If James Shields was going to make his decision by the end of the week, it didn’t come by the end of the business week.
UPDATE: From Scott Miller …
Sources: Talks between Padres, Shields have heated up & are gaining momentum. Shields likes idea of pitching in SD.
— Scott Miller (@ScottMillerBbl) February 7, 2015
I always find it difficult to parse things like “talks” doing things like “heating up,” so I usually settle on the gist: the Padres and Shields have likely resumed negotiations, and there’s a chance the deal gets done. It remains the case that, based on the information we have, Shields to the Padres seems like the most likely outcome, and teams like the Cubs are/were interested to the extent they could get a late-in-the-offseason bargain. Word about the Cubs leaked out, but if it’s true that the Cubs are interested only up to three years, then I presume there are several other teams out there as interested as the Cubs.
UPDATE 2: From Joe Frisaro, who is a Marlins beat writer …
can confirm #Padres indeed are favorite, if not a lock already, to sign #JamesShields as @ScottMillerBbl reported
— Joe Frisaro (@JoeFrisaro) February 7, 2015
Recall, the Marlins were one of the last teams not entirely ruled out on Shields this past week, so Frisaro may have occasion to know these things. My guess is Shields and the Padres are hammering out details at this point.
I wouldn’t be bummed about the Cubs not getting Shields because it was hard to see it happening from thing one, and the Cubs have had a fantastic offseason. I would be a tiny bit bummed to see him going to the Padres, though, as it would make them a fairly legit wild card contender, and that is, realistically, where we’re hoping the Cubs are fighting come August and September.
UPDATE 3: The word impasse …
Update: Impasse now between Padres & Shields after flurry of talks over last several hours. Sources: Ball in Shields' court.
— Scott Miller (@ScottMillerBbl) February 7, 2015
Even though this comes from Miller, who was the first to indicate that negotiations had resumed, I’m not sure this isn’t just an indication that the negotiations are proceeding as negotiations do. Given the steep cost to sign Shields for the Padres (the 13th overall pick) combined with his apparent affection for pitching at home, you’ve got a recipe for a tough negotiation (but one that ultimately gets done).
UPDATE 4: Hopefully Shields doesn’t do anything crazy tonight, because I’m likely to be out of pocket for a few hours. Obviously if something big breaks, I’ll try to have something as quickly as possible, but, until then, I’ll leave you with a few updates that suggest … well, pretty much more of the same:
The Padres and Shields are not at an impasse….rather Shields has to decide if he wants to accept their last and final offer….#Padres
— Jim Bowden (@JimBowdenMLB) February 7, 2015
While the #Padres badly want James Shields, and are the favorites, they're being told several teams remain heavily involved in the bidding.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) February 7, 2015
It's unknown which teams are left in the bidding process for James Shields, but one team was told that a decision is expected soon.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) February 7, 2015
To me, that kind of sounds like the Padres have dug in their heels, daring Shields to actually go elsewhere; meanwhile, the Shields camp is telling the Padres that there are other interested teams (perhaps to get the Padres up just a little bit more). I’d still expect that to be where Shields winds up at this point, but it’s not done yet.