Free Agent Signing Thread (Non-Brewers)

[Eye Black]

Exactly. Meanwhile try to name all the big contracts the Rays hand out each offseason.

The problem with bringing up the Rays is that the Brewers don’t seem to be following the “Rays model”. To be clear, I’m not even advocating that they should be doing so, just pointing out that it doesn’t seem to be the path they’re going down.

 

If they were attempting to mimic the Rays approach then they obviously should’ve never signed Yelich to the extension and we’d currently be following daily trade rumors for who he might be getting shipped to for his final two years under contract.

 

The Rays have done a good job of hoarding young talent, but it’s come at the expense of continual roster churn. Focusing on acquiring a large quantity of young talent translates into a scenario where the sheer volume of talented players almost ensures they will produce good major league players at multiple positions. Sort of a high percentage way to make sure you stay competitive over the long haul.

 

As for the Brewers, if they aren’t in a position to sign free agents then they probably need to pick up their trade activity. Over the past 12+ months (Jan 2020-present) here are the Brewers transactions via trade:

 

August 31, 2020: Traded RHP David Phelps for RHPs Brandon Ramey, Israel Puello and Juan Geraldo

 

December 2, 2020: Traded RHP Corey Knebel for LHP Leo Crawford

 

The second of those trades reportedly came together in about 10 minutes. Over that same time period (Jan 2020-present) the Rays have made 16 trades.

 

If the Brewers want to avoid signing high dollar free agents then I believe they need to get more active on the trade market. I know that’s probably much easier said than done, but at some point they have to decide which direction they are heading (forge forward with some acquisitions or be willing to take a step back to improve the odds of future success). I think part of the frustration currently is the unknown of which direction the Brewers are heading. The Yelich signing seemed to indicate they were going to try to put together a championship caliber squad. The lack of moves since that signing do worry me a bit, but I also haven’t given up hope for some moves on the horizon just yet.

[folly412]

Didn't see it logged here - Eric Thames going to Japan. Weird that Smoak is worth $6M and Thames only $1.2M. Also surprised he wouldn't go back to the KBO where it seems he'd have a similar salary, other than wanting better competition in Japan.

 

https://www.gwinnettprepsports.com/sportsxchange/report-ex-brewers-slugger-thames-joins-smoak-in-japan/article_82924d04-b75e-59ac-ade2-c46b947064f2.html

[DR28]

Remember last year when the Reds made a bunch of splashy moves, and people thought they'd run away with the NL Central?

 

At least they made moves to improve the team... Cant control what happens during the season, thats the great thing about baseball.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Remember last year when the Reds made a bunch of splashy moves, and people thought they'd run away with the NL Central?

 

At least they made moves to improve the team... Cant control what happens during the season, thats the great thing about baseball.

 

You're right, that is the great thing about baseball. It's a lesson that the pennant is never, ever won in January. I think a lot of us need to remind ourselves of that sometimes. I'm frustrated by the lack of significant roster improvement, but regardless of if the Brewers were super active this time of year, it's still going to take a lot of things going right for them to win the pennant.

[TURBO]

Remember last year when the Reds made a bunch of splashy moves, and people thought they'd run away with the NL Central?

 

So are we counting 2020 or not?

 

A lot of people say we can't count anything that happened in 2020 because, well, it was 2020.

 

Now some are saying to look at 2020 to determine if the Reds were successful...

 

Which is it?

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Remember last year when the Reds made a bunch of splashy moves, and people thought they'd run away with the NL Central?

 

So are we counting 2020 or not?

 

A lot of people say we can't count anything that happened in 2020 because, well, it was 2020.

 

Now some are saying to look at 2020 to determine if the Reds were successful...

 

Which is it?

 

Well, it was obvious IMO that they were going for it last year. Not they are cutting costs. Weird situation, but when you make a bunch of short-term signings, and they don't work, then unload money after that season, I would say that they were not successful. It will certainly be interesting to see if guys like Moose and Castellanos make a jump this year. If they do, the Reds certainly have the talent to compete with the Cardinals. Right now I think the Brewers and Cubs might be a slight step below those teams.

[trwi7]

Remember last year when the Reds made a bunch of splashy moves, and people thought they'd run away with the NL Central?

 

So are we counting 2020 or not?

 

A lot of people say we can't count anything that happened in 2020 because, well, it was 2020.

 

Now some are saying to look at 2020 to determine if the Reds were successful...

 

Which is it?

 

Count it if it makes another team look bad or a Brewers player look good. Discount it if it makes the Brewers or any of their players look bad. Duh.

[TURBO]

Remember last year when the Reds made a bunch of splashy moves, and people thought they'd run away with the NL Central?

 

So are we counting 2020 or not?

 

A lot of people say we can't count anything that happened in 2020 because, well, it was 2020.

