MLB executives expressed surprise that Torii Hunter, Edwin Jackson, Angel Pagan and Mike Napoli didn’t get qualifying offers by Friday’s deadline, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney reports. Here are more notes and rumors from Olney…
- One high-ranking executive suggested Hunter will get some two or three-year offers as a free agent. The outfielder ranked 20th on MLBTR's list of top 50 free agents.
- Evaluators were puzzled by the Nationals’ decision not to make Jackson a qualifying offer. An offer would have set them up for draft pick compensation or another affordable one-year deal.
- GMs and agents expect Pagan to get multiple offers for three years. A four or five-year deal doesn’t seem out of reach for the center fielder.
- Some rival officials expected the Rangers to make Napoli a one-year qualifying offer and set themselves up for draft pick compensation.
- Brad Ausmus, one of the top managerial prospects in MLB, told Olney that it’s important for managers to remember how difficult it is to play at the highest level. “The managers who understood the patience involved are the managers who have related to the players best on teams I have been a part of, and garnered their respect,” Ausmus said.
- The Padres have had some extension talks with Chase Headley, Olney reports. While both sides are interested in a deal, it’s hard to value Headley following his impressive second half performance.
- The Padres will focus on adding starting pitching this offseason, Olney reports. Rival executives like San Diego’s pitching depth, but GM Josh Byrnes will still pursue additions.
Pagan’s wife is pulling a “Brenda Warner”. She tweeted they want to stay in SF but may not be possible. A Giants fan asked directly if Angel will take the highest bid. She replied with a ;)
He has to be a gold digger. FA at an opportune time when any other time during his career would have been lucky to make the salary he currently did (5m) for 1Y. Now? Some poor team is going to go bonkers and set themselves up and get a 4th OF up by massively over paying him.. A younger version of Scott Podsednik.
Good for them! I mean honestly if he had hit FA last season he would have been screwed. Caea if you gave me capitalize on the moment and your short career and get as much as possible. I hope he gets paid!
I agree. Pagan and his wife are in a good position right now. They will accept the highest bid on the best fit team, for sure. I hope he gets paid as well.
Players usually go for the highest bid. I just hate when families get involved. She needs to just shut up and let Pagan’s agent handle it.
Nats screwed up — Ejax market value for 1 year was probably in that range anyway. They could have traded him afterwards, in the worst case scenario that he accepts it. More likely, he rejects and it increases their leverage and gives them a draft pick if he signs elsewhere.
I’d like to see the Cubs show some interest in Pagan and Jackson. 3 year deals shouldn’t be a problem. No no-trade clauses though.
I cant really imagine Pagan wanting to sign with a non contender unless they way over pay and i dont see the cubs over paying anytime soon. Jackson is mildly intriguing. but i think itll be more pitchers along the lines of Marcum, McCarthy, and Liriano who get the most interest from the cubs. With there being the possibility of bringing back Dempster or pursuing Haren as a free agent.
Torii Hunter would be such a good addition for a ton of young teams that are borderline competitors. he probably has one good year left – could drop off in 2014 but not catastrophically so. he’s an awesome clubhouse presence and could be a great resource to a young outfield. Pirates, Royals, White Sox, or even Padres (if they decide to give up on Venable) could be destinations where he provides the most value. Its probably more likely that he ends up as plan B for a team like Texas or Cincinnati though.
I agree. I like the idea of the Pirates. I also think that a team like the Braves could be in play. With Prado taking over at 3B they have an opening in LF and he would help replenish what they are losing with Chippers retirement
While I do agree with you that he could be a good addition, I think he realizes he only has one contract left probably and wants to be a contender. I could see the Phillies signing him, and all the clubs you indicated as going after him.
I wonder what kind of money Pagan can land. He’s a really similar player to Jon Jay, who just doesn’t seem to be valued very highly around the league.
I don’t know about Pagan. I know Mets fans were annoyed with him in 2011.
As for me I like him, I also like Jon Jay and David Freese. If either of those team (Cardinals and Giants) didn’t have those players on their team. I don’t think either team would have won the World Series (2011 and 2012).
Also, can someone tell me why the Giants can’t afford re-signing some of these players? They always seem to be crying poor and yet I know they have some of the best home attendance figures in the league.
I know Rowands contract didn’t help as well as a few others, still I thought they could afford whomever they wanted, yet that doesn’t seem to be the case.
I mean atm they do have 3 20mm players on their staff(Cain/Timmy/Zito), They probably want to wait and save money. Although I do think they can get Pagan on the cheap since there are so many cfs out there.
Jackson’s non-offer probably isn’t for budget reasons, it’s probably because they want to use that 13 million somewhere else this winter. Either LaRoche will need an extension or they’ll need to sign an outfielder, but I’ll bet that they’ll also go for an upgrade in the rotation, and we know that Mike Rizzo loves Grienke…
i do believe that they need another starter but i doubt that they will go hard after greinke. Strasburg, Gio, Zimmermann, and Detwiler are a solid 1-4. I could see them going after someone like Haren or Kuroda to add another vet to the rotation. Giving LaRoche anything over a 2-3 yr deal has got to be scary. I think they would be better off to bring in Bourn and move Morse to first full time.
Now, I’m not a person that believes in a pitchers record. But, this really stood out to me for a guy that was pitching for the best team in baseball. In games Jackson started, the Nationals were 12-19. This is a team that won 98 games! They were 86-45 when any other pitcher started the game!
Put it this way….if the Nationals just forfeited every game that Jackson started(31 games), they still would have only been 2 games out of the playoffs! Maybe it’s just a whacky stat…or maybe there is something to it?
As a Nats fan who saw every Jackson start, I was completely NOT puzzled by the Nats decision to let Jackson go. If they offered him comp money he might have taken it, and to pay over 13 mil to a starting pitcher that gets bombed in several of the most important games of the year is crazy. Because his good starts are very good, the numbers do not suggest how bad he really is. Can anyone find one Nats fan who was in favor of retaining Jackson?
im not a nats fan but i did see a lot of their games this yr. and going into nxt year with Strasburg, Gio, Zimm, and Detwiler 1-4 is strong without paying 13+M for a starter marginally better than their current #4 guy. I do think that adding a vet to the rotation would help. Maybe a guy like Dempster? or Kuroda?
The thing is you gotta wonder about someone who has been traded/not pursued as often as this guy. I mean honestly these past few years it just seems like teams that had him dont want him back. Rays/Tigers/dbacks/whitesox/nats/cards, 6 teams in 4 years, that isnt a good track record when none of them want you back. Yea I know the Rays are not going to get him no matter what, but I think a lot of the teams have realized what you have, his stats are really misleading.
I heard a lot of the “he’s traded so much because everyone wants him so much” mantra when the Cardinals got him the prior year. Looking at his stats, I can’t see why he would be so desirable. 4.40 career era; no thanks.
The thing about Jackson, I think, is that he’s inconsistent in ways that seem to managers like something that should be fixable – but it never seems to quite work. His highs are pretty great for his price – he’s had some dominant outings for the Nationals this season – but his lows are pretty spectacular too, and poorly timed. But the lure of his potential seems to attract a lot of teams.
With that said, if I were the Nationals I probably would’ve made the qualifying offer even if, as a fan, I’m not terribly keen on him returning.
any of you read Jeff Passan’s free agent list? He ranked Pagan 36th!!! (and BJ Upton 3rd over Bourn and Swisher) The Upton ranking, is debatable, but Pagan 36th is criminal. Something tells me Mr Passan is a big fan of counting stats