Cleveland Sports Forum

As for Santana - NO one is getting 5 year deals these days, notice?

That was early in the offseason before the trend got crazy obvious. Less years is the thing for 30+ guys.

In retrospect Santana did damn well for himself. And so (Alonso) did the Indians.

Yandy Diaz reported to be OK after his hamstring injury.

I thought Rajai already had a job somewhere; I'd be happy to have him back

As of 28 minutes ago, he has a deal:

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Free agent outfielder Rajai Davis is at Cleveland Indians spring training camp in Goodyear, Arizona, and has signed a minor league deal with the Tribe. The club confirmed the move via Twitter at 2:25 p.m. on Saturday. Davis, who authored one of the most dramatic moments of Cleveland's 2016 World Series run with a game-tying homer in the eighth inning of Game 7 off then Chicago Cubs closer Aroldis Chapman, spent parts of the 2017 season with Oakland and Boston.

Davis hit .249 with 12 home runs and 48 RBI and led the American League with 43 stolen bases for the Indians in 2016. He was not re-signed by the club following the season.

The Indians retired jersey No. 20 last season to honor Hall of Famer Frank Robinson, meaning Davis was the last active player to wear the number on the field. Davis will wear No. 26 with the Tribe this time around, according to the club.

didn't have a super 2017: 233/294/353 but he still stole 29 bases in 36 tries. 83 games in center, 25 if left

civ ollilavad wrote:didn't have a super 2017: 233/294/353 but he still stole 29 bases in 36 tries. 83 games in center, 25 if left

Tito knows how to use guys like Rajai. Assuming he makes it

I do think it's probably obvious they do want to limit Zimmer's exposure to tough left handers. Probably most of them actually. And similar for Chisenhall although he seems to be somewhat comfortable against them.

It's easy to get antsy with the minor moves being made here.

But then I remember that compared to the frozen marketplace this winter the Indians are wildly active - lol.

They actually signed a real free agent (Alonso) which is more than most teams can say - including the so called big market teams!

Crazy.

But I love that the market and front offices are realizing that those long term flashy big spending deals that look so good up front mostly come back to bite. (a la Ellsbury, Miggy, Kemp, Hanley Ramirez, Tomas, and remember the Sandoval one? LOL!!) Those guys can't be given away without offering to pick up most of their contracts.

And those number crunchers from Ivy League schools are too smart to be fooled by those bullshitting agents now.

They know the worth of a player, based on these elaborate algorithms that factor all kinds of things in on sliding scales - and are not budging. And they know long term to 30+ age guys are stupid.

Add in the luxury tax's "repeater tax" which is quite nasty, and teams are just saying no.

It's the mighty Scott Boras who will be doing the budging this time.

By the way if Arizona picked up 2/3 of Yasmany Tomas' contract he would be a high upside power right handed outfielder. I'd bet the Tribe checked in on him but unlikely they'd pick up enough to make it worth their while.

That's the kind of creative options though that this front office is good at.

Davis is an insurance policy for Brantley.

No chance Brantley is ready opening day so Davis will at least start the season with the team. Guyer is apparently ready to resume game action so they and Upton give us 3 RH OF to compete for a couple spots. I'd be surprised if Davis doesn't win one.

Victor Martinez - DH - Tigers

Victor Martinez (heart) said Monday that he was able to do his normal offseason training program.

Good news. Martinez missed the final month of the season with an irregular heartbeat and eventually underwent a cardiac ablation procedure, but he felt fine during the offseason and will enter spring training with no limitations. If healthy, the 39-year-old is projected to serve as the Tigers' regular designated hitter this season, though he could be a logical trade candidate during the summer.

Mark says: This guy would fit on this team as a DH who still can hit - and we all remember he crushed lefties. Back to his original team to finish out his career and at a dirt cheap price works for me. But won't happen.

Would be nice to see Victor come home. Maybe we can get him in a trade from whoever signs him now at the trade or waiver deadlines this summer.

He's on Detroit now and Detroit would gladly deal him/Miggy if some team would take some of that money.

That tank..err...rebuilding thing there you know.

Eric Hosmer - 1B - Royals
Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports that Eric Hosmer is at the Padres' spring training complex Monday in order to take his physical.

Assuming there aren't any red flags in the results, the Padres will make the contract with their new first baseman official and introduce Hosmer at a press conference Tuesday.

Hosmer will make $105 million in the first five years of the deal ($5 million of that is a signing bonus) and $39 million in the three years after that if he doesn't exercise his opt-out.

So actually, when you look under the hood, this deal is consistent with the new way to do business.

Although it's technically an 8 year deal, that is laughable.

So first 5 years are at $105 million or $21 million per year. THAT is the real contract.

$39 for 3 years after that and he can opt out. At $13 million per year there's a darn good chance he opts out at that point and even if he doesn't San Diego is already out of the bulk of the contract and pays him relative peanuts.

Hosmer is only 28.

Same here. Teams tired of paying big money over too many years to guys who are then over the hill - though JD is higher end than Hosmer and can DH in his older years

J.D. Martinez - OF

ESPN's Pedro Gomez reports that a deal between the Red Sox and J.D. Martinez is "done."

It's a five-year, $110 million contract with opt outs after the second and third years of the deal.

The deal is front-loaded, as Martinez will make $50 million in the first two years and $72 million in the first three, per Evan Drellich of NBC Sports Boston.