Grandal declines mutual option

[mlloyd10]

Because otherwise Christian Yelich will only be a Milwaukee Brewers for 3 more seasons and will simply leave to the highest bidding team.

 

He will only be 30 when he is set to hit free agency.

 

The Brewers could look at extending his current deal 2-3 years and it would not be taking that big of a risk for a player of his caliber.

 

The Brewers could entice him by upping his yearly salary for 2020-22 with an extension.

 

Makes a ton of sense to at least attempt for an elite franchise player in his prime.

 

Have been thinking about this - Brewers offer Yelich a 3/$120 mil extension - Bump his salary up the next three years from 12.5/14/15 to 17.5/24/30 mil and then pay him 30/30/30

[trwi7]

The Brewers could look at extending his current deal 2-3 years and it would not be taking that big of a risk for a player of his caliber.

 

Why would Yelich want to go to the free agent market as a 32 or 33 year old than as a 30 year old?

[wntrtxn21]

Because otherwise Christian Yelich will only be a Milwaukee Brewers for 3 more seasons and will simply leave to the highest bidding team.

 

He will only be 30 when he is set to hit free agency.

 

The Brewers could look at extending his current deal 2-3 years and it would not be taking that big of a risk for a player of his caliber.

 

The Brewers could entice him by upping his yearly salary for 2020-22 with an extension.

 

Makes a ton of sense to at least attempt for an elite franchise player in his prime.

 

Have been thinking about this - Brewers offer Yelich a 3/$120 mil extension - Bump his salary up the next three years from 12.5/14/15 to 17.5/24/30 mil and then pay him 30/30/30

 

3/120 is $40M per year. NO team is going to give Yellich that. Why bump his salary up $28M in the next 3 years? That takes away any money for pitching. Imo use a small salary bump on the current contract ($1-1.5M) and then a 3 year extension.

[Eye Black]

MLB Trade Rumors released their 2019-20 Top 50 MLB Free Agents With Predictions.

 

Here is their prediction for Grandal who they rank as the 7th best free agent...

 

7. Yasmani Grandal – Reds. Four years, $68MM.

 

In each of the last two years, Grandal has trailed only J.T. Realmuto for the highest WAR among catchers. Grandal is the best-hitting catcher in baseball over the last two seasons with a 123 wRC+, a mark that would look good for a player at any position but is downright Herculean compared to the average catcher’s 84 wRC+ in that time. On the defensive side, Grandal has caught more innings than anyone over the last two seasons and continually rates as one of the game’s best pitch framers.

 

Back in January, Grandal signed a surprising one-year, $18.25MM contract with the Brewers. Though his market was depressed by a qualifying offer and perhaps some high-profile gaffes in last year’s playoffs, the backstop still received plenty of multiyear offers, including a four-year proposal from the Mets in excess of $50MM. Grandal explained in January that average annual value was important to him: “These are guys who have established a market and pay levels for a particular tier of catchers like myself. I felt l would be doing a disservice taking some of the deals that were offered even though they were slightly more long term.”

 

It certainly appears Grandal’s bet will pay off, as even a three-year, $42MM deal would put him ahead of the Mets offer he spurned. Grandal turns 31 this month and has a good shot at a four-year deal. This time, he hits the market on a positive note and without the anchor of a qualifying offer. The Brewers will likely attempt to re-sign him, but the Reds, Nationals, Braves, Mets, Rays, White Sox, Angels, and Rangers could also be in the mix.

[TURBO]

It would be a kick in the nuts if he goes to the Reds. Damn.

[Eye Black]

Similarly Jim Bowden of The Athletic wrote a piece titled Ranking the top 35 free agents, and predicting their contracts and best fits in which he listed Grandal as the 10th best free agent and predicted a 3 year deal for $57 million ($19 million AAV). He listed the best fits as being the Brewers, Reds, Astros, and Rays.

[A Swing and A Drive]

Similarly Jim Bowden of The Athletic wrote a piece titled Ranking the top 35 free agents, and predicting their contracts and best fits in which he listed Grandal as the 10th best free agent and predicted a 3 year deal for $57 million ($19 million AAV). He listed the best fits as being the Brewers, Reds, Astros, and Rays.

