Greetings readers, those of you how subscribe to the Cobbfather Post Gazette know who I am. The Cobb Times Herald has solicited the assistance of a writer who specializes in Offseason Free Agency reviews to recap what went down this offseason in Cobb. Each Type A Free Agent signed will be rated on the Superfly World B. Free 5 Star Rating Scale. Then we'll list the best of the Type B Free Agents. Lets get to the reviews.
TYPE A FREE AGENTS
 |
| ||||||||||||||
Contract – 2 years, 9.2 million
Draft Pick Lost – 1st Round
Mexico City signed the 36 year old Davis to a 2 year deal. Offensively, Davis has good contact, very good splits, and a superb batting eye. Defensively, his range is deteriorating, as expected with a player in the twilight of their career, but he could probably pass as a 2nd baseman for one more season, as his arm strength has decreased to the point he might be a liability. His listed position is LF, not sure if Mexico City plans on playing him there, but usually you’d expect to see a power bat playing there.
Final Rating – 1 Star. Davis has lost his biggest asset – the ability to play good CF at this point in his career. He’s not a good enough bat to add value as a LF. The price isn’t bad, but Davis at this point in his career isn’t worth giving up a first rounder. Sure, Mexico City signed another Type A, so they still would have lost the pick, but we still don’t like it anyway. He probably could have been signed later on, without having to give up the pick.
 |
| ||||||||||||||
Contract – 4 years, 29 Million
Draft Pick Lost – 1st Round
Scranton signed 35 year old Left Fielder Roosevelt Lowell, who despite his age, still sports great offensive skills and is still durable enough to play every day. Lowell is coming of a stellar season where hit .344 with 29 HR and made the all star team. Downside is that he took a big hit to his power rating, as expected due to his age. Still we see Lowell having 2 more very good to great seasons. How much his game decreases when he hits the last two years of the contract.
Final rating – 3 Stars. This is an excellent signing and worth forfeiting a first rounder..at least for the next two seasons. It’s a gamble that Lowell will still be good enough to contribute significantly the last two seasons of the contract. But Lowell seems to be aging well, so who knows, the gamble may pay off.
 |
| ||||||||||||||
Contract – 3 Years, 17.2 Million
Draft Pick Lost – 2nd Round
Detroit signed the 35 year old reliever to a 3 year deal. Hall has outstanding control and a lights out 4-seam fastball, to go along with 2 other good pitches, good splits, and excellent durability, considering his age. Hall seems to be aging well, not losing much off his ratings as of yet. He can still be a good closer, or an excellent set up man.
Final rating – 4 Stars. Hall looks like he will be an effective reliever throughout the duration of the contract.
 |
| ||||||||||||||
Contract – 5 Years, 30.5 Million
Draft Pick Lost – 2nd round
Atlanta signed the 29 year-old former G-Maniac, hoping that a player from a strong pitching team can help a pitching staff that’s struggled the last several seasons. Ripken has outstanding control, 4 good pitches, and good splits. His downside is lack of a dominating pitch, and he leaves the ball up. Ripken hasn’t been an every day starter since season 6, so it will be interesting to see if he can still handle a full season in the rotation.
Final Rating – 2 Stars. Ripken is good enough to make and improve Atlanta’s rotation. However, not having been a full time starter since season 6 is a concern, and also not sure that a 5 year deal here was justified, although at least Ripken is only 29.
 |
| ||||||||||||||
Contract – 4 years, 25.1 Million
Draft Pick Lost – 2nd Round
Wells is a 32 year old innings eater, with 4 good pitches, and excellent RH split. He is decent at keeping the ball down. The biggest downside is mediocre control. Although there is good news for Pittsburgh, he had some very nice seasons in Helena, despite the mediocre control.
Final Rating – 2 stars – His mediocre control is a concern. Also, not sure how he will stand the test of time, his ability to contribute in the 3rd and 4th years of the contract could be questionable. That being said, he has recorded some very good ML seasons and has shown he can be productive.
 |
| ||||||||||||||
Contract – 2 years, 8.8 million
Draft Pick Lost – 2nd Round
White is a 31 year old reliever with outstanding control, a superb screwball, and a nice curveball. He has a very good right hand split as well. Downside is that he is just OK against lefties and has a mediocre GB/FB ratio. He also hasn’t done great in the majors last couple of seasons. Not sure if Vancouver is planning on him being a closer, but he has no track record as a proven closer. That being said, his ratings seem to indicate he could handle the job, if need be.
