In his latest Hardball piece for the New York Post, Joel Sherman previews the upcoming GM meetings and look specifically at what to expect for a few top free agents and trade targets. Here are some of the highlights:
- "Three teams with money will definitely be bidding" on Carl Crawford, according to an American League insider. Those three teams? The Red Sox, Tigers, and Angels.
- People around baseball expect the Angels to spend big this winter, with one of Sherman's sources indicating that it wouldn't surprise him to see the Halos end up with Crawford, Rafael Soriano, and Adrian Beltre.
- Several executives believe the Tigers will make a play for two bats from the top tier of free agents, which includes Crawford, Jayson Werth, Adam Dunn, and Victor Martinez.
- Sherman predicts that Werth will sign a contract that lands somewhere in between the deals signed by Jason Bay and Matt Holliday a year ago. Five years and $90MM is the estimate from Sherman.
- According to an NL exec, a Zack Greinke trade may be unlikely because the Royals "are starting from a position of not wanting to trade [Greinke], and when you start there, it is hard to get anywhere." Still, Sherman names the Rangers as a team to watch in the Greinke sweepstakes, particularly if Cliff Lee signs elsewhere.
When are you going to do a write-up of the Reds claiming Hisanori Takahasi on waivers a few days ago?
Likely when someone reminds them that Cincinnati still has a baseball team. Why report on waiver claims by the Reds when instead they can pass along poorly researched filth from Joel Sherman?
Since when did the Reds claim Takahaski?
He isn’t on their 40-Man Roster anyway.
sports.yahoo.com/mlb/teams/cin/transactions
or
cbssports.com/mlb/transactions
So why didn’t mlbtr post it?
:O mlbtr slipped up!!
That’s exactly what camisadelgolf was asking. Glad you now understand 🙂
check Yahoo sports or CBS sports. Both have it
Where else would Cliff Lee sign though? lol
cliff lee WILL sign with the yankees
Yeah I’m a Yankee fan just busting balls should be fun to watch. I’m also tired of hearing the Yankees are getting older and older. Tex will turn 31 next year, Cano just turned 28, Gardner just turned 27, Grandy and Swish will be 30 and if Montero wins the catchers job he is only gonna be 21 and they have a younger bullpen and for the bench who cares. The Yankees did fine when O’Neil, Tino Martinez, Scott Brosius and Berinie Williams were gone so why can’t they do fine now. They have a couple players that are older jesus christ who doesn’t. In my mind I think around 35 is considered old in baseball.
But when your left side of the infield is aging fast, and under (or soon to be under) contract past their age 40 seasons for HUGE money, yeah I’d call that getting older and older.
Yeah well Jeter ain’t signed right now so our infield is currently Nunez and A-Rod lol. Also, the left side isn’t going to be A-Rod and Jeter too much longer. They don’t need stars either just young good defensive players who can hit pretty good.
If the tigers land 2 of those 4 watch out.
but that wouldn’t that mean no Maggs? All they are saying is they will sign V-Mart then bid on the other three players. It would be great though to see Crawford & V-Mart sign there.
Signing two of the four mentioned means Detroit wouldn’t have a spot for him, much less a need.
i know it’s unlikely,but as a yankee fan i hope the red sox do not end up with werth
You might in the short term. But I’m a little leary about how werths going to age. We shall see.
Red Sox have it easy. Werth will be amazing in Boston, but I don’t see him putting up those kinds of numbers in Los Angelos. He’d be smart to sign there.
I would probably only offer werth 3yrs considering his 2010 season was not the best
Werth had a career year. He had his highest OPS OBP SLG AVG and led the league in doubles, I think. He had over a .900 OPS. Don’t just look at HRs and RBIs. Also, Werth had less Ks this year as well. He is worth at least 4 years, prob. 5. He plays great and defense, has speed, and can play any OF position. Don’t forget that he didn’t start playing everyday until 2008, so although he’s in his 30s,his body is pretty young yet…
Go look up Aaron Rowand and his numbers…and his quick decline. Jason Werth is Aaron Rowand part II.
