The Dr. Morbius Memorial 2020-2021 MLB Hot Stove Thread

As one legend leave us, another returns:

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/3503548467/23d93ae8ec7b802718a234c75b19ea21_400x400.jpeg

BREAKING: Tony La Russa named #WhiteSox manager. @MLBNetwork @MLB

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) October 29, 2020

honestly wtf

fuck

Another sign of this offseason being a brutal market for free agents and arbitration-eligible players: Cleveland isn't picking up a $10 million option on Brad Hand, a three-time All-Star closer coming off a great season for a playoff team.https://t.co/KV4Q6Kn1qH

— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) October 29, 2020

Oh god.

xpost

Tony La Russa is 76 years old. He should be running for President, not managing a baseball team.

— Write Sox (@WriteSox) October 29, 2020

how long before tim anderson gets suspended for calling la russa a "weak ass n*gga"?

— sugar shake (@curlyfro) October 29, 2020

i am anti-la russa in general but he seems like a particularly bad choice for this set of players

yeah the only thing i can take from this is that they want someone who will bench anderson et al for flipping bats and/or kneeling

@whitesox email announcement appears to have AJ Hinch Signature. Looks like it was corrected on Twitter. @SoxOn35th @SouthSideSox @SoxMach_pnoles pic.twitter.com/m64LcrshZG

— Gabe (@GabeNotDave) October 29, 2020

White Sox could have been cool.

In my five decades as a baseball fan, there have been very few players or managers I have actually disliked. Two come from the late-'80s A's teams that used to beat up on the Jays: La Russa and Eckersley. Roberto Alomar helped fix that, a little.

Huh.

Tony La Russa was in the White Sox dugout as manager when Jack Morris threw his no-hitter for the Tigers on April 7, 1984. Now, La Russa is back.

AJ Hinch was in the Tigers' dugout at Comerica Park as a backup catcher when Detroit avoided a historic 120-loss season by beating Ron Gardenhire’s Twins on the final day of the 2003 season. Is Hinch about to return in a different post?

https://www.mlb.com/tigers/news/aj-hinch-tigers-manager-search

what was wrong with renteria again?? and don cooper for that matter?

love the thread title.

renteria has now gotten dicked over twice by chicago baseball teams in favor of bigger names

After firing Rick Renteria as manager after the Sox bowed out of the expanded postseason, Hahn said he wanted to do a deep dive into the pool of available coaches and managers, interview people from forward-thinking organizations and find the right fit for a young, up-and-coming team. When he described the manager he was looking for, it sure sounded like former Houston Astros manager A.J. Hinch, who was fired for his role in the sign-stealing fiasco that rocked baseball, pre-pandemic.

But Hinch was never formally interviewed and instead, they wound up with the boss’ friend. It helps that said friend is a Hall of Famer, but this search put a monkey wrench in the White Sox organization’s image renovation.

sounds like jerry reinsdorf just . . . hired his buddy

#Rays Neander said they will not pick up either Mike Zunino or Charlie Morton's options. They will be free agents.

— Juan Toribio (@juanctoribio) October 30, 2020

Mark it down -- Oct. 30, 2020, one of the most significant days in franchise history. The Wilpon era is over. The Mets have a new owner, Steve Cohen.

— Marc Carig (@MarcCarig) October 30, 2020

Invite user @david_j_roth to thred

aj hinch is the new tigers manager

BREAKING: Brodie Van Wagenen, Omar Minaya, Allard Baird, Adam Guttridge and Jared Banner are all leaving the Mets.

— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) November 6, 2020

Sick

Alex Cora new manager of the Red Sox.

Every big/risky trade Brodie made flopped big time. Even if no one could have predicted Diaz would have such a bad year, and that Stroman would opt out for the entire 2nd year, he probably should have held back a bit. Things will be worse if any of the traded prospects become stars.

(That said, JD Davis was a great pickup and now one of my faves.)

i appreciate that brodie didn't fuck around with alonso's service time and let him start on opening day last year. and that he got degrom re-signed despite the wilpons' cheapness. but yeah

jeff luhnow has sued the astros for breach of contract

Chicago White Sox manager Tony La Russa was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence in February and charged with DUI a day before the team hired him, according to court records obtained by ESPN.

News with @pinepaula and @MoynihanCharles: https://t.co/C1lHlik4Zl

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) November 10, 2020

Just mind boggling.

How many DUIs does he have (or do we know about?)

Only two I think

Here is the full Stroman thread... pic.twitter.com/8nxWzLYRsl

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 10, 2020

ESPN obtained the full arrest report for Chicago White Sox manager Tony La Russa's DUI charge.

"Do you see my ring?" La Russa said to the arresting officer. "I'm a Hall of Famer baseball person. I'm legit. I'm a Hall of Famer, brother."

News at ESPN: https://t.co/C1lHlik4Zl pic.twitter.com/GnqS5k7V9e

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) November 10, 2020

nice of him to use the non-gendered "person" rather than "man"

looooool

Marcus Stroman tweets that he has accepted the Mets' $18.9 million qualifying offer. He'll be back in the rotation in 2021.

— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) November 11, 2020

!

Making history by bringing a lifetime of excellence, Kim Ng steps to the helm as GM. #JuntosMiami pic.twitter.com/UrYESbjTHe

— Miami Marlins (@Marlins) November 13, 2020

Tight

Pretty sure either I or Morbs linked to this 2003 interview somewhere on this board, worth a rescreen imho:

https://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article/2460/prospectus-qa-kim-ng/

She was mentioned as a candidate for several GM jobs this off-season.

Only took 18 seasons...

Miami #Marlins GM Kim Ng also believed to be the first GM of any North American men’s sports league in history.