 

Out of curiosity, which of the Top 35 free agents does Jim Bowden predict Brewers will sign?

 

I'm feeling maybe a RHP Julio Teheran on a 2 year deal myself.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Similarly Jim Bowden of The Athletic wrote a piece titled Ranking the top 35 free agents, and predicting their contracts and best fits in which he listed Grandal as the 10th best free agent and predicted a 3 year deal for $57 million ($19 million AAV). He listed the best fits as being the Brewers, Reds, Astros, and Rays.

 

Out of curiosity, which of the Top 35 free agents does Jim Bowden predict Brewers will sign?

 

I'm feeling maybe a RHP Julio Teheran on a 2 year deal myself.

 

He didn't predict who would sign them, just multiple best fits. The Brewers were probably listed as a fit for 20-25 of the 35 guys.

[Eye Black]

Out of curiosity, which of the Top 35 free agents does Jim Bowden predict Brewers will sign?

 

I'm feeling maybe a RHP Julio Teheran on a 2 year deal myself.

As JMB mentioned, he listed anywhere from one to seven teams considered "best fits" for each free agent. The Brewers were listed for nearly every SP that wasn't among his top three (Cole, Strasburg, Bumgarner). The Brewers were listed among the best fits for Zack Wheeler, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Yasmani Grandal, Jake Odorizzi, Cole Hamels, Dallas Keuchel, Mike Moustakas, Michael Pineda, Kyle Gibson, Rick Porcello, Drew Pomeranz, Rich Hill, and Tanner Roark.

 

He didn't include Julio Teheran in his top 35 free agents, but I am guessing that is because many weren't expecting Teheran to become a free agent until his option was declined yesterday.

[Eye Black]

The biggest difference for Grandal as compared to last off-season is he is no longer tethered to the qualifying offer and loss of a draft pick.

 

My belief is that he ends up at the high end of that range, or even slightly higher. I would guess he’ll receive an AAV between $17.5 to $19 million over either 3 or 4 years.

 

I think only a team or two will be willing to add a 4th year. My prediction is he ends up with a 4 year deal for $72 million. I have a bad feeling the Reds are indeed his most likely landing spot.

Well I nearly nailed the Grandal contract, but happy to be wrong about his destination.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

The biggest difference for Grandal as compared to last off-season is he is no longer tethered to the qualifying offer and loss of a draft pick.

 

My belief is that he ends up at the high end of that range, or even slightly higher. I would guess he’ll receive an AAV between $17.5 to $19 million over either 3 or 4 years.

 

I think only a team or two will be willing to add a 4th year. My prediction is he ends up with a 4 year deal for $72 million. I have a bad feeling the Reds are indeed his most likely landing spot.

Well I nearly nailed the Grandal contract, but happy to be wrong about his destination.

 

Good call! I personally thought that the Reds stuff was nonsense. That team is a lot of talk and little action. They are linked to big free agents and trade every year, yet rarely do they make the big move ... their deadline Bauer acquisition withstanding.

[DHonks]

Interesting question about wanting to continue playing for a contending team.

 

Hypothetically, if you are Grandal and the Reds offer you 4 years/$80 million but the highest the Brewers are willing to go is 4 years/$72 million, which offer do you take?

 

Many fans think that it's a no-brainer that Grandal would want to take the Brewers offer in this scenario, for the reasons of returning to a contending team on which you have a bond formed with teammates, etc.

 

However, 8 million dollars is still 8 million dollars.

 

I still think money is always the bottom line and the main factor for free agents decisions, ultimately.

 

The reason Grandal took the one year offer last season was because he didn't want to lower the average annual salary for catchers by taking a lower AAV multi year deal. He mentioned how those who came before him created the market that got him that much per year and he wasn't going to be the one who lowered it for future players. So I doubt he's going to take a lower deal just to stick with the better team.

 

It was also speculated that he wanted to play half his games in Miller Park with the relatively short RF, in an effort to bolster his numbers before another run into free agency