As the market for top starter Yu Darvish begins to pick up some steam, Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports reports that the market for one of the free agency’s top position players may be escalating as well (Twitter links). Lorenzo Cain and his reps at All Bases Covered Sports Management have begun informing some teams that they’re out of the running, per Heyman. It’s not immediately clear whether that means a decision is on the horizon, but Heyman adds that Cain is weighing “a variety of offers” and is even “believed to have received several” offers of four years in length.
[Related: Free Agent Profile — Lorenzo Cain]
The 31-year-old Cain (32 in April) has been linked to several teams this winter, though San Francisco’s acquisition of Andrew McCutchen and the Blue Jays’ acquisition of Randal Grichuk may have eliminated a pair of potential destinations. The Giants have only about $2MM remaining to stay underneath the luxury tax line and are reportedly set on doing so, while the Jays now have an outfield mix consisting of Grichuk, Kevin Pillar, offseason signee Curtis Granderson, Ezequiel Carrera, Steve Pearce and prospects Teoscar Hernandez and Anthony Alford. Fitting Cain into that mix would seem to be a tall order, barring the trade of an outfielder (or multiple outfielders) to add some rotation help.
The Rangers and Brewers have both been prominently linked to Cain over the past month. While Milwaukee is a curious fit at first glance given the Brewers’ own surplus of outfielders, GM David Stearns and his staff are reportedly exploring the potential return for some of the team’s incumbent outfielders. The Brewers reportedly have multiple lines in the water as they’ve been tied to pitchers like Yu Darvish and Jake Arrieta and a potential trade for Christian Yelich in addition to their reported interest in Cain. As for the Rangers, it’s worth noting that GM Jon Daniels downplayed the possibility and voiced confidence in Delino DeShields as recently as this past weekend.
Beyond that group, there hasn’t been much in the way of teams that’ve been publicly linked to Cain in recent weeks. The Cubs were loosely tied to him a few weeks ago but have a deep mix of outfielders, and the Mets were said to have interest earlier in the offseason (before the signing of Jay Bruce). Certainly, given Cain’s above-average contributions in center field, at the plate and on the basepaths, there are probably other clubs that have interest in making room to add him to the roster, though the extent to which those clubs are willing to pay full market value for a player that would in many ways more luxury than necessity remains to be seen.
Yikes!
Wonder if Heyman has an “arrangement” with more agents than just Boras.
I could see Cleveland being a dark horse candidate here.
Not at 4 years.
They have one of the best young outfielders in the game with Zimmer, why would they do that?
Because they can’t count on a full season of Brantley and Chisenhall shouldn’t be plan A on a team with championship aspirations.
Clevelands window has closed in the AL. The Yankees and Astros are one if not two notches above the Indians now. Their shot was when they had a 3-1 WS lead.
Hmm, ok, whatever you say. They are projected at 92 wins (same as NY) and have no real competition in the AL central.
That’s a ridiculous comment. Any team that has a legit shot at winning its division is definitely in a window, and Cleveland is better than that because it’s heavily favored to win the AL Central.
Since Lindor and Ramirez are so old. Getting up there at 23ish and 25ish. Over the hill!! Plus they don’t have any younger pitching right? Man brewers colored glasses r a hell of a drug
yeah, so they should just quit. good thinking, brewcrew
“Brew colored glasses are a hell of a drug.”
FTFY.
No it hasn’t. As long they are the best team in the division, their window is open, Anything can happen in a short series.
Twins win the division this year behind 20 game winner Berrios…
Twins will have a better team this year. “No real competition” is a false statement but the division is weak overall. Maybe the weakest in baseball.
It’s hard not to see CLE or MIN not in the playoffs with how weak the division is and I wouldn’t be surprised if MIN surprised everyone and won the central.
That being said, this time of year everyone favors the teams that made splashy moves in FA or offseason trades. They forget the Indians have the CY winner, the 5th place CY winner, Two silver sluggers one of which finished 3rd in mvp voting, two of the best RP in baseball, and a manager that has won 2 World Series. I personally would take the Indians team over the Yankees and I think HOU vs CLE would be very very entertaining.
