MLB Hot Stove: Hellickson, Walker and a Breath of Fresh Air
Every once in a while the MLB Hot Stove league breathes in a gulp of fresh air. Jeremy Hellickson and Neil Walker made that happen when they accepted the qualifying offers extended to to them by their respective teams. Ahh… that feels good.
Sometimes when you read this stuff about (I’ll just pick one of hundreds) Yoenis Cespedes, who on the one hand says he absolutely loves playing for the New York Mets, and then on the other hand is out there clawing for the absolute most he can garner from any team who’s willing to pay him, it is refreshing to see that there are two MLB players at least who have their feet on the ground. And a boatload of money (still) in their pocket.
For some reason that’s still hard to imagine, Jeremy Hellickson was on the front burner of the hot stove talk about free agent starting pitchers, right alongside 36-year-old and suddenly “Boy Wonder” Rich Hill.
Jeremy Hellickson: Former Hot Stove Sensation
That is until yesterday when he quelled the hot stove fires by accepting a qualifying offer from the Philadelphia Phillies that will pay him $17.2 million for his services in 2017.
Jeremy Hellickson knows who he is. And more importantly, he apparently knows who he isn’t. He’s essentially a .500 starting pitcher (63-58) and his seven-year career average proves it (12-12). He’s also a credible third or fourth starter on most major league teams. Nothing more, nothing less. And he gives you innings (never underestimate that). So he has chosen to stay pat for this hand with the knowledge that he can still opt for free agency next year. How can that be a bad decision?
Neil Walker: Another Former Hot Stove Sensation
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Neil Walker is in a situation that is different, but it’s also one that required him to make a common sense decision, which he made in accepting the qualifying offer extended to him by the New York Mets. In his case, he is coming back from a season-ending injury, and if he had elected to delve into the free agent market, he would have spent the entire winter (and then some) proving to potential suitors that he was healthy and ready to go come April.
By making the QO to Walker, the Mets left themselves vulnerable if it turns out that Walker has one of those back injuries that never really goes away and he has to play hurt most of the time. But if necessary, Neil Walker will do that for them. And the Mets knew it, too. They also knew they were dealing with a guy who has a “good head.”
Hot Stove Musings
See, on the one hand, who would want to go back to the days of indentured servitude when players were literally owned by their teams? The days before the Abraham Lincoln of baseball, Curt Flood, opened the gates of free agency? Presumably no one would want to go there.
But on the other hand, it does get a little scary, and at times even a little depressing to see some of these players in the middle of the hot stove market, together with team owners who still believe that you can buy a championship with money and overpaid employees, fighting against each other.
Someone is going to overpay for the services of Cespedes this year. That’s a given and it’s also a given that the same thing will happen with the likes of “Mr. Trade Bait” Chris Sale, Edwin Encarnacion, and “Suddenly Cy Young” Rich Hill.
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And this year’s hot stove guarantees that one of them is bound to win the Jason Heyward of the Year Award and we’ll all get to talk about him for 162 games next season… but at least Jeremy Hellickson and Neil Walker are safe at home.