Thus far in the offseason, the free agent market has moved significantly faster for pitchers than for hitters. Twenty-two of MLBTR’s Top 50 Free Agents have signed this winter, and 16 of those (including Shohei Ohtani) have been pitchers. Even beyond the top 50, pitchers have made up the majority of notable MLB signings. However, with Ohtani and Jung Hoo Lee off the board, perhaps the market for position players will begin to heat up in the new year.
One particular bat to keep an eye on is Joc Pederson, a two-time All-Star with an .800 OPS across ten big league seasons and 1,140 career games. While he missed the cut-off for MLBTR’s Top 50 list, he is arguably the best hitter remaining among the honorable mentions, and if he rediscovers the success he had in 2022, he could prove to be a bargain for his new club.
Over the first five years of his career, Pederson was a consistent power threat and a walk machine, crushing 123 home runs to go along with a 12.1% walk rate and a .245 isolated power. After a couple of down years in 2020 and ’21, the lefty slugger bounced all the way back in ’22, putting up the best offensive numbers of his career. His .874 OPS ranked seventh in the National League (min. 400 PA), while his 146 wRC+ ranked fifth. He was named to his first All-Star team since his rookie season and was a Silver Slugger finalist in the outfield.
Following his eye-catching 2022 campaign, Pederson accepted a $19.7MM qualifying offer from the Giants, more than tripling his $6MM salary from the previous season. Unfortunately, he was not able to live up to the high expectations he set for himself. His numbers dropped in all three triple-slash categories, and while his .764 OPS was still well above average, it was hardly elite.
Be that as it may, there is plenty of reason for optimism as Pederson enters his age-32 campaign. For one thing, he recorded his highest walk rate since 2015 and the best walk-to-strikeout ratio of his career in 2023. His batting average and on-base percentage still declined, but that could merely be the result of bad luck on balls in play. While his .235 BA was below league average, his .264 xBA (per Baseball Savant) was significantly above average. Moreover, the -0.029 difference between his BA and xBA was the second largest gap among NL hitters (min. 200 balls in play).
In the same vein, the lefty’s .366 xwOBA was right in line with his .367 xwOBA from the previous season. Indeed, Pederson’s Baseball Savant page paints a pretty promising picture overall. His xwOBA ranked in the 90th percentile in MLB, while his 52.2% hard-hit rate ranked in the 96th. On top of that, he set a new career high in maximum exit velocity, crushing one particular pitch at 116.6 mph. Only 13 hitters topped that number in 2023, a list of batters littered with MVP candidates and All-Stars. Needless to say, we’re talking about a hitter who can still demolish the baseball.
With all that in mind, it’s reasonable to presume Pederson will improve upon his .764 OPS and 111 wRC+ in 2024. According to the Steamer projection system at FanGraphs, he has the second-highest projected OPS (.809) among all unsigned free agents. Only Jorge Soler (.813) is ahead of him by a narrow margin, while Michael Brantley has the next highest projection at .799. To be fair, Pederson is unlikely to be an everyday player, and his projections presume a limited amount of exposure to same-handed pitching. Still, any hitter who can produce an .800 OPS on the heavy side of a platoon is a valuable player to have around.
Yet, unlike fellow outfield/DH bats Teoscar Hernández and Soler, Pederson hasn’t been connected with many teams so far this winter. Given the shallow market for impact bats, especially left-handed hitters, it’s somewhat strange he hasn’t generated more interest.
Around the end of the regular season, Pederson linked himself to his then-team, the Giants, telling Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle that he would love to return to San Francisco in 2024. “I really like it here,” he explained. “It’s a great group of guys. I love the way they run the organization.” While such comments aren’t always particularly revelatory, especially when they concern a player’s current team, it’s worth noting that Pederson chose to return to the Giants in 2023 instead of testing the open market after his All-Star season. In addition, he grew up rooting for the Giants, and he has spent all but one year of his professional career playing in his home state of California.
However, the Giants are almost certainly out of room for Pederson after signing KBO outfielder Jung Hoo Lee to a six-year, $113MM deal earlier this month. In addition to Lee, the Giants have four veteran outfielders on the roster, two of whom, Michael Conforto and Mike Yastrzemski, are left-handed hitters with mediocre career platoon splits against same-handed pitching – much like Pederson himself.
