The season is underway, which makes this a good time to look ahead to next winter with the first installment of the 2024-25 MLB Free Agent Power Rankings! It’s an annual series here at MLBTR, wherein we try to rank the upcoming class of free agents by measure of their estimated earning power.
MLBTR will take periodic looks at the top of the class from now through the remainder of the season. Season performance will start to influence these rankings, but two to three weeks into the season, it’s not a huge factor. By the end time the season draws to a close, however, 2024 results will weigh heavily into the rankings. A strong platform year can elevate any player’s status in free agency, just as a poor walk year can tank their stock.
Our power rankings are compiled collaboratively. I worked with colleagues Anthony Franco and Darragh McDonald as well as MLBTR founder and owner Tim Dierkes for the first installment of this year’s rankings. Players with opt-out clauses and player options are included, even if they’ve previously given indications they may forgo the opportunity to return to the market.
Statistics are up-to-date through April 12.
* denotes players who are ineligible for a qualifying offer
1. Juan Soto, OF, Yankees
Were it not for Shohei Ohtani reaching the open market a year sooner, Soto might have a claim to the most coveted free agent ever. Because he skyrocketed through the minor leagues and took MLB by storm beginning at age 19, Soto’s final year of arbitration eligibility comes in just his age-25 campaign. He’ll play the entirety of his first free agent season at 26 years of age. For some context, Aaron Judge — who re-signed on a nine-year, $360MM contract with the Yankees upon reaching free agency — debuted at 24 and had 773 big league plate appearances heading into his own age-26 season.
Soto is a freak of nature who was one of MLB’s best hitters at an age when most top prospects are still in college or just entering the low minors. He hit .292/.406/.517 as a teenage rookie in 2018, and his preternatural plate discipline, bat-to-ball skills and raw power have only improved since. Through more than 3400 career plate appearances, Soto has walked at a staggering 18.9% clip and struck out in just 17% of his plate appearances. He entered the current season with 160 home runs, and while he’s never had a 40-homer campaign before, a move to Yankee Stadium and its notorious short porch in right field could help him get to 200 long balls before he turns 26.
Since his 2018 debut, Soto leads qualified big leaguers with a mammoth .422 on-base percentage. Mike Trout’s .415 mark ranks second, and Freddie Freeman (.402) is the only other hitter north of .400. Soto is “only” 16th in home runs in that time, but his 154 wRC+ — which indicates he’s been 54% better than an average hitter after weighting for home park and league run-scoring environment — is tied with Mookie Betts for fourth-best in baseball, trailing only Trout, Yordan Alvarez and Judge.
If there’s one wart to Soto’s game, it’s that he’s limited to the outfield corners and isn’t regarded as an especially strong defender. He’s had seasons with positive grades from both Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average, but on the whole he has negative marks from both in his career — both in left field and in right field. That said, he’s also only had two truly *bad* seasons per both of those metrics, and taken in totality, he sits around -2 DRS and -4 OAA per season. Obviously, that’s not great, but it’s also not exactly egregious. And given the otherworldly contributions he makes at the plate, playing a slightly below-average left or right field is more than an even trade-off.
Soto famously rejected a 14-year, $440MM extension offer from the Nationals before being traded to the Padres. Rejecting an offer of that magnitude led to plenty of jaws dropping, but when considering that it included his three final arbitration seasons and 11 free agent years, it’s not as jarring as it seems at first blush. Soto wound up earning $71.1MM over those three seasons, meaning he really “only” needs to earn $370MM or so in free agency to come out ahead. There’s already talk of a potential $500MM free-agent deal for Soto. Barring a catastrophic injury, he’ll likely come out ahead in that bet on himself. He’s the clear No. 1 free agent on next year’s market and will be one of the most sought-after free agents not only in baseball history but in all of professional sports.
2. Corbin Burnes, RHP, Orioles
Since his 2020 breakout, Burnes ranks fifth in the majors in innings pitched, eighth in strikeout rate, fourth in K-BB%, second in opponents’ batting average, fifth in ERA, second in FIP and third in SIERA. Put another way — regardless of which metric you prefer to judge pitchers, Burnes ranks in the top-eight in just about any metric. He’s a bona fide No. 1 starter — very arguably one of the five best pitchers the sport has to offer at the moment.
Detractors might point to Burnes’ 2023 numbers as the potential beginning of a decline. His 3.39 ERA, 25.5% strikeout rate and 8.4% walk rate were all more “very good” than elite. Through three starts in Baltimore, he’s trending back in the other direction. Small sample caveats obviously apply, but Burnes has opened his first season with his new club on a tear, tossing 18 2/3 innings of 1.93 ERA ball with a 28.6% strikeout rate and superlative 2.9% walk rate. His velocity is as strong as ever; his devastating cutter is averaging 95.1 mph — an exact match for his career-best mark, set back in 2021 when he won the National League Cy Young Award.
Burnes won’t turn 30 until October. He’s never been on the injured list due to an arm issue. His only IL stints were due to an oblique strain and Covid. Burnes might not be quite as dominant as he was when he was striking out more than 35% of his opponents from 2020-21, but he’s a workhorse ace and former Cy Young winner who still ranks among the game’s elite arms. Gerrit Cole’s nine-year deal with the Yankees began in his age-29 season. Teams have generally been wary of committing to long-term deals for pitchers that span beyond their age-37 season (though there are exceptions, as evidenced by Jacob deGrom’s current five-year deal).
Burnes is dominant enough that he could prove to be an exception, but even if he’s limited to eight-year terms, he’ll have a chance at surpassing a $250MM guarantee. With a big enough year, nine years and/or $300MM+ could be on the table.
3. Alex Bregman, 3B, Astros
Bregman would’ve hit free agency in the 2022-23 offseason were it not for a five-year, $100MM extension he signed upon first reaching arbitration. That locked in his first — but very likely not his last — nine-figure contract and still allowed him to hit the open market at a fairly standard point, heading into his age-31 season.
There’s perhaps a perception that Bregman is declining or trending in the wrong direction, as his production has dipped from the MVP-caliber levels he displayed in 2018-19. He also doesn’t have the most appealing batted-ball profile, which we saw work to Cody Bellinger’s detriment in free agency this offseason. Bregman’s 88.6 mph average exit velocity and 38.2% hard-hit rate in 2023 were both pretty pedestrian marks.
One key difference between Bregman and Bellinger, however, is that Bregman has never had gaudy Statcast numbers — even when he was putting up the type of numbers that led to consecutive All-Star nods and top-five MVP finishes in 2018-19. Bellinger, on the other hand, previously had top-of-the-scale exit velo and hard-hit numbers, leading to more questions about whether his resurgent 2023 showing was truly sustainable.
