Posey happy with young Giants starters but could eye free-agent splash originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
DALLAS — As the lobby buzzed one night at the annual Major League Baseball Winter Meetings, a group of executives shook their heads in amazement at the prices that agents were tossing out for their starting pitchers. The market has exploded, not just at the top but at every other level, and agents are making bold asks.
“The thing is, they’re going to get it, too,” one of the execs said, laughing.
That was proven over three days at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas. Max Fried reportedly agreed to a $218 million deal with the New York Yankees, the largest ever for a left-handed pitcher. Nathan Eovaldi got $75 million over three years to return to the Texas Rangers. Alex Cobb, who just turned 37 and made just three starts last season, will get $15 million next year from the Detroit Tigers. Before the meetings started, Blake Snell, Luis Severino, Matt Boyd and Frankie Montas cashed in.
The price for starting pitching is higher than it has ever been. No wonder Buster Posey started his week by speaking passionately about his young, cost-controlled pitchers.
“I think first, my brain goes to, we do have a lot of belief in our young pitchers,” he said Monday when asked about losing Snell. “A guy like (Kyle) Harrison and (Hayden) Birdsong, with getting some experience last year, the hope is that they take a big step forward for us. And I know the group feels strongly about those guys. That’s kind of where my head goes.”
That’s not entirely a smokescreen as he chases big names. The Giants really do feel they have an enviable collection of young pitchers, with Landen Roupp, Mason Black, Carson Whisenhunt, Carson Seymour, Carson Ragsdale and others giving them a long line of potential options. It’s something they talk about often in meetings, and it’s something the organization is proud of.
But that’s not keeping Posey from aiming high.
The president of baseball operations was in touch with Scott Boras this week and the Giants are viewed as one of two frontrunners for right-hander Corbin Burnes, a California native and Boras client. The Giants would love to pair Burnes with fellow innings-eating Cy Young candidate Logan Webb long-term, and Burnes expressed interest to some Giants in wearing orange and black even before free agency heated up. But his price has certainly increased in the last week.
Sources familiar with the pursuit were cautiously optimistic…