Before Yu Darvish agreed to join the Cubs on a six-year, $126MM contract Saturday, the Dodgers joined them with a willingness to offer six years, according to Jon Heyman of FanRag (Twitter link). However, the value of Los Angeles’ proposal was worth less (closer to $100MM) and contingent on the team jettisoning money via trade, Heyman adds. Unsurprisingly, LA couldn’t find a taker for at least a portion of its worst contract – outfielder Matt Kemp’s two years and $43.5MM – which helped lead to Darvish’s exit in free agency.
More from baseball’s West divisions:
- Rangers slugger Joey Gallo logged significant time at first base, third base and left field in 2017, a breakout year in which he offset a paltry .209 batting average with 41 home runs and an .870 OPS/123 wRC+ across 532 plate appearances. Now, with third baseman Adrian Beltre healthy and enough left field options on hand, the Rangers are planning on using Gallo at first full-time, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News relays. “When you are playing multiple positions, it does take a toll,” manager Jeff Banister said. “This will keep him fresh, allow him to settle in, to work on things and focus on the offensive side.”
- In a separate piece, Grant writes that he doesn’t expect the Rangers to re-sign free agent center fielder Carlos Gomez. The 32-year-old met with Rangers brass last month, but it seems they’re content to go with younger options – including fellow center Delino DeShields, 25. Gomez, who signed with Texas in late 2016 after a disastrous run with rival Houston, accrued 556 PAs as a Ranger over the previous two seasons, hitting a more-than-respectable .262/.345/.481 with 3.5 fWAR.
- The Giants’ Hunter Pence has taken his switch from right to left field in stride, which the team’s management appreciates, per John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle. The soon-to-be 35-year-old Pence has never played left during his 1,489-game career as an outfielder, but he’ll head there this year as a result of the Giants’ acquisition of Andrew McCutchen. Pence is embracing the move, which Shea notes was difficult for ex-Giant Angel Pagan when they had him shift from center to left two years ago. “I think it’s going to be a lot of fun to have a whole new perspective,” Pence said. “It’s kind of refreshing on the mind. It’s an exciting challenge that I anticipate.”
- Gorkys Hernandez, one of Pence’s outfield mates, underwent surgery on a broken hamate bone in his left hand after last season, broadcaster Marvin Benard revealed Saturday (Twitter link via Shea). Hernandez played with the injury for at least some of 2017, when he batted a meek .255/.327/.326 with no home runs and a .071 ISO over 348 PAs. The out-of-options 30-year-old will compete to retain his spot on the Giants this spring.
If you don’t like Hunter Pence no matter what team you root for, you are an evil person
Same could be said about Trout
I prefer Flounder.
Do you mean Flanders? I hate that guy!
Stupid, sexy Flanders. $!#!%# him.
Howdilly doodilly neighbors.
Yes but Trout is super handsome and I hate him for that alone
Why does Mike Trout have to be brought into numerous conversations that have nothing to do with him?
Because when you think baseball, you think Mike Trout…
No, not really
I miss Hunter Pence signs
He’s like MLB’s lovable neighborhood tweaker.
1. Lol
met him in A ball, wasn’t overly impressed. I guess I’m evil.
Well you are a Mets fan. I’m kidding
only time I don’t like hunter is when he plays against cards (this is going way back when he was with hou) guy has a knack for sending us home not to happy lol
Nothing not to like about Pence other than his inability to stay on the field. His decision to “embrace” moving to left is reflective in his professionalism. What would complaining accomplish? Too bad all others don’t follow his lead. He also probably realizes he’s fortunate to still have a year on his contract as he’s showcasing himself to the Giants and others on staying healthy and his ability to still play the field even if it’s left.
I wouldn’t call it professionalism as much as just not being a jerk.
I was gonna say I like Hunter and how he plays even though I don’t like the Giants much at all.
LF could be a disaster for Pence. He already makes routine plays look very sketchy due to his quirky fundamentals and approach. Crossing my fingers for Giants fans everywhere lol
Why would it be a disaster? Is not LF easier to play in that park the RF?
Because it’s Hunter Pence, he makes the most simple things look awkward and difficult. You have seen him play right? Lol it looks like he is playing cricket half the time, interesting fella to say the least. If Mark Fidrych and Adam Rosales had a kid it would be Hunter Pence lol
Still, LF is easier to play than RF. That’s why sluggers who are either terrible defensively or past their prime get thrown out there (e.g. Soriano, Manny Ramirez, Ryan Braun, etc.) It cant’ be any more of a disaster than him remaining in RF.
