A look back at the original reporting and analysis found on MLBTR the last seven days:
- Mark Polishuk asked readers to predict which one of MLBTR’s top five free agents – Alex Gordon, Justin Upton, Chris Davis, Yoenis Cespedes, and Ian Desmond – will be the next to sign.  Nearly 39% of you predicted that Gordon will be the next to put pen-to-paper, followed by Cespedes and Davis.  However, recent news has made it seem as though Gordon could be on the shelf for a little while longer.  The Royals have reportedly been told that there’s “no chance” they’ll re-sign Gordon if they don’t increase their offer, and recent comments from Arte Moreno seem to suggest that the Angels aren’t a likely destination either.
- Later on, Mark surveyed readers on the next tier of available free agents: Wei-Yin Chen, Kenta Maeda, Dexter Fowler, Scott Kazmir, and Ian Kennedy.  Nearly half of readers who participated said that Kazmir would be the first one to sign of those listed.  On the other hand, it seems that readers are expecting Ian Kennedy to be waiting for a while.  Only 3.67% of readers predicted that the right-hander would be the next man to sign.  Kazmir has apparently received offers of three years, but might be holding out hope for four. That could be a sticking point for some teams — the Orioles, for example, might not be willing to sign Kazmir to a four-year deal.
- Charlie Wilmoth ran down the top ten remaining free agents on MLBTR’s list.  Charlie provided detailed updates on each of the free agents listed above and his article is highly recommended for anyone looking to get caught up on the current state of the free agent market.
- On Saturday, Mark looked at managers and GMs from around the league who are on expiring contracts.  Several teams, including the White Sox, Tigers, Rockies, and Reds, could have vacancies coming up sooner rather than later.
- MLBTR learned that the Hiroshima Toyo Carp have set the release fee for Kenta Maeda at $20MM, the maximum allowed by the agreement between MLB and NPB.  Maeda, 28 in April, is widely considered to be one of the best pitchers in Japan.
- If you missed out on the most recent MLBTR chat hosted by Steve Adams, you can check out the transcript here.
Gordon doesn’t deserve that money due to decline performance, getting old, injured more often, etc. But hey if Shark gonna get 18M per year then this dude deserves the 20M #overpaid
Dodgers need Cespedes, Gordon or upton for their outfield. They also need Kennedy, Chen, or Kazmir to replace Grienke
Who is playing where then? You still have Pederson, Puig, Ethier, Crawford and Van Slyke. If two of those guys get traded then theres an opening, but it doesn’t make sense to pay a guy $20 plus million to be a 4th and/or 5th outfielder.
They don’t need any of those ofs and they won’t sign any of those ofs. Gordon would be the only need, but he’s too old for the FO comfort. Kennedy is a joke, Kazmir reported dodgers are not in the final 4. Chen I like but won’t replace Grienke. If anything the Dodgers sign Maeda and then hope Ryu pitches like his former self which is a legit # 1/2.
“You just wait”, go and make your team worse by buying the streakiest player in the market. Along with let me see….. Pederson, Either, Puig, Crawford and possibly Trayce Thompson! Last time I checked there are 3 OF spots on a starting team, unless you want some of these OFs to play the infield.
I hope you get Cespedes, that’s a Giant fan wishing you mess up your team further!
Agreed man. My suggested plan of attack I’ve posted before is as follows:
1) Sign Maeda. He’s younger than the three pitchers you mentioned, has a higher ceiling, and is a righty, which we need to balance out our lefty-heavy set rotation thus far, and our heavy lefty depth.
2) Eat a good portion of one of Ethier/Crawford’s contracts, throw in a pitching prospect not named Urias/De Leon/Holmes/Alvarez (Montas, Lee, Anderson or Cotton all come to mind), and maybe another low-minors prospect to trade for a high-impact late inning reliever (a la Miller, McGee, Boxberger, etc) to solidify the bullpen.
3) Sign a free agent outfielder to play leftfield. Specifically a righty. I’d rather start with Upton – he’s younger and more consistent over the years, and familiar with the NL West. If not, Cespedes will do on a 3 or 4 year deal.
This will give us a rotation, tentatively, of: Kershaw-Ryu-Maeda-Anderson-Wood with depth of McCarthy, Bolsinger, Lee/Montas, Urias and De Leon all waiting in the wings. Our bullpen will like something like Jansen, Miller/McGee/Boxberger, Hatcher, Howell, Baez, Avilan, Garcia. And our outfield will be Upton-Pederson-Puig with Thompson, Van Slyke and Crawford/Etheir for depth.
You’re willing to trade Montas, but not Holmes or Alvarez?
I’d feel a little more comfortable with trading him over Holmes or Alvarez yeah. The projectability, at least in my estimation, for those two is better than Montas. Oh sure Montas can hit 100 MPH, but that isn’t to discount the fact that both Holmes and Alvarez have great fastballs in their own right and better projected secondaries than Montas. Additionally, the fact is that so far most scouts 100% agree, at this point in time, that Alvarez and Holmes will be rotation stalwarts given their current development stages and projectability.. Montas, as he has developed has drawn concerns which could relegate him to the bullpen. Not discrediting his ability at all, but I could see him going the way of Aroldis Chapman. Everyone hopes he, and his great fastball, can flesh out in the rotation, but he will end up as a very solid high leverage reliever.
What the heck would the Rays want with either of those broken down outfielders? They have two good outfield prospects breaking camp already and to think you get something for nothing then you need to check the previous trades and market value
That wouldn’t get it done. Have you seen how much Giles got.
Urias/de Leon/Seager is too much in any deal for a reliever. But no way an old Crawford/Ethier and two mid level prospects get a good reliever in return.
It’s not happening without Holmes if Urias andDeLeon are not on the table the next three are up Montas, Holmes, Alvarez( no particular order). Plus Barnes plus Johnson plus Thompson plus mid level. The cheapest option prospects wise would be Melancon but conceivably might not be moved until deadline.