JotCast | Top 50 Free Agents Chat

Top 50 Free Agents Chat

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Mike

1:00

Seems like the more likely way the Cards go about pitching is getting someone more like Sonny Gray (less year and total dollars than Nola/Yamamoto/Snell), a mid tier like Lugo/Maeda, a low end trade of Carlson/Burleson for someone like Clarke Schmidt, and a flyer on someone like Erick Fedde?

Ben Clemens

1:00

So I think you're right

and I think that is not really enough

1:01

their pitching is BAD

I think that's a hard bind to get out of by signing a bunch of people who aren't great

1:02

Gray does make sense to me, but if you get him and he's your ace, and then your number two is below average for a number two, there are just deficits all the way down

Nate

1:02

Gordon re-signed with the Royals, not Cubs. D'oh!

Ben Clemens

1:02

I figured that's what you meant and just let it go

Appa Yip Yip

1:02

Is Matt Chapman going to be a trap contract? The bad months were grim and hitting the ball hard doesn't help if you don't hit the ball often.

Ben Clemens

1:02

I think that he's going to be a deal where the contract feels worse than it is

the bad Chapman months are SO BAD

1:03

and a lot of his value comes in a way where we underrate it at the time and notice it later (defense)

like in almost every outcome, the Chapman deal will feel worse to fans of the team than to executives of the team. Even the good outcomes

1:04

if fans think Chapman returned roughly his contract value, the odds are high that he returned more

TBone

1:04

What is your funniest Fa outcome?

Ben Clemens

1:04

Ooh, I'd say Ohtani to the Rays

failing that, what if every fast player got signed by the new Ron Washington Angels and he's just starting a track meet every game

Captain ACAB

1:04

I'm guessing you hate this question and get it a lot, but who is the 51st ranked free agent?

Ben Clemens

1:04

Oh nope, ez

Hyun Jin Ryu

1:05

I wrote up a caption for him and everything in case we had just one more gap in the list

(a bunch of guys were on there and then removed b/c of injury or extension)

Bonus content for you content hounds

Ryu was added to this list after a number of players fell off of it due to injury or contract options. I don’t have a good handle on his market. But I do think that someone will kick the tires on Ryu and see if some of his mid-career effectiveness will return as he continues his recovery from an injury that cost him more than a year’s worth of starts. His stuff was clearly below major league average when he pitched in the second half of 2023, but that hasn’t stopped him in the past. Both of our pitching models thought his fastball was borderline unplayable in 2020 and 2021, when he compiled a 3.89 ERA across 236 innings of work.

That’s how Ryu has always worked – craftily, and at the margins of the zone. It’s reasonable to think that his style might be more affected by rust than your average pitcher; his greatest skill has always been command, and he didn’t look particularly sharp upon his return. Maybe that’s the end of the line – sometimes a decline in stuff and command just means you don’t have it anymore

Farhandrew Zaidman

1:06

Dodgers have holes at DH, Corner OF, and 2B. Mookie obviously fills one of those holes (of half of two). Question: do you see them targeting infield talent or outfield talent to fill the other gap(s)?

Ben Clemens

1:07

I think they're gonna leave DH open for Ohtani until he signs, and then if that happens, just get a stopgap at 2b/rf based on market conditions

the long-term goal is to have Michael Busch or Miguel Vargas fill that hole, I'm sure

Not Jerry D

1:07

Speaking of what influences free agent decisions, Ohtani doesn't seem to care about winning (he picked the angels) or money (timing of when he came over). What should my pitch be?

Ben Clemens

1:07

He definitely cares about winning, though I'll admit that maybe he didn't when he came over

1:08

He gave a whole interview at the All Star game, when he could have not, with the express purpose of getting the word out there that he cares about winning

and I think that playing on the Angels, losing for the first time, is a good way to start caring more about winning

I think that he cares about a legacy, and comfort

1:09

so you sell him on how he's going to be part of a team that everyone remembers forever, and that it'll be his team

Appa Yip Yip

1:09

When Gausman signed with the Jays he specifically mentioned that the team had someone whose whole job was helping families with the transition and that helped him and his wife feel comfortable with the move. But also 110 millions dollars so who is to say.

Ben Clemens

1:09

Right, in retrospect it's easy to say that

once you've taken the money, the other stuff starts sounding better

JaysFan

1:10

Yimi Garcia for Tyler O’Neill, who says no? Jays shed 6 million and get a LFer

Ben Clemens

1:10

I think the Cardinals would say no

it's not much of a money difference, really

O'Neill made 5 mil in arb last year