Everybody Loves Jason (Schmidt)

Reports out today indicate that just about every team in MLB and a few Mexican League teams are interested in Jason Schmidt. From my reading, the following teams (in no particular order) seem to have an interest:

Chicago Cubs
Seattle Mariners
St. Louis Cardinals
Los Angeles Dodgers
Houston Astros
San Francisco Giants
San Diego Padres
New York Mets
New York Yankees
Los Angeles Angels

According to published reports, Schmidt’s agent has told the two New York teams that Schmidt does not want to play on the East Coast. Yesterday, I indicated that the Mariners might not have the money to compete with the Cubs offer of 3 years/$45 million and that the Dodgers might not be interested after signing Randy Wolf and pursuing Greg Maddux. However, today’s Chicago Tribune lists the Dodgers and Mariners as the front runners in the Schmidt derby.

By the way, the Cubs denied reports that they offered a 3 year/$45 million contract to Schmidt. Actually, they denied offering Schmidt a 3 year/$44 million contract, but confirmed that they are interested in the right handed pitcher.

I don’t know if they are saying that they didn’t make an offer to Schmidt or if they are saying that they did make an offer but the numbers are wrong. In either case, I don’t believe Schmidt is worth more than $15 million per year nor do I think it makes sense to offer him more than 3 years. Even so, some team will probably cave in to the pressure and offer Schmidt more than he is worth. That’s how the free agent market works.