Bregman has always possessed sensational contact skills. He’s never fanned at higher than a 15.5% clip in a full season. The former No. 2 overall draft pick legitimately possesses one of the best hit tools in all of baseball. He couples that with elite plate discipline, too; Bregman has walked at a 12.6% clip in his career and a 13.7% rate dating back to 2018. He’s walked more than he’s struck out in four individual seasons and in the aggregate from 2018-24. His 41-homer campaign from 2019 looks like a clear outlier in what’s now known as the juiced-ball season, but Bregman still popped 48 homers from 2022-23.
Some may question how much power he can manufacture following a potential change of scenery. Minute Maid Park’s short porch in left field — the Crawford Boxes — seems practically tailor-made for Bregman’s fly-ball heavy, pull-side approach. (Or, perhaps alternatively, he reworked his swing to take advantage of that quirk in his home park.)
There’s little doubting that he’s had some home runs that are Crawford Box specials over the years, but a look at Bregman’s career splits don’t paint the picture of someone who is a product of his hitter-friendly home environment. Bregman’s a career .273/.377/.473 hitter in Houston and a .275/.368/.498 hitter on the road. He’s actually hit nine more homers on the road in his career despite having only 64 more plate appearances away from Minute Maid Park than at home.
Defensively, Bregman isn’t an elite third baseman, but he’s posted average or better marks in DRS and OAA nearly every season of his career. There’s no reason to expect a position change in the near future, but if he does need to move off the hot corner at some point, a shift to second base, left field or first base seems feasible for the former shortstop. And as someone who’s been 36% better than average at the plate in his career — and 25% better dating back to 2020 — he has more than enough bat to profile as a regular anywhere on the diamond.
A seven- or eight-year deal seems plausible in free agency, and there’s always the chance that a luxury-paying team will gauge his interest in a longer-term deal with a non-premium AAV in order to tamp down the CBT hit. A deal north of $200MM seems plausible for Bregman. The Astros have said at multiple points in the past they’ll make an extension offer at some point, but there haven’t been serious talks on that front yet and Bregman can justifiably seek the type of long-term pact that owner Jim Crane has completely avoided over the years.
4. Pete Alonso, 1B, Mets
The Polar Bear is raw personified, bashing 40-plus homers on the regular since his 2019 debut. Alonso has not only established himself as one of baseball’s premier sluggers — he’s done so while maintaining a strikeout rate that’s lower than the league average. At a time when many prodigious sluggers are comfortable selling out for power, Alonso has the type of easy, plus-plus power that doesn’t require him to do so. He’s fanned in just 20.7% of his plate appearances dating back to 2021 and popped the fifth-most long balls in baseball along the way. He trails only Aaron Judge, Matt Olson, Kyle Schwarber and Shohei Ohtani in that span. All four of those sluggers have whiffed at higher rates than Alonso.
Alonso’s extreme fly-ball approach does lead to a glut of pop-ups and some low BABIPs — though last year’s bottom-of-the-barrel .205 average on balls in play (and .217 average overall) were likely outliers. He’s a career .250 hitter who walks at around a 10% clip — enough to boost his OBP into the .340 range most seasons. Paired with his prodigious power, that’s plenty to make Alonso one of the most feared hitters in the National League.
After debuting as a 24-year-old back in 2019, Alonso is on pace to hit the open market heading into his age-30 season. He’s not unusually young like Soto but is reaching free agency at the same point that’s seen plenty of sluggers get paid. He’ll be two years younger than Freddie Freeman and Paul Goldschmidt were when signing their current contracts (Freeman’s in free agency, Goldschmidt’s as an extension). That pair of contracts pays those star first basemen $26-27MM annually.
Alonso isn’t as good a pure hitter as either Freeman or Goldschmidt, nor is he the same defensively. He’s consistently graded out as a sub-par defender, per OAA, and a roughly average first baseman by measure of DRS. But Alonso is younger, has more power than either of those two former MVPs, and has the benefit of Mets owner Steve Cohen likely being extra-motivated to keep his franchise slugger. It wouldn’t be at all surprising to see Alonso follow a similar path to Judge. That’s not to say he’ll sign a $360MM deal — he won’t — but he could reject a qualifying offer, explore what the market has to offer, and then take the top offer back to the Mets and effectively ask that they match it.
A six-year deal would run through Alonso’s age-35 season. Seven years would take him through age-36. Either of those terms feels plausible, as does an AAV in the vicinity of — or even slightly in excess of — the Freeman and Goldschmidt deals.
5. Blake Snell, LHP, Giants*
Will the second time prove to be a charm for Snell? The $200MM+ contract he sought in free agency this past winter never materialized, likely due to a confluence of factors. Beyond the sheer scope of his ask, Snell hit free agency at a time when roughly half the league was experiencing uncertainty regarding its long-term television status. We’re also slated for a record number of CBT payors, including several big spenders — Yankees, Dodgers, Mets — currently paying a 110% tax that made a long-term deal for Snell wholly unpalatable. Further yet, recent high-profile spenders like the Padres, Rangers, Red Sox, Blue Jays and Mets all took steps back in terms of their aggression.
None of that even touches on Snell’s command troubles, though his penchant for issuing free passes hasn’t stopped him from dominating opposing lineups over the past several seasons. Snell is now a two-time Cy Young winner — one of just 22 in MLB history — who’ll spend the 2024 season pitching in an even more spacious home park than he enjoyed in San Diego.
Snell will turn 32 in the coming offseason, so he won’t have age on his side. But he already rejected a qualifying offer from the Padres, meaning he’s ineligible to receive another one at any point in his career. That lack of draft pick compensation will be a bonus, and it’s possible next offseason’s market will bear more favorable circumstances. If the Mets, Red Sox, Rangers or Padres begin spending again and if even a couple of CBT payors are suddenly in position to dip back under the threshold, Snell could find more suitors this time around.
He’s not a lock to hit the market, of course. Snell’s two-year $62MM deal with the Giants allows him to opt out at season’s end, leaving a $30MM player option on the table. So long as he remains healthy and effective, he’ll be a lock to do so. The left-hander ranks 11th in ERA (3.05) and seventh in strikeout rate (31.7%) among qualified big league starters dating back to the 2018 season. He’s had a couple rough seasons along the way, but the broader body of work is genuinely excellent.
As previously mentioned, teams are typically wary of committing beyond a starting pitcher’s age-37 season. For Snell, hitting the market at 32, that’d make it tough to secure a contract lengthier than six years. A six-year deal checking in at $28MM or more would allow Snell to still claim that he topped $200MM in free agent earnings (when combined with his current $32MM in earnings). That type of offer seemingly wasn’t there this time around, but if Snell turns in a third straight dominant season — he had a 2.72 ERA and 31.7% strikeout rate in 2022-23 — someone’s likely going to pony up with a big offer.
6. Max Fried, LHP, Braves
Few starters in baseball have been as consistent as Fried on a year-to-year basis. The former No. 7 overall draft pick has turned in a sub-3.00 ERA in three of the past four seasons, with the lone exception being a 3.04 mark in 2021. Fried’s strikeout rate has fallen between 22.3% and 25.7% for five straight seasons. His walk rates in that time have landed between 4.4% and 8.5% (though that 8.5% came in 2020’s short season and is something of an outlier, he’s been under 7% in every other full season). His ground-ball rate sits between 51.2% and 57.7% each year.
