harmony

FWIW the Los Angeles Angels re-signed Raisel Iglesias for four years and $58 million (in hopes of snapping baseball's longest current streak of consecutive losing seasons).

The returns of Rich Hill and Jackie Bradley Jr. could salve the early offseason wounds. Or not.

Red Sox fans should expect the unexpected this offseason.

The Los Angeles Angels, looking to snap baseball's current longest streak of consecutive losing seasons, have signed Noah Syndergaard, Raisel Iglesias, Aaron Loup and Michael Lorenzen. The defending American League champion Houston Astros have signed Justin Verlander and Hector Neris. The Texas Rangers have signed Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Jon Gray and Kole Calhoun. The Oakland Athletics are waiting to cash in their trade chips.

Steamer projects a 2022 WAR of 1.2 in 131 innings for righthander Dylan Bundy, who reportedly has signed with Minnesota for a $5 million guarantee in a one-year contract with an option. Steamer projects a 2022 WAR of 1.2 in 126 innings for righthander Michael Wacha, who reportedly signed a one-year contract for $7 million. Wacha is 16 months older than Bundy. This year Bundy posted 0.0 fWAR in 90.2 innings while Wacha posted 1.1 fWAR in 124.2 innings. Marcel projects 2022 ERA of 4.73 in 120 innings for Bundy and 4.90 in 125 innings for Wacha. MLB front offices certainly have more and better information than the casual fan.

The advantages of playing in the American League East.

Ten days ago who would have thought that, despite a flurry of MLB free agent signings, the Red Sox would have signed only Michael Wacha, James Paxton, Christin Stewart and Rob Refsynder before the pending lockout? It's only December 1 but the early results have been unexpected if not underwhelming.

Fair question.

And the Red Sox aren't picking up the free agents who have signed with other clubs. Perhaps the Red Sox have better information. Or not.

Please return to baseball discussion and avoid personal attacks. A point typically can be made without using "you" or "I" in a post. A quote attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt: "Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people." Be kind and be well.

In other Tommy John news, on the same evening the Seattle Mariners reached a four-year extension with reliever Andres Munoz, who threw only 17 pitches in 2021 after missing the 2020 season post-surgery. The difference is that Munoz was returning from Tommy John surgery while Paxton's surgery came after his 21 pitches in 2021. The Seattle bullpen in 2022 will welcome high-end reliever Ken Giles in his return from Tommy John surgery. In a parallel to the Paxton pact, the Mariners last February signed Giles to a two-year, $7 million contract with the understanding that Giles would miss the entire 2021 season.

The market is interesting in that James Paxton received a raise after getting paid $8.5 million in 2021 to throw only 21 pitches at the MLB level. Paxton and Michael Wacha flew so far under the radar that neither made MLB Trade Rumors' list of Top 50 free agents* this offseason: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/11/top-50-mlb-free-agent-rankings.html The Red Sox front office presumably has more and better information than the casual fan who is puzzled by the acquisitions. * Paxton earned an honorable mention after the MLBTR list

The Red Sox reportedly just missed out signing Corey Kluber: https://www.masslive.com/redsox/2021/11/red-sox-rumors-boston-very-nearly-signed-corey-kluber-who-inked-1-year-deal-with-rays-report.html

Why should anyone care about a bald opinion? FWIW since the start of the 2019 season Michael Wacha has posted 0.8 fWAR and a negative 0.9 bWAR while Martin Perez has posted 2.8 fWAR and 1.7 bWAR. Steamer projects 2022 WAR of 1.2 in 125 innings for Wacha and 1.2 in 120 innings for Perez.

Since the start of the 2019 season Michael Wacha has posted an ERA of 5.11 and ERA+ of 80 in 285.1 innings while Martin Perez, who is three months older than Wacha, has posted an ERA of 4.88 and ERA+ of 95 in 341.1 innings.

Michael Wacha flew so far under the radar that the righthander failed to gain even an honorable mention below MLB Trade Rumors' list of Top 50 free agents this offseason: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/11/top-50-mlb-free-agent-rankings.html Wacha might be a mirror image of lefthander Andrew Heaney, whom the Los Angeles Dodgers signed earlier this month for a reported $8.5 million. Wacha and Heaney, who were born less than a month apart, were the 19th and ninth picks in the 2012 draft out of Texas A&M and Oklahoma State, respectively. In fact, Wacha and Heaney faced each other that year in Big 12 Conference action*: https://12thman.com/sports/baseball/stats/2012/oklahoma-state/boxscore/4804 Since the start of the 2019 season Wacha has posted an ERA of 5.11 and ERA+ of 80 in 285.1 innings whlle Heaney has posted an ERA of 5.21 and ERA+ of 87 in 291.2 innings. Heaney occupied the final slot on the MLBTR Top 50 free agent list but was unranked at The Athletic's Top 100 list where Wacha came in at No. 100. Neither Wacha nor Heaney made the Top 50 free agent list at FanGraphs: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/2022-top-50-free-agents/ The Red Sox and Dodgers, two of baseball's more successful franchises, presumably had more and better information on Wacha and Heaney than the casual fan who is puzzled by each signing. * falling deeper down that rabbit hole, the previous year Wacha and Texas A&M toppled current Seattle lefthander Marco Gonzales and Gonzaga in a game saved by the Aggies' Ross Stripling: https://12thman.com/sports/baseball/stats/2011/gonzaga/boxscore/3363

It was a small sample but in two starts against the Seattle Mariners last season Michael Wacha surrendered 20 hits and 11 earned runs in 7.2 innings: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.fcgi?id=wachami01&year=2021&t=p#all_oppon_extra

The Red Sox front office undoubtedly has more and better information on Michael Wacha than the casual baseball fan who would never sign a starting pitcher who since the start of the 2019 season has an ERA of 5.11 and an ERA+ of 80 in 285.1 innings (66 appearances, 54 starts).

Marcels projects free agent righthander Mike Foltynewicz with a 2022 ERA of 4.96 in 127 innings while Steamer projects Foltynewicz with a 2022 ERA of 5.15 in 126 innings: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/foltymi01.shtml https://www.fangraphs.com/players/mike-foltynewicz/10811/stats?position=P

https://www.nami.org/help Peace be with you, my friend.

Shed Long made my Father's Day this year: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3QXmpuQCrU The walk-off grand slam came off Tampa Bay reliever Diego Castillo, who was traded to Seattle the following month.

Surprisingly, MLB Trade Rumors listed Chad Pinder as a non-tender candidate.

This sentimental poster is a fan of Marcus Semien, a second-generation Golden Bear at Cal (where my daughter attends law school). Robinson Cano was offered as a positive comp for Semien. Using WAR conversion, the Mariners got their money's worth from Cano (although his 2018 suspension helped undermine the M's 89-win season).

Where are the projected WAR for 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026 and 2027? On the other hand, Marcus Semien is exactly the age Robinson Cano was in December 2013 when the latter signed a 10-year, $240 contract with Seattle. FWIW at the time of the signing, Cano had posted 44.4 bWAR in 1,374 games while Semien has posted 28.7 bWAR in 1,020 games. Cano posted 23.5 bWAR in 704 games over five seasons with the Mariners (who were relieved of half of the suspended Cano's 2018 salary).

Marcus Semien is a fine player but should a team go, say, six years and $144 million for a 31-year-old middle infielder who has posted an OPS+ above 100 only twice in his nine-year MLB career?