Here’s the latest from around the big leagues as we move into the new week…
- Joe Girardi is entering his last year under contract with the Yankees, though the manager tells FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal that he isn’t worrying about his future. Girardi said he’ll continue to manage as long as his family still wants him to remain in the job. The Yankees usually wait until a season is over to evaluate managers (and general managers, as Brian Cashman is also in the last year of his deal), though Hank Steinbrenner recently gave Girardi a vote of confidence. Cashman praised Girardi’s ability to work with young players, which could bode well for him remaining to oversee an increasingly-youthful New York roster. “There has never been a question about his ability to manage. The only time (managers lose their jobs) is if they wind up having missteps with their roster in terms of leadership, and they might not be the right voice anymore,” Cashman said. “You get a sense of that from your players. It happened toward the end with [Joe] Torre. It hasn’t happened at this stage with [Girardi].”
- Indians outfielder Tyler Naquin left Sunday’s game after fouling a ball off his right foot. The injury is officially being called a bruise for now, according to MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian and other reporters. Naquin underwent x-rays after the game and the results will be revealed on Monday. The former first-rounder made a big impact for the Tribe in his rookie season, batting .296/.372/.514 with 14 homers over 365 PA. Naquin was slated for the majority of playing time in center field for Cleveland this season, with right-handed batters Brandon Guyer, Abraham Almonte and Austin Jackson all competing for a backup or even a platoon role spelling Naquin against left-handed pitching.
- Scott Feldman’s history as a starter, reliever and swingman makes him a valuable asset for the Reds, who are in a very fluid situation with their young pitching staff, Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes. Feldman looks like he’ll at least begin the season in the rotation, though that could change once Homer Bailey returns from the DL or if the Reds want to take a longer look at one of their young arms. Feldman is comfortable in his role, though he admits that still having to prove his value as a starting pitcher “definitely makes you play with a little bit of a chip on your shoulder.”
- Former Phillies first-rounder Jesse Biddle is looking to revive his career with the Braves, though he tells Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer that he has no hard feelings towards his old club for trading him to the Pirates in February 2016. Once a fixture of top-100 prospect lists, Biddle ran into some struggles as he reached the upper minors, and his career was halted entirely when he underwent Tommy John surgery in October 2015. Atlanta claimed Biddle off waivers from Pittsburgh last March and the southpaw was finally back on the mound on Saturday, facing (ironically) the Phils in Spring Training action.
- Looking ahead to the 2018-19 free agent class, Joel Sherman of the New York Post updates his list of the top 10 free agents slated to hit the open market during that potentially historically-good winter. Manny Machado tops the list, followed by Bryce Harper, Clayton Kershaw (who has an opt-out in his Dodgers contract), Josh Donaldson and Zach Britton rounding out the top five.
Maybe it’s just me , but I’d rank Kershaw over Machado and Harper as of now. I’d also put Donaldson ahead of Harper.
FA rankings are usually done based on earning power, and Machado will earn more than Harper, Donaldson and Kershaw (because hes a pitcher)
Ok. That makes sense then. Though Machado/Harper is a toss up I’d say.
Hardly. Manny has always produced, Harper has had one dominate year.
Through 5 seasons:
Player A: 118 wRC , 23 WAR
Player B: 139 wRC , 22.9 WAR
I’d say they have pretty similar earning potentials given that they’re the same age and pretty well equally productive. A lot can change in 2 years however.
As SuperSinker said, a lot can changein 2 years. Heck, a lot can change in 1 year. If Jason Heyward was a free agent this offseason as opposed to to last year, he wouldn’t get anything close to the $180 million he got.
I still don’t understand how Heyward got that much money from the Cubs. I’ve never heard of any player getting a premium contract for their defense. Crazy.
Epstein is bad with contracts. Look at all the bad contracts he gave in Boston. Crawford, Gonzalez, Beckett. He’s good but overrated.
I don’t know if I’d lump the Gonzalez contract in with Crawford and Beckett, I think that is still a pretty good deal, but I’ve always liked him. There are plenty of other bad, well-documented FA signings by Theo, however -Renteria, Julio Lugo, Dice-K all from the Boston years come to mind.
But all in all, this guy has ended 2/3 longest World Series droughts in history and has three rings so far and has built a team that is universally regarded to be competitive for several years to come. I think he is rated just right.
