Reds right fielder Nick Castellanos has exercised the opt-out clause in his contract and will reenter the free agent market, reports MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link). The Scott Boras client had two years and $34MM remaining on his contract but will seek a lengthier contract (and a heftier annual value) on the open market. The Reds can, and surely will, extend an $18.4MM qualifying offer to Castellanos — which he’s a lock to reject.
Castellanos, 30 in March, has been a near-lock to opt out of this contract for months now. While he decided to forgo the first opt-out provision in his deal last winter after a slumping through the pandemic-shortened season’s final weeks, he’s been one of the best hitters in the National League throughout the 2021 season. Had the microfracture in his wrist suffered back in late July proven to sideline him for a longer period or weigh down his production in the final two months, perhaps it’d have been another story, but Castellanos finished the season on a blistering tear at the plate.
On the whole, Castellanos batted .309/.362/.576 this season, complementing a career-high 34 home runs with 38 doubles and a triple en route to a stout 140 wRC+ on the season. That includes a .294/.335/.606 slash and 14 round-trippers in his final 176 plate appearances, which surely allayed any concern that the July wrist injury would linger and impact his production at the dish.
On the defensive end of the equation, Castellanos once again had his share of struggles. Virtually any defensive metric will paint him as below average in right field, and that’s been an issue for him dating back to his days as a third baseman in Detroit. Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average both pegged Castellanos at -7 in 2021 — which is actually an improvement over recent seasons — and he checked in with a -1.5 Ultimate Zone Rating. Some may be surprised to see that Castellanos actually has above-average sprint speed (65th percentile among MLB position players), but Statcast also puts him in just the seventh percentile in terms of his outfield jumps.
Overall, the lack of defensive value shouldn’t matter too much. Castellanos has been a consistently above-average hitter since a breakout 2016 campaign with the Tigers, and he enjoyed the best season of his career this past season. With the widely expected advent of the designated hitter in the National League, it’s possible that he’ll be more valuable than ever before in 2022. Full-time (or even semi-regular) DH work was never an option for Castellanos in Detroit thanks to the presence of Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez, and he’s spent his two and a half seasons away from the Motor City in the National League. Even if he doesn’t immediately slide into full-time DH territory, Castellanos at the very least could see fewer innings in the outfield than he has in the past.
While it’s likely that Castellanos’ mind has been made up on this matter for some time, last night’s comments from Cincinnati general manager Nick Krall surely didn’t create any second thoughts. Krall didn’t outright say that the Reds are going to further slash payroll, but that was the overwhelmingly clear implication as the GM voiced a need to “align our payroll with our resources” and stressed the importance of “scouting and developing young talent from within our system.”
The Reds dumped Raisel Iglesias’ $9.125MM salary on the Angels last offseason and surprisingly non-tendered Archie Bradley just three months after trading for him. Krall’s Wednesday comments — and, to a lesser extent, yesterday’s trade of stalwart catcher Tucker Barnhart — suggest that there’s more of the same in store this winter. In fairness to the Reds, they have a ready-made, offensively superior 2022 option at catcher in Tyler Stephenson, and Barnhart’s salary was steeper than most any team would pay for a backup catcher. How the Reds handle their $10MM club option on southpaw Wade Miley will be more telling.
Suffice it to say, it seems difficult to imagine the Reds pushing to re-sign Castellanos to a new contract that figures to include both a raise on his annual value and at least double the years he previously had remaining. Castellanos is arguably (although not definitively) the best hitter on the free-agent market this winter, and if the designated hitter indeed comes to the National League, he’ll have a vast market of teams bidding on his services. A contract of at least four years in length seems certain, and it’s quite possible that even with a qualifying offer in tow, bidding could push into the five-year range.
A great player. Besides statistically , he brings and unmatched Fire and energy to a team. He was very fun to watch
“Unmatched fire”. Yasiel Puig on line 1.
(Not suggesting they are comp players, just the fire aspect).
I would say guys like Machado, Tatis, Acuna and Albies to name a few do the same thing. Pudge Rodriguez did as well. Jorge Soler really pumped the Braves up during the World Series. You gotta love it when players are good at getting your whole team excited and pumped up.
That’s true, too. There’s positives and negatives to every personality. Well… most of them anyway.
Damn troll get a freaking life…..missed war…five different postings….my God man…you have severe mental incapabilities.
True. I remember when castellanos was with the cubs and was the only player hitting down the stretch.
