For a long time, talk of the 2011-12 winter revolved around the four first basemen who would hit the market at once. Prince Fielder remains on track to become a free agent after the season, but the class won't be as memorable as it could have been. Albert Pujols could sign an extension within 24 hours, Adrian Gonzalez will probably sign an extension within two months and Ryan Howard is locked up through 2016.
But even though top first basemen are signing long-term deals, next year's free agent class figures to be strong at second base. While Orlando Hudson, and Juan Uribe highlighted the 2010-11 offseason, the upcoming class of free agents figures to feature more stars at second.
Robinson Cano ($14MM club option), Brandon Phillips ($12MM club option) and Aaron Hill (series of club options) could all hit the open market, though it seems likely that their current clubs will retain them, at least through 2012.
Two Bay Area second basemen, Mark Ellis and Freddy Sanchez, are set to hit free agency after the 2011 season. So are Kelly Johnson, who just avoided arbitration, and Rickie Weeks, who is working to do the same. (The Brewers are still discussing a multiyear deal with Weeks, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. I wouldn't be surprised to see the sides reach a deal before long, since they are up against a deadline and Johnson, a top comparable for Weeks, just settled.) Clint Barmes, Omar Infante and Jose Lopez are on track to hit free agency after the season and early non-tender candidate Ryan Theriot could also hit the open market.
Some of the players above will sign extensions or see their options exercised, but teams looking to add proven players should have a deeper than usual class of second basemen to choose from next offseason.
If Aaron Hill doesn’t get his act together he could very easily find himself a FA after the 2011 season.
Kelly Johnson and Brett Lawrie at 2nd and 3rd by 2012? We know they’ve targeted Johnsn in the past
alternatively you can have an infield of
Hechavarria, Lawrie and Esco in 2012. .
Are you happy with the possibility of Hech and Esco being an awesome defensive pairing but terrible at the dish?
Poor wording.
What do you think the liklihood is that they’ll be even average at the plate. Esco could rebound, but aside from his hot start, remained wholly underwhelming after the trade last year. It’s also great that all reports indicate Hech’s defense will carry him to the majors, but I’ve yet to really see anyone who’s convinced he’ll hit.
Escobar has a track record of high OBP, so i’m not worried about him. Lots of scouts say that Hechevarria has potential to grow power, he’s just too thin right now.
Hill’s peak OBP is .320-.330 (in a good year)
If I could get .360 out of Hech and good defense
and .380 out of Esco and good defense
then I’d take that over what Hill brings to the table any day
a .360 OBP from Hech seems awfully optimistic to me, though i do think he’ll hit for average and a bit of power
There’s something in the water in Toronto. They have players that have random ginormous career years there. i.e. Aaron Hill, Jose Bautista, Adam Lind
Lind had great stats in the minors so I wouldn’t include him, but yeah, the other two are a little sketchy
Hill isn’t sketchy. He’ll probably be somewhere in between ’09 and ’10 with this year’s performance and will most likely lean closer to ’09. Having a .197 BABIP tends to kill your batting line.
That .197 BABIP has to be taken with a grain of salt, you can say he was unlucky
You could also say his swing got so long that he never really hit the ball square.
I like Aaron Hill the man, but Aaron Hill, the player has just never gotten on base enough to be a premier middle infielder.
i just wish he could take a walk. If he could, he wouldn’t be far behind Pedroia or Cano
Even in his break out year, his silver slugger year, his obp was .330 ..
pretty pathetic if you ask me
The problem is though that is EVERY Jays player not named Jose Bautista. The team as a whole has to start getting on more. It’s ok to have one or two guys that swing for the fences and have low OBP but if the whole team is like that you have problems. I am a Red Sox fan in Toronto and I want the Jays to be competitive, but if they can’t get on then they will have problems competing in 2011.
we have a couple OBP guys Bautista, Escobar, and possibly Lind.
Snider eventually as well.
i dunno about snider. I can see him mashing, but I can’t see him walking much. Something like .350/.550 at best, though that would be pretty good.
He’s .302/.376/.530 in the minors.
Before he got hurt he was on a tear..
I seem to have higher hopes then most people do.. time will tell tho
2010 OBP Lind .287, Escobar .337 those are not good OBP’s. And I said Bautista had a good OBP in my post.
Sell out!
just kidding…
but in all seriousness I don’t the=ink plan IS to compete in 2011.. trading away Marcum and to a lesser extent Wells signifies that AA is going to be patient and do things right
Every team wants to contend. And with NY and Tampa being weaker the Jays certainly can contend.
I don’t think we’d bat an eye over his low OBP if he went back to 30+ HRs.
I would. I really don’t care how many HRs he hits. If he doesn’t get on-base, then he’s not likely to be productive offensively
Hey… are you me?
I’ve said the same thing a million times to people.. From middle infielders I want OBP and defense first, power second.
twins separated at birth?
If my A’s don’t extend/re-sign Ellis (and they’ll probably take a wait-and-see approach), I’d love to see them go after Infante. And then if Weeks, Cardenas or Sogard are ready to take the reigns next summer at 2B, Infante could then slide over to 3B and replace Kouz (assuming they still haven’t found a way to replace him by then).
I love the fit. But then again, I’m sure a lot of GMs would love the fit for their team, as well.
This guy could be highly sought after if he stays solid in 2011. Next year’s 3B market doesn’t look real spectacular, either, from what I can tell.
I doubt they resign Ellis. I know they are talking about moving cardenas to third. So if they all perform as they should that’ll leave Cardenas at 3, Green at SS, and Weeks at second. of course it never works how it’s supposed to in oakland so we’ll see.
Carlos Guillen….
You forgot about Luis Castillo….;)
Aaron Hill will be the Blue Jays third baseman at the end of 2011.
are we getting cano?
hmmm
Imagine Esco at 2B, Hech at SS and Lawrie at 3B
ooh that sounds nice.. If Lind turns in to a credible 1B thats a very nice infield
Wish Jim Hendry got Kelly Johnson last year for Theriot. Now were stuck with a Blake DeWitt/Jeff Baker combo
I’m not so sure about BP being a for sure $12 club option type… I could see an extension though.
Perfect guys for my red sox
So when can Uribe be traded??
Yea, I think the Jays believed that the infield was settled but they still coveted KJs strong OBP, so they offered him an everyday LF job.