Free agency begins five days after the end of the World Series. As in other recent offseasons, FanGraphs is once again facilitating this offseason a contract-crowdsourcing project, the idea being to harness the wisdom of the crowds to the end of better understanding the 2017-18 free-agent market.

Below are links to ballots for five of this year’s free agents, all of them starting pitchers or probably starting pitchers.

Other Players: Yonder Alonso / Alex Avila / Jose Bautista / Carlos Beltran / Jay Bruce / Melky Cabrera / Welington Castillo / Lorenzo Cain / Zack Cozart / Jarrod Dyson / Lucas Duda / Alcides Escobar / Yunel Escobar / Todd Frazier / Carlos Gomez / Carlos Gonzalez / Curtis Granderson / Matt Holliday / Eric Hosmer / Chris Iannetta / Jon Jay / Howie Kendrick / Jonathan Lucroy / J.D. Martinez / Cameron Maybin / Mitch Moreland / Logan Morrison / Mike Moustakas / Eduardo Nunez / Brandon Phillips / Jose Reyes / Carlos Santana / Justin Upton / Neil Walker / Jayson Werth.

Jake Arrieta (Profile)
Some relevant information regarding Arrieta:

• Has averaged 198 IP and 4.5 WAR over last three seasons.
• Has averaged 4.1 WAR per 180 IP over last three seasons.
• Recorded a 2.4 WAR in 168.1 IP in 2017.
• Is projected to record 3.3 WAR per 180 IP**.
• Is entering his age-32 season.
• Made $15.6M in 2017 after avoiding arbitration in January.

*That is, a roughly average number of innings for a starting pitcher.
**Prorated version of final 2017 depth-chart projections available here.

Click here to estimate years and dollars for Arrieta.

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My father’s an avid tennis player, and there’s this thing he says anytime — or, because he’s a dad, precisely every time — he mis-hits a ball for an accidental winner. “Welp, I paid for the whole racquet,” is what he says. It’s a goofy way of acknowledging some good fortune, of apologizing for having benefited from something other than one’s actual skill.

The Los Angeles Dodgers pay Chris Taylor mostly for what he does with his bat and his glove and legs. But they employ the whole Chris Taylor. And while there was no reason to care about it before last night, one is compelled to acknowledge today that the whole Chris Taylor includes Chris Taylor’s ball cap.

Here’s why that’s relevant. With one out, runners on first and third, and the scored tied at 0-0, Houston’s Alex Bregman hit a liner to center field. What happened next actually kinda did shock everyone.

For those who haven’t fully pivoted to video, the footage above depicts center fielder Chris Taylor diving for Bregman’s liner, missing Bregman’s liner, and then somehow deflecting Bregman’s liner to left fielder Joc Pederson by means of his hat. While the base hit allowed Josh Reddick to score from third, the ricochet to Pederson forced George Springer to stop at second, limiting Bregman to a single. Rich Hill would strike out the next two batters. No further runs would score.

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Free agency begins five days after the end of the World Series. As in other recent offseasons, FanGraphs is once again facilitating this offseason a contract-crowdsourcing project, the idea being to harness the wisdom of the crowds to the end of better understanding the 2017-18 free-agent market.

Below are links to ballots for five of this year’s free agents, a collection of corner types and designated hitters.

Other Players: Yonder Alonso / Alex Avila / Jose Bautista / Jay Bruce / Melky Cabrera / Welington Castillo / Lorenzo Cain / Zack Cozart / Jarrod Dyson / Lucas Duda / Alcides Escobar / Yunel Escobar / Todd Frazier / Carlos Gomez / Carlos Gonzalez / Curtis Granderson / Eric Hosmer / Chris Iannetta / Jon Jay / Howie Kendrick / Jonathan Lucroy / Cameron Maybin / Mitch Moreland / Logan Morrison / Mike Moustakas / Eduardo Nunez / Brandon Phillips / Jose Reyes / Carlos Santana / Neil Walker.

