Free agency thread

[Matt Bennett]

Chris Archer would be semi-interesting, especially of the FA bunch left. Could be a 1 year, prove it deal. 

I am quite surprised Elias has only added Jordan Lyles to the 2021 bunch:

1. Matt Harvey (FA)

2. John Means (returning)

3. Jorge Lopez (bullpen)

4. Keegan Akin (6.63 ERA)

5. Bruce Zimmermann (5.04 ERA)

6. Dean Kremer (7.55 ERA)

7. Spenser Watkins (not a major league pitcher)

8. Alex Wells (6.75 ERA)

9. Zac Lowther (6.67 ERA)

 

Seems like Elias does like plugging holes with journeyman replacement type players until the youngings force the issue. I guess it's sink or swim time. I guess it could be worse than Means, Lyles, Zimm, T. Wells, & whoever earns it. 

Edited March 28, 2022 by Matt Bennett

[Moose Milligan]

I'd be alright with Archer as being another body for the rotation.  I don't think he'd be as bad as Harvey was last year.  

[Moose Milligan]

GFD, Archer to the Twins for a 1 year 3.5 million dollar deal.

I'm not surprised, just continuing to being annoyed by Elias sitting on his thumbs.  

[maybenxtyr]

9 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

GFD, Archer to the Twins for a 1 year 3.5 million dollar deal.

I'm not surprised, just continuing to being annoyed by Elias sitting on his thumbs.  

I gotta admit that I haven't been as tuned in on baseball as much over the last couple of years, but has Archer really fallen that much? It seems like a decent pick up for Minnesota.

[OriolesMagic83]

11 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

GFD, Archer to the Twins for a 1 year 3.5 million dollar deal.

I'm not surprised, just continuing to being annoyed by Elias sitting on his thumbs.  

I'm not a big fan of signing Archer.  He's not the same pitcher that Pittsburgh traded 3 prospects for at least 2 of them top prospects.  But there is no excuse for Elias not signing someone else, even a Harvey like signing would make sense.  Seems like starter after starter was called up and failed last year.  It would be nice to have another sure thing, even if it was with an ERA near 6.

[Moose Milligan]

7 minutes ago, maybenxtyr said:

I gotta admit that I haven't been as tuned in on baseball as much over the last couple of years, but has Archer really fallen that much? It seems like a decent pick up for Minnesota.

He's fallen off quite a bit, but...I mean, c'mon, he signed Harvey last year.  

 

4 minutes ago, OriolesMagic83 said:

I'm not a big fan of signing Archer.  He's not the same pitcher that Pittsburgh traded 3 prospects for at least 2 of them top prospects.  But there is no excuse for Elias not signing someone else, even a Harvey like signing would make sense.  Seems like starter after starter was called up and failed last year.  It would be nice to have another sure thing, even if it was with an ERA near 6.

 

It's a joke that they signed Lyles for 1 year/7 million when Archer just went for 1/3.5. 

[bpilktree]

7 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

It's a joke that they signed Lyles for 1 year/7 million when Archer just went for 1/3.5. 

Archer has thrown a total of 19 innings since 2019.   Elias wants a guy that can eat innings nothing more.  You don't sign a guy that has basically pitched one game in the last two and a half years if your goal is to get innings from him.  

[jamalshw]

11 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

He's fallen off quite a bit, but...I mean, c'mon, he signed Harvey last year.  

 

 

It's a joke that they signed Lyles for 1 year/7 million when Archer just went for 1/3.5. 

Lyles was an overpay for sure. Whether that was necessary to get him here or not, I have no idea. But I would imagine all things being equal, Archer would have taken more to come here than what he took for Minnesota. The Twins may not be a powerhouse, but they're an interesting team with a chance to win and a need in the rotation so it comes with a near guarantee to get an extended chance like you'd get with a rebuilding club like the Orioles, but a better chance to win and better team around him. 

That said, Archer's deal is also heavily loaded with incentives so he could certainly make a lot more than the $3.5M. Lyles also has proven more durable lately compared to Archer and it appears Elias is more interested in quantity of innings than quality for this season. 

