4:54pm: Melancon will earn $4MM in 2017, $10MM in 2018, and then $14MM in both 2019 and 2020, John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle reports (Twitter links). Melancon will receive a $20MM signing bonus, $12MM of which will be paid up front and the other $8MM deferred until after the contract is up. The deal contains a full no-trade clause, as per Alex Pavlovic of CSNBayArea.com. Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the contract is that Melancon can opt out of the deal after the first two seasons, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reports.
2:52pm: The Giants have announced the signing of Melancon, pending a physical, as John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets.
12:48pm: Melancon’s deal is for exactly $62MM over four years, tweets Rosenthal.
11:57am: Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports (on Twitter) that it’s a four-year deal in the $62MM range for Melancon. That contract shatters the previous record by $12MM, though it of course isn’t likely to stand all that long given the other names available in free agency this winter.
11:42am: Melancon has agreed to terms with the Giants, and the deal will be finalized once he passes a physical, reports ESPN’s Buster Olney (on Twitter).
10:45am: The Giants are close to a deal with free agent closer Mark Melancon, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). Alex Pavlovic of CSN Bay Area tweeted recently that there was a belief in the organization had a strong belief that a deal would get done, and Les Shapiro of Mile High Radio first tweeted that Melancon was wrapping up negotiations with San Francisco. Melancon is represented by ISE Baseball.
[Related: Mark Melancon Free Agent Profile]
San Francisco made a run at Melancon prior to the non-waiver trade deadline this summer but came up short to the Nationals, who acquired him for lefties Felipe Rivero and Taylor Hearn. Bullpen struggles wound up being a defining characteristic for the Giants down the stretch, as Santiago Casilla in particular struggled late in the year and lost his hold on closer’s duties. Giants general manager Bobby Evans has implied publicly in the past that perhaps he should’ve made a stronger play to get Melancon into the organization, and it appears now that the Giants made the strongest push of any team to land the highly coveted Melancon in free agency. There are no numbers attached to reports on him just yet, but Melancon reportedly has received four-year offers worth more than $60MM, which would eclipse Jonathan Papelbon’s four-year, $50MM mark and set a new record for a relief pitcher.
The 31-year-old Melancon (32 in March) has been an All Star in three of the past four seasons and has worked to a cumulative ERA of 1.80 across 290 innings in that time (plus 10 innings in the postseason). He doesn’t flash the extreme velocity and/or strikeout rates as free agent counterparts Aroldis Chapman and Kenley Jansen, but Melancon misses bats at a slightly above-average rate and also boasts tremendous control and ground-ball tendencies. In that four-year run of dominance, he’s averaged 8.3 K/9 and 1.4 BB/9 to go along with a 57.4 percent ground-ball rate. Those immaculate ratios have led to 147 saves for Melancon since 2013, including an NL-best 51 in 2015. He also finished a league-high 67 games between the Pirates and Nats last season.
Turnover in the bullpen has long looked possible for the Giants, who saw stalwarts Casilla, Sergio Romo and Javier Lopez all hit the open market this winter. Melancon, of course, would immediately move to the top of the food chain in the San Francisco bullpen, where he’s likely to be joined by Hunter Strickland, Derek Law, Will Smith, George Kontos and Cory Gearrin. Steven Okert and Josh Osich are both present as left-handed options to fill out the ’pen, while Chris Heston could try to crack the relief corps after a tough go of things in 2016.
They needed him bad.
Yep. Who knows how the NLDS would have turned out if the Giants had Melancon to close out the 9th inning of Game 4.
They still would have lost.
lol. Right. Other than their closer the Giants were a good match for the Cubs. Either team could have won a game 5.
So then Chapman signs with the Yankees, and Jansen… back to LA? I don’t see the Marlins appeal.
Neither do I.
Money. That’s the marlins appeal
Jansen to the Cubs?
Nope
Did Jansen have a good relationship with Mattingly? If so, he’s down there in Miami.
