of opt out years. So if he strings 2 or 3 “healthy” seasons he can enter back in at age 30-32… He’s a very smart dude and understands the game on and off the field. I think the Boras higher means he’s going to hold out as long as it takes to get what he wants. You don’t hire Boras to sign for 6/200
Ok this shit is getting stupid on the part of the owners. These are just flat out bad contracts being signed this off season. It's like GMs are competing amongst themselves to see who can give out the worst deal.
I don’t think we’re going to be in the running for Swanson either. That Sharms article was basically Jed saying they were out on the SS market via Sharms. Hope Wrigley stays empty.
No reason to sign Swanson at this point. Just overpay for competent veterans who you can maybe flip at the deadline. Will be a sick haul of Turner, Segura, and Kluber. What an offseason!
the most important thing is we have financial flexibility which will allow us to not sign any meaningful players next year. Maybe Happ can end up on the brewers
Consistently ranked in the bottom 10% of arm strength, and won’t be able to feast on fastballs in a weaker Cubs lineup. As he gets older the quick release he’s relied on will assuredly fade forcing the move to second.
Gonna be back to back massive overpays for braves leftovers Just hope Dansby is a good speaker for the next WS rain delay