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) November 13, 2020

(tbf there are more than a few female minor league GMs, but the job is very different)

How overdue is the hiring of Kim Ng? I blogged about her as my candidate of choice for the Dodgers' GM opening that went to... Ned Colletti, in November 2005. 15 years ago today https://t.co/oDlobxGVEs

— Jay Jaffe (@jay_jaffe) November 13, 2020

Theo Epstein has resigned as president of baseball operations for the Chicago Cubs. Jed Hoyer is the new president of baseball operations.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) November 17, 2020

whoa

Ground Chuck back to ATL, 1/15.

excited to see half the league get non-tendered this evening

Rosario going on waivers (and clearing them) surprised me. I hadn’t realized how overall mediocre he’d been.

i can understand why the twins are dumping him -- alex kirilloff can fill that role for a lot less money -- but in a regular 2020 season rosario would have been worth like 2.5 WAR, which should honestly be plenty sufficient for someone to pay him the $9 or $10 million he'd have made in his final year of arbitration. i mean he finished 17th in the AL MVP voting!

cubs non-tendered schwarber and almora

love how the teams always say they're keeping the door open to bring people back (for less money) -- can anyone think of examples of that actually happening?

Charlie Culberson?

i think so! also kyle farmer was non-tendered by the reds last night and has already signed a one-year deal to return, so i guess i am Wrong

so Chris Young (the pitcher, not the outfielder) is the new, out-of-nowhere GM for Texas.

gotta be the tallest gm ever

i'm sure most people are feeling this way about their favored teams right now, but...STL is a mess. they look like a 4th place team, as it stands, they don't want to spend any money, and there's a lot of pressure to use anything that's left on bringing both yadi and wainwright back (they're both free agents now). it's easy to see a very disappointing spending where that happens and STL gets to do the Angels-Pujols-endless-retirement-celebration-and-losing-tour for a 2021 season, this time in front of selected groups of non-masked idiots

i feel like you kinda have to bring them back tbh. Molina might be above replacement level at best, but he's got to be done after 2021 (if they don't want to spend, they're not getting Realmuto anyways), and Waino looked alright last year. i'd expect a home-town team-for-life discount, or am i being naive?

they do have to bring them back, it's true. that's the problem. I mean, I want that too. sigh. fwiw, yadi has been saying he's seeking a 2-year deal (and has interest from at least 5 different clubs).

I know of a young A.L. catcher with great untapped potential you can please take.

gary sanchez is 28, so i know you don't mean him

he’s just 17 in “high ceiling” years!

I'd get rid of Molina and Wainwright and lean into a rebuild.

i'd happily give waino a one-year deal

no way he wants one year tho. surprised Molina is asking for two tho. guess he wants to make it to 40.

white sox reportedly acquiring lance lynn from texas

for dane dunning and pitching prospect avery weems

adam eaton back to white sox, 1yr/$7m + club option

nice. i hope we get a real baseball season in 2021 so i can enjoy this white sox team.

eaton was pretty awful this year but seems like a decent bounce-back candidate

Adam Eaton just hung up on Carmen and Jurko on @ESPN1000 after they asked him if Tony La Russa would have trouble relating to younger players.

Yikes.

— Sox Takes (@sox_takes) December 8, 2020

Carlos Santana agrees with Royals: $17M, two years

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 8, 2020

seems like a lot for a 35yo who just hit .199/.349/.350

I’m not gonna put too much weight behind people’s 2020 season. And his 2019 might have been his best season. He’s a discipline/power hitter and he’ll probably delivery decent value over the next two years.

I appreciate KCR's determination to resist tanking and strive for at most 75 wins over the next decade

Dombrowski to become President of Baseball Operations at Phillies.

A match made in heaven if you ask me.

bizarre -- he's the kind of guy this iteration of the phillies fire, not hire

also where the hell is andy with dombrowski.jpg

Yeah first thing he’ll do is trade Sixto Sanchez for two years of Realmuto.

can't fire 'em if you don't hire 'em!

Ugh. This off season is moving so slow.

Among the players who qualified for arbitration by reaching Super Two status, per source: Yankees’ Clint Frazier, Gleyber Torres and Luke Voit; Braves’ Max Fried and Mike Soroka; Dodgers’ Walker Buehler; Mets’ Dom Smith; Nationals’ Juan Soto; Brewers’ Brandon Woodruff.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 15, 2020

McCann deal with #Mets is 4 yrs, $40.6M. The $10.15M avg is the 14th largest ever given on multi-yr deal to a catcher. Incredible when you consider the #Tigers non-tendered him after the 2018 season.

— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) December 15, 2020

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2020/12/padres-sign-nabil-crismatt.html

"Nabil Crismatt" is a hell of a name

Refuse to believe he’s real.
MLBTR is so desperate for news they’re reporting on their OOTP league.

total mandalorian-ass name

anagrams for NABIL CRISMATT:

Militant Crabs
Albinism Tract
A Transit Climb

you had me at militant crabs.

sam fuld is the new phillies GM

even when he was a player on the cubs i remember all the talk was about him being really smart and a big stats geek

(almost) too much time on ilb

The New York Mets are hiring Zack Scott to be their new assistant GM and senior VP, a source tells ESPN. He was a finalist for their GM job.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 23, 2020

who is this joker

shitty last name too

He’ll go into the hall with an asterisk on his name

pirates traded 1B josh bell to washington for pitchers wil crowe and eddy yean

yean is still a teenager; the other two were dreadful this season

The San Diego Padres are finalizing a trade to acquire former Cy Young winner Blake Snell from the Tampa Bay Rays for top pitching prospect Luis Patiño, catchers Francisco Mejia and Blake Hunt, and right-handed pitching prospect Cole Wilcox, sources familiar with the agreement told ESPN.

i guess it’s impressive that the rays succeed with no money and no fans, but maybe they have no fans because it’s tough to build an emotional attachment to an organization that treats its players as faceless interchangeable parts

I have a few Padre fan friends who are not thrilled about this move, why are you framing it like SD "won" this trade?

almost like the minors! :D

xpost

And maybe Darvish too? Padres are goin' for it, I like it

i understand why TB made the deal, and by 2023 or 2024 their team will almost certainly be better for it. but i don't think winning a pennant and then immediately dealing your (inexpensive) best pitcher is a healthy thing. there's no prize for having the best farm system or most 'financial flexibility'.

mostly i was thinking about how i related to MLB when i was a kid, though. i had a favorite team, but having favorite *players* was more important to me -- someone you were excited to see come to bat or get a start. tampa is very smart and does what it does very well, but if i were a kid with a blake snell shirsey, it wouldn't really be comforting to know that the rays got a good return that will pan out in three years.

there is good economic sense in running your team (or league, or sport) like a hedge fund, but i think it -- yes, like destroying the minors -- tends to discount the reasons why fans care in the first place.