Cubs are now rumored to be in on Jansen. That means they’re likely the team with the most money in on him. Whether they spend what is required to get him though has remained to be seen. Personally……. I’m bummed. Would much rather see the Cubs sign a much cheaper but just as good (if not better) Melancon. Oh well, it isn’t my money. I just hate seeing my teams blow money on areas they really don’t need to blow money on. Rondon has been a solid closer. Maddon seriously just need to give the dude a longer leash. He had Chapman-like numbers (again) before they added Chapman. Once demoted out of the closer’s role is when Rondon went downhill. Then he got injured. Then they also have potential closer in the making in Edwards. So they have the guys, potentially adding Jansen just seems excessive and like a waste of money that could be better spent elsewhere. Would rather see them roll the dice with Holland if it were up to me and they were not in the Melancon talks – meaning If we can’t have Melancon I’d rather see them get Holland over Jansen. Not saying because he is better or as good, but just because it is spending money much more wisely. Holland could be had for 2 years and about $12-14M……. possibly with an option on that 2nd year in case he is complete garbage in 2017 and doesn’t bounce back from injury. Having Rondon and Holland battle for the closer spot with the loser becoming the setup man is a pretty solid position to be in. Then have Strop, Edwards, Grimm, and Zastryzny taking up the other spots in the pen….. all they need is to add another lefty and that pen is set. I would like to see them trade for Doolittle out in Oakland. Shouldn’t cost too much due to injury concerns surrounding Doolittle. Say, Soler and a mediocre prospect for Doolittle? Then the bullpen looks like:
CL: let’s say Holland
RHSU: Rondon
LHSU: Doolittle
RHRP: Strop
RHRP: Edwards
RHRP: Grimm
LHRP Zastryzny
LHRP/RHRP: (if they go with 8 relievers) Duensing or someone from triple A (Jose Rosario?) or another FA signing that has yet to happen (Logan? Dunn? Blevins?)
Pretty lethal pen IMO. Just picture that same pen though with Melancon in that closers role instead of Holland…… or BOTH Holland and Melancon in that pen. Those two combined should only cost a hair more on a per year basis than Jansen or Chapman. IMO Melancon+Holland >>>>>>>>>>>> Jansen or Chapman.
What is up with Cubs fans and their devotion to Hector Rondon? He was absolute garbage last year. The few appearances he had, he couldn’t get anybody out. The Cubs were forced to sign Chapman because Rondon was throwning batting practice in thd 9th inning. Signing Jansen would take a lot of pressure off their bullpen. If they don’t get him now, they’ll be giving up prospects the get him from the Marlins next season.
Rondon was excellent until he got hurt. After he came back from the tri-ceps injury, he wasn’t the same in the regular season or in the playoffs. Prior to this year, he was extremely effective.
Excellent? Really? Look at his stats, particularly his splits. He was tge worst. loser in baseball. The Cubs signed Chapman BEFORE Rondon got hurt because he kept blowing saves.
He was the “worst closer in baseball.”
Rondon season WHIP 0.98.
Garbage has a new definition.
He had an ERA of 6.41 after the All-Star Break. 14 runs in 19.2 innings. You can talk all you want about WHIP, but if you are allowing a .316 BAA and allowing that many runs….that’s on you. He had a good defense behind him. So yes, that’s garbage. If the Cubs weren’t worried, I doubt they would have gotten Chapman.
So yes, they are one team that needs a closer. I can’t imagine they rely on Rondon to start the year.
Rondon is a fully capable set-up man,that had an injury late.
Feel free to over-amplify his late-season struggles, if you want.
Garbage is a rather harsh term for what he was last season. But amuse yourself with your numerical shuffling, wherever that gets you.
Malancon is not better than Jansen.
Best off season ever to be a free agent reliever.
Until next year. Just like last year.
Chapman will be costly for the Yankees , but needs to get done !
I have a feeling yankees won’t be getting chapman.
Hey I actually got one right in the contest haha 1 out of like the 15 that have signed
Woohoo let’s get this deal done and then get our left OFer!
Oh boy, wonder who nationals aim for now. my guess is holland.