Ghost of ben
Damn troll get a freaking life…
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Would you like to explain what the problem is with people posting on here?
Minus the sexual assault
Unmatched fire, not dumpster fire…
Nick is not the sharpest knife in the drawer.
Imagine if he could play defense. Even on an average level. Someone will probably jump be for using WAR (honestly idk what stay we’re “supposed” to use anymore without pissing someone off), but the dude barely has 10 career War because his defense is that bad.
watched every game he played in cincinnati. defense is not as bad as people make out, i dont care what WAR says. he can handle right field just fine. wont ever win a gold glove, but he never embarrassed himself out there.
Defense doesn’t work like that- you can’t judge it by the eye test. You’re looking for him to “embarrass himself” out there, you’re looking at the wrong thing. It’s not about errors or miscues, it’s about range. His defense is TERRIBLE. You can’t just use the eye test, which is hard if you “don’t care” about advanced stats that measure such things.
What a joke. He has all that guaranteed money. Baseball players are such overpaid divas nowadays as theres a drive into deep left field by Castellanos. It will be a home run & so that will make it a 4-0 ballgame.
He puts bats on balls; he should get pais.
I dunno if he deserves a whole country now….he’s just a ball player.
Just depends on what country.
bravo.
Nauru
Contender for 2022 White Sox RF although I’d prefer a cheaper and better defensive alternative.
Engel – guy can hit and field. Sheets and Vaughn as backup.
Nick needs to find somewhere else. Brewers?
Engel is a suitable bench player, but he’s done nothing to indicate he’d be an effective starting RF.
I like what I saw out of Vaughn—he might be the answer. I still think he should be the starting LF, with Eloy taking over as permanent DH. Sheets is a better option than Engel as well because of his power.
You’re right about Engel, and the Sox need to improve their defense.
Which “país” (which means country in Spanish) for Castellanos?
If the owners worked to make the game, merchandise, drinks and food more affordable id buy in to figuring out a way to cap or limit player salaries.
But as of now if NC took a pay cut the extra millions would just go in to a billionaires pocket, why would anyone want that?
Owners aren’t allowed to go as a unit abs say we r lowering ticket prices and concessions and lowering tickets to make our game more fan friendly.. they call that collusion which is ridiculous ..
It would need to be a league led initiative.
Baseball needs to get more affordable for families, kids going to games is a key way to make a fan for life
I haven’t been to a game in say 15 years. Once you factor in travel for me the fact that I want field level seating it cost three to four hundred just for two people. Just not worth it with tv product improving.
Right but you’re already a fan and I assume attending games 15 plus years ago at a much more feasible rate played a part in that.
Baseball needs to skew younger, faster because when this crop of season ticket holders die out there probably isn’t going to be 30 something year olds willing or able to take their place
I take my kids to minor league or indy league games for the stadium experience. It costs me less than $100 for a family of five for tickets, food and the in game entertainment is fun and Family friendly. They learn the game here, but for us to see the big names, I have the MLB packages to watch on the big screen at home.
Ignorance is fresh this am.
Speaking of drinks and food… going back 20 years or so, ballparks would keep serving food and drink (except alcohol) as long as the game lasted.
I remember getting a hot dog for the road on my way out of the park. Now, I see concession stands closing up before the 8th inning! Ginormous pet peeve of mine.
Imagine all the lost revenue from not selling in the 8th and 9th innings… not to mention extra inning games. They could even bring the prices down if they kept selling.
Maybe it’s a union thing with the workers? Who knows, but it sucks.
Dusty-Owners and players alike do not give a crap about fans. They know fans will show up, no matter what. Fans will watch on the TV, no matter what. Fans will spend money on anything with their favorite team’s logo printed on it. All without question, just to prove their foolish and unappreciated loyalty. The days of caring about fans has long since passed. Fans are like a dog that gets kicked in the mouth every day and still wags its tail in joy when that same person pets it.
Lol. Owners make huge profits and their teams increase in value by tens to hundreds of millions per year if they do nothing.
Players are SIGNIFICANTLY under paid as percentage of revenue.
It just seems like they are overpaid because none of us generate billions of dollars of TV revenue every year.
If all players were FAs every year (including minor leaguers and young players) the overall salaries paid would increase, but veteran players salaries would decrease.
Never forget that the owners decided they wanted this system where they pay very little until a player has been productive for 3-5 years then becomes an “overpaid” after Free Agency.
Players are underpaid based on percentage of revenue? What’s your evidence for this? Have you looked into studies about the norms across industries for such things or are you talking out your behind? Never mind answering, we all know which one it is.