Fried isn’t an overpowering ace in the sense that he hits triple digits with his heater and strikes out a third of his opponents. He has above-average but not elite velocity, leading to average or slightly better strikeout rates. However, Fried has plus command and ground-ball tendencies, and he dodges hard contact at consistently excellent levels.
Prior to the 2023 season, Fried was also quite durable, ranking 19th in the majors in innings pitched and 21st in games started. That doesn’t include his 10 postseason starts (and four relief outings) — a total of 58 2/3 additional innings. A forearm strain suffered in early May last year, however, knocked Fried out of action for about three months. Though he was characteristically excellent when health — 2.55 ERA, 3.14 FIP, 3.38 SIERA — Fried was limited to 14 starts and 77 2/3 innings.
Proving that forearm strain is behind him will be paramount to his free agent platform. Another 30-plus starts won’t completely eliminate any trepidation stemming from last year’s injury, but another season with considerable missed time — particularly due to an arm injury of any nature — would create cause for clear concern.
Fried has been more durable than Carlos Rodon (six years, $162MM with the Yankees) and has a far lengthier track record of success. He and his reps will likely take aim at toppling that mark in free agency. Braves fans would surely like to see an extension, but it hasn’t happened in the past, and Fried is plenty justified in asking for the type of long-term deal and semi-premium AAV that the Braves have steered clear of in recent years. He seems likelier to follow Freddie Freeman and Dansby Swanson out the door than he does to receive an extension offer that’s commensurate with his market value.
7. Cody Bellinger, OF/1B, Cubs*
Bellinger didn’t get the mega-deal he sought this past offseason. Excellent as his 2023 campaign was, there were surely teams wary of his woeful 2021-22 showing on the heels of shoulder surgery. Beyond that, his exit velocity, hard-hit rate and other batted-ball metrics were decidedly pedestrian.
Agent Scott Boras has pointed to Bellinger’s massive decline in strikeout rate as a factor, painting his client as a hitter who adopted a two-strike approach more focused on putting the ball in play than on doing massive damage. There’s surely a blend of truth and garden-variety agent spin woven into that defense.
A repeat of his 2023 production — or anything close to it — would strengthen Bellinger’s case immensely. It’d further distance him from that awful 2021-22 showing, lending further credence to the notion that injuries played a significant role in his perceived decline. And whether Bellinger replicates his numbers by returning to his maximum-damage approach or simply proves that his newer brand of more well-rounded, low-strikeout offense is sustainable, either approach should prove lucrative.
Even though an opt-out would trigger Bellinger’s third trip to free agency, he’ll still be heading into just his age-29 season next year. He can still play a fine center field (or corner outfield, presumably) and remains a good option at first base as well. There’s plenty of defensive and baserunning value to supplement his bat.
Bellinger will pocket $30MM in the first season of his three-year, $80MM deal with the Cubs, meaning he’ll be opting out from two years and $50MM. That seems likely, barring a 2021-22-esque collapse or a massive injury. Because of his age, that immense long-term deal that eluded him this past offseason still feels plausible. That he can no longer be saddled with a qualifying offer — players can only receive one in their career, and he rejected one last offseason — only strengthens his case.
8. Willy Adames, SS, Brewers
Adames joins Javier Baez, Trevor Story and Dansby Swanson as the latest in a line of high-end shortstops to reach free agency heading into his age-29 season. That trio signed for respective guarantees of $140MM (Tigers), $140MM (Red Sox) and $177MM (Cubs). Adames doesn’t have the individual accolades that group possesses. He’s never been an All-Star like each of that trio has. He hasn’t won Gold Gloves like Swanson and Baez. He hasn’t won the Silver Sluggers that Story has.
Yet despite the lack of hardware, Adames has a strong claim to be valued in similar fashion. It’s true that he had a down year at the plate in 2023, but that was in part driven by a career-low .250 average on balls in play. Since 2020, Adames is a .240/.316/.450 hitter. He’s been 8% better than average overall, by measure of wRC+, and he peaked with a 121 wRC+ (21% better than average) from 2020-21. Adames fanned at a sky-high 36.1% back in 2020 but has reduced that mark considerably; over his past 1300 plate appearances he’s punched out at a worse-than-average but far more manageable 26.2% rate. He struggled badly against lefties early in his career (despite being a right-handed hitter) but has improved against them in recent seasons.
From 2021-23, Adames averaged 26.67 homers per season — topping out at 31 round-trippers in 2022. He’s walked at an above-average but not elite 9.4% rate in his career — including a personal-best 11.1% in 2023. Adames has long been touted as having plus defensive tools, but his execution and consistency were lackluster early on, leading to some middling grades. Over the past two seasons he’s been outstanding, tallying 17 DRS and a flat-out elite 26 OAA.
If Adames can bounce back from last year’s .217/.310/.407 line and turn in something closer to the .251/.319/.471 slash he logged from 2020-22, he’ll have an easy case to be paid comparably to Story, Baez and Swanson. He’s likely to hit the market on the heels of four straight 20-homer campaigns. He’s a plus defender. He’s relatively young. He’s not the most consistent hitter on a year-over-year basis, but that was true of Baez, Story and Swanson. They all got paid. Adames will also draw bonus points for his gregarious personality and leadership skills. Both the Rays and Brewers have lauded him in that regard, and the primary reason Tampa Bay traded him — Wander Franco’s looming emergence — now looks regrettable (even if getting Drew Rasmussen in return for him has yielded plenty of value).
9. Ha-Seong Kim, SS/2B, Padres
Kim came to MLB with great fanfare as a 25-year-old KBO superstar who’d been posted by the Kiwoom Heroes. He signed a four-year, $28MM deal with San Diego that contains a mutual option for a fifth season. Mutual options are generally accounting measures and are almost never exercised by both parties. In Kim’s instance, it’s a no-brainer to decline his end of the option and hit free agency in search of a deal that could pay him three to four times his original MLB guarantee.
While Kim’s rookie season didn’t live up to the hype, he’s since acclimated to MLB quite nicely. Now 28, he posted a .256/.338/.391 batting line (109 wRC+) from 2022-23. His power has increased in each MLB season, resulting in a career-high 17 homers last year, and he swiped a hefty 38 bases in 47 tries for the Friars last season. Kim’s walk rate has climbed every MLB season as well, topping out at a robust 12% in 2023, and after fanning in 23.8% of his plate appearances as a rookie he’s dropped that mark to 18.5% in 2022-23.
Decent power, strong on-base skills and plus speed give Kim plenty of appeal, but his glove is perhaps his greatest selling point. Kim is an elite defensive infielder capable of handling any of second base, shortstop or third base. He won his first Gold Glove for his play at second base last season, though that’s unlikely to be his last. (He also won a Gold Glove in his final three seasons of KBO play.)
