Yesterday, Mets broadcaster and long-time MLB hurler Ron Darling announced on his personal Twitter account that he has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Thankfully, the outlook seems to be good. Darling says he hopes to be back in the booth in around a month’s time, which is certainly quite promising to hear. I’ll be among the many fans looking forward to Darling’s return to action. He’s an attentive, thoughtful, and honest broadcaster and I always enjoy tuning in. MLBTR extends its very best wishes to Darling and his family for a speedy recovery.
- Veteran lefty Dallas Keuchel discussed his never-ending free agency with Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports in an interesting interview. Keuchel says he is anxious to sign but won’t just settle for the lowball offers he has received to this point. He acknowledges that he may need to wait until after this summer’s draft, at which time teams will no longer need to give up draft compensation to add him. Keuchel says he wasn’t looking for this sort of standoff and wasn’t unrealistic in his asking price, noting that “it’s not just the front offices who have all these numbers” when it comes to understanding market value. He says he’d rather be pitching; agent Scott Boras has even advised him to settle and get back on the field. So why is Keuchel still available? “I told [Boras] no on numerous deals because it’s about principle. It’s about fair market value. And I wasn’t getting that.”
- Another Boras client, slugger Pedro Alvarez, is also still on the open market — albeit under quite different circumstances. The left-handed power-hitter opted out of his minor-league deal with the Marlins late in camp and is now nursing an Achilles injury. But the 32-year-old isn’t calling it quits just yet. Alvarez turned in a middling showing at the plate in limited MLB opportunities last year. But he has long been an above-average performer at the plate (when limited to facing right-handed pitching, at least) and had a torrid showing in Cactus League action this spring.
- Former MLB hurler Chris Young is thriving in his new career in the league offices, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News writes. It’s an interesting look at the end of an uncommon playing career and the start of what could be an important new run in a management capacity. Young was hired as MLB’s vice president of on-field operations, initiatives and strategy — a new role that deputy commissioner Dan Halem says was “expanded” to match Young’s skillset. The story is particularly interesting because it touches upon the changing labor dynamics in the game. Young says he only took the job after explaining that he “view[s] this as a partnership between the players, owners and fans” and emphasizing that he “want[s] what is best for the game.” Halem says that Young has brought “strong opinions on what is good and what we may have to change” and has been “really good at explaining the players’ viewpoint on things.” It seems that Young is operating more on the rules side at at the moment, but it’ll be interesting to see whether and how his presence ultimately impacts the league’s approach to the thorny collective bargaining issues that have arisen in the past several seasons.
Well Dallas maybe you think you are better then you really are. Good luck watching that money keep slipping away. I’m sure you will sign after the draft pick comes off the table.
To all of the people who blame Boras:
“Keuchel says he has turned down numerous offers presented to him by agent Scott Boras.”
Well Boras can be blamed for a lot more than what we have in this situation. He has over a very long time fostered deep mistrust between the players and management. It is now costing players the contracts they and he think they deserve.
Nope. You all give him way too much credit. Everyone loves a good narrative though instead of looking at deeper, messier reasons for things so carry on
If you see “deeper messier things” please do share. It doesn’t do away with the initial point, which is simple: Scott Boras has done serious damage to the credibility of the Players Union and its common claims re player worth and value.
And Keuchel wonders why he’s still unsigned? Even the biggest jerk in the industry told him to sign and he won’t do it. He needs to look in the mirror and realize he isn’t worth what he thinks he is.
“Even the biggest jerk in the industry” Why because he’s good at his job? Why because he doesn’t meet the standards of some guy on the internet with the username ballplayer16?
No, because he’s the biggest jerk in the industry regardless of how well he does his job (not because of it).
Gotta love when an anonymous entity on the internet refers to someone as a jerk without knowing said person. I wonder what Scott thinks of you, oh wait I doubt he cares.
He’s the biggest jerk in the industry because he’s probably going to be the reason we have a strike sooner rather than later.
Oh really? Do tell. Because the market pays what the market pays? Free enterprise…..
Stop blaming the agents. They work for the players. Not the other way around.
You do know there is no such thing as free enterprise, right? There are always forces working for or against the interest of an individual, group, company or organization
Agreed
Of course Boras is the biggest jerk in the industry. I’m not even sure there is a 2nd place.
PopMarley.