This is laughable as you spend more time commenting on poor millionaires than workers in the us who only get paid below living wages by large corporations
This is a baseball thread. So yes we are commenting on the financials as raised in this article. Are you also bothered by the fact that no one here is discussing plastics in the ocean, world hunger, global warming, genocide and the treatment of women and children around the world?
So you are ok with multi millionaire or billionaire owners making a fortune from TV contracts and other revenue streams but reject the actual talent cashing in after a great year? Does that pretty much sum it up?
I’ve read comments like yours for 50 years but never heard fans complain when owners are rich.
The players pay their dues making horrible wages in the minors trying to realize their dream. So few ever make it and still fewer become stars. When one finally does you resent him being paid accordingly.
No one is forcing an owner to pay him $20-$25 million a year but if someone agrees to, its because they expect to make even more off of his services.
If someone offered you 50% more would you reject it? Would I mock you for taking it?
The players DO cash in. A lot.
Came here just for this (jdgoat’s comment)
I try my best
Flexing nick castellanos
I’m getting the feeling that somehow, nobody understood the reference here..I gotta admit, sometimes I still go back and watch that whole sequence of events, just for a good laugh..
I’d love to have him back with the Cubs.
Sorry that money is going to superstar Jason Heyward
Thank God Theo Epstien couldnt stand the idea of seeing Him Don the birds on the bat for that amount of money
Cub nation would love to see him back as well. Cubs desperately need starting pitching but also guys who put the ball in play. Castellanos fills that bill. With Hoerner ( if he can stay healthy), Madridgal, and Castellanos, you have a good start. Schwindel who has earned a chance to start is another guy with good contact skills. Pull the trigger on Nick, and get some decent starters. Castellanos bat to ball skills far outweigh his defensive liabilities. Lastly, go get one of the big shortstops available. Anyone not named Baez.
If you are going to spend the money, spend it on Nick. Everything you say is true. Got to put the Swing and miss club in the rear view mirror.
You guys had a kid named Soler and you traded him for Wade Davis. One of the all time worse trades in history. Soler is much better than Castellanos.
Soler is not better than Castellanos.
No it was not one of the worst trades – far from it. The Eloy and Cease trade to the White Sox was far worse. Soler had one great season. And I’d take Casty over him any day of the week and twice on Sundays.
Soler is a .246 lifetime hitter.
Castellanos is a . 277 lifetime hitter.
3 timely homers in 7 games and he’s better than Castellanos? Give me a break. There’s a reason the 2021 soler trade barely made any ripples. He hasn’t been good or healthy his entire career.
Castellanos has an ops .25 better than his despite a slow start in Detroit. Oh yeah, and he has almost twice the amount of AB’s.
If you are trying to explain recency bias to someone, just show them this comment.
He’s got a World Series MVP on his mantle you can rattle off stats all you want but show me the hardware. Castellantos hasn’t even been to the big show.
Themed with an all timer right here. Congrats man, it’s hard to top this take.
WOW is this bad. How does someone put this out in to the world. My god….
Post as if you’re providing Steve Adams with some pertinent facts or food for thought, not to make him hurl.
Soler wouldn’t make a difference for the Cubs right now, keep in mind they just traded Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, and Anthony Rizzo. Wade Davis made more sense for the Cubs at the time than Jorge Soler. Moves like this happen in baseball all the time
Cubs have their offense set for the future, with Nico, Frank, Wisdom, Madigral leading the infield. Willy behind the plate, Ian Happ, having that CF spot, maybe some prospects can come up, if not, the Cubs should sign Castellanos, and then maybe Cole Kalhoun on a one year deal, or maybe even go big and sign Brantley or Rosario.
Really doesn’t make sense for Cubs to start spending like that. They should still be looking at collective high upside cheap assets that they can flip to keep building towards competing in a few years
Brantley would have to be traded for. He is not a free agent till after 2022
@Dustylamb..I totally agree. If Schwindell, Ortega and Wisdom continue next season what they started this year, expect all of them to be traded by mid season for minor league prospects.
The only way for a signing of Nick Castellanos to work with the Cubs is if they spend a massive amount of money 150MM on quality FA players. Otherwise since the Cubs won’t be good for 2 years at least, they lose 2 good years of Castellanos on a bad team. Making that signing a bad investment.
Just your opinion that they won’t be good for 2 years. Many so called experts said the same thing about the Braves and Giants this year. The Dodgers we’re a “can’t miss” team, but they did.
