Non-Brewers Free Agent Signings

[JosephC]

These contracts being handed out so far are unbelievable.

 

This is why I thought the Yelich deal was a wonderful deal for Milwaukee when he signed.

 

Then the 2020 and 2021 seasons happened.

[Eye Black]

Jon Morosi reporting that the Tigers are close to signing Javier Baez to a 6-year deal.

[homer]

Jon Morosi reporting that the Tigers are close to signing Javier Baez to a 6-year deal.

 

$140 million

[clancyphile]

That's just insane. Honestly, that needs to change. How about if you sign with another team your former contract is voided.

 

The reason why he is getting that extra money is because he and the Nationals agreed to defer some of his earnings………everyone knew this would be happening. Brewers have done this with players as well and my guess is it’s driven more by the clubs then the players.

 

Barring some serious changes... say, a "Grand bargain" where MLB implements a salary floor/cap in the $100 million to $200 million range in exchange for even bigger rosters (30-man active, and upping the "40-man" to 50, and bringing back massively expanded rosters in September), will the Brewers be able to avoid being relgated to de facto AAAA status alongside other small-market teams?

[ThisIsMyCrew]

That's just insane. Honestly, that needs to change. How about if you sign with another team your former contract is voided.

 

The reason why he is getting that extra money is because he and the Nationals agreed to defer some of his earnings………everyone knew this would be happening. Brewers have done this with players as well and my guess is it’s driven more by the clubs then the players.

 

Barring some serious changes... say, a "Grand bargain" where MLB implements a salary floor/cap in the $100 million to $200 million range in exchange for even bigger rosters (30-man active, and upping the "40-man" to 50, and bringing back massively expanded rosters in September), will the Brewers be able to avoid being relgated to de facto AAAA status alongside other small-market teams?

 

Brewers, Rays, A’s have all had sustained success with lower payrolls. Fans use payroll way to much as an excuse. We are a good team with a great front office. It’s all about acquiring talent for a lower cost. Our guys are very good at that.

 

Plus, do we really want more 7 year contracts to see them decline. I vote no.

[StearnsFTW]

That Baez contract is hilariously awful. I love how he has an opt-out after the 2nd year. Like you're going to find a bigger sucker then, Javy.

 

Yikes.

[jerichoholicninja]

The same people complaining about the Brewers being priced out of the market are likely the same people complaining about the contacts of Yelich, Cain, and JBJ. And they also probably complained about Braun, Suppan, Lohse, and Hammonds. Time and time again throwing gobs of money at players has proven to be a mistake but yet somehow the Brewers are dumb for not doing it.

[Eye Black]

The Cubs sign the top offensive catcher on the free agent market, Yan Gomes, for 2-years and $13 million. So either 1) he’s going to be their backup catcher, 2) they are anticipating a DH and think Contreras could use more days off from catching while playing in the DH spot, or 3) Contreras may be traded at some point over the next year. I’ll say #1 is the most likely scenario, but with the Cubs who knows.

[brewers888]

The same people complaining about the Brewers being priced out of the market are likely the same people complaining about the contacts of Yelich, Cain, and JBJ. And they also probably complained about Braun, Suppan, Lohse, and Hammonds. Time and time again throwing gobs of money at players has proven to be a mistake but yet somehow the Brewers are dumb for not doing it.

 

The truth is we probably have a limited window while Burnes and Woodruff are under contract and this team desperately needs to improve the offense.

[ThisIsMyCrew]

The same people complaining about the Brewers being priced out of the market are likely the same people complaining about the contacts of Yelich, Cain, and JBJ. And they also probably complained about Braun, Suppan, Lohse, and Hammonds. Time and time again throwing gobs of money at players has proven to be a mistake but yet somehow the Brewers are dumb for not doing it.

 

The truth is we probably have a limited window while Burnes and Woodruff are under contract and this team desperately needs to improve the offense.

 

You’re assuming Woodruff is on the 2022 roster and beyond. Seeing the price of FA pitching, this would be the time to sell high on him.

[TURBO]

 

The truth is we probably have a limited window while Burnes and Woodruff are under contract...

 

Which is exactly the reason we need to NOT trade our top notch pitching prospects from the minors.

 

At this point, knowing full well we will lose Burnes and Woodruff in the near future, Ashby and Small are almost untouchable. We simply can't afford to trade them for the bats we desperately need.

[owbc]

The current situation couldn't be better for the Brewers. The higher the price of the top free agents, the better. We weren't going to get those guys anyway, but it will limit the ability of mid-market teams to outbid us on the low-to-mid tier guys that we will be interested in shopping for. Meanwhile, the Mets are making life miserable for the big market teams and demonstrating what a joke the "budget limitations" complaints are.

 

It will be interesting to see what comes out of the CBA, but we are doing very well under the current rules and there is almost no chance of help coming for small markets. We're best off if the service time and FA rules are left the way they are right now.

[sveumrules]

Cubs finally sign someone & it is backstop Yan Gomes for 2/13.

 

Catcher is one of the few spots they already have a legit MLB option, so gotta imagine Contreras will be on the move this offseason.

[DR28]

KB decision coming today, 100% positive he's not coming here (I know some on here had hopes), was never gonna happen.

[wibadgers23]

KB decision coming today, 100% positive he's not coming here (I know some on here had hopes), was never gonna happen.

 

Yeah he was my only hope for a higher profile bat on the free agent market. Not gonna happen though. It’ll have to come via trade.