There’s no defensive metric that pegs Kim below average at any of those three positions. He’s logged more than 1000 innings at second base, nearly 600 at third base and more than 1600 at shortstop. Defensive Runs Saved, Outs Above Average and Ultimate Zone Rating agree that he’s excellent at all three. The Padres signed Xander Bogaerts to an 11-year contract and moved him to second base just one year later despite Bogaerts posting decent numbers at short in 2023. Kim has racked up 23 DRS and 10 OAA in his 1600+ innings at shortstop. He has fluid infield actions, sure hands and is a regular source of highlight-reel defense.
Kim doesn’t have a strong batted-ball profile, but it’s not out of the question that he could crack 20 homers, walk in more than 10% of his plate appearances, swipe 40 bags and play Gold Glove defense this season. He’ll play all of the 2025 season at 29 years old. A nine-figure contract isn’t out of the question.
10. Jordan Montgomery, LHP, Diamondbacks
As the old adage goes, if at first you don’t succeed — hire a new agent and try again. Montgomery languished in free agency all winter, never landing the six- or seven-year contract he was seeking. He took a one-year, $25MM deal with the D-backs that’ll afford him a player option at $20-25MM basically just for staying healthy. The contract wasn’t finalized before Opening Day, meaning Montgomery can’t receive a qualifying offer this winter. Barring a major injury, he’ll likely decline that player option and return to the market.
Montgomery, 31, has made at least 30 starts in each of the past three seasons. In that time, he’s pitched 524 1/3 innings of 3.48 ERA ball with a 22.5% strikeout rate, a 6.2% walk rate, a 44.5% ground-ball rate and just 1.00 HR/9. His 2023 campaign was the finest of his career, featuring a personal-best 188 2/3 innings of 3.20 ERA ball, plus another 31 innings of 2.90 ERA ball in the postseason — a strong performance that helped push the Rangers to their first-ever World Series title.
Though he doesn’t miss bats at an elite level, Montgomery is better than average in just about every meaningful category for starting pitchers and has been a workhorse since his 2020 return from Tommy John surgery. We at MLBTR erred in thinking a six-year deal was attainable heading into the 2023-24 offseason. Another typical Montgomery season could put him in position for a strong four-year or perhaps a five-year deal at a lighter AAV than we predicted last offseason. He should be able to top teammate Eduardo Rodriguez’s four-year, $80MM contract — and a deal in the $100-110MM range over five years doesn’t feel out of reach if Monty continues at his recent trajectory.
Honorable Mentions (listed alphabetically): Walker Buehler, Matt Chapman*, Gerrit Cole^, Jack Flaherty, Paul Goldschmidt, Teoscar Hernandez, Rhys Hoskins, Frankie Montas, Tyler O’Neill, Luis Severino, Max Scherzer*, Gleyber Torres, Justin Verlander*, Christian Walker
^=Cole is currently on the 60-day IL and expected to be out into June. He can opt out of the remaining four years and $144MM on his contract at season’s end, though if he signals his intent to do so, the Yankees can override his opt-out by tacking on a tenth year at another $36MM. Because Cole is currently injured and because the Yankees can effectively veto his opt-out, we’re not including him on the initial version of our rankings. If, as the season wears on, he’s pitching well enough to trigger that opt-out and there’s talk of the Yankees allowing him to walk, he could land on future installments of the list.
A lot of guys on there that I’d rather have than Alonso
Also, when you’re talking about contracts like Soto’s (and Ohtani’s)), you really need to talk about present value
filihok
Muted
#gotheeeeeeeeeeeeem
Montgomery or Fried?
Bold prediction. Cardinals held out this year to sign Byrnes for 300 over 9 years.
Blake Snell/Corbin Burnes/Alex Bregman/Pete Alonso: next winter’s “Boras Four”…
I think Chapman, can opt out after this season as well.
Boras recent FA clients are not looking good thus far time will tell missing out ST affects them in first half at least.
Why would Chapman opt out? He is horrible and is getting paid more then he will ever get again.
I said he “Can” who knows what smoke his agent will blow at him about next year FA
6 of the top 7 are Boras. No wonder Montgomery jumped ship.
Yeah, it’s likely going to be another tough offseason for Boras clients again.
I wouldn’t put Burnes in that group. He’s a legitimate ace with a strong track record. There’s a good chance he approaches Cole territory on his next contract
The consistency and lack of injuries make Burnes and Alonso easy sells. Snell is all over the map and Bregman is one small offensive drop away from being a mediocre third basemen.
If Snell keeps performing like he is – he will not opt out.
Ds
the likelihood of Snell continuing to perform like he has in his first 2 starts is almost none, so….
he will likely end up as the 2021/2022 Snell not really a great FA showing that he was looking for after last season.
Ds
why do you believe that he is “likely” to end up like that?
Well, he’s not going to finish with a 12.86 ERA most likely, but….
His under the hood stats suggested he wasn’t that good of a pitcher. Surprised someone actually signed him. His FRA was just under 4.00 in 2023.
If he keeps pitching like this Boras should pay the 90 million dollar higher offer from the Yankees he fumbled
@amk1920
who’s to say it wasn’t snell that fumbled or any of the other “boras four” maybe they believed they were worth more. not saying that’s the case but everyone is quick to blame boras but few ever go maybe it’s the player too. to be fair there are very few people that actually knows what is going on during negotiations that we will never know he convinced who on what deals to take.
Its constantly amazing to see how many complete and utter idiots think the agent makes the decision and not the player who HIRED the agent. I keep getting reminded by reading these comments that half the people in the world are of below average intelligence and even fewer have even a shred of common sense.
If your stock broker recommends a stock, do you take his advice, or ignore it? Its your decision either way. Why hire an expert if you don’t plan on taking his advice? Its not coincidence that all four of the players who waited too long had the same agent advising.
@stymeedone
using stocks as an example is an apple to oranges thing l, stocks are intangible things that only exist in “paper” or some form of inanimate object free of any thought or emotion. while ball players or anyone in the entertainment industry are not inanimate objects free of thought and emotion and will act upon those emotions or into there own hype and overvalue or undervalue themselves.
also not to ride the “boars” bandwagon but we only hear about his big fails on high profile clients, and not much about the rest. also how can you say anyone isn’t doing there job when you only get to hear one side. agents can’t disclose what a player can, i.e. a player can say how bad an ageism but an agent can’t say anything about there client wanting the moon and turnt down deals other than “leaking” info anomalously to a sports site.
@brodie-bruce Solid point. It’s always the player who makes the decision.
That decision can include punting on the right to examine every offer, which Boras is otherwise legally required to report to the player. If Snell says “don’t take anything under $200 million, and call me on February 15th,” then that’s still Snell actively rejecting offers under $200 million, and putting himself in a hole when he doesn’t get such an offer.
There are more than a few players whose head hurts just looking at the type on a contract.
A player is a fool, or simply ignorant if he’s not also employing at least, say, three analysts to estimate the range of offers he’s likely to receive, and what his worst case is likely to be. Those analysts should also be updating their estimates every week, and whenever a major deal is signed with a comparable player.