Inever said he couldn’t decline, I just commented on the poster about not having a good year…you cant pick out an isolated incident and say that will happen to him.
Have YOU looked at Aaron Rowand and his numbers? In the three years before he signed his big SF contract, he hit .283/.344/.453. In the past three years, Werth has hit .279/.376/.513.
Did you sleep through the 2010 season or something? Werth had a great year.
this may or may not happen but they can sign 2 of those 4 and then make a trade for uggla. if that dont work they can sign 2 of those free agents. if that dont work they can sign 1 of those four and trade for uggla.
I’m just speculating, but I’d find it interesting if the Angels sign Crawford, Soriano, and Beltre. The tigers sign both V Martinez and Dunn or Vmart and Werth. The White Sox sign Dunn. The Yankees sign Lee. The Rangers sign Berkman and trade for Greinke. Where does that leave the Red Sox? I know, I know my usual Red Sox blabber…but call me crazy, what if the Red Sox wind up empty handed again? Does it happen, hopefully for them, it does not, but just a gut feeling that the Red Sox have a very tough time recruiting the players this offseason..
and back to the red sox negativity channel, here is your host Century! Give a warm round of boos!
Heres a question, what if the yanks dont get lee…then what? Are they empty handed with same team but 1 yr older.
You know the same question could be asked about the yankees……….
“what if the Red Sox wind up empty handed again?”
After signing Lackey, Beltre, and Cameron to contracts last year worth over $100 million, how exactly did they wind up empty handed after the off-season?
“…the Red Sox have a very tough time recruiting the players this offseason.”
Do you mean to say that they don’t have enough money to sign big free agents, or that something inherent about Boston will entice free agents to take discounts to stay away? There’s really no way for one to make sense of this comment without clarification.
It’s Century. Anti-Red Sox no matter what he says. Just read his predictions. ALL the stars go anywhere except Boston. Just his sorry hopes and nothing more.
They finish fourth in the division?
You’re crazy. So there.
I’m a Sox fan, but I have to kinda stick up for Century on this one. It is a legitimate question to ask, and as he said it is just speculation. There bunches of credible people speculating that those player go to those destinations except no one has put it all together saying that IF they do go to those places the Sox could potentially end up with nothing, and while it is unlikely that they all happen to fall that way it is a possibility.Having said that, even if (for speculations sake) that were to happen I don’t think the Sox would go into next season without a Catcher or 3rd Baseman and while they could fill those positions in-house I think it is more likely they pull off some sort of trade. Actually in that scenario I think an Agon/Fielder trade becomes much more likely and they would probably go hard after a John Buck type, Theo isn’t really the type to stand pat and do nothing particularly after a season where they miss the playoffs.
You know if Lee stays with the Rangers or signs with a dark horse, I think the Yankees might have trouble prying Greinke away from the Royals. Sure they have Montero, but does he make sense at all for K.C.? They already have so many 1B/Dh types (even if they were to trade Butler), that it would only work if K.C. were to make a few other trades or maybe a 3 team deal. There is a lot of potential there but Sanchez, Banuelos, Betances and Brackman aren’t going to get it done.
Greinke has New York on his no trade list anyway
yeah but sometimes those things are about money. Put the Big Market teams on the no-trade list so they have to buck up (say a 5 year $125 million extension). If New York misses out on Lee they are going to be scrambling so they would pay whatever it cost, but i just don’t know if their system matches up with K.C.
“but sometimes those things are about money”
True, but this is also the guy who gave KC a discount and signed an extension with them. He also took time away from baseball because of psychological problems. I really doubt Greinke would agree to a trade to NY if one was proposed.
Besides, I don’t think it would be wise to trade for a guy who can’t handle the attention and pressure that comes with playing for the Yankees.
But in Grienke’s case it’s about wanting to stay in a small market because he has that anxiety. It is not just money to Grienke. It’s about having a healthy state of mind and being able to enjoy the game.
