Earlier today, we heard that three teams have offers to Mark Buehrle. All three teams are offering the years and dollars that Buehrle is seeking, but he's yet to receive an offer that contains a no-trade clause. More on Buehrle as the rumors pile up:
- The Nationals have made it clear that Buehrle is their top target, writes ESPN.com's Jayson Stark.
- The Nationals made an offer to Buehrle, MLB.com's Bill Ladson has confirmed (via Twitter). Roy Oswalt is still in the mix as well.
- The Marlins' offer to Buehrle is considered "a very strong one," and likely makes the club the current frontrunner, a source with knowledge of the situation tells Chuck Garfien of CSNChicago.com. The White Sox remain in a quiet holding pattern but it should be noted that they would be willing to give the veteran a no-trade clause, as that's something they've done in the past.
- Juan C. Rodriguez of the Miami Sun-Sentinel examines the Marlins' team policy of not including no-trade clauses in their contracts and wonders if an exception should be made for Buehrle (or other top free agents).
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that the Rangers, Nationals, and Marlins are being the most aggressive on Buehrle. Washington prefers a shorter deal with Buehrle to a longer contract with C.J. Wilson.
- SI.com's Jon Heyman tweets that Buehrle is seeking $14MM annually. There are indeed 14 teams interested in Buehrle according to Heyman, and he calls the Twins and Diamondbacks "surprise entrants" while noting that the asking price is prohibitive for them.
Wilson getting no love from Wash?
Wilson can’t be “loved” by anyone. Too many walks and poor clutch performer.
That was always my pet peve with CJ. He walks people like crazy. I’ll hand it to him though, this year despite all the walks he still didn’t let them come around to score too often….except the playoffs of course.
The Great defense behind him helped
The Great defense behind him helped
Fangraphs has Wilson’s WAR at 5.9 this year and over 5 for the last few years. He’s in the top 10 in WAR which is a good measure of his abilities.
I’m shocked at the way Buehrle has handled his free agency. He seemed like the really genuine guy, even took a hometown discount before. Now he is acting like he’s a 28 year old pitcher who just had a 18 win/Sub 3.00 ERA season. He’s getting older and teams will have to have some kind of protection in any deal with him in case he, you know, sucks. I love Mark, he’s my favorite player and was on my favorite team until now, but he’s fooling himself if he thinks teams will bend on this. But who knows, there could be some really stupid team out there who gives him the money, the years and no protection for themselves. I mean the Nats did give Werth about 90% more than he’s worth lol
Im not following your post. How is he handling it badly? It was reported already that 14 teams have been interested in Buehrle. 3 of which have already offered him a contract. One of those teams isnt even the White Sox. Would you like him to go back to the White Sox on a home discount for 3 yrs 4 mil, when they havent even offered him a contract?? Thats not happening.
Sorry man, pitching this offseason is thin as heck. People are going to overpay for it. Hes a good pitcher, 3 yrs really isnt that bad to begin with, so I wouldnt call that overpaying.
The White Sox aren’t making any attempt to bring him back, why should he throw himself at them and take a discount to stay with a team that isn’t really prioritizing him? If he can get a good deal somewhere else, good for him. Chicago may finally be ready to start a long overdue rebuilding process, and he’d probably like to go somewhere new and exciting.
Kenny Williams, is that you?
$14 million should be prohibitive for any team that expects more than the 12-plus wins and .542 win pct, Buehrle has averaged the past 6 seasons. Especially from an ultra soft tosser entering his mid 30s.
Way to talk about wins and win percentage while discussing a pitcher. And not mention the fact that he has not
Pitched less than 200 innings in almost 9 years. Has a solid era ad whip while being the hardest pitcher to run against. Yep he is bad and 14 mill( made that last year) is an over pay… Not at all 14 for buehrle is probably market value maybe a tad bit
Over.
he’s pitched more than 201 innings in 11 straight years. and had an ERA over 4 in only 2 of those
Arguably, one of the best things you get with Buehrle is that he’s a proven winning veteran who has a World Series under his belt. That’s what I like about him and why I want the Rangers to grab him. I will say though that the no trade clause may be a deal breaker. I love his attitude though.