Pederson also spurred brief speculation he was signing with the Phillies this winter after posting a picture of himself posing at Citizens Bank Park to his personal Instagram account. The rumors were shortlived, however, as Todd Zolecki of MLB.com quickly set the record straight: “It doesn’t mean he’s signing with the Phillies. They haven’t even talked this offseason.”
To that end, Pederson never made much sense for the Phillies. Philadelphia already has a left-handed full-time DH (Kyle Schwarber) and a left-handed outfielder with sizeable platoon splits (Brandon Marsh). If president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski is going to sign another bat, he will presumably target a right-handed hitter with a bit more defensive versatility.
The only team Pederson has been connected with by any source other than himself is the Blue Jays, who expressed interest in the outfielder earlier this month, per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. Davidi’s report came before Toronto signed Kevin Kiermaier and Isiah Kiner-Falefa, but that doesn’t mean the club couldn’t add Pederson, too. General manager Ross Atkins mentioned early in the offseason that he would consider adding a primary DH, and the Jays should also have playing time available in both outfield corners when the injury-prone Kiermaier and George Springer need some time off their feet. That said, the Blue Jays have also been heavily linked to Cody Bellinger this winter, with Bob Nightengale of USA Today calling them the favorites a couple of weeks back. Signing Bellinger, another left-handed outfielder, would likely take Toronto out of the running for Pederson.
So, beyond those three clubs, where could Pederson wind up? One possible landing spot is the Angels, who have room in the outfield and could certainly use a left-handed power bat. By all accounts, GM Perry Minasian isn’t planning to start a rebuild, and after missing out on Ohtani, he should have plenty of cash to spend. According to the estimates provided by Roster Resource, the Angels’ payroll currently sits about $60MM below the final tally from last season.
Another possibility is the Nationals, who are reportedly seeking a left-handed power bat this winter. If that is indeed the case, there might be no better option than Pederson. It’s hard to imagine the Nationals are in on Bellinger, or that Bellinger would choose to sign with a rebuilding club. Meanwhile, Brantley is an excellent left-handed hitter, but power hasn’t been a part of his offensive toolkit in several years. Brandon Belt is the only other free agent who looks to be an impactful left-handed hitter, but it’s anyone’s guess if he can keep mashing in his age-36 season.
Finally, the Mariners are one more suitor worth keeping in mind. After trading Jarred Kelenic and non-tendering Mike Ford, Seattle could use another lefty hitter. Mitch Garver figures to get most of the playing time at DH, but the Mariners have room for an upgrade in either one of the outfield corners. Considering president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto’s long-standing aversion to signing free agent position players to longer-term contracts, Pederson seems like a good fit; he might be the best free agent outfielder who would be open to signing a one-year deal.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Kinda amazing that Joc is a left-handed hitting power bat, and had his best offensive season in ‘22 with the Giants, in a stadium big free agent hitters “don’t want to play in.”
It’s important to keep in mind that Joc is a liability in the outfield. He’s best suited to be a LH platoon DH against RH pitchers.
Wouldn’t mind him primarily DHing for the Pads if his AAV falls down to around 12-13mm.
I’d rather see Cooper return for 1/2 that amount and also give some 1b. Especially, during first month when Kim has to play 3b and Cro likely back to 2b (thinking Merrill gets a shot to start at LF unless they ultimately sign a true LFer).
@longtime
No doubt. Would love to see coop back myself. Getting eager to see how we fill out the lineup.
Happy new year.
Happy New Year HSK (hope we don’t trade you – at least not before trade deadline)!
@longtime
Not looking forward to changing my handle on here when Kim walks next year!
Hopefully, we see performance that justifies you becoming Merrill.
He’s interesting. Pedestrian reg season numbers.
But produces in Joctober.
He’s like the middle child. I’m sure he wants to get paid and played but he’s best suited for a platoon role for big playoff games.
The Guardians are expected to sign Joc in the next 24 hours
If that’s the case I hope he understands he’ll be paid in ramen and not dollars.
