NEWSLETTER
Whenever I look ahead to future free agent classes – either here or on Twitter – I’m quickly, but rightfully reminded that any and all future shopping list could be undercut by a series of extensions or trades that take a player off the market entirely (Where’s Mookie Betts?). However, that’s just half of the story. Sometimes, if we’re all good boys and girls, Santa brings us some exciting and unexpected international free agents over which to pine. This year, for the Cubs, the primary target is Ha-Seong Kim, the 25-year-old middle infielder who could be the perfect fit for the offense, defense, short-term, long-term, and possibly even budget (pleeeeeeease let us have this one, Cubs). But he’s not the only one.
A Star Cuban Two-Way Player is Coming
Jesse Sanchez has another exciting player entering the fray … a 21-year-old, two-way player named Oscar Luis Colas, marketed as “The Cuban Shohei Ohtani,” which … yes, please:
Source: Colas has been declared a free agent by the Softbanks Hawks and will now petition for MLB free agency, the first step to signing with a team. When eligible, he will sign under international signing guidelines, likely during the period that starts Jan. 15. https://t.co/O2YmDO4GgU
— Jesse Sanchez (@JesseSanchezMLB) December 2, 2020
Colas, 21, has split his time between Japan and Cuba over the last couple years, slashing .271/.321/.462 as a 19-year-old in 2018 and .290/.351/.497 as a 20-year-old in 2020 … he also had a 2.70 ERA, but it was over just 3.1 IP. I don’t know too much about him, to be perfectly honest, but it’s pretty easy to see why teams would fall over each other to get a piece of him on either (or both) sides of the field.
A showcase is coming up and I suspect this is something we’ll want to follow closely. Unlike the Cubs big league budget, I imagine Chicago will want to max out their IFA spending cap, so landing Colas – and keeping that “eye” on the future, as Jed Hoyer puts it, could be within the scope of this organization (he says longingly):
Showcase dates and times are being discussed. He is represented by Charisse Dash and Alex Cotto at QC Sports. https://t.co/xAvyNDiuPf
— Jesse Sanchez (@JesseSanchezMLB) December 2, 2020
Note that the Cubs have already committed a great deal of their IFA pool to shortstop Cristian Hernandez, so they might have to acquire some more pool space in trade if they wanted to pursue Colas, depending on where his price tag goes. But thanks to the way the pandemic pushed this period back, that will be true for most other teams, too.
Japanese Center Fielder on the Way
Now that the Cubs have moved on from not one, but TWO former first-round outfielders (Schwarber and Albert Almora Jr.), the likely best plan of attack is moving Ian Happ from center (where’s average) to left (where I think he can be quite a bit better than average) before adding a center fielder from outside the organization.
And to that end, the Nippon-Ham Fighters of the NPB have made center fielder Haruki Nishikawa available to MLB via the posting system.
We’ve discussed Nishikawa as a Cubs target recently:
Not only is Nishikawa still quite young, he’s a Gold Glove outfielder, who can play all three spots out there (and played some infield in his younger years). He gets on base, steals bases, and doesn’t strike out. The Cubs already have plenty of players who can hit for power, what they need now is a guy who makes contact and gets on base to complement them and give pitchers a very different look. Nishikawa appears to be exactly that, albeit in a less-than-sure-fire-starter capacity.
Nisikawa has pretty much always hit for average and has gotten on base at over a .390 clip for 3 straight seasons (including 4 of the last 5 years), though he doesn’t hit for much power. That lack of power is mitigated slightly by 30-40 steal seasons (supported, in part, by his elite OBP), but it always raises the question of an ability to produce the rest of the offense against big league pitching (i.e., the better pitching you face, the less likely you are to succeed in batting average and walks if you don’t also have some power in your game). Overall, though, if he’s got a quality line drive approach and the ability to handle velocity, you might not see his production crushed by the lack of power.
But here’s the thing, Nishikawa is more of a complementary, super-utility addition, with a different style of play, than a true, everyday offensive engine … *AND* he’s left-handed, which, all things equal, isn’t ideal for this outfield/roster. I still think he’s a fit for the Cubs – especially at the right price – but missing out wouldn’t be the end of the world.
Yankees/Brantley/Plan B
The Yankees have made it clear that DJ LeMahieu is their primary target of the offseason – If I had to bet, that’s where he’ll end up – but they’ve also had two other notable player-acquisition storylines: (1) finding a catcher to replace Gary Sanchez and (2) becoming more left-handed.
The second part is why we thought Kyle Schwarber might’ve been a good fit in New York (and because Brian Cashman has seemingly been after him for a few years), but now that Schwarber is a free agent, he can be had for nothing more than money. They probably will kick the tired, but I digress.
Meanwhile, the Yankees may already have a Plan B to LeMahieu:
The Yankees need more left-handed hitting, and among the players they've had contact with: four-time All-Star Michael Brantley. But it seems possible that he would be a Plan B to D.J. LeMahieu; hard to imagine the Yankees would sign LeMahieu and Brantley.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) December 3, 2020
Like Olney, I don’t actually think they’d land both players – they’ve been pretty clear about their expected financial restraint this offseason – but Brantley could fit offensively even better than LeMahieu.
The Cubs have a giant hole at second base, a dire need for a contact bat, and a history with high-contact second baseman DJ LeMahieu. They will also not sign DJ LeMahieu.
Nationals/Realmuto/$$
“So I would say, staying in the National League, perhaps the most likely team to get Realmuto in that situation would be the Washington Nationals.” – Jon Morosi.
Oh?
"I do think the Nationals are in the market for a catcher and in so many ways [J.T.] Realmuto fits their club as well as he fits any other club." – @jonmorosi #MLBNHotStove pic.twitter.com/UQar65ptbm
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) December 4, 2020
So what you’re telling me is the Nationals suddenly don’t have any money to trade for Kris Bryant – even if the deal is offset by some other bad contracts – but they do have enough money to go after the likely priciest free agent of the offseason?
Well, no. Of course not. The truth is they do have the need to add on offense, and adding at third base is at least as reasonable as going after Realmuto. So the answer is they do have the money. That’s not to say they want Kris Bryant – the latest rumors seem to suggest that interest was overblown – but I’m just saying, holes are already being poked.
Odds and Ends:
• Keith Law has a breakdown of the six most exciting non-tenders – including Kyle Schwarber, David Dahl, Eddie Rosario, Brian Goodwin, Archie Bradley, and Carlos Rodon – all of whom would make a theoretically updated list of the 40-top available free agents, which is interesting. Check it out. He had some nice things to say about my preferred target, Archie Bradley.
• MLB.com has a piece up on the seven potential landing spots for Kyle Schwarber including the ………. ST. LOUIS CARDINALS (please, no). I’ll accept the Yankees, Twins, or Mariners, but would prefer not the Indians, Cardinals, Marlins, or Nationals.
• Dan Szymborski has some “win-now” moves for contenders, including the Mets adding Realmuto, the Reds trading for Francisco Lindor, the Brewers signing Andrelton Simmons (lol … that’s supposed to make them a win-now team?!), and the White Sox adding Ozuna, among other deals. But guess what? The Cubs aren’t even included. I don’t know if that’s because they’re not seen as a contender or not seen as a team that will add anything of significance, but I suspect it could be both! Yay! It’s fun to root for the Cubs!
May I present …. THE CHICAGO CUBS*
*May not include Theo Epstein, Kyle Schwarber, Albert Almora Jr., Jon Lester, Ben Zobrist, Len Kasper, or Kris Bryant.
— Michael Cerami (@Michael_Cerami) December 4, 2020