I’m a Twins fan, but they aren’t close to the Indians yet. Not saying it’s impossible, but a lot would have to go right for the Twins, and a lot would have to go wrong for the Indians. An 11 win gap in the projections is a huge amount to make up.
I still think the Twins are short on pitching! Both starting
and bullpen help.
shoheiohtahny – Time for Cleveland to trade for Machado! will definitely put them over the top and would have a good chance to beat the Yankees and Houston.
I’ll believe it when I see him sign a 4 year or longer deal.
If he signs a 4 year deal, how does that make him having MULTIPLE 4 year deals believable?
Because if one team offered 4 years there’s a decent chance another team did too? You that dense?
and if he signs for less, it makes it hard to believe he passed up multiple 4 yezts, too.
Not really. AAV could be more at 3 years or he could prefer the teams or maybe theres a more beneficial opt out/trade clause. Tons of other factors
How is he dense. Signing a 4 year deal shows at least one team offered that. Maybe someone else did but maybe not.
The point is signing the 4 year does not prove he had multiple 4 year offers. You that dense?
What was your rational? If one team offered then others did? Haha you that dense?
So if Darvish gets a 6 year deal that means others offered it? Get real! Or maybe it means others offered 5 and one team stepped up.
Get a clue
Thank you for the defense. Sometimes people only see what they want around here.
Did you read the article it said he received multiple 4 year offers. Multiple means more then one.
It says he is “BELIEVED to have received multiple four year offers”
Which means he may have one. May have gotten three. Or, possibly, doesn’t have any.
It’s what agents do. It’s how you neogotiate. “Well, we’ve got a couple four year deals, so if you want to be considered, you’ll need to increase your offer.”
Who is in the Cubs “deep mix of outfielders” having lost Jay and use a couple players that aren’t really outfielders.
The Cubs have Schwarber, Almora, Heyward as starters right now, with Happ and Zobrist also being able to play some OF. In AAA they have Zagunis and Hanneman. I think that is pretty good depth.
Bryant can play there, as well. Contreras has played left in a pinch.
If the Cubs were in on an OF it would be in prelude to a trade or as a trade for a younger long-term player.
Schwarber playing the outfield is like trying to put a square peg in a round hole. Happ is barely a step up. If they were to sign Cain it would be a much needed upgrade. Heyward offers zilch at the plate
“I watched 5 playoff games in the past 3 years and……”
dWar in 2017: -1.4. Career: -2.1. Try again.
You can debate all you want about whether or not Schwarbs SHOULD be an outfielder, but he certainly is for the Cubs. Add to that the untraceable Jason Heyward, and you have 1 spot for Albert Almora, who deserves more playing time, and Zobrist probably has to play some OF unfortunately and there you have it. Ian Happ also needs some time in the outfield.
You can debate all you want about whether or not Schwarbs SHOULD be an outfielder, but he certainly is for the Cubs. Add to that the untradeable Jason Heyward, and you have 1 spot for Albert Almora, who deserves more playing time, and Zobrist probably has to play some OF unfortunately and there you have it. Ian Happ also needs some time in the outfield.
Excellent point. The Cubs are not deep in the outfield, bullpen or starting rotation at this point. They lost Davis and will soon lose Arrieta. So they need a starter, maybe two, and a closer. At this point they have done very little to address either area. Replacing Jay with Cain would at least amount to one off season upgrade. Absent a few major moves soon it may be a long summer in Wrigley.
“Long summer in Wrigley.” That’s funny.
Don’t turnaround cause here comes the much improved Cards. The Brewers are improving their lineup and there staff. The Cubs still will be strong but nothing like 15-17 at this point..they need BP-starter-OF…
Much improved Cards? They’re marginally improved at best.
