After a surprisingly strong season with the Jets, McCown should find work as a veteran bridge quarterback for a team looking to draft a guy and groom him. So McCown’s market will be the teams that lose out on Cousins, Case Keenum, et al. — Graziano
Breeland’s name wasn’t generating all that much buzz at the combine in Indianapolis, and it’s still possible he ends up back in Washington if no team is willing to pay him $10 million or more per season. — Graziano
The safety market is a little bit flooded, and while Reid will be one of the better players on it, there’s a fear — which he shares, by the way — that his role in the 2017 national anthem controversy could steer some teams away. — Graziano
I’m not saying he’s better than those other guys, the evaluator said. But he belongs in the conversation.
The A’s also rave about Chapman’s leadership skills and it factor. He entered the big league clubhouse on June 15 and seemed comfortable from his first at-bat against the Yankees’ Jordan Montgomery.
Chapman asserted himself during a testy encounter with the Angels in September. Los Angeles catcher Juan Graterol was convinced the Oakland hitters were peeking at his signs or getting signs relayed from second base, and he made his displeasure apparent to several hitters. As Chapman settled into the batter’s box, he told Graterol to knock it off, earning an ejection from umpire Mike Everitt and instant respect from his teammates.
The Yankees’ Bird hit .190 with his nine home runs last season, and that first number might scare prospective managers off, but remember what Aaron Judge did in his first and brief big league exposure: he hit .179. That does not mean Bird will suddenly bash 52 home runs, but he is a left-handed bat in a stadium made for him and he is finally healthy, ever-disciplined and perhaps way too overlooked. Watch Bird quietly bash 30 homers. — Eric Karabell
It’s Bird, but let’s throw a little love Ryan McMahon’s way, shall we? McMahon’s 80.2 percent contact and 25.2 percent line-drive rates at all levels combined in 2017 show a keen hitting approach, and one that’s perfectly suited to Coors Field with its spacious outfield gaps. — Tristan H. Cockcroft