The giants and braves didn’t trade off their best players at the deadline the previous year. Your comparison is very off.
Both were picked to win less than 80 games by major publications, so no.
If the Dodger pitched Trevor Bauer they would have won.
Well that’s impossible to know and is completely irrelevant. He was suspended so they couldn’t pitch him. Just as teams couldn’t play injured players. You win or lose with who you have and it’s impossible to know how anyone would do if they had played.
Ted Williams batted .100 in his world series career.
They won’t be good for another 100 years most likely
I’d love to see MLB Players play with a hard salary cap like the NFL or even the NBA…
They wouldn’t and COULDN’T !!
Prima donnas !!!!!
Yes, finally, somebody said it! Pursuing a higher salary is such a diva thing to do. Nobody who is a real man would ever try to make more money. He should just shut up and play baseball!!!
Ok, now that the stupidity is out of everyone’s system…
So you want more money going to the billionaires? Do you want to get paid what you are worth? I know I do! Would you like to have your wages artificially suppressed so your bosses can take home an even greater share of revenue? I wouldnt! I guess that makes me a prima donna.
Why do people here hate the owners so much? Without the owners’ capital, most of these players would be factory workers and car salesmen that played softball on the weekends. Teams would not exist with owners footing the bills.
hiflew
Why do people here hate the owners so much?
=====================================
It’s a reflection of real life. Half the country is RW and half the country is LW. Folks on the Left identify with the poor down-trodden players just trying to feed their families. Folks on the Right identify with the owners, because deep down inside, they feel like they or their kids could be the owner class of society.
That said, we should identify with neither side. On my side, I decide exactly how much I am going to spend on baseball. Once I spend that $13 on a beer at the stadium, I couldn’t care less how the owners and players carve it up.
The players making millions are poor and down-trodden? Professional sports are not a reflection of real life. Go take your political bs to Twitter or something.
Sarcasm alert. No one the planet thinks the millionaires are poor.
Nonsense
Or they have a basic understanding of how businesses function. Not all “left wing” people are children that let their emotions drive how they think about everything
If you were being sarcastic then your comment and the reasoning for bringing up the right and left makes even less sense.
Who hates the owners? I always see resentment towards the players big pay day but never directed at owners.
Randomguy7654
If you were being sarcastic then your comment and the reasoning for bringing up the right and left makes even less sense.
======================================
I think it is perfectly logical. I’ll make an informal wager with you, since it probably can never be proven, that most of the posters that side with the players are democrats, and most of the posters that side with the owners are republicans.
Such a bizarre take. Both the team and the player agreed to a contract that allows the player to opt out. Player is taking all the risk here by leaving guaranteed money on the table. He fulfilled the terms of his contract. He owes nothing else to the Reds or the people of Cincinnati.
It is bizarre. I had an adjustable rate mortgage. Opting in or out of the deal was the underlying value of the ARM. Castigating Nick for opting out, when both parties specifically wrote that into the contract, is really nonsensical.
Go to your employment (assuming you have a job) and tell your boss you don’t ever want a raise. You’re fine.
If my boss offered me $17 million a year, I wouldn’t ever need a raise. In fact, I would work one year, maybe two, and then enjoy the rest of my life in simple blissful retirement.
If you won a $200 million dollar lottery would you take the $17 and tell them to keep the $183?
Players have every right to maximize their return. Money makes good people better and bad people worse.
By earning more they get to positively impact many lives not just their own.
We simply don’t have the right to tell someone else they make too much money and shouldnt accept what someone else is willing to pay them.
YES! Give those owners ALL the money! Players should just play for the fun of it. What a brilliant take.
I see him replacing another Detroit alumni in Milwaukee, Avisail Garcia.
I could see Garcia being a cheaper replacement for Nick in Cincinnati.
Very interesting idea, I could definitely see this happening especially with the reports that they are committed to improving the offense. I think they’ll either sign Casty or trade for haniger from the M’s
Highly doubt this. Brewers have too much committed to OF players without him or Garcia. I don’t see them adding any high priced FA’s, and the NL adding the DH won’t make any difference.
I’m sure Nick Krall’s comments yesterday made this a fairly easy decision for Castellanos.
Yeah, had Krall not said anything, NC would NEVER have opted out. It probably never even crossed his mind that he did have an opt-out.
Smart move for him. Reds have wasted his couple years here, and from what Krall said last night, they’re looking to suck even more now. But at least the owners pockets will be full.
