Email a copy of 'Finding A Landing Spot For David Freese' to a friend
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By Steve Adams | at
Email a copy of 'Finding A Landing Spot For David Freese' to a friend
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benharvey26
I like Pittsburgh as a fit. Relying heavily on Kang to provide left infield offense is pretty risky. Shoring up with Freese could be a really good move.
BigGiantHead
I like it too. This would work!
bradleybaseball
Reports seem to be that Kang is progressing well from his injury. I would rather see any available financial assets remaining to be used to shore up the roster at the deadline and make do with in-house options in the infield for the time being.
bleacherbum
Agree, honestly Pittsburgh has had a sneaky good offseason with some low risk pick-ups especially for the back of the rotation and the pen. With Nicasio, Niese, Feliz, Ohflarety, Luebke and Lobstien. All of those guys are really really good gambles and honestly if 2-3 of them can be close to what they were in the past then that is a huge plus for the Buc O’s.
tycobb016
got burned by freese last year in fantasy league. drafted him backup and my starter got hurt.
herecomethephillies2018
Wow, crazy story
batman
Unless the take-out slides rule gets changed, I doubt the Pirates move Kang to short. Also, the infield is beyond filled, especially at the corners/2b with Kang, Rogers, Morse, Jaso, Harrison, and eventually Hanson. If anything, the pirates need a better backup short stop instead of relying on the all glove no hit P-Flo
genef
I think he’d be a great fit for the Mets. He could back up Wright at third (which means 30-40 starts, or more if Wright’s back acts up again), get 20-30 starts against lefthanders at first, and be a RH threat off the bench. Flores could remain as the backup 2b-ss, and Matt Reynolds is available in Las Vegas as the callup should there be an injury in the middle infield. This would mean the release of Tejada, but I believe Freese makes the Mets a better team than Tejada.
ExileInLA 2
I’d been thinking about that – but Freese hasn’t played anywhere but 3B since 2011 and only has 9 career games at 1B.
I’d rather play Reynolds at SS and Wilmer at 3B than Freese at 3B and Wilmer at SS.
seamaholic 2
Seems like a Braves type move. Cheap, one year deal to make the team a little more watchable, and they probably have the worst 3B arrangement in baseball right now. If it doesn’t work out, meh, who cares.
RunDMC
I thought this would be one of the moves ATL made before they brought in Beckham, then signed Johnson. To me, neither seems likely to play the hot corner if Adonis Garcia doesn’t work out.
AUTiger7222
I’m fully expecting a platoon of Garcia and KJ at 3B. As big of a surprise as Garcia was last year he had pretty huge platoon splits. Against LHP he was awesome hitting .328/.344/.638 but was pretty awful against RHP at .256/.270/.436. If KJ can hit as well as he did last year (.275/.321/.451 w/ ATL) then they could form a pretty good platoon that would be just as productive, if not more, than David Freese. As far as defense goes none of them are very good. Beckham is a solid glove man but his offense has never been there. I wouldn’t expect him to do much of anything.
Kapler's Coconut Oil
I came here for a poll, and there wasn’t one, how disappointing
nixon07
im sure you love poll, you mo.
tycobb016
now there’s a real democrat. hahahahahaha
beauvandertulip
The only good solution for Freese is to drop the hot corner job and switch to 1B. His defense would be much better. And his market would be much better. A cheap 1B with good pop. He should start working out at 1B
bjsguess
The problem is that he doesn’t have good pop.
Over the past three seasons, adjusting for ballpark, Freese has been about 6% better than overall league average. Not league average for 3rd baseman, but league average overall.
He’s not getting any younger. There is no reason to believe that his bat will magically improve moving across the diamond. Unless he turns out to be a gold glover at 1B, I don’t see the match. His bat plays much better at 3B than it would at 1B.
ruthlesslyabsurd
Agreed. His value comes from the fact that he plays an offensively-challenged position. At 1B he’s a worse Doug Mientkiewicz
thecoffinnail
3rd is an offensively challenged position? Off the top of my head Wright, Longoria, Donaldson, Machado, Carpenter, Beltre, Bryant, Frazier, Seager, Zimmerman, and Franco (if it wasn’t for Panda, Ramirez would probably be here too) are all 3rd baseman and one of if not the best hitters on their respective teams. I would think 3rd would be one of the more offensively laden positions.
JMO2493
What about the reds they don’t have an incumbent at third and they could use him as a trade chip in July
Brixton
The Phillies on a 1 year pillow deal could be interesting.
They dump Howard, move Franco to 1B for a year, and sign Freese. Flip him at the deadline.
Bob M.
why would they move a huge piece of their future to 1b, when they are trying to help him stay at 3b for as long as possible… for a season of David Freese? Freese could play 1b, though. Not sure he is much a difference than Ruf though.
Brixton
Because Franco was awful at 3B
theo2016
And their team is awful, leave him there for another year and see if he improves. If not then you slide him to first or left. This is the time to let the kids develop. If he doesnt improve then maybe sign the cuban.
