There are “hints” that the D-backs plan to try locking up MVP candidate Paul Goldschmidt to a longer-term deal, writes Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports in his latest NL Notes column. However, the team’s below-average revenues (in part due to the league’s lowest ticket prices) could make it difficult. Goldschmidt will earn $11MM in 2018 and has an easy-call $14.5MM club option ($2MM buyout) for the 2019 campaign on his contract as well. He’ll turn 32 years old at the end of that 2019 campaign, though he’s shown no signs of slowing down to this point in his career; Goldschmidt is hitting .305/.410/.576 with 35 homers and 18 steals in what has been a roughly 6-WAR season thus far. Of course, any long-term deal with Goldschmidt would have to be able to mesh with Zack Greinke’s considerable contract and could also impact the team’s ability to re-sign slugger J.D. Martinez.
Elsewhere in the National League…
- Heyman also reports that the Reds may try to retain Zack Cozart in 2018 and beyond after holding onto him in July and August. Per Heyman, the Reds set an extremely high asking price on Cozart, asking the Orioles at one point for top outfield prospect Austin Hays in return. That’s a steep ask for a Cozart rental, considering Hays broke out with a .329/.365/.593 slash and 32 homers in 128 games between Double-A and Triple-A this season before making his MLB debut in September.
- The Braves are still weighing whether to retain manager Brian Snitker beyond the 2017 season, as Heyman notes in his column and as Ken Rosenthal details at greater length for The Athletic (subscription required and strongly recommended). Per Rosenthal, the Braves don’t need to make a decision on Snitker’s 2018 option until five days after the World Series, so they still have some time to mull things over. Snitker tells Rosenthal that he’d like to continue managing for “a while,” though he says he’s not sweating the decision as it’s largely out of his control. Heyman cites a source in reporting that Atlanta is “leaning toward” making a change, though nothing’s been set in stone yet, and it’s possibly that Snitker’s option is simply exercised without any extension being issued. Rosenthal, meanwhile, takes a deeper dive into some of the reported tensions in the Braves organization and how they impact the managerial decision.
- Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News wonders whether Giants second baseman Joe Panik is part of the team’s future or will instead be an offseason trade chip. Panik, Baggarly reasons, is one of the Giants’ most desirable big league pieces given his lack of a long-term contract and the fact that he’s only just reaching arbitration eligibility. However, the Giants also didn’t see Christian Arroyo take the step forward that they hoped, making it perhaps tougher to deal from their more proven infield depth. Giants fans and those interested in the offseason trade market are encouraged to check out Baggarly’s well-reasoned take on the situation in full.
Yeah smart move SF. On a team that can’t hit, trade away a guy that actually CAN hit. Yeah he doesn’t hit a lot of home runs but you still need people on base when a home run is hit AND it’s not like they would replace him with a second baseman who hit’s more home runs. Trading Panik is stupid.
It just says that Baggarly was wondering. Take a deep breath.
I know but I wanted to kick up a merry fuss right now just in case SF were thinking about and clearly Bobby Evans will put a lot of weight in what he reads in the comments section on this site. The rumors have been around for a while.
Agreed.
Trading one of our few talented players would be completely stupid. There are few better options at 2B in all of baseball, let alone in the Giants system…
And knowing Evans, he’d probably trade him for an expensive, off injured and aging veteran just to replace Span in CF of all places. Not loving Evans at this point.
I’m a little frustrated by Evans too.
They went into this year praying that someone would step up and be a decent LF option. If they trade Panik then they will probably be hoping that Arroyo will step up and hit in the majors. While I like Arroyo and believe he will be successful I just don’t want another season where SF is “hoping” to get production out of an unproven player. Not a problem if you have depth, but SF has ZERO depth.
Panik is still cheap (even with arbitration kicks in) and he’s young why trade that? They need to get production out of positions that are supposed to provide production like 1B, 3B, LF and RF. That’s the problem, the middle infield isn’t a problem, don’t change it.