I think the closers are going to start coming off the table faster now. Jansen back to LA, Chapman either to the Yankees or Cubs, and maybe a Wade Davis trade for the Nats?
Just heard on MLB Network that the Marlins offered Jansen over 80 million for 5 years!
Yeah, that was rumored to be the case yesterday and maybe even the day before. It’s a lot of money, but I don’t think Miami has the same intrigue as the others. I think he chooses any of the other options if they come even remotely close. Miami isn’t a real contender yet, and paying for a closer doesn’t make sense.
Only other team that can/willing to pay Chaps services are the Dodgers
Marlins could go hard after Holland,even though I think he’ll end up in Washington
If I were a rebuilding team like the Yankees are, I wouldn’t sign either Chapman or Jansen. Betances can close, and the Yankees can use younger arms and find cheaper ones to fill in the blanks. 5/$90M+ is crazy money for 60 IP per year
I agree. I think Yankees should stay away from either if they are not planning to contend.
It’s not too crazy seeing how valuable good bullpen pitching is. Not even 20mil avv Yanks could definitely do that.
I’m guessing the Giants wish they would have ponied up for a solid 60 IP in a closer last year. That cost them a lot of games, including the playoffs. 60 innings isn’t a lot, but they are also very critical innings.
Yanks are at 149 million right now, they can sign Chapman and still be under the cap next year. They drop down to 84 million right now for next year. I think Cashman feels the best way he can stay competitive while rebuilding is to sign him.
Actually the Yanks are at about $170 mil as of right now. You have to factor in about 20 mil for all the arbitration guys. Yes they can still sign him and be under this year but it will be tight.
Betances ISNT a closer.
Betances is one of the five best relievers in baseball.
Betances looked lost as a closer. The Yankees even fought back to get in the race but the bullpen let them down.
Betances had a particularly bad September. He might have been tired or fighting something, but he was definitely not top 5 in baseball down the stretch, barely even top 5 on the Yanks. Only had 3 of the Yanks last 6 saves.
If they added 2 bullpen pieces, like an Andrew Miller or Aroldis Chapman, they would be a pretty scary team.
The Yankees aren’t rebuilding. Trading your pending free agents at the deadline doesn’t mean you’re rebuilding. It means you’re gearing up for the following season and beyond.
Yet, if the Yankees sign him and then trade him again for maximum prospects at the deadline, they only really pay $10 MM for whatever they get for him. Not a bad way to quickly build a farm.
I’m guessing the Dodgers sign Chapman and trade for a 3rd baseman and let Jansen and Turner walk so they pick up a picks.
Dodgers would have to put together a really nice package .. if they’re in the same ballpark as the Yanks , Chap stays on the East Coast
Chapman ISN’T coming from the East Coast. In fact, he’s played more games for each of the Cubs and Reds than he did for the Yankees.
Champan is going to the highest bidder plain and simple. The dodgers also have the big market appeal with new york. They are the 1 team that can compete with the new york environment for him
Let the Winter Meetings commence!
These closers should all be sending Andrew Miller and the KC bullpen of 2 years ago a thank you basket. These guys are revolutionizing how all of these GM’s think of building a team now. It used to be that the bullpen was whatever guys were left out there would fill the spots, and now you’re giving guy $15 million a year to come out of the pen…wow. It’s a shame starters can’t go 7-8 innings anymore or this wouldn’t even be an issue.