If you need to spend the most money ever and need 3 more playoff spots just to make the playoffs then you probably shouldn’t have been spending that much to begin with. But at least the fans won’t get any smarter.
Well I guess that depends on who you do, or don’t, spend the money on. Reds management hasn’t been particularly good at any of that. It doesn’t take a “smart” fan to know they probably shouldnt have paid Moustakas like they did. Or that they shouldn’t have let guys like Archie Bradley or Raised Iglesias go and let their bullpen suck. I mean, the point of this sport is to win, correct? Not just put a team together that when all is said and done doesn’t accomplish anything except keep the millionaires making millions?
As here’s a fly ball to left by castellanos and it will be a home run
Rangers will give him a choo deal
And that’s nothing to sneeze at.
Bless you.
Bless you…for that joke.
You nose what? He’s hanker’n for that, chief
Choo deal would not be enough. NC will get in the range of 4/88perhaps as high as 5/125. If he would take Choo deal Rangers would jump on it..
Time for Nick to come home and sign with the Marlins.
That would make me very happy but I don’t think the Marlins will be giving that much money to any player.
The Reds are so cheap that they won’t even give him a qualifying offer out of fear he might take it! LOL
The Reds are so cheap they’ll extend a QO only because they know he’ll reject it. Which gives them a draft pick they can use on a young player they can keep until they need to pay him a market rate salary.
Reds would be doing cartwheels if NC accepted the QO
DH. He can hit but defensive liability. I hope the NL doesn’t go to the DH.
When is the top 50 FA list as there is a fly ball to left by castellanos and it will be a home run.
Ha, I knew there’d be like 20 of these comments and they’re still making me grin.
Top 50 will be out early next week. We generally wait until after qualifying offers have been issued. Those are due Sunday at 5pm ET.
GO STEVE!!!
Dude, the WS is over. There are fans of 29 different teams swearing that 2022 will be their season. Get to it. It should’ve been done last June.
White Sox 10-1 to won 2022 WS.
Cubbies 100-1. Ha!
Published odds. Look them up!
You better be praying they don’t change the divisions in the new cba. If they took the 5 best records in the AL and went to a more balanced schedule the white Sox would miss the playoffs. Sad when 4/5 best AL teams were in one division last year.
No way in God’s earth the WHITE Sucks would get above third place in any other division in either league if they weren’t in a disastrous AL Central. Anyone, other than old geriatric-basement living White Sucks fans know.
I hope he gets less. I’d say 2 years 30 million.
Castellanos should be on Rangers radar, but since somewhere around 4 or 5 yrs and an AAV of 22-25m will likely be his asking price he is probably not their first target one of Bryant, Story or Seager is probabiy, priority one with one of Rodon, Rodriquez or Stroman as priority 2, leaving the Castellanos, Shwarber, Soler, C Taylor teir as priority 3 My shopping list would Bryant, Taylor, and Rodon as top 3 moves, then perhaps Sugano, E.Rodriquez or Gray if other pitching slots didn’t work out.
no way….bad defender and sub .800 OPS away from GABP
JD Davis but a better hitter. Have a feeling hes gonna be mediocre after his contract year season. Liability in the field and is only productive if he hits like how he did this year
Perfect for the Red Sox and perfect replacement for JD
Hoping JD also opts out. We don’t need a JD replacement, we could then use Devers/Dalbec/Cassas to cover 3B, 1B, and DH.
It won’t bother me if JD opts out, but he isn’t a good fit. IMHO, if he leaves, we move Devers to DH, Bogaerts to 3B, and then spend the $22M savings+ on a big time SS or a top-level SP..
A guy like Story might not cost much more than $25M. If he replaced JD on offense, it is a small loss on offense, but a huge gain on defense.
Mayer may be two years away but as high as he is ranked you have hopes it works out. Leave Bogey at SS until he is ready, then make that move. Sox do need a starter and bullpen help.
My guess is that Castellanos will be a disappointment for whoever signs him. Not so much that he can’t play, but at least one GM will looks at his 2022 WAR, and think he will be able to keep that up for 5 years, and then overpay.
But imo, he reverts back to his 25 HR, .280 player he was from 2017-2020.
I think you’re on target here. He’s going to play well, at least initially, but he’s going to be relatively overpaid for what he puts up. But those are the chances everyone takes in free agency I guess.
