Yeah, go pick up that Fat Panda! Go raid that Giants roster! Peavy, Sandoval, Romo, Morse, Vogelsong! Hunter Pence too! Wait, Astros already traded him and he's not a free agent.
After his postseason Sandoval is gonna get grossly overpaid compared to his actual value. His OPS has gone down 4 straight years, he's an average fielder, and he has possible weight concerns. He's a good player no doubt, but he's gonna get paid like a superstar. Wouldn't mind raiding that pen though.
If the Phillies are serious, I'd look to trade for Domonic Brown. Brown / Fowler / Springer OF could potentially be amazing. And sign Chase Headley or Sandoval.
Below is the complete list of 121 XX B free-agent players, sorted by 2014 team, eligible to negotiate and sign with any club beginning at 12:01 a.m. ET on Tuesday, Nov. 4. Another 32 players may be eligible for free agency pending the option provisions in their Uniform Players Contract (UPC). Atlanta Braves Emilio Bonifacio Ryan Doumit Gavin Floyd Aaron Harang Gerald Laird Ervin Santana Baltimore Orioles Alexi Casilla Nelson Cruz Kelly Johnson Andrew Miller Johan Santana Joe Saunders Delmon Young Boston Red Sox Burke Badenhop Ryan Dempster David Ross Koji Uehara Chicago Cubs Carlos Villanueva Chicago White Sox Paul Konerko Matt Lindstrom Cincinnati Reds Jack Hannahan Ryan Ludwick Cleveland Indians Jason Giambi Colorado Rockies Matt Belisle Michael Cuddyer Nick Masset Franklin Morales Detroit Tigers Joba Chamberlain Phil Coke Joel Hanrahan Torii Hunter Jim Johnson Victor Martinez Max Scherzer Houston Astros Matt Albers Jesse Crain Jose Veras Kansas City Royals Norichika Aoki Scott Downs Jason Frasor Luke Hochevar Raul Ibanez James Shields Josh Willingham Los Angeles Angels Jason Grilli John McDonald Joe Thatcher Los Angeles Dodgers Josh Beckett Kevin Correia Roberto Hernandez Paul Maholm Chris Perez Hanley Ramirez Jamey Wright Miami Marlins Rafael Furcal Kevin Gregg Reed Johnson Brad Penny Milwaukee Brewers Zach Duke Tom Gorzelanny Lyle Overbay Mark Reynolds Francisco Rodriguez Minnesota Twins Jared Burton New York Mets Bobby Abreu Daisuke Matsuzaka New York Yankees Chris Capuano Stephen Drew Chase Headley Rich Hill Derek Jeter Hiroki Kuroda Brandon McCarthy David Robertson Ichiro Suzuki Chris Young Oakland Athletics Alberto Callaspo Jonny Gomes Luke Gregerson Jason Hammel Jon Lester Jed Lowrie Hiroyuki Nakajima* Geovany Soto Philadelphia Phillies Mike Adams Kyle Kendrick Wil Nieves Pittsburgh Pirates Clint Barmes Francisco Liriano Russell Martin Edinson Volquez San Diego Padres Tim Stauffer San Francisco Giants Michael Morse Jake Peavy Sergio Romo Pablo Sandoval Ryan Vogelsong Seattle Mariners Joe Beimel Endy Chavez Chris Denorfia Franklin Gutierrez Kendrys Morales Humberto Quintero Chris Young St. Louis Cardinals Mark Ellis Justin Masterson Jason Motte Pat Neshek A.J. Pierzynski Texas Rangers Scott Baker Neal Cotts Colby Lewis Alex Rios Toronto Blue Jays Melky Cabrera Casey Janssen Munenori Kawasaki* Colby Rasmus Washington Nationals Asdrubal Cabrera Scott Hairston Nate Schierholtz *Eligible per contract terms
I'm confident the Stros will pick up some mediocre, overpaid player with a low ceiling for growth who might only be a slightly marginal improvement over what they've got now, and point to it as progress, since they're growing payroll. You know, kinda what they did last year. Growing payroll is a good sign, but only if it's done wisely, and thus far the Astros have not done that.
You act as if its all the Astros fault. You do realize that in order to sign a free agent there has to mutual interest right?
Yes, a 19 game improvement is clearly marginal. Feldman was a solid rotation pitcher, Fowler was an excellent on base guy, and Qualls was a decided upgrade over the garbage we had last year. None of the guys should hinder long term spending either. I would say the Astros spent wisely. Fans are just gonna b**ch about anything they do right now.
Pat Neshek (2yr $8M) Andrew Miller (3yr $27M) (New CL) Russell Martin (2yr $20M) (Start 3 of 5 games, help young SP) Nori Aoki (2yr $10M) No need to make a big splash: C: Martin 1B: Singleton 2B: Altuve SS: Marwin (Just keeping it warm for Correa) 3B: Dominguez (waived or optioned to AAA as soon as Moran is ready) LF: Marisnick CF: Springer RF: Aoki DH: Carter Bench: Santana, Grossman, Presley, Villar, Castro or Stassi SP: Keuchel SP: McHugh SP: Feldman SP: Tropeano SP: Appel! CL: Miller SU: Qualls SU: Neshek RP: Fields RP: Sipp RP: Buchanan Folty gets more seasoning at AAA.
I'll take any real off-season news. Right now, all we have is that Houston finished dead last of all major media markets in the country (Non MLB cities like San Antonio and Austin included) in ratings for game 7 last night. And I know it wasn't because everybody was watching the Rockets... The Astros sucktitutde has killed baseball interest in this city...
All good players but all except for Aoki I can't see the Astros signing (or at those prices). -Neshek put up a top 5 reliever performance this year, he'll get more than $4m per year. -Miller I wouldn't give closer money without any history of closing. $3m for Qualls being a closer for a not yet contending team is a much better use of funds. -Martin is going to get 4 years/50m.
I wasn't talking about team performance, I was talking about Fowler's performance relative to a generic replacement for him. And yes, the Astros made a 19 game improvement, but that was largely on the back of improved pitching. If you really think Fowler made a big contribution to that improvement, you're quite mistaken. No problem with Feldman or Qualls. Fowler, on the other hand, did not do enough to warrant his excessive salary. You can point to his decent OBP all you want. Other than that, he was the definition of mediocre. He would be a 4th outfielder on a contending team.
