Top 50 Free Agents chat with Steve Adams and Darragh McDonald
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Glen
2:22
Does the Imai failure scare teams off of Taira, Itoh and Takahashi?
Steve Adams
2:23
Taira's the only one in that group who has that kind of earning power anyhow. Itoh's going to be priced like a No. 4 SP, and Takahashi is more of a fifth starter/swingman.

More broadly, these guys are entirely different players with different skill sets. I don't think Imai's struggles are going to deter a team from spending on Taira if they like him.
Darragh McDonald
2:23
Not necessarily. Each player is different. You could make the inverse argument with Yamamoto.
Jazzy Jazz
2:24
Am I the most polarizing Free Agent?
Darragh McDonald
2:24
Definitely one of them.
Steve Adams
2:24
Yeah, I think we spent more time on Chisholm than most free agents, haha
Darragh McDonald
2:24
Jeffers might be up there.
Tyler Mahle another one we were far apart on.
Steve Adams
2:26
You can argue that he's a ready-made 3-4 WAR guy, but that depends on your preferred defensive metric and there were tons of red flags with Jazz this year. Strikeouts went way up, pushing 30%.

We talked about how if Jazz wants to max out now, he probably can get a nice three- or four-year deal. But Chisholm was talking 50-50 before the season and seems like he might be inclined to bet on himself with a big 2027, so we went the opt-out route.

I understand why some predictions just gave him the big long-term deal, but I don't think was a strong enough platform for nine figures, personally.
RCAM
2:26
For the record, delusional in that it was too low. I think you're going to be much closer.
Steve Adams
2:26
This is in reference to Trevor Rogers
Glad we agree! Dude's a good pitcher. End of analysis.
Haha
Me(duh)
2:27
So you think the problem lies with Harris?  I have until very recently.   I ask because you say signing Skubal means Boras dealing with the owner, not a mere PBO..  Think Cohen cared what Stearns thought, while sipping maitais?
Darragh McDonald
2:28
Ha, well, the Mets/Correa saga was before Stearns was hired. Just for the record.
But to the broader point, I think some owners are more hands off. If Boras calls them, they just say "Talk to the GM/president. I'm not getting involved."
Steve Adams
2:28
I don't think there's a "problem" with Harris. He turned that org around quickly. He's just shown an aversion to long-term deals, and I think Chris Ilitch (their owner) has matched that aversion. They haven't done many big long-term deals since Mike Ilitch passed away and his son (Chris) took over. The biggest one (Baez) has .................. not gone well.
Darragh McDonald
2:29
With Cohen, it seems there are some signs he's just willing to spend when that's what it takes. I mentioned the Correa situation. That may have been the case with Soto as well.
2:30
With the Tigers, I don't know if it's as easy to tell from a distance whether it's Harris or Ilitch making the calls. If Harris said he really wanted to do a long-term deal because it's in the best interest of the club, I imagine Ilitch would go along with it, but that's mostly a guess.
Max
2:30
Anthony - Please explain why you think the Mets would sign Ryan Jeffers
Steve Adams
2:30
Anthony isn't here! But we can do our best to unpack his thinking
2:31
Love putting words in Anthony's mouth -- let's go
Darragh McDonald
2:31
This came up briefly on the podcast when we were talking about Jeffers. Anthony admitted that he didn't love his own pick but he expects the Mets to trade Alvarez for pitching.
Steve Adams
2:32
Yeah, and the bat with Jeffers is enough to play at 1B/DH a couple years down the road if he needs to move off catcher. Moving Alvarez seems very plausible to me.
Darragh McDonald
2:32
Then they could use Jeffers/Torrens behind the plate, with Jeffers also getting some DH time.
Cool Mama Bell
2:32
Why would any SP want to sign a free agent deal with the A's, given that Sacramento is an extreme hitter's park and Vegas is an unknown?
Steve Adams
2:33
They may not want to, but some guys have done it. I put Foster Griffin there because Anthony/Darragh/Tim were all pretty skeptical of three years. (I think he could get three at even more than we put out, for the record.)

And if there's skepticism about a guy getting the extra year, the A's are as good a bet as any for a team to overpay to get the guy in the door. They have to overpay to get someone decent. See: Severino, Luis.
crying 1
Darragh McDonald
2:33
Yeah, the pitcher would have to be looking to maximize his earning power, like Luis Severino was a couple of years ago. Most guys only get one chance to really get paid, if they're lucky. I picked Foster Griffin for that reason. He has bounced around a lot, pitched overseas. He will turn 32 next year. This is going to be his best chance to get the bag.
2:34
He shouldn't be picky. Go wherever the best deal is.
I would hang out in a minor league park for three years if someone paid me 45MM to do it.
Sorry, we predicted 39MM, not 45MM.
Steve Adams
2:34
There's also something to be said for the opportunity they provide. If you're a free agent, you want to sign somewhere that you know your spot will be secure. You sign with a team that has four set starters and a couple high-end prospects behind them, you're always going to feel like your spot's on the line. The A's can offer a pretty stable rotation spot to anyone.
2:35
Nah, I like 45
Actually I like around 51.
But hey
It's a collaborative effort!
JeffyM82
2:35
Do you think the Blue Jays would limit themselves to 1 QO free agent given their thin farm?  If they signed Suzuki would they be out on Lowe?  How many QO free agents is it reasonable to sign for a single team?
Steve Adams
2:36
I don't think so. They're in pretty clear win now mode. They just threw $200MM+ at Cease and $64MM at Okamoto last winter. I don't think you take your foot off the gas because you're worried about thinning out your farm.
Darragh McDonald
2:37
I think it's possible they want to limit the damage to the farm but, as Steve said, they're in win now mode. There's also a counterargument that, once you've signed one guy, you've already kind of tanked your draft a bit. Why not tank it a bit more? If you're driving a beat-up old car, you probably aren't as careful with it as you would be with a brand-new one.
PowerBank
2:37
The Orioles have said they want to significantly limit Bassalo's reps behind the plate. (I suspect he lives at DH and essentially becomes the backup catcher). Do you think they'd make a play at Jeffers or stick to the Stephenson/Kelly tier?
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