Zack Greinke would fit the bill for the Red Sox this winter, but Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald wonders if Boston would be the best place for him. One source close to the pitcher speculated that Greinke “definitely wouldn’t want any more stress or additional media attention,” though that was only his assumption and not something he heard directly from the former Cy Young Award winner. One can’t help but speculate if Greinke, who has been diagnosed with social anxiety disorder and clinical depression, may prefer to pitch in a market with less pressure than Boston.
Here’s more out of the AL East..
- Tim Naehring has been “one of Brian Cashman’s most trusted advisors on players the Yankees look to trade for or sign as free agents,” George A. King III of the New York Post writes. In fact, King adds that the sight of Naehring at a game often leads outsiders to conclude that the Bombers have interest in at least one of the players on the field. On Saturday, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported that Naehring would fill the vacancy left by former assistant GM Billy Eppler, though he will not take on that title.
- All of the deadline deals made by Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos ended up working out, Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com writes. David Price proved to be the frontline starter the Blue Jays needed, Mark Lowe gave Toronto a boost in the bullpen, Ben Revere solved the team’s defensive woes in left field, and Troy Tulowitzki gave the club another dangerous bat when healthy.
- The Blue Jays could solve their rotation puzzle by plugging Roberto Osuna or Aaron Sanchez into the starting five, but they’d be better served to try and re-sign Price and Marco Estrada, Chisholm writes. Still, a reunion won’t come cheap, especially when it comes to Price. Earlier today, one AL GM told Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe that he could see Estrada attracting attention from “six or seven teams” who could offer up a “four- or five-year deal in the $12MM-$15MM [per year] range.”
Estrada seems like a deal. 4 for $50M seems like bargain
I see Greinke as a Yankee. The Red Sox really have to hope that Porcello turns around a horrendous year. If not, trade him, eat half the salary, and move on. A 4.9 era. Between Ramirez, Panda, and Porcello the Red Sox have some serious cash tied up with major question marks.
Trading Porcello right now wouldnt be wise. He’s young (will be 27) and his peripherals indicate hes pitched much better than his ERA shows. He should bounce back just fine.
If he bounces back (lets say to a mid 3 ERA), next offseason when he has 3/60mil remaining in the prime of his career they could probably unload him without eating money.
Porcello was horrible and there’s no reason to believe he’s going to knock a run and a half off his era with half his starts against the al east. One of the more inexplicable contracts given to an average pitcher.
How about a 3.72 xFIP and a 3.73 SIERA? Streamer (fangraphs projection system) projects him for a 3.89 ERA next season.
Am I the only one who thinks that’s rediculous. How can one logically predict an era.
Do you remember John Lackey’s first few seasons with the Red Sox? Disastrous would be an understatement. He turned it around, and he was much older than Porcello. Especially with Porcello’s strong second half in which he went back to being a ground-ball inducer, there’s little reason to completely give up on him.
Lackey, really. 82 or 83 for 5 years. First year bad. Second horrendous. Third TJ . 4th ok. 10-13 don’t recall era. Wasn’t terrible. But game 6, which I attended, he pitched well against Wacha. Then traded at the deadline in ’14 after a decent half year. I remember how he showed zero class when Cruz had a big game against him. I don’t think I’d want Lackey type years.
Mlbpa doesn’t like your opinions!
Is that the player’s assn.?
I gave myself a -1. Apparently I’m wrong and Porcello, Hanley and Panda were solid contracts. My bad?
I think the Red Sox are stuck with those three contracts. Trading any one of those would be selling low and I highly doubt any of them will get worse. Might as well wait and see what happens.
Good response. Thank you.
Yahhow dare you badmouth the sawx
ERA schmeeRA. Porcello never has been a $20m pitcher. I’d say probably towards the higher end of $12-15m based on what he actually does. $20m for a guy that can’t put up a 3 fWAR season is silly. If Porcello is or ever was worth $20m AAV Price should get $40m this winter.
Thank you.
As someone who has had a lot of experience with social anxiety disorder, which led to Greinke’s quitting of baseball when he was a prospect, I find it all but impossible to imagine Greinke coming to NYC or Boston. SAD is manageable, but they shouldn’t put themselves at the eye of the hurricane of all eyes and attention. It’s literally a SAD person’s worst nightmare.