Neither Lee nor Greinke will ever play for the Yankees.
This is purely speculation…. but if the Tigers could somehow land Crawford and Martinez, and trade for Uggla, and re-sign Ordonez, would they not have the best offense in baseball? It would be great to finally see someone backing up Cabrera.
CF Jackson
LF Crawford
DH Ordonez
1B Cabrera
C Martinez
2B Uggla
SS Peralta
RF Raburn
3B Inge
Crazy specualtion…not happening 100%
Ya but dude that lineup would let in more runs than it would create……
You’re not serious are you?
Outfield would be amazing, third base would be solid, but middle infield and C would be horrendous. I wouldn’t say it would “let in more runs than it would create”, but I’d still call it a bad defensive team.
I wasnt being completely serous no. Just a dramatic way of saying the infield defense would be trouble.
How so? Only really big hole would be Uggla, and it’s not like he’s Adam Dunn.
The rest of them are competent to extraordinary defenders. AND, they can outhit their mistakes.
Of course, no one could be as good on the left side as those two pylons in NY, now could they?
/sarcasm off
If Victor Martinez signs with another team, I think the Sox will go harder after Crawford, he wants to be a #3 hitter and that’s exactly what the Sox would be losing should Martinez leave. However, he’d be a bit redundant with Ellsbury in the same line up, but the running game and outfield defense would be ridiculous.
Werth could also hit in the 3 hole. I don’t think the Sox will land Crawford.It’s possible for the Angels and the Sox to both end up with major hauls this offseason without getting into a bidding war. Crawford, Beltre to the Angels. Werth and Dunn to the Sox with Youkilis moving to 3rd.if the Sox can’t resign V-Mart, I’d actually expect the Angels to be perfect trade partners. Mike Napoli for Papelbon is a possibility. Papelbon is expensive and approaching free agency so his value is lessened which means a straight up trade is well within reason.
Anyone “could” hit third. Werth was a five hole hitter on the Phillies, Crawford was a number 3 hitter for the Rays. I’ll take a proven AL #3 hitter over an NL 5 hole hitter, batting #3 any day. But I agree, I don’t think Crawford is going to be an easy sign, I can see the Angels and Sox in a bidding war. I can also see Napoli traded to the Sox, he’d be a great fill in for Victor. Pap would be a great trade partner too, the Angels are looking for a closer and could save the money they’d use in signing Soriano and trade for Pap. The only thing that might deter the Angles from Pap is Pap’s terrible 2010 season. On that same token, Pap is heading into free agency so if he wants to get paid, he’ll need a big bounce back season.
The Tigers are about to kill it this offseason… if they go after all of those 4 guys mentioned, end up with any 2 of them to slot in #3 and #5 in the order between Cabrera, watch out. Shore up the rotation with a mid level arm and some help for the pen and you’re looking at a very strong team
That wouldn’t surprise me. The Tigers have always shown a willingness to fork over the cash to players they want.
I think they go hard after Martinez and get him. He will be the ideal three or five hitter in the lineup depending on other pickups. I also believe Dan Uggla would be a huge upgrade at second assuming the Tigers could part with the prospects that Florida would demand in return. Uggla wants to get paid and the Tigers have plenty of money available.
I love how all the tiger fans are expecting to make a few big splashes his offseason, as they have gobs of money coming off the books, and rake in the 2011 season. But doesnt anybody remember how the tigers were supposed to be the best team in baseball after the got miggy and d_train and they finished 13 games behind 1st place
Yep, ’08 was another banner year for the Yankees and Red Sox. Oh wait…
im not a sox fan or a yankee fan
but im betting your not a phillies fan either .
you would win that bet
Actually, I am, and I have good reason to be. Spend about 70 nights a year at the Bank, since ’05.
Imagine if the Angels got Crawford, Beltre, Soriano and Uggla. Wow. Talk about only ‘tweeking’ the lineup.
Cant imagine but I know they wont
I’m just sayin’, if the Angels were to go all out and get crazy and sign CC, Beltre, and Soriano, they could also push for Uggla. After the Maybin trade, the Angels could offer Willits or Petit along with Napoli and some other player/prospect. I guess it all depends on how ambitious Arte will get. Hopefully he’s coming back with a vengeance after last season.
It could happen if i were the anqels i wouldnt siqn beltre because look wat happen to jason bay he was good in fenway and wit the red sox then he went to new york and now he sukks and i think the same thinq will happen to beltre if he siqns wit someone other than the red soxs
the thing about bay is he moved from an extreme hitters park to an extreme pitchers park. Beltre’s numbers are actually better in away parks, although he did benefit from fenway, so i dont think him moving from the extreme hitters park to a neutral park such as angel stadium would hinder him as much as it did bay
Bay came to that extreme hitters park from a relatively pitcher friendly park where he was putting up big numbers. It’s not like Bay was only good because he hit at Fenway.
edit: looking at park factor, PNC may not be as pitcher friendly as I assumed. Pirates fans?
i know, he put up great numbers with the pirates, and with the sox he put up career highs in home runs and doubles, then he signed with the mets and did jack (i know he was hurt in late july)
I totally agree with your point, I just think Bay’s Mets suckage is weird because it’s not like he only hit at Fenway.
I would like to see somebody break down who would be more valuable to the Sox – Werth or Crawford. I’m having trouble seeing why the Sox would want to spend 20-30 million more on CC over Werth..
It really depends whether you want a speedster with ok power or a less speedy above avg. power hitter
I’ve wondered the same thing. It looks like the market is overvaluing Crawford, but perhaps I’m just not seeing why he’s poised to produce like a superstar over the next 6ish seasons. He’ll pop 15 home runs, carry a pretty high on base percentage, and steal a ton of bags, but since when does that make you one of the elite guys in the game (or at least entitle you to get paid like it)?
Maybe because he has done it consistently over the past 8 years. Or it could be the fact he is considered one of the fastest and best base stealers of his time. Or it could be the fact that he can successfully bat anywhere in any lineup.
I think, and others have said this too, that Crawford’s speed means that if the Sox were to get him as opposed to Werth it would probably precede an Ellsbury trade.
i dont think so, the red sox have been known as more of a power team for a while, if they get crawford plus a healthy jacoby the easily have 2 of the best base stealers in the game. coul you imagine their lineup with those two guys terrorizing the base paths?
But do the Red Sox really strike you as the team that would feel like they need TWO of the game’s best base stealers? Especially when aquiring the 2nd one could cost 120 million? That’s why I suggested that an aquisition of Crawford might precede an Ellsbury trade, because they’re so similar and having both could make the lineup too light in the power department at the expense of the extra speed.
true, one can only dream of having 50+ steals by two players on one team. Probably wont happen i agree. Hopefully crawford will sign with the angels, they do need him the most
Don’t get me wrong, I think hes a great player, but swiping bags isn’t the most important skill set out there. He peaked this year with an .851 ops, and he’s likely to get slower as he gets to the tail end of his deal. According to Bill James on fangraphs, hes good for about a .300/.350./.450/.800 line for next season. It would be reasonable to believe he would maintain around that level of production for the duration of his contract. He plays a good LF, but for some reason can’t cut it in center. The guy’s got tools and a ton of talent, but he just hasn’t been elite to this point in his career.
I’d be disappointed to see the Red Sox pay him $20 million a season for the next 5 to 6 years. Those types of deals should reserved for the best players in the game. Vernon Wells, Carlos Beltran, and Alfonzo Soriano have shown us what happens when teams get too excited and offer guys once in a generation talent type deals.
I do, however, think you brought up really good points about his durability and flexibility to hit anywhere in the lineup. It will be very valuable wherever he lands.
he can play gold glove center field, he just doesnt want to. and thank you for the compliment
You mean to tell me out of 30 teams (15 in each league), that only 3 A.L. BIG Market teams are gonna pursue Crawford. To me, thats a joke. What about the Mets, Nats, Braves, Cubbies.