I would be more disappointed if they gave up on a bat. They're very good at identifying pitching talent. They already lost Morton so they kind of needed to reset. It's not like Rays fans go to the games anyway.

feeling that post, mp

somewhat bittersweet display name you’ve got now given the context :/

They needed to reset because they lost one pitcher? Who they easily could've resigned with all the money they hoard?

I think it was smart but it was definitely very Marlins-esque

I've been bemoaning the financial realties of the game for at least since the Dodgers traded Piazza; I hung on to the notion of face-of-the-franchise players long past its expiry date.

(As someone whose posts are littered with typos--and I don't have the excuse of a phone--"shirsey" is HOF.)

Naturally, I just found out a shirsey is an actual thing! (which I clued into on my own...hmmn, shirt + jersey).

A “shirsey” is definitely the biggest financial investment a Rays fan should be making in their favourite player these days.

I asked my friend, a Montrealer and Expos-fan-turned-Rays-fan what he thought of the trade and it really is such a perfect response I wanted to share it here

"It was inevitable, I kinda figured he was gone during the playoff run. So in that sense, I was not disappointed. I was more pissed that they didn’t re-sign Charlie Morton.

"That said, it sucks. I followed the Rays because of some sort of kindred spirits (read: my deep psychological trauma) with the Expos; in fact Tampa has perfected the Expos (front-office) Way. I hate that the only pyrrhic victory I can enjoy, it’s that small-market team philosophy won — from MTL to OAK to TB — but it came at the expense of killing the sport I loved. The shift, the launch angles, the rising fastballs, the acceptance of K’s, the openers.. they’re working, the underdogs have finally won and they’ve broken baseball.

"Good to pretty good return for Snell. Can’t wait until they trade Luis Patino after HIS Cy Young. Maybe this time they can do it from Montreal for full symmetry."

bob nightengale is saying the yu trade is on, but it's bob nightengale so grain of salt i guess

saying yu/victor caratini for davies and 4 other guys, none of whom are top prospects

if this happens....what a fun team this is gonna be

The other two are Ismael Mena and Yeison Santana. https://t.co/Ks9GPmsw6E

— Jeff Sanders (@sdutSanders) December 29, 2020

buncha teenagers

I love Caratini. Underrated catcher, and worked with Darvish.

i understand why TB made the deal, and by 2023 or 2024 their team will almost certainly be better for it. but i don't think winning a pennant and then immediately dealing your (inexpensive) best pitcher is a healthy thing. there's no prize for having the best farm system or most 'financial flexibility'.

mostly i was thinking about how i related to MLB when i was a kid, though. i had a favorite team, but having favorite *players* was more important to me -- someone you were excited to see come to bat or get a start. tampa is very smart and does what it does very well, but if i were a kid with a blake snell shirsey, it wouldn't really be comforting to know that the rays got a good return that will pan out in three years.

there is good economic sense in running your team (or league, or sport) like a hedge fund, but i think it -- yes, like destroying the minors -- tends to discount the reasons why fans care in the first place.

I agree with all that. Had the same reflexion for all those young Red Sox fans who just adored Betts.

I was recently thinking that a Cal Ripken probably could not happen today and it's very sad. Clubs with big financial power can sustain keeping a Kershaw or a Trout for the entirety of their careers, but they are few, and some don't even care (Red Sox and Betts being the best example).

That being said the strategic elements of sabermetrics (shift, opener, launch angles) haven't broken baseball yet, if baseball is broken, it is really because a bunch of owners have decided to pinch every penny possible from the players.

Naturally, I just found out a shirsey is an actual thing!

they may be called shweaters in canada

are there other examples of a pitcher being traded along with his personal catcher?

the rays didn't have fans long before they started being the modern iteration of the rays circa friedman. i suspect there's as many rays fans who buy into the idea of the team as a forward thinking pump and dump machine as there are ones who desperately want the franchise to hold onto blake snell or chris archer or evan longoria. the cynicism of it is undoubtedly grating but until the league in general reorients itself so that teams don't have 6 years of control over every player it's not going to change.

i think with the way free agency has gone recently & this year in particular the union will have a real incentive to try and seriously rearrange the rules of the league. you def can't expect modern day billionaires to start caring about things like sentimentality -- the system needs to be changed so players are more accurately compensated for their value, which means more money in the early years of a player's career and less at the end. of course
the union would never have a reason to want this rearrangement when teams were happy to give out billions of dollars to players 28 and older but that seems to be changing now. that said it will also require the players to be strong as a union bcuz the owners have figured out how to have their cake and eat it too -- don't pay players when they're young or when they're older. it might require strike level organization and fortitude from the union and that might be asking a lot, realistically.

are there other examples of a pitcher being traded along with his personal catcher?

i could be misremembering, but josh thole/ra dickey? they were packaged together, i assume bc thole caught dickey

boston traded doug mirabelli to the padres and then got him back a month later because no one else could catch wakefield

Mirabelli is not remembered fondly in SD:

https://www.gaslampball.com/2015/10/18/9563827/doug-mirabelli-birthday-padres-red-sox-kevin-towers

The Padres are in line for a top 3 payroll next year. Unprecedented times!

sounds like your standard mid-00s red sox player

josh thole/ra dickey?

nice one

JOSH THO

LE

David Ross/Jon Lester iirc

It’s one thing for the Rays and their small market to blow it up, but the Cubs? Really? They just won the division.

but they don't have any moooooooooooooooooneeeeeeeeeeeeeey

spent it all on stopping the steal

cubs projected rotation as of right now, per fangraphs: Kyle Hendricks, Zach Davies, Alec Mills, Adbert Alzolay, and Colin Rea

i am liking steve cohens vibe

Hey , Give the Padres credit. They had a top 5 farm system that gave them flexibility to trade for Snell. Newsflash, the Mets farm system needs to be replenished .