It’s killing baseball IMO. For a league that supposedly wants to shorten game lengths they are seemingly doing everything they can to make them longer. I mean replay standards in the game are abysmal. Average replay in MLB takes at least 5 minutes for the umps to make a decision, which is crazy because after looking at about two replays in my living room I can pretty much make a decisive call within 1 minute and 9.9 times out of 10 it is the same call they end up giving. IMO if you can’t determine a play within 1 minute it is too close to call and stick with the call on the field. I mean if you have to go to super super slow motion with the picture magnified it is too close to call and you’re now just wasting everyone’s time. Replay alone I’d guess added at least 3 minutes to the average game time in 2015. Now with pitching strategy changing to pretty much no more real rotation and just a large bullpen…. starters are effectively long relievers nowadays – means more pitching changes which adds about another 5 minutes every time their is a pitching change in the middle of an inning….. if not more than 5 minutes. It is really killing the game. Nothing was more aggravating when Maddon yanked Hendricks out of game 6 of the NLCS and game 7 in the WS. Hendricks was in the 8th inning in the NLCS and had only allowed like 2 hits and as at only 88 pitches I believe when he got pulled for Chapman. I think he officially went 7.1 or 7.2 IP. He had a 5-0 lead. He should’ve finished that inning if not the game. Then in game 7…. ugh. Maddon d**n near cost them the game with his micromanaging. Hendricks was doing fine and only threw like 66-67 pitches when he got yanked. I think he allowed only the one run. He should’ve gone at least another 2+ innings for a total of at least 7 IP not the 4.1 I believe he ended up going. Then Lester came in and was pretty shaky. Then Chapman came in and blew yet another lead (how this guy has so much hype around him is beyond me….. I was pretty unimpressed with him and his tenure as a Cub. He wasn’t much better than Rondon in the regular season and he was complete garbage in the postseason….. he had at least 2-3 blown saves in the postseason with a 3.50ish ERA in the postseason….. yet somehow that’s worth potentially $20M/season….. whoever signs him will most likely regret it. Once that velocity starts fading he’ll be awful. He’s already pretty wild. Lose that velocity and IMO he becomes Carlos Marmol). If Hendricks was allowed to go 7 IP and then put Lester in to close it out and pitch the 8th and 9th I bet they win easily in 9 innings. IMO Chapman was useless when you look at the reason they got him. To lock it down in the postseason. He SUCKED in the postseason and had a ton of blown saves. Rondon IMO could’ve done better or at least just as bad. Now Chapman will likely for some reason get his mega deal and the Cubs are out Gleyber Torres. IMO Cubs lost on the Chapman deal, BIG TIME. Wouldn’t it be nice to have Torres back so we can now use him in a deal for, say, Chris Archer? Again, I get why they did the trade. It just didn’t work.
I just read now that Chapman says the Cubs aren’t interested in him. Good. Also, he is seeking 6 years. I already feel sorry for the team that signs him. His numbers are very deceiving IMO. He’s completely useless with runners on base. Rondon had 18 saves and 4 blown saves with an ERA around 1.90 when they acquired him with a WHIP around 0.80 I wanna say (after the deal Rondon was battling a sore forearm and went downhill eventually landing on the DL). Chapman with the Cubs had 16 saves and 2 blown saves in the reg season with a 1.01 ERA and a 0.83 WHIP…… MARGINALLY better than Rondon. In the postseason he was WELL below average. 3.45 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 4 for 7 in save opportunities. That’s 4 saves and 3 blown saves. I’m sorry but I judge a closer on his effectiveness (save percentage) and Chapman’s in the postseason (when it matters) was pitiful. He choked in almost half of his high stress situations with the save on the line….. most notable one almost costing the Cubs the WS in game 7.
If Chapman sign a $100+M 6 year deal I am going to laugh my a** off.
KB”I get why they did the trade. It just didn’t work” You cannot be serious? Chapman helped win a world series??
With Rondon as the closer Cubs don’t win. So even if you loose Torres for half a season of Chapman, and a World Series, Cubs come way out on top.
World Series rings, Chapman 1 Torres 0. Chapman was a big reason the Cubs won the World Series. Strop and Rondon go down in regular season and chapman was lights out . Close out Giants in nlds. Saving us facing cueto in game 5. Game 5 saves us against Indians , game 6 saves us. Game 7 after blowing lead comes back and shuts down Indians in 9th inning. Your comparison to becoming Carlos marmol does scare the crap out of me though :-). I hated seeing Torres go but where would he have played and by the time all the young Cubs come up for big paydays could we afford him or archer? What’s your thoughts on trading for wade Davis?
