Here’s the latest from CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman:
- Executives throughout the game hold new Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro in high regard, and they’re surprised that GM Alex Anthopoulos would have the fortitude to walk away from a five-year extension when there don’t seem to be any other similar jobs out there. They do note, however, that the deliberative Shapiro and the fast-thinking Anthopoulos seemed like they might not work together well. The course of their discussions following Shapiro’s hire might demonstrate why — Heyman writes that Shapiro felt like he was being appropriately supportive, while the overworked Anthopoulos might have needed a little more encouragement. With Anthopoulos gone, Shapiro will likely hire assistant GM Tony La Cava, who Shapiro once worked with in Cleveland, as interim GM. La Cava and Indians exec Ross Atkins could be candidates for the permanent position. Manager John Gibbons, meanwhile, will likely return next season.
- There’s a “decent chance” the Orioles will extend a qualifying offer to Matt Wieters. If they do, they’ll hope he doesn’t accept it, but they might think there’s a good chance he doesn’t, given that Scott Boras is his agent.
- The Royals would like to keep Alex Gordon and could offer him a four-year deal, although Gordon might be able to get five from another team. The Cubs, White Sox, Astros and Orioles are among the many teams that could be interested.
- The Royals appear likely to look for an outfielder and a pitcher this winter, although they know they don’t have a chance of re-signing Johnny Cueto. They could also extend the contract of manager Ned Yost after the season, and GM Dayton Moore’s contract could also be a priority. Both are signed through 2016.
- The Mets appear increasingly likely to allow Yoenis Cespedes to depart via free agency, Heyman writes. The Mets could then focus on spending their available funds on keeping their young pitchers.
The Mets could then focus on spending their available funds on keeping their young pitchers.
Isn’t the reason they were .500 until July because of their offense? They’re set to lose Cespedes, Murphy, Uribe, and Johnson. Maybe they should spend a bit on offense.
Agreed. They’re not going to be able to extend more than one or two of their starters anyway, and all are years from FA. Gotta replace the offense and I don’t know how they’re going to do it, because the traditional corner infield and outfield power positions are filled.
I expect them to spend on offense, Desmond probably has fallen into their price range. And Zobrist is another player I see Sandy and company going after.
I think they know that. Cespedes is one of the top 3 position player free agents and will command to much money which could prevent them from extensions for the young starters. They will look to the middle tier, Zobrist, Parra, Gordon, Fowler, etc.
Keep in mind that they’re probably planning that next season they will full years from Wright (133 wRC+ this year), Conforto (134 wRC+), and d’Arnaud (131 wRC+). That alone should do wonders for the offense.
Gordon makes sense for the Cubs. They have plenty of money and he’s an older veteran with plenty left in the tank who won’t break the bank.
If they sign someone to a $100m contract or close, it ain’t gonna be a position player. They’ll be all over Price and then Zimmermann, and then maybe if all the pitchers go elsewhere (hard to believe) they’ll consider on outfielder. I suspect they’ll find a corner OF in a trade for Baez or McKinney or something like that.
Yea I think so too. If they are going big on offense they will look to Upton or Heyward, someone they can have for 6-7 seasons. I think if they sign any big contracts it will be for pitcher like Leake, maybe bring Shark back, or Zimmerman. I could see them even pursuing Price too. They are so close, add a stud no matter the financial commitment.
Schwarber is in LF, Solar is in RF. Where does Gordon fit? I doubt they would pay him highest dollars to sit bench when Schwarber isn’t catching. What they need is someone to play CF. Do you see Gordon playing there?
I agree that it’s not a great fit, but we’ve seen players like Brett Gardner have success playing both LF and CF. Admittedly, we’ve also seen defensive disasters like Shin Soo Choo’s transition from LF to CF in 2013 with the Reds.
Gordon, though, is a better LFer than Choo, so I have more confidence in his ability to make the transition. Also, even in 2013, Choo was worth 5.5WAR, so it’s not like a less than ideal defensive transition would necessarily sink Gordon’s value to the Cubs.
I think running Gordon in CF would be a terrible mistake. He’s a 3B-turned-LF and isn’t going to cover ground out there in CF.
Schwarber in LF. Guy is lost in the OF.
Cespedes isn’t the only free agent bat that’s gonna be on the market. Don’t be so quick to say the Mets aren’t resigning Murphy.
If Murphy doesn’t come back, and in the almost-certainty IMO that Cespedes walks, Zobrist could be a perfect balance of performance and price for the Mets.
The Royals lost Shields, Butler, Aoki after a magical season. Their replacements were universally destroyed here on mlbtr at the time. Myself included.
Yeah, I was kind of skeptical that they’d hold up all season even to get back to the playoffs, but Volquez/Morales/Rios delivered. What they lack in superstars they make up for with having someone good at their job everywhere on the roster. At what point is Dayton Moore just good at finding the right players?
Pity the team that signs Cespedes long term, Mets can’t afford (well I guess this is debatable) another Beltran or Reyes situation. Cesped has proven to be MVP-like in stretches of time only. How about just making contact in critical situations rather than always swinging 120%.
Just because you sign a player for 3-5 years does not mean it will be a Beltran or Reyes situation. Maybe it would be a Holiday situation, or a Bautista situation.
“increasingly likely”
So they went from a 100% chance of not re-signing him to a 200% chance of not resigning him?
If they do, they’ll hope he doesn’t accept it, but they might think there’s a good chance he doesn’t….. What is this complete nonsense coming from OPACY? What do the Orioles plan to do if Wieters leaves? Caleb Joseph is a mere back-up. He was like 0 for 31 or something at the end of the 2015 season. He is simply not a full time catcher. He is a good back-up, that is all.
Matt Wieters has been one of my favorite Orioles, it will be a sad day for me at least if he goes somewhere else. I would like him back for one more season. I mean it!
Cant they also QO Cespedes? At least get a draft pick
Detroit traded Cespedes to NY in July. A player traded or signed mid-season the year before free agency is ineligible for a QO
Gordon would sure solve a lot of questions on the north side of Chicago this winter.
I really hope that Gibbons gets canned. His decisions on who to play and where to play them, who to pitch and when to pitch them are indefensible. He cost the Blue Jays at the very least four games in the first half of the season by running Colabello out to LF day in and day out. His use of Price in the last week and during the playoffs was a complete fiasco. During most of September he benched Colabello and had Smoak playing against righties and lefties, but as soon as the playoffs came around suddenly Colabello, who was sitting doing nothing for most of September (and getting rusty) is suddenly starting every game. The guy is a fool. I hope with AA gone Gibbons is next out the door.
This is coming from an outsider. I’m sure they know they need to replace the players they are losing. First off Flores replaces Murphy. Flores hits more homeruns and second base looks like a position he looks comfortable playing. They need a player who can hit 20-25 hrs. The Mets have Granderson, Duda, darnaud and Conforto who are all capable of hitting 20-25 hrs. They also need another bullpen arm and they have to resign Blevins. I expect one of those pitchers to get traded in the offseason for a young power hitting short stop.
I’d like to see Gordon stay with the Royals, but that extra year can be way more important for guys like Gordon than AAV.
LF Alex Gordon makes little sense for the Cubs unless they plan on trading one of their corner outfielders, which makes even less sense considering the upside, cost value and team control they have with Kyle Schwarber and Jorge Soler. A CF makes more sense, especially one who would be a short term investment if the organization believes that Albert Almora is their future core player at the position.
Gordon’s teammate Ben Zobrist would be a better fit on the Cubs because of his versatility, something Cubs manager Joe Maddon would put to maximum use as he did with his former star pupil in Tampa Bay for 9 seasons.