Free Agency Signings
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@Dolenz_PSN
Already acknowledged in the main post. Honestly shocked St. Louis spent money. -
@TheBigPapa55_PSN said in Free Agency Signings:
@Dolenz_PSN
Already acknowledged in the main post. Honestly shocked St. Louis spent money.They lost a lot of pitching between the trade deadline and trading Sonny Gray and Mikolas' contract expiring. They had spend some on pitching while they try and trade for more to replenish it. There is no guarantee on the trade front though so you hedge your bet with a 1 year deal.
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@Dolenz_PSN
I miss when the Cardinals were relevant. -
@TheBigPapa55_PSN said in Free Agency Signings:
@Dolenz_PSN
I miss when the Cardinals were relevant.I am hoping Bloom can get them back to that point but I acknowledge that it will take some time.
They have to restock the farm and find ways to better develop those young players. Too many of our hyped prospects of late have failed or fallen off when reaching the MLB team.
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Merrill Kelly back to Arizona - what a shocker
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Am I the only one confused about Ha-Seong Kim getting a 1 year - 20 million dollar contract from the Braves? Is his glovework really all that valuable?
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@TheBigPapa55_PSN turned down 4 for 48 million from the A's because he wanted to hit free agency again next year
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BREAKING: KELLER TO THE PHILLIES - WEAVER TO THE METS
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WE STOLE ANOTHER YANKEE!!! At this point we are the Yankees bullpen.
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Sorry for being a bit inactive on here the last couple of days. Don't worry, I updated the OP with the signings and trades (separate thread) that I missed. I do want to touch base on what we should be keeping our eyes on as the Christmas holidays arrive.
Munetaka Murakami to Sign Monday
The highly touted Japanese slugger is on his way to the MLB very soon. His deadline to sign with an MLB team before having to return to the NPB is precisely at 5:00 PM ET. What's his market looking like you may ask? Well, none of us really know. There's only a scarce amount, if any, of reports linking Murakami to certain teams. We can always speculate that teams like the Dodgers, Mets, Blue Jays, Red Sox, Yankees, Mariners, and more will be in the bidding for him, but there's no clear frontrunner. It's gotten to the point that the White Sox have been rumored to be willing to spend to get the 25-year-old slugger. Murakami has some of the best raw power we've seen for a long time - think of Ohtani or Schwarber just at 25. You can actually compare Schwarber to Murakami in a lot of statistics. They both are elite when it comes to power and they both strike out often. However, Murakami whiffs more than Schwarber, especially on fastballs 95 MPH and above, which is a glaring red flag, especially in the MLB. There are concerns that his whiff and strikeout rates will only increase when he faces major league pitching, which is definitely a few steps above the NPB's slew of aces. He's a third baseman but doesn't bring a whole lot to the table defensively, so expect him to see some serious playing time at first base or even DH. He also has middling speed so his value on the basepath isn't all that enticing. However, his consistent home run swing and 55-60 home run potential will most likely land him a long-term contract well north of 100 million dollars. The question is: who will sign him? As usual, the Dodgers are always in on every top free agent of their respective class and have swiped away many talented ballplayers from the KBO and NPB in the last couple of years like Ohtani, Yamamoto, Sasaki, and Kim, so that could be a selling point for Andrew Friedman to pair up Murakami with his former WBC teammates. However, with pretty much every position on the diamond filled with significant quality talent, it would take at least one major trade to see a real place for Murakami to fit. This means they would either have to trade Max Muncy or Teoscar Hernandez, both of which are unlikely. Murakami has taken some outfield reps in the past, but he would only be serviceable out there at best. I think either the Mets or Red Sox are the most logical options for Murakami. The Mets don't really have an established DH and need another big bat to at least somewhat make up for the thump they lost in Alonso. He and Jorge Polanco could split time between first base and DH, or the Mets could slot him in over Mark Vientos or Brett Baty at third. Both aren't great defenders and Murakami is a slight improvement over both. As for the Red Sox, they've almost all but given up on Triston Casas and will most likely move him in the offseason. They've missed out on many of this class' top names, so maybe now they'll finally cash in.
Kyle Tucker Has to Get a Deal Done by the New Year
December certainly is the month where the top names in free agency fall off the board. It's been the trend for years now. Soto, Ohtani, Judge, Turner, and now Schwarber and Alonso have inked deals either right before, during, or right after the Winter Meetings. At the very least, sometime in December is mostly the time when these big names sign. Tucker, the biggest name of this year's class, looks lined-up to earn a deal worth over 400 million dollars. However, he doesn't really have a clear market. There haven't been any linkings between him and interested teams other than the fact that he drove to the Blue Jays' Spring Training facility, which isn't that much of a big deal given he's only driving distance away from their facility. The Blue Jays, Dodgers, and Mets are the clear frontrunners but this is purely speculatory. Toronto could use some more thump from the outfield especially with Springer entering his final year under contract, and they've been linked to Tucker the most. However, they've already signed Dylan Cease to a hefty deal and are probably focusing heavily on Bo Bichette more than anyone. The Dodgers expressed interest in Tucker early in the offseason, but their front office expressed their interests to not spend as heavily as they have in the last two offseasons. And with their glut of talent at pretty much every position and with a great farm system, they'll most likely only pursue Tucker aggressively if he's willing to sign short term. That leaves the Mets once again, who already traded Brandon Nimmo to free up their crowd of outfielders. With that, they don't have an established left fielder on the depth charts for next season. They could call-up Carson Benge, but with Steve Cohen's net worth you can never rule out New York. They've already expressed interest in Tucker while also keeping in touch with Cody Bellinger, who is the older but cheaper option while producing numbers nearly parallel to Tucker's. If the Mets were to sign King Tuck then they'd most likely move Soto back to left field and slot in the 28-year-old lefty. You could also add in the Yankees, but they're currently aggressively pursuing Bellinger and with their trend of barely spending a dime this offseason, I don't expect anything big from them. Anyway, let me know your thoughts.
Edit: Yo where the [censored] did Tyler Austin just spawn from?