Yeah, I for one don’t care about whether my team wins or loses, as long as my starter has decent” nerd stats”. Might interest you that while his win pct is .542 the the past 6 years, teams pct in his starts is actually lower. He’s a 33 year old pitcher with high mileage, what he did in terms of innings and ERA in the early and mid 2000s has zero bearing on what a high mileage pitcher in his mid 30s will do in 2012, 13 and 14. He’s not worth 8 figures to any team that is not a cinch contender because he just isn’t THAT good. One of the most hittable pitchers over the last decade, his success will rely heavily on defense. His career arc says he will be about a 2.4 WAR pitcher in 2012 at best, and decline from there. Again- Pavano with less fastball
It is the wear and tear on him that should make teams wary of him. 11 straight seasons of over 200+ innings, 2500 total, 32YO and if Boston is interested, the fact soft tossers have had a poor habit of success in the long haul at fenway in the majority of cases anyway in the case of port sider’s.
John Tudor, Bob Ojeda are just 2 who had to get away from fenway to have any success. Lefties at fenway in some cases are intimidated by that wall. Bill Lee had long term success, then he is the long term lefty exception, bruce Hurst did good in his few years, but he threw 93-95mph.
Too risky for Boston to me..STAY away…
I find it really interesting that the Twins are interested and not trying to knock on them, but they already have a rotation full of just this type of rubbish throwers, yet looking to add another?
Seriously, if $14MM/y is the going rate for Buehrle, then it will be better to sign CJ. 3 year deal for Buerhle runs through his age 36 season. 5 year deal for CJ runs through his age 36 season. Plus, CJ has less mileage on his arm. Give CJ the extra $3-4MM/y (assuming that will be sufficient to land him) and it will be a better deal than signing Buehrle at that price.
Wilson is seeking a 120mil deal. Doesnt mean he will get it, just like Buehrle seeking 14mil a year. That being said- CJ is going to require more years and money, and you would still rather sign CJ? Not me…
the idea of my favorite player in a twins uniform makes me want to eat my own vomit…
I can’t see the Twins making the best offer for him.
Well, that would be one plus…..
No way that Reyes or Albert even think about going to Miami without a NTC.
Are you thinking “3-peat” in more ways than one?
Huh?
Mostly a joke, but 3-peat world champions and tear them down by trading them all right afterwards.
Ahhh…. I didn’t get it at first.
To me, CJ is a 3-4 starter in the rotation.
The only team in baseball that had a no. 3 starter that was as good as or better than CJ in 2011 was the Phillies.
CJ was a #1 for two years on th Rangers the best team in the AL. His WAR was 7th in the majors this year at 5.9. I think you could say he is a #2 on some teams, but on the Nats, Marlins, and Jays he’s a 1 or 2.
CJ is a #1 on most MLB teams, a #2 on a few, and a 3-4 for one team. He has been a very consistent starter for the last few years with the exception the this years post season
I wouldn’t quite believe everything that is reported regarding the White Sox and their actions regarding Buehrle. Never once has Kenny Williams been “open” and “honest” about his signings, trades, or priorities. I would be willing to put money that Kenny has been talking to Buehrle every week assuring him that he is working on freeing up some money (i.e. trading Floyd, Danks, and/or Quentin). Mark Buehrle is the White Sox priority, but once they are biding their time until someone takes the bait on one of their trade pieces. I would be very surprised if Buehrle accepts anything until the Sox have formally put their offer on the table.
clarification on the article. Buehrle is already 5 and 10 with the Sox so has a no trade automatically with them.
I think the Tigers will heavily pursue Buehrle.
Apologies if this has been noted already, but whether or not the White Sox would offer him a no trade clause is irrelevant. He’d have 10/5 rights, no? Has this changed with the new CBA?
I am really hoping the halos get into the mix for Buehrle, and that they leave Wilson alone. We do not need another bad contract, just a #4 pitcher.
Twins should sign Buehrle as fast as possible. They have no top-line starter and Buehrle is the closest thing they could get to having one. Liriano is a wild card. Pavano is a consistent pitcher but isn’t great by any means. Baker has his streaks but has problems keeping the ball low.
If I’m Terry Ryan, I sign Buehrle as soon as I can. He knows the AL Central and he is good against every team in it (other than CHI considering he was a W.Sox pitcher). Make this a done deal already.