I’m okay with the Chapman trade, though I think the Cubs paid too much. The path to Otani is paved by having Happ/Eloy/Cease/Clifton/others on the way.
Holy mother of god can you hit “return” occasionally? Nobody wants to read 40 column inches of solid text.
Next time, Mark your chapters. Nothing like being concise.
TL;DR
Lmao. Was going to write that myself.
True that. Most good relievers like Miller and Britton are failed starters. Now they make as much. A lot of little leaguers now wanna be relievers, lol
Good for them!
Yes!
Makes sense, good for him.
Man. Would’ve preferred to see the Cubs get him. Cheapest of the big three and quite possibly the best PITCHER of the big three. Cubs are supposedly in on Jansen though so it isn’t like they’re not interested in these closers. I just don’t see the point on spending excessively on the position which is what Jansen will be requiring – excessive spending. They already have Rondon who IS a solid closer. Maddon just needs to give him a longer leash and have some trust in him. They also have potential closer in waiting/training in Edwards. Personally, if they miss out on Melancon, which seems to be the case, I’d rather just see them sign Holland and some other intriguing FA relievers. Drew Storen, Boone Logan, Mike Dunn, Jerry Blevins…. all interesting cheap options, and the latter three are all lefties. On a per year basis Holland, Storen, and one of those LHRPs would cost ≈$18-20M. Or about what Chapman or Jansen will cost alone on a per year basis. Which bullpen would you rather have?
CL Holland/Rondon
SU Rondon/Holland
RP Strop
RP Edwards
RP Storen
RP Grimm
LHRP Zastryzny/Duensing
LHRP Boone -or- Dunn -or- Blevins
OR
CL Jansen
SU Rondon
RP Strop
RP Edwards
RP Grimm
LHRP Zastryzny
LHRP Duensing
I’d take the former. Just as good IMO and a LOT deeper.
I’d love to see Jansen go to the cubs. The rumors of the Marlins wanting him makes no sense. They are in no condition to win. I think they should trade for wade Davis.
I’d rather see them hold onto the money that will be required to sign Jansen. Be it on extensions for current players on the roster or next year when this Japanese, Babe Ruth-like player supposedly hits the market in Otani. Kid just belted 22 HRs last year in under 400 ABs while pitching to a 1.86 ERA and 0.96 WHIP while posting a 11.2 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 across 20 starts and 140+ IP. And he’s a whopping 22 years old this upcoming season meaning he’ll be 23 if he comes over after the 2017 season. I’m not big on spending a ton of money on these Japanese players because they’re seemingly so hit or miss. But this guy is just so d**n intriguing. How many lights out starting pitchers do you know of that can play the OF and DH? None, that’s how many. People (read as the media) nut themselves over Bumgarner and the roughly 2-3 HRs he hits per year as a pitcher with his sub-.200 BA. Otani last year, again, hit 22 HRs and had a BA of .322. and an OBP of .416 in 323 ABs. Yeah. Remember, he’s a pitcher.
So yeah, with word this Otani kid is going to post for FA after the 2017 season I’d say save that money for him. At the very least he’ll be interesting.
Forget Otani, the Cubs are built to win for the next 3 years. You need an elite closer for the playoffs.