Improved Cards. Lol old Waino n so artist Flower. They got 1 player. And a bull pen that is not even par. But they have a great closer. Ok then you woke up. Psssf
Im not sure what offseason other people have been watching. I keep seeing this commentary about the much improved Cardinals but no one being able to back it up with anything other than down votes.
of all the places on their team Outfield is the last place they need to upgrade. have too many players as it is. they definitely need another starter and could use another Bullpen arm but there’s still a good team right with the Nationals and Dodgers as best in the NL. though I would have them third of those three
Do people focus on Heywards woes and losing Arrieta more than the dominance the WHOLE team has been on the past 3 years??? YES! WHY?!? Yes, Arrieta was a beast for us but hopefully Darvish is coming and if not, Lester, Hendricks, Quintana is a strong starting 3 at the top. And the offense has the capability to explode at anytime and become murders row. I mean most can hit 20+ homers (Contreras, Rizzo, Baez, Bryant, Happ) and they have guys with high OPS. Bottom line, Cubs rule and the summer will be long yes, but sweet as well for a long time
I’m disgusted you could consider the 2018 Cubs to have a “Murder Row”. Get out of here with that. The 27 Yankees had 4 HoF players in their prime. The Cubs barely have 4 All Stars.
I agree with Yankee fan. 2018 Cubs being compared to murderers row!?! That’s bold….
I find this crazy optimistic… but not wrong. Cubs are still good.
At the time they were all stars only years after there they retired did they become hall of fame players. Maybe the Cubs might have more doubt it.
So the Yankees from 70 years ago are the only team to have a “murderers row”?
“and become murders row” is one of the most blasphemous statements ever posted on here. Bryant is a top ten player and Rizzo a top 25(maybe) but you’ve lost your freaking mind with those other two. Stay hydrated when you take lithium.
And Babe Ruth was the only Sultan of Swing. What’s your point?
Bryant, Contreras, Rizzo, can make a strong argument for Lester and Hendricks. There’s 5 All-Star caliber players right there. Happ
2018 Cubs aren’t even close to the ’27 Yanks. Antony Rizzo and Bryant should never be compared to Lou and Babe ever again. Heyward isn’t even close to any hitter on that team. There offense is good, but they strikeout way too much which always leads to players having a harder time as their careers progress. Cubs today are a sham of what the ’27 Yanks were.
*Sultan of Swat*
How many all stars did the cubs have last year? Nice little run but it’s on the spiral decline now.
Holy $hit you Yankee fans have a quick trigger
Spiral decline?? That’s comical. Young core still intact with guys like Willson and happ only getting better. Pitching staff will be just fine. All stars mean nothing. Look at Bryzzo’s stats at the end of the year and tell me they didn’t have ‘All star’ caliber years
You miss the point completely. I’m talking about position players. The Cubs have an MVP (Bryant), a superstar (Rizzo), and a potential superstar (Contreras).
Baez is not an all-star, Schwarber is not an all-star, Zobrist and Heyward are washed up. Russell has the most potential from this group to be great. Happ is a clone of Schwarber. All of the these mentioned players have a fatal flaw and have been unable to fix it this far.
The key word you used is “PAST! ” What they did in the past has nothing to do with what they will do in the future! None!
You must’ve taken the offseason off to hibernate. The Cubs don’t need two starters. They need one AT MOST.
Ah Yankee fans showing their ignorance as usual. Cubs are deep in the OF. They are deep in the bullpen and no they do not need two starters but thanks for playing anyway. Next time try taking about something that makes sense
They may have depth in the outfield. That does not mean that it is talented depth. Just because you have bodies to fill that position does not mean anything.
Much like Ichiro51 said warm bodies and out of position players doesn’t equal a competent outfield. Though watching Schwarber play left is similar to a hippo on roller skates.
Talent > Depth, Cubs fans are like the Yankees fans of the Midwest, equally delusional
No they need 3 starters and their bullpen is trash. Brewers win that division this yr Cubs miss the playoffs after finishing barely above .500 I got $50 any takers?