Well, it is pretty rare that any free agent doesn’t become overpaid. That’s just the nature of an auction. But I think NC is unlikely to live up to his 2021 season. As a RS fan, I feel the same about Schwarber. I like him, and he’s a good player, but I cannot bring myself to believe he can replicate his 2021 season.
if you look at guys like Seager, Story, or Baez, I think what you see is what you’ll get. They will all decline, but at the start of the contract should be good. With NC and KS, the very first year could be a disappointment.
Actually his 2021 WAR should be a warning to GM’s. He had a a career offensive year and still only had a 3.3 bWAR because his D is so bad.
Could have a JD like impact where he signs
Great guy very intense and passionate about helping his team win.. I wish the Reds could find a way to sign him. For all the negative dudes on here about going for more money .. thats the way it is in baseball…. i.e. Stanton, Cole , Sale, Springer, etc.
As it should be. The sports-entertainment business is very lucrative, they have a skill, their careers are short. Get as much as you can before the clock strikes midnight.
It’s not as if the Reds can’t afford to sign him. They’re simply electing to let one of their best players leave with seemingly no intent to make an offer once he hits the open market.
There’s a counter argument that they don’t think he’s worth more, of they don’t think it’s worth it to spend more on him. If they let him just walk without seriously trying its a data point to pay attention to if you’re the team trying to sign him.
Not based on performance, so you must be indicating clubhouse, personality or otherwise. Typically things like this become public knowledge fast. I think the team was outspoken in his positive impact. So this would just be the reds tightening their purses and bluffing/making him opt out before making an offer.
bloomquist4hof
There’s a counter argument that they don’t think he’s worth more
==============================
Yup, I’m not sure why some fans think this is all about being cheap, instead of all about teams using limited resources the best they can. NC is a fine player, but he is high up on my list of guys that will receive contracts that the fans will come to regret.
I still remember my arguments with Angels fans about the Pujols contract. And with the Tiger fans about the Miggy, VMart and Fielder contracts. These were franchise-altering contracts.
Who will back-up Stephenson behind the plate? Another veteran catcher needed that’s not as pricey as Tucker?
Manny Pina
Corky Miller
Kyle Farmer. He’ll move from behind the plate out to shortstop as soon as the ball’s in play.
Jason LaRue
Duh…..
Whats Joe Oliver up to these days?…
Maybe he leaves the Queen City for the bright lights of New York? Not the Yankees, but the Mets?
Why would he want to play for the Mets? They don’t even have a GM.
Guess the Reds could have afforded Barnhart afterall.
I have to believe that the Reds knew that NC was going to opt out.
What? Of course the Reds can’t afford Barnhart. No one in baseball, even the NYY & LAD, are going to pay a backup catcher $7.5M.
Would love to have him in Seattle!
Poor D and an away OPS of about .770 the last 2 years. He benefited GREATLY by hitting at GABP. He’s going to be disappointed in what his true market value is. Don’t forget he killed it with the Cubs before signing with the Reds and he was 3 years younger then. Teams aren’t gonna spend big bucks with no new CBA and a work stoppage looming…
They will once that gets resolved. I’m expecting a late start to the season, with an absolute flurry of activity in spring training.
I bet no games are missed and will come to a deal right before that has to happen.
I know that sounds optimistic, but I really don’t think it’s overly optimisic. Last two years, revenue has been down for owners. They’re not about to let a third year of down revenue happen. Maybe that’ll make them be more flexible in negotiations.
I think the owners also have a good argument for why they need concessions from the players. Covid was the first season I sympathized with owners who pay guaranteed salaries with very limited revenue.
OUCH! I missed the GABP angle completely. But yeah, his GABP OPS last year was 1.109.
A reunion in Detroit?
That’s actually a very interesting idea. No doubt the Tigers are getting better, but they also need a bunch more offense. Even as a White Sox fan, I’d really like this move for them.
Detroit has lots of OF candidates and Riley Greene arriving this year. The Tigers are building a team that finally fits their ballpark. Speed and Defense! Nick only fits when Miggy is done. But I agree that dude can flat out hit!
I know it’ll never happen because he’d be looking to clear $80M in total value, but him in RF for the White Sox would solve their OF situation nicely. The defense would depend heavily on Robert, with Engel as a late-inning defensive replacement, but the offense would have just one weak point at 2B. I’d still rather have Semien, but JR’s going to make up some crap about not paying SS prices for a 2B or something.
Yeah, realistically I’d see Josh Harrison or Jed Lowrie if not a reunion with Hernandez.