[clancyphile]

The same people complaining about the Brewers being priced out of the market are likely the same people complaining about the contacts of Yelich, Cain, and JBJ. And they also probably complained about Braun, Suppan, Lohse, and Hammonds. Time and time again throwing gobs of money at players has proven to be a mistake but yet somehow the Brewers are dumb for not doing it.

 

I thought the Braun, Yelich, and Cain deals were good.

 

JBJ was more... meh, given the logjam in the OF.

 

Suppn, Lohse, and Hammonds were not so good.

[sveumrules]

The Rangers lineup would start to look pretty solid now if they just went out and added a solid outfield bat via trade, maybe someone like Joey Gallo.

 

Trading Gallo for a trio of middle infield prospects then signing a pair of middle infielders for half a billion dollars is certainly some kind of strategy.

[monty57]

The Cubs sign the top offensive catcher on the free agent market, Yan Gomes, for 2-years and $13 million. So either 1) he’s going to be their backup catcher, 2) they are anticipating a DH and think Contreras could use more days off from catching while playing in the DH spot, or 3) Contreras may be traded at some point over the next year. I’ll say #1 is the most likely scenario, but with the Cubs who knows.

 

Contreras is in his final pre-arby year, so they should either extend him as "the guy they're going to build around," or they should trade him this offseason. Catchers are most valuable when the pitching staff has a full season to work with, so he'd bring back more now than he would at the trade deadline. Signing Gomes seems to show that Contreras will be traded rather than extended.

 

Gomes seems to be a perfectly adequate guy to provide a veteran presence during the ugly first couple of years of a rebuild, while showing fans they're "doing something" by signing a veteran name they've heard of. He helps guide a lot of young pitchers for a year and a half, and they hope they can flip him at the 2023 trade deadline.

[markedman5]

Cubs getting Frazier

 

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/11/cubs-nearing-agreement-with-clint-frazier.html

[SRB]

KB decision coming today, 100% positive he's not coming here (I know some on here had hopes), was never gonna happen.

 

Yeah he was my only hope for a higher profile bat on the free agent market. Not gonna happen though. It’ll have to come via trade.

 

I'm not getting my hopes up, but Rizzo seems like a much better fit for us than Bryant in terms of high-profile bats. Much cheaper and could end up being just as good for us.

 

I bet Rizzo is going to be one of the later major signings though, since he will probably wait for the 1B market to resolve around him (Freeman signing, Olson possibly traded, etc)

[monty57]

KB decision coming today, 100% positive he's not coming here (I know some on here had hopes), was never gonna happen.

 

Yeah he was my only hope for a higher profile bat on the free agent market. Not gonna happen though. It’ll have to come via trade.

 

I'm not getting my hopes up, but Rizzo seems like a much better fit for us than Bryant in terms of high-profile bats. Much cheaper and could end up being just as good for us.

 

I bet Rizzo is going to be one of the later major signings though, since he will probably wait for the 1B market to resolve around him (Freeman signing, Olson possibly traded, etc)

 

With his versatility and RH bat, Bryant would be a great fit for the Brewers, but I don't think there's any way they have the money to sign him. Rizzo is probably more realistic, especially if he's unsigned later in the offseason and starts to get a little nervous.

[brewers888]

Rizzo makes no sense at all for the Brewers. He isn't an impact bat at this point in his career and he is lefthanded when we are desperate for a righty bat. Tellez is probably not much worse than Rizzo and he's cheap.

[SRB]

Rizzo makes no sense at all for the Brewers. He isn't an impact bat at this point in his career and he is lefthanded when we are desperate for a righty bat. Tellez is probably not much worse than Rizzo and he's cheap.

 

Residual anti-Cubs bias?

 

Despite an early rebound in Milwaukee (before fading a bit), Tellez was below replacement level in 2021 as a whole, and he has a career .769 OPS/.322 wOBA.

 

Rizzo at his absolute worst has put up better numbers that that, and prior to two abnormally low BABIP seasons in 2020=2021, he was an elite hitter as recently as 2019. (.925 OPS, .390 wOBA). From 2014-2019, he was one of the most consistent middle-of-the-order hitters in baseball.

 

The projections systems actually seem to like Tellez a lot, and the front office might as well, so I don't disagree that they might not consider 1B a priority or want to spend any money there, but suggesting that Rizzo is not a clear upgrade on paper seems far-fetched.

[KeithStone53151]

Rizzo makes no sense at all for the Brewers. He isn't an impact bat at this point in his career and he is lefthanded when we are desperate for a righty bat. Tellez is probably not much worse than Rizzo and he's cheap.

 

Tellez put up 0.4 WAR in nearly 1/3 a season of full atbats with roughly an 810 OPS. He's a meh defender at best, rating slightly below average at every defensive metric. Also worth noting the 0.4 WAR is just with the Brewers. If you count his Toronto stats he's a negative WAR. Rizzo on the other hand put up 785 OPS good for 1.6 WAR over about triple the PA. On paper it looks like only a slight improvement, but Rizzo is so much better defensively and based on metrics looks to have had a lot of bad luck from a batted ball standpoint the last couple years.

 

I'm not in favor of targeting Rizzo either considering the contract he'd require, but Rizzo is much much better at baseball than Tellez.

[ewitkows]

Arcia signed a 2 year deal with the Braves. Cmon lets offer Freddy 6 years and get a legit 1B!