Blowing money on a guy that pitches 60-65 innings is a waste of money. They already have quality arms in the back of their bullpen. Also, with Arrieta and Lackey likely gone after this year they need SP. Otani can fit the bill……. and then some. Chapman was an “elite” closer and he was marginally better than Rondon when in that role. Chapman sucked miserably in the playoffs. “Elite” closers IMO are overrated. Better off growing your own IMO. Rondon is solid and already on the team and Edwards is an intriguing possible replacement should Rondon randomly start sucking. Also, Holland is going to be cheap by comparison to all these bigger name guys. Assuming he looks good in a pitching session and his velocity is back after his surgery he could be had on a 2 year $14M deal, tops. Would rather roll the dice with him than blow nearly $100M on either Jansen or Chapman. Cubs are apparently not even remotely interested in Chapman according to Chapman himself so that’s good IMO. Sign Holland, trade for Doolittle, and sign one of Blevins, Logan, or Dunn. That solidifies and adds great depth to the pen. Holland, Doolittle, Rondon, Strop, Edwards…. all capable of throwing in the back end of the bullpen in a closer or setup role….. DEEP and nasty. Funny and great thing is, Holland, one of those FA left handers (Blevins, Logan, and Dunn), and Doolittle will cost roughly only $14-15M for 2017…….. less than any one of the big three closers available. Tell me this doesn’t look like a sexy bullpen:
CL: Holland/Rondon
RHSU: Rondon/Holland
LHSU: Doolittle
RP: Strop
RP: Edwards
RP Grimm
LHRP Zastryzny/Duensing
LHRP: Dunn -or- Logan -or- Blevins
If they wanted to they can go out and sign Storen to a fairly cheap deal since he is coming off a lackluster season but has a history of being a SOLID bullpen arm. I think 2 years and $10-12M is enough to land Storen. Toss him in that pen then and replace him with the Zastryzny/Duensing spot. He’s a righty but with Doolittle and one of Dunn/Logan/Blevins they’d already have 2 lefties in the pen. That puts the money total in bullpen additions then at ≈$19-20M for 2017……… or about the annual salary Jansen and Chapman will command. But instead of adding just 1 of those guys you add; Holland, Doolittle, Storen, and one of Blevins/Logan/Dunn. 4 pitchers for the price of 1……. and 3 of those pitchers have shown elite stuff in the recent past.
-Holland – 2-year, $13-14M deal
-Doolittle – ($2.63M salary in 2017) trade centered around Soler and a prospect or two on the level of, say, Eddy Martinez…. Soler, Martinez, and Jake Stinnett….. IMO that’s lopsided in favor of the A’s since they’re giving up an constant injury concern in Doolittle…… but when healthy he is one of the best lefties in the game out of the pen….. just not healthy very long these last 2 years and as a result his numbers have taken a hit. IMO he can be had for Soler and Martinez alone)
-Storen – due to awful 2016 likely will be willing to sign 1-year deal. My guess 1-year $5-6M. If a 2-year deal – $10M.
-Blevins/Logan/Dunn – Dunn and Blevins will likely be the cheaper of the two and my guess can be had for 2-years and $12M or less.
Total annual salary ≈ $20-21M for 2017
Total annual salary for just one of Jansen or Chapman on their upcoming deals likely ≈ $18-20M
Give me the depth and talent over just the 1 assumed high level talent any day.
No way Otani plays the field in the majors. He might pinch-hit occasionally or DH once a week but that’s it.
Your word for the day:
Brevity.
Major League General Managers don’t agree with you.
Highest contract ever for a reliever. That record will last for maybe a week. A day. A few hours. An hour. Or a few minutes.
Way to repeat the article on ESPN.
People still watch/read ESPN for baseball news? Sorry. I didn’t repeat/copy them at all.
A lot of the crap you read on here are links to those ESPN articles.
I don’t click the links at all. Only links I read are columns time to time. Not transactions.
Yea, should be interesting to see how quickly the rest of the reliever dominoes fall now.
Anyone interested in seeing what Melancon looks like in a Giants Uni, check @mlbjerseyswaps on Twitter
Bully for Mark. A lot of hard work by him finally paid off. That being said, a huge risk to pay a guy 62 million over 4 years as a closer starting with his age 32 season. This is why the Bucs and teams like them trade such players because they know what large money would be involved in signing a FA with a good or great stat line. Yes, I would have liked the Bucs to have kept Mark but I know for the long term heath of the club, they can not afford to eat a year or two of such a contract when the odds are that the player will fall off before the deal is played out. That is why the Pirates traded Walker last off season and are looking to trade McCutchen this off season. Not the current contracts that they want rid of, it is the fact that they will lose the player for nothing if they leave in FA.
