With the 2018 season in the books and no baseball to watch for the next four months, what’s on your TV? For me it’s the Knicks (see, teams can be worse than the Mets) and a few series I’m hooked on – the Walking Dead, House of Cards, and Ray Donavan. I just realized, the first two titles could be taglines on the Mets 2019 fan yearbook.
Did a podcast with Matt Netter last night, which you can download here – http://cast.rocks/hosting/13288/Matt-Netter-110118.mp3
From Metsblog yesterday:
Grandal, who will turn 30 years old on Nov. 8, was worth 3.6 fWAR (second among all catchers in baseball, behind only Realmuto’s 4.8) in 2018. He hit .241/.349/.466 with 24 homers in 140 games — very close to his career line of .240/.341/.441. Behind the plate, where Jay Jaffe notes he is one of the best pitch-framers in baseball, Grandal was worth 9 DRS.
As far as what Grandal will get on the open market, Jon Heyman of FanCred predicts $20 million for two years, while an expert Heyman spoke to predicts $39 million for three years.
The other big name on the free agent market is 31-year-old Wilson Ramos, who hit .306/.358/.487 with 15 homers in 111 games in 2018 split between the Rays and Phillies. His career line is .273/.317/.439, and three of his four best seasons in terms of slugging percentage have come the last three seasons.
Ramos was a bit below average this past season when it came to DRS behind the plate (-5), but had the best caught stealing percentage in the majors (44 percent).
As far as what Ramos will get on the open market, Heyman predicts he’ll get $9 million for one year, with the expert predicting $10 million for one year.
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At these rates, you grab one of these guys and run to your next target quickly. I can’t believe these guys will be so cheap with such a low obligation, but then again MLBN and the other outlets don’t mention what I think. Given the option, I’d prefer Grandal because Ramos has been getting hurt just about every year since he came up with the Twins.
Gus, you must not have watched the playoffs. Grandal didn’t hit and made costly errors. Also, he bats left handed and we already have a lopsided lineup. Also my autocorrect keeps changing his name to granddad- a great nickname if he’s still playing in 8 years.
Didn’t Machado bat like .160, kick a guy’s foot, tried to trip the second baseman twice, make an ass of himself, talk like a spoiled brat and tell everyone he isn’t planning on hustling, but yet everyone is getting ready for his $350MM payday, and you are turned off by two bad weeks of Grandal after three years of solid play? Maaaatt, come on…
Marlins want a kings ransom for Realmuto. Ramos or Grandal would be an upgrade, but none of these guys are Johnny Bench. I want a defense first catcher for this pitching staff.
Yasmani Grandall was benched during the world series so a bit of his alore wore down. Or do the Mets have other choices?
Pete, the Dodgers announced today that he will be getting a QO, so figuring he will accept it, he’s out. While he had a bad few weeks in October, he has been a model of consistency, gets good defensive grades and isn’t hurt often. That checks all my boxes.
Looks the price for the trick up my sleeve, Brian McCann, just went up.
The Dilson cleared waivers thus outrighted by the Reds today, and Max Wotell was released earlier this year. They should’ve taken Alderson up on his offer of Nimmo and Wotell, huh? Boy, that Alderson has a great eye for his players…. smh.
2 years ago this is what you said about Dilson and Wotell.
“I understand why Alderson wants his two prospects back but he got hosed, ”
He did get hosed! He traded two prospects for a player that had one skill: to hit the ball every once in a while far. He sucks on defense, he sucks in average, he sucks at almost everything and the Reds were trying to trade him for years. He’s lucky those prospects didn’t pan out, but looking at it at the time of deal, I still wouldn’t make it. He handicapped his limited funds and what did he really add to this team? Not much.
Just because the prospects didn’t pan out, doesn’t mean Alderson helped his team because he didn’t. My point above was that Alderson preferred to give them Nimmo but they balked at his knee surgery and at the last minute Alderson gave up his prized find in Herrera. Imagine how big the hose could be if we were watching Nimmo paired up with Votto right now!
Speaking of Votto, how come they don’t bat him sixth like we do to our .400+ OBP guy?
MLBTR is saying Donaldson at 1/$20MM. I’m thinking 3/$45 with tons of incentives from the Mets. Like $1MM for Silver Slugger, $1MM for a Gold Glove, $2MM for MVP, $1MM for second or third in MVP voting, $1MM for 600 plate appearances, including all-star incentives, other incentives… Then, trade Frazier and his limited commitment to the Royals or another team that can flip him in July.
Sound realistic?