Of course, his best season was 3 years ago. He is a top 10 1B, but how much do you give up for a guy already getting paid? His average annual value is probably close to what he would get as a FA, but he'd probably get a 10 year deal.
I highly doubt we make a big-time move for a 1B this offseason. I'd bet Luhnow would much rather see what he has in (cheap) Reed and White before biting the bullet and emptying the cupboard for a high-price 1B. Not saying 1B isn't a need--it is--but it would surprise me to see Luhnow outsource that need at this point. I'm going to go on the record and say we acquire Ken Giles. Maybe K-Rod.
Anthony Rizzo has more WAR than Freeman, and is the same age. (I see that you were talking OPS+ though) Chris Davis will cost nothing but dollars.
His two seasons since: .283/.379/.465/.845/137; he would slot behind Correa in OPS; ahead of him in OPS+. Blanked on Rizzo. And Davis potentially costs you more than dollars because - if he signs a 6-year deal (which is the length of Freeman's) - you're paying $20-22MM for years 31-35, where there's a much greater likelihood of decline. (Freeman's big pay days, OTOH, are between ages 27-31, which are prime years).
Yes, he would fit the team, nobody would say differently. I would agree that Davis carries more risk. Freeman has been a more consistent hitter in his career and is more likely to improve.
I don't think anyone is saying that Freeman isn't a really nice player that would help the offense a great deal. However he isn't making chump change and the original offer of Appel and Reed is too much IMO. I would rather have Reed and Appel AND $100,000,000. You could almost get Cueto, Reed and Appel for the same cost as Freeman. I would rather do that. You don't even lose a #1 pick with Cueto. The reality is that first base is not too terribly hard to get solid production out of. Reed has a real chance to be a long term solution at literally pennies on the dollar.
Cueto doesn't address a pressing need for this team... He also has the same issue as a Chris Davis: you're going to be paying him a lot of money for (likely) unproductive years. In fact, you could argue this year may have marked the start of Cueto's decline... He was well below average as a Royal. I think the Astros are beyond potential... with Freeman, your purchase comes with a degree of production guarantee; Reed is a wild card. Maybe he's better. Maybe he's not. Maybe he's Jonathan Singleton...
We're going to see some sort of consolidation trade this week, I hope. I hate how slow MLB offseason is.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Source: <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Padres?src=hash">#Padres</a> new hitting coach will be Alan Zinter. He was the assistant hitting coach last season with the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Astros?src=hash">#Astros</a>.</p>— Corey Brock (@FollowThePadres) <a href="https://twitter.com/FollowThePadres/status/666372015884861441">November 16, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Houston could be a fit for Chapman. The two had talks at deadline, both have certainly had their time to scout <a href="https://t.co/Bwowj9bhMQ">https://t.co/Bwowj9bhMQ</a></p>— C. Trent Rosecrans (@ctrent) <a href="https://twitter.com/ctrent/status/666393607822290944">November 16, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Yawn. Slow news day and avoiding the GARM. Scott Feldman makes top 10 in worst pitches thrown. http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-years-worst-first-pitches/ <video id="gfyVid1" class="gfyVid" width="452" height="254" autoplay="" loop="" muted="muted" poster="//thumbs.gfycat.com/PerkyElasticAkitainu-poster.jpg" style="display: block;"> <source id="webmsource" src="http://zippy.gfycat.com/PerkyElasticAkitainu.webm" type="video/webm"> <source id="mp4source" src="http://zippy.gfycat.com/PerkyElasticAkitainu.mp4" type="video/mp4"> Sorry, you don't have HTML5 video and we didn't catch this properly in javascript. You can try to view the gif directly: <a href="http://giant.gfycat.com/PerkyElasticAkitainu.gif">http://giant.gfycat.com/PerkyElasticAkitainu.gif</a>. </video>
Jeff Banister named AL MOY <PRE>Manager, Team First Second Third *Points Jeff Banister, Rangers 17 8 3 112 A.J. Hinch, Astros 8 13 3 82 Paul Molitor, Twins 2 3 14 33 John Gibbons, Blue Jays 1 5 2 22 Joe Girardi, Yankees 2 2 12 Ned Yost, Royals 1 5 8 Mike Scioscia, Angels 1 1</PRE> Bruce Levine(Chicago), Doug Padilla(Chicago), Dennis Manoloff(Cleveland), Andy McCullough(Kansas City), David Brown(Kansas City) & Dave Campbell(Minnesota) did not vote for Hinch.
yeah, if we sign Zobrist and he's sent to the minors and still floundering down there like he was back then, I'll trade him for a retired Huff
Was he really struggling? You try to not be on the wrong side of those sorts of trades too often... fact remains, the Astros probably had other prospects they considered better than Zobrist, and they ended up being wrong about that. Its probably going to happen with this regime as well at some point.
The One and Only Gerry Hunsicker, who was running the Astros when Zobrist was drafted and then took over Tampa when that trade was made, THAT Gerry Hunsicker, said that Zobrist was looked at as nothing more than a utility infielder. Go back and look at the quotes. He was shocked, as was everyone else, that he developed like he did. It happens.
