Free Agents from New York


Coming off the most contrasting of seasons, DJ LeMahieu and Marcus Stroman are the New York players who received qualifying offers.
The former Rockie emerged as possibly the most indispensable Yankee during his two seasons in the Bronx, capped by becoming the first player ever to win a batting title in each league. After finishing fourth for the AL MVP a year ago, he was announced Monday night as one of the finalists for 2020. Talented, versatile and well respected in the clubhouse, LeMahieu's lone question mark centers around his age. If he was 28 or 29, he'd be in line for six or seven-year deal. But his driver's license warns GM's that DJ turns 33 next July. That's going to limit the length of his deal. But I'd still expect it to be on the big side of $20 million a year. And at least for the first couple, it's going to be worth every penny.
Stroman's 2020 line was... blank. After starting the season on the I-L with a torn calf muscle, he decided to shut it down and head home. While everything in baseball's 60-game season was a gamble, the decision made by the Long Island native was huge. Heading into free agency without the benefit of good "walk year" numbers leaves him an enigma to any suitors? Of the six players receiving QO's he might be the most liable to take it, return to the Mets and -- assuming a more normal 2021 -- build up his value for a big free agent payoff a year from now.

 

Comments

Unknown said…
I dobt that this STroman if he's being banged around for the last few seasons, i truly do not have much faith in his abilities!!! I hope he proves me wrong ! If not he's going to be another "HAPP AND PAXTON AND GREEN !!
November 3, 2020 at 3:54 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rare Remnant of a Lost Ballpark

Image
When the subject of baseball in Brooklyn comes up, the discussion centers around Ebbets Field, the Flatbush venue most famously home to The Boys of Summer.  Those legendary 1940s and '50s teams that featured such historic and beloved players as Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider, Pee Wee Reese, Roy Campanella and Gil Hodges. Ebbets Field hosted its last major league game in 1957 and was torn down during the winter of 1960. But decades earlier, just before World War One, the Dodgers were based in the Park Slope area and played at Washington Park.  Once they moved out, the land was occupied by another stadium, which housed a different franchise.  The upstart Federal League, which played in the 1914 and '15 seasons, had a Brooklyn team called the TipTops.  Owned by a local baking magnate Robert Ward, whose company produced TipTop bread, the club took over the abandoned lot along 3rd Street and built a new brick and steel venue. The only no-hitter in the Federal League's two-year r
Read more

Another Yankee Trade

Image
Yankee fans: here's a last look at shortstop Trey Sweeney .  The 2021 first round draft choice was part of the three player trade with the Dodgers that brings reliever Victor Gonzalez and infield prospect Jorbit Vivas to New York. Now seeking to rebuild their pitching depth after dealing for Juan Soto and Alex Verdugo, the Yanks deemed Sweeney expendable.  While the Louisville native showed promising power in his three seasons with the organization -- he batted only .248 to go with his 36 career homers -- Brian Cashman has committed to Anthony Volpe and Oswald Peraza as his young middle infielders.  So Sweeney became a trade chip. ( My images of Trey Sweeney are from the Somerset/Binghamton AA games on July 15th and September 19th, 2023. )
Read more

Will He Wear Zero in the Bronx?

Image
The Yankees bolstered their starting rotation with Thursday's signing of Marcus Stroman .  The Long Island native, who spent 2019 and '21 with the Mets before moving onto the Cubs, brings a 77-76 career record to the Bronx, along with a recent loyalty to uniform number (?) zero.  If he requests that, he'd become the third Yank to wear it, following the path of Adam Ottavino and Domingo German.  Of course, neither of their Yankee tenures ended all that well -- Ottavino struggled badly in 2020, before reviving his career with the Red Sox and Mets; German's alcohol and domestic violence issues sabotaged such Yankee highlights as last year's perfect game. Can a number truly be lucky? You can understand kids in little league or high school ball wanting to wear 2 in honor of Derek Jeter or 7 for Mickey Mantle.  But is there an heroic ballplayer associated with 0?  The closest I recall comes from pro football, where the Oakland Raiders Hall of Fame center Jim Otto wore 00
Read more