PREAMBLE
A smattering of 1-year deals in an attempt to get to .500 as we ride off into the 2027 black hole sunset.
COACHING STAFF
- Hitting coach: [Left blank]
- Pitching coach: [Left blank]
Don't know the field well enough to have an informed opinion.
ARBITRATION-ELIGIBLE PLAYERS
- Mike Tauchman: Non-tender
- Steven Wilson: Non-tender
- Derek Hill: Non-tender
A nice handshake for Tauchman. Time to move on from everyone.
CLUB OPTIONS
- Luis Robert Jr.: Exercise $20 million option
- Martín Perez: Buy out for $1.5 million
Roll the dice on Robert health. We need innings, and I don't know if Martin Perez has enough to give.
FREE AGENTS
1. Cedric Mullins, CF/LF/RF (1 year, $7 million). Can play all the outfield positions and can man CF full time if/when Robert gets traded. He's not too old yet and has still has some speed.
2. Jakob Junis, RP (1 year, $5 million). Experienced bullpen arm. Doesn't walk anybody and low barrel rate against. I will pay money for no walks.
3. Paul Blackburn, SP (1 year, $4.5 million). Take a gamble on the guy in the rotation for a cheap one-year deal. He doesn't issue a lot of walks and hard hit rate against isn't too terrible. Could also look at Miles Mikolas here. He has a history of eating innings, but he's 37 and gives up a lot of long balls.
4. Rob Refsnyder, RF/LF (1 year, $4.25 million). Kind of an Austin Slater-like like signing. He'll mash lefties, and he complements both Benintendi and Cedric Mullins, who are stronger vs. RHP. Can play both corner OF positions.
5. Jose Quintana, SP (1 year, $4 million). Normally I'm not one for a sentimental signing - and he's certainly old - but we need innings eaters. He's 37, but he's been fairly durable. It kind of just makes sense, so why not? Again, can also look at Mikolas here.
6. Sean Newcomb, RP (1 year, 2.5 million). I'm probably spending too much on the bullpen, but I just want it to be better. He's not great at anything, but he's not terrible at anything, either. Fairly low barrel rate against, and he doesn't give up a lot of dingers. Lefty.
7. Jalen Beeks, RP (1 year, 1.5 million). More bullpen help, and another lefty. Fairly low barrel & hard hit rates against.
Total FA spend = $28.75 million.
TRADES
None at the moment.
SUMMARY
I made my choices assuming this has to be realistic under Jerry. He's probably not going to want any new multi-year deals going 2027, and I'm keeping it under $30 million in free agency.
Added: 2 outfielders, 2 starting pitchers, 3 relievers I'm probably spending too high of a % on the bullpen, but at the same time, please God fix the bullpen.
Cedric Mullins is the headliner, which isn't super sexy, but any bigger signings make the spending other places pretty thin under these parameters. If you use Refsnyder correctly in a platoon situation where he mostly sees LHP, he's got some upside.
Even trying to spend conservatively, I would have liked to have added something like Harrison Bader and Adrian Houser, but the money/years probably just wouldn't happen.
