G-Snarls

He will get offered contracts by 4-5 teams. Not coming here.

That's why I said free agents specifically. Trades yes it's been leaked that AA has inquired about those guys. And Ramos too. Problem is we need a SOLID free agent acquisition (or two) this off season. We don't have the trade chips to add enough wins. We need to buy some.

We haven't been linked to a single free agent yet. May be meaningless but I'm not sure.

Be hilarious if the Tigers got Balfour They could actually really use him, but...

Five Teams Showing Early Interest In Grant Balfour By Steve Adams [November 6 at 2:16pm CST] Grant Balfour is expected to sign with a new team as a free agent this offseason after three excellent years with the A's -- two of which came as the team's closer. According to the latest from Susan Slusser at the San Francisco Chronicle, the Yankees, Tigers, Rockies, Rays and Angels have all expressed interest in the hard-throwing Aussie. Balfour, 36 in December, saved 62 games for the A's over the past two seasons as their primary ninth-inning option and has a sparkling 2.47 ERA with 9.2 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 254 2/3 innings dating back to 2010. It's a buyer's market for closers this offseason, with Balfour, Joe Nathan, Fernando Rodney, Joaquin Benoit, Chris Perez, Jose Veras, Edward Mujica and Kevin Gregg among the free agents who saved at least 20 games this past season. Brian Wilson, who returned as a dominant setup man, figures to garner interest for ninth inning jobs as well. Interest between the Tigers and Balfour will turn a few heads due to the fact that Balfour's signature shouting on the mound didn't sit well with Victor Martinez in the ALDS, leading to a benches-clearing confrontation. Still the Tigers figure to add at least one high-profile arm this winter after opening last season with no set closer and experiencing ugly results from a carousel of relievers until Benoit solidified the job.

It's one thing if you can at least go scout them well in advance (like Cespedes, Darvish, etc) because you know they're going to be available. But a guy like this is a total crap shoot.

Thanks for the Edwin GIF, not sure how I forgot that Not so much thanks for the suicide help picture. Ug

So hard to evaulate these guys and deice what they're worth on the free agent market

Lots of Phillies tidbits, bold emphasis is mine Phillies Notes: Ruiz, Free Agents, Front Office By Zach Links [November 6 at 12:47pm CST] Earlier today, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported that the Phillies have kicked around the idea of making an offer for David Price, but it's unlikely to happen because GM Ruben Amaro Jr. knows he has multiple needs to address and one big splash won't fix the team. Here's more on the Phils... The Red Sox, according to sources, are quietly doing their due diligence on Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz, writes Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com. While there are other free agent catchers available, Ruiz is the guy that the Phillies want and the guy that the pitchers want. The Phillies need to prioritize right-handed hitting and both Brian McCann and A.J. Pierzynski are left-handed hitters. Jarrod Saltalamacchia is a switch-hitter, but he struggles from the right side. The Rockies are also known to be pursuing Ruiz and are reportedly planning to offer him a multiyear deal this week. GM Ruben Amaro says that he has already made offers on "several" free agent players, writes Todd Zolecki of MLB.com. While Amaro declined to name names, Zolecki suggests that Nelson Cruz, Carlos Beltran, and Mike Morse could be among their targets. The Phillies hired Scott Freedman from Major League Baseball's Labor Relations Department to help the club incorporate analytics into their personnel decisions, Zolecki writes. "I don't know if it's going to change the way we do business, necessarily," Amaro said. "We still plan to be a scouting and player development organization, but I think it's important to get all the information and analyze not just what we're doing, but how other clubs are evaluating players."

Good options are lacking Jiminez and Hudson may be our best bets among the free agents

Yes, yes, YES This core deserves another kick at the can, absolutely A better catcher, an extra starter, a league average 2B plus some reasonable luck and this team is very good in 2014

That's a move you make mid 2014 if we're not sniffing the playoffs and they need help getting over the top

Again though, IRL, the Cardinals don't want Colby back, even if Beltran walks Maybe they need a catcher - oh, wait Maybe they need BP help - oh, wait Maybe they need... That's the problem. All they really need is a shortstop and we can't trade ours right now. I bet they'd want Lawrie but we need him too.

Yes, especially if the pitching gets better Though it does put a lot of pressure on Bautista and Cabrera to produce

Yes And I'd do it IRL too

Sign and trade??

Agree. Wells is garbage. Beltran makes PERFECT sense for them. And he's has even said he wants to play for Yankees. BTW, it must be nice when most quality free agents WANT to play for you Grrrrr

Yep. I still can't believe they couldn't come up with 17M over 2 years for Martin.

Surprised that Griffin knows Fangraphs exists??

More Fangraphs love for Edwin:

Sadly, you're probably right...

Yeah they can scrape by with those last 2 guys for another year, *maybe* 2, but replacements will be needed soon. Jeter's days as a SS are probably almost done.

Yankees need: 1-2 starters (2 for sure if Kuroda leaves) Catcher 3B A short stop for the future (and probaly sooner rather than later) 1-2 BP arms On outfielder with some power (Ichiro and Granderson are essentially year to year now) And that's if they keep Cano at enormous expense

I'm pretty sure Cashman was hoping Granderson would turn down the QO so he could use the $ to sign Beltran or Choo and not have any net loss of draft picks (lose one, gain one)

MLBTR: Cano's $300MM asking price was the cost for the Yankees to keep him from hitting free agency, not his contract demands for right now, writes Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. The ten-year, $300MM proposal was given to the Bombers before the All-Star break. Meanwhile, a return to the Bronx is still the most likely outcome, Rosenthal writes. In a radio interview earlier today, Curtis Granderson said he is considering accepting the Yankees' qualifying offer of $14.1MM, echoing what his agent said last week, writes Anthony McCarron of the New York Daily News. "Well, it's definitely something you've got to think about and I appreciate the Yankees extending that offer to me," Granderson said during an appearance on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM.