FOWLER GETTING PAID
A year ago Dexter Fowler couldn’t get anyone to pay him. A year later, after being the same guy he was in 2015 in 2016, he’s gonna get paid as it sounds like the Cardinals are going to pay Fowler upwards of $82.5 million dollars over five years. What a difference a year makes.
Fowler, who will turn 31 in March, is coming off a 2-year run in which he averaged 15 homers, 17 steals, 93 runs scored and 47 RBI. He also owns a .366 career OBP, an impressive number in today’s game, and is coming off a season of a .393 mark, a career best. A solid citizen, a solid defender, and a solid offensive performer, Fowler will still earn, roughly, $100 million less than Jason Heyward. Sometimes life isn’t fair. It’s OK to admit it.
HERE IS MY ARTICLE ON ALL THE MOVEMENT FROM THE WINTER MEETINGS.
ANGELS BULLPEN
The Angels don’t have a closer at the moment, and it’s not clear when we should expect them to have one. Manager Mike Scioscia says that Huston Street, Cam Bedrosian and Andrew Bailey will all be competing for the spot in spring training.
Bailey saved six games for the Phillies last year as he appeared in 45 games, his highest total since 2010. Injuries have crushed his career, and it’s not like his 1.33 WHIP, 3.50 BB/9 rate and 1.44 HR/9 mark from last season inspire confidence.
If this is a battle of experience and success, there is no debate – the winner will be Street. One of the better non-elite closers in big league history, Street has 324 career saves and has saved at least 20 games nine times. Many of you might have forgotten that he actually saved 40-games in 2014 and 2015. Seriously, look it up. He was limited to just nine saves last season, over a mere 22.1 innings, and with concerns about his health an ongoing matter you can see why the Angels aren’t committing to him yet. His velocity was at a career low 88.2 mph last season, his K/9 rate plummeted to a sickly 5.64, and his walk rate exploded to 4.84 per nine (both career worsts – by miles). Concerns abound.
Bedrosian just turned 25 years old and is likely the early favorite for the role. In 45 outings last season he posted stellar numbers including a 1.12 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 11.38 strikeouts per nine and he allowed a mere homer all season long. Toss in a 49.5 percent ground ball rate and it’s pretty clear if he pitches well in spring that it will be hard not to award him the 9th inning gig.
HERE IS THE ONGOING ARTICLE CALLED OUR MLB FREE AGENT TRACKER WHICH LET’S YOU KNOW WHERE ARE THE FREE AGENTS WILL BE CALLING HOME IN 2017.
THIS AND THAT
Chase Headley will remain with the Yankees according to GM Brian Cashman. “I've turned down what was presented to me,” Cashman said. “I don't think there's going to be any other opportunities that way at the time being. I'm still getting hits on Brett Gardner but the Headley stuff, I've decided to pass on and keep Chase.” The 32 year old Headley is coming off a season of .251-14-51-58 over 529 plate appearances. The reason Cashman is keeping Headley is because no one is offering him anything of value for the boring third sacker. As for Gardner, the 33 year old outfielder is coming off his worst season since 2009. Gardner still scored 80 runs, and stole 16 bases, but his power fell to seven homer and he drove in just 41 runs. He can still get on base though as his .351 OBP shows (a four-year high).
Mark Trumbo is still looking for a home, and it sounds like the Rockies would like that home to be a mile high. Trumbo owns a career .251 batting average and .303 OBP. Both of those numbers are poor, and even if he were to go to Colorado those numbers likely wouldn’t improve much. However, he would be a homer/run producing monster. Coming off his best season, one that included 47 homers and 108 RBI, Trumbo moving to Colorado would cause his value to go up in the eyes of many (duh).
Kolten Wong is on a few team’s wish lists. Sounds like the Cardinals will keep the 26 year old, at least for now. He’s coming off a season with a mere .240/.327/.355 slash line, rather embarrassing numbers if we are being honest, as he hit five homers and stole seven bases over 121 games. So much promise. So much skill. So little production. It will be difficult to roster him in mixed leagues on draft day, but there is enough talent that a 15/25 season isn’t bonkers to dream about.
Ray Flowers can be heard Monday/Tuesday and Thursday/Friday, 8 PM EDT, Wednesday 7 PM EDT on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 9 PM EDT PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).