If Boras gets his way, Choo likely won't be a Red.

[Old school 1983]

If Choo leaves, it will be terrible, but there is a bright side.

Maybe then the Reds will focus on putting together a real championship caliber offense.

They may be forced to make changes if Choo leaves that they otherwise might not make.

Still, would rather Choo stays, terrific player.

Id almost rather see him go, collect the pick, and build the championship caliber offense they needed this year. Get a right handed power bat please.

[RedEye]

Walt and Scott seems to be trading (equally unreliable) opinions in the press these days. Hard to tell what will happen, but the two sides are posturing, that's for sure.

[RedsManRick]

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/writer/...ref_map=%5B%5D

Thinks 5yr/$100MM is "not in the ballpark" and that Choo will get more.

"The value of a lead-off hitter who has a .420 on-base percentage, 20-stolen base speed, 20-home run power, the ability to score 100 runs, and who has the ability to play center field and is a Gold Glove type defender in right field is immense," Boras said. "We don't see these types of players in the free-agent market. I only want to talk about our clients, and the last one we had anywhere near this was Jayson Werth."

Thanks for 2013, Mr. Choo. If Boras holds hard to this line of thinking I REALLY dont think the Reds will pay it, nor would I want them to do so. Who knows how it'll pan out...we'll see.

-Matt

Citing Jayson Werth and his massive contract is only going underscore the risk involved with such contracts.

[Billy Hamilton's Legs]

My question is: what happens when a guy like Jesse Winker or Phillip Ervin come knocking on the door in a couple years? While the Reds payroll is increasing, it has a limit and you need young, cheap talent to survive. Also, how would people's opinions change if signing Choo prevents the Reds from signing two out of the three big arms long term?

[Old school 1983]

My question is: what happens when a guy like Jesse Winker or Phillip Ervin come knocking on the door in a couple years? While the Reds payroll is increasing, it has a limit and you need young, cheap talent to survive. Also, how would people's opinions change if signing Choo prevents the Reds from signing two out of the three big arms long term?

I for one am super excited about winker and ervin and see that while Choos OBP is awesome, it is the pitching that is carrying this team. If we have to chose, I chose pitching. Or pitching and maybe trying to acquire a younger or cheaper right handed hitter at one of our positions of need.

[HokieRed]

Give Bailey the money and let Choo walk. I've thought all along that a 31 year old Choo would be very unwise to go for less than 5 years. I expect 6 for 90 and I think that's too much for the Reds. I would try to keep Bailey instead but don't expect that to be possible either. Maybe, as KC pointed out earlier, this will get the FO to think about how to restructure the offense rather than simply thinking of holding on to particular players or plugging in replacements for them.

[BluegrassRedleg]

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/writer/...ref_map=%5B%5D

Thinks 5yr/$100MM is "not in the ballpark" and that Choo will get more.

"The value of a lead-off hitter who has a .420 on-base percentage, 20-stolen base speed, 20-home run power, the ability to score 100 runs, and who has the ability to play center field and is a Gold Glove type defender in right field is immense," Boras said. "We don't see these types of players in the free-agent market. I only want to talk about our clients, and the last one we had anywhere near this was Jayson Werth."

Thanks for 2013, Mr. Choo. If Boras holds hard to this line of thinking I REALLY dont think the Reds will pay it, nor would I want them to do so. Who knows how it'll pan out...we'll see.

-Matt

Good luck to the organization who's paying him $20M-plus at age 37.

[Will M]

when asked in a chat what he thought Choo would get Dave Cameron replied 5/75

[swaisuc]

Citing Jayson Werth and his massive contract is only going underscore the risk involved with such contracts.

No kidding. I did a double take when I read that. Did he really just mention that? I thought agents would try to bury that deep in the Gary Matthews Jr closet by now. The fact that Jayson Werth is the best comparison is the EXACT reason everyone is worried.

[RedTeamGo!]

Boras' remark that 5yr/$100MM is "not in the ballpark" and that Choo will get more seems pretty reasonable to me.
There is nothing insane about that if you know the facts that Choo is the best offensive player among 2014 free-agent position players and that he's offensively even better than Cano who was born the same year as him and will seek $200 million contract.

*2013
Choo: .394wOBA(10th in MLB), 152wRC+(8th in MLB)
Cano: .384wOBA(16th in MLB), 142wRC+(18th in MLB)

*Career
Choo: .374wOBA, 135wRC+
Cano: .368wOBA, 126wRC+

Cano and Choo are the same age, but Cano plays a good defensive 2nd base while being the best offensive player at his position in the league (Carpenter has been better this year, but he has to do it for a few more years to overtake him). Choo plays a below average defensive CF. I think Choo is going to get paid a lot, but I do not think Cano is an equal comparision.

[AmarilloRed]

The Mets are now saying they won't go beyond 4 years for Choo. It'll make things a bit harder for Boras to get 5 for Choo.

[Tom Servo]

The Mets are now saying they won't go beyond 4 years for Choo. It'll make things a bit harder for Boras to get 5 for Choo.

Not necessarily, the Mets being cheap in the post-Madoff era is like the sun rising in the morning.

[WrongVerb]

I'd love Choo at 4/68 but doubt it will happen.

Best scenario, with Winker and Ervin on the horizon, is he takes the Reds' qualifying offer, but again I seriously doubt that will ever happen.

[Girevik]

Boras isn't always right, why do we act like he's some sort of perfect agent?

He messed up bad with Michael Bourne just last year, and he ended up asking way too much in the beginning, only to get way less last-minute with the Tribe.

He also over-valued Ryan Madsen, and the Reds were able to work that deal.

But that would still rule out the Reds, right? Isn't there still a rule that says if a team hasn't signed one of thier own free agents by January he can't negotiate back with that team until May (therefore missing a month of the season)?

That's what happened with Sabo. The Reds offered him way more than what he ended up signing for, but because his agent had him convinced he could get more he waited until past the point where he could negoiate with Cincy and ended up going somewhere else.

[Mitri]

I think it'll be pretty close to 5/100MM when it is all said and done. My guess is teams with big money like the Rangers, Yankees and Cubs will fall hard for his OB numbers (rightly so) and wet themselves into a minor bidding war. After Cano, he's the cream of a fairly thin free-agent crop, in my opinion.