[rQUOTEr]A number of clubs have reached out to free agent shortstop Jed Lowrie, a person with knowledge of Lowrie's status told New Jersey Advance Media on Wednesday night. The Yankees could be among the teams interested in Lowrie. They don't have a shortstop. Derek Jeter retired at the end of the 2014 season after holding the job full-time for 19 years. Other teams that could be interested in Lowrie include the Dodgers, Blue Jays, Red Sox, Mets, Astros, Tigers, Nationals, Marlins and Reds. Lowrie earned $5.25 million with Oakland last season. The Athletics didn't extend the switch hitter a qualifying offer, so the team that signs him won't have to surrender a draft pick. Lowrie hit .249 with six homers and 50 RBI in 2014. He might have been in line for a bigger payday if he had become a free agent after his stellar 2013 campaign. That season, Lowrie hit .290 with 15 bombs and 75 RBI. http://goo.gl/sqTQuP[/rQUOTEr]
My predictions The astros will trade Castro and Dominguez They will sign Chase Headley (solid 3rd basemen and middle of lineup hitter who can be had cheaper than the panda) They will sign Brandon McCarthy (bounce back season candidate/ high ground ball pitcher who luhnow loves) They will sign Jason Motte (bounce back candidate coming off of Tommy john who luhnow drafted with cardinals/ can be had for very cheap with high upside) Petit and Stassi will start in AAA until corporan and Villar are traded Appel will get called up in September Lineup: Fowler- Cf Altuve- 2b Springer- Rf Headley- 3b Carter- Dh Tucker- Lf Singleton- 1b Conger/corporan- C Villar- SS Bench: Gonzalez- utility Marisnick- outfield Grossman- outfield Conger/corporan- catcher Rotation: Keuchel McHugh McCarthy Feldman Obie Bullpen: Buchanon- long Sipp- lefty/mid Harris- mid Qualls- mid/long Folty- 7th Crain- 8th Motte- closer
I agree, his defense is weak. But wouldn't the fact that we utilize shifts so much help mitigate his weakness? I think it would, and depending on his price tag, I can see why a solid OBP guy who can handle the bat pretty well would appeal to our front office.
<strike>Boston Red Sox</strike>Houston Astros They want a left-handed hitting third baseman and starting pitching; this market provides both. I think they’ll stretch on the years for Pablo Sandoval (6/$110M) because of his relative youth, but stick to shorter deals on the pitching side, going after both Brandon McCarthy (3/$42M) and Francisco Liriano (3/$39M). Their front-of-the-rotation upgrade will come via trade.
Cuddyer could be ideal for this team. While his numbers are obviously Coors Field inflated, he still seems like a guy that could keep an OPS up around .800. He plays LF/1B/DH depending on situation, and he should come on a manageable short contract. He also has a low K rate, which we need a little more of. I really don't see us going after Sandoval, nor do i think we should. I think he's gonna end up being one of the worst contracts in baseball in a few years.
I would LOVE Cuddyer at 1B. In 7 games at MMP, he's hitting .379/.419/.690 w/ 2HR and 3 2B. Some of that is obviously poor pitching, but I could just see him hitting really well in this park. Unfortunately, I don't see him leaving COL. I think he'll take the 15M offer, but who knows...maybe he wants a long term deal. He will be 36 when the season opens, would we REALLY offer a long term deal given his age? As far as Sandoval, some players just cash out in October. Cody Ross. Juan Uribe. I'm sure there are others. Sandoval is obviously better, but his October put him out of our price range regardless.
If he doesn't take the QO, it better be because he wants to compete for a WS and doesn't care about the money. No team is going to come close to that with a draft pick attached. I wonder if the union is pressuring guys to not take offers, or if agents are just that bad.
I'm not so sure. 1 year at $15M, or could we dangle a 2yr/$25M deal in front of him (with a 3rd year team option, just in case his production doesn't fall off of a cliff)? If I'm Cuddyer, I think I'd take the $25M over 2 years, as this is probably going to be his last chance to cash in (that is why I presume he wouldn't want to go year-to-year for the rest of his career). The dude has always been a professional hitter, and we can rotate him in the DH position a few times a week, to keep him as fresh as possible.
Or you can trade for Gattis from the braves and rotate him between DH, 1st, and backup C. He is in the prime of his career, makes the min salary, and has 4 years of club control left. Matt Kemp is also being "aggressively" shopped by the Dodgers according the Rosenthal. If the astros are willing to take on the majority of his K (107 over 5 for ages 30-34) he probably wouldn't cost a ton in prospects. Dodgers might be interested in Castro if the they miss out on Martin.
Nobody is going to give him $25M over 2 years. Nobody wants to give up a draft pick to sign a 36 year old DH that is coming off a year in which he only played 46 games.
If I could get Matt Kemp to be happy in LF I'd love to have him (no way he should be as bad in LF as he has been). He's still good offensively.
Great point on the draft pick. That completely slipped my mind, and for that alone, I no longer want to sign him. Thanks for the clarification!
Cuddyer signed 2-year deal with the Mets <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Cuddyer gets 2 yrs at $21M $8.5m in 2015, $12.5M in 2016 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Mets?src=hash">#Mets</a></p>— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) <a href="https://twitter.com/Joelsherman1/status/531921777799487489">November 10, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
I'm shocked. Looks like he got his deal before he had to sign his offer from the Rockies. They will give up the 15th pick. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Still on vacation but LOL Mets</p>— keithlaw (@keithlaw) <a href="https://twitter.com/keithlaw/status/531913336024465408">November 10, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
