St. Louis Cardinals: A look into the faux winter meetings free agents, part 1

As the St. Louis Cardinals await the start of the actual winter meetings, Redbird Rants will participate in the faux winter meetings beginning today at noon ET.

The St. Louis Cardinals have a laundry list for sure of activity to complete during the winter meetings coming in the next couple of weeks. At least they should have a long list. As we wait for the official meetings to begin, Tito and I will be participating as faux GMs of the St. Louis Cardinals in the FanSided Mock Winter Meetings.

The mock meetings officially kick off today at noon eastern. In preparation of this, let’s take a look at the class of free agents and the current bids in place for them. In the interest of keeping our attention squarely-focused, I will discuss only the ones who might be of interest to Tito and I; the rest will simply be listed.

SP Shohei Otani

Otani was officially (in the mock world) signed by the Seattle Mariners for $20M and a $1.5M signing bonus.

SP Brett Anderson

Anderson’s current bid is 2YR/$10M by the Pirates.

RP Glen Perkins

Perkins’ current bid is 1YR/$6M by the Pirates.

SP Tyler Chatwood

Chatwood’s current bid is 3YR/$29M by the Orioles.

SP Andrew Cashner

Cashner’s current bid is 2YR/$18M by the Orioles.

SP Anibal Sanchez

Sanchez’s current bid is a contingency offer by the Orioles for 1YR/$1.5M and is dependent on whether the Orioles land Chatwood or Cashner and will be withdrawn if either grab happens first.

OF Cameron Maybin

Maybin’s current offer is 3YR/$36M by the Royals. Maybin could be an interesting thought for the St. Louis Cardinals but he is deep on the list of interests (at least for Tito and me).

SP Yu Darvish

Darvish’s current bid is 5YR/$125M with a 10-team no-trade list and annual opt-outs after the second year. In this offer, Darvish will be paid 25/25.5/27/24/23.5. Additionally, Darvish will have the following incentives: $500k for top-three Cy Young finishes; $75k All-Star appearances; $50k for 162 innings-pitched; $50k for playoff appearances; and $25k for 2 million attendance.

Darvish could be a very interesting target for the St. Louis Cardinals. He is high on my list and relatively high on Tito’s list. That said, I’m not so sure that we will offer this type of money but we might if the Giancarlo Stanton race falls apart on us.

RP Tony Watson

Watson’s current offer is 2YR/$18M guaranteed (7.5/8.5) plus a $9M team option for the third year and a $2M buyout to take the closer role for the Twins.

RP Wily Peralta

The Twins have Peralta’s current offer at 1YR/$2.5M. This breaks down at $2M in 2018 plus two additional years under team options at $5M and $500k buyout in 2019 and $8M and no buyout in 2020.

RP Trevor Rosenthal

The former St. Louis Cardinals closer who will be recovering from Tommy John surgery during the 2018 season is set to receive a 2YR/$10M offer from the Twins. The Twins are prepared to pay him $2M in 2018, $6M in 2019, and a $10M team option for 2020 with a $2M buyout.

SP Michael Pineda

Pineda, the former Yankees starter, is set to sit out 2018 recovering from TJ as well. The current offer from the Twins is 2YR/$10M plus two years of team options valued at $11M ($4M buyout) and $14M ($1M buyout).

OF/DH J.D. Martinez

Martinez is one of the hottest free agents on the market. In the faux meetings, his current offer is from the Red Sox and is not near what Boras is currently seeking. The Red Sox offer is at 5YR/$117M. Their suggested breakdown is 25/25/23/23/21 plus a player option of $21M for 2023.

Tito and I have Martinez on our St. Louis Cardinals contingency list should Giancarlo Stanton fall through. Our planned offer was also at five years. While I’m not wiling to post the value we are thinking, just know that Martinez is for sure on our list.

OF Jay Bruce

Bruce is likely in the second hottest free agent tier on the market. His current faux offer is a contingency offer from the Red Sox should they fail to land Martinez or Eric Hosmer. His offer is at 2YR/$30M plus a third year option for $15M. The third year option vests with an All-Star selection or top-10 in the MVP race in 2018 or 2019.

The St. Louis Cardinals, please dear God, should have zero interest in Jay Bruce. I feel almost certain that neither Tito nor I am interested in Bruce even if the market falls apart entirely.

