Hot Stove and Winter Meetings

Assuming Boras is Choo's agent.....why would he be playing hardball for Choo but let Ellsbury be one of the first to sign this off-season?

Ellsbury was not in a great bargaining position after he missed over half of 2012 and almost 30 games in 2013. And especially after the power dropoff. I think hitting only 13 HRs the last 2 years made a lot of people assume either that the injuries had reduced his power hitting ability or that his 32 HR season was a fluke. If that is true then his value is as a leadoff hitter. Stolen bases while popular with fans is not considered a valuable asset to most teams. At least not one worth giving millions for. OBP on the other hand is very valued these days and Choo is riding that wave with .423 last year. Any team with power hitters to put behind him will be interested. Thus higher demand.

Combine the power and OBP advantages and consider the OPS of the two the last 4 years. In fact look at where Choo ranks league wide. I bet he ranks higher than you might first think.

It is also possible Ellsbury told his agent he wanted to be a Yankee. After all that has benefits that are hard to put a dollar value on. More endorsement money available. Have an outstanding year and allstar votes are almost a given.

Going into this off-season Ellsbury was the 2nd ranked FA hitter behind Cano. Don't forget the huge defensive difference between Choo and Ellsbury.

Also, does signing for 7 years and 153 million (a pretty nice haul) actually indicate Ellsbury and Boras either signed from a position of weakness or merely "gave in" to the best available offer? Was any other team going to give Ellsbury 8-10 years or more than 22 million a year if he and Boras had decided to wait?

Good point. While Choo does not have the big season where he led league in homers or steals, he has shown more consistency. So teams may consider him worth less of a gamble and thus might consider the longer term deal.

Plus it is yet to be determined what the per season requirement might be on Choo. He may be wanting the extra year but that does not mean total dollars will be substantially more.

If Cruz signs with Seattle Rangers may cave on Choo. Though if they feel Martin can handle the leadoff slot Choo would be a much lower priority. In that event a LH power bat might be a better fit for LF. That would give them an alternating L-R lineup that would be difficult for opposing managers to match up with.

L Martin
R Elvis
L Fielder
R Beltre
L LF power bat
R Rios
L Moreland as DH
R Soto
S Profar

Cards use offseason to shore up SS, CF, and 3B/2B.
Without moving a pitcher.
No doubt if anyone goes down or is having a bad season they can rent a player with a young arm or take advantage of a desperate team at trade deadline .
They look like contenders for years to come.

Assuming Boras is Choo's agent.....why would he be playing hardball for Choo but let Ellsbury be one of the first to sign this off-season?

It is apparent Boras thinks Choo is worth as much or more than Ellsbury.
Apparently yankees do not agree if the rumors are correct that they offered 7 years 140 mil for Choo and Boras turned it down.

Just read Rangers have signed Choo. Guess Boris did not consider Choo worth more than Ellsbury after all.

A lot of money and now have 2 long term contracts which could end up biting them toward the end. But for next year should be a good mix. Swapped Kinsler for Choo at leadoff should provide more baserunners. Rangers planned on Lance to be #3 hitter last year and after that fizzled never really settled that slot. Fielder should be more reliable. Concerned a little this will take away the running game for Elvis which is one of his potential strengths.

I was not sure I wanted Rangers to add another big contract but they kind of painted themselves in a corner. Trading Kinsler and Gentry left big holes at leadoff and LF and Fielder hitting solo HRs was not going to help.

Just read Rangers have signed Choo. Guess Boris did not consider Choo worth more than Ellsbury after all..

Nope. And it also shows Boras got a pretty good deal for Ellsbury, considering his injury history and that he's only had one year of significant power. Although all these 7+year deals have problems, I like this deal for the Rangers. Considering Hunter Pence--a player whom I love but would have attracted less interest than Choo on the open market--got 5 years at 18 million from the Giants, the Rangers did ok by getting Choo for slightly under 19 million a year. Even though they're paying Choo for two extra years, they can feel secure in knowing that one of his greatest skills--getting on base--won't diminish too much during the tail end of the contract.

That being said, it has definitely been an interesting offseason for the AL West; and Oakland, Texas, and the Angels--with Seattle as a (very) dark horse-- should all contribute to a pretty compelling division race.