The tea leaves are pointing strongly to an imminent Aaron Judge OF signing with the Giants. Of course in the crazy world of MLB free agency the longer that goes on the less likely he is to actually sign with the Giants and more likely there is some "mystery team" lurking out there who knows how to get a deal locked up without the someone on Twitter sniffing it out.
Another possible wrench got thrown into the works yesterday when Jake DeGrom RHP signed a 5 yr/$185 M deal with the Rangers. Yes, you read that right. Jake Degrom, who has missed large portions of the last two seasons with injuries and was expected to sign a shorter term deal similar to Carlos Rodon LHP's deal with the Giants last year, is going to get paid a lot of money for at least 5 more seasons. One of those injuries was a forearm strain which Sandy Alderson Mets GM said was a partial UCL tear which DeGrom denied. BTW, DeGrom is a longterm Tommy John surgery surivivor from before he was drafted.
Look, DeGrom is a heckuva pitcher when he's healthy but he hasn't been fully healthy for almost two years now and he's entering his age 35 season. The Giants need a pitcher like him to front their rotation but I am not envious of this contract at all. You have to stop for a minute and think that if Jake Degrom can get a deal like this, how much more can Aaron Judge get? We don't know what the Giants are offering but this deal makes the Yankees offer look ridiculously small in comparison. We have to wonder if it made his agent tear up any existing offer sheets and rethink his value?
On a side note, the Judge situation reminds me of pre-MCC Grant Brisbee's Waiting for Boof. That started me down a free association trip about a gospel song I used to have on a record when I was a kid. It had a line in it "I'll meet you at the Judgment Day" but I thought it was "I'll meet you at the Judge Wednesday." Ha ha! Maybe I'll meet Aaron Judge Wednesday?
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Churn Watch:
The Giants claimed Miguel Yajure RHP off waivers from the Pirates. He had a 8.88 ERA in 24.1 IP for the Pirates last year and a 6.09 ERA in AAA. He's out of options. This looks like one of those churn deals where the Giants will try to get him through waivers themselves. If not, oh well, churn on!
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There were several other smaller but not insignificant deals yesterday:
After some rumors early in the day about the Giants having interest in Kolton Wong 2B, the Mariners acquired him for Jesse Winker OF and Abraham Toro IF. Wong is 32 years old(wow! Where has the time gone?) and is coming off a couple of good offensive seasons but his defense fell off a cliff last year with 17 errors. Yeah, no. The Giants don't need an error-prone 2B! Winker and Toro are both coming off down seasons.
The Red Sox signed Chris Martin RHP for 2 yr/$17.5 M. Martin is a good RP but the market for mid-inning relievers is going through the roof! At least it takes him away from the Dodgers.
The D'Backs signed Miguel Castro RHP for 1 yr/$3.5 M guaranteed with incentives and a vesting option for next season. worth $5 M. Castro missed significant time with injuries last season with the Yankees.
Zach Eflin RHP signed a 3 year deal with the Rays for a reported $40 M. Eflin has been a dependable #3/4 SP for the Phillies but missed significant time in the second half of last season.
Lastly, the Tigers signed former Giants LHP Matt Boyd for 1 yr/$10 M. Boyd is a longtime Tigers pitcher who spent most of last season on the IL with the Giants. FZ churned him to the Mariners for prospects Michael Stryffeller RHP and Andy Thomas C.
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Now, back to Waiting for Judge.
Looking forward to your post about the updates to the FA shortstop class; Trea Turner just signed for 11 years for $300 million with the Phillies. If FZ is set on signing a top shortstop this off-season, he better be ready to back up the brinks trucks to sign one of them (hope it's Correa)
ReplyDeleteExpected location for Turner but numbers are a bit of a surprise as it looks like they cut against the grain of less years and more AAV. This is the opposite. Almost like deferred money.
DeleteQuestion: Did Aaron Judge's Market Just Get Reset?
ReplyDeletePerhaps.
OTOH, Texas is known for its bad contracts since, well, forever. They, and perhaps the Angels, are in a class of their own.
DeGrom could be the greatest signing ever or a complete bust. The answer is somewhere between, but likely on the not-so-great side.
But, it does mean there are Crazies out there, and, with so many tasty choices: game changing shortstops, mouth watering pitchers, at least ONE once-in-a-lifetime outfielder, there ARE certifiable GMs from NY to Seattle to San Diego.
Who knows what will happen?
But we do know, don't we, FZ is not certifiable and the well funded SF owners are not stupid: the Giants could be shut out by Prudence.
Fans don't like good ole Pru, but, unless they are lined up for season tickets for the first time since, well, 2015 or maybe 2016, no one but AJ will ring the cash registers.
But there is a limit: surely they won't go 9 years, $400M, will they?
Or $360M?
Or $____, fill in the blank.
Should rationality prevail, this has the makings of a Big Disappointment...
I am thinking an AAV of $40 M will get it done for Judge but not a penny less. That leaves number of years. Up to a couple of days ago I was thinking 8 yr/$320 M would be a winning bid for the Giants but after seeing talk of 9 yrs and seeing DeGrom's contract numbers I'm thinking it might take 9 yr/$360 M.
DeleteGood call on the $360 Million figure. That’s the approximate number according to reports today. We’ll see if Farhan can bring it home from here.
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