Remaining top free agent predictions

[adambr2]

Yeah it will be a long time before I can hear about any Padre free agency offer and think, "You gave Eric Hosmer 8 years and 144 million in a weak FA market and weak 1B market. You are so incredibly stupid."

[xisxisxis]

Yeah it will be a long time before I can hear about any Padre free agency offer and think, "You gave Eric Hosmer 8 years and 144 million in a weak FA market and weak 1B market. You are so incredibly stupid."

In year 1 of his contract he put up a -0.1 fWAR. Yep, he was below replacement level... He is, however, a bounce back candidate as he's consistently had crappy/good alternating years. I might even be inclined to have him as a late round fantasy pickup for 1B as his previous WAR on good years has been ~3.6 fWAR...

[stalton]

What was the last double digit year contract that relatively was decent. Jeter? I know a few are still TBD. Votto might have a chance. If you count the extension, Brauns overall contract might stand up despite him not doing as well as many thought he would.

[rickh150]

Moose and Harper to Philly.

Machado to the White Sox

[OnTheBlack]

Imagine how much better their offer could be if they didn't give Hosmer that stupid contract.

 

 

It's not often I'm shocked by the stupidity of a contract in pro sports. That one is stunningly stupid. And the one thing that may bail the Pads out is their absurdly talented farm system. But just imagine if they hadn't given a 1st basemen with one big year that deal? You could offer Harper, Machado or wait a year and really go for it and offer Arenado and not pay THAT much more.

 

At least they front-loaded that deal....that's something...right?

[OnTheBlack]

What was the last double digit year contract that relatively was decent. Jeter? I know a few are still TBD. Votto might have a chance. If you count the extension, Brauns overall contract might stand up despite him not doing as well as many thought he would.

 

 

Cano has been a much better deal thus far than I thought it'd be when it was originally signed. This is a pretty strong argument against the collusion the players association believes is happening as teams have decided the first half production isn't worth the 2nd half albatross these contracts often bring.

[KeithStone53151]

I have a theory that Bryce may make a decision on his team today and I'll explain why. I'm a big fan of mlbtheshow for PS4, their cover athlete this year is Bryce. I thought that was a weird pick personally, the year before was Judge and the year before that was Griffey. Nothing about Bryce really stood out this year aside from his FA. I got the impression from their cover athlete announcement that Bryce would announce his new team through mlbtheshow cover art. If that were the case, it would make a lot more sense for mlbtheshow to pick Bryce as it would be excellent marketing for them. Well, mlbtheshow tweeted this yesterday. It's completely possible and maybe even likely that whatever news they refer to is more about the game and unrelated to Bryce and his new team. I'll be keeping an eye on it though, would certainly be fun if he finally announced a decision today.

 

[amt2138]

I have a theory that Bryce may make a decision on his team today and I'll explain why. I'm a big fan of mlbtheshow for PS4, their cover athlete this year is Bryce. I thought that was a weird pick personally, the year before was Judge and the year before that was Griffey. Nothing about Bryce really stood out this year aside from his FA. I got the impression from their cover athlete announcement that Bryce would announce his new team through mlbtheshow cover art. If that were the case, it would make a lot more sense for mlbtheshow to pick Bryce as it would be excellent marketing for them. Well, mlbtheshow tweeted this yesterday. It's completely possible and maybe even likely that whatever news they refer to is more about the game and unrelated to Bryce and his new team. I'll be keeping an eye on it though, would certainly be fun if he finally announced a decision today.

 

 

To help out your theory there is a lot of talk on Philly twitter about how Vegas increased the Phillies odds of winning the world series to fourth best last night.

[True Blue Brew Crew]

To help out your theory there is a lot of talk on Philly twitter about how Vegas increased the Phillies odds of winning the world series to fourth best last night.

 

If only there was a way to "short" a team like you can a stock. I guess there is if the win total shoots high enough. I'll be all over the Phillies under in Vegas if they sign Harper and get anywhere near the 4th highest win total.

[MillerParkSouth]

Brewers should just offer Machado 3 years/$100MM or something. We have Braun's salary coming off the books soon, the owners can certainly afford it and he would be absolutely perfect on this team. Let's go!

[KeithStone53151]

Brewers should just offer Machado 3 years/$100MM or something. We have Braun's salary coming off the books soon, the owners can certainly afford it and he would be absolutely perfect on this team. Let's go!

 

I'm pretty sure Machado would get stuffed head-first into a toilet by Aguilar if the Brewers signed him.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Brewers should just offer Machado 3 years/$100MM or something. We have Braun's salary coming off the books soon, the owners can certainly afford it and he would be absolutely perfect on this team. Let's go!

 

As a Brewer fan first and foremost, I'm sure I'd eventually come around. But right now, the concept of this makes me want to vomit.

 

Yes, I realize they tried to get him at the deadline last year. In fact, I was excited about that opportunity. Things have drastically changed.

[brewerfan82]

I think I'd get over it as soon as I thought of a lineup of: Cain, Yelich*, Machado, Shaw*, Braun, Grandal#, Aguilar, Hiura

 

I've lived in Baltimore the past 9 years, and while I was pretty disgusted with his antics last year too, I think we may be overblowing a REALLY bad stretch that we happened to be privy to having front row seats to last season. There are definitely some red flags, but his talent is pretty undeniable as well.