Final rating – 3 stars – White was worth giving up the 2nd round pick, and he’s only locked up for 2 years, so Vancouver won’t be crippled if he doesn’t work out. He has the upside to be a very good closer – the lack of a proven track record doing so holds the rating to 3 stars.
 |
| ||||||||||||||
Contract – 4 years, 24.4 million
Pick Lost – 2nd round
The Pick Pockets signed former Omaha Slugger outfielder Tomas Diaz in the offseason. At age 32, he still has great range and a nice glove, but his weakening arm strength makes him only an average Centerfielder at best. I suppose he wouldn’t be too bad at 2nd base either. At the plate, he is outstanding against RHP, and good enough vs. LHP. He has a good batting as well. His contact is below average, but he still has a nice power stroke, although his power rating did decline sharply this offseason. New York lost a 2nd rounder to sign Diaz, although they would have lost it anyway, as they signed more than one Type A free agent.
Final Rating – 3 stars – Diaz could play 2B for a year or two and he’d be above average there. We think that’s worth giving up a second rounder for.
|
| ||||||||||||||
Contract – 3 years, 8.3 million
Pick Lost – 2nd round
The 34 year old 3rd baseman still has good power, and his biggest strength offensively is that he can crush lefties. His batting eye and RH split are ok, and his contact is below average. Defensively, he’s above average across the board for a 3rd baseman, he will be an asset playing the hot corner this season. He is 34, so how he will perform the last year of the contract is a concern
Final Rating – 2 Stars – Nieto will be a good starting 3rd baseman this year. Due to his age, his production the next two years is in question due to age. Mexico City does have much money wrapped up in him at all, so for the price it’s a good signing. Not sure they couldn’t have gotten him after the comp pick period though, which decreases the rating.
|
| ||||||||||||||
Contract – 3 years, 24 million
Pick Lost – 3rd round
After a 5 and half season stint in Omaha, the all time Cobb World Saves leader returns to the Pitbulls organization! The 35 year old reliever has excellent, yet not spectacular, ratings across the board, and superb durability. He has aged very well, not losing much off his ratings at all. He should be a very good reliever throughout the contract, and now that he’s picked up a few World Series rings in Omaha, he should be content playing out the twilight of his career for a perennial last place finisher.
Final Rating – 4 stars – Sean Hill rules! Nonetheless, his age is still a minor concern, even though he has aged extremely well to date.
|
| ||||||||||||||
Contract – 5 years, 35 million
Pick Lost – 3rd Round
The 31 year old crafty reliever has outstanding control, splits and velocity. He has 2 good pitches, and a 3rd that is just ok. Downside is he lacks one dominant pitch that a lot of relievers have, although the control and splits definitely make up for that. His durability isn’t outstanding, which raises some concerns about the number of innings he’ll be able to throw towards the end of the contract. He could be a very good closer, or be a lights out setup guy, as he has been for several seasons prior with Helena.
Final Rating – 4 stars – Brogna is an outstanding reliever. A very nice pickup for the Pick Pockets
|
| ||||||||||||||
Contract – 3 years, 23.7 million
Pick Lost – 4th round
Well, the Pitbulls sure had a hole burning in their pocket as they signed a 3rd type A free agent in 34 year old starter Morales. As mentioned prior, The Pitbulls pitching staff has struggled, so pitching help was a need. Morales is solid ratings wise across the board. His past 3 seasons for Scranton have been solid, he will be an upgrade to the Pitbulls rotation, although that really isn’t saying much. As with most 34 year olds – aging is a concern.
Final rating – 3 stars – provided he holds up against the test of father time, he should be fairly productive in the Pitbulls rotation for the next few seasons.
BEST OF THE TYPE B FREE AGENTS:
Now that we’ve covered the Type A Free Agents, here’s a quick recap of some Type B Free Agent signings we liked.
Willie Ramirez – RP – Mexico City – this guy could close and had a very nice season 10.
Tomas Tatis – SP – Omaha – bad news for all of us, Omaha got another very good pitcher. At least he didn’t go to Cleveland!
Al Ingram – RP – Scranton – This guy can be an outstanding reliver – only downside is age and durability
Woody Olerud – 1B – Mexico City – Superb contact hitter coming off an outstanding season
Pat Barber – LF – Helena – This 35 year old can still hit, and has aged well
Derrin Rogers – SP/RP – Detroit – The 35 year old can still pitch very well and be an excellent long reliver
As you can see it was quite the busy offseason for free agent signings. It will be interesting to see how these signings affect the division races. Well, that's all, hope you enjoyed it. Until next time, stay cool.
No comments:
Post a Comment