I don’t know Scott Boras. But my oldest friend son played on the same baseball team as Boras’s son. They frequently talked at the games.
He says”he’s the nicest guy you’d ever want to meet..
So was Jeffery Dahmer, and he killed and ate people.
What a really weird, and very disturbing take. 800-gethelp
yeah let’s compare Boras to a cannibal. Makes sense.
Sad really!
Couldn’t agree more, Ted Bundy was also pretty darn charming and I bet he would’ve gotten Marwin a better deal
I never heard that about Dahmer. I heard that about Ted Bundy. That said, Boras is a business man and being a hard nosed business man does not make him a jerk.
And I coached little league, you see the worst of fathers. If Boras wasn’t a jerk there, I doubt he is a jerk.
You are failing to make the distinction between his personal and professional life. He could be the nicest guy in person, outside of the business realm, but when it comes to being an agent and his effect on the sport, he can definitely be qualified as a complete jerk
Actually being a hard nose business man does make him a jerk. I don’t know how it’s even possible to dispute that. Hard nosed is pretty much a synonym for jerk.
Boras has been quite bad at his job, at least in some respects. (See above.)
Sounds like don cherry ripping the hurricanes callin em a bunch of jerks
So Boras is a jerk because he’s the best in the industry and does his best to get his clients the most money possible. I’m sure if you were a pro athlete you would accept lowball offers
I fail to see how Boras is the best in the industry when he’s got so many clients out of work…
And he’s got so many clients working at the top of the pay scales.
that’s true too! but, if he was the best in the business he shouldn’t have clients like Keuchel out of work.
the best in the business would have gotten him a job by now.
Boras is the employee and not the boss. Even Keuchel has stated “it’s my fault not my agent”. If you were a player you’d go to him in a heartbeat.
List them…all of them.
at the end of the day it is Boras’ fault. it is his job to get Keuchel work. if Keuchel thinks he’s not getting fair market value, it’s Boras’job to explain to him what that means cause clearly Keuchel thinks tha t is based on his opinion on the situation. Everyone else in baseball sees it differently, INCLUDING Boras.
Boras is a great agent because he gets his client top dollar. but he’s clearly failing Keuchel in a basic economics lesson.
Yes, the GMs have caught up to Boras. For years Boras was smarter than the many of the GMs. Now he’s only smarter that a couple, and that’s not enough. He has to change the way he does business.
Take away the name “Boras” from the discussion, and you’d be arguing something completely different.
Common sense says Keuchel is responsible for his own decisions.
Boras and Trump should negotiate trade deals together!
Troll with that crap on Yahoo.
I think Boras is a product of his environment. We talk about him being a jerk but he us representing ball players to billionare ball club owners. No innocent victim in this issue.
a slightly above 500 pitcher with a 2 to 1 strikeout:walk ratio. seriously… some of these guys need a freaking reality check? one good season, three years ago… and he has a sense of entitlement. in my own opinion… offer of 3 years, 10-12 mil would be appropriate!!! and even that is high .. IN MY OPINION
You’re the one who needs the reality check man. You clearly looked at someone else’s b-ref page. Because the pitcher you described is not Keuchel. Literally everything you said was wrong.
Idk about a reality check.
He may of undersold Keuchel a little but it’s pretty easy to compare him vs his peers on that bref page. When you do that you will see that he’s not that wrong about Keuchel.
Honestly the guy has a career era+ of 109. Based on similarity scores the best he should be looking to get is $14-$15mil per. The 2 best pitchers on that list are Carrasco who’s getting $14mil per, and Quintana who’s getting about $12mil.
Similarity based on age are guys like Wade Miley and Jaime Garcia.
Houston just swapped Keuchel for Miley and really haven’t missed a beat.
FYI Miley signed for less then $5mil this year.
Ya that sounds about right. The original poster just made up stats though. I’d especially like to know which two of Keuchels 2014, 2015, and 2017 seasons were not good.
OK – let’s inject some sanity into these discussions.
1. W-L DOES NOT MATTER. AT ALL. To use that as a relevant data point is absurd. However, if you insist please get your facts straight. Since 2014 (going back 5 years) his W/L ratio is outstanding. He started his career and went 9-18. Since then, 66-45.