— Steven Cohen (@StevenACohen2) December 29, 2020

Happy New Year to everyone except a rod

— Jose Canseco (@JoseCanseco) January 1, 2021

Which Rod, Jose? Stewart? Gilbert? Blagojevich?

cubs projected rotation as of right now, per fangraphs: Kyle Hendricks, Zach Davies, Alec Mills, Adbert Alzolay, and Colin Rea

― na (NA), Tuesday, December 29, 2020 8:56 AM (one week ago) bookmarkflaglink

update, the cubs have released colin rea

The New York Mets are deep into talks on a deal to acquire Francisco Lindor from the Cleveland Indians, sources tell ESPN.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 7, 2021

The full Mets-Indians trade involves six players switching teams, per sources.

Mets receive: Francisco Lindor, Carlos Carrasco

Indians receive: Amed Rosario, Andrés Giménez, Josh Wolf,
Isaiah Greene

— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) January 7, 2021

wow.

are the mets good yet?

To hell with the Dolans

Also, I thought we were done with that franchise name.

not for another year, because ... ??

it's so weird that this noncompetitive marketplace makes it very easy for teams that actually want to get better to improve

i like giménez but that doesn't seem like a great return

cleveland payroll is now under $40m

Not bad, Mets! Who's going to play 3B? Davis?

Ugh. Goddamn this sucks. We all knew it was coming but it still sucks. Can Dan Gilbert please buy the Indians ffs? Poor people should not be allowed to own professional sports teams.

Sorry :(

We've been there though.

MLB managing to ruin francisco lindor... is nothing sacred

sweet jesus!

Also, I thought we were done with that franchise name.

― Van Horn Street, Thursday, January 7, 2021 1:01 PM (thirty-nine minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

it has a lot of unfortunate connotations, but I think they should stick with it at least until they leave Queens

Sad to see Gimenez go, but seems like a good deal! At least not as risky as the Brodie blockbusters.

Not bad, Mets! Who's going to play 3B? Davis?

they were trying for Bryant too. not sure if landing Lindor means they're out now or not.

I was talking with my nephew (Yankees fan) and he just reminded me that LaMahieu is still out there. Maybe Springer is asking too much and they go for the upgrade at 3B instead of CF.

rumour is LaMahieu is asking a lot, but since his bat is uniquely ideal for yankees stadium, there isn't a tonne of interest. i'm hoping the Jays can land Springer.

Hoping for that too, but I'm not optimistic.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Category:Slang

1-2-3
A
Ace
Americas
Around the horn
Away game
B
Bad ball hitter
Bag
Bandbox
Banjo hitter
Bases loaded
Bat around
Bean ball
Bench warmer
Big Three
Blowser
Bonus baby
Bronx Cheer
Brushback pitch
Bush league
C
Can O' Corn
Caught stretching
Cellar
Chin music
Choke up
Clean up
Closer
Clutch hitter
Crank
Cup of coffee
D
Dinger
E
Eephus pitch
Excuse-me single
F
Fall classic
Fireman
Five-tool player
Flash in the pan
Four-bagger
G
Gap
Go yard
Golden Sombrero
Good morning, good afternoon, good night
Gopher ball
Green light
H
Heat
Hitting on the Interstate
Hold the runner
Hot corner
Hot stove league
Hung
I
Iron Man
J
Jam
Junkballer
L
Lead
Little League homer
M
Mason Dixon Line
Mendoza Line
Mystery pitcher
N
Nichols Law Of Catcher Defense
O
Ofer
On the road
P
Pickle
Pull
R
Ribbie
Road game
Rope
Royal Rooters
S
Sayonara
Second division
Set the table
Set-up man
Strikeout Single
Striking out the side
T
Taking the collar
Texas leaguer
The show
Tools of ignorance
W
Wheels
Johnny Wholestaff
Workhorse
Y
Yankee Fan
Yips

i am really glad that tater isn't on there

otherwise, though, i think that covers all the baseball slang

never heard anyone use 'strikeout single'

seems like more of a little league occurrence

i don't think you can take first on a dropped third strike in little league?

i mean, that would happen on a majority of strikeouts, and you'd no longer be able to stash your second-worst player at catcher

I can think of at least one famous bit of slang from Ball Four not on that list.

Looking forward to reading that book in a few days.

tangent - should i watch moneyball? somehow i've managed to dodge reading or watching it, although i feel like i already know how the movie is gonna go

it ends with the #2 hitter sacrifice bunting to get the leadoff man into scoring position and brad pitt blows his lid

Read the book.

conversely, just read this thread:

Moneyball

oh shit, forgot about the thread! i will check that out

i haven't watched the movie either, but i've seen jonah_hill.gif so many fucking times that it feels like i have

Ron Washington is played by one of the leads in Lodge 49 (Brent Jennings).

I thought the movie was pretty good!

WARNING: Do not watch if you hate twee pop!

