Hub World

Quite a few shocking developments in the past few days! If you’re having trouble keeping up, fear not: check out Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of my signing recaps to get up to speed.

By now, you know the drill. Let’s get to the goods:

• Freddie Freeman: 6 years, $162M to the Dodgers. You just have to wonder some of the behind the scenes on this one. The Dodgers aren’t paying Freddie a whole lot more than the Braves just signed Matt Olson for after trading for him. Sure, Freddie is a cool five years older, but your cornerstone veteran, probable future Hall of Famer still in the peak of his career? Doesn’t make sense to me. The Dodgers’ lineup is now looking like an All Star team.
• Kris Bryant: 7 years, $182M to the Rockies. Wanna talk head scratching moves? You might scratch your head bald thinking this one over. The Colorado Rockies, who just this year traded their star third baseman Nolan Arenado away, turn around and sign another star third baseman with almost the same contract details. I just don’t understand it, and apparently neither does Nolan.
• Zack Greinke: 1 yar, $13M to the Royals. Back where it all began for the veteran right hander. Although this may be more for personal than competitive reasons, it’s nice to see him go back to KC.
• Jake Diekman: 2 years, $8M to the Red Sox. I’ve been a fan of this guy for a while. Provides a lot of value out of the pen, and when healthy can still give 40-60 innings of solid relief.
• Charlie Culberson: To the Rangers. Championship move.
• Dave Robertson: To the Cubs. Health has been a major concern for the 36 year old. Signing him may be exciting, but that’s only if you ever see him actually play. 19 appearances since 2019? Not a ton.
• Donovan Solano: 1 year, $4.5M to the Reds. Donny Barrels finds a new home. Maybe some of those contact numbers will transform into power numbers in that ballpark – probably not, but who knows.
• Matt Duffy: 1 year, to the Angels.
• Nick Martinez: 4 years, $25.5M to the Padres. Good rotation help here for the Padres. Last year was a colossal disappointment for San Diego, so expect them to keep grabbing arms where they can.
• Greg Holland: To the Rangers.
• Chasen Shreve: To the Mets.
• Eddie Rosario: 2 years+ option, $18M to the Braves. Atlanta brings back the heavy hitting outfielder. Have to feel good about this if you’re the defending champs.
• Joc Pederson: 1 year, $6M to the Giants. Another team for Joc, who feels on his way to “journeyman status”. He could play a big part of that lineup, but I also feel like we could just forget he’s there halfway through the season.
• Archie Bradley: 1 year, $3.75M to the Angels. The entire world has been begging the Angels to go in on a pitching staff to stop wasting Trout and Ohtani’s prime. This is a small step towards that direction.
• Daniel Norris: 1 year, $1.75M to the Cubs. The former Hilltopper will load the van up and head to Chicago. Happy to see him still getting a chance.

Will stay on top of things as more signings happen. There are still some big names out there we’re waiting on, and will be interesting to see what happens.

Credits again to Jon and Ken.