2. One good season? He has one ELITE season. Over the last 5 seasons, the lowest fWAR total he’s had is 2.3. All of those seasons were good. And even in his two worst seasons over the past 5, he pitched fine. Just didn’t get the inning count due to injury. Nothing wrong at all at posting a 2.3fWAR season in 145 IP.
3. His career BB/K is 2.76. Take out his awful rookie year and it’s right around 3 for his career. Not sure where you are from but striking out 3 batters for every batter you walk isn’t shabby. However, it’s not the most telling metric for a pitcher like this. Keuchel is a groundball wizard. At nearly 60%, he isn’t trying to strike people out. He just lets people beat the ball into the ground.
4. The comps provided are really bad comps. Carrasco and Quintana signed extensions. Cannot compare to FA dollars. Miley is not similar AT ALL. One really good season in 2012. Only one other season above 2fWAR.
Keuchel definitely overplayed his hand. Wrong side of 30, coming off a worrisome 2018 season. His expectations were way too high. However, suggesting that he sign for $10M (or something around that) is nuts. He’s a far better player than many on here give him credit for.
IF that were the case, wouldn’t he have had offers to match?
Wins do matter; pitchers have a pitch count now and don’t always get through 5 IP when their team is leading. ERA and SO:BB are also good indicators. Some pitchers didn’t have great statistics because they pitched to the score; Jack Morris is an example. A pitcher who gets to 300 Wins is an exceptional player.
hey jackass! I can have my own opinion as stated jerkoff
You can’t just make up stats and then say that’s your opinion… literally everything you said about him was wrong, but yep, I’m the jackass
at least you admitted it, thanks
Is that $10-12 million per year? Because then that would be appropriate. I don’t think Keuchel is some great pitcher by any stretch of the imagination, and he misplayed the market by turning down $17 million guaranteed, but saying he’s worth $3-4 million per year is just fundamentally misunderstanding the market for pitchers in MLB.
Trevor Cahill got $9 million on a 1 year deal.
Mike Fiers got 2 years and $14 million.
Matt Harvey (!) got $11 million on a 1 year deal.
Derek Holland got 1 year and $7 million.
I could go on…
It was such a stretch I actually read it as $10-12MM per year to make sense of that nonsense.
Maybe those guys were considered better team mates or locker room presence. Just saying that there is more to it than just state and age comparisons
He was probably getting a fair offer but he gots it where he thinks he is worth more
Keuchel: What is fair market value for a self-described “poo-baller”?
Well Keuchel is already in to deep. It’s been backfiring all year for him might as well keep it going at this point
” I told him no on numerous deals because it’s about principle. It’s about fair market value. And I wasn’t getting that.” …Doesn’t understand the meaning of market value.
Glad someone made this comment so I didn’t have to… market tells you what you are worth, not what you think it is.
Right, but what Keuchel is saying is the market isn’t fair because it’s the product of collusion and a closed market system. I’ve never seen a credible figure on Keuchel’s asking price in dollars or offers which he turned down; just that he was looking for 5-6 years. Considering how hard MLB teams have beaten the hell out of free agents over the past couple years, it’s impossible for me to expect Keuchel has received offers which are paying him more than his value would generate for 2.0 annual WAR over a 3-4 year period.
Keuchel may not ever get signed. Who knows? Faulting him for not taking a deal which may or may not be insulting to his talents and contributions, is just the biggest, greenest jealousy monster rearing up.
“product of collusion”
There is no evidence that we can view that points to collusion. Only evidence of a market shift so far. Unless you have insider information i dont think its reasonable to call it collusion simply because teams want to go younger (and generally better) and cheaper (due to rookie contract rules) than pay a declining player what they used to be worth.
Amazing thing about MLB owners is that they seem to have pretty much all realized fiscal sanity and gone to a “right to work” state of mind and abandoned the wild spending ways for these border line guys that especially boras liked to hype up as some kind perennial All Stars, then inevitably would end up on awful contracts.
It’s a credit to the owners for this and should be a plus to positive thinking fans who think of pricing going forward and can get over that “greedy owner” mentality, which is pure nonsense in most ways.
He’s made over 30 mil in his short career. It’s a lot easier to talk about “principle” and “fair market value” when you have millions in the bank. I don’t see any way he saves face on this. His value is dropping the longer he sits.
