Devin Williams, who has figured things out down the
stretch, back into a high leverage role. What
about Devin Williams, everybody, strikeout looking, swinging
and swinging. 6 consecutive outstanding performances. It is
Devin Williams' time, he of the Airbender changeup,
how he feels back to his old self. Let's
get to the next signing that we learned of over
the weekend, and this does affect what we're talking
about here with the Blue Jays. Ryan Helsley,
2 for 28 to go to Baltimore. Now I've
got questions here, one of which we're not gonna
have an answer for. The other one we will
have an answer for by the end of the season
. Here's my first question. 2 for 28 is
the fact that he struggled as a Met after the
trade last year at the deadline, is that baked
into this number? In other words, would it
have been different if he hadn't been traded, stayed
in Saint Louis, and put up back to back
great years with the Cardinals? Uh, I don't
think so because I, that's. That's 14 million
to close, you know, it was floated around
that he was gonna be a starter and the Tigers
had talked to him about that. 14 million for
a closer is really where the market is at.
I mean, you look at Diaz, you look
at Chapman, you look at these guys, they're
always out there one year at a time trying to
earn their money and so I, I think he
landed where he probably should have. OK, here's
the next question. What does 2 for 28 do
for the rest of the relievers market, because there
are, depending on how you view it, either
4 or 5 legitimate bona fide closers on this year's
market. So what does this do for Devin Williams
? What does this do for Diaz? Does this
raise the floor? Does this raise the ceiling on
those deals, or was this. Kind of in
an envelope. I think Diaz, he threw off
to the side. He's been consistent, he's been
the best, and he's done this for a little
bit of time, and he's healthy, you know
, he got back from that knee injury. I
think that saved him in his arm. Devin Williams
stepped back just like Helsley stepped back. I think
they're in that same, same area. You can't
sit there and say you are a premier closer because
that's not what you did. And then there's Robert
Suarez, there's Pete Fairbanks. I mean, look
, if you, if you need a 9th inning
guy, this is a pretty good market for you
, because now, now the market has kind of
been set with Helsley 2 for 28. And we'll
see what that does for the rest of the money
. So by the end of the offseason, we'll
know what this contract did, if any, toward
the other four. We're never gonna know if in
fact last year's wonky times with the Mets affected his
, his overall value. We're never gonna know that
. That's right, we're talking about Dylan Sea who
signed for a reported 7-year,$210 million deal with
the Toronto Blue Jays coming off of an inexplicably weird
statistical season in his final year with the Padres.
The deal is reportedly to include some deferred money,
so that changes the AAV, but this is one
of the biggest names on the free agent starters market
, and he is reportedly headed to Toronto. Your
reaction? Well, first off, I was like
, wow, that's a lot of money, 210
million for Dylan Sea. But if you look in
deep into Dylan Sea, and I'm sure that's what
the, the Blue Jays did, he's healthy.
This guy posts up every start for the last 5
years. You may not be happy with the outings
, but man, he gives you numbers. This
guy's a gamer. Give me the ball. I'm
going after you. And I think mechanically his mechanics
are so simple that he's gonna stay healthy for a
lot of years to come. And watching what that
pitching staff's been able to do, the, the
coaching staff with their pitching in Toronto, I think
they looked at this said, hey, we can
, we can get a lot out of him.
But he's a, it's a nice fit. Well
, and, and give me a healthy pitcher,
I'll take him. I'm with you on that.
I would say this too on the healthy pitcher angle
, that was Corbin Burns. Yes, and he
, right, he missed a year with surgery.
That was Bronson Arroyo until it wasn't. At some
point they come, they come calling for you.
The health bugs come calling for you. But to
your point, he's been healthy, good track record
. He, his expected ERA last year was a
full point lower than how he finished, so it
would indicate he pitched in some bad luck. And
he had other teams that were hot on his tail
too. I know folks around the Cubs are disappointed
that he didn't land there because there was some thought
that he was a perfect fit with that team.
Here's a question for you. What does this do
, this deal, these numbers do for the rest
of the starters market out there? Still a lot
of names on that market. Does it, does
it bump everybody up, or does it matter?