I second RytheStunner’s opinion. SF did okay with Pat Burrell out in LF, though I realize Pat the Bat contributed significantly more offensively in 2010 than Pence appears capable of offering at this point in his career.
Don’t know if you know this, but the throwing and moving mechanics Pence has is because he has some fused vertebrae or something like that. He’s been a more than productive major league player for many years despite this…
Appearing to be awkward, and being ineffective are 2 different things. Advance metrics indicate that he’s not a terrible defender. Last season he had a -3 DRS and a 1.3 UZR/150, in RF. As others have pointed out LF easier than RF, especially at AT&T where it’s significantly easier. In fact, RF at AT&T is more like CF.
Kudos to Gallo on that .870 OPS. and 123 wRC+.
From what little I saw of him live in 2015 and 2016, I was pretty sure that long swing and contact rate would prevent him from any such success at the major-league level.
Chris carter 2.0 , power doesn’t mean anything if you can’t hit a decent average.
Absolutely incorrect. Gallo had a respectable .333 OBP even with a .209 average.
When are you going to learn that average means nothing?
You are both wrong.
I would take 150 hits and 50 walks over 130 and 70.
Hits move runners more often.
However, a .260/.320 is not as good as. 245/.355
Some of it depends on the type of hitter, too
Well, ya. I don’t think anyone would disagree with you there
Average isn’t nothing, but it isn’t everything. Gallo excels at power, and getting on base, but just can’t hit for average. He’s very much like Adam Dunn with the 3-true-outcomes theory.
Chris Carter could draw walls too. His career OBP is almost 100 points higher than his career average. He drew 76 walks in his 41 home run season. That gave him an OBP of .321 to go along with his .222 average. Teams didn’t seem to care that he could draw walks and hit home runs though. They couldn’t get over his low average, strikeouts and defensive shortcomings which is why he settled on the deal with the Yankees.
Walks^
The ’60s called! They want their stat back.
It’s incredible, really. The dude had the 4th lowest avg among qualifying position players yet somehow had the 33rd highest OPS.
Not true at all. Batting average is one of the most misleading and overrated stats out there
What? It’s not 1970! Batting average means nothing anymore . It’s about getting on base .
Kid carries a high baseball IQ, and it makes him better in all aspects of the game. I’d easily trust him at any corner and just about anywhere in the lineup. He has good platoon splits, and his base-running is underrated and easily above average. He also has great intangibles: a very likable personality(also some great faces during games) and some of the most majestic bombs I’ve ever witnessed. The swing and power are both ridiculous and beautiful the same time. If he ever hits above .250, he’ll get MVP votes… Man I am ready for the season to start.
I didnt know you can offer a contract thats contingent on clearing money
Exactly. How does that work? They announce the contingent signing? Then they clear the money in oh August so Darvish is just sidelined until then? Or they never clear it and Darvish sits for the year and does not get paid?? Huh?
I believe it means they made him a proposal that they would agree to, assuming they could clear money, most likely by a set date
The winner of the Darvish sweepstakes will regret that contract b4 it is said and done.
If he helps the cubs get another world series it’s worth it. Lester has 3 years left on his deal and I say 3 nlcs and a ring later, he’s already been worth his contract.
Exactly…too many small picture people.
If he pitches well for two years, he probably opts out for more money, if he can get the years.
If he and Chatwood just combine to better Jake and Lackey it’s a win.
I believe they are cheaper, comdined, but I don’t recall off hand.
It would suck for him to be league average at that money, but it’s not a kill shot to the budget.
The 6th year lowers the annual average a bit, too
I agree with that perspective. Verlander can be injured the next 2 years and I don’t think I would care after the Astros WS.
You’re a fool.
Another jealous Cub hater who’s team doesn’t have the cajones to go for a deal like this. It’s better when you just squirm.
This deal would be bad in the late years for whoever signed him, Cubs, Brewers, Twins..etc..He is not on upswing
In addition to the 41 bombs, Gallo’s walks help his game too. Sure, a ,209 BA is terrible, but he got on base 33% of the time, which isn’t awful.
Do you think he can be consistent with this?
Walks don’t age the way batting average does; generally a player who draws a lot of walks when he’s young will continue to draw a lot of walks as his career goes on. Batting average fluctuates wildly and generally players with high batting averages but no secondary skills (walks or power) fade out fairly quickly, or become role players – think Nori Aoki. Dunn is a pretty good comp for Gallo, except Gallo is a better athlete, although Adam Dunn was a better athlete when he was younger – he even stole 19 bases one season. I really never look at batting average when looking at a batting line. OBP and SLG%, while both flawed, are much better indicators of a player’s value. And a guy like Gallo, who doesn’t seem particularly fast, should probably be drawing walks and hitting homers rather than trying to put the ball in play more – that leads to lots of GIDPs.