SP Alex Cobb

Cobb, likely a good target for the St. Louis Cardinals in the FA market, has an offer from the Nationals at 4YR/$56M.

RP Jake McGee

The current offer on McGee is from the Rangers at 2YR/$19M.

RP Mike Minor

Minor is drawing interest from two teams not named the St. Louis Cardinals. The Royals have offerd 3YR/$23M and the Blue Jays have offered the same but have placed a mutual option on the fourth year valued at $8M.

RP Addison Reed

Reed, another very nice target for the St. Louis Cardinals, has an offer from the Giants for 3YR/$30M. I kicked the tires on Reed early in the mock meetings process and received word that Reed would likely sign immediately for 4YR/$36M as MLBTR predicted. Tito and I might make an offer on Reed and have until 12pm on Tuesday to do so.

OF Austin Jackson

The current bid on Jackson is by the Giants and is for 3YR/$30M with $150k incentive for 450 plate appearances. The actual St. Louis Cardinals might have Jackson on their Stanton fall-back list but he hasn’t appeared on our list.

INF Zack Cozart

Cozart would have been an amazing Cardinal and the team should have taken him early on in his career. That said, his current bid is at 4YR/$56M with a club option for 2022 valued at $14M. This bid is from the Angels.

3B Todd Frazier

Frazier was another name the St. Louis Cardinals considered in past years. His current bid in the mock winter meetings is from the Giants and is at 4YR/456M.

OF Ben Revere

The Angels have the current high bid at 2YR/$9M.

SP Yusmeiro Petit

The Angles have the current high bid on Petit at 2YR/$7M. This is a sleeper name that Tito and I might consider if our other starting pitcher chases seem like they aren’t going to land anything. That said, we have until noon on Tuesday to lock in a bid if we are interested.

SP Jason Vargas

The Angels have a contingency offer on Vargas of 2YR/$18M with a club option for 2020 valued at $9M. The contingency is pending the Angels signing Chatwood (albeit they haven’t even offered on him yet).

SP Chris Tillman

The current bid on Tillman is at 1YR/$6M with a team option for 2019 valued at $7M with a $1M buyout. The Royals have this high bid.

SP Henderson Alvarez

The Royals hold the high bid on Alvarez at 2YR/$5m with a team option for 2019 valued at $3M with a $500k buyout.

1B Eric Hosmer

More from Redbird Rants

In the real world, news was just released that Harold Reynolds is predicting that the 30-HR slugger is going to land with the St. Louis Cardinals. In the mock world, the Royals hold the top bid at 6YR/$100M with the following incentives: $250k each for All-Star and/or Gold Glove; $350k for Silver Slugger; $750k for MVP; and each bonus adds to the base for the next year and remain as bonuses for following years. He will also have full no-trade protection.

Additionally, the Red Sox have issued a contingency offer if they fail to sign Martinez valued at 6YR/$105M.

Hosmer is not one that Tito and I are likely looking at but this could change if we fail to land Stanton.

3B Mike Moustakas

The Royals own the high bid at 4YR/$70M with incentives of $250k for All-Star/Gold Glove/Silver Slugger and $500k for MVP. This offer is contingent on the Royals signing Hosmer. If they fail to sign Hosmer than the offer is void.

1B/3B Mark Reynolds

The current bid on Reynolds is by the Yankees for 1YR/$4.5M.

RP Pat Neshek

The one-time closer for the St. Louis Cardinals has received three bids thus far and the Nationals are the current high bidders at 2YR/$12M.

RP Steve Cishek

Another former St. Louis Cardinals arm, Cishek has received a 2YR/$10M offer from the Rangers.

RP Wade Davis

The top closer on the free agent market, Davis’ high bid (has receive four bids already) is with the Cubs at 4YR/$60M. Tito and I are kicking around the idea of jumping in on these bids.

OF Carlos Gomez

I am partial to Gomez as I had wished the St. Louis Cardinals had taken a rider on this dude in the past two seasons. That said, his current faux bid sits at 2YR/$25M by the Rangers.

More updates to come as there are far many more names in this season’s FA class.

Next: Top 10 Cardinals trades in 20 years

Stay tuned and I will post again later today with the remaining names and any other pertinent updates. The mock meetings are LIVE!

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