Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. We've had some early offseason activity from a few teams over the last few days. Blue Jays signing Dylan Cease for 7 years and 210M will either be brilliant or a nightmare depending on which version of Cease they get. At his best, Cease is a Cy Young candidate who eats innings. At his worst Cease is a mid rotation starter who walks too many guys and overthrows with hopes of striking out the world. Still they have a window now, the move was probably worth pursuing and the obvious next 2 moves should be upgrading at closer and bringing back Bichette. The Mets and Rangers made a significant trade Sunday night with Nimmo going south to join our old friend Jacob Degrom for Marcus Simien. Nimmo is universally loved by Mets fans for his hustle and candor but he hasn't aged well. 2 years ago he was 6 outs above average while playing a good CF. Now hes a weak armed LF who lacks range and velocity on his throws. His declining OBP and OPS makes me wonder if his bat is in decline as well. Its fair to wonder how much the Plantar Facisiatis he had in 2024 has affected his last 2 seasons defensively. Froma Mets standpoint, David Stearns has brought up run prevention in every press conference or interview since the season ended and there was no world where the mets could bring Nimmo and Alonso back and improve defensively. Tough to write given how much we love watching those guys play ball. But Simien provides 2 things that the mets have lacked. 1 is at his best hes a righty power bat in a lineup that was too left-handed at times. The Athletic had a good read on him showing his hard hit rate and exit velocity havent changed much since his 3rd place MVP finish 2 years ago. Citifield is also more pull friendly for a guy who pulls the ball a lot. Second is Simien is a gold glove defender with very good range even at 35 years old. Its fair to wonder if Simien is simply place holding for Jett Williams who is a top 30 prospect most places you look but Jett can also play CF. Simien has had back to back sub 700 ops seasons with the bat and he has work to do to show he can still play. Stearns has made it clear that the right side of the infield was a problem defensively for NYM. Jeff McNeil in the time he spent at 2B was above average defensively but he also had to spend time in the OF due to injuries and underperformance. McNeil for all his versatility runs very hot and cold with the bat lately and saying the quite part out loud, my guess is this spells the end for him as a mets starter. Mark Vientos could be impacted as well as hes no longer the 2nd best RH power bat on the mets if Simien reverts to form. At its worst Simien for Nimmo is bad contract for bad contract while filing needs for each team. Nimmo is owed 5yr/102M and Simien 3/72M. At its best, its 2 good players hoping for a chance to win a WS and solving those needs with resurgences where they each had opportunity.
I'm expecting my Cubs to do a lot of nothing. They seem to be waiting out the contracts of most of the veteran players on the roster, fearing what's coming after 2026 with the CBA. To the extent that Dansby Swanson is currently the one and only post-arb player on the team signed beyond 2026. Might be a massive penny pinching youth movement coming.