Brixton
Your replacing Howard with Freese. “Let the kids develop”
Henry Kassab
I like the thought of bringing him in on a 1 year deal as a possible option if Kang is not ready by April. But for the budget conscious Pirates, I don’t think they will want to offer anything more than a $2.0-$2.5 MM contract. Not sure if thats the kind of deal Freese is looking for.
timyanks
go back to st louis. right handed batting first base platoon, spell carpenter at third or some days move carpenter to second, freese to third and free wong.
A'sfaninUK
Why on earth would the Cardinals deliberately bench Matt Carpenter? He’s playing 150+ games depending on health.
Lance
I don’t know what the rookies coming up are like but on paper, getting Freese on STL isn’t a bad idea for one season…..IF the price is right and Freese is healthy. Adams, if he is healthy, can’t hit lefites to save his life. Giving Carpenter a rest now and then isn’t a bad idea—or Wong. It’s a long season. Don’t forget all the games they’ll need a DH as well.
timyanks
ask kershaw and bumgardner?sp if adams can’t hit lefties.
bleacherbum
That’s why they acquired Jed Gyorko, right handed bat that can play second & third and will be able to give Wong/Carpenter days off when needed especially against tough lefty’s.
Lance
he’s a career .197 hitter vs lefties…….basically a good hitting pitcher and every now and then they hit HR’s too.
bleacherbum
Hmm, Gyorko is owed 33 million over the next 4 years and the padres are paying 7.5 million of that. So in your terms St. Louis is going to be paying 25.5 million for a guy who’s production is exactly what you would get from a pitcher at the plate? Dang.
Lance
Adams is a .197 hitter vs lefties. Obviously, he’s in the show because he hits righties well.
timyanks
no one is benching carpenter, just giving him days off. the cardinals seem to like multiple players, playing multiple positions, and almost every day a different lineup. more flexibility. on days freese plays, carpenter could play 2nd, or even LF or RF. freese can play first and i think carpenter has played some at first. multiple possibilities.
bjsguess
His best fit by far is with the Angels. Asking price has got to be low this close to Spring Training. They should be able to land him for $5M or less. I’d slide Escobar over to 2nd base. Have Johnny Giavotella become your utility infielder and slot Freese at 3rd.
At $5M even if you go over the cap the penalty would be so incredibly low that it’s probably not even worth arguing over.
ryanw-2
I think re-signing him has always been the best move for them to make. But it obviously hasn’t happened… Yet. And remember that the luxury tax isn’t calculated until the end of the season so they can go over the limit now and then she’d salary as they go. It just makes too much sense because they could use a player like him in the bottom half of their lineup right now, a player who you know what you’re getting out there every time he’s in the lineup. That’s the anxiety Angels fans are feeling. And I think bringing Freese back and shedding salary from there would ease a lot of whining and crying from a very spoiled fanbase.
bleacherbum
I want him in San Diego but I think he will sign with ATL. Even though they have beefed up their minor league system with all the trades they have made in the last year and a half they still boost a veteran laiden Mlb squad with AJ/Flowers, Kelly Johnson/Aybar/Markakias/Bourn/Swisher/ etc.
Could see him signing here and getting flipped at the deadline for more prospects.
tdub36tjt
A team not listed that I think makes sense is the Tigers imo. Castellanos erases all offensive value he has with his inability to play a solid 3b or run the bases. Tigers are trying to go all in why not upgrade 3b. Let’s you use Castellanos in a utility rule mainly playing against LHP which is his strength. Makes sense to me but it seems the tigers are committed to letting Castellanos fail at 3b……
darenh
i see the logic but it won’t be Milwaukee now. With Hill, Villars ability to slide over and hopeful Ceccini all in the fold, a deal with Freese wouldn’t come until mid- Spring Training if it was clear Ceccini or Hill won’t cut it.
theo2016
If milwaukee signs freese its to trade him at the deadline. Then those said players still have 3 months to showcase.
darenh
fair enough.
but if that’s the Brewers strategy, wouldnt ian desmond would provide more upside?
daveinmp
While I’d like to see the Brewers add Freese, I don’t see Stearns doing it. He doesn’t seem the least bit interested in making the 2016 team any better (just the opposite) or even finding vets that could occupy a spot and build trade value for later. He took Hill in the trade with Arizona, because taking his salary allowed him to get the Diaz kid. It wasn’t to make the 2016 any better. If Hill rebounds to his past success, he’ll be out of town quickly.
Lance
Unless the Brewers really think Freese could be a guy to help them contend for the playoffs, why add a salary? I know how how people have talked about “tanking” but there comes a point in time where a team has to be realistic about where they are and that adding that larger salary you would pay Freese instead of paying a rookie just doesn’t make economic sense. He’s really NOT going to make your team that much better. They dumped a lot of salaries so far and are still stuck with guys like Garza, Hill and Braun.