2022-23 Free Agency

AEW Champion

AEW Champion

Your wife’s favorite poster
Free agency is underway! (Understandable if Reds and Guardians fans weren’t tuned in to this.)

The first big deal came to light yesterday, with the Mets extending closer Edwin Diaz with a monster 5-year, $102 million deal, with a player opt-out option after 2025 and a club option for 2028. I believe he also got a no-trade clause at least up through the player option.

I believe the $20.4 million average annual value resets the closer market, as I believe Liam Hendriks and Raisel Iglesias were among the top earners at closer, but not to the $20 million threshold.

The Mets had better hope Diaz resembles Mariano Rivera or Trevor Hoffman; otherwise this is a deal that could end up looking ugly in the future.

It’s true, it’s true. Trust me …
 
 
In other news, Carlos Rodon opted out of his second year with the Giants, so he’s back on the market and figures to get a longer deal this time around.

He’s always going to be a risk due to his injury history, but on the flip side, those injuries means there’s not as much mileage on his arm as some other guys who’ve been around for several years. I’d love the White Sox to take a run at getting him back. They really missed the 2021 version of Rodon this past season. Pairing Cease and Rodon at the top of the rotation would be a nice tandem, with Lynn and Kopech slotting in behind them.

I doubt the Sox will re-sign Johnny Cueto, and Lucas Giolito is a question mark. He has one year left before free agency, but given his declining results in 2021 and 2022, it’s not crazy to think he could be moved this offseason. The scuttlebutt is that Garrett Crochet is going to come back as a potential starter. He missed all season after Tommy John surgery, but should be ready for 2023.

In unrelated news, the shortstop market will be interesting. Xander Bogaerts, Carlos Correa, Trea Turner and Dansby Swanson are free agents. I’d be surprised if Turner and Bogaerts aren’t back with the Dodgers and Red Sox. Those teams should be able to pony up.

It would be reasonable to think the Yankees get desperate and sign one of these guys, in spite of their system having highly regarded shortstop prospects who aren’t far away.

Dansby Swanson is pretty clearly #4 of these four guys, so he might have to wait it out unless he and Atlanta are both motivated to make a deal happen. How much money is Atlanta willing to spend?

It’s true, it’s true. Trust me …
 
We all know the Reds will make at least one very very dumb signing. Only thing up in the air is how bad it’ll hurt the future.
 
AEW Champion said:
In other news, Carlos Rodon opted out of his second year with the Giants, so he’s back on the market and figures to get a longer deal this time around.

He’s always going to be a risk due to his injury history, but on the flip side, those injuries means there’s not as much mileage on his arm as some other guys who’ve been around for several years. I’d love the White Sox to take a run at getting him back. They really missed the 2021 version of Rodon this past season. Pairing Cease and Rodon at the top of the rotation would be a nice tandem, with Lynn and Kopech slotting in behind them.

I doubt the Sox will re-sign Johnny Cueto, and Lucas Giolito is a question mark. He has one year left before free agency, but given his declining results in 2021 and 2022, it’s not crazy to think he could be moved this offseason. The scuttlebutt is that Garrett Crochet is going to come back as a potential starter. He missed all season after Tommy John surgery, but should be ready for 2023.

In unrelated news, the shortstop market will be interesting. Xander Bogaerts, Carlos Correa, Trea Turner and Dansby Swanson are free agents. I’d be surprised if Turner and Bogaerts aren’t back with the Dodgers and Red Sox. Those teams should be able to pony up.

It would be reasonable to think the Yankees get desperate and sign one of these guys, in spite of their system having highly regarded shortstop prospects who aren’t far away.

Dansby Swanson is pretty clearly #4 of these four guys, so he might have to wait it out unless he and Atlanta are both motivated to make a deal happen. How much money is Atlanta willing to spend?

It’s true, it’s true. Trust me …
Click to expand...
I think you are right - I would bet money that Correa is a Yankee next year.

I really like Swanson; you are right, he will be 4th in this pecking order, but he is a heck of a ballplayer with a lot of upside.
 
With former Dodger Tyler Anderson signing with the Angels for 3 years, $39 million, it sets up an oddity in this day and age where the Angels now have four lefties in their rotation to go along with Shohei Ohtani: Tyler Anderson, Patrick Sandoval, Jose Suarez, Reid Detmers.

Joc Pederson agreeing to the one-year qualifying offer with the Giants takes a potentially coveted lefty outfield bat off the market. That can only help other similar options like Michael Conforto and Brandon Nimmo.