Where did you hear that OIC?
Colorado or Houston.
Blondie would kill it. It’d be a fun watch at least
The San Francisco giants right plays better to left handed hitters who pull the ball as it is only 309 down the right field field. So more home runs get out; more balls of the beak that would be a fly ball in other stadiums
That 309 is deceiving. The RF arcade angles away fairly severely to 415 in RC. That’s unlike Yankee Stadium, which is HR friendly for lefties, because the wall is more perpendicular to the foul line.
The park factor numbers don’t like Oracle one bit for HRs for either LHHs or RHHs. The PF for HRs is only 84, with little to no advantage for lefties. Only PNC and Comerica are worse.
Farhan should have been fired for this signing alone.
I’d say Joc in 22 was the most successful free agent signing Farhan has ever made. He obviously didn’t deserve the QO last year as he is entirely a one dimensional player, but the Conforto, Hanigar, Manaea, and Stripling acquisitions were all more worthy of a firing. Farhan should have been shown the door with Kapler, but he got a small extension to go with the Melvin contract. If things don’t turn around sooner than later, specifically with the prospects he drafted starting to pan out, he will be gone. His defenders are running out of excuses for him still having a job, as the Giants are over 100 games behind the Dodgers since Farhan took over.
Amazes me that Kapler got canned while in Boston, Bloom did with Cora remaining. Bloom never got to even hire his own manager. I was never for DD leaving. Was Bloom perfect? Far from it but he left the team with an improved farm who will soon becoming of age.
Phillies fans thank you for that DD canning.
The only “defenders” that matter are the owners. Some people understand this, some don’t.
Except how much further behind were they from the last half of 2016 – 2019 when they slid and and were a nearly 100 loss team with the last farm ranking in baseball and one of the top payrolls in baseball. Farhan has made good stories just not good enough to too what is essentially the most dominant team in baseball with essentially unlimited money due to the ownership structure
“…the Giants are over 100 games behind the Dodgers since Farhan took over.”
This is typical of the criticism from the fire Farhan crowd. Superficial bottom-line analysis. That and hindsight. No one will argue that the team wasn’t disappointing last season, but does anyone believe a different PBO would have made a difference?
But no one that advocates for firing Zaidi has ever offered exactly what he should have done other than sign Ohtani, or Yamamoto, or re-signed Gausman. Lots of teams failed to sign those guys. You can’t force anyone to sign.
Not retaining Gausman was a mistake, but a reasonable one. There’s not a GM/PBO in baseball that wouldn’t do something different if they had the chance. Every GM or PBO has made mistakes.
The bottom-line analysis is just a bad way to judge. It doesn’t take any mitigating factors into account. If anyone would bother to read about Zaidi’s work on Fangraphs, they’d see he’s done about all he could do with what was available. I’m open to any reasonable criticism of Zaidi, but I haven’t read one yet.
Just STOP
Farhan Zaidi is entering his 6th year as the grand Poobah if San Francisco
He’s only fielded a roster that finished w/ a Winning record once
He’s drafted poorly and the Giants farm system is only marginally improved
If Zaidi did this in NY, LA or Boston he’s be Fired
Thanks for helping me make my point chumpy.
If by drafted poorly you mean having a crap ton of rookies that debuted last year and performed at the major league level while having none of the guys drafted at the top of the class, ok. Try comparing that to all of the teams that are ‘top systems’ and you are going to see that it is better than most of them. If you are looking at random farm rankings you have to understand how they create those rankings and according to them guys like Patrick Bailey and Logan Webb didn’t figure into the rankings are were not considered high ranking prospects- that ranking is solely based on the skill numbers of guys like Harrison and luciano
I’m not sure how far a team is behind the Dodgers is necessarily a fair way to decide whether to fire someone or not. A lot of people would be losing their jobs.
The Angels need all the help they can get.
Joc used to be an above average outfielder. But as he aged, he put on too much weight and became a liability on the field. Otherwise, teams would be clamoring to sign him.
Yep! That’s the part that everyone sees but few will say the words. So kudos for that. His tomorrows are very limited the longer he chooses to be outta shape.