Bahaha top 5 dumbest comment of the off season.. cubs have no outfield depth? Schwarber, almora, heyward, zobrist, Happ?? Schwarber has lost lots of weight this off season, he will bounce back in a big way and his defense should slightly imlrove making him a average defender. Happ played great in his first season, almora killed it when he played last year.. Yankees fans are just upset cuz they will lose Harper to the Cubs cuz they got screwed by taking Stanton. Also cubs rotation Lester, Hendricks, quintana, chatwood.. and they have Montgomery for depth after they sign another starter which is just a matter of time. Cubs pen has tons of depth now. I’ll admit they’re missing a big time closer, but morrow, chisek, Montgomery, Edwards, duensing, strop. That’s 6 really good relievers, and they got a couple young guys that have closer potential like maples.
Yankees are the ones that will have a long summer when they realize their ROY had a fluke year and probably will never match that again, and will be lucky if Stanton plays half the season, and gleyber ends up being a bust and all hype. Besides severino, their rotation isn’t anything to brag about, gray has injury issues as well and is at best a #3 man, Tanaka had what? Era over 4? Lol.. joke.
Now you funny to…
“Schwarber has lost lots of weight this offseason he will bounce back” Bounce back to what exactly? Cubs fans are the most delusional fans in sports..Ground control to Cubs fans Schwarber has DONE NOTHING OF SIGNIFICANCE TO BOUNCE BACK TO!!! As for your other dribble I’ll consider the source.
What a bunch of crap……why are you wasting our time with a post like this.
Part time player with 30 HRs. I like that kind of insignificance!
Just like I’ve said before , some of these ignorant Cubs fans continue to say that all their players will get better
and all the other teams players will do nothing but get worse. It’s on every one of these idiots comments! Every time!
Lol
Here are cubs current outfield depth sorted by age (23 and up): Happ, Almora,
Schwarber, Contreras, Bryant, heyward, Zo… Javy has also played some emergency CF in Arizona.
I’m surprised that Cain is already eliminating teams. Seems like his market went from 0 to 60 in a week.
That or his agents are trying to squeeze some team that is on the fence.
Agreed. The buzz regarding Cain and any serious suitors has been all but nonexistent. In the dead zone that has been this offseason there would have at least been a whisper of any team’s pursuit, and there has been none. I think Cain’s agent is throwing a Hail Mary here to smoke out any teams who have even casually considered making an offer to his client.
I agree. He wants to figure out where he’s going to be playing but not satisfied with the offers in front of him. Instead of waiting couple more weeks trying to get teams to negotiate why not throw out basically a deadline to submit an offer while also laying out minimum terms. Pretty good play by the agent at just the right time. Not sure of his agent but def not a Boras move.
Come on Dbacks! Save us fans the torture of watching Yasmany Tomas play LF every game.
Hardest thing for Lorenzo is sifting through all the offers.
Trying to discern between them all has to be difficult when they are all four year offers too
I’m hoping that my Braves stay away from Cain. Not only will he be too old/too expensive by the time his contract is up…but signing him would put a dent into our payroll flexibility after The 2018 Season ends!
Given that our starting pitching only has Luiz Gohara as someone i see as a long term fit….signing Cain would seemingly be a waste in 2018….because it isnt like we’re positioned to seriously compete for a playoff spot in 2018.
totally agree I don’t like all this talk of them signing being Credence now when they are a year away and can sign guys next year
I keep telling people that 2018 for The Braves should be about giving Albies and Acuna (once he gets called up around the end of April) as many at bats hitting #1-#2 in The Braves batting order (giving a preview of the HAVOC that they can cause together with their combo of speed/average/power.
Also, The Braves will find out what they have in starters Gohara and Newcomb..as well as in relievers Fried and Minter. Finally, once Soroka, Allard and Wright do their thing in The Minors….our GM, AA, will have to make a few trades around the trade deadline that opens spots in the rotation for them (like dumping McCarthy, Kazmir and possibly either Teheran and/or Folty).
