Giants GM Bobby Evans discussed the prospective addition of Johnny Cueto yesterday, noting the deal’s upside, as Alex Pavlovic of CSNBayArea.com reports. “You have a guy that has a chance to be an elite presence in your rotation if he’s healthy and we can play good defense behind him and he uses our ballpark to his advantage,” said Evans. Of course, the deal is not yet official, though Evans’s comments appear to suggest that the club isn’t too worried about the physical, which John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle says (on Twitter) will likely take place Wednesday.
Here’s more from out west:
- The San Francisco GM also addressed the team’s outfield search, indicating that he’ll continue to keep an eye on all potential options in the market. But a significant move isn’t likely after the commitments to Cueto and Jeff Samardzija, Pavlovic reports.
- ESPN.com’s Keith Law discusses the Cueto move, explaining that there’s a good deal of risk for the Giants but noting that there are some positives. For one thing, says Law, the veteran looks to be a good fit for spacious AT&T Park; for another, the early opt-out provision (after two years) arguably makes better sense than other such uses of that type of clause. Of course, it ultimately all comes down to whether Cueto will return to form or if his rough second half is an indication of the future.
- The Astros would “definitely like to bring in another starter,” owner Jim Crane said yesterday, as Jose de Jesus Ortiz tweets (video link). Houston has real interest in Yovani Gallardo, could potentially match up on Mike Leake, and remains interested in a reunion with Scott Kazmir, Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle reports. The team doesn’t appear to be moving on Kenta Maeda, he adds, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if GM Jeff Luhnow and co. decide to wait out the market and “bargain hunt.”
- Former big league catcher Josh Bard is likely to join the Dodgers coaching staff, Jon Morosi of FOX Sports tweets. He’s expected to slot in as the bullpen coach, Morosi suggests.
Wow … I’m still surprised that the Dodgers are not making any moves in the FA world… $45 Million to Iwakuma seems a lot… Could have spent that on somebody else… Well….Probably the Dodgers are brewing a major trade..
– “surprised they aren’t making moves”
– “45mil to Iwakuma seems a lot”
contradictory?
if they’d made more moves it would certainly also be for “a lot”
what concerns me if they go for Maeda along with Iwakuma & Ryu,
is that Kuroda is really the only Asian pitcher who I would call durable
when you think of Darvish Tanaka Iwakuma Matsuzaka and several more.
They needed a RHP for the #2 slot from the start of the offseason yet they passed on the best free agents and trade options. Is anybody left worth a trade? The bullpen still needs work, 2B is effectively unmanned (platooning is a fallback, not a solution), and the OF is a mess. I would not assume they are doing anything but cashing in the fan’s chips, and frankly talking about trading scares me, given the Whiz Kids’ record so far.
Friedman was always a wait and see type of guy. He never really made a big move unless it pronounced it self to him.
94 wins before he took the reigns. 92 wins first season (w Greinke). Let’s count next year’s win total and division finish. If it declines and the team misses the dance, there should be scrutiny. Remember, this is Kasten’s guy, so he should receive the scrutiny right along with Andrew. It may all work out; just gotta wait and see. Only time will tell.
If some of the kids come up and are impactful, and Ryu comes back solid, and Puig grows up (just a bit – I know, asking a lot), they could win a bunch and Andrew will look like the genius he’s touted to be.
Dodgers fans are not in a wait and see mood. If Friedman and Co. think we’re going to be patient with them then they’ve either judged the mood of the Dodger Nation completely wrong, or they don’t really care. I’d bet the latter. They’re getting paid either way.
I think you have to consider that the Dodgers are slowly trying to become a team built completely from within. I can’t stand them as my handle suggests but the rivalry is back which is important to me because there was a long stretch where neither teams playing one another mattered in terms winning the division with both teams neck and neck towards the end of the season. This rivalry is very important for baseball, and I’m glad it’s back.
The BlueSky is falling! The BlueSky is falling!
So you’re enjoying your Los Angele Cubs?
I’m enjoying they haven’t made any stupid moves and it’s only a week past the winter meetings. My best guess is that they’ll trade from their farm riches for a young, controllable pitcher who will outperform most of the 30-something, $200 million crowd. Todd Frazier would be a nice acquisition as well. Still plenty of time. We shall see!.
So hanging onto Grienke would have been a stupid move, in your opinion? Miller was the best of the available lot for RHP trades. Arizona made the stupid move of getting him too. These guys have been shooting blanks since they got here. Why reserve judgement about their performance? To date, it’s been lousy.
Jocketty is an idiot! Homer Bailey gets $106 for 6 years instead of just locking up Cueto for $25 more… At the time Cueto would have probably taken same $106 contract. Same age and not even same ball park as Cueto.
“You have a guy that has a chance to be an elite presence in your rotation if he’s healthy and we can play good defense behind him and he uses our ballpark to his advantage,”
Oh and if he does terrible you pay him a ton but if does well he leaves for more money. Great concept.
Same type of contract Dodgers previously gave Greinke
Same type of contract Greinke had with the Dodgers.
Trying to outbid Arizona for Grienke would have probably resulted in a stupid contract, yes. Greinke made it very clear that the most money wins, so how high do you go? Seven years? $250M?. If shooting blanks means winning another NL West title, improving the roster, building the farm, making room for the kids, and avoiding albatross contracts, yes, I’m all for it.
The Dodgers would have gotten Grienke for around the same ticket as he what he took in Arizona. The Whiz Kids were simply unwilling to go six years (ignoring the publicly stated opinion of Rick Honeycutt, incidentally — but what does he know about pitchers?). I am all for building the farm and I give them credit for that much, but at some point these are assets to be spent. The teams that got what they needed were in the World Series. We got junk instead, and out went the lights. It was all pretty predictable, just as the results are for this season. Unless they pull of something dramatic (as opposed to desperate) we are going to be looking at taillights all summer.