Outfielder Kyle Schwarber and the Washington Nationals are in agreement on a one-year, $10 million deal, sources familiar with the situation tell ESPN. First with the deal: @dougherty_jesse.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 9, 2021

Kyle Schwarber feels like a waste of 10 million dollars.

the money ball book is great but for the love of god don’t watch the movie!

liam hendricks to the white sox for quite a lot of money! (not official yet and supposedly structured a bit oddly, so idk what the exact $ is)

did not expect DJLM to get a 6 year deal... i think he'll be 38 when it ends?!

i keep forgetting that DJ LeMahieu is supposed to be a good baseball player. i only really saw his colorado rockies version, which of course always comes with asterisks

that's only a $3m/yr raise over his last contract -- guess he really wanted the length

i guess with an avg of $15 mil it's a way for the Yanks to keep the costs down yearly, while still offering the most money. as always looks like the Jays came in second with a 4-year offer averaging around $19M.

xpost

if i'm DJLM, i'm taking the biggest total offer too.

says to me NYY are intent on keeping under the cap

they dumped 30M on a supremely washed brett gardner 2 years ago so this is a steal tbh

Gardener is more like a mascot at this point tho, inhe?

the only mascot worth 15m is gritty but yes you're right

Kluber to the frigging Yankees. 1 year, $11M apparently.

Source confirms: Blue Jays in agreement with free-agent outfielder George Springer. Per @JonHeyman, six years, $150M. Pending physical.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 20, 2021

A year and $20M more than I expected - but I am pumped.
They landed Kirby Yates today too.

Biggest free agent signing in Jays history -- by far!

wow

i'm guessing this means jbj stays with the boxsox

bosox

michael brantley also to the jays

... maybe. Or maybe not.
If it winds up happening, the have a logjam of corner OF/DH hitters. So the thinking is that if they do sign him, they’ll quickly deal Lourdes Gurriel for a starter.

sounds like he is instead re-signing with houston

former pirate great j.a. happ to minnesota

looks like brantley back to astros?

Ya that makes much more sense.

Astros steal another sign(ing)

Some speculation on (30-year-old) George Springer:

https://www.billjamesonline.com/a_connecticut_astro_in_queen_elizabeths_colony/

(Not James, Dave Fleming.)

jbj to stros?

profar returns to SD, 3/$21m

ryan zimmerman returns to WAS, 1/$1m

Quintana is an Angel for $8M

pirates are expected to trade jameson taillon -- their only remaining player that means anything at all to me -- in the next couple days

might as well trade ke'bryan hayes too -- sure, he's only played 24 MLB games, but his stock will never be higher

Craig Mish
@CraigMish
The Philadelphia Phillies and JT Realmuto are in agreement on a 5 year $115.5 million dollar contract. Pending physical. Per source.

Semiens to the Jays!

What an offseason for the Jays (still think a mid-rotation pitcher would do wonders).

Infielder run!!!

Also love the Semiens signing for the jays. I was hoping they’d land him.

it's semien singular

but what does this mean for bo and/or cavan?

Tommy La Stella has never had 400 plate appearances in a season, but he just got a three-year contract a few days before his 32nd birthday. My latest on a truly unique player: https://t.co/R9L28BwTTI

— Tony Wolfe (@_TonyWolfe_) January 27, 2021

love that dude

remember when the cubs tried to option him to the minors and he just refused (for a couple of weeks)

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2016/08/09/cubs-la-stella-refuses-to-report-to-minors/88494048/

Semien playing 2B and I guess Cavin or Vlad at 3B depending how spring training goes. I imagine Biggio could gain a lot of at bats just filling in at LF/1B/2B to let guys rotate into DH or sit for a day. Could see Marcus moving to the left side at some point of Bo/Biggio/Vlad really stink it up.

And the Jays just shipped three slapdicks to the Mets for Matz. Not really sure he’s an improvement over any of their borderline AAAA starters, but what do I know.

Matz had so much promise 96 mph lefty and local kid but he's gotten progressively worse.

I haven't paid attention too closely, but why did the Jays give up on Sean Reid-Foley? He was such a big deal a couple of years ago. I see look at this stats and see control issues and the possibility he's coming off an injury, but also a lot of strikeouts and he's only 24.

Matz is super streaky. He'll have a few great starts and just when you think he's an ace the wheels will come off and he'll lose his starting role and then he builds it back up and sucks you in...

why did the Jays give up on Sean Reid-Foley? He was such a big deal a couple of years ago.

i don't think he was ever a "big deal" – he was rounding out some of our top prospect list before Bo and Vlad etc came along because of a lack of depth at the time and his high draft level. i never had big hopes for the guy, his stuff never seem to develop and his control was all over the place. of all the guys who came up as a starter on the Jays right now, i liked him the least even out of the pen because he didn't seem to have any pitches that could blow anyone away. i'd rather see what guys like Zeuch or Merryweather or Borucki could do in our rotation. losing Josh Winckowski is the only thing that will keep me up at night about this deal (tho, i thought Diaz had some closer potential).

In the coming days, we’ll presumably learn more about other offers on the table. For now, it’s remarkable that nobody valued Tanaka’s durability and track record enough to pony up. A model of consistency, Tanaka had posted 2.5 WAR or better in each of the past four full seasons, and if you prorate his 2020 numbers to a normal innings total, he’d have cleared that bar again last year as well. You can even dream a little bit on the velocity uptick he saw in 2020, and corresponding increase in swinging strike rate from 2019. Steamer had him as a three-win player in 2021, and while ZiPS is a little more pessimistic, we’re still talking about a good mid-rotation arm here. It boggles the mind that 30 MLB teams effectively passed on him.

Look, it’s no fun at all poking at MLB and its many problems these days. I don’t want to write about all of the ways the league is failing its customers any more than you want to read it. But we can’t take the Tanaka signing, or non-signing depending on your perspective, in a vacuum. Three of the last four free agent markets have been ice cold. For all intents and purposes, the league has a salary cap, and there aren’t many teams at risk of reaching it. A bitter collective bargaining dispute looms. Amidst that landscape, one of the world’s best pitchers is leaving the country in part because nobody in the world’s best league made it a priority to sign him.