It sure is. Players like Ozzie Albies have to settle for the peanuts teams are offering. Players like Keuchel have the ability to stand up for other players who don’t have any leverage whatsoever in a career path where a government sponsored, corporate monopoly owns the employees rights.
MLB players have talents and skills that only 1 in 5,000,000 people will ever have, but they have limited to no rights. Signed often out of high school or off a playground in a foreign country where $1,000 could feed a family for years, people sign their rights away for a chance to make it big. Now, when they’ve earned the big paycheck through 1,000s of hours of below minimum wage compensation, intense physical conditioning, missing out on a normal life, going through invasive medical procedures and rehabilitation, teams get together to suppress the market and deny the compensation.
Want to change jobs? Nope.
Want to change employers? Nope.
Want to get paid for how much you work? Nope.
You’ll do what we tell you to, for as long as we tell you and for 1/2 the work value you add. Now learn to love it and shut up. Nobody likes a complainer.
Someone is going to get a hell of a pitcher with a chip on his shoulder the second half of the season.
Or a 5 win pitcher with a 4.50 era who’ll be lucky to get anything above 5 million next year?
Someone is going to get a hell of a pitcher with a chip on his shoulder the second half of the season.
Why 5 million? It’s pretty clear it’s the QO that seems to be scaring teams away. Even if he didn’t pitch an inning this year I’d be shocked if he got less than 10 million.
You believe it’s more likely someone pays him 10 million to not pitch for them than he accepts 5 million to pitch the final 2 months of the season?
Anyway, no, he’s on the market laregly because he completely lost his Slider last year, which made his Changeup into a below average pitch as well. When you’re talking a 30+yo who was getting by on pinpoint precision coupled with advanced scouting by a team famous for it, well losing your two most valuable pitches is not a good sign for the future. And when that bad forecast is coming with a multi year mega million asking price, you have a guy no one is willing to mortgage the future on
The attached Draft Pick didn’t help him at all, but it’s last year’s showing which has to really be chasing teams away. Who knows what they’ll get with him outside of Houston – James Shields post KC is quite likely however (for James it was his Changeup he lost year prior to him leaving KC)
Unless I misread it they said he’s getting 5 million next year. Not this year after the draft.
The draft pick is negligible in terms of what size offers he got. If teams liked him at 3/$40m sans pick, they might only like him at 3/$35m or 3/$30m with pick. Problem is not that $5m-$10m discount teams wanted because of the pick, it is the additional $50m for one more year or extra $30m without one that he felt entitled to.
Reading it again, appears you’re right on what he was saying salary wise, or he could have been positing expected worth
To the more important stuff though, still no. His current status is from his drop in ability shown coupled with his insisting on a “multi-year contract” or “prorated one-year deal that exceeds his $17.9” up until at least the middle of last month.
Thank you for reading my comment correctly. He’ll get about 20 million this year, after the draft, pitch so-so and get roughly 5 million next year. All in all, he should have accepted the QO like Ryu and re-enter FA without the QO attached to him. Boras misread the market and some of his clients lost.
I meant 10 million this year
Hopefully Keuchel signs somewhere where he has to shave that awful hipster beard.
Agreed. It’s disgusting. Yankees don’t allow those “preferences”…
The Yankees where they want there players to look the same. This isn’t a cult or communist country.
There have been US Presidents with longer ones. Nothing wrong with a beard.
Theres nothing wrong with a beard and theres nothing wrong with disliking a beard either. People have preferences
“I told [Boras] no on numerous deals because it’s about principle. It’s about fair market value. And I wasn’t getting that.”
Fair Market Value exists only in a bubble, with it needing available willing and able buyers. Endless products end up on clearance shelves at blowout prices well under market value every day. Why? Generally because the product doesn’t meet manufacturer claims and/or is priced out of buyers ranges or at a much higher price than comparable alternatives.
That is the case here with all his massive red flags he has shown, in a market with numerous alternatives where most teams are already pushing their personal salary limits or luxury threshold
I’m fine with him being forced into retirement out of “principle” if he’s unable to look around the league and realize there are not really any teams in a situation where they even could pay him his clearly over inflated demand off an over inflated sense of worth, even if they were willing to take the massive questionable-bet gamble on his future performance
Asking for a longterm contract already put him into “disaster contract waiting to happen” teritory. Long gone are the days when 30+yos with serious red flags could get everything they wanted just because they asked for it
Tell that to Chris Sale. And mention it to Jacob deGrom while you’re at it.