SF have dug themselves into a financial hole and I’m okay with it, mostly because it’s not my money, but also because they look after their players and that’s admirable. It’s going to cost them some money to solve the issues.
Although I will say one thing. I agree with Sabean he says good hitters don’t want to sign with SF because it’s a crappy place to hit. So that means they have to trade for hitters (or develop them) and hard to do with a crappy farm.
totally right on signing hitters – SF has an uphill battle in that 1) they need to wrangle extra money because of tax issues for players 2) power dies in SF so power hitters don’t want to play here 3) believe it or not there is still a stigma attached to SF amongst certain players due to the LGBT and racial makeup of the bay area (affeldt actually wrote a whole article about it a while back). It all makes the FA game totally different for SF than almost every other club.
I think Snit has done just fine as a rookie manager. Definitely times I was wondering why he did certain pitching changes, but overall did about what we can expect from him. I’d like to see him stay as manager. If not then i think it needs to be Washington, no doubt. Just make sure Snit is still in the organization somehow. He deserves that much.
He will be. It wouldn’t be a “firing” per se. But that’s a drawback of continuing to stay in house.
Idk, to be perfectly honest…Wouldn’t it be a little weird or awkward to have Snitker step down, and for him to possibly become a bench coach, or a Manger for one of their minor league affiliates??
Then again, TP was removed from his duties as the hitting coach, yet they have still kept him on board.
From what I’ve read and heard, several analysts and fans think that Ron Washington was their Plan B the whole time, ever since he was brought onto the staff…
Personally, my vote is for Eddie Perez to finally get his shot as a ML manager. He has experience as an on the field coach, as a bench coach, a catching instructor, as a bullpen coach, working with countless pitchers and catchers, and he also actually does have some managing experience from the Fall/Winter Leagues, cannot remember exactly which…
With that being said, I believe Perez has MORE THAN paid his dues working his way up the coaching ranks, and if he doesn’t get his chance soon, then some other team is going to steal him away!! I mean, if he is good enough to be Greg Maddux’s personal choice as his catcher, then who am I to argue with the Professor?? lol…
Seriously though, I think he could potentially do alot of good for this young team, and with some experienced and well-traveled coaches like TP, Ron Washington, Seitzer, Hernandez, etc. among a few others, I think they could potentially help Perez grow into a great manager.
The Braves need a manager that can potentially grow with this young team, and personally, I just think the best guy for the job would be Eddie Perez…Like I said, as a former, high baseball IQ catcher, he knows the game forwards and backwards. He knows how to manage a good bullpen, and how to put guys in the best spots to succeed. He understands match-ups very well, and I trust Perez to make the correct calls for his players..Not to mention, he would also help these young pitchers, by monitoring their pitch selections, helping them exploit opposing batters’ weaknesses, etc..He is most definitely my number one choice, like I have said now probably ten times…lol
If for some reason, he gets overlooked yet again, then Washington would be my next choice, but I hope they don’t go with TP…He wasn’t very good as a hitting coach, and I don’t have hardly confidence he would do any better as a manager…
Anyways, I do love Wash’s energy, and the fact he is a big preacher about paying close attention to fundamentals would bode very well for the pretty young roster the Braves should trot out next season…So, for the record, if it ultimately is not Eddie Perez, then I think Ron Washington would potentially do quite well as Atlanta’s manager..
I was all for Snit getting the job, but I think now a change is needed. Some moves during season, wish we had hired Bud Black last Year. I don’t have access to Rosenthal’s article, but I thought Coppy was the golden child. Is it problems With Schuerholz or John Hart?
I don’t have access either. I actually don’t like Bud Black. I didn’t like him in SD and sure he’s doing fine for the Rookies, but I’ve been saying that team is gonna bust onto the scene any day now. I think his timing as manager there is just really good. Sure he’s prob one of many reasons they are doing well, but I just don’t think he would have changed the braves overnight like it appeared he did with CO.