That’s a choice, as much a collective one as a series of individual decisions. What that says about the state of the league, and MLB’s place in the broader sport and entertainment industry isn’t entirely clear just yet. But whatever it is, it can’t be anything good.

link to the full piece?

I ask because I wonder if he was truly "passed" on or rather that his agent wouldn't accept an offer under "$x" as Tanaka could make that in Japan.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/masahiro-tanaka-signs-with-rakuten-eagles-wait-what/

Thanks, that was a good piece.

i don't want to speculate on this, but IF tanaka was looking at offers in A) the united states, a country of obnoxious loud racist patriot science skeptics vs B) japan, MLB veteran returning home having pitched 1000+ innings for the yankees, ending his career with tributes among friends and family, etc

i'm not sure how many millions that is worth

also: i'm just assuming there will be a strike/lockout in 2022, not sure about anyone else. but maybe he's thinking that in a pandemic, he'd rather pitch 2021 in japan than the US, and 2022 might be a wash for MLB anyway.

I know Japan is revered in awkward whimsical ways in the west, but that country is perhaps as racist and science-skeptical as this one, maybe more!

Yes, they do wear masks when they are sick, but I suggest not talking to Japanese nationals about vaccinations.

yeah, i didn't mean to emphasize that so much i guess. maybe he loves living here (who wouldnt?!?!). and as the fangraphs article mentions, most other players don't play in Japan until the end of their careers, after they can't get playing opportunity here anymore. so obviously it's not down to which country rules more (USA, obviously!!). that's why i wish i'd emphasized the factors in my second post more: pandemic + impending 2022 no mlb

Agreed it's a weird time and in a time of uncertainty he can be patient and spend a year back home and rack up another absurd stat season to bring back to the USA when the owners have bigger checkbooks.

Okay, morning news in Japan says that the Jays were aggressively pursuing him but he decided to return to Japan instead.

Also mentioned that 2021 is the 10 year anniversary of the Tohoku earthquake (and subsequent nuclear meltdown) which is near where the Eagles play so Tanaka's homecoming will be a very symbolic return for the local fans.

joc pederson to the cubs, 1 yr/$7 million

if you have to have this type of Guy, i'll take pederson over schwarber

Tanaka just be homesick. Homesickness is a big deal.

Might just be, sorry.

BREAKING: Cardinals have agreed to acquire Nolan Arenado from Rockies, sources tell @TheAthletic. Deal pending approval from both MLB and players’ union; Rockies sending Cardinals significant cash, believed to be in $50M range, and Arenado will be deferring money.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 30, 2021

The Rockies barely escaped last place last season, looks like they're just gonna phone this season (and the next few) in.

Congrats to the NL Central winners St Louis Cardinals.

Happy for KM.

Whoa!!!

Just saw this, here! Ok...

there's a real pipeline from colorado to st. louis, eh?

cards are also bringing back waino and yadi on one-year deals apparently

so many teams simply not bothering

I’m trying to think of who else went Colorado >> St Louis. Walker, Holliday went to the A’s before landing in Col. Fowler had a couple teams between. I feel like there’s some obvious names I’m forgetting.

the larry walker trade was pretty great, although it's been a while.

wainwright signed for $8M, I'd expect yadi will announce shortly then too. maybe they were holding off on those until arenado, to decide whether they were in on NL Central or not? the cards are no powerhouse that's for sure, but this does put them a little ahead this year (AKA div series exit)

as for the return, Austin Gomber is a MLB pitcher, 4th or 5th in most rotations, and Baker is a backup 1B. Jhon Torres could be the headliner of the deal, in a few years - he's very good.

I'm very interested to see what Arenado does outside of Colorado. Nothing to do with the Cardinals or KM, but I've always been a skeptic with him.

Career Home/Away:

@COL .322/.376/.609 = .985
Away .263/.322/.471 = .793

@Busch
.278/.337/.511 = .848

If they get that kind of away/Busch offense out of him plus his defense (I don't really see him, but supposedly Mike Schmidt-level), then that's an All-Star, for sure, if not an MVP candidate.

i'm jealous that in the NL central, all a team needs to do is exist to have a respectable chance at making the playoffs.

incredible take

Rockies trading away Arenado is big step towards following the Rays model. Rays traded away Longoria, then Archer in past three years and wound up in World Series last season. Then Snell dealt. Not saying this will happen for Rox. Just saying Rays have influence here. #9sports

— Mike Klis (@MikeKlis) January 30, 2021

just saying! lol

Colorado would be a .333 team in the AL East.

christ. who is that idiot? that was so dumb i'm seriously annoyed

cardinals should have demanded a couple prospects too

be nice to mike he literally just learned what a "trade" is

Feeling for Story.

Pulling for these two.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/30800732/san-francisco-giants-outfielder-drew-robinson-remarkable-second-act

https://www.ocregister.com/2021/02/02/andrelton-simmons-opens-up-about-depression-and-thoughts-of-suicide/

chris archer back to tampa lol

courageous of both of them to share that stuff publicly, and very glad that they did. it's not an option that everyone has, but it's a good thing when people are able to talk about it

xp

gonna be pretty disappointed when the mets sign bauer

nm

so not the A's then

Per Spotrac, Bauer's 2021 salary is more than the total payrolls of the Pirates, Indians and Orioles. https://t.co/ss1nIUOPdd

— Josh Norris (@jnorris427) February 5, 2021

Kolten Wong to the Brew Crew

That's overpaying for Bauer imo

yeah, but it's only two years (after which he'll opt out unless he blows out his elbow or something)

also dexter fowler traded/dumped to anaheim

it *is* a lot of fuss for a guy with a career 3.90 era

curious about whether they'll let him go every 4 days like he wants to

I doubt it. It would get in the way of developing May and Urias.