Way to go Giants….. Great move……
Good move for SF it’s about time they get a reliable closer. Their bullpen is still not great they can only depend on Malancon, Smith, and Strickland maybe adding holland or Ziegler wouldn’t be a bad idea
Derek Law was very effective and should move up to pitching the 7th-8th innings.. Cory Gearrin was pretty effective until he got injured. George Kontos gets people out, I have no idea how he does it. One of Osich or Okert should do a good job in the second lefty spot. Their pen is not without talent and depth, but having that closer spot nailed down allows all the other roles to fall into place.
I would not go four years on a closer or, for that matter, any reliever. The hype around Andrew Miller (deserved) should be exclusive to Andrew Miller – how many relievers are capable of what he’s done? An extreme few. In order to operate an Andrew Miller-like system as Francona did, a team must first have Andrew Miller. Trend. Hype. Noise. Good time to be a “closer.”
The Cubs don’t win the WS without Chapman. Period. He’s worth the money for a contending team.
Chapman had a 3.45 ERA and 4 saves with 3 blown saves in the postseason. He was a bum IMO for us. Rondon could’ve performed at that level. It’s likely at least partly why the Cubs have shown 0 interest in re-signing him. Even during the regular season Chapman was marginally better than what Rondon had posted as the closer before he got there. Before Chapman Rondon had like a 1.90 ERA and a 0.80 WHIP and was 18 for 22 in save opps. Chapman had a 1.01 ERA, 0.95ish WHIP and was 16 for 18 in save opps. Other than that ERA they were about the same effectiveness as a closer. IMO it wasn’t worth coughing up Torres (and then some) to get Chapman. Cubs lost on that deal regardless of winning the world series. In fact Chapman almost cost the Cubs the world series. Yet some fool out there is going to pour cash into this guys bank account. Crazy. Jansen despite being on the losing end in the NLCS was WAAAAAAAY better than Chapman…. at least against the Cubs.
Jansen’s NLCS numbers? 0.00 ERA, 1 save, and 0.15 WHIP in 6.1 IP in 3 appearances. daaaaaayum. Aroldis Chapman in the same NLCS???? 3.86 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 0 saves, and 1 blown save in 4.2 IP in 4 appearances. Complete crap. He was just as bad in the world series, if not worse since he was atrocious in game 7, probably the most important game of his life. He had a 3.50ish ERA and a WHIP just below 1 in the world series with 1 save and the notable 1 blown save. Chapman completely folds with runners on and in high stress situations. He’s only lights out with nobody on base. He’s also a bit wild so that tells me once he starts losing his primary weapon, velocity, he has a high likelihood of turning into an overpaid Carlos Marmol. He loses 3 mph on that fastball and he’ll get lit up.
Using WHIP in a sample size of 6 innings is pretty hilarious.
I don’t completely understand your comparison. Marmol actually had an off speed pitch….
I do agree with your assessment on when Chap loses velos as he has nothing else.
I would go Jansen trade for wade Davis /sign him to extension then chapman. I agree with a lot of your points but can you honestly say chapman sucked in postseason? Give him some credit. 1.01 e.r.a. for reg season with Cubs . Rondon will be fine if that becomes our option but if we have the funds all 3 best teams left standing (dodgers,Cubs,Indians had elite closers.
That seems like a fair enough price
lol
Holy Ba11s! You seeing this Os? Time to find a team to overpay for Britton off an amazing season
So with the opt out after year two, this deal has the potential to be a 34 million, 2 year deal. That’s insane. Can only imagine what Chap and Kenley sign for.
December 2016: “Melancon will earn $4MM in 2017, $10MM in 2018, and then $14MM in both 2019 and 2020.”
July 2018: “The Giants are willing to eat a portion of Melancon’s salary in a trade.”
I would actually be very surprised at that since it would mean that you spent some 34 mm for 1.5 seasons. The only reason to do that would be if he tanked
I am a little curious as to why the bonus and low salary for the first year?, like, does the bonus pay out now and he is taxed @ his current residence and the salary taxed @ california rates? As far as I can tell it doesn’t effect the AAV that would have to do with the luxury tax
Yesssss chalk another one up on the prediction contest!!
mark, get your agent a damn good Christmas gift!