Keuchel & Kimbrel: What's your take?

[KCRfan1]

Originally Posted by mckinneyj

Because both were made "qualifying offers" by their prior teams, if they sign with another team prior to this year's June draft, the prior team will be due draft pick compensation from the signing team. Apparently no team is willing to meet both the asking price of these players and also lose a draft pick to do so.

With respect to Kimbrel, if the Sox were to re-sign him they would hit the next level of salary cap overage which would then result in them having their 1st pick in next draft slide down 10 spots lower in the order - this combined with Kimbrel's asking price has kept them from re-signing. There's also that Kimbrel has not performed particularly well in the post season (recall that the Sox used their starters in relief and left Kimbrell on the bench at the end of last year's series) and seems (IMO) to be in general decline (still very good but not what he used to be and maybe risky to sign long term).

+1

Couple that with both players outrageous asking price and contract lengths at the beginning of FA I'm not surprised either player remains unsigned. Keep in mind, neither player was in a hurry to sign and were content to stick to what they felt they were " worth ". EVEN if a team decided to sign one of these players the player would not be immediate help to the team. The player would need to see game action in the minors before joining the MLB team. That's probably another 2 weeks lost.

[packs]

I"m not surprised about Keuchel. He's over 30 now and was very hittable last season. He even gave up more hits than innings pitched. I wouldn't be interested in signing for more than a few million dollars. If he wanted to get paid, he should have accepted the qualifying offer and had a bounce back year. Why he thought he would have earned a multi-year deal after his performance last season is more puzzling than anything.

Kimbrel is on the wrong side of 30 too. Closers typically have a short shelf life. Very few are elite for more than a decade and Kimbrel is entering his 10th season. He still wants elite closer money but he's no longer likely to be an elite closer.

Both of these players suffer from being too complacent in their careers. They should have accepted the qualifying offers and proved their mediocre (post/regular) seasons were aberrations instead of a window into the future that people assume they were.

[chaddurbin]

I think if they are signed after may 1st the compensatory pick goes away. Of course if they stick to their guns of wanting 4+ years deals they will remain unsigned. This is not the mid 2000s where you suddenly get better after you turn 30.

[Chicosbailbonds]

Originally Posted by chaddurbin

I think if they are signed after may 1st the compensatory pick goes away. Of course if they stick to their guns of wanting 4+ years deals they will remain unsigned. This is not the mid 2000s where you suddenly get better after you turn 30.

The pick goes away on the day of the baseball draft.