Premium starters seek premium MLB free agency prices

Prices are up for premium starters. Jacob deGrom is said by one GM to be seeking $40 million-plus. “He’ll get it, he’s the best,” that GM said. 

Carlos Rodon is said to be seeking $35M-plus following his year in San Fran. The Giants are obviously a possibility. 

And Astros owner Jim Crane revealed AL Cy Young winner Justin Verlander seeks to duplicate Max Scherzer’s record $130M, three-year deal. Crane is operating as de facto GM after forcing out James Click, and he is operating differently by saying the quiet part out loud. 

These are “early prices,” opined one GM. But it’s possible someone bites as great starters are in short supply. Max Scherzer said on The Post podcast “The Show,” he doesn’t mind if someone beats his $43.3M record salary. 

Isiah Kiner-Falefa is on the trading block following his shaky defensive ending. 

Gleyber Torres’ name also is being heard on the block. 

The Yankees have interest in Andrew Benintendi. But one person questioned whether he’d want to stay in New York. 

Anthony Rizzo was a must-have for the Yankees. The Astros looked into Rizzo but are also considering Josh Bell and their own Yuli Gurriel. Jose Abreu is yet another free-agent first baseman. 

The Mets want Adam Ottavino back. The Brooklyn native presumably wouldn’t mind staying, either. 

Before signing Tyler Anderson for $39M over three years, the Angels made a similar offer to Martin Perez and also tried for Matt Boyd. They now have four lefties to go with Shohei Ohtani in the rotation. 

The Angels also seek a shortstop, but probably not one of the big four. 

The Royals and Zack Greinke seem likely to do another one-year deal. Hard to see him leaving KC. 

Joey Gallo allegedly is getting “good interest.” Not from NY presumably. 

Jesse Winker is reportedly on the trading block again. Some guys are just perennially on the block. 

MLB lost a marketing partner when Sam Bankman-Fried blew up his fortune. His FTX logo was on umpire uniform’s in 2022. MLB had a multiyear deal with him but it was a relatively small amount of money (by their standards). 

While some suggest the Mets must have lost money with a $300M payroll, Steve Cohen is not like the rest of us. Somehow, his fund is up more than 7 percent this year.