I see him as a possible DH if White flounders or at 1B splitting time with Yuli who can move around the infield.. Astros are loaded with quality LH bats just waiting for the likes of Reddick, Brantley, Yuli, White, etc to reach free agency. Alvarez, Tucker, Beer, Dawson, Fisher, etc Should be enough long term money available on following suit with other clubs and getting extensions done Chris Devenski..I’m worried.
Peacock was 10-2 with a 3.22 era as a starter in 2017. He was very good and a big part of the success of that season from the rotation. I kind of want to see Peacock stay in the pen and them give Brady Rodgers a shot. I think he would've already been here had it not been for the injury and TJS. He looked excellent in his opener and hopefully that's a sign.
Not sure why, but Alvarez kind of reminds me of Domingo Santana. It’s gotta be the size. Alvarez is listed at 6’5” 225 (is he heavier or taller—seem to recall people saying he looks even bigger in person) and Santana is listed at 6’5” 230 lb.
Man if he wants an opt out after 3 years I wish the Astros would gamble and give him an offer. Pay him for 3 years, hope he plays well and stays healthy. Help Houston win a World Series or 2 and then have him opt out. It would suck to lose a key player but if he helps bring at least 1 title in 3 years I wouldn't care. And Crane wouldn't need to pay him for the full 10 years. Only negative is if he gets injured or shows a decline and he opts in. Or he ends up loving Houston and decides to stick around.
He only opts out if he plays well. It's not something a team pursues, it only leaves you with potential downside.
Agreed, but I wonder if they can give him a player opt out after year 3 and a team opt out after 4 in exchange for a ridiculous 10 year, $375MM contract that allows Boras to go around saying he got a larger deal than Stanton and Machado?
Think Harper obviously wants to play in LA, but doesn't want to play for peanuts. There's no middle ground. But in this situation, I would just pick LA and play it out. If he compromises for Philadelphia or elsewhere he will be unhappy. And that's just dumb. Goto LA and make your money off the field.
Perfect place for him. He doesn't make the Dodgers any more elite. He will make the Phillies more competitive but doesn't push them to World Series favorite, and stays out of the AL.
Not a bad deal. I would have been fine guaranteeing him $25M/yr thru his age 39 season. Especially for a big market team that’s not going to be an albatross. Will look even better if NL adopts the DH soon.
I’m sure he can maintain his production for a number of years. The last 6-7 years of that deal though would give me consistent nightmares if I was the Phillies GM. Tough place to get over.
I look at it as 300/10 years was his baseline. There's a decent chance he can still be worth $10M/year in ages 37-39, even as a DH -- Beltran made $15M/year in that time period recently. Factor in some degree of continued baseball contract inflation, and those out years may not hurt as much. The extra years also helped bring down his AAV, which may make tax penalty management easier.
So is it a good deal for the Phils if Harper gives them Bagwell numbers? Jeff Bagwell from 26-38. It would mean losing 50 million final two years but otherwise a very very consistent offensive producer for 11 of those years. Lance Berkman only had one solid year left in the tank after 33 and was also out of baseball at 38 but at 26 was crazy good. After 32 you just never know.