Agreed with Craig Goldstein on twitter that it's a bit dumb to go above the luxury tax for Bauer when they had so many better options prior.

wong's a great pickup for the brewers, imo. also, he has more power than people think. in Busch it played more like doubles in the gaps, but a lot of those might clear the fence in milwaukee. wouldn't surprise me to see him hit 15HR and win another gold glove

Are the Brewers the true model of a small market franchise? It seems to me they do spend more and somehow keep trying.

dexter fowler to angels?

along with $12M, so it was a salary dump. surprised and VERY pleased that the cardinals managed to get rid of him! dang, cardinals might win 88 games now

i do think that gives them the best defense in MLB, though. the last remaining defensive negative was fowler

88 games will be more than sufficient to win the division.

jesus that Bauer contract. Dodgers are gonna be praying he opts out

it's absurd, and barring injury he will absolutely opt out after the second year (the third year is cheap) . . . which is fine!

i mean yes they overpaid for a guy who has one full season at an all-star level. but it's just money; they have plenty. kinda surprised they didn't snag arenado as well, since it only took a willingness to spend money.

but it's just a three (really two) year deal. it's not like they're paying prince albert $30m every year until he's 45 -- they get two presumably good years, he turns 32, and everyone moves on

otoh he's an utter asshole; wonder if the dodgers have some sort of out in circumstances

Has that ever been a thing before with ball players?

probably a union thing, so probably not

Bauer is such a galaxy brain he probably doesnt care about the union even as his contract status is pro(ish)-labor

bauer is such a galaxy brain that he demanded all the opt-outs lest his 'friend' shoot him in the nads with a paintball

doesn't seem to have depressed his market tho

Lol

I would have made him getting shot in the nuts part of the contract.

Elvis Andrus for Khris Davis

Kind of a weird one.

Last year sure messed with the career boxes of some guys: Davis hit .200 (not even close to .247...), Andrus .194.

no surprise after wainwright signed, but molina is back for another year with the cardinals ($9M)

also, not sure if this is the most appropriate thread, but:

The league has formally announced this year’s health-and-safety agreement. The on-field alterations include the return of seven-inning doubleheaders and runners on second base to begin extra innings. Any player is permitted to work as a pitcher in a given game — a departure from the rules the league had previously planned to put into place that prohibited position players pitching until a certain inning or six-run deficit was in place.

There will also be “strict” enforcement of of unsportsmanlike conduct violations that break physical distancing guidelines (i.e. players and coaches going out of their way to argue in an umpire’s face, bench-clearing brawls, etc.).

From a roster construction standpoint, the standard roster size will revert to 26 players until a September expansion to 28. In the event of a Covid-19 outbreak within a club, those teams will be permitted to add players to the MLB roster and return them to the minors, without burning minor league options or placing them on waivers, once their infected players are cleared to return from Covid protocols. Teams will again travel with five-man taxi squads.

MLB is also enforcing facemasks “other than for players on the field during a game or during pre-game warmups,” enhancing its contact-tracing capabilities and adding mental health resources for each club. Players who come in contact with a confirmed positive case of Covid-19 will now be subject to a week-long quarantine and must test negative on the fifth day of said quarantine.

The full scope of the changes and a detailed, point-by-point description can be seen in MLB’s official press release.

also, the 10-team playoff format is back, and no universal DH

well that's good to hear

Lol at “strict” in quotes up there.

out of an abundance of caution

love how both the players and owners want a universal DH, but won't implement it because they each think the other side should give up something else to get it

yep. the owners wanted the expanded playoffs in "exchange" for the DH (which they want)

the players wanted....? i can't remember.

hookers and blow, i believe.

In the event of a Covid-19 outbreak within a club, those teams will be permitted to add players to the MLB roster and return them to the minors, without burning minor league options or placing them on waivers, once their infected players are cleared to return from Covid protocols

lol

Presented without comment. https://t.co/wkhvFIH8bI

— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) February 10, 2021

Still amazing he got a $20 million contract and had a total of 9 plate appearances (0 hits) during those two years.

suddenly the red sox have no outfielders at all

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/30876960/sources-boston-red-sox-sending-andrew-benintendi-kansas-city-royals-3-team-deal

“Franchy” is an 80-grade first name tho.
Surprised to see the royals trading away Lee.

i feel pretty much less than nothing for the sox these days but it still stings a little to see the last 'killer b' go two years removed from winning it all

Now the first and true Killer B's--Bell, Barfield, and Moseby--can be restored to their place of privilege.

uh, I believe you mean Biggio, Bo and Bvlad!

Turner back to the Dodgers, who might be in the upper bracket of the luxury tax at this point!
is this gonna be like a yankees situation, where it takes years of trimming to get back down under?

your framing of the situation pains me

dominating the league do have its downside.

Mets stocking up on people whose last name ends in -illar

Fifth team for Pillar in two years, wow. If he continues to hit like he's been hitting recently, he's a good guy to have around.

Star shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. and the San Diego Padres are in agreement on a 14-year, $340 million contract extension, a source familiar with the deal tells ESPN.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 18, 2021

one owner didn't get the memo

jesus

(also that's awesome)

It has to be a record.

OMG

if you're going to give out a 14-year contract, it might as well be to a player who's 22 years old

dude doesn't even have a full season under his belt

neat

The Giants have made a unique addition to their coaching staff: former Rays outfielder Fernando Perez joins them as a video analyst. Perez is a Columbia alum, a documentary filmmaker and a published poet. He's also a Spanish speaker who can help Latino players w/video analysis. pic.twitter.com/4eH0c9hhxo

— Andrew Baggarly (@extrabaggs) February 18, 2021

Cute optics but big picture though:

https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/01/14/crowley-charles-johnsons-ownership-is-a-shame-for-the-san-francisco-giants/

clown

The speech, which was downloaded to YouTube and went Twitter viral on Sunday morning, offered information that the Mariners' front office would likely never share publicly to the media or the fan base. https://t.co/g4rRecXKxX

— Seattle Times Sports (@SeaTimesSports) February 21, 2021

Mariners have released a statement: Kevin Mather has resigned.