I’m basically a capitalist, and what Keuchel is doing, Boras or not, is a perfectly acceptable way to proceed. He wants what he thinks he’s worth, or at least something he can live with. He’s wealthy enough (he’s made $30M so far) that he doesn’t have to take an offer just for a paycheck. If the market really has re-priced his type of pitcher, well, eventually he will adapt to it. But there’s nothing that says he has to do it now–he is smart enough to decide when he wants to pitch and what he’s willing to accept, and if that means sitting out until June, or even longer, that’s his choice. We can mock him, but as some of the commenters above noted, there’s been money out there to sign starting pitching.
Perfectly acceptable, i agree. Maybe a bit silly on his part tho. I think that is what people are criticizing and not so much whether or not he is allowed to sit out
Collectively all the teams looking for pitching spoke loudly, your asking price was too high Dallas, and you say you want fair market. Explain those thinking skills.
At the rate of a QO these days, what is the harm? Probably better than most pitchers whose numbers have been going slightly downhill since his great season. And if he wanted the guarantee, well, trend would have meant a contract with a downward slope, maybe a 18 mil, followed by a 16, followed by a 14 and then a 11 mil. 59 mil guaranteed, and possible not such a noose on a team’s neck when he is more hittable in 2022, such that if he sucks then they could cut bait or trade him to someone whom
Might be willing to bite on “lightning in a bottle”, and even absorb some of the remaining cash. economic reality never supports increased funding for diminished returns, except in some players minds.
The harm is he has forever lost that Slider and you’ve just signed post-KC James Shields to a 4 year, 59 million contract.
Why do you believe he’s lost his slider? He’s thrown it almost identically 18% of the time the last 2 seasons. I don’t see any facts for that claim. Early in his career it he had about a 19-20% usage rate on the slider as well.
Have you read nothing about him? It was a pretty high profile issue
2.54 wSL/C – 2015
1.02 wSL/C – 2016
1.30 wSL/C – 2017
(-)1.24 wSL/C – 2018
He tried to throw it still, but there was absolutely nothing on it with it going from a dominant pitch that made all his other offerings effective, to a useless pitch. No one chased it, and it made setting up any other pitches near impossible for him – especially the change (similarly went from 2.44 wCH/C to (-)0.15 from 2017 to 2018)
Yeah I just read the article on his slider and it’s lack of effectiveness last season. It’s just interesting he was still using as often.
It’s not too surprising when you think about what type of pitcher he is – that is, a junker, relying on keeping guys off balanced. He survives on a big pitch mix he is able to locate perfectly just off the plate or in an unhitable spot, leaving guys protecting the plate constantly and getting themselves in a mess or out because of it.
The Slider, which he used to be able to place on the corner with will, was the one you had to always keep in the back of your mind, and meant you were protecting the plate even before seeing it.
Without a Slider, he has both fewer pitches and is without that ace in the hole. So even if it’s no longer that great of a pitch, he still has to try to keep guys guessing on pitches and not knowing if the next slider will be the perfect one to ring you up.
That said, they comparatively pounded it (.747 OPS+, 110 wRC+, only 11.7 SwStr% off normal 18-20% and ops around .500) and he probably should have at least made more effort to keep it lower and more out of the zone (you look at the heat maps on it and it was usually hanging in the sweet spot ready to get belted – possibly a result from the loss of vertical movement, possibly just because he lost that much control of it? Either way, even in the dirt would have been better)
I’m not a big fan of Keuchel’s skills. He allows a tremendous amount of hits and contacts and he pitched for one of the best defensive savvy teams in baseball.. He’s not even especially good at not walking hitters.
If the shift goes away, Which it will. The AL hit leader last year will allow even more hits.. It’s not the money that Is likely turning teams off, it’s the years and the draft pick. The draft pick will change, but I don’t think the years will.
The AAV has a heck of a lot to do with it too if he is asking for $20m which by most accounts he is.
Market value fluctuates. What was once “fair” may no longer be. If Keuchel doesn’t adjust his expectations accordingly, he’s going to be working out alone for a very long time.
Not a Mets fan, but really enjoy watching the Mets games with Darling on the mic. He is not a homer and calls the game straight up. Seems to really enjoy his job and the people that he works with. Will miss him during his hiatus and wish him a speedy recovery.
