Now that the Cardinals have signed right-hander Mike Leake to a five-year deal, they’re out of the mix on lefty Scott Kazmir, tweets CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman. The Nationals, Orioles and Royals are among the clubs still looking at Kazmir, according to Heyman. A report from Monday indicated that the Athletics and Astros were also among the finalists for Kazmir, who reportedly has received three-year offers that come with annual rates in the $12-13MM range. However, Kazmir’s hope is said to be a four-year contract. Earlier tonight, Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun wrote that he didn’t foresee the O’s going four years on Kazmir (or any other free-agent starter, for that matter).
A few more notes on what is still a very deep class of free agents…
- Daniel Murphy hasn’t been aggressive in seeking new opportunities for much of the offseason, reports Mike Puma of the New York Post, as he maintained hope that he would return to the Mets right up until their acquisition of Neil Walker from the Pirates. The Mets, according to Puma, were clear in telling Murphy that they intended to go in another direction this offseason, but Murphy sought more than the one- to two-year offers with which the Mets were comfortable and seems to have been hoping that an increased offer from the Mets would materialize.
- Agent Scott Boras has been seeking a three-year deal for client Denard Span, industry sources tell Puma in a second column. The Mets had genuine interest in Span, according to Puma, but they weren’t keen on committing to a center field partner for Juan Lagares beyond the 2016 season. Beyond that, the Mets didn’t want to wait for Span’s January showcase before moving to add a left-handed bat, as doing so would’ve meant risking their alternative options signing elsewhere in the interim.
- Royals GM Dayton Moore wouldn’t comment to MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan when asked about negotiations with Alex Gordon — specifically, Jim Bowden’s previous report at ESPN that the Royals are offering $12-13MM per year on a four-year deal — or extension talks with catcher Salvador Perez. Moore did, however, openly voice his desire to add a corner outfielder and another starting pitcher. “We feel we have quality depth in the outfield, but we have a desire for an experienced corner outfielder. And we would like another quality starting pitcher,” said Moore. Per Flanagan, the Royals hope to have seven or eight players that are viable rotation options on the roster to open the season. At present, Kansas City has Yordano Ventura, Edinson Volquez, Danny Duffy, Chris Young and Kris Medlen as options, plus lefty Jason Vargas recovering from Tommy John surgery.
3/45 or something like 4/52 I think is fair and maybe even a bargain for Kazmir. The 3/36 talk would be a huge bargain.
Leake got 5/80. Kazmir is older but these last two years he has been a better pitcher. I would 4 years, maybe even 5 if there is bidding and absolutely no less than an AAV of $17-18 million
Sad to here about Murphy. Seems like he really did want to go back. Not always is your home team a best match but would’ve liked for him to stay a Met like he wanted.
Well he could have accepted the QO if he really wanted to stay a Met
There is a big difference between wanting to stay and giving up a very hefty paycheck worth maybe more than double or even triple the value of the QO
Because people are really beating down his door with offers. He thought his post-season barrage would generate significant interest. Reality shows him that he over-estimated his value.
I’m well aware of that, but that is certainly not guaranteed
I figured the Angels or Rockies would fight over him. Sub-par defense, but plus bat and a great teammate.
It’s hard to imagine KC offering Gordon that measly a sum.
I love baseball where $48 million dollars is considered a “measly sum” by fans who will be lucky to earn 10% in their entire lifetime. It really is comical.
It’s about half what he’s worth. You expect him to take half of what he’s worth just because it’s a lot of money anyway? Let’s pay a game to show you how ridiculous you’re being. Let’s say you go into work tomorrow and your boss suddenly tells you that he’s going to start paying you half of your current salary. Are you going to be fine with that or are you going to try and find a different job?Probably the second one, huh?
your “worth” is whatever someone is willing to pay you. Murphy is a nice player but that post season performance is not to be expected.
Murphy? We were talking about Gordon. And yes, you are worth what someone is willing to pay you. Which, in Gordon’s case, will likely be around $100M.
Although it may be unlikely, I’d like to see the Bravos sign one of either Kazmir, Kennedy, or Gallardo to a Markakis-esque contract. Those guys might not want to sign with a rebuilding team, but the Bravos could use some rotation stability and veteran leadership while the kids are developing. Not saying they should overpay for any of those guys, but if they can land one in the ~$12M AAV range, they should go for it.
Or if the front office would prefer to keep their 2nd round pick, which they’re probably inclined to do, go for either Kazmir or Fister.
Yovani Gallardo is about 99% likely to outperform the average 2nd round pick in the bigs. Sure you might catch lightning in a bottle, but I’ll take Gallardo and let someone else play the lottery.
I certainly agree with you. I wouldn’t mind if they sacrificed the pick for a quality starter in this scenario. Specially since the Bravos have been rumored to be one of the big spenders in the international market this upcoming year. With that said, I’d be just as content with Kazmir or Fister, thus keeping the pick. Either way, I’m hoping the Bravos sign one of those four.
At first I wanted the same thing and it would go far to the Braves competing this year, but if you look at the rotation, that deal would force folty and manny to the bullpen and we might only see them as starters if an injury occurs.
To me, 2016 is the year we see how much value our question marks have: Fried(Minors), Viz, Manny, Folty, Olivera, Garcia, Peterson.