If a player’s not doing this, then what can he expect, really? Any player can inspect Boras’s history and realized that occasionally his players get hurt—probably more often than other agents’ players do. That’s the penalty for going after top dollar.
@Pads Fans That’s why anyone who expects constructive political change is likely to be extremely disappointed. The average person simply cannot distinguish the true from the false in matters such as economics and foreign policy. He cannot do serious research. He cannot define even basic terms without long study.
And he doesn’t grasp that players always have access, if they want it, to every offer made to them—nor does having an agent mean a player is prohibited from hiring the counsel of the best analysts in the business, in addition to his agent.
@stymeedone Since brokers do worse than indexed funds, people with brokers are usually only paying commissions for no reason.
The average broker is a needless expense. It’s different if you want a serious stock analyst, have a significant investment to make, and the analyst demonstrably beats such funds year to year.
Everything else in that field is spurious.
Snell started worse last year and it lasted for close to a month and a half. Then he won the cy young award.
This isn’t his first slow start, but his 2nd half numbers might be among the best in history.
1.17
2.12
3.24
2.19
1.54
Those are his second half ERAs in the past five years.
Soto and burnes are the only good ones. I wouldn’t sign Alonso for any price. Just like Vlad. Hitters at 1b fall off trees for millions less. Literally could get a quadruple A platoon for the minimum that would get close to the production. Also, lol at signing the garbage can guy from Houston
That’s just being dumb. The most prolific power hitter in baseball and a AAA player can replace him. The guy probably hits 60 hrs this year.
There is more to hitting than just swinging for the fences. He ranks #6 in overall fWAR over the past three year. Not exactly falling off the tree, but I would over-invest in a strict power hitter who will be on the wrong side 30.
I would love to know what metrics lead you to assume that he “probably” hits 60 HR this season.
The metrics that Judge broke the Rookie record and then Alonso followed it be beating it. Judge on his walk year hit 60 +. Alonso is on his walk year and will up him. Watching Alonso this year he will have one of those years. Not everything has to be a metric to make a prediction. He hit 2 hr with 15 mph winds blowing in two days ago.
your also not including that judge was injury prone before then so those missed homers are usually due to not playing where alonso has been pretty healthy so he is what he is which is not bad at all. .
Also Judge would hit for a better average and they were pretty regularly batting him leadoff because of that this gave more opportunities which could give more homeruns. Alonso will probably never hit above the 3 spot Also the yankees had more protection for judge than alonso has. Alot of factors saying no.
Can it happen? Yes but metrics or logic says too much against it.
also i do find it interesting you use metrics but say not to use metrics.
I would counter that by saying that Alonso hit 46 while playing with a sore wrist last year. His Average dipped dramatically and power dipped while playing through the injury. He probably would have surpassed 50+ easily last season if he was healthy last season. Metrics say since Alonso has been in the league that no one is close including Judge in the homerun production. He has 6 home runs in cold weather conditions in 16 games. What’s he going to do when the weather warms up and the balls start flying?
you could argue that his homerun production is better than everyone else (using a metric again) but even at that rate he is mid 40’s for homerun which means he would need to increase his overall production 25% to get to even 60.
btw Judges hits a homerun every 3.15 games while Alonso 3.5 as of yesterdays stats. or judge hits a homerun every 11.5 at bats vs alonsos 13. So again injuries played a role and if you want to talk about the wrist injury how many injuries did judge play through his last couple of years as well as switching positions and dealing with lingering toe issues now.
I love Alonso but i dont think he is hitting the 60 .. i say low mid 50s and probably beats his rookie record. but doesnt hit the 60.
He walks more?
I could see it. FB% is up from 47.7% to 54.7% (yes it’s early).
If you actually believe that 46 HR, 115 RBI hitters fall off trees, or that a quad A platoon could approach those numbers, then literally you’re an idiot.
Roki Sasaki should be on this list shouldn’t he? I’d imagine he’d be ranked 2-3.
At his age, I think his total contract will exceed even Burnes.
If he comes over next year teams will only be able to use their international spending pools to sign him.
After Soto and Burnes, the quality falls off a cliff. I ez0ect a repeat of this year… many FA seriously over estimating thier worth.
Soto is a Boros client… expect a 1 year pillow deal. LOL
I get these rankings are apples to oranges and a market for Soto is different from a market for Burnes etc but Kim should be higher much than 9.
I believe Kim is better than 9th but defense doesn’t always get paid on the free agent market.
I’d definitely take him over Adams, who’s ranked 8th. Not saying Adams is a bad player, just a bit more up and down.
Adames should not be allowed to use Baez and Story as compareables unless it is felt that Baez and Story were good contracts. As both appear to be overpays, they shouldn’t even be mentioned by his agent.
For his career, he’s been league average based on wRC+. I think he’s overvalued but with all the big spending nowadays, I understand that we seem to overvalue everyone.
He’s a defense and speed player you shouldn’t only be looking at offense to judge him or any players for that matter.
If you looked at total WAR over the last 2 years I imagine he’s top 5. Perhaps top 3 I would have to look it up. But again defense doesn’t always get paid in free agency.
@Blackpink in the area
Fangraphs says last year, he should have made $34.7M based on his performance.
Yeah that’s crazy and he won’t get anywhere near that. But he is a darn good player.
Now there’s the stat to show anyone who uses fangraphs in any argument to show that they are useless.
Dude Fangraphs is one of the best sites on the planet for baseball. Their dollar per WAR projections are always high but in Kim’s case it’s because defense and speed don’t get paid on the free agent market. And keep in mind that is only for 1 year. Fangraphs would project a decline for Kim therefore less money per year.
They are one of the best? They don’t even scout people but rank prospects. What a world we live in.
@Mets6986??
Wow. Let me guess, you use ESPN for your sports data.
No I use accumulation of all of them but do you think ESPN stats are inaccurate? Do you think they cant calculate stats? I guess Fangraphs has the only people who can do math.
WAR is the best tool to judge a baseball players contributions to his team. Fangraphs is a great site one of the best around.
In general, WAR overrates defense (and baserunning) compared to offense (except at catcher) in the first place.
I like Kim more than the rest of these guys. Alonso’s OPS over the past 4 years is .848. ~ 3.8 bWAR/650. Good stats, but not great, and he’ll be 30. Bregman same thing. He has a Chapman vibe going. Some of these guys are good players, but I expect a ton of over-payments next year.
@JoeBrady Weight the last 4 seasons beginning in 2021 by recency and Alonso drops to 3.5 bWAR / season.
He’s a nice complementary player to have, but his OBP is a prosaic .338, his SLG barely tops .500 each year, and in 2023 the Mets were just 0.8 bWAR better than the NL average at 1B.
