9:27am: FanRag’s Jon Heyman tweets that Desmond won’t be returning to the Rangers, either.
9:17am: Free agent outfielder/infielder Ian Desmond has narrowed his focus to one team, and his representatives are “in the process of finalizing his deal today,” reports ESPN’s Jim Bowden. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch hears the same (Twitter link), adding that the Cardinals have been been discussing Desmond. However, Goold isn’t sure if St. Louis is the team on which Desmond is focused. Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post also tweets that Desmond is likely to sign today, but he won’t be returning to the Nationals.
[Related: Ian Desmond’s Free Agent Profile]
Desmond, 30, has been connected to the Rangers, Cardinals, Orioles and Nationals over the course of his second trip through free agency, though many teams are likely to be interested in him after he proved a capable outfielder and hit .285/.335/.446 with 22 homers and 21 steals in a rebound campaign with the Rangers.
That production at the plate has led to a notable shift in the demand for Desmond when compared to his market an offseason ago, when he remained available into February and signed a one-year deal with the Rangers. Speculatively speaking, in addition to the above-listed teams, Desmond would be a strong fit for the Blue Jays, Giants, Mariners, Indians and Phillies.
If it’s with the Cardinals, I wouldn’t expect it to be more than a 2-3 year deal with an average AAV of $16MM.
It would be a disappointment if it wasn’t the Cardinals.. He can play OF and SS and is a clone of Matt Carpenter.
Please do not compare Desmond to Carpenter. Carpenter is miles better, at least offensively. Good discipline, good power, respectable averages. Consistent line drive hitter who scores a lot of runs. Desmond is good, but he’s shown no discipline and a poorer batting average. Not sure if he hits above .250 if he wasn’t on the Rangers last year.
Take a look at their numbers and remember Desmond has been in the league 3 years longer. Please dont whine about something that is true.
Can’t tell if you’re serious or not, but by what measure is Desmond a clone of Matt Carpenter? Power-wise maybe, but Carpenter is an on-base machine and Desmond not so much.
Whine? Sorry for knowing a little bit about baseball. Take a look at splits, OBP, OPS, doubles, strikeouts, walks, BABIP, WRC+. Carpenter has a perennial higher LD% by 6 or 7 percent. Desmond has 20% soft contact percentage, while Carpenter has barely 10% You have no idea what you’re talking about.
Personally I’d be disappointed if it is the Cards, I’d hope they can do better than that
Like who? Fowler? I wouldnt pay Fowler more than 13 million per year
Cain I think is my top choice right now, or Eaton depending on the package it requires. Or now that the Rockies have signed Desmond maybe Blackmon.
Why do we compare anyway? Desmond is in a league all on his own. As is Carpenter.
Now Trumbo and Carter are in leagues all on their own.
Now without getting down to metrics.
Desmond was a mess at the start of the season.
Then he caught fire!!
After the all star break. He slumped offensively and defensively. He missed routine balls. He missed balls that “should” have been caught but maybe a little too difficult for him.
I am a Rangers fan! I will “obviously” never like the Cardinals…lol Enjoy that WS win!
But Desmond is no Carpenter. Carpenter too consistent. Desmond streaky!
Carpenter clone??? Well they’re both human but it stops right there!
$16m? Why? So he can punt the ball around the infield when you need him most? lol
Not a clue who it would be..
but I want to start a discussion, out of all factors for a player to sign with a new team, which one do you think is most important?
A. Money
B. Chance to win Championship
C. Chance to play everyday
D. Fan base/ support
E. Location in terms of close to home
F. Location in terms of beautiful weather to not so great weather i.e San Diego to Minnesota
Really just depends on the player for the most part.
If it was me I would value chance to play every day and chance to win a.m championship.
No single one determining factor but money trumps all. I think these guys may take a little less if they have an affinity for a city or a particular situation but money talks and they owe it to all other ball players to set the market and drive salaries up. Getting to FA no easy feat you gotta cash in.
I would consider who I would be working with and the wifey would get a say too!
It depends on the players situation. Are you coming off a down year and waning to rebuild your value? Then playing everyday is likely to be most important. The older you are location cab be a huge factor. Kelly Johnson keeps resigning with the Braves to be close to his family. in baseball you don’t hear of players “chasing championships” too much. So the 3 top issues are money, playing time, and location due to family not weather.