Now, the White Sucks are the new Mets-Yankees, were all free agents will kill to play for..Recently, no free agent, other than their catcher who did sign with them, take the W.Sox seriously. Only to get better offers from other teams.
Agro, you’re not by chance a bitter Cubs fan, are you?
AND SO THE REBUILDING BEGINS………….AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It’s never going to end.
Buyer beware! Away from the Reds Great American Bandbox Castellanos is an average offensive player with defense that makes him more suitable for DH.
White Sox need a corner outfielder… Get on it Hahn!
I’d pick either S. Marte or KB over Castellanos, but he’d be my 3rd choice of the available options.
KB – too many K’s. No thank you. Only shows up to play when he is about to become FA.
SM – not enough HR’s for RF.
NC – defensive liability.
I say platoon Vaughn and Sheets. Spend the $ on a can’t miss 2B and an ace SP.
Happy to hear today that Kopech will start next year!!!
I think a lefty bat in Conforto, Pederson, or Dickerson may be more likely. Love Marte!
Kyzr, no argument on more likely. JR will never spend enough to maximize this team’s chances.
He is coming to Atlanta to play RF till Ronald comes back and he’s moving to LF
Ah I think it’s hard to make the case after the duvall, Rosario, soler, pederson combination got it done. If Ozuna wasn’t in the picture then maybe but don’t see them even offering a penny
Ok dombrowski you want protection in the line up for Harper? Here you go perfect singing if we give him like 2 years 50-60 million there you go then you go sign Neris, Bradley Jose Alverez, and Rasiel Iglassies to close. And maybe like Desclafani or Trade for Sonny gray or something. Veriling is the CF if he doesnt work out we trade for one at the deadline. Line up would go
1.Veriling- CF
2.Segura – 2B
3. Harper – RF
4. Castellanos – LF
5. JT realmuto -C
6.Hoskins – 1st
7. Didi/Bryson Stott – SS
8. Bohm – 3rd
9 Pitcher / Dh (Bring back Brad miller please)
(This line Up looks very very good on paper if they play to their ceiling) So would the rotation Wheeler- Ranger- Nola – Gibson- Eflin/ A trade or something I don’t hate Elfin as a elite reliever.
Phillies would have the worst defence in the league by a mile with that lineup. At least the braves can trim payroll next year and walk into the playoffs easily
Not completely.
Jean Is GG caliber at second
Same with Realmuto
Might as well throw harper in the mix even though he wasn’t grate this past year.
Hoskins passes the eye test for me, but the stats disagree. Didi And Bohm would be bad but Didi sort of got it together at the end of the season. I don’t think Veirling made a error in his short major league stint, and NC should be fine in LF. So technically it should be a little below average, but realistically its the Phillies so it will be the worst defense in baseball. NC is better than Cutch at least..
NC is not opting out to then sign a 2 yr deal. Not happening.
Maybe he signs a Trevor Bauer like contract.
Which we all know is working out very well.
Well 2022 will be a 100 game lost for the reds , they need a owner that wants to win at any costs
The reds have saved 25 million in 2 days for next season. Decline Miley’s 10 million dollar option, trade Sonny Gray and his ten million and bring in a bunch of over the hill relief pitchers. And knowing Cincinnati they’ll raise the price of tickets because they’re not making any profit
Nick isn’t returning to Det. They need a ss first foremost and if they spend big I see them making a push for one of those studs. Right after the season both Avila and Hinch made comments that they will not be looking at FA OFers. Baddoo has a chance to be an average or better OFer and I see Greene coming up in 2022 at some point. Grossman is also penciled in.
He left a lot of meatballs on the table, he may be lucky to get 20 mil a year.
Lindor was always overrated. Cas was always underrated. Not a comparison. The teams that look at the useless “advanced stats” relating to his defense, will regret not signing him.
The Braves should let Pederson (as much as I want him to stay) and Duvall go. The latter is no question needs to go.
They have room for Cas if needed, but I’d rather trade for Reynolds or Marte (Arz).
The Braves need to lock up Freeman and will have to figure out the Ozuna situation at some point. Duvall is controlled thru arbitration and after the year he had and especially if the NL adopts the DH there is no reason to let him go. They should bring back Rosario if they can. All he did was hit from the moment he put on a Braves uniform. I don’t know if they will look to spend $150 million on Castellanos
Lindor came back to earth but I fail to see how he was always overrated. He was pretty damn impressive offensively and defensively.
