Updating the Hottest Questions of the 2014-2015 MLB Offseason, Week 7
Major League Baseball is a month-and-a-half into the offseason and already oh-so-many moves have been made. But there's no shortage of rumors and speculation—and questions—around a number of free agents and trade candidates, as well as teams' objectives and plans of attack.
Some of the latest buzz centers on the surprisingly aggressive San Diego Padres, the bidding for star Korean shortstop Jung-Ho Kang and why there doesn't seem to be much chatter around free agent James Shields.
Having covered a number of topics last time, what better way to continue taking the temperature of the hot stove than by running through a batch of the hottest questions to cover the latest potential transaction action across the sport?
See, that's a question in and of itself, although the four to follow are a bit more meaningful. Promise.
Are the San Diego Padres for Real?
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The San Diego Padres haven't been all that relevant or competitive for quite some time. In the past seven seasons, the club has but one winning campaign, and last year's 77 wins were the most since 2010.
Enter A.J. Preller, the franchise's new general manager, and the Padres are all of a sudden very relevant, if not yet competitive—only because it's unclear how all of his maneuvering is going to play out when the actual games start.
In the past week alone, Preller, who took over in early August, has acquired Matt Kemp, Wil Myers, Derek Norris and now Justin Upton, according to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports. All four are All-Star-caliber players and, most importantly, good hitters.
(The Kemp acquisition hit a snag due to some questionable medicals, but the deal went through Thursday night, per Corey Brock of MLB.com.)
While San Diego's pitching staff has been good, it's no secret that the Padres were in dire, desperate need of offense, having finished last season dead last in runs (535—or just 3.3 per game) and with a .226/.292/.342 aggregate batting line that was historically bad.
Kemp, Upton, Myers and Norris certainly will help, as would bounce-back seasons from Jedd Gyorko and Will Venable and a breakout from a youngster such as Rymer Liriano.
But is that enough to make a dent in the NL West, where the Los Angeles Dodgers once again appear to be the on-paper favorite and the San Francisco Giants are coming off their third championship in five years?
Answer? TBD. But at least Preller has brought some hope and hype—and offense!—to San Diego for the first time in a long time.
Who Will Win the Bidding for Jung-Ho Kang?
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Having been posted by the Nexen Heroes of the Korean Baseball Organization on Monday, Korean shortstop Jung-Ho Kang should soon find out for which MLB team he might play.
Because the KBO still uses the old posting process, final blind bids are due at 5 p.m. ET on Friday, and word of the winning bid should come out soon thereafter. If the Heroes accept the highest amount, that allows the MLB club to negotiate exclusively with Kang for 30 days. If a deal doesn't come to fruition, Kang returns to Korea.
The winning blind bid could be upward of $15 million, per Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News, with Kang then potentially scoring a contract in the $20 million to $30 million range over three years.
UPDATE: Saturday, Dec. 20
Yonhap News Agency reported that the Nexen Heroes accepted a $5 million bid for Kang, per CSN Bay Area. The MLB team that won the bidding is unknown.
---End of Update---
Original Text
The 27-year-old star shortstop had an impressive 2014 in KBO, posting a .356/.459/.739 line with a whopping 40 home runs in 117 games. That's why there's a good amount of interest, even though no position player has gone from the KBO to MLB yet.
Keith Law of ESPN (subscription required) wrote the following about Kang, whom he ranked as the No. 15 free agent heading into the offseason:
"I see a swing that will generate legit plus power even once he leaves his hitter-friendly home park in the Yangcheon District of Seoul. Kang has a huge leg kick and gets his lead foot down late, which could create timing issues, but the swing is rotational, and I don't think the power surge he has had the past three years is strictly a function of the rising level of offense in the KBO. It's a power swing more than a hitting-for-average swing, which makes it somewhat more important that he stay in the middle infield.
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"He's a good bat and could be an average defender," big league pitcher Dana Eveland told Marc Carig of Newsday after Eveland faced Kang when he pitched in the KBO in 2013. "He's a better player than people are giving him credit for."
That said, the KBO is a hitter friendly league and there are questions about Kang's ability to handle short in the majors. If shortstop is out of the question, depending on the team that gets him, Kang should have the opportunity to play second or third base in 2015.
That could make him a fit for the Los Angeles Angels, who just traded away Howie Kendrick; or the Oakland Athletics, who need someone to play up the middle.
