Lots has occurred since we launched the 2026 model of the We Tried tracker a number of weeks in the past. With the Winter Conferences about to kick off, we’ve seen 14 We Trieds from 10 totally different groups regarding eight totally different free brokers. (As all the time, you may preserve monitor of all of them at this hyperlink.) Which will sound like rather a lot this early in free company, nevertheless it’s value noting that 10 of our Prime 50 free brokers are already off the board (although three of these gamers accepted the qualifying provide, which implies no person had the prospect to strive). I think we’re a bit behind final 12 months’s tempo. Hopefully extra information about groups’ pursuits will leak out within the coming months. The large quantity we’re capturing for right here is 100: Final 12 months, the offseason closed with 99 We Trieds. Let’s make it to triple digits!
Extra will definitely come. Raisel Iglesias is at present main the pack with 4 We Trieds, however don’t be shocked if Ryan Helsley overtakes him. A number of stories stated that totally half the groups within the league had been considering Helsley, however we solely have two precise We Trieds thus far, and one got here from Helsley himself. Helsley informed reporters that the Tigers had been notably considering signing him as a beginning pitcher, which isn’t a shock, however his phrasing was notably enjoyable. He stated the Tigers had been “in on me heavy.” Truthfully, I don’t have any jokes right here. It’s only a barely odd grammatical building that I’ll in all probability take into consideration twice a day for the subsequent few years of my life. Earlier than this week, you possibly can be in on one thing. You could possibly perhaps even be closely in on it. However now you will be in on it…heavy. Generally language evolves similar to lifeforms, one mutation at a time.
Now we have to go to San Francisco subsequent, as a result of that’s the place issues are weirdest. It began on Saturday, when ESPN’s Buster Olney reported that though the Giants have been linked to Tatsuya Imai, “loads of their market pitching inquiries have been for extra modestly priced arms — a robust indication they aren’t chasing the very best priced pitchers, like Imai.” That information despatched the phrase “modest” bouncing everywhere in the baseball ecosphere. Two days later, Andrew Baggerly of The Athletic wrote an article that confirmed Olney’s report and added much more shade. One factor it saved entrance and middle was the phrasing:
In response to membership sources, due to various monetary concerns, the Giants don’t anticipate making the nine-figure funding required to signal Imai — or any of the opposite high pitchers on the free-agent market. As a substitute, the membership is specializing in extra modestly priced options.
That’s not very encouraging. It wasn’t even December but, free company had barely gotten going, and membership sources (plural!) had been reaching out to reporters (plural!) to verify the followers had the phrase “modest” stomped into their skulls. The Giants gained’t even be pursuing the pitcher who got here out and stated publicly that he’d like nothing higher than to take down their arch-rival. It’s the extraordinarily uncommon We’re Not Even Going To Strive, So Don’t Hassle Getting Your Hopes Up. Will we create a tracker for this? Will depend on what number of different groups bounce on the bandwagon.
Baggerly’s article additionally contained San Francisco’s first We Tried of the offseason, and as you’d anticipate, it was weird:
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Earlier this month on the GM Conferences in Las Vegas, Giants president Buster Posey, GM Zack Minasian and newly employed supervisor Tony Vitello met face-to-face with Imai’s agent, Scott Boras. They requested medical stories on Imai in addition to fellow Boras Corp. shoppers Ranger Suárez, Max Scherzer and Dylan Stop, the latter of whom simply signed a seven-year, $210 million contract with the Toronto Blue Jays.
However sources say the Giants had been by no means ready to enter the bidding anyplace close to what Stop acquired from the defending American League champions.
In order that’s undoubtedly a We Tried. Baggerly reported effectively after the truth that the Giants requested for the medicals of a participant who signed elsewhere. Loads of groups earn a We Tried merely for doing nothing greater than mentioning to a reporter that they had been interested by a selected participant. However in the identical breath, he made it clear that the Giants had been by no means really contemplating signing Stop. It virtually appears like they requested for the medicals as a result of it will’ve been impolite not to ask for them. You don’t need to anger Scott Boras. What if it triggers a flame battle, and he’s continuously on the market within the press burning you with the world’s worst puns? If not for that point final 12 months when the A’s had been actively refuting stories that they tried to signal explicit gamers, this is perhaps the weakest We Tried we’ve seen but. It’s nonetheless one of many weirdest, although. I’m not going to signal this man, however I would wish to see an MRI of his elbow only for enjoyable.