It’s always about the money. Regardless of what a player says money above all else. Always has and always will be about that.
Some players are different, but I think in general, I’d guess the order is..
A
C
D
E
F
B
Really? You have chance to win a championship on the bottom of your list? Lmao
I would say
A then B
I had the B and Dmixrd up. Haha
Depends on the person, but I will say it always erks me when I hear people act like money is the only that matters in the decision. These players are going to be millionaires no matter what, I can’t speak for others, but I know me personally for me to leave a situation where I’m happy at, that I would need to see a raise of at least 20 to 25 percent to make that move. And that 20 percent means a lot more to me making 100k then it does to them making 10 million.
It’s all relative. Most players want to play on winning teams, but no one is taking $20 million from the Cubs over $100 million from say the Padres. No one is taking $70 million to be a platoon player versus $68 million to play every day. Just a couple examples.
No trades. Go free agent.
Go Cards!
Surprised the Blue Jays aren’t on that list. They could definitely use his glove in RF (sorry Bautista).
I guess it depends where you are in your career. A younger player is probably going to take top dollar whereas an older player may look for a championship or nicer living environment for wife and kids?
Dark horse candidate….Mets.
(pure speculation)
I wouldn’t mind that at all. Could have him be a super utility guy that plays every day just in different positions, along with Reyes. And trade both granderson and Bruce. Could be interesting , although it def isn’t the Mets.
I’d love to be wrong about this but I doubt it’s the Mets. Only way that would make sense would be if they felt good about getting good returns trading both Granderson and Bruce, and that doesn’t appear to be the case.
And then why not Fowler?
(But yeah, would love that lineup…)
I theorized him as a fit for the giants
– capable RH bat and a solid defender
That’s my guess, yeah, unless they get too close to the lux cap.
If it is indeed the Cardinals, it would be curious to see if they put Desmond in CF and bump Grichuk to LF or put Desmond in LF and keep Grichuk at CF.
Another plus is his bat allows Carpenter to stay in the lead-off spot, where he is more comfortable.
IF he signs with the Cards.
I hear its st louis
So much for getting a grinder that works at bats.. Desmond is a strike out machine averaging 175 k’s the past three seasons.
Mariners are signing him for sure
The fact that the Mariners are now actively shopping Seth smith makes me think that they might be close to landing an outfielder, maybe Desmond.
Maybe the angels?
I hope it’s not St. Louis.
Agree – a strike out machine. More athletic Brandon Moss. No thank you.
me 2
it better not be the Cardinals… if so then MO MUST BE FIRED.
Rangers seem like the logical fit. I’d be shocked if he goes anywhere else. TEX still needs a 1B though, but they’re a dime a dozen this offseason
Already said Rangers were out
Darkhorse/Mystery team— Phillies
I don’t see how Desmond helps the Cardinals.
If he does sign with the Cards, he’ll likely play LF, with Grichuk staying in CF. He’s not a plus defensively in CF. Plus, he’s not a lead-off man, so it defeats the purpose of finding a grinding at-bat type of player to bump Carpenter down to the No. 3 hole.
If it’s the Cards, I’ll be keen to hear what Mo has to say about the signing, because I don’t get it.
Smith is essentially a 4th OF – depth piece. I don’t think the M’s are gonna get much more than salary relief in a deal with Smith.
Jays
Rosenthal is saying Rockies
It’s the Rockies.
Can’t believe he got that big of a contract. Giving up the 11th pick on top of that.
Cards get second again!!! Same ole story as the past Winter Meetings!!! The meetings aren’t over. Building blocks are in place for trades and offers have been made to free agents. I’ll be very disappointed if the Cardinals GM is just using big words with no results as he has done in the past with possible impact players for 2017.
Get used to disappointment Cardinals 17
Mo seems to have lost touch with the market and other owners and agents
Now it is reported by Jennifer Longosch that Mo says the Cards don’t have enough good prospects to make a trade. I paraphrased but still. “The lack of top tier prospects behind Reyes makes it difficult”
Adam’s and Wong for Charlie Blackmon
If only they would be that stupid it would be great
Does anyone else on here despise Eric Byrnes on MLB Network as much as I do? When I see him or hear him on the mlb network.. I reach for the remote. This guy really SUCKS!
Pompous arrogant ass!