There's also the Toronto Blue Jays and Chicago White Sox, both of whom are on a mission to matter in 2015 but don't currently have much in the way of second basemen.
The New York Mets and Minnesota Twins also have needs at short, but the Mets have concerns about Kang's D there, which makes that destination seem unlikely, according to Mike Puma of the New York Post.
Just a hunch: The top bid might be turned in by the Blue Jays.
How Does the Latest Kenta Maeda News Impact the Pitching Market?
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Unlike the situation with Kang, who is an intriguing position player being added to the open market at a time when just such a thing is sorely needed, teams hoping that another quality arm would be inserted into the free-agent pool of starting pitchers received some disappointing news this week.
"Hiroshima Carp ace Kenta Maeda’s chances of playing in the big leagues next season were all but erased on Thursday," according to The Japan Times, "when the Central League club informed him that they will not allow him to leave via the posting system."
Maeda, 26, posted a 2.60 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 7.7 K/9 in 2014 and has been one of Nippon Professional Baseball's best starters for several seasons. In mid-November, he took on the challenge of facing MLB hitters in the Japan Series, in which he hurled five shutout innings, allowing just two hits and generally looked like a big league pitcher.
"He can pitch in the big leagues," Rockies first baseman Justin Morneau said, per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. "I'm sure we'll see him over there. He's got good stuff."
Alas, Maeda won't be joining fellow Japanese stars Yu Darvish and Masahiro Tanaka in the majors. At least, not yet.
The right-hander will remain with the Carp for another year, at which point this whole will-he-or-won't-he posting situation likely will unfold again. Because he is under control through the 2017 season, Maeda can only come to the majors before then if his club chooses to post him.
Since that is not the case, there's one less mid-rotation (or better) option for a big league team to target.
That's certainly good news for the likes of Max Scherzer and James Shields, who get to keep the supply and demand in their favor. Maeda checks in behind them as a pitcher, but he presented a chance to be a better value than both of those big-name, big-money-seeking starters.
Why Hasn't There Been Much News About Free Agent James Shields?
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Speaking of Shields, he's one of the high-end free agents who hasn't yet signed and hasn't had much speculation and buzz surrounding him.
That's what it feels like compared to what happened with the Jon Lester sweepstakes and what's going on with Scherzer and his $200 million asking price.
So let's create a little intrigue around Shields. The right-hander, who turns 33 on Dec. 20, might not be a true No. 1 starter like Lester and Scherzer have proved they can be, but he does have—count 'em—eight straight seasons of 31 or more starts and 203 or more innings.
If that's not impressive enough as is, Shields also sports a 111 ERA+ for his career, meaning he's been 11 percent better than league average.
If you prefer the more standard ERA, Shields has notched a 3.17 mark the past four years, to go along with a 1.15 WHIP and 8.0 strikeout-per-nine-innings rate.
But Shields doesn't come without questions, as Matthew Kory writes for Forbes.com:
"Shields is older than Jon Lester, older than Max Scherzer, older than Cole Hamels, [Jordan] Zimmermann, and most every other ace-type pitcher a team might acquire to front the rotation. Somewhat oddly, age hasn’t particularly been a problem for Shields to date. While most pitchers lose velocity (and thus strikeouts) as they age, Shields has actually gained velocity on his fastball, topping out this season at a career high average velocity of 93.74. That stands in opposition to the typical pitcher aging pattern in which pitchers start losing velocity quickly at about age 30.
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Then there's the whole "Big Game" moniker that doesn't work at all given that Shields' career postseason ERA is 5.46 in 59.1 innings.
On one hand, there's a case to be made that Shields should be trying to find a new team before Scherzer does just to make sure the market doesn't dry up on him.
But on the other, Shields might be better off waiting out even Scherzer to make himself the final big-name free agent on the board, which would put him in play for any team who missed out on Lester and/or Scherzer.
Plus, because Shields doesn't come with a $155 million or $200 million price tag, plenty of teams could be in play, thus making for some leverage between, say, the San Francisco Giants, Boston Red Sox and Texas Rangers, among others in need of pitching.
Statistics are accurate through the 2014 season and courtesy of MLB.com, Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted.
To talk baseball or fantasy baseball, check in with me on Twitter: @JayCat11.
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