At the beginning of the season, it seemed farfetched that Jake Peavy would get another multi-year contract for 2013 and beyond, but that matter will soon be a front-burner issue for the White Sox, writes Buster Olney of ESPN.com. It’s hard to say what the 31-year-old might get on the open market as Olney notes that this time last year, few predicted that Mark Buehrle would land a four-year, $58MM contract from the Marlins. The Dodgers, Cubs, Angels, and others will have money to spend this winter while the Royals are known to be looking for someone to anchor their rotation. Here’s more from around baseball..
- The Nationals hold club options for 2014 and ’15 on General Manager Mike Rizzo’s contract, people familiar with the deal told Adam Kilgore of The Washington Post. That effectively means that Rizzo has just one guaranteed year remaining with the club. Kilgore writes that the GM may use the club’s success as leverage to get yet another contract extension, but the Nats don’t appear to be in a rush to get that done.
- While Padres General Manager Josh Byrnes believes that the club will increase its payroll for next season, he cautioned that a good chunk of that will go to arbitration raises for Chase Headley, Clayton Richard, Edinson Volquez, Will Venable, and others, writes Barry M. Bloom of MLB.com. Byrnes also talked about what he learned in his time with the Diamondbacks and the evolution of Carlos Quentin over that span.
- The Phillies have been toying with the idea of shifting Chase Utley to third base for the 2013 season, but GM Ruben Amaro is shutting the experiment down, writes Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Now, the Phillies will likely have to turn to the open market for a solution at third, but there aren’t a ton of appealing options in this year’s free agent class.
- Jonah Keri of Grantland.com sat down with Rockies GM Bill Geivett for a lengthy discussion on the unique challenges faced by the club thanks to the altitude of their home ballpark. The Rockies turned to a unique pitching experiment this season that will continue in 2013 and are looking into other ideas that could affect the way they build their roster going forward.
Kevin Youkilis is a great fit in my mind… Bat him fifth or sixth behind Howard or Chooch. Adds an element this line up really lacks: discipline and the ability to grind out an at bat.
I really don’t know how they plan on filling that hole. Maybe a guy like Ian Stewart to platoon with Fransden? There really is nobody out there.
Getting older is the wrong way to go. Third is just going to become which is the lesser evil.
If the WS actually let him go Youk would be a good fit. Good obp, and a bit of power, perfect to go with Howard and Utley, maybe even 2nd, only because he has great obp, and they really have no one else to put up there. He is 33, and still getting his obp over .350, I think they would be safe on a 2 year deal. Although I really think they should move Utley over, even if it only to keep him healthy. Utley still has the kind of bat that you want to try as hard as you can to keep it in the lineup everyday. Move Frandsen back to 2nd, and Utley to 3rd. You keep same bats, but utley can stay healthier.
I don’t see how signing him to a 1-2 year deal if possible is the wrong way to go. He’d be a stop gap for Cody Asche, who would then be a stop gap for Maikel Franco.
Little bit of difference in Buehrle and Peavy. Buehrle has made 30+ starts 12 years in a row and Peavy? 1 time since 2007 with an extensive injury history every since that season. He *might* get 1Y guaranteed and team options for anything beyond that.
Buehrle may be more durable, but when healthy, Peavy has been more of a front-line starter with a solid track line in his early years. I don’t think he’ll match Buehrle’s contract, but then again, the only reason why Buehrle got so much was because the Marlins were desperate to add talent to transition well to their new image and ballpark, even if it meant overpaying for players beyond their limitations. I don’t think we’re see as much of a big money spender as the Marlins or Angels were last offseason, and I’m sure many clubs will be wary of Peavy’s health records. I could see him getting a 2-3 year deal between 10-15 million a year. I have to imagine Peavy and his agent will try hard for a multi year deal given the huge bounce-back year he’s having. At least for Peavy, he’s still at 31, which means that age shouldn’t be a huge factor in signing.
Buehrle is extremely durable. And Lilly is an inferior pitcher, 3 years younger, and still making $11M aav. I think Buehrle was a good signing in that he is durable and he has been consistent. Too many times players have career years, or 2 very good season and then they revert back to their old selves. 3.74 era over 202.1 innings so far. His record is only 11-11, but that is not always the pitcher, he is going out there and giving you a good chance to win. He is performing exactly how he was expected to, so no let downs.
I used to take Buehrle for granted. This year? 85mph FB and all.. It is quite comical watching the guy throw it down the middle to guys like Ryan Howard and them taking a called 3rd strike while they are looking for his changeup.. Buehrle’s best pitch.
He could possibly be another Jamie Moyer longevity wise, in that has no effort in his mechanics, no velocity (to speak of) and his FB is the worst thing in his repertoire.
There are definitively worse contracts that Buehrle out there, and despite his stuff, he’s a valuable pitcher to have on a big league staff. He’s the type of pitcher every major league team could use. Though my point is that I don’t think Peavy will get as lucky as Buehrle did as there won’t be as many big spenders this offseason (predictable, at least). As valuable as Buehrle is, I don’t think anyone would have matched the deal he got with the Marlins and was lucky that they did so. I think another club would have signed him for 3 years and between 30-45 million, but anything beyond that might have been a reach for Buehrle at the time.
Peavy’s problem is that this is his first season with 200 innings since 2007. I really don’t think the Buehrle contract is that bad. Sure you may argue they could have gotten him cheaper, but he is doing exactly what you paid him to do. There are tons of players that got way more money and are way underperforming. There have been so many pitchers that underperfomed, they actually paid more because of his consistency.
With a guy like Buehrle you also get a guy you can count on to take his turn in the rotation and keep you in the game. That’s important when you are taking a chance on a younger pitcher or a roll of the dice let’s see what we have in him kind of pitcher.
I think he’s worth the money.
Using 200 innings as a metric makes you and others seem like fools. He threw 1732 innings with a 2.85 era in 2008. Why do I keep reading stupid post about him being noneffective since 2007? The dude jacked his elbow up in 2009 and the White Sox traded for him anyways while he was on the dl. Do you think the padres didn’t believe he’d have a long road to recovery? He bombed in 2010 and bombed an 2011 and in his first healthy season since he threw for 211 innings, a career high. Peavy’s thrown for over 150 innings every season except his first mid-season call-up of 2002 and 2009-2011. To the observant and skilled eye Peavy looks healthy and lidike a formidable starter.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t Dan O’Dowd the the GM of the Rockies?
Technically he still is, but they’re giving Assistant GM Bill Geivett more responsibilities, as he’s gonna be taking on more day-to-day duties with the club. As for Dowd, they’re shifting his role more towards player development. I don’t really get the whole deal. Maybe it’s just out of respect for Dowd and that they don’t want him out of the organization. Whatever it may be, it’s kind of a bizarre case.
Yea, O’Down is technically the GM, but he isn’t in charge of what the other 29 clubs in baseball take care of.
Peavy has been horribly mismanaged and overworked this year by the WSox, whoever pays for him next year will be sorry.
It seems as if the Angels would probably not have that much money to spend. Especially of they resign Hunter and pick up Haren and Santanas options.
Peavy was lights out against the lowly Twins (4-1, 2.25) not so much against the Tigers and Royals (1-6, 5.65). Not worth the money.
Buerhle wasn’t that surprising given Lowe’s contract a few years earlier… I don’t see Peavy getting more than 3 years, especially considering the White Sox being likely (I assume) to make him a qualifying offer, but you never know