It’s true, it’s true. Trust me …
 
Yesterday was a bittersweet day watching Jose Abreu officially gone from the White Sox, especially to sign with the AL powerhouse that knocked the Sox out of the 2021 playoffs.

He goes down as one of the best players and leaders in White Sox history, holding down the fort at 1B for nine seasons. The Sox have been incredibly fortunate to more or less go from Frank Thomas to Paul Konerko to Jose Abreu at 1B for the last 30+ years.

All that said, he turns 36 this offseason and the Sox had to clear the logjam of 1B/DH types somehow. This leaves Andrew Vaughn to play his natural 1B position instead of being miscast as an outfielder.

Hopefully Eloy Jimenez will mostly DH and play LF sparingly. The Sox figure to bring up Cuban prospect Oscar Colas to play RF next year, so they still need to target a LF, ideally a lefty since they have Vaughn, Robert, Eloy and Tim Anderson as righties.

The Sox signed Mike Clevinger over the weekend. It’s a good signing if he stays healthy. So the rotation looks like Cease, Lynn, Kopech, Clevinger and Giolito for now.

It’s true, it’s true. Trust me …
 
The top of the Astros lineup looks something like:

2B Altuve
SS Pena
DH Alvarez
3B Bregman
RF Tucker
1B Abreu

We’ll see who they end up with at catcher and at the other OF spots, but that’s looking like a very strong lineup.

It’s true, it’s true. Trust me …
 
AEW Champion said:
The top of the Astros lineup looks something like:

2B Altuve
SS Pena
DH Alvarez
3B Bregman
RF Tucker
1B Abreu

We’ll see who they end up with at catcher and at the other OF spots, but that’s looking like a very strong lineup.

It’s true, it’s true. Trust me …
Click to expand...
Wow. I had not paid attention to free agency. As a Reds fan, it is futile.

The Astros have made their scorched earth rebuild pay off big. That is quite a lineup.
 
Say what you will about the Astros, they are in it to win it. Now are they going to go get some more pitching? Verlander can't pitch forever.
 
AEW Champion said:
Yesterday was a bittersweet day watching Jose Abreu officially gone from the White Sox, especially to sign with the AL powerhouse that knocked the Sox out of the 2021 playoffs.

He goes down as one of the best players and leaders in White Sox history, holding down the fort at 1B for nine seasons. The Sox have been incredibly fortunate to more or less go from Frank Thomas to Paul Konerko to Jose Abreu at 1B for the last 30+ years.

All that said, he turns 36 this offseason and the Sox had to clear the logjam of 1B/DH types somehow. This leaves Andrew Vaughn to play his natural 1B position instead of being miscast as an outfielder.

Hopefully Eloy Jimenez will mostly DH and play LF sparingly. The Sox figure to bring up Cuban prospect Oscar Colas to play RF next year, so they still need to target a LF, ideally a lefty since they have Vaughn, Robert, Eloy and Tim Anderson as righties.

The Sox signed Mike Clevinger over the weekend. It’s a good signing if he stays healthy. So the rotation looks like Cease, Lynn, Kopech, Clevinger and Giolito for now.

It’s true, it’s true. Trust me …
Click to expand...
The White Sox are good on paper, but they were that way last season. I feel they were one of the most disappointing teams in 22. That division was their's for the taking. My guess is it will be them and Cleveland battling it out.
 
The starting pitcher dominoes should start to fall fast now. This is obviously a huge get for the Rangers but could just as easily blow up in their face given deGrom’s injury history.

E92D7958-65D4-40F5-BBD3-C55DC2362413.png

902A93C2-0C73-4591-A4BD-3BA6CE168784.png

It’s true, it’s true. Trust me …
 
Everyone knew that DeGrom would get $35M plus per year - he is the best. But 5 years? He is 34 and super injury prone. Seems crazy to me.

That is a lot to pay for 75 innings per year, even if the innings are excellent.
 
wolves82 said:
Everyone knew that DeGrom would get $35M plus per year - he is the best. But 5 years? He is 34 and super injury prone. Seems crazy to me.

That is a lot to pay for 75 innings per year, even if the innings are excellent.
Click to expand...
Agreed. The Mets might end up with a better “bargain” with their deal today for Justin Verlander: Two years, $86 million ($43M per year), with a possible $35M vesting option for 2025.

I’d still be a little leery of fronting my rotation with Verlander and Scherzer at their advanced ages. The ceiling is crazy high of course, but at some point Father Time has to start catching up with these guys.