If you want an out of shape DH that is prone to extended slumps then this is your guy. Yes he can hit RHP when he’s right but when the slump hits, he looks lost like he’s never swung a bat before. The power is legit when he’s on that heater
sounds like a perfect fit for the Blue Hays, then…
Joc Pederson is a selfish player who only cares about himself. Club house cancer… I have no basis to this claim other than I don’t like Pederson…
Then don’t say it. I’ve never heard that Joc is a “club house cancer.” To the contrary, he has been repeatedly mentioned as a good club house guy.
No way. His dyed hair, big chain all scream terrible, selfish person. I’ve seen pictures of him wearing his hat improperly and he played for Israel in the WBC despite not being born there. Just a huge “look at me” player.
He wore out his welcome in LA, Chicago, Altanta and San Francisco.
Joc was loved in LA & Atlanta too. Not sure why he played for Israel in the WBC.
Because he is selfish and all about himself.
Barry Bonds was the epitome of selfish & a POS as a human being. Did you like Barry?
At this point, Joc is a platoon DH worth $5 million for one year. But his hair and pearls have nothing to do with it – he is just a poor defender and an inconsistent power hitter best protected by a platoon.
He has family lines to Israel plus he is Jewish.
drasco aka Tommy Pham you are way out of line. Simply not true. Watched him for 2 years with the Giants and never saw anything remotely selfish out of him. He was well liked by the entire roster and had many clutch homers. Would love to have him back but his defense is shaky. Full time DH now in my mind.
Exactly Pete. The rep from people in the clubhouse is the opposite of the claim.
That’s all I need, just give me some time to sharpen my pitchfork.
Pederson needs to stay off twitter/X and just play baseball.
Most fans of the braves, including me love joc and a good portion of us wanted him back. He killed it in the playoffs and was a big part of why we won the world series is 2021. The clubhouse definitely rallied behind him and his pearls, it was good for the clubhouse and the fan base to have something we could get behind on our way to that world series win. He is a weirdo and he is different than most baseball players, but he seems like for the most part that he’s a very good dude. And speaking of charities, he’s involved with plenty himself.
Yet you defend Stroman.
Cut it out.
Pederson cares more about posting restaurants on social media than baseball. Everywhere he goes he wears out his welcome and don’t even get me started on the whole fantasy football debacle.
Pederson is bad news!
Drasco,
What happened with fantasy football? Please do tell. Why stop now when you’re on a roll about how bad this person you do not know is. Jeez Louise. You’re really on one about this.
Drasco, sounds like Joc had his way with your Mom and your old lady and you are just bitter and jealous. Stop spewing nonsense about Joc. Or he may move onto your Sister next.
@drascoo
You’re Tommy Pham aren’t you❓
Now there’s a selfish jerk if there ever was one.
You gotta be a real unprofessional thug to slap another player in the face in front of the whole world to see.
Posting restaurants? I’ll take that over questionable political takes.
Then you’d hate Andrelton Simmons. That dude went off the deep end during Covid. Talking about how 5G towers were the cause of the spread.
Why can’t we all just band together and agree andrelton simmons is insane?
LOL
Speaking of unprofessional thugs. Remember when Roberto Alomar spit in an umpires face while there was news he was being sued by a woman for knowingly giving her HIV? Or when Pete Rose slept with 12-14 year olds during spring training year after year?
Crazy, that these cases would never be swept under today like it was then. Sports figures aren’t your heroes, only I am.
Don’t care about Simmons. Sorry.
He’s actually pretty quiet and a super nice guy. I know a handful of guys that used to play with him.
And he brings his brother to the games and in the clubhouse. Seems like a good dude to me.
He helped Champ get a job with the Giants org as well. They did an awesome behind the scenes video on Joc about a year ago. Pretty awesome stuff.
A lot of hate directed at Joc in the comments here, most unrelated to baseball. I get that hate is the modern schtick for many, but I doubt any of you fanboys know him personally so it’s just weird.
Anyone that has ever watched Joc interact with his kids and his brother Champ, know how cool he is. Been wanting him on the Halo’s since he was supposed to be traded for Rengifo many moons ago!