[Moose Milligan]

2 minutes ago, bpilktree said:

Archer has thrown a total of 19 innings since 2019.   Elias wants a guy that can eat innings nothing more.  You don't sign a guy that has basically pitched one game in the last two and a half years if your goal is to get innings from him.  

Fair enough.   I hadn't realized that Archer had been that absent.  But the Twins are a relatively smart team, I believe they would have picked him up thinking he was ready to pitch more this year.

 

 

[MurphDogg]

No reason to believe Archer would have come here for the same amount of money on a one-year deal. The Twins are trying to compete.

[Moose Milligan]

Just now, jamalshw said:

Lyles was an overpay for sure. Whether that was necessary to get him here or not, I have no idea. But I would imagine all things being equal, Archer would have taken more to come here than what he took for Minnesota. The Twins may not be a powerhouse, but they're an interesting team with a chance to win and a need in the rotation so it comes with a near guarantee to get an extended chance like you'd get with a rebuilding club like the Orioles, but a better chance to win and better team around him. 

That said, Archer's deal is also heavily loaded with incentives so he could certainly make a lot more than the $3.5M. Lyles also has proven more durable lately compared to Archer and it appears Elias is more interested in quantity of innings than quality for this season. 

Yep, agreed. 

But I believe they could have signed both.   That said, I know spending 10 million+ in one offseason on pitching is blowing out the budget.  

[forphase1]

Just now, Moose Milligan said:

Yep, agreed. 

But I believe they could have signed both.   That said, I know spending 10 million+ in one offseason on pitching is blowing out the budget.  

I really think it's more about innings than it is money.  Provided Means and Lyles fill 2 spots in the rotation, that only leaves 3 starting spots to be filled this year by GRod, Hall and Bradish, you know the 3 guys everyone was whining just got sent down to the minors?  Point being this has to be the year where Zimmerman, Akin, Lowther, Kremer etc either prove they deserve to be in the MLB or get cut and when some of our star prospects get to taste the MLB, like Hall, Bradish, Rodrigouz, etc and others show what they have got (Baumann, etc.).  Point being there are only so many spots to fill with washed out, washed up, rehabbing, etc pitchers if we want to ensure we get a good MLB look at some of the younger guys.  We could fill out a starting 5 of relatively cheap vets, like Archer, but then we wouldn't have room for the young guys to finally sink or swim.  I expect most of the ones on the roster to sink, to be honest, but they need that final shot to prove themselves, or not.  By then hopefully Bradish and GRod will be taking 2 spots in some capacity.

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

44 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Fair enough.   I hadn't realized that Archer had been that absent.  But the Twins are a relatively smart team, I believe they would have picked him up thinking he was ready to pitch more this year.

 

 

The Orioles should have enough money for Lyles and Archer. Archer if he rebounds immediately becomes a trade chip. Archer won’t land a great trade package, but he’s going to get more in return than Cashner did. 

Unless Archer’s arm is severely damaged this is the type of pitcher I want to see the Orioles target. Also these are the type of pickups the Orioles need if they want to build a winner. They need some under the radar or bounce back candidates. 

[SteveA]

4 minutes ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

The Orioles should have enough money for Lyles and Archer. Archer if he rebounds immediately becomes a trade chip. Archer won’t land a great trade package, but he’s going to get more in return than Cashner did. 

Unless Archer’s arm is severely damaged this is the type of pitcher I want to see the Orioles target. Also these are the type of pickups the Orioles need if they want to build a winner. They need some under the radar or bounce back candidates. 

They targeted that type of pitcher last year in Matt Harvey.   

I would rather see starts going to Lowther, Zimmerman, even Kremer or Akin, than to another Matt Harvey who best case is auditioning for another team.   Let those guys prove that they can, or cannot, pitch in the majors.    Because if they can, we still have them, while if Archer proves he can, he's off somewhere else next year.   And if they can't, we'll at least know for sure.

[Just Regular]

Regular plug that I'm still looking for Example1 of a good MLB pitcher who was still one after thoracic outlet surgery.

Matt Harvey, Chris Archer, famous names.    Stephen Strasburg began from even higher heights, but I'm 55% sure he'll never be any good again either.   I hope I'm wrong.