Keith Law's Top 50 Free Agents list is up at ESPN (Insider required), and it's always a must read from start to finish. Zack Greinke tops the list and Law says he'd be "very comfortable" giving him a five-year contract. Here are a few other noteworthy items…
- Law would be "loath to go beyond three years" for Josh Hamilton because of his lack of durability. He notes that the outfielder's "approach has started to deteriorate the past two years."
- Hiroki Kuroda ranks as the second best free agent starter while Dan Haren, who had his option declined last night, is fourth among rotation candidates.
- Mike Napoli is more of a first baseman or DH who "probably couldn't catch full-time even if a team wanted him to."
- Korean left-hander Hyun-jin Ryu, who was posted yesterday, is more of a reliever than starter in Law's eyes. He ranked 37th.
Hamilton will get at least five years. You can take that to the bank.
If he does get 5 years, the AAV will be on the low side.
One thing I actually agree with Law on is Hamilton breaking down. The past drug use isn’t that concerning, because if he relapses, he will get suspended for at least a year and he won’t be paid.
I’m thinking he gets 4/100 guaranteed (4 years at $23M per, then a 5th year option for $23M – $8M buyout, which can vest if he has 1000 PAs over years 3 & 4 of deal, meaning he’d be healthy roughly 70% of the time, or 600 PAs in 4th year of contract, meaning he’d be healthy roughly 83% of the time).
Everything is about insider comment for ESPN, you get nothing from their site anymore
We have to buy a ESPN Insider membership to read it? That’s awesome! 🙂