As everybody debated what precisely “modest” would possibly imply, Timothy Jackson of Baseball Prospectus wrote an especially measured breakdown of the scenario. He didn’t fault the Giants for an inexpensive worry of getting weighed down by a long-term deal on the recreation’s most risky place, noting “the problem isn’t the trail they’re plotting however the messaging that’s and will be constructed round it.” He defined why the present state of the sport leads groups down this explicit path, and he dived into what modest would possibly imply when it comes to this explicit free agent market. One of many six targets he talked about was Cody Ponce, who got here in at no. 40 on our Prime 50 Free Brokers rating with a prediction of three years and $24 million from Ben Clemens. MLB Commerce Rumors had Ponce at two years and $22 million. That very night time, phrase acquired out that Ponce had signed with the Blue Jays for 3 years and $30 million. It was a much bigger contract than anticipated, however the AAV was nonetheless decrease than MLBTR’s prediction. Shortly after the deal, Baggerly earned San Francisco its second We Tried, writing, “Giants had been concerned however market acquired past them.” No matter your definition of “modest,” it’s time to dial it down. The opposite pitchers Jackson lumped into that class had been both forward of Ponce within the rankings – probably making them too costly for the Giants – or not thrilling sufficient to be ranked in any respect.
Over within the AL, we have now but to get a single We Tried from final 12 months’s runaway chief each within the offseason and on the deadline, the Pink Sox. It’s beginning to appear like they gained’t make it a three-peat. Buying and selling for Sonny Grey and Johan Oviedo will probably go away them out of the beginning pitching market altogether, and since they’d the most effective bullpens within the recreation this 12 months, they will not be going after relievers too exhausting both. They’re on the lookout for a right-handed affect bat, however there simply aren’t that a lot of them to select from. Lastly, with their surfeit of outfielders (even after buying and selling away Jhostynxon Garcia within the Oviedo deal), they might effectively proceed including by means of trades fairly than free company. Put all of it collectively, and this Pink Sox workforce simply may not be that thirsty. All the identical, I don’t need to rely them out. They’re undoubtedly not going to take a seat round and do nothing for the subsequent three months, and even when they do assume their roster is usually settled, their historical past of racking up We Trieds on gamers they had been solely casually considering predates this train by a few years. Let’s stay awake on the Sox.
As we head into the Winter Conferences, the workforce that’s successful the We Tried battle can also be the workforce that’s signed the most important free brokers. The Blue Jays landed Stop and Ponce, and so they racked up reliever We Trieds on Iglesias, Helsley, and Phil Maton. Now stories have Kyle Tucker touring their Dunedin spring coaching facility. The Jays made it to the World Collection, and so they’re actually going for it. It’s enjoyable to see, even when it turns this ever-so-slightly cynical train on its head for slightly bit.
In that spirit of celebration, let’s benefit from the many varieties that We Trieds can take. On Wednesday, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reported that Anthony Kay signed with the White Sox despite the fact that he had extra profitable gives to return Japan. As at present constituted, the tracker is unable to deal with this form of report. All the identical, it’s necessary to acknowledge this sort of worldwide bridge-building, so I’m hereby awarding an honorary We Tried to your complete nation of Japan. Omedetou!
As all the time, I’ll log off with a plea on your assist in finding We Trieds out within the wild. For those who see one, inform me about it! This time, my plea is barely extra determined, as a result of the extra We Trieds I get from all of you, the much less time I’ve to spend wading by means of the AI slop that pervades the web nowadays. Please, help your native beat writers and assist me escape the slop. I don’t have the footwear for it. On that word, I ship my heartfelt because of Sam Horton, the primary contributor of the season, for alerting me to the information about Iglesias, and to Sara for noting the Blue Jays/Helsley information. To hitch their ranks, you may DM me on Bluesky or e mail me at WeTriedTracker@gmail.com, an actual e mail tackle that I actually examine. And I’m unhappy to report that for the primary time ever, I haven’t acquired any spam emails there. Not a single one, and it bums me out. How is it even attainable that an e mail tackle I submit on the web each few weeks isn’t getting any spam, whereas I get 5 texts every week from political candidates in a state I haven’t lived in since 2002? So even when you don’t have a We Tried to report, please go forward and attempt to promote me one thing, something. I’m so lonely.