The braves are still a project in my opinion. I don’t think we will be that great in 2018. Might compete for a wild card slot but that’s about it… I see at best, two more years until we are a legit team, no matter who we have as manager.
So when a team is good, but you dislike the manager, its just the team being good? Makes sense….or not.
Keeping Goldschmidt in Arizona long-term should be the organizations top priority. He is the face of the franchise. Martinez has been a nice addition this summer but he’s unlikely to produce at this rate going forward, especially as he ages. Having Goldy into his 30s will be better for the team than having J.D. and it’s extremely unlikely that they can keep both long term
My top priority is seeing Goldschmidt playing for a team in another division. 😉
HA! Yeah can he just PLEASE go play in the AL? But really, what an amazing player he is. I wish he were on my team!
I wish that about every good player. Especially ones that are in the NL West.
cozart is a huge gamble but one that could pay huge. looks like the reds are trying to see what money they will have for future moves. sometimes knowing is worth paying for. He has always had more promise than he showed. He also played that way all year. not just a really hot stretch.
I used to go to about 8 to 10 Dbacks games a year. Until their owner called half the country names over support of a politician. fSo I stopped going. And I unplugged my cable to not support their station. I will rethink my support when the team gets a new owner.
No loss. Don’t let the screen door hit you.
Said it before, I’ll say it again. Cozart should have gone to the highest bidder at the deadline, or even last offseason
No need to extend Goldschmidt if you already have his prime years locked in.
Bud Black would have been an exceptional hire for the Braves. However, Snitker was a cheap option that would bridge us to our next playoff run. If they thought different they would have given him a better contract by now.
I love me some Ron Washington, but how old is he? Would really prefer a guy that could be here for 5-10 more yrs.
No Pendleton, so that leaves me with Eddie Perez. That’s my top choice of our available options. A former catcher would be best for a team building on young pitching, and he’s bilingual. That’s a plus for all of our international guys.
Snitker drove me nuts as a 3rd base coach, but he’s been ok as a manager. If they make a move I wouldn’t be upset with Wash or Eddie Perez.
The Braves need to hire their version of Joe Madden, who the Cubs brought in T the right time. The challenge is whether or not this is the right time. It would depend what the GM does. As a full season ticket holder, the grossly overpriced seats and concessions are getting harder to swallow when washed down with a healthy dose of losing season.
How can you watch that? Freeman and….?
There’s no lineup.
That’s the N.L. Least, no position talent. One team at the top and four dogs dragging their butt on the grass.
I’ve been wondering the last couple of days if the start of a trade between T.O. and Cinci couldn’t be Tulowitzki and Smoak for Votto and Cozart. Remember… I said start. Obviously T.O. would need to include more. Discuss.
This trade is a non-starter for multiple reasons. First, Cozart is in the last year of his contract so if Toronto wants him, they can just make him an offer and sign him. Second, Votto has consistently indicated he wants to stay in Cincinnati. Third, if Votto changes his mind, the last thing the Reds would need or want would be an over=priced and aging Tulowitzki–they would want three or four of Toronto’s best prospects.
I think it would be very foolish of the Reds to resign Cozart. They have multiple options at shortstop (Peraza, obviously, but perhaps Suarez when Senzel is ready) and second already. They have some interesting young pitchers, but they would be better off putting Cozart money into their bullpen and perhaps signing a durable back-end starter if one could be found. They also have guys like Hamilton and Gennett they need to extend or look into trading. This team has a chance to be good by 2019 or so, and re-signing Cozart does little or nothing to help bring that about.
In addition to all of the (correct) specific points that AJ makes, it’s worth noting that teams just don’t make this kinda trade nowadays regardless. If one of these teams called the other one and said “hey, you want to trade your first baseman and shortstop for mine?,” the other team would immediately wonder why they were making an offer like this. Teams generally know their own players slightly better than the rest of the league does, so I think the receiver of this offer would be concerned about makeup or injury concerns of the players involved, even if there weren’t any