Payroll parity has improved throughout baseball, writes Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal. A combination of TV deals and luxury taxes have contributed to evening the playing field between the big earners and the laggards. As Mets GM Sandy Anderson points out, “there are outliers in both directions.” Yet we’ve also seen traditionally cautious clubs like the Reds sign Joey Votto to a large contract and outbid the Yankees on two Cuban players. The advantage may cycle back to large market clubs as they hire the best talent away from smaller market. We’ve seen the Dodgers snap up key personnel from the Rays and A’s this offseason which also allowed the Cubs to snag former Rays manager Joe Maddon. Brewers GM Doug Melvin isn’t concerned, saying “more (front office personnel) doesn’t mean better.”
- The Cubs and Red Sox will meet with Jon Lester this week, tweets Hall of Fame journalist Peter Gammons. The Yankees could play the role of dark horse. While other sources have reported that Lester is willing to sign quickly, Gammons suggests the process may last into December.
- Pitcher Josh Johnson is talking with five to six clubs, tweets Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune. The Padres remain the righty hurler’s first choice, although nothing is imminent. My own thoughts: I’m not sure I see San Diego as a fit unless they trade from their current stock of starters. While pitcher friendly Petco Park is a good destination for Johnson as he seeks to reestablish himself, the Padres appear to have five starters and at least four depth pieces. Surely, another club can offer Johnson an easier path to starts.
- Yoan Moncada’s expected $30MM to $40MM price tag (reported on Nov. 12) isn’t the only impediment for interested clubs, writes Baseball America’s Ben Badler. Teams routinely reach handshake agreements with the next crop of international free agents well in advance of the July 2nd signing period. Any club who signs Moncada will not be able to sign an international player for over $300K, which would force many teams to rescind existing agreements. While that may not sound like a big issue, Badler describes Latin American scouting as a “small world.” A misstep could alienate the small cadre of influential trainers in the region. Moncada achieved free agency earlier today, although he has not yet been cleared by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control.
Well December only is 2 weeks away. He can still sign quickly and wait until december.
Cant believe it’s almost Thanksgiving. Time flies.
Good point. How many shopping days left? geeeeez….
Outbid? I don’t know, if the Yankees really wanted to get Chapman or Iglesias I don’t think the Reds could have done much to stop them.
I didn’t make it clear in the post, but Cashman is actually the one who said they were outbid. The quote made it sound like the Yankees did want both players.
Yeah, I think they just went in with a limit as to how much they were willing to give each player.
Which is the case with literally every player.
No, if the Yankees go for a player they really really want there is no limit to what they are willing to spend.
If that’s what you want to believe, go ahead. It’s certainly not true. They’ve missed out on plenty of players they wanted. They have a price just like every other team, even if that price is generally higher than most could afford.
Missed out on players they wanted, not really really wanted.
Oh. Interesting.
Yeah, you failed to see.
Every team scouts and establishes values on players that they’re interested in. Those values are influenced by many factors, including (but not limited to) current needs and what else is available either through their system or by other avenues. The fact that any team loses out on a player doesn’t mean they didn’t want or value that player on some level.
And therefore, were outbid by the Reds.
Sox sign Lester for 6/130
6/130 was the deal you greedy sox should have given in spring training but u guys instead gave a deal in south of 100mm citing hometown discount and we don’t give 7 year deals to pitchers!! No way he is gonna get less than 7 years and 144-150mm!
FYI, I don’t think thats the real David Ortiz. In fact, he’s probably not affiliated with the team at all.
Nope. Lester will be a Cub in all likelihood. Sox need to use some of their money to lure Panda and get a catcher to play behind Vasquez. They will also probably go after a #3 or #4 rotation starter and pray Buchholz makes 25 starts.
Why would the Padres not be a good fit unless they trade a starter? Johnson wont be back until July at the earliest.
Josh will not go back to the Padres .. He’ll look for more money to be on the DL
He said also said “unfinished business” with the Jays then he went to the Padres so now I’m curious on where he’ll land
with all the cord cutting, i wouldn’t get too attached to TV revenues. basketball and hockey already have pirate streams you can pay for to watch games, baseball won’t be far behind.