J.D. Martinez (Profile)
Some relevant information regarding Martinez:

• Has averaged 554 PA and 3.5 WAR over last three seasons.
• Has averaged 3.8 WAR per 600 PA* over last three seasons.
• Recorded a 3.8 WAR in 489 PA in 2017.
• Is projected to record 2.7 WAR per 600 PA**.
• Is entering his age-30 season.
• Made $11.8M in 2017 as part of deal signed in February 2016.

*That is, a roughly average number of plate appearances for a starter.
**Prorated version of final 2017 depth-chart projections available here.

Click here to estimate years and dollars for Martinez.

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Free agency begins five days after the end of the World Series. As in other recent offseasons, FanGraphs is once again facilitating this offseason a contract-crowdsourcing project, the idea being to harness the wisdom of the crowds to the end of better understanding the 2017-18 free-agent market.

Below are links to ballots for five of this year’s free agents, all of them corner-outfield types.

Other Players: Yonder Alonso / Alex Avila / Welington Castillo / Lorenzo Cain / Zack Cozart / Jarrod Dyson / Lucas Duda / Alcides Escobar / Yunel Escobar / Todd Frazier / Carlos Gomez / Eric Hosmer / Chris Iannetta / Jon Jay / Howie Kendrick / Jonathan Lucroy / Cameron Maybin / Mitch Moreland / Logan Morrison / Mike Moustakas / Eduardo Nunez / Brandon Phillips / Jose Reyes / Carlos Santana / Neil Walker.

Jose Bautista (Profile)
Some relevant information regarding Bautista:

• Has averaged 623 PA and 1.8 WAR over last three seasons.
• Has averaged 1.7 WAR per 600 PA* over last three seasons.
• Recorded a -0.5 WAR in 686 PA in 2017.
• Is projected to record 1.7 WAR per 600 PA**.
• Is entering his age-37 season.
• Made $18.5M in 2017 as part of deal signed in January.

*That is, a roughly average number of plate appearances for a starter.
**Prorated version of final 2017 depth-chart projections available here.

Click here to estimate years and dollars for Bautista.

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Episode 779
Baseball orthodoxy suggests that it’s necessary for a pitcher to “establish the fastball” before turning to his secondary pitches, no matter their objective quality. In Game 7 of the ALCS, meanwhile, Houston right-hander Lance McCullers threw 24 consecutive curves en route to a dominant four-inning relief appearance. This is merely one of the obnoxious paradoxes presented to managing editor Dave Cameron on this edition of FanGraphs Audio.

Don’t hesitate to direct pod-related correspondence to @cistulli on Twitter.

You can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or other feeder things.

Audio after the jump. (Approximately 41 min play time.)

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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Free agency begins five days after the end of the World Series. As in other recent offseasons, FanGraphs is once again facilitating this offseason a contract-crowdsourcing project, the idea being to harness the wisdom of the crowds to the end of better understanding the 2017-18 free-agent market.

Below are links to ballots for five of this year’s free agents, all of them outfield types.

Other Players: Yonder Alonso / Alex Avila / Welington Castillo / Zack Cozart / Lucas Duda / Alcides Escobar / Yunel Escobar / Todd Frazier / Eric Hosmer / Chris Iannetta / Howie Kendrick / Jonathan Lucroy / Mitch Moreland / Logan Morrison / Mike Moustakas / Eduardo Nunez / Brandon Phillips / Jose Reyes / Carlos Santana / Neil Walker.

Lorenzo Cain (Profile)
Some relevant information regarding Cain:

• Has averaged 561 PA and 4.4 WAR over last three seasons.
• Has averaged 4.7 WAR per 600 PA* over last three seasons.
• Recorded a 4.1 WAR in 645 PA in 2017.
• Is projected to record 3.6 WAR per 600 PA**.
• Is entering his age-32 season.
• Made $11.0M in 2017 as part of extension signed in January 2016.

*That is, a roughly average number of plate appearances for a starter.
**Prorated version of final 2017 depth-chart projections available here.