It matters. I think it brings the floor up
a little bit. The ceiling guys are gonna get
the ceiling numbers, but 210 is a big number
. It's a big number. So you know there's
gonna be a couple of guys out there arguing about
it, but we'll see. But it definitely sets
the market, and I think it sets us up
where we've been headed towards the winter meetings, a
lot of guys signing. And what you need is
a big number like a player like this, and
now everybody can comp it, right, right,
and go from there. Here's the, here's the
next question for you. Put that rotation up there
, guys. Is this the best starting rotation in
the American League? I think it's a fair question
, Tony. I mean, there's other good ones
, but for me this is pretty tough to beat
. In the American League. Look, when you
can. Yeah, I mean, you start looking
at guys. What I look at Matt, I'm
where's your 4 and 5 star, right? I
mean those are 1s and 2s someplace else. This
, this is the best rotation in the American League
on paper for me. John Morosi, our own
insider, says he expects Schwarber to sign before Kyle
Tucker. Neither one of them will sign this week
, which means the winter meetings is going to be
crazy, which leads me to this Craig's List presented
by Ricola, all about Kyle Schwarber. He's in
the sweet spot, right? He's not gonna get
$400 million. He's 33 years old, doesn't play
position, but. Hit well over 50 home runs
. There are so many teams that are like,
maybe we can afford it. He might have more
suitors than any free agent right now. Here's my
list of the teams that are reportedly interested in our
kicking the tires. Who's most likely to get them
? Let's jump into number 7. There's talk that
the Pittsburgh Pirates being on this yonder. I'm not
buying this. Short porch right there. Ah,
it would be awesome. I love that they would
do this, but if they bring up a 19-year-old
to play shortstop, chances are they're not gonna spend
$200 million on. I agree with you, right
? No way, that happens. OK, so
I don't, Kyle in the lineup would change things
overnight for the Pittsburgh Pirates, but I don't see
the Pirates. They're number 7 on Greig's List.
Number 6, intriguing, very intriguing. I like
it. You like this? Come on, get
some guys next to Gunnar Henderson. Got Westberg,
you got Jackson Holliday, who had a great year
. Taylor Ward, who you just got right now
, and you put Kyle Schwarber hitting 3rd in that
little bandbox for lefties. Why not? Only number
6 on Greg's list. Let's move on to number
5. Where's Kyle Schwarber gonna go? Oh,
this is too high, Greg, too way too
high. We should be closer to number 1.
We should be maybe number 1, number 2.
Go back home. You're going back home. You
gotta. Get somebody for with Ellie de la Cruz
running back home. It comes down to this,
bro. You think the Reds are gonna outbid the
other teams on this list? What is he gonna
be worth? Now, would I love it?
Would I love it? Look at this. Hunter
Green, Ellie de la Cruz. Give me that
guy. Put Kyle Schwarber on the on deck circle
behind Ellie de la Cruz. I would love it
. It's time the Cincinnati Reds go get a big
bat, Kyle Schwarber. I'm just thinking this,
folks. I'm thinking this. So number 4 on
Greg's lists, where's Kyle Schwarber gonna go now look
. The Boston Red Sox, he, he,
he saved his career going to Fenway Park, and
he tore it up. We've got him hitting 3rd
in this lineup. Could you imagine if Kyle Schwarber
, you know, of all the ballparks, of
all the ballparks, Fenway Park, he has his
best career numbers there. I like this. This
is very intriguing. Darren Duran, Roman Anthony,
you get a guy like Kyle Schwarber who can kind
of give all the secrets to that young start hitting
leadoff. I wanted to put it closer to number
1, but there are so many other good teams
. How is he not number 1? Number 3
, Philly fans are gonna hate me. Number 3
, I got the, I got, I got
the Phillies number 3. If they were gonna bring
back Kyle Schwarber, the deal. Been done by
now. Why are you gonna let so many teams
want this guy? Obviously, Kyle Schwarber in the
lineup, it works. It's worked for years.
Again, he might hit 60 homers next year if
he went back to Citizens Bank Park, but I
think there's a reason he's a free agent right now
, and they didn't avoid this in the first place
. Therefore, the second most likely team that Kyle
Swiveer goes to, according to me, Steve Cohen's
like, I'm all in. This guy mashes.
I'm gonna go get Kyle Schwarber. You know what
? I'm gonna bet Kyle Sschwarber leadoff in front of
Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto. This means they're parting
ways with Pete Alonso. Pete Alonso wants more money
than Kyle Schwarber's asking for. This is a good
Plan B. This makes sense. This makes sense
right here. You like it cheaper than Pete Alonso
, right? You're gonna get 50. Runs and
130 stakes. Same thing as Pete Alonso. But
the number one most likely team to land Kyle Schwarber
in free agency is his former team, the Chicago
Cubs. The team that set him down, the
team that DFA him, the team that he won
a world championship and broke the curse with, yes
, he is beloved in Chicago. If you're gonna
let Kyle. Or leave, you still got to
win the offseason. They could let$400 million go
away.$400 million player, they give this guy
$200 million. Cubs fans would be overjoyed. They
would be celebrating in the streets to bring back Kyle
Schwarber, who would make the Cubs, I think
, the favorite in the Central. I like it
, but I still like Philly. I still like
Cincinnati, and I still like Boston ahead of the
Cubs. Really, really. For more on these
and other stories, keep it locked at MLB.com.
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