This post is satire related to all the “not raciest” comments about Stroman in the previous section.
What’s amazing is it’s blatantly obvious when I said “I have no basis for this claim”. Of course look how many people piled on Stroman vs how many people came to the defense of Pederson.
Drasco, I see that in your first post now, and even believe you. But nobody is going to realize that it is satire at first. Not until you explain it like you just did to me. Pederson is 100x more likeable than Stroman so it makes it even harder to satirize.
Why? Because he is white? Because Stroman speaks on social injustice and Pederson doesn’t? Because the New York media was happy to write scathing articles about Stroman?
Drasco, you can’t just assume that stuff man. I feel like you are assuming that I am not black myself, and almost feel insulted. It makes you sound nutty nuts! And I do not recall Stroman being a SJW(social justice warrior), so that is def not on the list of reasons I don’t like him. He just has a punk @ss, thug @ss attitude to me.
Stromans attitude is a conscious effort to relate to young black people and make baseball more appealing to them.
He has a charity to support at risk kids, he donates to other charities, he gave a lot of money to help families feed their children who were not getting school lunches over Covid.
In Chicago, Stroman was constantly engaging young fans, signing autographs, having conversations with them.
The guy had endless praise for his teammates, especially Justin Steele, Yan Gomes and Tucker Barnhart. He also bought everyone on the team Nintendo switches
Yeah, he’s a punk &$$ thug. I agree.
Drasco, all players in the show should be involved in charities and good causes. If you think he is a good role model then fine. But I do not have it in for the guy. I thought 1 eye Urias was a real punk jerk on the Dodgers too! Plenty of guys I do not like. Of all colors.
I’m not opining on Stroman’s attitude, just to clarify, but making a more general observation on behavior. I think the problem that many have with him is how he carries himself. Perhaps he does want to have a perceived attitude of being a hard, arrogant, street guy, and that’s his choice. But, people that will naturally dislike that attitude aren’t basing that on race, imho. Very few people like someone who acts that way, especially when that someone is a multimillionaire who also influences how youth will act.
Also keep in mind that many mafia bosses were doing great things in the community with money obtained from violent crimes, and also ordering hits on people who crossed them.
Now, I don’t know if Stroman is a good guy or not, but I wouldn’t want him on the Yankees because I think it would be a terrible fit with how he carries himself. Our fanbase would crush him if he acted that way.
Clip, Rendon has a terrible attitude problem as well. Worse than Stroman IMO. I have only noticed it for the past 2 seasons though. And because of it, I no longer support him and defend him. Tony 2 Bags is 86’d in my book. So yeah, I don’t know anyone personally who likes players with crap attitudes.
P.S. Good point with the Mob bosses!
I was aware of some of Stroman’s unpopular antics because he was in NY, but I was not aware of Rendon’s. That’s disappointing, man. These guys have the world at their fingertips but many people cannot get out of their own way. Same reason I didn’t like Josh Donaldson. He supposedly had a hard life growing up, but it’s like, “get over yourself guy.”
On the other hand, guys with ultra-competitive fire, like CC Sabathia, I loved.
Huh? Stro only wants people who think like him.
Breaking news: nearly every MLB’er has a charity or foundation for a cause.
Also breaking news: bad guys have had praise from teammates.
I used to be a fan of Stroman until I saw what he did to his dog. The poor pup was so adorable in the first pic. No idea why he would do that to it.
reddit.com/r/mlb/s/A3nvmiJlzD
Jaysfan, Thank you for helping me get my New Year started in a nice pissed off mood hah. I wonder how he would like HIS OWN ears trimmed up a little? What a maggot!
In one of his first games in Los Angeles against the Cubs, Joc turned and waved goodbye to the Dodgers fans before running off the field between innings. He also supports his brother, Champ. He’s checked the right boxes for a good man and a good platoon DH.
Drascoo36 never heard that about him. He was the major force in the Braves 2021 World Series as the clubhouse leader. His motto is even on the Braves rings.
@ Ross Atkins
Jays can’t afford another LH bat that can’t hit LHP.
