Both the Giants and Rangers came away impressed after watching free agent right-hander Tim Lincecum‘s showcase on Thursday, per reports from Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area and Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. Unsurprisingly, Giants brass has a fondness for Lincecum stemming from his mostly incredible run with the franchise from 2007-15. On whether they’ll try to reunite with Lincecum, general manager Bobby Evans said: “It’s up to the competition of what clubs are bidding on him, and I can’t speak to that yet. It’s early. We obviously are all rooting for Timmy. Selfishly, anything he does, we would love for it to be in a Giants uniform, but sometimes opportunities on the business side dictate otherwise. But we’re always rooting for him.” The Rangers, meanwhile, are likely to continue pursuing the 33-year-old, according to Grant.
- The Rockies have shown some interest in re-signing first baseman Mark Reynolds since last season ended, yet the 34-year-old remains on the open market. Reynolds told Bill Ladson of MLB.com that he doesn’t know why he’s still unsigned, but he’s continuing to hope for a return to the Rockies after playing with them from 2016-17. “It would be my first choice. It was a great situation. I was good there the last two years,” said Reynolds, who combined to hit .274/.354/.471 during those seasons. “It’s something that I felt was a great fit. But I can’t control what they are thinking. I played there to prove that I’m very capable of playing at that level. … But the Rockies are a good fit, and they are a playoff team and that’s something I’m factoring in my decision as well.” The Reynolds-less Rockies do have in-house first base options on hand in prospect Ryan McMahon and utilityman Ian Desmond.
- Rangers infielder Jurickson Profar hasn’t developed as hoped since his days as a top prospect, and now that he’s out of minor league options, he could be in another uniform soon. Profar hopes that’s not the case. “I know this team loves me a lot, and I love them,” the 24-year-old said (via Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram). “I’m ready to help them win. I just want to play and help the team win. I know I can do it.” Profar was a non-factor last season in Texas, where he hit .172/.294/.207 over a small sample of 70 plate appearances. Left field was Profar’s main position with the Rangers in 2017, but they’re only planning to use him in the infield this spring, per Wilson. He’ll have difficulty carving out a regular role, though, with Joey Gallo (first base), Rougned Odor (second), Elvis Andrus (short) and Adrian Beltre (third) entrenched as starters.
- Rockies outfielder Gerardo Parra underwent surgery on the broken hamate bone in his right hand last Friday and could miss four to six weeks, Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post reports. While Parra is “going to be fine,” according to manager Bud Black, Saunders notes that his injury could open the door for David Dahl to steal a starting spot in right field. Dahl came on the scene in impressive fashion as a rookie in 2016, but a rib cage injury kept him from the majors last season and limited him to 82 minor league PAs. Parra, on the other hand, hit a Coors Field-inflated .309/.341/.452 in 425 trips to the plate.
He’s going to be with the giants
He’ll fit right in with a team of has beens.
It they got beans I’d join too honestly
Man you really love the Giants, don’t you?
As a Giants fan. I am happy the Rockies are not using their playoff window to spend money and improve. They have done nothing this offseason except re-sign or swap out some bullpen arms and let Carlos Gonzalez go. With Blackmon a free agent next year it wouldn’t be a bad idea for them to open up the pocketbook and get JD Martinez or Eric Hosmer or try to get some depth for the rotation. But again, as a Giants fan – love the Rockies (and Dbacks) not looking to improve.
DBacks are trying to improve though. They’re just being smart about it. They know that they’re at a point where they can’t afford to go all in and spend the big bucks or they’ll lose Goldy, Pollock and others in the next couple of years. I still think they’re the most likely landing spot for JD on a deal similar to what Cespedes did with the Mets a couple years back. 3 year deal with an opt out after year 1 makes a lot of sense for JD because he can prove to teams that 2017 wasn’t an anomaly and cash in next year when teams are more likely to be willing to spend big
Pollock is a free agent next offseason though too. Just like Blackmon. Usually if you allow your free agent to reach free agency they don’t stay. If Dbacks signed Martinez this offseason they’d have some protection in case pollock left. At least in the line-up.
But what if 2017 was an anomaly? AZ is going to use the humidor this year, so what we saw in that huge jump in his stats, when he went there, is probably going to be mitigated somewhat. Also, he doesn’t have the best injury history, and an injury affected sub-par 2018 would be disastrous. The Boston offer gives him more security. And with Machado and Harper probable FAs next season, I’m not sure he would want to be in the same pool.
Why would the Rockies pay over 100 million dollars for a DH or an overrated first basemen?
As a Rockies fan I am happy they haven’t blown upwards of $100 million on Hosmer. He’s a groundball hitter similar to Desmond and we all know how well that worked out. I would love to see JD Martinez hit bombs at Coors, but signing him guarantees you aren’t resigning Blackmon OR Arenado which are 100% the Rockies number 1 and 2 priorities right now. As for the DBacks, they’ll be just fine. Less overall offense from last year but their pitching should be more than enough to carry them.
Profar has done decent enough in triple A. he may be comfortable in Texas, but it’s unlikely he’s gonna see the ABs necessary to get comfortable at the plate. either a trade to an MLB club where he can get playing time. Marlins??? or he’ll end up DFA and released. maybe brought back next year on a minors spring invite. i’m hoping for some success this year for him
If injuries wouldn’t have slowed him down he would be at 2B and not Odor. I believe we will go after Machado next year and Profar is going to be kept as a back up. Elvis and Beltre are both FA’s after this year
I’d like to see him get more playing time in the MLB. I agree the Marlins may be a good place for him to do so. He hasn’t had enough steady playing time on the Rangers in the last few years.
I mean, Elvis Andrus kinda plays third right? He gets behind beltre all the time during a pop up lol
It’s another one of Manfred’s bad ideas. He’s making them have two thirdbase men.
Can you imagine how excited the team would be, being able to con the “fans” of SanFran into buying all new versions of both Timmy and Panda jerseys?
Its not all new versions. They are going to sell the old ones left in the warehouse
if the giants sign lincecum you best believe they are planning on a losing season.
The giants are in no position to be picky on signing any one who could help giving a former2 time Cy Young a third chance won’t cost the giants a thing if lincecum proves he still has major league stuff the giants should leap at bringing in one of their own.trust me quality pitching is something the giants have a in adbundance..
Since the Rangers past on OH they will go after Timmy big time now.
He would definitely be a beneficial addition to the Cubs. Lincecum has totally reinvented himself and he’s ready to perform as a top of the rotation ace once again.
I am hoping Rockies sign one more decent hitter not named Mark Reynolds, he cratered the 2nd half last year.