Click here to estimate years and dollars for Cain.

Read the rest of this entry »

Free agency begins five days after the end of the World Series. As in other recent offseasons, FanGraphs is once again facilitating this offseason a contract-crowdsourcing project, the idea being to harness the wisdom of the crowds to the end of better understanding the 2017-18 free-agent market.

Below are links to ballots for five of this year’s free agents, including a shortstop and some not-shortstops.

Other Players: Yonder Alonso / Alex Avila / Welington Castillo / Zack Cozart / Lucas Duda / Eric Hosmer / Chris Iannetta / Howie Kendrick / Jonathan Lucroy / Mitch Moreland / Logan Morrison / Eduardo Nunez / Brandon Phillips / Carlos Santana / Neil Walker.

Alcides Escobar (Profile)
Some relevant information regarding A. Escobar:

• Has averaged 658 PA and 0.8 WAR over last three seasons.
• Has averaged 0.8 WAR per 600 PA* over last three seasons.
• Recorded a 0.5 WAR in 629 PA in 2017.
• Is projected to record 0.5 WAR per 600 PA**.
• Is entering his age-31 season.
• Made $6.5M in 2017 as part of deal signed in March 2012.

*That is, a roughly average number of plate appearances for a starter.
**Prorated version of final 2017 depth-chart projections available here.

Click here to estimate years and dollars for A. Escobar.

Read the rest of this entry »

Free agency begins five days after the end of the World Series. As in other recent offseasons, FanGraphs is once again facilitating this offseason a contract-crowdsourcing project, the idea being to harness the wisdom of the crowds to the end of better understanding the 2017-18 free-agent market.

Below are links to ballots for five of this year’s free agents, including a number of infield types.

Other Players: Yonder Alonso / Alex Avila / Welington Castillo / Lucas Duda / Eric Hosmer / Chris Iannetta / Jonathan Lucroy / Mitch Moreland / Logan Morrison / Carlos Santana.

Howie Kendrick (Profile)
Some relevant information regarding Kendrick:

• Has averaged 457 PA and 1.5 WAR over last three seasons.
• Has averaged 2.0 WAR per 600 PA* over last three seasons.
• Recorded a 1.6 WAR in 334 PA in 2017.
• Is projected to record 1.5 WAR per 600 PA**.
• Is entering his age-34 season.
• Made $10.0M in 2017 as part of deal signed in February 2016.

*That is, a roughly average number of plate appearances for a starter.
**Prorated version of final 2017 depth-chart projections available here.

Click here to estimate years and dollars for Kendrick.

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Episode 778
Baseball’s championship series are now complete or nearly complete. Managing editor Dave Cameron discusses them exclusively or nearly exclusively.

Don’t hesitate to direct pod-related correspondence to @cistulli on Twitter.

You can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or other feeder things.

Audio after the jump. (Approximately 41 min play time.)

Read the rest of this entry »

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Free agency begins five days after the end of the World Series. As in other recent offseasons, FanGraphs is once again facilitating this offseason a contract-crowdsourcing project, the idea being to harness the wisdom of the crowds to the end of better understanding the 2017-18 free-agent market.

Below are links to ballots for five of this year’s free agents, all of them first basemen.

Other Players: Yonder Alonso / Alex Avila / Welington Castillo / Chris Iannetta / Jonathan Lucroy.

Lucas Duda (Profile)
Some relevant information regarding Duda:

• Has averaged 406 PA and 1.4 WAR over last three seasons.
• Has averaged 2.1 WAR per 600 PA* over last three seasons.
• Recorded a 1.1 WAR in 491 PA in 2017.
• Is projected to record 2.1 WAR per 600 PA**.
• Is entering his age-32 season.
• Made $7.3M in 2017 after avoiding arbitration in January.

*That is, a roughly average number of plate appearances for a starter.
**Prorated version of final 2017 depth-chart projections available here.

Click here to estimate years and dollars for Duda.

Read the rest of this entry »