Kimbrel/Keuchel Watch 2019

[Pauly]

Teams are now free to sign both guys without draft pick compensation penalty. Im frankly surprised neither has made a deal yet, but news should be coming very soon.

Spec landing spots include:

Kimbrel - Minnesota, Cubs, Atlanta, Philly, Milwaukee, Tampa
Keuchel - Yankees, St. Louis, Atlanta....there are more.

[tinitoy]

I just hope it’s the NL lol

[Hornsby]

Yanks are supposedly the favorites to land Keuchel...I guess we'll see how much his beard means to him.

[revo]

Yanks are supposedly the favorites to land Keuchel...I guess we'll see how much his beard means to him.

But at the same time, the rumor is they won't go more than 1 year, so who knows.

JP Morosi says the Braves are not one of the finalists for Kimbrel, so it appears that it's down to the Cubs & Twins.

[Hornsby]

But at the same time, the rumor is they won't go more than 1 year, so who knows.

JP Morosi says the Braves are not one of the finalists for Kimbrel, so it appears that it's down to the Cubs & Twins.

Pretty sure that the Twins won't go beyond this season...and I don't think that Kimbrel is going to do a pillow deal at this point. I think that it's the Cubs to lose at this point, Zobrist is essentially off the books with his off the field issue, so the Cubs have a lot of money to play with. And they'd likely go beyond this season with the core that they have for the next few years.

[Pauly]

That neither has signed by now seems like a huge negative to me

[Davros]

I think that it's the Cubs to lose at this point, Zobrist is essentially off the books with his off the field issue, so the Cubs have a lot of money to play with. And they'd likely go beyond this season with the core that they have for the next few years.

Sorry, I needed to go through the numbers as I didn't think that Zobrist's salary removal from the taxation math would help a huge amount. According to Cot's Baseball Contracts, Zobrist was earning $12 million this year., though his luxury tax figure was reportedly $14 million (I assume his whole $2 million signing bonus counts at this time). If he were to miss the final 130 games of the year, that prorates to $11.2 million that appears to not be counted towards the Cubs' luxury tax total. The Cubs were estimated to have about $11 million to spare before going over the third luxury tax threshold, so they might have about $22 million to spend on Kimbrel and anything else they think they need (I still think they will shop of another CFer once CarGo returns to Earth). That might be enough, though being below the second luxury tax threshold may also be desired by the Ricketts family (should now be clear by $2-$3 million).

Whether they are willing to give him money beyond 2019 remains to be seen (they probably need to buy a free agent SP or two next year, though not picking up Morrow's 2020 option will give them some extra salary room for a closer).

https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2019/2/14/18224671/cubs-2019-payroll-luxury-tax

I am not surprised that this is taking a few extra days. The agents for both guys would be failing miserably if they didn't get some level of bidding war to start on Monday morning once draft pick compensation went away.

[pitbull]

That neither has signed by now seems like a huge negative to me

I think the agents are just giving teams time to drive up the price. In next couple of days between now and then there be contracts waiting to be signed. Once that happen then we wait until they are activated then FAAB bidding occurs. My biggest fear in FAABing for either player is the amount it will take to win and the late start for both players to catch up. Make me somewhat nervous that hitters are ahead of them and it could take some time to catch up.

[revo]

The Athletic is reporting the Cubs are in agreement with Kimbrel, pending a physcial.

[Hornsby]

The Athletic is reporting the Cubs are in agreement with Kimbrel, pending a physcial.

Damn, you can't beat Revo to either a celebrity death, or a baseball move!

At least I was right about the Cubbies...

[pitbull]

It will be interesting to see the contract detail. How much? How long?

[pitbull]

Maddon on when Kimbrel will be ready:

Manager Joe Maddon, speaking in hypotheticals, said Sunday in St. Louis it would probably take at least three weeks.

“But who knows, he could have been throwing to a junior-college team the whole time,” Maddon said

https://www.chicagotribune.com/sport...605-story.html

[Hornsby]

It will be interesting to see the contract detail. How much? How long?

Rosenthal reports 3 years for 45 million...not sure that deal ends well.

[pitbull]

Rosenthal reports 3 years for 45 million...not sure that deal ends well.

Agreed but still for this season having Edwards, Cishek, Strop setting up Kimbrel is a very good bullpen.

[The Feral Slasher]

Rosenthal reports 3 years for 45 million...not sure that deal ends well.

I get worrying about long term deals for older guys, but 3 years for a 31 year old relief pitcher doesn't seem like it would be at the top of my worry list