[brewmann04]

I agree with Joey

[KeithStone53151]

I think I'd get over it as soon as I thought of a lineup of: Cain, Yelich*, Machado, Shaw*, Braun, Grandal#, Aguilar, Hiura

 

I've lived in Baltimore the past 9 years, and while I was pretty disgusted with his antics last year too, I think we may be overblowing a REALLY bad stretch that we happened to be privy to having front row seats to last season. There are definitely some red flags, but his talent is pretty undeniable as well.

 

As much as it won't happen, that lineup has me salivating. Throw Thames in there as DH or have Woodruff pitch and therefore hit as well...very few teams can match up with that lineup on paper.

[Fear The Chorizo]

I think I'd get over it as soon as I thought of a lineup of: Cain, Yelich*, Machado, Shaw*, Braun, Grandal#, Aguilar, Hiura

 

I've lived in Baltimore the past 9 years, and while I was pretty disgusted with his antics last year too, I think we may be overblowing a REALLY bad stretch that we happened to be privy to having front row seats to last season. There are definitely some red flags, but his talent is pretty undeniable as well.

 

The thing is, there are quite a few teams that played the Orioles over Machado's stint there that can point to their own 'REALLY' bad stretches they witnessed 1st hand, too. The silence from around the rest of the league following Yelich's Game 4 postgame comment of Machado being a dirty player was awfully deafening.

[True Blue Brew Crew]

I'd be over Machado's antics the second it was announced he was signing with the Brewers. Just the same, if he signs with a rival or a team standing in the way of the Brewers winning the World Series, I'll relish in disliking him very much.

[PDCBalla]

Orlando Arcia is one of the biggest joys of watching Brewers baseball. Kid loves the game. When people say the Brewers have an amazing clubhouse its because of Orlando.

 

Now if you said offer Dallas this contract, I'd be all for it.

[MillerParkSouth]

You know what would be a bigger joy than watching Arcia (who I like!)? Watching the Brewers in the World Series. The NL Central is going to be a bloodbath this year. If other teams are colluding to not pay top FAs what they're worth, the Brewers should swoop in and try to take advantage to improve their team. Machado is one of the best players in the game, he would look great wearing a Brewers uniform.

[Warning Track Power]

You know what would be a bigger joy than watching Arcia (who I like!)? Watching the Brewers in the World Series. The NL Central is going to be a bloodbath this year. If other teams are colluding to not pay top FAs what they're worth, the Brewers should swoop in and try to take advantage to improve their team. Machado is one of the best players in the game, he would look great wearing a Brewers uniform.

I agree. Lest we forget both the Cardinals (Harper and Machado) and Cubs (Harper) have been tied to the two biggest fish left. If one lands in StL or Chicago, that could very easily tip the division in their favor. If the Brewers can get Machado at their price point, you have to do it.

[KeithStone53151]

From what I've personally seen recently. It appears the Padres, White Sox, and Phillies all want to add one of Harper/Machado as an impact talent. The Nationals are also in play for Harper to some degree. It's basically just enough bidders to keep the prices sky high for the players. Hopefully this saga ends soon, I still expect Harper to get over $300 million in guarantee. I also expect at least one of these two contracts to be obscenely complex...probably more complex than Pollock.

 

[KeithStone53151]

This meeting is quite the circus. One guy says the meeting is tomorrow, another says tonight, another says this afternoon. They all seem to have a source telling something. I don't think the Padres are a token bidder that's wasting their time. I also wouldn't be overly surprised if they got both Harper and then Realmuto. Harper was heavily lobbying for the Nationals to trade for Realmuto last year. Those 2 guys plus Hosmer/Myers could fit 2-5 in the lineup with young players/prospects filling the other spots, and then they just have to hope their ridiculously talented and deep minor league pitching pans out.

[KeithStone53151]

This is pure gold. Because how could you possibly consider adding Harper if it meant you wouldn't know what to do with Travis Jankowski.

 

[RollieTime]

This is pure gold. Because how could you possibly consider adding Harper if it meant you wouldn't know what to do with Travis Jankowski.

 

 

I’m by no means a Harper fan at all, but if you’re telling me you can’t find room for him on your team when you’ve finished below .500 8 seasons in a row, then I’m not sure what to tell you. They have a couple promising looking young guys, but they won’t all pan out.

 

They could trade a couple outfielders or option one and keep him as depth incase of an inevitable injury. In my opinion, it would be pretty easy to sort out.

[KeithStone53151]

This is pure gold. Because how could you possibly consider adding Harper if it meant you wouldn't know what to do with Travis Jankowski.

 

 

I’m by no means a Harper fan at all, but if you’re telling me you can’t find room for him on your team when you’ve finished below .500 8 seasons in a row, then I’m not sure what to tell you. They have a couple promising looking young guys, but they won’t all pan out.

 

They could trade a couple outfielders or option one and keep him as depth incase of an inevitable injury. In my opinion, it would be pretty easy to sort out.

 

I mostly agree, but there are definitely cases where it would make no sense to add X player. For example, there's 0 reason the Blue Jays should be involved in Moustakas. The Padres don't really have anyone of Vlad caliber or even anyone projected to be a likely all-star in their outfield that's blocking Harper. As long as Harper or Myers can play some CF, they can easily mix in the best 2 of Reyes/Margot/Renfroe/Cordero into a bit of a rotation. Without looking, I suspect some of them could be optioned to maintain depth. Point is, Harper is so much of an upgrade over every one of those guys.