1) That's a big contract
Friday was one of the biggest offseason days I can recall, with five different players agreeing to new contracts worth at least $15 million a season. However the Indians were not among the teams adding any talent.
The Mariners have agreed to a 10-year, $240 million deal with Robinson Cano, in effect putting their share of the new national TV contract money towards one excellent player. That excellent player is already 31 though, so Seattle is putting a ton of eggs in a fairly old basket, which could be a recipe for disaster.
Jonah Keri likes the deal a lot more than most, arguing that Cano has a decent chance of providing enough value in the contract's early years to justify the large overpay it will almost certainly be in its final years (also pointing out that $24M won't be as big a salary in 2023 as it is right now).
To me the deal makes sense if Seattle really goes for it during the next couple seasons, while Cano is still a superstar and Felix Hernandez too. They've got a lot of very good prospects, who could arrive soon, and/or be traded for other strong assets. That's why the rumor that they're pursuing a trade for David Price makes a lot of sense.
FanGraphs' Dave Cameron takes a look at how teams should value Price, and concludes that Seattle should not give up top pitching prospect Taijuan Walker in order to land the former Cy Young winner.
2) Other American League moves:
The Yankees re-signed Hiroki Kuroda to a 1-year, $16 million deal. I like that very much for him, because any time you can land a good (but old) pitcher with only a 1-year commitment, it's a win.
The Yankees also went out and added Carlos Beltran on a 3-year, $45 million deal. They already have a lot of aging bats, but the small outfield in the Bronx should allow Beltran to stay in right field for a while, and he should put up good hitting numbers for another year or two.
The Red Sox re-signed Mike Napoli to a 2-year, $32 million deal. Napoli reportedly had a couple somewhat bigger offers, but apparently enjoys playing in Boston and likes his chances of getting another deep playoff run there.
3) National League moves:
The Mets signed Curtis Granderson to a 4-year, $60 million deal. That seems like a lot of money for his age-33 to 36 seasons, given that his bat declined quite a bit during the last couple years, but if he's healthier going forward the contract could work out pretty well for New York.
The Nationals signed Nate McLouth to a 2-year, $10.75 million deal. He's a pretty average hitter and a pretty average fielder, so that seems like a decent move, small as it is.
The Marlins are close to a 2-year, $7.5 million deal with Garret Jones. Jones is nothing special, but I'm surprised he couldn't do a little better than that. The Marlins are probably surprised too, because god knows they aren't into paying for anything these days.
4) Indians prospect video database
If you're interested in seeing footage of dozens of Tribe prospects in action, you should check out this very cool site, which has tons of clips of all sorts of guys, including 2013 draftees Clint Frazier and Dace Kime, each of whom got their professional career off to a good start this summer.
5) Defensive metrics
We often argue about players here (obviously), and one of the sticking points that comes up regularly is defensive value. If WAR says two players are equal, but one of them derives more of their value from their glove, that player's actual worth is often put into question. Over at Sports on Earth, Christopher Cwik breaks down how some of the major advanced defensive metrics work.
6) Off topic (not a list this week)
The world of man dimmed a bit Thursday, as the passing Nelson Mandela took an incredible individual from our count.
If you don't know much about the man, take some time to read up on him, as he had quite a life. One interesting piece of his history is that in his youth, Mandela was a boxer, and remained a fan of the sweet science throughout the rest of his life. Grantland's Keegan Hamilton takes a look at that aspect of Mandela.