A nice complementary player who will be paid like a star, and who wants to be paid like a superstar. It may not be pretty. Nimmo took a smart approach. He announced on Nov 6, and signed with the Mets on Dec 10. Could he have gotten another few million by sitting it out until mid February? Maybe, but maybe the Mets move on and he ends up getting 5/125m from Colorado. Nimmo was smart. He weighed the offers after a great year for him, and got it done.
Who knows what nonsense will occur if Alonso feels ‘dissed.’
I’m amongst the biggest Kim fans, and he’s having a rough start to ’24. Already has 4 errors (he only had 7 last year) and his .215 BA almost seems high with how much he has floundered. Small sample size, I know… and I hope he turns it around sooner rather than later, but maybe he’s playing down his next contract if he can’t snap out of it.
I wouldn’t be too concerned. His hitting, BABIP adjusted is perfectly in line with last year. The defense I don’t know about, but unless it gets inside his head, he seems to consistent to not revert back to form.
Time to ask the RS what they think of him, though I doubt the RS will over-commit this year.
I totally agree with you about Kim. He’s had a rough start to the season. I believe he recorded just his 2nd or 3rd multi-hit game of the season over the weekend. IMO, Kim seems to be trying to hit the long ball every AB this year. Hence the reason why he’s hitting only .215 and he’s well on pace for a career high in K’s. I know he’s not a .300+ type career hitter, but with his speed and bat to ball ability, he can roll out of bed and hit .260+. I think his upcoming FA could be the reason why he’s really trying to lift the ball more this year, but now that they have Arraez hitting leadoff they’ve moved Kim down to the 7/8 hole, his “all or nothing” approach could continue.
I can easily see Kim at #8, but offense is just that much more valuable than defense (except at catcher) to put him any higher than that.
No way is Blake Snell ever better then Max Fried.
He was last year…….
Yes no wasn’t. Fried was just hurt for half the year.
So, Blake was better by default, eh?
No he just wasn’t better. Line up 30 GMs and 30 GMs are calling Fried. I think we just saw that this off season do we not?
“What has Fried done for me lately?” – Janet Jackson
Well better then snell.
but snell can get me out of making crystal….. wait i was thinking of saul my bad lol
Lot of inconsistent players. And a lot of Boras clients. As a Cardinals fan I have been looking at the top 1b options if Goldschmidt is traded or signs elsewhere in the offseason. Alonso is a bit of an idiot and Boras client. Bell and Hoskins both Boras clients. It looks like it’s Goldschmidt or Christian Walker.
The Cardinals could always move Gorman to first or even try Contreras at first. They have plenty of depth at second.
Gorman has never played 1B before. (Also, neither has Walker.) Even at 1B, you can’t just assume you can move someone there. *cough* Matt Holiday *cough*.
Now, Donovan can play 1B, but it seems likes such a waste of his versatility to lock him into being the starting 1B like that.
Gorman has played infield his entire career. He’s shown a capability to change positions quite well. Of the available players, I consider him the most likely to succeed at first. Holliday had never played an infield position.
If Hoskins is considered a 1B option just about anyone with a glove could be.
He very well could succeed at 1B given how well he learned to play 2B.
However, that still doesn’t necessarily mean Gorman can play 1B decently until/when the Cardinals give him a chance to play the position, perhaps in the Fall Leagues. That means they shouldn’t hamstring their early offseason activity based on the assumption they can move Gorman to 1B. If they can come to a good deal to resign Goldschmidt or quickly find a good deal to grab a different starting 1B to their liking, they should do it.
Harper*cough*Harper
I could also see them signing Hoskins. Boras client or not, he shouldn’t be that expensive. It’s not like he broke the bank for the Brewers this past offseason.
Bregman to the Tigers next year. Book it! Done deal.
What do you have against the Tigers?
What do you have against Bregman?
Where does Jung play then? Love Bregman’s bat, but LF is the open spot with Canha on a one and done.
When Keith was drafted I remember reading mention that he could get shifted to the OF eventually. He’s looked good at 2B so far though. Perhaps Jung could be transitioned to the OF or used as trade bait in a package to fill another need (a young MLB ready SS to take over from Baez and/or a young catcher).
I’m not sure if the Yanks will land Soto but they should definitely be able to land Ha-Seong Kim and one of either Monty or Fried.
I don’t see them even trying Monty. He’s going to want too much, imo. Plus with Cabrera coming around and Peraza coming back, I don’t think they will pursue Kim.
If they land Soto (BIG if), I think that will be their offseason for the most part.
But, I’d rather have Soto than Ohtani, honestly. Soto is better offensively, he’s younger, and unless Ohtani can resume pitching at his former levels, Soto is the better value.
Financial implications aside, got be favourites for Soto. It’s all still honeymoon period, but it looks a lot like a match made in heaven.
Boras is also going to be a very busy man. Workload and recent experiences might push him to get something done with someone prior to FA.
@yc
hope your doing well and remember “we die young”
my question can hal “afford” soto i know his old man would of had him and oh signed before breakfast of 19 lol. in all seriousness will hal even sign off on a soto deal with so much money on the books, it always felt to me since hal took over is he spends just enough to say look we’re in the top payroll but never willing to get that one piece to get over the top because of “taxes” but George was already writing out the taxes checks for the next 2 seasons in advance.
Brodie: I hope you’re doing well, my friend. Honestly, I don’t think he will spend what is necessary to secure Soto long term. He has surprised me before, but I just don’t see it with the competition there will likely be for Soto’s bat.
@yc
i’m doing well, but i have to wonder over the last few years have both our teams seem to accept a “well we tried attitude” and that’s that. it feels like both our teams are doing what is necessary to put fans in the seats not the drive to win a chip.
Agree completely, Brodie. It’s like the owners just decided that giving it effort is good enough. Honestly, I have to wonder how much the non-spending teams have impacted them too. As we see, the A’s franchise can piss on its fanbase and tell them it’s raining, but they’re still fans of the team. Likewise with the Pirates and other teams that perpetually tank, but obviously not to the degree the A’s org. has disrespected its fans.
It’s also why I think splitting all MLB profits evenly will only hurt the sport; there will be no incentive to win or spend. Heck, there’s almost no incentive to win now.
@yc
i completely agree shared revenues only hurt the teams wanting to win and benefit the a’s of the world. what i think is truly ruining the game are owners more focused on profits and not enough owners that had that edge george had, love him or hate him (i only hated him because of jealousy) he didn’t care about profit margins only rings.
Better value? Or better player? Kinda hard to determine value when we don’t know the price for Adam Dunn II.
I think Fried wants to go to the west coast.
I’d agree with that. I think he ends up with the Dodgers or Angels.
The Mets their $$ this year for next, the Mets need 1,2,4 and either 10 or Buehler. If the Mets couldn’t resign Alonso, Christian Walker would be good. The Mets need to trade McNeil and Marte, let Quintana, Severino, Bader go and let some of the kids come up, Acuna 2b, Jett Williams CF, Butto and Scott to replace Quintana and Severino.