My favorite player of all-time, besides Rickey, is Tony Gwynn, because he was such a freak, but check out his GIDP totals, especially once he got heavy. The goal of baseball is to avoid making outs. Go back and look at Adam Dunn’s GIDP totals – they are incredibly low, much lower than Gwynn’s, for example.
I am hoping that any possible regression by Gallo can be neutralized by lineup construction. He spent a lot of time hitting well while batting next to Napoli and Lucroy, if I recall correctly(and I very well may not be). I figure hitting around guys like Andrus and Beltre could help. Of course, if he flops earlier in the lineup, it hurts double. He’s one of those cases where 30 batting average points(3 percent!!) is the difference between unacceptable and a .900 OPS season. He does seem capable of making adjustments, and I hope he is, because baseball will adjust to his previous successes. Either way, it will be interesting to see the compensated veterans(Choo, Andrus) and young players(Deshields, Calhoun, Gallo) fighting for early spots in the lineup. Beltre bats clean-up, well, because(if healthy) Beltre bats clean-up.
Well he’s got ridiculous power and a great eye. So why not?
Isn’t Darvish’s opt out in line with Matt Kemp’s contract coming off the books for the Dodgers? Yu could be lining himself up for a bigger payday in LA.
Not sure Darvish is being that calculated so far as the timing of his opt-out clause in relation to any future opportunity to rejoin the Dodgers.
Could be that the Cubs’ willingness to offer an opt-out and the possibility that LA did not influenced Darvish, though.
Nothing we’ve heard so far suggests that the Dodgers did not offer an opt-out. Almost certainly they would, as it provides an opportunity to reduce the contract’s AAV. The hangup is the Dodgers had to make it a contingency offer and could not make that contingency happen in time. Probably that is why Darvish remained unsigned for as long as he did. The influence of the luxury tax on the free agent market could hardly be more apparent than it is now.
A lot could change in 2 years. I remember people saying Heyward would opt out too. Cubs are at least getting him for 2 good years. After that a lot can change and happen. Cubs can easy sign another pitcher next year or the year after. As for the LAD they still have their own worries about CK opt out. Signing all those young players like Seager n Belg and all the other young players while still competing and staying under that Lux tax. So I wouldn’t count your pennies just yet for Darvish in 2 years n 2 years older
If Darvish doesn’t quit tipping his pitches he won’t be worth much except to the opposing team
Why would he not stop tipping his pitches? That is always something that gets noticed in retrospect. The pitching coach looks at video to see what he’s doing to tip the pitch. Then they put in something mechanical to avoid it. It’s happened 1oo’s times before, and as history shows, correction are made..
It’s like the that guy, I forget who, that threw a split-finger FB. Even with the ball in the glove it was obvious to batters when he gripped the ball for that pitch. His pitching coach simply had him grip for the split-finger on every pitch, since it was easy to transition back to another grip, which the batter couldn’t see.
To believe that he would continue to tip his pitches is like thinking these guys are morons. Not so. I think most people would be surprised at the level of thought and detail they go into.
If it was that easy, why didn’t the pitching coach catch it during the 1st WS game that YU was doing it? He did it for both games
and got hammered . Only lasted like 3
and 1/2 innings!
I never said it was easy, or at least I didn’t mean to imply that it was. What I meant was there’s a process for finding out how he’s tipping his pitches, and once it’s discovered how, then it is fairly easy to fix.
The Astros aren’t going to publicly reveal that he was tipping his pitches after the first game. There could have been other reasons why he got hammered; not having his stuff that day, some sort of minor injury, etc. Good pitchers get hammered every once in a while throughout baseball. It came out later that the Astros batters saw something, which I guarantee was not obvious. It was probably a more obvious answer as to why after his 2nd start..
Regardless, to expect Yu to continue to tip his pitches going forward is just silly.
Wow. Gallo’s numbers are staggering. His 41 homers made up for nearly half of his hit total last year. Not that it’s surprising but still
The sun and lights probably will be his only problem….
Now that Darvish is off the market, The FO can definitely use the quality and depth of our Farm System to work a trade for another impact starter, preferably a RIght Hander like a Chris Archer or Jake Odorizzi. We have the minor league ammunition to get something done but it’s just a matter of their willingness
to give up the necessary prospects.
If a trade isn’t the route the FO wants to head into, then they should target a lower priced but solid FA RHP like Alex Cobb! He has the potential to be a great consolation prize for Darvish.
Andrew Cashner could possibly be a fit on a much cheaper 1-2 year deal.