Yu Darvish is on the Cubs! J.D. Martinez is on the Red Sox! Jake Arrieta... is still just kind of hanging out on free agency without any of the kind of rumors that surrounded Darvish and Martinez before they inked deals. It’s one of the weirder occurrences in an offseason full of them.
J.D. Martinez signed, but Jake Arrieta is still unemployed
Tuesday’s Say Hey, Baseball looks at Jake Arrieta’s near rumor-less situation.
Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
Arrieta has been linked to the Brewers as well as to his prior team: the Cubs. The Cubs signed Darvish, though, so they’re out on the right-hander. Milwaukee, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to be in any kind of rush to spend what it doesn’t think it has to on a pitcher: The Brewers didn’t push for Darvish knowing there were other options, maybe in the hopes that Arrieta would have to settle for them rather than the other way around.
A team like the Phillies has the space to pull a Padres and sign Arrieta before they’re ready to compete, just because he’s there and available and the funds are present. It feels like all of the talk about the Phils and Arrieta, though, have come as floated ideas from the media and fans more than anything of substance from either party themselves. That brings us back to the Brewers, who seem destined at this point to end up with Arrieta in the same way the Red Sox ended up with Martinez, if only because there just isn’t really anyone else closely associated with the former ace.
It’s Feb. 20 and we’re still talking about where one of the top free agents is going to sign, and based on the discounts Darvish and Martinez signed for, it’s safe to assume this isn’t Arrieta’s fault, either. But if you’ve been reading me all offseason long, you already knew that.
- The Red Sox signed Martinez, and for an amount of money that has Grant Brisbee more annoyed with this offseason rather than relieved.
- You might think it’s odd that the Padres signed Eric Hosmer to a huge deal even though they aren’t competing, but it makes all kinds of sense.
- R.J. Anderson explored the hidden value of game-calling by catchers and even spoke to longtime defensive specialist Jeff Mathis on the subject.
- Everyone is going after the Marlins (and rightfully so), but Florida’s other MLB team has spent the winter giving players away, too.
- The Royals reportedly offered Eric Hosmer $100 million on a five-year deal, with Hosmer choosing the Padres’ front-loaded eight-year, $144 million offer instead.
- Tim Lincecum reportedly has a guaranteed contract offer from a team that isn’t the Giants.
- Here are five things that need to go right for the Braves to have a winning 2018.
- MLB finally announced pace of play initiatives, and mound visits are seeing the most significant change.
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