Yes it would be nice to upgrade to sure bets on all of those fronts, but we need to see what they have
I hear you brother, no doubt. I certainly don’t want to block any of our young starters from getting a chance to prove themselves. With that said, I think we can sign one of those guys to a deal in the three year range and not worry about hindering the development of those youngsters. My main reasoning for bringing in an established starter is to provide stability and veteran leadership to an otherwise unstable, inexperienced rotation. Currently Teheran would be our 1, and unless he makes some major improvements, he’ll be overmatched on a daily basis by opposing aces. That’s a lot of pressure to put on a young pitcher going up against the Kershaw’s, Greinke’s, Arrieta’s of the league. That’s not to say his match ups being a 2 would be that much more favorable, but certainly less pressure than being the 1. So we bring in one of those four to add some stability at the top of our rotation and take some pressure off those younger guys who may otherwise try too hard to live up to their high expectations. Additionally, I think having an established vet who the young guys can learn from and watch would be extremely beneficial. We need an experienced quality starter who can show those youngsters what it takes to have a long successful career in the majors. There’s something to be said for having veteran presence in the clubhouse. So we’d be bringing in one of those four primarily for the purpose of helping our youngsters rather than helping the team be competitive next season.
In an ideal world, as the roster currently sits, our rotation coming out of spring training would be Teheran, Folty, Wisler, Manny, and Tyrell. They may have Viz vie for a rotation spot, but my guess is they keep him in he pen where he’s shown success. (I’d add Newcomb into the mix, but he’s pretty much guaranteed to start the year in the minors no matter how well he performs in the spring.) The reality is most likely at least one of those back four will struggle in spring training, and Tyrell is most likely to start the season in the minors regardless. So that leaves us with Teheran plus three, again, with at least one of whom will probably struggle. Now I certainly hope they all prove themselves worthy of a rotation slot in the spring, but I’m not too confident that will happen. So if one struggles, you have two open rotation slots, or if they all prove themselves, one rotation slot. Currently one of those slots would probably go to Perez. He’s solid, no doubt, but I’d personally prefer to see him work as a long relief option from the pen. Another option would be take a chance on Norris or another aging vet they may bring in on a one year deal. This option would also be solid, but is certainly no guarantee of even average production. Again I’ll refer to my earlier points about having a quality vet lead our rotation and provide stability, preferably beyond one year. Norris or another aging vet, depending on the vet, wouldn’t provide either of those qualities. Perez, Norris, or another aging vet on a one year deal are certainly viable options, but I don’t see much benefit from having them in the rotation other than to fill a slot. I’d much rather prefer them bring in one of those aforementioned starters to provide substantial contributions, both tangible and intangible, over a few years. Also, as much as I may not want to admit it, there’s the possibility that one or two of Wisler, Folty, and Manny won’t pan out in the majors as we had hoped and we should be prepared for that. A couple other minor points, signing one those guys to a three year deal would provide some insurance if Teheran is to be dealt. The majority of our other young pitching prospects are at least a year or two away from being majors ready, at which point we could always trade that starter to clear a rotation slot and get some prospects.
Again, this is probably just wishful thinking and unlikely to happen, but I think the pros would far outweigh any potential cons. I truly believe some stability and veteran leadership would significantly help our young pitchers develop.
As for our bullpen and position players, I’m perfectly content with our current roster options. Some additional depth signings never hurt, but I’d be more than fine going into the season with the players we currently have. Either way, the future of the Bravos is bright. Us fans just need to be patient and trust our front office knows what they’re doing as we rebuild for the future. Believe in the process.
Even with draft pick compensation 4/52 for gordon would be rediculously low. Wouldnt mind the cards getting him for 5/88
Although the cardinals have proven their payroll flexibility thus far in the offseason with their offers to Price and Heyward, I would be surprised to see them go get another of the top free agents left on the board. Rarely have the Cardinals offered up a lot of cash, and I would expect them to move through trades or minor moves focusing on depth. Alex Gordon does seem to be a nice fit, though, especially if Matt Holliday moves to 1B, but I don’t see that happening. In that case, STL would have to convince a gold glove left fielder that is available to all 30 teams to move to right field, which he has never played.
Although the cardinals have proven their payroll flexibility thus far in the offseason with their offers to Price and Heyward, I would be surprised to see them go get another of the top free agents left on the board. Rarely have the Cardinals offered up a lot of cash, and I would expect them to move through trades or minor moves focusing on depth. Alex Gordon does seem to be a nice fit, though, especially if Matt Holliday moves to 1B, but I don’t see that happening. In that case, STL would have to convince a gold glove left fielder that is available to all 30 teams to move to right field, which he has never played.
I made this argument before, and got shot down, but I still think Murphy’s market may end up looking a lot like Stephen Drew’s after the 2013 season. Between the pick, his age, the fact that he’s never really been a standout player–just consistently useful, he may find the pickings slim. Someone will sign him and he would be a good addition to most teams. But his bat is only really better than average at 2b, and he’s not a great glove there.
chris johnson was released by the indians. st louis should look him up to play first. or third and move carpenter to first.
Royals looking for an experienced corner outfielder and Reds looking to trade Jay Bruce. Not really the KC type of player (lots of swing and miss), but power and above average defense in right.
I wonder if a Bruce for Bubba Starling could begin trade talks. Reds could throw in a few dollars or a rotation piece from their numerous young arms
The Murphy market makes a little bit more sense now in light of this news. He was trying to bring himself back to NY, so he wasn’t shopping himself around much to the other clubs. As fans, we aren’t privy to those details and had only heard a lack of activity in regards to his name. This explains why. The Mets weren’t willing to pay market value for him and had already decided as such, but Murphy had kept holding out hope for otherwise. His market should start heating up now that he will be forced to move on. Then we’ll see if the comparisons to Drew are accurate or not, but I expect he’ll get a 3/4 year deal and be making a great deal of money. Time will tell, but the offseason isn’t over yet.