 

Now some are saying to look at 2020 to determine if the Reds were successful...

 

Which is it?

 

Count it if it makes another team look bad or a Brewers player look good. Discount it if it makes the Brewers or any of their players look bad. Duh.

 

Sometimes, that is how it seems...

[LouisEly]

Count it if it makes another team look bad or a Brewers player look good. Discount it if it makes the Brewers or any of their players look bad. Duh.

Seems to be more of the opposite around here.

[Eye Black]

Sean Doolittle in agreement on a one-year deal with the Reds.

[sveumrules]

So are we counting 2020 or not?

 

A lot of people say we can't count anything that happened in 2020 because, well, it was 2020.

 

Now some are saying to look at 2020 to determine if the Reds were successful...

 

Which is it?

 

Even a regular 162 game season, in the grand scheme of things, isn't all that meaningful of a sample. If it were, there would be no such thing as a one year wonder.

 

Many are dubious of projections & they use three years of data, typically weighted something like 50/30/20 from most to least recent.

 

But what happens when the most recent season was only 60 divisional games in a pandemic altered season? Naturally, it should be weighted less, but by how much?

 

Ariel Cohen surveyed a number of projectors on that very topic & I found the responses pretty interesting...

 

https://fantasy.fangraphs.com/2021-projections-how-the-experts-are-handling-the-2020-season/

 

Some key points from the Conclusions are that 2020 weights ranged from 27%-38% instead of the typical 50%, the impact of discounting 2020 weights should vary based on statistic & specific credit or debit should only be given to over/underperformers on a case by case basis.

 

Anyone either completely discounting 2020 or treating it as a typical 162 game season, is probably hanging out too close to the ends of the spectrum. The answer almost always lies somewhere in the infinite middle.

[Eye Black]

The Rays are signing Chris Archer. One-year, $6.5 million.

 

That trade continues to be an all-time backfire for the Pirates. I’ll forever remain convinced their five game sweep of the Brewers fooled them into thinking they were a contender.

[brewmann04]

I guess he wanted to go back to the rays because for that money i would have hoped the brewers would be on that move.

[Warning Track Power]

The Rays are signing Chris Archer. One-year, $6.5 million.

 

That trade continues to be an all-time backfire for the Pirates. I’ll forever remain convinced their five game sweep of the Brewers fooled them into thinking they were a contender.

Glasnow, Meadows, Baz for not even a playoff spot. They have nothing to show for those three players. Add in the fact that Cole and Taillon are now fronting the Yankees rotation and it just has to be unbelievably frustrating to be a Pirate fan to think what could have been with Cole, Taillon and Glasnow.

[jerichoholicninja]

I guess he wanted to go back to the rays because for that money i would have hoped the brewers would be on that move.

 

After TOS surgery it is quite likely he's done. I would not have wanted him on that deal and I'm incredibly surprised that the Rays did.

[wibadgers23]

Nelson Cruz is going back to the Twins on a one year, $13 million deal.

[markedman5]

[jjfanec]

Nelson Cruz is going back to the Twins on a one year, $13 million deal.

 

The race between the Twins and White Sox is going to be fun this year. Twins will hit a ton and their rotation should be good enough. White Sox have a ton of talent

[TURBO]

FanSided's Robert Murray reports that free agent right-hander Chase Anderson has reached an agreement with the Phillies.

 

It's a one-year contract, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network, and will carry a $4 million guaranteed salary. Anderson became a free agent in late October when the Blue Jays made the easy decision to decline his $9.5 million club option for 2021, paying him a $500,000 buyout instead. The 33-year-old struggled to the tune of a 7.22 ERA over 33 2/3 innings in 2020, but he was an effective major league starter not long ago with the Brewers and he should get a chance to compete for one of the final spots in the Philadelphia rotation.

 

RELATED: Philadelphia Phillies

SOURCE: Robert Murray on Twitter

Feb 3, 2021, 10:13 AM ET

[markedman5]

[DR28]

Honestly can't see Bauer anywhere but the Mets... Angels arent signing him, Jays are done making big moves, Dodgers dont like to go over 3 years on pitchers.

[wibadgers23]

 

Yeah this has felt inevitable from the beginning.

[MadThinker88]

Honestly can't see Bauer anywhere but the Mets... Angels arent signing him, Jays are done making big moves, Dodgers dont like to go over 3 years on pitchers.

 

LA Angels were never an option for Bauer as long as Mickey Callaway was there.

Now that Mickey is in hot water, I would not be surprised if Bauer waits a little longer on a final decision. Assuming Mickey is canned, Angels might be able to get Bauer to strengthen the rotation..

[markedman5]

[SRB]

I simply cannot believe Bauer will be getting a contract at $30 million per year given his track record. Am I taking crazy pills?

 

Could just be his agent planting a false story and he's going to end up signing very late (or not at all) at a much lower deal.