Cubs are a unique team that can afford it and such a murders row offense that can absorb his plate struggles. Most teams it would have killed them. He is a class act person who is a clubhouse asset. Hope He turns it around.
To be fair, it’s not like everyone else offered 100 million and Theo just outbid everyone by 184. If memory serves, St. Louis and another team (Washington?) offered over 200 million for him. The market dictates the earning power.
Gonzalez wasn’t a bad contract by any stretch of the imagination. He was killing it in Boston, he just happened to be what LAD wanted to take on all those bad contracts. It’s a shame, that swing was beautiful and built for Fenway.
Brixon a bandwagon
Helping verbs hard.
How am i a bandwagon? Im a Phillies fan.. lol. Nothing to bandwagon there
I don’t want the NYY to sign ANY player who requires a long term deal and a huge amount of money… trades? I welcome those any day of the week…
But I am sick and tired of “those” contracts
Yeah, but “those” contracts were of players whom were either 30 or older or late twenties. Plus, Ellsbury had legitimate concerns before his contract. Yankees will be ALL over Machado. #1 he fills a need at 3rd with Headley soon gone. #2 he plays the infield and no longer really steals bases which means way less injuries than a guy like Ellsbury. #3 he’s not a juicer. Shoot, you should be jumping with joy at the fact that your team could get a player like Machado. Other than that, Yanks won’t go after any of those other guys as they all have age and/or injury question marks and they ain’t paying Britton.
“#3 he’s not a juicer”
You really want to go all in on that statement?
I agree with your thinking for right now. But I think kershaw and Donaldson are not ranked as high as machado and Harper for their age. Donaldson will be 33-34 and kershaw will be 31 when they become free agents.
On that note, I think it’s blasphemy to say you’d pick a 34 year old Donaldson over what, a 25-26 year old Harper/machado. If kershaw keeps dominating I’d keep him number 1 regardless of age. We’re witnessing one of the GOATs, atleast of my generation.
Almonte is a switch hitter not a righty.
Not exactly a ringing endorsement of Girardi by Cashman. He’s not the wrong voice for them “at this stage”
I was more surprised at the subtle swipe at Torre. Unnecessary to make his point. Must have ended badly between them.
Agreed
Anyone else think Kershaw might not opt out? I know that’s a rarity in baseball, especially with a player of Kershaw’s caliber, but I wouldn’t be that surprised if he decided to stick out the rest of his contract with LAD. Also LAD probably would try to extend him by now if they thought he would take the opt out but it sounds like the Dodgers haven’t even had those discussions with Kershaw
If he slumps or gets injured, sure he stays. If he wins the Cy Young, he’ll want more money.
I think he’ll seek a new contract if only because of his age. I don’t think it’s all due to money. With his possible injury concerns especially, I’m sure he would rather lock up a 7 year deal at age 29 rather than age 31.
Plus, teams would be less willing to give him that contract 2 years later. It then gives the team the chance to extend him at the end of the deal if he’s still cruising
Hopefully Naquin is alright. He’ll probably regress this year for his sophomore slump, but I think he showed a lot of potential last year. They might need to move him over to left after Brantley leaves since he’s not the best fielder in center
After Brantley leaves, or just gets put on the DL?
I still can’t believe the overall numbers he put up last year. In the playoffs, I have NEVER seen somebody so bad at hitting a fastball, especially a player at the major league level – small sample size, I know. But if he was that bad at it during the regular season (I don’t know, I didn’t see enough of him), his .886 OPS was truly unbelievable.
I just returned from Spring Training, and Naquin looked even better than last season.
It’s crazy to think, but during that 18-19 FA class there is a possibility that 3 players will end up combining for $1+ billion. Kershaw could be looking at a $200+ million contract and is probably going to be only the third highest earner.
Those players could depress the market next winter if teams decide to save. It happened in the NBA.
I absolutely think some teams will be artificially limiting their budgets next year with an eye on 18-19. Looking at the list there could legitimately be 15-20 players with an argument for $50+ million and 5-7 with an argument for $100+ million. I don’t think that will all come to fruition, but the talent will be out there.
On a slightly different note, the amount of traffic on MLBTR will be crazy from Nov-Feb of that offseason. If this site has an IPO sometime between now and then I’m going to buy as much as I can just to sit on it until Feb 2019.
As a Yankees fan all I want is Machado!!!