Realistic Free Agent #3 Pitchers

[joelala]

2 hours ago, wildbillhiccup said:

You realize that I can search your post history right? So I can see all prior times that you've posted something about Trevor Bauer as a clear attempt to provoke someone to engage you just so you can defend your fallen hero. You've also mentioned some iteration of the bolded statement several times as well. Not only does it make you come across as one of "those guys" it's also completely irrelevant to this conversation. The fact remains that the public perception of Trevor Bauer, whether you think it's a "mainstream media" construct or not, exists. And major league baseball teams rely on the public for a large part of their revenue. That includes female fans, which has been reported to be as high as 45% (the highest in sports). And unfortunately many of those fans aren't as smart as you [heavy eye roll] and do consume mainstream media so the public perception of Trevor Bauer is a significant factor for any team that considers signing him. And Bauer is doing nothing to help his cause by continuing to keep this story in the news by frequently posting about it on social media and going on talk shows (Fox News, Doug Gottlieb, etc.) while showing not even an ounce of humility. And yes you can show humility even if you aren't "technically" guilty of a crime. When you add the public perception concern along with the performance concerns (I mentioned in a prior post that he could very well be a 4.00 ERA pitcher without the sticky stuff to help his spin rate) along with the past on field incidents/tantrums there really is very little upside to signing him. It would be a desperation move and one that a team coming off a 101 win season certainly doesn't need to make. So why are we even talking about this (again)? 

 

 

 

Thank you, that was surgical. 

[wildbillhiccup]

1 hour ago, sportsfan8703 said:

What’s Clevenger’s deal?  What’s the stories surrounding him?

On the Field - Relatively soft tosser who's significantly outperformed his expected stats (think Michael Wacha 2.0)

Off the Field - In early 2020 he and Zach Plesac broke COVID protocol by going out to dinner and a card game with credits withoutt telling the team. There were also reports that he wasn't truthful about his role in the incident (when he was confronted). Both Clevinger and Pleasac were placed on the restricted list by the Guardians as punishment.

In 2022 / 2023 Clevinger was  investigated by MLB when allegations surfaced of abuse against the mother of his child and the actual 10 month old child. The accusations were that he threw an Ipad at her while she was pregnant, strangled her, and threw used chewing tobacco on their child. She also accused him of regular drug use (mushrooms and acid).  MLB investigated and chose not to suspend him. 

[ScGO's]

Hyun Jin Ryu - 1 Year 14 Million

Mike Clevinger - 3 Year 52 Million

James Paxton - 1 year 14 Million

Michael Lorenzen - 2 year 28 Million

Alex Wood - 2 year 30 Million

Trevor Bauer - 1 Year 6 Million

[Frobby]

I did a little digging into Paxton’s 2023.   He missed 2022 recovering from TJ surgery, missed the start of 2023 with a hamstring injury.   He returned May 12, and pitched very well through August 16, compliling a 3.34 ERA in 16 starts.   Then he started experiencing knee soreness and had three horrendous outings that raised his ERA to 4.50 and he was shut down.   So really, the issue with Paxton is health.   

[Can_of_corn]

2 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I did a little digging into Paxton’s 2023.   He missed 2022 recovering from TJ surgery, missed the start of 2023 with a hamstring injury.   He returned May 12, and pitched very well through August 16, compliling a 3.34 ERA in 16 starts.   Then he started experiencing knee soreness and had three horrendous outings that raised his ERA to 4.50 and he was shut down.   So really, the issue with Paxton is health.   

He's got one season with more than 150.2 IP.

If he hits 150 that still leaves the bullpen with a 40 inning gap from what Gibson gave them.

[interloper]

Just now, Can_of_corn said:

He's got one season with more than 150.2 IP.

If he hits 150 that still leaves the bullpen with a 40 inning gap from what Gibson gave them.

To be fair we are much better suited to close that gap this year with Means back and with Bradish and Grayson fully unleashed. Not advocating for Paxton at all here, just saying I'm betting that innings aren't the mega-priority they were the last couple years. 

[Yardball85]

1 hour ago, ScGO's said:

Hyun Jin Ryu - 1 Year 14 Million

Mike Clevinger - 3 Year 52 Million

James Paxton - 1 year 14 Million

Michael Lorenzen - 2 year 28 Million

Alex Wood - 2 year 30 Million

Trevor Bauer - 1 Year 6 Million

Ryu and Bauer work for me.  Paxton is okay.  The rest, pass. 

[Can_of_corn]

10 minutes ago, interloper said:

To be fair we are much better suited to close that gap this year with Means back and with Bradish and Grayson fully unleashed. Not advocating for Paxton at all here, just saying I'm betting that innings aren't the mega-priority they were the last couple years. 

i think Gibson giving the team over 190 innings was pretty significant.

I'd like to think the younger guys can step up and replace it, but I'd rather just replace it and have the younger guys step up as well.

[interloper]

3 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

i think Gibson giving the team over 190 innings was pretty significant.

I'd like to think the younger guys can step up and replace it, but I'd rather just replace it and have the younger guys step up as well.

I'm sure Elias would agree with you. It is what it is. There are no realistic guys left who can do that unless we meet the White Sox demands. 

Honestly the best chance of someone replicating that amount of innings is Cole Irvin. 

Edited January 12 by interloper

[Spy Fox]

Don't forget that sometimes trades come from places you don't expect. Had a single person mentioned Cole Irvin as a trade target last winter? Was there much rumbling about Chris Sale being traded away from Boston, until the moment it happened? 

[wildbillhiccup]

15 minutes ago, interloper said:

I'm sure Elias would agree with you. It is what it is. There are no realistic guys left who can do that unless we meet the White Sox demands. 

Honestly the best chance of someone replicating that amount of innings is Cole Irvin. 

Luzardo could potentially eat those innings. 

[interloper]

1 minute ago, wildbillhiccup said:

Luzardo could potentially eat those innings. 

You're right, he's probably the one other guy. Unclear if the Marlins are really shopping him, but I guess he's not fully off the block.

Here's a recent article about there being "no traction" between NYY and Miami re: Luzardo: https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10104677-yankees-trade-rumors-marlins-talks-on-jesus-luzardo-edward-cabrera-had-no-traction

[wildbillhiccup]

15 minutes ago, interloper said:

You're right, he's probably the one other guy. Unclear if the Marlins are really shopping him, but I guess he's not fully off the block.

Here's a recent article about there being "no traction" between NYY and Miami re: Luzardo: https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10104677-yankees-trade-rumors-marlins-talks-on-jesus-luzardo-edward-cabrera-had-no-traction

I guess in theory we can also probably add Framber to that list as well. It's certainly not as clear (as it is with Cease and the Six) that the Marlins and Stros are looking to trade those players, but there have at least been some rumblings. 

Man do I regret us not tryng harder to trade for / lock up Pablo Lopez last season. 

[Three Run Homer]

2 hours ago, Frobby said:

 

Paxton is the anti-Stroman.

Stroman hasn't had a bad year since 2018.

Paxton hasn't had a good year since 2019.

So yeah, let's go get Paxton!  

[ScGO's]

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/01/orioles-interested-in-james-paxton.html

1 Year Deal would be my guess. I wonder if it would be an incentive-driven contract based on IP

Base Salary - 10 Mil with IP and performance goals that could get it up to 18 or 20?