Pederson’s walk-up music was “I’m the Man” by The Killers which instantly made him a joke in the league last year..
Have you heard other player’s walk up music? It may have made him a joke to you, but I’m sure no one in the league gave a single thought to this.
I thought a lot about when Reddick used ‘careless whisper’ in Oakland. Hilarious and awesome.
This is literally a league with fans that embraced ‘baby shark.’ Nobody cares, just have fun. The goobers on here man….
Good song actually.
Lonely Island: “So Humble”
Terrible slow defender who prob should be playing DH. Any plus plus offense is negated by negative d
Maybe he has generated interest but not from teams that relay every move or interest to the talking head “insiders”. Of course that would be the jays, reds,dodgers, yanks, Mets, mariners,giants and angels
I commend the writer of this article for being able to stretch out a column on Joc Pederson, because he gets paid by the word.
He’s obese, slow, can’t field and can’t hit lefties, but he plays with a pure joy for the game, and is fun to watch. Frankly I’d rather have him than Conforto any day.
I can not wait till wait till the start of February and all the unsign free agents are sitting at home on the couch. Without a team to play for then their high price demands with be at bargain prices looking for a job.
And then most of them will still sign deals for well over a million dollars, full amazing medical bennis, free travel and food all over the country for @ 9 months, spring in Fla or Ariz, access to top level coaches, medical staff and training facilities – all to play a game.
Sign me up for that sofa….although as a genX former college player, might not have a market? Oh well, almost time for Beer 1 today…
thanks, you reminded me to open that first beer. cheers!
Poet, appreciate you reminding me what time it almost was!!! About to get NYE started properly!
Marsh, oof, didn’t realize they were this extreme. Quite a few Phillies fans were clamoring for Marsh to get more time @lhp last year (similar career splits)?
Guess I should have looked.
@rhp @900pa .272 .347 . 438
@lhp @300pa .223 .278 .312
As a Phillies guy, @26 maybe they should let Marsh start against lesser LHP’s and see what they have? After all how many Pache pa’s do we need to see?
Unless of course they pony up and convince Duvall to come aboard….
Oakland A’s then flip him at the deadline
Or more likely the Royals.
Joc is bad in the outfield. Absolutely not a good fit for Seattle because Garver should DH virtually 100% of the time to keep him healthy. I also get the sense he is kind of a lazy clubhouse guy and we don’t need that either.
Agreed, I’d rather see Marlowe instead of Joc.
San Diego, Toronto, Miami all need LH power, Cleveland needs power in general. Shouldn’t be too hard for Pederson to find a spot
he seems like a safe been to be an average offensive player as a floor. With a pretty decent chance to be above average. Any team looking for some offense should at least take a closer look.
Probably only an defensive player part time as a 4th or in a pinch
Guy’s another three true outcomes player that were popularized by the early analytics geeks who were proven wrong on the skill of these guys. Can’t even hit left-handed pitchers. If you can’t hit both sides, you belong in the minors.
I like Joc with the Mets, Reds, or D-Backs, he would be a major upgrade!
A one year deal paid as a 4th OF or a platoon DH to a team like Cleveland or Cincy makes sense.
Remember when MLBTR would have posts highlighting a bunch of blog topics? I wish they’d bring that back!
I hope he ends up on the same team as Tommy Pham.
One comment Joc made that bothered me was saying he didn’t care about money, he just wants to play for winners.
I’d rather he was money motivated. He would take better care of himself. 2023 was a prove it year for him and he came up short.
Someone will sign him for $10M-$12M as a left handed DH/emergency OF. That’s who he is.
That sounds like a real human to me. He’s already a millionaire many times over, he never needs to work another day in his life. He just wants to have fun playing baseball, and it just so happens losing is not that fun.
Happy New Year to all you bleacher creatures out there!
@Balk
Some of the bleachers are getting a bit too pricey.
Old York…now ain’t that the truth!
Give him one million plus a good list of performance bonus incentives.
Pay him to perform not to suck.
That’s the way most contracts should be.
If you suck you don’t deserve millions of dollars.