It’s true, it’s true. Trust me …
 
Trea Turner to the Phillies. 11 years, $300 million.

So now the Phillies go Turner, Schwarber, Realmuto, Harper, Hoskins, Castellanos at the top, with Alec Bohm, Brandon Marsh and Bryson Stott likely rounding out the starting nine.

It’s true, it’s true. Trust me …
 
AEW Champion said:
Trea Turner to the Phillies. 11 years, $300 million.

So now the Phillies go Turner, Schwarber, Realmuto, Harper, Hoskins, Castellanos at the top, with Alec Bohm, Brandon Marsh and Bryson Stott likely rounding out the starting nine.

It’s true, it’s true. Trust me …
Click to expand...
Wow. They won't need pitching.
 
AEW Champion said:
Trea Turner to the Phillies. 11 years, $300 million.

So now the Phillies go Turner, Schwarber, Realmuto, Harper, Hoskins, Castellanos at the top, with Alec Bohm, Brandon Marsh and Bryson Stott likely rounding out the starting nine.

It’s true, it’s true. Trust me …
Click to expand...
Buy buy buy...and the only reason they even got to the playoffs last year is the newly expanded spot moved them in, and the Breweres collapse.
 
Guardians sign 1B Josh Bell to a two-year, $33 million deal, with an opt-out after the first year, per Jon Heyman.

It’s true, it’s true. Trust me …
 
Andrew Heaney signs with the Rangers.

Given the moves over the past year-plus to acquire Mitch Garver, Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Jacob deGrom and now Andrew Heaney, it’s clear the Rangers are tired of playing loser little brother to the current Astros’ dynasty.

It’s true, it’s true. Trust me …
 
San Diego with another huge contract, almost $300M for Xander Bogaerts. Wow. Over $900M committed to 3 guys (Tatis, Machado, Bogaerts).

All of this in the 27th largest TV market in the country. I don't want to hear any crap from the Castellini boys about "small market". Spend for a competitive team, or sell the dang team.
 
AEW Champion said:
Guardians sign 1B Josh Bell to a two-year, $33 million deal, with an opt-out after the first year, per Jon Heyman.

It’s true, it’s true. Trust me …
Click to expand...
Yep, even the Dolans are spending to make the team better.

#SellTheTeamBob
 
The Mets’ payroll to open 2023 is expected to be somewhere around $320 million, the most in MLB history.

Their free agent acquisitions this offseason include:
Re-signing Edwin Diaz
Re-signing Brandon Nimmo
Justin Verlander
Jose Quintana
David Robertson

Their rotation is likely to be:
Justin Verlander
Max Scherzer
Jose Quintana
Carlos Carrasco
David Peterson

For going into the offseason with Jacob deGrom, Chris Bassitt and Taijuan Walker all hitting free agency, that’s a very good reassembled rotation if the old guys’ health holds up.

It’s true, it’s true. Trust me …
 
AEW Champion said:
The Mets’ payroll to open 2023 is expected to be somewhere around $320 million, the most in MLB history.

Their free agent acquisitions this offseason include:
Re-signing Edwin Diaz
Re-signing Brandon Nimmo
Justin Verlander
Jose Quintana
David Robertson

Their rotation is likely to be:
Justin Verlander
Max Scherzer
Jose Quintana
Carlos Carrasco
David Peterson

For going into the offseason with Jacob deGrom, Chris Bassitt and Taijuan Walker all hitting free agency, that’s a very good reassembled rotation if the old guys’ health holds up.

It’s true, it’s true. Trust me …
Click to expand...
Yep, Mets and Padres are in it to win it. Reds are in it to profit.
 
AEW Champion said:
Their rotation is likely to be:
Justin Verlander
Max Scherzer
Jose Quintana
Carlos Carrasco
David Peterson
Click to expand...
Steve Cohen and the Mets still weren’t done! They signed Japanese star SP Kodai Senga to a five-year, $75 million deal last night, likely slotting him in at #3 SP and moving David Peterson into the first rotation option when someone gets hurt.

A couple other Mets’ tidbits:

1. I don’t know which is more interesting: a) That they’ve spent a ton of money this offseason, yet their position player roster will look identical to 2022; or b) Seeing a big-market team (or any team, for that matter) go from one year to the next without seeing any change to their position players.

