Back in September, I predicted that Chone Figgins would land a 4 year/$44 million dollar contract this winter. But given the teams that are interested in Figgins already, that number could go north of $44 million. Look at this tweet from Jon Heyman:"#mets, #phillies competing with #angels for versatile chone figgins."If it comes down to those three teams for Figgins, then I expect Figgins price tag to go up ($50 million dollar range, maybe?). There are two important points to take into account here:
1. All three of these teams (should) have payrolls that exceed $100 million in 2010 and are considered big market clubs
- The Angels have lots of money to spend this offseason
- The Mets are looking to make improvements and should be players for the major free agents
- The Phillies are willing to spend if it will help the team in 2010
Angels: Figgins was the heart and soul of their offense in 2009 and the Angels would love retain the speedy leadoff hitter. The Angels have allowed home grown talent to depart via free agency in the past, but losing Figgins (even with Brandon Wood waiting in the wings) would be a blow for the Angels.
Mets: The Mets already have David Wright locked in at third base for the foreseeable future, but the Mets have plenty of reasons to want Chone Figgins. The Mets value his defensive versatility and he would be a dynamite player in the spacious Citi Field. In addition, Figgins would give the Mets the option to have Jose Reyes bat third in the order, which would add a whole new dimension to the Mets lineup and give the Mets a potent offense at Citi Field.
Phillies: If the Phillies can acquire Figgins, then watch out-this team would be loaded offensively. The Phillies would love to have Figgins replace Jimmy Rollins as the team's primary leadoff hitter and would provide the Phillies with an OBP machine, who could steal 30-40 bases. With all the talent the Phillies have in the middle of their lineup, it would not be surprising to see Figgins score 130-140 runs in 2010. And no, that's not an exaggeration.
The Phillies seem ready to make another big move because they sense that their window to win will close in the coming years, so despite their high payroll at the moment, I would still consider the Phillies to be the favorite for Figgins.
How high do you think the bidding will go? Let us know in the comments.
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