Quote:
Originally Posted by Prison Bitch
On their chat, there seems to be agreement that this is the year where the elites fall back some and the middle-range guys get the difference. Price, Greinke and Heyward are the elites at 150-200M. Then you have the almost-elites Cespedes, Cueto + Upton between 125-150M.
Do you have want to commit 125M to Justin Upton or do you want to buy Mike Leake, Ben Zobrist, Ryan Madson and a flier on say Mike Pelfrey? For a team that's middling, doesn't option (B) seem way more logical?
Now the Cubs or Dodgers are almost playoff locks (at least major contenders) for 2016. Buying quantity isn't important for them so they WILL get an elite player. But if you're AZ or Washington or Texas or......don't you bid up quantity?
Net: hard to see what that does to Alex. He's either a cheap option to Cespedes and he gets bid up from 80 to 100. Or else he's deemed an expensive option to Colby Rasmus and goes 85 to 75. Past years suggests any top-20 guy gets max dollars and more than crowd sourcing expec. Royals success 2015 with savvy mid level signings is the counterpoint.
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So they think more money gets to the second and third tier guys? Interesting. If his top offer is $100 million or less, I think KC can keep him long-term if it wants to keep him.
Completely random thought, but Daniel Murphy might be a cheap LF backup option. Not sure what his D would look like - I'd guess "bad," but his offensive profile is interesting (even without the HR surge).