It’s all about the draft pick.
The market determines Dallas’ value, not him or his agent
Whose dumber Keuchel or Kimbrel? I say Kimbrel because he’s not even working,
I’ll say the pitching needy contenders who decided to roll out three rookie starters or Matt Harvey or to ignore the entire bullpen.
I thought Moreno agreeing to give up two home games and play what turned out to be two road games in Mexico was the dumbest thing Moreno has done since the Hamilton fiasco.
The bullpen, for the most part, has been fine. Only when Ausmus plays musical chairs with minor league players it suffers. And if your relief ace is Buttrey, then don’t bring in Bedrosian with the bases loaded and the game on the line.
As far as Cahill and Harvery, there is no way the Angels were going to sign pitchers (other than Corbin) to multi-year contracts.
The Angels are going hard after a front line starter next year… Plan “A” is Cole.
But regardless. The staff next year is Ohtani, Heaney, Skaggs, Channing and a good free agent.
You seem bright, I don’t know why you don’t understand that. They are not going to lock in a Keuchel to a spot they are hoping to fill with Cole.
I like what they did with the bullpen in letting the young guys lock down some spots. And Allen. I didn’t think he’d be this bad. But Keuchel was one of the perfect matchups for them. Should’ve just gave him 20 million and pass on the two back end guys and let the money equal out.
Keuchel’s become a casualty of MLBs strikeout fetish. An out is the same as any other out, and a pitcher who can get outs is a good one, but teams don’t see it that way anymore. Hendricks will be next to go.
Uh….Dallas….my man. Fair market value is what the market is willing to offer. What you are holding out for is the price you have established for yourself, not fair market value. Good luck. I was hoping you’d come back to Houston, but now, not so much. The elevator obviously doesn’t go to the top floor.
What do you think? Are teams more hesitant to give up their draft pick bc they cant afford to lose one or bc they know what luhnow can do with one extra pick?
Astros wouldn’t have had to give up a DP, and had a need, but didn’t sign him – that shows its not the DP that is keeping the best possible fits imaginable away
…it’s the lack of ability he showed last season, coupled with his mis-matching demands, that had Houston running away. And they aren’t the only worried about the disaster contract in the making, clearly
They also didn’t bring back Charlie Morton or really even make an effort. I don’t think that says it at all. They went for cheap alternatives. Getting cheap results right now as well. I gave them the benefit of the doubt on Morton this offseason, but it’s looking like that was wrong. I figured that they may have not liked his medicals but he looks as healthy and as good as ever. They could sure use him instead of Peacoc k or Mchugh starting games.
Thats not really true, and they were trying to get both back
On the 35 year old Morton, they supposedly offered a 2 year deal in the range of what he accepted from Tampa Bay. He went elsewhere, but the tried. Why? Because they did believe in his ability to keep it up for 2 more years
On Dallas though, they were said ti be offering only a 1 year deal no where near his AAV asking price. Why? Because like everyone else, they don’t even know what to expect from 2019 now that he’s lost the slider.
It’s likely he’s a work in progress in 2019, having to relearn how to pitch without the one which made him so hard to hit off of in the first place. At 31 years old and with an asking of multiple year commitment on a huge AAV is a silly gamble no one would want to take regardless of DP compensation or not (hence, he still sits)
They didn’t QO Morton….It makes no sense to me that they would be willing to go 2 years at a ~15 AAV if they wouldn’t give him 1 at 17.5. Have to believe that report wasn’t true. Logic doesn’t work on that one. I understand given Keuchel’s 100MM asking price why he wasn’t brought back.
Good luck Ron!
My prayers to you!
Oh Dallas! You deluded fool!
The market sets you value,
not you. Hope you saved
your money!
Why in the hell would anyone give up a draft pick for Dallas at this point??? For Every Verlander that maintains his ability well into his 30’s there’s dozens that regress. He showed regression last year and has a draft pick tied to him. Most teams value young controllable talent much much more than in years past. He overplayed his hand , plain and simple. He was told this months ago and refused to believe it. And yeah I’m one of those old school types who thinks that beard is hideous.
Keuchel absolutely gets to determine what he thinks he is worth and choose to not play for anything he finds less than acceptable.
