The Aaron Judge market seems to be heating up. Amid rumors of a follow up meeting between Judge and the Giants leading up to next week's Winter Meetings comes news of a new offer of "nearly" 8 yrs/$300 M from the Yankees. There are several ways to read these tea leaves:
1. The Yankees are finally getting worried that Judge may be nearing a deal with the Giants and are upping the ante.
2. The Giants have the highest offer on the table but it's lower than what Judge is hoping for and his agent is the leaker who is putting pressure on the Giants to bid against themselves.
3. The Yankees really don't want to re-sign Judge who is about to sign with the Giants and this is a PR stunt by the Yanks to make their fanbase think they tried to sign him.
Curiously, the rumor included a caveat that the Yankees are prepared to go higher if the market does. This would seem to increase the probability of scenario #2 above. I mean, why would the Yankees make an offer while at the same time saying they are willing to go higher? This rumor almost certainly did not come from either the Yankees or Giants camp.
At some point a team will have to get Judge in a room, put a "blow away" contract in front of him and say the offer is good for only as long as they are in the room. Will the Giants be that team? Seems like we will probably know within a week.
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The Dodgers signed Shelby Miller RHP to a MLB deal reportedly worth 1 year/$1.5 M plus performance bonuses. As I am sure you recall, Miller is a former Cardinals first round draft pick who fell on hard times after a promising start to his career and was part of the infamous trade that sent Dansby Swanson SS to the Braves. He signed a minor league deal with the Giants last year and pitched well enough for a September callup where he wowed everybody with 12 K's in 4.2 IP in his first two appearances. His final appearance did not go so well with 5 ER in 1.1 IP. The Giants were reportedly only willing to offer him another minor league deal. Although I was as excited as anyone over the flurry of K's Miller remains a risk on several levels. It was probably wise for the Giants to let him go.
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The Giants re-signed 4 players they previously DFA'd to minor league deals: Colton Welker IF, Mauricio Llovera RHP, Sam Delaplane RHP, Drew Strotman RHP.
I was impressed by what I saw of Llovera last season. Depending on what the FZ does to bolster the Giants bullpen this offseason, he has a chance to break camp with the Giants. One issue with him is he is out of options so once he is back on the 40-man roster, he would have to be DFA'd to be sent back to the minors.
Welker and Delaplane are similar to Luis Gonzalez OF last year in that FZ was willing to pay them to rehab injuries last season to get them into the organization. The Giants are overloaded with righthanded hitting corner IF's, so it's doubtful they will have room on the active roster for him at any point next season. He could create trade opportunities with a strong showing in AAA. Delaplane last pitched significant innings in 2019 in the Mariners organization. He got hammered in 3.2 IP for the SJ Giants late last season. Strotman was a late season free agent pickup. He has impressive K rates but also gives up a lot of walks. The Giants pitching gurus will try to tame his wildness.
I have a different feeling following the Judge chase vs Harper free agent chase 4 years ago. JP Morisi said the odds between the Giants or Yanks of signing Judge is 50/50. I remember Heyman reporting the Phil's had the slight edge signing Harper all along. I just want Giants ownership to offer that blow away contract like you said. What ever happens I hope judge makes the best decision for him and his family.
ReplyDeleteWould like to add that I would feel better about the Giants chances of signing Judge if they made more moves leading to the Winter Meetings. They've been tied to Kodai Senga (P), Brandon Nimmo (OF), and others.Judge has said that going to a winning team and culture is important to him. The only move they've made is signing Joc Peterson.
ReplyDeleteAttendance down over 800,000 last year. That won’t change if this type of “news” continues! Winter meetings is come to jesus time for FZ and his side kick. Not a lot of bats in free agency next offseason and we don’t exactly have any prospects that are likely to make an offensive impact in the next 2 years so time to find your checkbook FZ!
ReplyDeleteThere is not really any news here but I am not sure what you are referring to. The tea leaves are actually tilting more toward a Judge signing with the Giants. If that comes to pass the attendance will almost surely be boosted.
DeleteI also don't agree with your assessment of the prospects. Granted there is no such thing as a can't miss prospect, David Villar looked good enough to make FZ feel like they could buy out Evan Longoria's option. Casey Schmitt is on a fast track to the majors and absolutely raked through multiple levels last season. Luciano and Matos could easily be within 2 years of being impact rookies.
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