Nov. 30--The first big-name starter came off the board Sunday when Nationals pitcher Jordan Zimmermann agreed to a five-year, $110 million deal with the Tigers.
Not bad for a guy who ranked 32nd among starting pitchers this year with a 3.0 WAR, a few notches below the Cubs' Kyle Hendricks (27th).
As crazy as it sounds, Zimmermann's contract will pale in comparison to the one David Price is expected to get. The Price sweepstakes will play out next week at the winter meetings in his hometown of Nashville, Tenn., where he's expected to get a deal either matching or exceeding Max Scherzer's seven-year, $210 million deal from last winter.
While some have suggested the Red Sox will do whatever it takes to reel in Price, the Cubs are in the mix and have the resources to pull off a rerun of last December, when they signed Jon Lester for $155 million.
Some of the same teams that President Theo Epstein beat out for Lester's services are also interested in Price, including the Red Sox and Giants, the other finalists for Lester.
The difference is Epstein can now sell prospective free agents on the likelihood of pitching for a playoff-bound team instead of asking them to be patient for a year or so while the young talent jells.
The players know what's happening on the North Side, and there's obviously more interest in joining a winning team with built-in buzz. Epstein admitted as much when I recently asked if more free agents were seeking the Cubs than vice versa.
"Yeah, and I think we're doing less selling of the organization and more exploring the actual fit on the field," he said. "When you play in October, a lot of people watch those games, and they give you credit for the product on the field. That part is nice.
"But we're not taking anything for granted. We still have a lot of selling points about issues that might not be real easily apparent to players, like, for instance, the new clubhouse that we have debuting and some of our future plans -- the family program we have that players and their wives really enjoy.
"Beyond the family room, we actually have programming. We'll bring in storytellers or zoo animals. Beyond just babysitting, we have a real curriculum for kids, events for the wives and the kids off the field. Just little things behind the scenes we do that really impact the lives for our players' families they may not be aware of."
Of course, $210 million is going to trump the guarantee your kids will get an up-close and personal view of a penguin.
But if the bids are in the same neighborhood, the Cubs are counting on the human element to kick in, and players do like knowing their families are being taken care of while they're working.
Of course, having two players with mega-contracts like Lester and either Price or Zack Greinke would be a risk, especially toward the end of their deals when they are past their prime.
But the Cubs aren't backing away.
"It would put us in a position with a lot less flexibility going forward, but a lot more talent going forward," Epstein said. "So it's a trade-off."
The Cubs' wheelbarrow full of cash is loaded.
Now it's just a matter of who they'll dump it on.
psullivan@tribpub.com