If a number of things work out as expected with our young prospects in 2018….Braves Management will have approximately $100 mil to play with to go after some offense via The 2018 Free Agent Offseason to provide some power at 3rd AND left field (in addition to a closer like Kimbrel to be THE HAMMER that a young pitching staff can rely on to close games in 2019).
So the Braves will be a AAA team this year.
…so you want to pay Kimbrel $15M-18M per and we still need an ace. It’s going to be a buyers market in 2019 with very few aces available…and good luck competing against LAD, NYY, CHC that have been storing change under the couch cushions for such a time.
Don’t be shocked if Fried is starting out of spring training and Newcomb is back in AAA (or both are in the rotation). Fried has serious stuff too and hopefully will experience an injury free season.
Agreed on Fried. I hope injuries don’t derail him. There’s a reason he was taken as the top LHP in 2012 Draft. On another note, Wren picked Lucas Sims 1 spot before Duke RHP Marcos Stroman…smh.
Why in the world would the Rangers want Cain? They aren’t close to competing with the Astros. They are maxed in payroll. They have a make shift bunch of starting pitchers. They have a young, inexpensive CF. Their top minor league prospect is a CF. Not what the Rangers need right now. Unless they can unload Fielder’s contract, Choo’s contract, or ARod’s contract (yes he is still owed money from Texas).
The Texas Rangers are not paying Alex Rodriguez anything. The previous ownership put the money in an investment account when the current ownership took over. It has no bearing on anybody or anything.
While it is in an investment account, he is still getting deferred payments until 2025 from the Rangers.
A Rod is not owed a penny from the Rangers and has not in years. He opted out of the contract years ago and that let the Rangers off the hook
A simple google search would show that the Rangers are paying ARod through June 15, 2025. It would be awesome if he would have let them off the hook, as he cheated his way towards that contract. But unfortunately he is still getting deferred payments.
Your partly right! It’s for a bonus
and not on his contract. His contract was bought out when he was traded to the Yankees
and the bonus was deferred to 2025 !
Educate yourself: sportsday.dallasnews.com/texas-rangers/rangers/201…
The Rangers are not paying any money to Arod ! Plus none to Fielder! The insurance came to a settlement with Fielder
and bought out the rest of that contract from the retirement injury deal!
what people forget is that as spring training gets closer players get more desperate to sign but so do teams there are only so many impact players left and multiple teams that need one or more
Cain is able!
I still see the Giants as players regardless of the luxury tax threshold discussion. They still don’t have a “solid” consensus choice as their starting CF despite the recent acquisition of AJax and talk of Duggar. They’ve already traded away some of their very limited farm talent to try to remain competitive. They have Cutch for one year only and players like Posey, MadBum, Cueto are either getting older or closer to free agency or both. Not really filling CF tells me that all of this off-season activity from SF is more of a ploy to keep butts in the stands then remaining playoff contenders. Getting a player like Cain on the other hand or even a solid true CF shows their willingness to actually give it a real try. I still believe in the even year magic too. Hopefully they add Cain and catch lightning in a bottle one more time!
There’s no way the Giants sign Cain unless he agrees to a contract worth less than 50 Million. As a player with a QO they’d loose their 2nd and 5th picks in the draft, and they view the 2nd pick as a supplemental 1st round. If they sign him for less than 50mill, the QO doesn’t apply. Chances that Cain sign’s for 4 and 48 is, unlikely. Cain would be great on a 2 year deal for the Giants. Not gonna happen.
I thought that the QO still applies with a contract under 50 million, but the affects are slightly decreased?
Whether Cain signs for more or less than $50 million has absolutely zero impact on the picks that the Giants lose.
The only impact is on the pick that the Royals get (and only because the Royals receive revenue sharing).
