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Drew VerHagen To Sign With NPB’s Nippon-Ham Fightershttps://t.co/p3ANSQMg4T
— Cardinals Nation 247 (@CardsNation247) January 12, 2024
The San Francisco Giants and right-handed pitcher Jordan Hicks agreed on a four-year, $44 million contract, league sources confirmed. ESPN was the first to report the news. by Katie Woo.
They say Hicks will be a starter….I have doubts that will last, but there is recent precedent with Lugo
Does anyone else think it is strange that VerHagen signed with the Canned Hams this early? He wasn’t horrible last year. It seems like he would have landed a ML contract at some point before opening day.
Was hoping Hicks would come back here for bullpen duty, but 4 years is a risky commitment given his history. As for Knizner, I would have been okay with him as our #1 last year and not signed Contreras. The obvious hindsight being 20/20, we could have done that and used the Contreras money on pitching.
But Willie is our guy for the next few years and he does have a good bat, so at this point you play the hand you are dealt.
Ortega played with Memphis for all of 2015. He has almost 1,300 MLB plate appearances with six teams, mostly with the Cubs in 2021 and 2022.
VerHagen “improved” his negative fWAR from -0.6 in 2022 when hurt to “just” -0.2 in his healthy 2023. Why would that justify an MLB contract? IMO, he was smart to take the $8 MM in Japan.
Speaking of WAR, Knizner has never posted a positive fWAR in his career, even in 2023. Even with hindsight, he isn’t good enough to be the starter and he is not going to start in Texas, either. Jonah Heim is really good and is younger than Andrew. Knizner is a great “glue” guy, though, and I wish him well.
Despite all the BS, Contreras posted the top OPS on the entire 2023 team.
No way would the Cards go anywhere near 4/$44 for Hicks. I can’t blame them. They could get a veteran starter every year for that money! 😉
We will see if the strength of the Giants’ resolve to stick with Hicks starting is more than the Cardinals’.
Good luck to Hicks but I am glad the Cardinals chose not to give him $44M for a chance to be a starter or a reliever. No thanks.
At 27 and with a live arm, the Giants are gambling that they will have Hicks in his prime years, and he stays healthy. Then the other factor is whether or not he can keep his command in line.
If all of that falls in to place, they have a gem. It never quite worked here, but the Cardinals rushed him to the bigs too soon and he over-extended his physical limits by being placed in high leverage situations.
Maybe if he can build starter stamina, learn to pace himself, and bring the heat only when he really needs it he will be an all-star. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. I hope he does well out there.
That’s a lot of “ifs” for Hicks. At $44MM, I doubt BillyMo is lamenting the outcome. And from Hicks’ perspective, it seems like his best chance for a career upswing is somewhere other than StL.
Yes, I understand the Cardinals and other teams not wanting to accept the risk in committing to Hicks for 4 years. Success in most any endeavor comes from a certain amount of risk taking though. But we all have our limits and tolerances to risk, whether that be personal or an organization.
Agree, bikemike. And the tolerance for risk increases exponentially when it’s somebody else’s money.
I agree JJ on middle relief. That only takes priority to backup 2B players at this point. We have gobs of both. A better starter or another back end reliever would be the best money spent.
I believe the team is done adding except maybe a minor league shortstop signing basically another Fermin in case Fermin goes down. But the 40-man is probably set. I don’t love our rotation. ZIPS feels pretty good about it though so there’s that. I think we should be average or good most everywhere else. That should be good enough to win the division barring what the Cubs decide to do. I’m assuming they’ll take on one more notable free agent. But we’ll see.
I don’t mean to pile on, but they have a bunch of young starters who have no place to start (StL or Mem). If they aren’t good long relief candidates, what are they?
That should be good enough to win the division barring what the Cubs decide to do. I’m assuming they’ll take on one more notable free agent. But we’ll see.
Oh you can bet the Cubs aren’t done yet. I can see them making two or three more significant moves.
they have a bunch of young starters who have no place to start
Hence, Roby, Hjerpe, Graceffo, McGreevey, Rajcic, Robberse, Bedell …… Every one of these guys looks like a surefire rotation piece. Then, there’s Thompson. He said all the right things in his Winter Warmup interview. I’m looking forward to seeing how well he can back it up.
I agree with mud about that bunch being prospective starters. That’s why I wish they would have Liby, Thompson and Rom work up as relievers. We already know they don’t look good enough as starters.
As expected…
Welcome Waino! 🤝
FOX Sports adds to its championship-caliber rotation, signing former @Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright as a full-time @MLBONFOX analyst.
📝: https://t.co/TpTRAz6O4b pic.twitter.com/wAcfpBs0iF
— FOX Sports PR (@FOXSportsPR) January 18, 2024
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