Below are Tim's top 10 free agents and where he expects them to sign:
- Robinson Cano - Yankees
- Jacoby Ellsbury - Mariners
- Shin-Soo Choo - Tigers
- Brian McCann - Rangers
- Masahiro Tanaka - Dodgers
- Ervin Santana - Yankees
- Matt Garza - Nationals
- Hiroki Kuroda - Yankees
- A.J. Burnett - Pirates
- Mike Napoli - Red Sox
Guessing where free agents will go is a tough job, and guessing where they will go this early in the offseason is even harder. So, while it's a little fickle to disagree with Tim's predictions there are a few that I might question.
The Tigers are committed to winning now as their owner is both wealthy and old and would like to win a championship in his lifetime. However, they also have a lot of money already committed for 2014, and spending this offseason could be tight. With that said, Shin-Soo Choo hitting ahead of Miguel Cabrera is certainly compelling and maybe Tim is on to something there.
C.C. Sabathia and Ivan Nova are the only guaranteed starting pitchers for the Yankees on the roster right now, so there is no doubt that they'll acquire some this offseason. I agree that the Yankees will bring back Kuroda, but I wonder if the Yankees will shell out the money for Ervin Santana considering they still might be trying to get under the $189 million threshold to avoid a harsh luxury tax penalty. Now, there is certainly no guarantee that the Yankees do that because well, they're still the Yankees but for what it's worth, they recently resigned Jeter to a contract that would count less against the tax even though it will pay him more money. The point of all this is to say that Masahiro Tanaka would also cost more overall dollars, but less against the luxury tax, as his posting fee doesn't count towards that number. I will never bet against the Dodgers acquiring their guy but if anyone could out bid them it's the Yankees.
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