For all their moves, the Mets’ starting position players still should be:

LF Canha
CF Nimmo
RF Marte
1B Alonso
2B McNeil
SS Lindor
3B Escobar
C McCann
DH Vogelbach

Then they also have Luis Guillorme, Tomas Nido and Darin Ruf as bench guys. Plus 3B big prospect Brett Baty, who saw time last season when Escobar and Guillorme both got hurt around the same time. And top catcher prospect Francisco Alvarez, who might well supplant McCann this year.

2. I didn’t realize until this morning when I looked at the Mets’ payroll details on Spotrac that they’re still paying Robinson Cano more than $20 million this coming year. That’s a horrible long-term contract I forgot about when discussing bad long-term deals over on the Reds thread.

It’s true, it’s true. Trust me …
 
You know who’s been pretty quiet this offseason? The normally big-spending Dodgers. Maybe we’re going to see a bit of a soft reset, transition-type season out there, after about a decade straight of dominating the NL West and being a top World Series contender.

They’ll still be good, that’s not really in doubt. But with Walker Buehler likely out for the whole season after TJ surgery and several big-name guys gone, maybe they figure it’s time to mix in more youth in 2023.

They did do the obvious move of re-signing Clayton Kershaw, but aside from that, getting Jason Heyward on a minor-league deal is all we’ve really heard from the Dodgers.

Guys off their books include: Trea Turner, Justin Turner, Andrew Heaney, Tyler Anderson, Craig Kimbrel, David Price, Cody Bellinger.

Meanwhile, they have several young guys who could step in this year:
OF James Outman
OF Andy Pages
3B Miguel Vargas
INF Michael Busch
SP Ryan Pepiot

We might see something like this:

Rotation:
Julio Urias
Clayton Kershaw
Dustin May
Tony Gonsolin
Ryan Pepiot

Starting lineup:
2B Chris Taylor
RF Mookie Betts
1B Freddie Freeman
C Will Smith
3B Miguel Vargas
DH Max Muncy
LF James Outman
SS Gavin Lux
CF Trayce Thompson

It’ll be interesting what they end up with as a normal starting nine — especially since guys like Chris Taylor, Gavin Lux and Max Muncy can be moved around — but in any event, this looks like a weaker team or at least a more unproven one than we’ve seen out of LA in quite some time.

Of note, Trevor Bauer is still on their payroll at $32 million for 2023, but I’m not sure what the legalities are of having to pay that money if he’s still under suspension.

It’s true, it’s true. Trust me …
 
Last edited:
Amazing little factoid. At this point the Mets payroll luxury tax will be about $76M, which will be more than 8-10 entire teams' payroll, including the Reds. But some still say "baseball is fine".
 
Carlos Correa goes to the Giants on an insane 13-year deal ($350 million). Also has full no-trade protection.

That leaves Dansby Swanson left for the Red Sox, Twins, Cubs, and maybe Dodgers and Braves to fight for. He’ll get a bag.

If the Cubs and Twins lose out on Swanson and if Rodon ends up in the Bronx as expected, this free agency cycle will have even further increased the gap between the rest of the league and the two Central divisions.

The Central divisions have gotten a few free agents of note (Willson Contreras, Jameson Taillon, Cody Bellinger, Carlos Santana, Mike Clevinger, Josh Bell, Christian Vazquez, Mike Zunino), but nothing compared to the hauls obtained by the other four divisions.

It’s true, it’s true. Trust me …
 
AEW Champion said:
Carlos Correa goes to the Giants on an insane 13-year deal ($350 million). Also has full no-trade protection.

That leaves Dansby Swanson left for the Red Sox, Twins, Cubs, and maybe Dodgers and Braves to fight for. He’ll get a bag.

If the Cubs and Twins lose out on Swanson and if Rodon ends up in the Bronx as expected, this free agency cycle will have even further increased the gap between the rest of the league and the two Central divisions.

The Central divisions have gotten a few free agents of note (Willson Contreras, Jameson Taillon, Cody Bellinger, Carlos Santana, Mike Clevinger, Josh Bell, Christian Vazquez, Mike Zunino), but nothing compared to the hauls obtained by the other four divisions.

It’s true, it’s true. Trust me …
Click to expand...
13 years, no trade, fully guaranteed. Insane was the correct word choice. He's a terrific player but has had injury issues almost every year.

Your observation about the Central divisions is interesting. Really only Contreras was of interest to the big boys on each coast. The big money owners have historically been on both coasts, plus Chicago. St Louis occasionally grabs a big fish like Arenado and Goldschmidt. But yeah, this year it is all on the coasts.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top