— Corey Brock (@CoreyBrockMLB) February 22, 2021

forced to resign for saying out loud what every front office truly believes

remarkable idiocy though. rotarians!

Seattle should put up a statue of Mather for getting Kelenic in the Diaz/Cano trade.

Manfred must be so so pissed.

is it bad that, as a lifelong fan, i want the CBA negotiations 10 months from now to utterly destroy baseball

not at all

I don’t know if the players deserve that.

group economics

Blue Jays just announced they are no longer going to have a radio team. I still listen all the time in the car or while doing work around the house - and listening to TV broadcasters try to paint a picture of what I can’t see is going to be some serious garbage.

Time for some pirate radio announcers to swoop in

xp Wait, what? Yeah, I listened a lot on the radio. Yet another reminder that I'm old, because this doesn't even compute to me.

yeah, hoping for a cottage industry of amateur feeds, who knows?

Oh I see, a "simulcast". Bah, radio is a craft not to be taken on by anyone. Thankfully Wilner is gone at least

Close your eyes and imagine...

Joe carter rounding the bases after hitting a world series winning home run. One of the biggest hits in baseball history...

As the sound of Buck Martinez's strained "howme rawwwwwnnnnnnnghghghghg...." call trails off, Pat Tabler chimes in with "Joe Carter is a baseball player, Buck."

Our collective souls die a little inside. "Touch 'em all Joe" is so out of reach for our middling TV crew.

Time for some pirate radio announcers to swoop in

you don't want any of the pirates' announcers

tbf dan shulman is a total pro and has worked in radio, so if anyone can make it work (assuming he's allowed to!), i'd trust him

Shulman is a saving grace, definitely

for sure.

I think it goes more like this:

Close your eyes and imagine...

[Joe carter swings the bat]

Buck: get out of here ball, get out, get out!

[ball clears the fence, crowd erupts, Jays win the series]

Pat: Whoa! How about that!

Hypothetical radio listener: ??????&*&

jbj to brewers, 2 years, 24M

Blue Jays just announced they are no longer going to have a radio team. "

That' some cheap BS in the age of zoom. F'n Ronnie Reagan was doing baseball radio broadcasts by wire (and many others also did so) back in the paleolithic era.

Lindor extended w/Mets. Just before April fools.

Boy is it gonna be awesome reliving the Manny Ramirez betrayal all over again.

only ‘betrayal’ here was by cleveland ownership

what was the betrayal?! i was not following baseball in the early Manny years.

afaict the betrayal is "chose to sign with a different team in free agency"?

which i guess is worse than "was offered nothing by a team that has been crying poor for years, got traded to a different team where he was offered one of the biggest contracts of all time and accepted it instead of going back to the first team in free agency for some reason"

but not by much

Manny signed with the fucking Red Sox and won a goddamn World Series and Cleveland didn’t.

Yes of course it’s the owners I’m mad at. And at the MLB for not having a salary cap.

Poor people should not be allowed to own professional sports teams.

tbf he won two world series with the red sox

and larry dolan is worth $4.6 billion, fourth-most among mlb owners

aren't even small market teams fairly profitable? i think the issue might be too many, let's say, "wealth oriented" groups owning teams!

ALSO: OPENEING DAY!!!

thank you all for honoring dr. morbius properly by arguing about something that happened in baseball like 100 years ago

bosox/orioles postponed :(

"And at the MLB for not having a salary cap."

wait what

A couple days late, but Mets opening day. I knew they had a good opening day record, but this is amazing:

The Mets begin the 2021 season with the best Opening Day record ever -- a 39-20 (.661) mark that ought to be the envy of every other club. It’s all the more remarkable considering that the Mets, born in 1962, did not win the first game of any season until 1970. They are 39-12 (.765) since then.

Back of the napkin calculations but the Cleveland Neo-Naps could give Lindor the same contract as the Mets and they would still be 112 millions under luxury tax threshold.

Their revenue in 2019 was 290 millions.

There is no excuses.

rich hill to the mets

why are the rays trading away pieces if they're trying to contend by signing nelson cruz

in any case, it's fun that the first two big names to move in this trading deadline are both 41 years old

why are the mets trading for rich hill when he's been absolute garbage since the goop got banned

i think the Rays want Patino to replace Hill, so their math is they're better off with the relievers they're getting back and Patino in the rotation.

why are the rays trading away pieces if they're trying to contend

it’s the only way they know how to live

really curious what ends up happening with him -- god-tier defense and occasional flashes of offensive brilliance but he'll be 28 this winter and he's fucking hurt all the time. once in seven seasons has he played 100 games! anyway he has one more year of arb before free agency in 2023

Byron Buxton has rejected a contract extension from the Twins, sources tell me and @DanHayesMLB. Story coming.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 25, 2021

Some team is going to pay a lot of money to get one serviceable season out of the guy.

jesus luzardo has been terrible this year but he still seems like a lot for the a's to give up for two months of starling marte

porntipslizardo

Oh god, Gallo in pin stripes.

some large adult outfielders in the bronx

free agents

yasiel puig
ryan braun
zack cozart
jedd gyorko
sean rodriguez
edwin encarnacion
matt wieters
matt kemp
yoenis cespedes
rick porcello
andrew cashner

i was surprised to see a few of these names

You’d think if Pujols could find a team that can make room for him, a few of those dudes on the list could too.

i am assume some of them are holding out for a better deal, and then it just got too far into the season? i remember reading a few articles recently advocating for one team or another to pick up rick porcello as an innings eater. and maybe covid was a concern for some of them, i don't know.

puig appears to be keeping busy in the Mexican League

Golpe a Yasiel Puig, discusión y se vaciaron las bancas entre Pericos de Puebla y El Águila de Veracruz. pic.twitter.com/cBL1kzqv8v

— Liga Mexicana de Beisbol (@LigaMexBeis) July 23, 2021