This is crunch time for me when it comes to the Prospect Guide. Next week is always busy with the winter meetings, and I’d like to get the book pretty much completed before that happens, so that I can focus on rumors and adding new players to the book, if necessary.
I’ve thought about doing a daily discussion thread in the past, in response to comments requesting a place for general discussion that isn’t specific to a single topic. I always hesitate on this, in part because I never know how to fit it in the mix of daily articles, and also in part because you never know which will be a slow news day and which will be busy.
Today is ending up a slow day for the Pirates, although tomorrow will be busy with the non-tender deadline. I’ll have a story on Pedro Alvarez tonight for First Pitch. Until then, I’ll be writing prospect profiles in the book like it’s my job. Which it actually is.
One interesting bit of news today is that Byung-ho Park signed with the Twins for not much more than Jung-ho Kang signed for last year. Here are the details.
#MNTwins announce Park breakdown:
2016: $2,75M
2017: $2.75M
2018: $3.0M
2019: $3.0M
2020 (club option): $6.5M/$500K buyout.— Mike BerardinoNDI (@MikeBerardino) December 1, 2015
Earlier, #Twins had won rights to Park with $12.85M bid. Total investment: $24.85M over four years.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 1, 2015
The posting fee was much higher for Park (Kang got $5 M), but once the Twins got his rights, the salary was pretty much the same. Obviously there’s hindsight involved, but $6 M total a year on average might end up being a steal for Park if he can get close to what Kang did last year. If that happens, it could look like a missed opportunity for the Pirates, at least in 2016 when it looks like they could use a first base upgrade.
If you guys enjoy the discussion thread, I’ll try to do it more often, maybe even as a regular thing. Although I have a feeling I just jinxed myself and we’re now bound for a busy evening of Pirates news and rumors.