The Stearns Philosophy

[Centerfield]

I heard an interesting bit of an interview from David Stearns from the winter meetings. Generally Stearns does a great job of keeping things close to the vest. But he had an interesting answer when asked if he was surprised at the big dollar amounts being awarded this winter. His answer was that in every off season he's seen, there's an initial inflationary period where people are amazed at the contracts being granted, then eventually it shifts to a period where people start to wonder if guys will get paid what they're worth, or even get signed at all. He says it happens every year and he expects this year to be no different.



I think this is telling. He signed Sean Manaea on January 12. He signed JD Martinez in March. I'm guessing he doesn't want to wait until March again, but if I'm reading this correctly, he landed the one unicorn of the winter. Now he seems content to get guys at his price. And this makes sense. A lot of guys are still available, especially pitchers.



I'll try to find that interview.

[batmagadanleadoff]

=Centerfield post_id=181118 time=1734229993 user_id=65]
Now he seems content to get guys at his price. And this makes sense.

[MFS62]

^

This.



Tick tock tick tock.



Later

[Centerfield]

[YOUTUBE]

[/YOUTUBE]



On Edit: I have no idea how to embed. Try this link:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IddU3LWO--Qhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IddU3LWO--Q



Here it is. Listen at the 4:44 mark.



And yes, if the guys that Stearns wants start to sign with other teams, he'll have to adjust. But my takeaway there is that as long as there are options, Stearns would prefer to get the point of the winter where it's a buyer's market.



Starting pitching is the area where there's been the most movement. But even there, there are tons of options available:



Free Agents

Corbin Burnes

Walker Buehler

Sean Manaea

Nick Pivetta

Jack Flaherty

Jose Quintana

Roki Sasaki



Potentially Available in Trades

Luis Castillo

Sandy Alcantara

Jesus Luzardo

Dylan Cease

Sonny Gray

Framber Valdez

Jordan Montgomery



I have no idea how many of these interest Stearns, but I think as long as he has 5 or 6 options for 2 spots, he's not going to be in any hurry to move.