Saved their $$ this year for next , I meant
Bellinger top 10 and Orioles Anthony Santander not even mentioned. Quiz every GM in the league who they would prefer signing between these two. IMO betcha Santander gets more votes because of more consistent productivity … and besides he’s much less expensive.
Christian Walker continues to be the most underrated slugger in MLB! In the last two years he has hit 69 HR, with 197 RBI. Has multiple Gold Gloves at 1b and even stole 11 bases last year.
Dbacks love him and because he is so underrated, will probably re-sign him to a very reasonable multi-year contract. So thanks for overlooking him.
I feel ya. Orioles, enamored with Chris Davis, let CW slip away back in the day.
@scottaz
walker seems like he would be a good fit to be that next face of az just like goldie was for so long. they have a lot of similarities both quiet mvp caliber players that seem to get overlooked. tbh as much as i love goldie it just doesn’t feel right he’s playing with my birds and not in az
3.1 WAR, 105 OPS+, with 26 HR average the last 3 seasons. That is who he is as a player. Slightly above average. Probably worth a Chapman-type offer.
Shouldn’t Munetaka Murakami be an honorable mention?
P
Like I’ve always said….the people can and will pay that much are drying up. And the ones that did, already have and can no longer.
Just because a top bid for player was $X = THAT IS NOT THE FLOOR, IT IS THE CEILING.
It takes a really good agent to change that…or a crumbling economy.
It is an embarrassment to the world a baseball player gets paid that much. Explains why the world is crumbling, misplaced values.
It’s a must that the Yankees sign Soto for extension this off season even that means bye-bye Torres.
I don’t think the Yankees have any intent to sign Gleyber.
Yankees are going to corner the market on DHs that will be forced to play the field.
J.D. Martinez: “What about me ? I’m elite.”
(joking)
I hope Cody Bellinger doesn’t opt out. Unless PCA is absolutely ready. I’d rather have Belli in CF.
I’ve heard many rumors about Pete Alonso going to the Cubs. Michael Busch has been great thus 5. Five straight games with a homerun. He’s on the short list of players in cubs history that have done that.
Busch is a stud. It was only a matter of time before he broke through. True power bat. I think the Cubs have found their long term 1b.
Any talk about alex bregman should end with stellar postseason play. He leads in several 3b stats All Time when games matter. If you hate him because of the sign stealing scandal that’s your prerogative but he was basically a rookie in 2017. Is a rookie going to tell a slew of vets we can’t do this? No. He also a spectacular defender in the playoffs. He cares about winning as much as any player ive ever watched. His only downside is he always has a terrible April.
He’s definitely in decline.
And you can forget any postseason highlights from the Astros this year.
It’s amusing, anyway, that in 2024 anyone really believes ‘clutch’ exists.
Sorry, but it doesn’t. Baseball’s a cool game, but 90% of it is stories made up to pretend to explain what in reality are random events.
Steve, very surprised that there has been no article on here about John Sterling retiring. Seems to me to be one of the biggest headlines in sports today.
All indications are that Soto is going to ask for 15 years and in excess of $40 million AAV. A %600 million or higher deal. If he continues playing like he has so far this season, he will undoubtedly get it.
From who?
Cohen is know to be enamored with Soto. The Yankees are also a very definite option. The Dodgers and Giants don’t have anyone in LF or RF that would block him. The Angels are known for signing position players to monster contracts. The Phillies or Blue Jays might be in that mix.
He wants to be under the big lights in a huge market so no matter how much they offer its not going to be a small or mid market team.
He will get signed to a record deal for a position player. Who do you think will sign him?
No one for 600 mil.
That ship has sailed. Ohtani ALREADY got $700 million.
MLB is projecting $13.5 billion in revenue for 2024 or an average of $450 million per team. That means >>$40 million AAV for arguably the best offensive player in baseball is affordable for most teams. That is what Soto will get.
Soto is 25, so he will get 14 or 15 years. You do the math.
The Mets and Yankees are the most obvious landing spots and paying a record contract is not an impediment to signing him
He will get neither 40 million a year nor 15 years.
Ohtani has a contract which has a future value of $700MM. Current value was $450MM. Unless you use future value on every contract, be consistent. The Press did it for headlines and clicks.
I seriously doubt it. How many players get 15 years? If someone is crazy enough to offer him $600M, I hope it is the Yankees.
25 year old players that are the best hitters in baseball.
It might be the Red Sox. They have certainly been cheap lately and they have a spot for him.
Whos going to DH? Red Sox don’t have enough choices?
He turned down 15/500+ extension from the Padres. He wants to equal or surpass the contracts Scherzer/Verlander got.
Just because he turned it down doesn’t mean he’s getting better offers.
Yes. Yes it does. Have you seen him play? Or do you just argue to argue?
It seems you do. How many guys turned down offers last year and ended up taking worse offers. I have seen him play. He’s way over valued. He’s not the best offensive player in the game like you say and not even close. Betts, Acuna, Freeman, Judge, Trout Ohtani are all in a class above him. I would take Riley, Olson, Witt , Carroll,Rodriguez, Henderson over the life of your 15 year contract instead of him. He draws a lot of walks. An overvalued stat in the modern age.
How many teams had issues with their TV deals last season?
Soto is a top 5 player in MLB over the last 3 seasons. fangraphs.com/leaders/major-league?pos=all&st…
He is what he is. One of the best players in baseball and the only one that is a FA this offseason.
That you think he is overvalued is irrelevant. What owners like Cohen, Steinbrenner, Johnson, etc… think is all that matters. They have all been linked to interest in him.
How are they linked to him? The Mets didn’t offer anything when he was available for trade twice. The fact that he has been shipped off twice should tell you something. Teams don’t want to pay nearly what he wants. Just because writers put fantasy rumors out there doesn’t make them real. Owners would be punished alot if the showed interest in future free agents currently under contract.
Was it “jaw dropping “ that Soto turned down that huge deal from the Nationals though? The Nationals were clearly in rebuild mode, a fact that was conveniently left out. Why would he sign an extension with them when he was pretty much the only star left and he would be giving up a chance to play for a winner during a big chunk of his prime years? He was smart to not sign that deal.
Is it about the money, or about winning?
The Mets have have save some money with Alonso considering Matt Busch was gift wrapped to the cubs from the dodgers.
A good gm would have acquired a Matt Busch then traded Alonso to the cubs for a group of young players.
Not being a Monday morning qb, but when your prize 1st basemen can walk, you have to think ahead.
I’ll let David Stearns know he should start thinking about next year, he really needs to hear that information.
Matt Busch is a 36 year old pitcher BTW. Michael Busch is the 26 year old who has been in the league for 40 games.
Bregman at 3 is a bit of a stretch. More like 7th in my opinion, with everyone else moving up a notch. He strikes me as another potential Anthony Rendon, minus the defense.
@padam Agreed. Bregman’s a nice player, a 4-5 win guy who’ll be 31 and whose best years, 2018 and 2019, he hasn’t been close to since.