See m.mlb.com/glossary/transactions/qualifying-offer
4 years for Cain is a bad idea
I’m hearing reports of Cain to Houston
I highly doubt Lorenzo Cain has multiple 4 year offers. I’m guessing he has one 4 year offer from the brewers and his agent is trying to get them to offer a 5th yr. if I were the team with the offer I’d pull the 4 year deal and offer a 3 year deal. I’ll willing to bet you’d still get him with 3 yrs in this current market
I can’t imagine the Mets signing Jay Bruce for 3 yrs and then signing Lorenzo Cain for 4 years. It makes no sense.
With cespedes Bruce conforto nimmo and lagares the mets have no need for another outfielder
Fake news!
I know from a trusted person that one of the offers is from the Orioles. I’m hoping they get him though four years has to be the max. My own speculation…the Orioles have learned recently from Cruz and Markakis that they have to take the chance and go the fourth year sometimes to get the player they want. They wouldn’t budge on Cruz and Markakis and were wrong even if both players don’t play a game in their fourth season.
Cruz has produced above and beyond his contract, but Markakis has been a disappointment relative to contract value.
I agree here, Cruz over the past few years on his mariners deal has been way better than markakis. At one point I could see the braves either releasing or trading markakis.
Kakes won’t be released. He’s got 1 year left on the deal and they need someone filling the corner OF spot for 2018. Only way he’s traded if a fire is lit before the AS Break and regains some value — or if BAL gets sentimentally desperate. Even then, ATL needs to field an OF for 2018, which Kakes does — not saying “well”.
Will be interesting to see what the 2019 OF will be: Acuna RF, Inciarte CF — Austin Riley, if his bat is ready, could be an option in LF if on the off-chance they somehow land Machado/Donaldson — though I wonder how much Machado playing SS will enter into the bidding. Pache shouldn’t be ready, though his defense is.
I agree. My thought on Markakis would be in comparison to his right field replacements for the Orioles. The Orioles have not been able to adequately find a replacement since NickMak left going with guys like Travis Snyder, Joey Rickard, Seth Smith, Mark Trumbo instead.
Cain would be perfect for BAL, but even the acquisition of Bryce Harper would be pointless given the state of their pitching staff. At some point Duquette MUST acquire at least 2 SPs (3 is more realistic) just to round out the rotation, and the only FA still available they’ve been linked to is Cashner.
Cubs fans are funny!
Why?
Why? Most (not all), are unrealistic, and think they’ve got the best team in the league.
You sound like a jelouse kid who can’t have a cookie before dinner and mad at a rebuilding team. Been there done that. As a Cubs fan I think the Cubs are good. But have many holes yet to cover. So does every other team. Games have to be played. I don’t believe in paper or stats or war or anything else. I believe in what happens on the field. Everyday. A win is a win a loss a loss everything else means nothing. As far as your comment about unrealistic n think they have the best team. I think most fans are that way about their team. Maybe go to a Yankee board or Dodger board. We heard it from St L fans for the last 3 years. How they were going to do this, win that. Giant fans in how they were going to win the series, Bum the greatest. In 2016 how CK was going to win game 6. Heard it all man. Gets old. It all fans so stop hating on the Cubs. Their are stupid fans of all teams. One thing for sure that is a fact. Cubs have best record over the last 3 years of any team in base ball. ANY. People talked about their pitching in 2016 but it was the best in mlb. They been to post season 3 straight years. That’s better than any team over 10 years. They been to NLCS 3 years straight. That’s also better than any team over 10 plus years. They have a WS to add to the mix over the last 3 years. In 2016 they were ranked 1 in pitching and 2 in hitting. Scary thing in 2017 they had a bad year still went to the NLCS and still were ranked 7th in pitching and 4th in hitting. That was a bad year with injuries. Still got 92 wins. So yeah think they are pretty good The best? Don’t know I tell you at the end of the 2018 season.
Go punch a Gatorade cooler.