The 30 GM’s in baseball each get to make a similar determination of his worth to their team and to act accordingly.
Ain’t life grand?
Well said BobbyJohn.
Boris led him to water and now Keuchel won’t drink. .
Keuchel has entered the house of the rising sun. It has been the ruin of many a poor boy.
Demanding what the market can’t and will not bare is a sad story.
Boris is just as responsible. He likely helped frame Keuchel’s argument for where his value should be and is probably now telling him “I personally know you’re worth X but just considered X minus a few million dollars.”
You are offered 10 million. You think you are worth 15. Ask for 10 and 5 million worth of incentives that are based on what you think you are worth.
I think it’s safe to say that teams are no longer shelling out big money for past performance. Numbers really don’t lie and it seems DK is in decline. Should have took the Astros extension offer.
It’s interesting that even greedy Boras suggested Kuechel should take a deal being offered. Teams want young starting pitchers that under their control and preferably for their first 1000 innings of MLB of pitching. It’s bad business to give long termers to guys over 30. The stats are there that time and time again teams don’t get the return due to injuries or diminishing abilities. It’s like throwing away money. Fewer and fewer pitchers over 30 are going to be offered more than 3 year deals. And for good reason. Right now it would be a smart move for Kuechel to take a one year deal. If he doesn’t pitch this year wait till he sees what he is offered next year st 32
The market is forged by buyers and sellers. Keuchel is a small part of what makes prices go up and down. He wants tk battle the club owners to the bitter end, I can respect that. Make no mistake, though. Nobody is innocent in this.
So from a practical point of view, the baseball market has adjusted from just a couple years ago. Keuchel isnt worth now what he might have then, so getting a decent no.3 pitcher is just not enough motivation. It doesnt look to me like Keuchel really moves the needle on contending clubs. Combine that with the concerning signs (lead major league baseball in hits allowed) he even seems like a risk.
Kuechel might of been an ACE at some point but no more. He never was smart
All this debate about Boras and whether or not he’s a jerk or simply doing the right thing wringing every penny out of management. Seems clear to me my good friend, Craig Landis, showed with Trout’s contract that contract negotiations can be handled honorably, discretely and can benefit all parties.
I like this guy’s politics. It’s not about playing. It’s about principle. And that principle is based on analytics (whatever they may be). If he’s got the analytics then he’s measuring them against shifts in market value. Numbers change as the market fluctuates. Other players refer to their millionaire salaries as “respect.” Respect and principle are not equivalent. Here is a guy who refuses to be exploited. You may feel no one can be “exploited” if paid millions of dollars. But they can when compared to the revenue generated from one’s labour, revenue that dwarfs what is paid for that labour. I’m sure anyone reading this would be laughed out of the boss’s office if he or she brought in averages of salaries paid for the same position across the industry and asked for an increase that reflected that. But a pro athlete who has already earned his or her millions has the power to do just—and to laugh off lowball offers. I think that’s what “principle” means. Would you expect any less from a beard like that?!!
His “principles” got him zero dollars. Had his best days not been behind him or he would’ve came out at a reasonable figure he would’ve been signed long ago. These aren’t lowball offers. He could’ve made 17.5 MM guaranteed this year had he simply accepted the QO. Had he realized his market sooner I’m sure he could’ve gotten that amount over 2 seasons. He did not and stuck hard on a 100MM offer. He’s not worth that. All 30 teams seem to agree and it’s not some kind of team collided conspiracy that is pushing his pay down.
He can look no further than Yu Darvish if he needs a more recent example of why teams aren’t giving these deals out. The cubs would like to have that one back. If you want to talk about players not getting fair market value I’m all for it. Those players would happen to be guys on their rookie contract. Not Keuchel. Keuchel was severely underpaid, teams just won’t severely overpay on the backend anymore. Because that’s just bad business. Fixing the rookie deals and their 6 years of control is how you fix the market.
And you know this how?
I know what? Paying players when they’re in their primes is an easier solution than crying when these past prime guys don’t get a Chris Davis sized gift for what they did in the past? It makes no sense for teams to willingly put themselves at a competitive disadvantage by signing a mega deal to a 31 year old player. Teams around MLB would’ve paid a lot more for that 26 year old Keuchel than the current salary structure dictated. That’s not a hard concept to grasp.
And you are Dallas Keuchel?