Joc feels like the antithesis of Bellinger. If everyone is wary of Bellinger because of the batted ball metrics, shouldn’t Joc be one of the more popular buy low targets? His peripherals look very similar to the ones that produced great results in ‘22.
I think there might be something going on with Joc. Hope he is doing ok.
Clearly he’s staying away from the gym, but I think that may just be a personal choice.
He turned up in good nick last year and then appeared to let it all go. Then there was cardgate in a pretty important year for him contract wise. Bit weird for a competitor to throw in the towel on himself like that. Anyhow, hope he gets his mojo back.
Had the best dream last night with Pederson and Pham landing on the same team and starting a Slapping League.
He’ll sign a one year contract with the Pirates and then retire.
Joc should finish his career as a Las Vegas Athletic where he will be a big fish in a small pond and bat cleanup/#4 and DH for Vegas all 162 games…
Joc would be a good fit for the Angels at DH. They could use the LH pop, and they still could get Trout and Rendon off there feet to DH around once a week each, when a lefty starts against them.
Brandon Drury is taking over at DH for the Halos…..he’s also been listed on the depth chart as the starting Halo DH since the dismissal of Ohtani…..
619, I wouldn’t count on that. He might be currently listed as DH, but I see majority of his playing time at 2b, and even some at 1st, when a tough lefty is pitching.
Padres are hungry for outfielders. Joc Pederson could be Juan Soto’s replacement in Left Field?
They’d have to be famished to play him in the outfield. Ok in a pinch but just barely. I’d like the guy as a teammate though
Joc is not a good fielder, but neither is Soto. Joc had -11 DRS and -23 OAA in LF. Soto had -16 DRS and -10 OAA in LF. The fact that these defensive metrics are cumulative, and Joc’s career has been more than twice that of Soto’s, makes me think Joc might actually be the better defender. Of course that doesn’t take into account that Joc was a better defender when young than he is now, but then again, Soto is young and has never been very good.
If Joc wants to play in purgatory, the White Sox are available.
If the Sox are purgatory, then what the heck are the A’s?
Signing with the Athletics is worse, but not by much. John Fisher told Jerry Reinsdorf, “No Jerry, I can do so much worse. Hold my beer.”
Hell?
I would not mind having Joc Pederson back with the Dodgers.
To do what?
Play LF
Cleveland should jump on signing him!!
Only when the music stops, there are no chairs left, and his asking price has dropped to about $6M
I cant get over how bad Atkins is
Hasn’t had a high caliber season since MLB decided to put a stop to the rampant sign stealing in the game.
Joc needs to go on a diet.
The Astros were interested last year until he signed the QO. They transitioned to Brantley. I would think Joc makes plenty of sense as a 4th OF/DH for the right price. I can see him platooning with Jake Meyers.
MLBTR-likes Joc Pederson….hates Eddie Rosario……why? Could it simply be because one walks and one doesn’t?
I think Rosario is so streaky; he has days or weeks of where he has huge hits than goes cold for weeks. Also having seen both Pederson and Rosario both in person Pederson is very fan friendly where are Rosario is not won’t acknowledge the fans normally. So Pederson probably better with the media
Isn’t Joc streaky? He has many flaws as well. I think Rosario also ran into some bad luck as the first couple months his peripherals were very good and he had just gotten red hot before the all star break disrupted it. He also had another hot streak but they faced 3 lefties in a row and Snitker benched him and he was ice cold afterwards. Halfway thru the season he had a very good OPS, just like Joc, but not AS good. But all this clarifies that he is very streaky.
There should never be a comma before “too.” It’s not the sixties anymore.
Pederson would be an excellent fit with the Nationals. They have Meneses, an injury-recovering Stone Garrett, and some minor-league contracts with spring invites in Yepez and Diaz for 3 positions – LF, 1B, and DH. Plenty of room for a lefty power bat at DH or LF in that mix. If Garrett is not ready at the start of the year, Joc can play in left with Young or Call as a defensive replacement. If Yepez earns 1B, they can pull a 4 guys into 3 positions routine for a while and Joc never has to face a lefty. All of this is a nice holding pattern until Wood and Crews are ready and displace CF and a corner OF.
Looked like Babe Ruth last year… but didn’t play like him!