If the Astros made him a serious offer, he should have taken it. Even 5/130m for 31-35 should have gotten it done. Bregman’s 2020 and 2021 were just way too weak for him to be holding out for a little more—and it might be a lot less.
Boras has like 6 of the top 7 here if I’m not mistaken. And I believe Montgomery dropped him otherwise he’d have 7 of the top 10. That’s great for boras but if I’m a player, I’m concerned he will prioritize the soto’s of the world over me. Ie, if I’m Pete, I’m finding a new agent and doing so quick. Same with Snell. Snell already got shafted with boras guidance and Pete is a different tier than the others in my opinion, which may get him stuck in a contract much like this years nightmare. Just my opinion.. but I’d like a guy who’s gonna have my best interest at heart and not others would will be a bigger focus
Did they forget about Carlos Santana?
I can see Burnes and Soto getting paid but beyond that, there isn’t a lot of value after that. Most of those guys are average at best or beyond their peak and in decline.
I would take Fried over Snell everyday of the week and twice in the postseason.
Even the big dollar teams want young and excitement teams.
Anthony Rendon and a few others destroyed free agency.
The Mets, Red Sox, and Cubs are taking the new approach
I think Juan Soto is a perfect fit for Yankee stadium, but I just can’t see how the Yankees can afford him. Soto is going to get over $40 mil a year… he’s worth it. The Yankees are already past the luxury cap. They have some decent contracts leaving… Rizzo ($17M), Torrez ($14M), Verdugo ($8M). But that still leaves them with some huge contracts… Judge ($40), Stanton ($32), Cole ($36), Rodon ($27), DJ ($15), Stroman ($18). That’s $168 mil right there. Then they have Holmes as a free agent and Cortes in arbitration. Those will be pretty big contracts.
I just don’t see how the Yankees can do it without blasting past the $300 mil mark… AGAIN!
I swear to god if I see another article saying that the mariners could trade for or sign Pete Alonso I’m going to quit baseball it’s so sad how the m’s went from above average top 10 spending to below average salary dump musical chairs trading
I know the feeling… I’m a Tiger fan. Tigers had one of the top payrolls in the game. They had some of the greatest players of that era and then now they are shopping from the clearance bin. Pudge, Magglio, Kenny Rogers, Joe Nathan, Miggy, Sheffield, VMart, Prince, Tori, Verlander, Scherzer, Price, Carlos Guillen, Polanco, Renteria, Granderson… now we are supposed to get excited about Maeda and Flaherty. How depressing.
It’s so sad when owners decide that their profits matter more than the state of their team, it looks like that is starting to happen in Boston
Starting?
Forgot Anthony Santander
Bregman is listed way too high. He is definitely in decline, and unless he lands in a home park with a short and cozy LF, his power numbers will fade as well. And he’s no Gold Glove, by far.
I’d have him at the bottom of the 10 or in the Honorable Mentions.
StatCast. Search for Bregman. Scroll down to Expected Home Runs by Park.
He would have hit 29 or more home runs in 8 other parks last season.
Unless Bregman regains 2019 mvp form (which will never happen again) he is top 5, I’ve always thought he was overrated he is the master of the 800 OBS since 2020
The Orioles are so good that they don’t need any position player on this list.
And they’ve already got Burnes.
Here’s hoping they keep him.
Yankees need to do whatever it takes to unload Stanton to save at least some money. Say Good bye to Stanton, Torres and Rizzo will hopefully help the Yankees bring back Soto. I however think the Yankees will refuse to pay Soto more than Capt Judge.
I really can’t stand the Yankees but they could really have a great team. If Rizzo and Torrez walk and they can somehow find someone to take on Stanton, then I’m sure there’d be a way to keep Soto. That makes holes at 1B and 2B though. 2B can be filled by DJ. Maybe they can work Spencer Jones at 1B, he could be a big power source from the left side. Volpe at SS and Cabrera at 3B. Jasson Dominguez in CF with Judge in RF and Soto in left. Wells at C and rotation at DH with Grisham as 4th OFer. That’s a pretty solid lineup.
Only way they could deal Stanton is if they get his approval and they attach a decent prospect or 2 and a whole lot of money. He is owed $96 mil over the next 3+ years.
Mets will go after Soto but I don’t think they’ll get him
Adams still has no clue. “Excellent as his 2023 campaign was” is NOT PROPER ENGLISH. You can’t just leave “as” out to start the sentence. Grammar isn’t optional. Also, there should never be a comma before “too.” Style guides did away with that requirement long ago. Get with the times, you hack.
Soto:
Already comments from Yankees fans as to why Soto is so insistent on waiting for walks instead of driving in more runs in clutch situations with men on base.
Soto tries to pad his stats for the next contract.
The Yankees didn’t trade for Soto to wait for walks.
They traded for Soto to protect Judge and drive in runs.
Soto is having a great career stats wise
(except for his selfishness and deferring to walks instead of driving in runs in some clutch situations.
And, there is the 2nd half of ‘2022 after the trade deadline
when Soto chocked for the Padres and played like a 5 million dollar player.
The New York media won’t let Soto get lazy like he did
after the trade deadline with San Diego in the 2nd half of ’22.
choked,
If the Yankees sign Soto to a 500M deal
will they be getting the potential Hall of Fame player Soto?!
OR will the NYY be getting another Giancarlo Stanton 2.0?!
Once the deal is done and the pressure to produce is off with a Boras
guaranteed long term contract, then I would not be surprised
to see the “wheels come off a blockbuster, long-term Soto contract
at least halfway through that deal
(flush at least half what ever a team pays Soto right down the toilet and get Giancarlo Stanton 2.0 or San Diego Padres Soto 2ns half ’22 production in multiple years on that deal).
Soto doesn’t have trouble staying in the lineup. Stanton OTOH began missing a lot of games when he was just 22. They Yankees might have wanted to notice that prior to his MVP year Stanton was a 4-win player. He was no superstar. Stanton 2022-2024: .204/.287/.446.
What I’d want to know is, How does Soto feel about being a full time DH? Even at 25 he’s slow. By 28 he may simply be too slow to field a position. How does he feel about 1B? It’s easy to say anyone can play first, but does he have the quickness the position requires?
He was the starting DH in just 15 games in his career. Can he do it? Does he want to? Or in 3 years is the team that signs him going to be putting Kyle Schwarber 2.0 out there because Soto refuses to DH full time
Does the team that signs him also want to watch the longest decline phase in history, running him out there until he’s 42 because they’re paying him 30m a year for 17 years? Or will they be willing to cut him when he’s 37, and eat that last $180 million when he’s just too slow even to run the bases?
Are those the same people that say hot dogs should cost $8, a Coke $8, a beer (mini) $12 and parking $25?
What is their interest?
Based on what?
Experts or conspirators?
Who’s idea was these mini beers, anyways?
Certainty do not have my best interests in mind. Mini beers prove MLB does not have your back, does not care about you and are playing everyone for chumps.
Baseball is being turned into a sham, a scam and a flim flam……