Yeah, going to a market where you pitch 7 innings give up 2 runs in a loss in the postseason (or “in the post” like Ron Darling likes to say) after an otherwise stellar 7 WAR season on a .650 ball club, and the New York Post is ripping into you and wondering aloud if you’ll just retire or restructure your contract so the team can find a real pitcher.
Zach Greinke definitely still has his social anxiety issues. He did fine with the very laid back media and fans in Los Angeles, but he would be a basket case with NewYork or Boston fans and press. St. Louis also might be a city too rabid for his mind. Most other cities would be OK for him, but I see him staying in Los Angeles as a combination of high salary and less stress.
Everyone with social anxiety disorder and depression has different triggers. Unless we know Greinke personally, saying he’d be fine with team x but uncomfortable with team y is just a wild guess.
It’s not really a wild guess if you are aware of the media situations in those cities and the pressure they tend to put on players. He may have all sorts of different triggers, but I’m imagining having his every move dissected by a rabid media and fanbase, probably won’t contribute to his sense of serenity.
He had anxiety trouble in Kansas City when sixty percent of the fans at any given game road tripped to see the visiting team.
We shouldn’t make too light of it though, if you’ve ever dealt with stuff like that in your family, or yourself, there’s a hell of a lot more to it than being a basket case. It’s an illness.
Right. Which is why for example the fact that Chris Davis got a pass after his suspension for adderal last year really bothers me. He said after getting caught that it was a paperwork situation and not getting his TUE was a result in tardiness by his agent not getting the proper request in by the end of 2013. According to Encina of the Balto.Sun he received no exemption in ’12 or ’13 but with Texas from ’08-’11 he got his tue and adderal. Now MLB gave 110-120 drug exemptions every year from 2011-’15 for adderal, and other amphetamines. So 15% of the 750 mlb players have been getting ADHD drugs since 2011. That’s why the O’s got Nellie Cruz so cheap and also why they didn’t resign him. It’s also why Chris Davis is so risky. If you have what’s referred to as ADHD, ADD before that it’s a serious illness that should be treated. Guys like CD who’ve been suspended and haven’t been honest and use the illness as a means to get meds in many experts opinions for instance to help him when he’s tried to stop his “dip” habit it’s an insult and I’m comfortable saying he’s a disgrace the same way Maguire and Sosa, etc…were. ADD or ADHD as it’s now called is a disease that doesn’t come and go.So one doesn’t forget the paperwork, etc..Anyone familiar with the illness knows the first order of business after the season ends is to make sure you get your Drs. paperwork in order, put in the request, and get your TUE. Chris made light of his “mistake” last year and as someone who suffers from ADHD it really pi$$es me off that home runs trump the deception of prior years and whether he gets exemptions like he did in ’15 in the future depends on MLB’s oversight and changes in next years new Collective Bargaining Agreement. Would you risk 150 MM on a guy who hit .190 and gets caught illegally taking adderal and lets his club and fans down during the first LCS in decades.
That’s a great point. I would imagine he has a TUE for his disorder and get’s all the meds required to control his problem but you make a solid point. At what point can he dictate where he doesn’t want to go?
Probably the point where he has an ERA starting with 1. Only a few teams have the wallets and situations that would allow them to give him what his anticipated value is going to be, but if he’s not just seeking out top dollar he can go almost anywhere.
Really. He’s a pro. And one of the best of the pros. I have to believe he’s getting everything he requires from MLB. I think he would have to be a very strong, determined individual who’d be successful wherever he plays. LA can be a brutal, unforgiving environment.
Estrada is a mid rotation starter who’s defense behind him is bailing him out this season. Don’t look at the 3.13 ERA, look at his 4.40 FIP and his career number in the upper half of the 3 ERA. I’d pay 2 years $20 but no more.
One really has to wonder why Price would want to stay in the A.L. east.
I definately see David going to the Cubs. Other than staying in Toronto, it has to be Chicago.
The AL East is not particularly good. That myth has to die really soon.
The offense is particularly good. Toronto, New York, and Boston made up 3 of the top 4 run scoring teams in the entire MLB last season, with Baltimore coming in at #9. It’s no myth that the AL East is a division that pitchers don’t particularly itch to pitch in.
Correct and well put.
The AL East had the second best Win % in baseball in 2015. It was First in 2014 and First in 2013. Not sure about 2012 or earlier but I wouldn’t mind checking it if you wanted me to.
It’s not a myth that the AL East is good. It’s the Truth.
