After two months of not knowing who was in on James Shields‘ and his services, it seems that teams are now starting to step out of the shadows.
First it was the Boston Red Sox. Boston and Shields’s agent had talks during the winter meetings but nothing seemed intimate. Shields would more then likely be the ace of that staff that has gotten extremely better. During the Winter Meetings, the Red Sox acquired Rick Porcello and Wade Miley and also signed Justin Masterson. Now that rotation doesn’t sound to bad once you throw Clay Buchholz into the mix but Shields would definitely help the team go from worst-to-first again. In the last three year, when Shields pitched in Fenway Park, he posted a 1.80 ERA. As you can tell, he would do just fine in a Red Sox uniform
Then there is the Arizona Diamondbacks. General manager Dave Stewart has expressed interest in Shields and although they do have other needs to fill like catcher and bullpen, the Diamondbacks could use an ace on their staff while Patrick Corbin is recovering from Tommy John surgery. Arizona also has Bronson Arroyo and Jeremy Hellickson in the rotation. Shields for Miley would be a huge upgrade for the team and he could could succeeded very nicely in Arizona.
Next we have the Detroit Tigers. Jon Morosi of Fox Sports reported that the team has had discussions with Shields agent. Now this move would make sense for both teams. Shields would still be the one or two for the Tigers and if David Price were to leave the Tigers, they would have insurance for years to come. Also this move would cost cheaper then signing Max Scherzer to a massive $200 million dollar contract. They could even sign him to the contract they tried to give to Scherzer last spring. Big Game James Shields is very familiar with Detroit with being with the Kansas City Royals the last two seasons and he wouldn’t have issues pitching in the Detroit atmosphere.
Source: James Shields’ agent, Page Odle, has been in “recent” contact with the #Tigers. Shields and David Price are close friends.
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) January 16, 2015
Lastly, there is the Toronto Blue Jays. Toronto has had internal discussions about Shields according to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports. The Blue Jays make sense for Shields. He has pitched in the AL East before and would probably do it again. Shields would definitely be the ace of that team over R.A. Dickey. Also it makes sense for Toronto showing everybody that they are still able to make moves after signing Russell Martin and trading for Josh Donaldson.
As price drops, #BlueJays renewing their interest in James Shields. Story:… http://t.co/s8xC9ld4ob
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 17, 2015
Shields could go to anyone of these teams and make a huge impact. He has thrown in over 200 innings in every season after his rookie year. Shields also has a career 3.72 ERA and has shown he his capable of being one of the best pitchers in baseball.
Prediction: Shields signs with the Boston Red Sox for six years, $105 million
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