What happened to Pompey in Toronto
The Yankees will get him. So says the Yankee fans. They will get everyone and win 125 games n go 11-0 in the playoffs and hit 1000 home runs. Pssssf
Most likely Brewers, Orioles, Rangers, Cubs, and a few dark horses Dodgers, Giants, Blue Jays, Royals and since the report said his agent started informing teams they were out of contention because Cain had multiple offers of 4 years which of these teams can afford 4/70 or higher especially if there is 3 or more teams competing against each other. Cubs, Dodgers, Orioles, would be the 3 teams I think. The Giants want to keep the picks, Blue Jays traded for and signed a player the Brewers need help badly so they definitely could be one, Rangers I doubt Cain is too expensive, Royals probably offered 3 years so there happy with the pick. Hoping for Cubs, don’t want to see Cain suffer in L.A. maybe my Giants will sign the best OF but I doubt it.
Mbbslam
The Cubs don’t need him why would they waste the money? They have Happ, AA, Heyward can slide over, and Ben Z all can play CF. As for LF n RF you can add Baez, KB to the mix not to mention Swarb. If they were to sign a CF they def wouldn’t waste the money on Cain and just resign John Jay for cheaper. The Cubs have over 30 mil to spend and it will be on a SP and or another reliever. Or if they were to add another bat which they don’t need it be JJ. So I be shocked if it were the Cubs unless it was a 2 year deal at a cheap price which it won’t be.
3yr/57M or 4/68
Nope. Still too much.
4/60 tops
If the going gets good then get going! Time to sign.
The jays should trade pillar to the giants and sign Cain, they wouldn’t lose anything in the field and the bat would be a big upgrade. Grichuk, Cain, Pearce with granderson being the 4th man to platoon with Pearce. Leave Carerra in the minors or release and let Hernandez, Alford and company get a bit more seasoning in AAA
KC
Red Sox? Cardinals?
Not sure if it could be royals, but don’t underestimate Dayton Moore. This is the kind of market when he is at his best!!
Why would it be either. Red Sox don’t need an OF. They already have one goal n one player only in mind.
Cards don’t really need him either and money wasted when they need a closer, 3rd baseman and a SP if they are serious about making post season.
Brewers have the pieces to get Yelich, Castro and Straily. I’d like to see that happen.
if the tribe end up being a dark horse for Cain, then is a direct impact to an already very strong core overall.
1.Lindor SS
2.Cain CF
3.Brantley LF
4.Ramirez 3B
5.Alonso 1B
6.Edwin DH
7.Chisnehall RF—Kipnis 2B
8.Perez C
9.Kipnis 2B–Zimmer RF
That’s definitely a dream scenario. I’d like to see it, and hopefully CLE has been laying in the weeds for Cain just as they were last year with EE.
He should probably pick one. Times are a changin’. Better take what you can get.
Agreed. It’s either take your best offer now or be looking at a return to KC on a modest 1 or 2 year deal. I don’t think Cain is crazy about the latter.
Omg can these guys make a decision already ? Pitchers and catchers report in less than 3 weeks !!!!!!
Hey I’ll agree with you on something. Lol
4 year large-contract deal for age 32-36 production. The last 5 years (in his prime) he averaged 9.8 HRs, 55.2 RBIs, and 22 SBs.
This is where the WAR and OBP focus can get you into trouble. Maybe a good guy in the clubhouse, but I’d need more production out of my everyday OF.
Alex Gordon and Jason heyward show why you shouldn’t use war to judge a free agent. Cain is a good support player but he isn’t worth big outfielder money at all
Agents getting pretty desperate now and didn’t prepare their clients for realistic deal terms. FOs smarter. The GMs don’t believe or more importantly care about the amateurish claims of great offers a mystery team is willing to go as far as an extra year or big $. Next year with top tier FAs they will, but this year’s group has an inflated opinion of itself where clubs not worried about passing/scooping up bargains later.
The agents are using the FO strategy against them that is why there is a slow off-season get use to it the top free agents will be doing this every year now. And what makes it worse in the CBA it stipulates that a team cannot state publicly which player they like and what player they don’t like which causes a slow news cycle for all teams. This is how it will be from now on.