MLB FA signings (non NYM variety) 2014-15

[Frayed Knot]

Looks like Detroit gets things started by re-upping with DH Victor Martinez for four more years. $68 is the reported amount, nothing official, physical still pending, blah, blah.

[Guest sharpie]

AJ Burnett back to the Pirates for $8 mil, $4.5 less than what the Phils had offered to keep him.

[Frayed Knot]

sharpie wrote: AJ Burnett back to the Pirates for $8 mil, $4.5 less than what the Phils had offered to keep him.

Perhaps the soon to be 38 y/o Burnett didn't want to be the young kid on the Philly roster.



In the meantime: Russell Martin --->>> Toronto Blue Jays --->>> Five Years!!!
... although he's only 31 (32 by OD) I would have guessed a bit older than that.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Josh Thole could be out of work.

[Lefty Specialist]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Josh Thole could be out of work.

Isn't he R.A.'s designated catcher, though?

[Frayed Knot]

Lefty Specialist wrote: John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Josh Thole could be out of work. Isn't he R.A.'s designated catcher, though?

Yup. Thole caught every one of Dickey's 34 starts this season and was in the starting lineup for only 8 games where RAD was NOT on the mound.
Now Martin's got a good rep for D so maybe that changes, or maybe they stick with it and just decide that Dickey starts will be Martin's day-off/DH/1B days.
Dickey has one year remaining on his deal plus an option.

[Lefty Specialist]

Billy Butler, late of your American League Champion Kansas City Royals (I will never get tired of that) signs with the A's for 3 yrs/$30 mil.

http://www.mlbdailyrumors.com/the-latest/source-billy-butler-agrees-to-three-year-30-million-deal-with-athletics

[Edgy MD]

Division gets a little weaker as Adam LaRoche jumps to the American League, leaving the Nats and bypassing the Marlins and becoming a Chicago White Stocking.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Good riddance!

[Fman99]

d'Kong76 wrote: Good riddance!

Seriously. I'm tired of watching this a-hole go yard against the good guys.

[MFS62]

I'm sooooo f'n happy that he signed with an AL club. There's still a chance the Mets could play his team a few times each year.
The only thing that would have made me happier would have been if he had signed with Team Cuba.

Later

[Lefty Specialist]

6 HR, 18 RBI in 53 AB's against the Mets last year. Yeah, I'm glad to see him go.

Guess Zimmerman slides over to first now.

[Frayed Knot]

The Chicago White Sox: where Washington Nationals 1st baseman go to grow old.
LaRoche, who replaced Adam Dunn in Washington, now succeeds him on the Windy City's south side (although Dunn mostly DH'd).
For the ChiSox sake you hope he fares a bit better than Dunn's 3-1/2 seasons worth of: .201/.321/.410
The good news is that, unlike Dunn, at least LaRoche can field. The bad news is that, despite the fact that the one is retiring while the other is still going strong, the two are almost exactly the same age (born just three days apart) meaning that LaRoche will be a full four years older at the time of his first game for Chicago.


Zimmerman sliding over to 1B has been the Nats plan all along and now that his injuries & throwing problems have coincided with the rapid emergence of Rendon it all fell into place.
It's why they only gave LaRoche a two-year deal plus an option the last time he was up for FA and why they didn't pick up the fairly reasonable option even though he was still playing well. He would have stayed there but the Nats made no effort.

[Frayed Knot]

FOX is reporting that Hanley Ramirez is headed to Boston on a five year deal. If so it's back to where he started - Nine years to the day after he was sent away.
Originally signed by Boston as a teenager in 2000, he got 2 ABs for the Sox before being dealt to Florida in the Josh Beckett* deal on Nov 24, 2005.




* Beckett plus Mike Lowell and Guillermo Moto, for Ramirez, Jesus Delgado, Harvey Garcia, and Anibal Sanchez. Pretty nice deal for both sides.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Hey Man! is saying Sandoval too ... sweet Mary and Joseph!!

[Frayed Knot]

And now CBS Sports (Heyman) is reporting Panda to the Sox for five years as well.
Now all that remains is seeing how long it takes ESPN to claim credit for breaking both stories.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Also out there that Panda is signing a 5 year/102M deal with the Bosox.

Wonder if they now trade Boegarts. For Niese or something along those lines.

[Guest d'Kong76]

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/writer/jon-heyman/24836724/sandoval-agrees-to-red-sox-deal-as-boston-looks-for-free-agent-sweep

[Frayed Knot]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Wonder if they now trade Boegarts. For Niese or something along those lines.

Not sure if they plan on using Hanley at SS or not.
I think that he'll eventually move is a given, whether that starts this year or not is the question that may affect the future of Bogaerts.

[Edgy MD]

Well they just planted a large sleepy Chinese mammal at third base. Very hard to displace those.

[Frayed Knot]

I'd put him in LF.
Their OF was a mess last season* and, with that wall out there, LF is kind of a hybrid IF/OF position anyway.
The Cepedes trade watch is now on.



* They appear to have used 13 different players out there in a mishmash of position switching where only one guy got as many as 60 starts in any one spot - that was Jackie Bradley in CF (105 starts) and he hit a whopping .198

[Guest Mets � Willets Point]

I'm getting a Crawford/Gonzalez vibe from these moves.

[Frayed Knot]

Mets � Willets Point wrote: I'm getting a Crawford/Gonzalez vibe from these moves.

Similar 'BIG' names at similar ages.
The part that's smarter/less-risky about these new deals is that they're (reportedly) for five years each rather than seven.

[Edgy MD]

The Red Sox release announces that they've signed "LEFT FIELDER HANLEY RAMIREZ."

That settles that, I guess.

[Frayed Knot]

Yeah, supposedly Cepedes has agreed to move to RF -- something he pointedly refused to do following the mid-season trade which brought him to Boston -- but I think he's more likely to be in a different city before this hot season stuff is all over.
And the perhaps the longer-term plan is that Hanley moves to 3B in a few year when Panda replaces Papi at DH.

[Edgy MD]

That "in a few year" can turn to a matter of months or even weeks. Papi is always one stride away from a knee blowout, DH or not.

[Guest Mets � Willets Point]

Before this, I'd assumed Cespedes was the DHeir apparent.

[MFS62]

Edgy MD wrote: That "in a few year" can turn to a matter of months or even weeks. Papi is always one stride away from a knee blowout, DH or not.

And Panda can fit nicely into Papi's shoes. And his uniform if they let it out a bit.

Later

[Frayed Knot]

Mets � Willets Point wrote: Before this, I'd assumed Cespedes was the DHeir apparent.

Not ideally. Cespedes was a Gold Glove finalist this year. He also has a great arm which is why it was frustrating for the Sox when he wouldn't move to RF.

That "in a few year" can turn to a matter of months or even weeks. Papi is always one stride away from a knee blowout, DH or not.

Papi is certainly going to fall apart one of these years, but he's been remarkably durable since landing a full time job some dozen years ago; 600+ PAs in nine of the last eleven seasons.
Is signed thru 2015 but with vesting options for 16 and a team one for '17 at less than top-shelf rates so he may be around for a while yet.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Cuban OF sensation Yasmany Tomas signs with the DBaggs.