Toronto needs to put that money it would pay for Price in to its bullpen. Keep Estrada, and also Navarro. Trade Tulo for a starter, besides he seems not to be happy with the situation there. I feel the manager seems to be at a loss for finding solutions during tight games, for example. But the bullpen should be the focus for this offseason for the jays. Oh, there is an announcement of sorts, today( 26th) which just might be a thank you piece for the great fan turn-out
Trade tulo? Why would you do that?
see above.
Yeah, trade for the best SS in the game with many years of control left, only to trade him away next year. Not going to happen. He’s not happy with what Colorado did, he didn’t say anything negative about the Jays or the city of Toronto. Almost all players who play there love being in that city. Why would he be any different?
The Jays have lots of money, and an owner who’s eyes have finally been opened to what happens when they spend it on the team.
There is a guideline in baseball, “don’t spend money on the bullpen”. It’s there for a reason, those guys are cheap and easy to find. Why would they give up on a big name arm like Price, which they absolutely need, to spend money on something that they could easily find for cheap?
Thank you for your Interesting viewpoints.
Sooooooo, you are paying Price somewhere near 210M$ for seven yrs? wow.
WHose viewpoint is don ‘t spend $ on the BP? I googled it, but nihil. I even checked on yogisms, but nothing is there either.
I wonder what Shapiro thinks? Then, it is more than a viewpoint.
The Jays baseball team needs a stronger bullpen than what they had this past season, esp their post-season. which will cost them; but, for some reason you think that cheaper is better.
They also have Bautista and Encarnacion to lock up as both are FA’s next year. We’re talking some serious cash for those 2 contracts.
Bullpen cheap?
See below.
Probably because the Jays are a ridiculously good team in a great city with a very good shot at making the WS next season?
The city is very nice. I’ll give you that.
LA is the #2 media market in the country. The Dodgers are one of the top three “glamour” teams in MLB. They’ve had several strait years of playoff failure. There will be a lot of questions about that.
Giants are perfect for Greinke.
That would be a slap in the face to the dodgers
Fair point. So what?
I think Greinke would do fine playing for a popular media team like the Red Sox, but I can understand why it is a concern. He has never really been under the spotlight for majority of his career, playing most of his games on smaller market teams, or being the second guy to Kershaw. Having said that, I think he’d be fine on a team like the Red Sox so long as he is pitching reasonably well.
I honestly don’t think a #1 is on the top of Boston’s list. If some of these guys are correct with the analytics, Porcello and Buchholz should bounce back and the lefty phenom imo Erod who looked real good along with numerous other possibilities like Hill, Miley and a half dozen others should put Boston in good shape as far as starters go. And Koji, etc… give them I think except for Tampa maybe the best pitching in the AL east. Of course Porcello and Buchholz may both not live up to Fan graphs psychic + fip, whatever.
First on Greinke. Unless he’s willing to go to a team that doesn’t have the highest of expectations, meaning a WS victory or two(no idea who that would be or why they wouldn’t), then pretty much anywhere he goes there will be media pressure that could affect his anxiety problems. Look at how the fans in Houston reacted as the season grew longer and they were still in it. They became more rabid and with that, the media did as well. Wherever he goes, if there aren’t a couple of big names/draws there, then he’ll be the one with the spotlight bearing brightly down on him.
Now Estrada. Someone is going to overpay for his services. He pitched well(for him) down the stretch and in the playoffs for the Jays and that always attracts offers. For years i watched him go back and forth from the rotation to the pen for the Brewers, and while he has decent stuff, he’s definitely not a pitcher that should be a high priority for any club. He’s a back of the end rotation guy and that’s the best that, imo, can be said about him.
Greinke has been playing in LA the last 3 years. I don’t think the pressure of Boston would effect him at all.
If social anxiety stuff is true, i could see Greinke being a Padre. Cant get any more under the radar than that. Padres seem to want to get better based on last years off season deals.
4 possible landing spots for Greinke
Dodgers
Angels
Cubs
Giants
As for David Price, I think he goes to the cubs, if the cubs don’t get price I think Zimmermann is a perfect fit for them.
Estrada does not have great stuff, has never surpassed 200 innings in a season, and is a flyball pitcher. I say 3yr/$30MM at best.
In a big park with a very good outfield, he can be a very solid rotation piece. Would be an excellent get for KC.
Have you seen him pitch? His curve drops off the table and he has one of the top changes in baseball. That’s two plus plus secondary pitches.