He is not a 300 mil player. Lindor may present himself as he cares about the team, but he doesn’t. He thinks he is above everyone on the team because he is the richest now. He is a type of player you root to failure because his ego is huge. The fact that he likely made up the stupid raccoon story to save his *** is telling enough. Who the hell he think he is to lay his hands on McNeil?
I don’t get it, why is Castellanos getting slammed for opting out? A lot of players do it
Exactly. That’s the whole point of the opt out clause. It gives the player added leverage and it was negotiated at the time and agreed to by both parties. So why whine about it?
Would be cool to see good players opt in and wanting to stay with the team. But I understand that’s not the lucrative thing to do… unless the opt in is the good offer out there.
I’m not sure teams ever regret opt-outs. It provides motivation to the player to do well.
And, if the player does does opt out, that means he was worth the money you paid him.
And, with extremely few exceptions, if a team can get out of a free agent deal halfway thru the contract, it will almost always work to the team’s advantage.
I’m guessing a Aristides Aquino/Tyler Naquin platoon in RF for the Reds next season?
Scott Boras.
Captain Opt Out.
This was a foregone conclusion the day the contract was signed. Everyone knew it including the Reds.
He’d take a discount to return to the Cubs.
No way the Cubs should spend a penny in any free agents, at least until 2023. They should hope to find bargains
like Schwindell, Ortega and Wisdom to play well, to trade them for prospects in mid season, like they did by 2011-2013. I guess that Cubs philosophy is, by having 1,000 prospects, at least 10 of them should be good in a near or distant future. And I am not saying is a good one.
At least $100MM/5 years
NC will be a Met when Conforto leaves.
A one dimensional player can only fit into a certain slot a defense of liability and a cancer in the clubhouse oh yes please Detroit re-sign him not
No need to comment, your username tells us you’re a bitter tigers fan
You can say all you want about NC, but being a “cancer”, is not what I had hear about him, other than he is a team player and a good teammate.
Seems like just the kind of bat Juan Soto needs protecting him in the Nats lineup.
One of them would have to shift over to LF, but that’s not a big deal.
Castellanos is a terrible fielder so he should move to left, or DH if that’s a thing.
Didn’t Soto mostly play LF before this season?
All bets are off if the NL does end up implementing the DH, but Castellanos seems like a good target for the Mariners.
San Francisco giants swoop him
Why? Seems a waste of a roster space.
Would he be willing to play 1B for the Boston Red Sox?
Wanna see what the chat thinks. Who gets the bigger contract, KB or Castellanos? I’ve read projections for KB that are insanity. The career numbers say they’re pretty similar. Both have virtually the same career batting average and the OPS advantage goes to KB. Someone up in the comments said KB strikes out too much. Agreed. He always has. KB also brings the versatility to play multiple positions. I think he played 4-5 different ones for the giants this year. Castellanos is pretty limited defensively. Below average to average at best. Should be interesting to see where the bidding starts for both.
KB was rather limited in a Giants uniform. He didn’t hit that well. And, his defense was limited to 1st and LF. With Bart coming up, KB is as good as gone.
I think KB, as he has the hardware and shown the extremely high ceiling… but the downward trend and injury history shows it’s a valid question. NC’s upward trend could give GMs the confidence that his next 5 years will be better than Bryant’s. (Without taking into consideration leadership and other intangibles)
Braves
Very happy they won it all
with the Phillies declining two options one on Andrew McCutchen and the other are doable Herrera that’s 2/3 of our starting outfield gone. plus we need it outfield help last year so I’m seeing Nick castellanos being pursued heavily by the Philadelphia Phillies
Just hope He land outside of the brewers division. Agree That he will not go to Brewers due to BAD, BAD , BAD Bradley Jr and Cain contracts!
Cain and Bradley are off the books next winter and then the Brewers only have Yelich under any guaranteed money in 2023 so I wouldn’t rule out the Brewers by any means. Padres if they can move either Hosmer or Myers could be possible. The Giants are another team Castellanos fits right in with. Those are the three i can see making the biggest push for him
I just posted to the Avisail Garcia thread that he is a big candidate to regress to the mean and I feel the same way about Castellanos. The difference is that Castellanos’ mean is higher.
And this, ladies and gentlemen, is one more perfect example of why we will never have any type of “winning culture” in the Reds organization..being a fan of them is exhausting
From the time I was 10 to an adult of the Marge Schott reign I was a huge Reds fan. That nazi drove me to the dark side of Yankee fandom.
Why would anybody go to a Reds game?