2018-2019 MLB Offseason Thread

[Fudge Nuggets 19118]

15 hours ago, spystud13 said:

Law on Jorge. 

 

So he can't play defense all that great, can't hit, being a catcher I assume he can't run.  Sounds like a great trade.

[Bartles 769]

Well, the Fish needed a catcher and Alfaro's pretty much middle of the pack so he'll be fine. That trade was about Sixto Sanchez, who gets a lot of Pedro comparisons but may be a lazy headcase too

[TheFlagship 432]

That doesn’t sound ideal

[clapclapclap 9000]

Bryce Harper Asks If Phillies Willing To Move To Another City

https://sports.theonion.com/bryce-harper-asks-if-phillies-willing-to-move-to-anothe-1832462398 

 

What about the Houston Phillies?  We already ripped off the Phanatic....

[MC Fresh Breath 4074]

Enjoyed this piece on an improbable 37 year old player comeback:

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/25893836/inside-37-year-old-pitcher-luke-hagerty-improbable-comeback-story

[Vic Mackey 46919]

...

[cmontexas 3242]

On 2/8/2019 at 11:32 AM, Bartles said:

Well, the Fish needed a catcher and Alfaro's pretty much middle of the pack so he'll be fine. That trade was about Sixto Sanchez, who gets a lot of Pedro comparisons but may be a lazy headcase too

So Neftali Feliz?

[Scraps 13531]

At Tristar show in Houston....Don Sutton looks like death

 

[Bartles 769]

Even the Night King needs to make some cash in between GoT seasons

[MC Fresh Breath 4074]

On 1/24/2019 at 5:45 PM, Beau Vine said:

Several times. Always have a blast. DOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWIT.

 

OK, got the flights booked.  Friend I'm making the trip with, while a very good friend, is not the best planner.  Anyway, going to be there Feb 28 to March 4.  I think we can catch a game every day there, even departure day since we chose a late flight out.   He's a Royals fan, and they play the M's on March 2nd.  Other than that, going to be fun to figure it all out.  

Question--are any of the food package deals worth it to you?  Or rather, do you have experiences with them?  The craft beer add on seems interesting to me, but don't know.  Any tips you have, greatly appreciated.  

[HtownHorn 14446]

The coming labor battle is going to be long and bad. Players are pissed owners aren't handing out shitty contracts like candy anymore. Amazing that organizations aren't willing to pay hundreds of millions for the players in decline, now that PED testing has stopped players from maintaining their performance well into their late 30s.

[Hank Chinaski 6310]

7 minutes ago, HtownHorn said:

The coming labor battle is going to be long and bad. Players are pissed owners aren't handing out shitty contracts like candy anymore. Amazing that organizations aren't willing to pay hundreds of millions for the players in decline, now that PED testing has stopped players from maintaining their performance well into their late 30s.

Yeah, it's difficult to be too critical of the clubs' unwillingness to throw gobs of money at veteran FAs (take a look at the Pujols or Chris Davis contracts). However, the players could make a good argument that younger players are underpaid for too long, as young guys with years of team control are the most coveted resources now. 

Maybe they allow players to get to arbitration sooner, and/or increase the money on rookie contracts - seems like something like that could be part of a solution. 

I know the players are complaining about the FAs, but clubs can just point to any number of albatross contracts (Pujols, Davis, Cabrera, Cueto, etc) to justify their positions. Shifting more money to players when they are actually worth it (i.e., in their 20s) seems like a reasonable compromise. 

[WBT 20397]

Seems fairly obvious the solution needs to be some combination of increasing the minimum salary for rookies/prearbitration players, increasing arbitration salaries, and shortening the time before reaching free agency.  Owners aren't paying for old and declining players any more, especially since the alternative is younger players who are better and cheaper.  I'm just not sure the union rank and file will go along.  This should increase total salaries but it would shift money from vets to guys who haven't "paid their dues" yet.

edit - yeah, what Hank said

Edited February 12, 2019 by WBT

[HtownHorn 14446]

13 minutes ago, WBT said:

Seems fairly obvious the solution needs to be some combination of increasing the minimum salary for rookies/prearbitration players, increasing arbitration salaries, and shortening the time before reaching free agency.  Owners aren't paying for old and declining players any more, especially since the alternative is younger players who are better and cheaper.  I'm just not sure the union rank and file will go along.  This should increase total salaries but it would shift money from vets to guys who haven't "paid their dues" yet.

edit - yeah, what Hank said

Yes I could see the owners and union agreeing to 5 years of team control before FA. I also think that the Astros and Cubs burned the current structure to the ground with their out right tanking to quickly rebuild. Now you have half the teams in the MLB tanking to rebuild, but that also is caused because in the AL you already have the Astros, Red Sox, Indians, and Yankees almost guaranteed playoff spots before ST even starts.

I think baseball should also set a mandatory minimum for team salaries, and franchises that don't spend enough get draft pick penalties same as luxury tax repeat offenders.

Edited February 12, 2019 by HtownHorn

[TheFlagship 432]

41 minutes ago, HtownHorn said:

The coming labor battle is going to be long and bad. Players are pissed owners aren't handing out shitty contracts like candy anymore. Amazing that organizations aren't willing to pay hundreds of millions for the players in decline, now that PED testing has stopped players from maintaining their performance well into their late 30s.

But at the same time, the owners are making more money. The tv deals are huge. Yet payrolls are going down! And teams aren’t paying guys past their early 30s but at the same are manipulating the service time of prospects to delay their free agency a year. It doesn’t smell right.

As a baseball fan, I want to see the Harpers and Machados play. Frankly, I don’t care if they’re overpaid and some billionaire shmuck like Hal Steinbrenner doesn’t get the ROI he wants. 

[Beau Vine 53964]

2 hours ago, MC Fresh Breath said:

 

OK, got the flights booked.  Friend I'm making the trip with, while a very good friend, is not the best planner.  Anyway, going to be there Feb 28 to March 4.  I think we can catch a game every day there, even departure day since we chose a late flight out.   He's a Royals fan, and they play the M's on March 2nd.  Other than that, going to be fun to figure it all out.  

Question--are any of the food package deals worth it to you?  Or rather, do you have experiences with them?  The craft beer add on seems interesting to me, but don't know.  Any tips you have, greatly appreciated.  

No idea what a "food package deal" is.  I do know that you're (M's, Royals) over on the west side, so tickets should be cheaper over there.  We always had Paul get us tickets for DBacks games, and then one year we decided to go to a Rangers@Angels game, and most tickets were $50.  Fuck that.  And the Cubs games are even more expensive. 

I can add that there is pretty amazing hiking in the Phoenix area.  It was a blast to go on a morning hike, and then catch an afternoon game. 

[spystud13 2371]

Would this NRI team be worse than the Orioles? I say yes. 

 

Rat starting at SS... 

[spystud13 2371]

Fucking ouch. 

 

 

[Hank Chinaski 6310]

14 minutes ago, spystud13 said:

Fucking ouch. 

 

 

This is why I don't think the allegation of "collusion" really applies. Teams are just too smart to give out these types of deals anymore. Greinke has been good, but he has 3 more years at around $30mm. Other than that, none of these guys have come close to producing at a level commensurate with these contracts. 

That's not to say, again, that players shouldn't get more money earlier in their careers (I think they should)...but I have a hard time blaming clubs for being more frugal than they used to be in free agency. Players seem to want to see these types of contracts come back (of course they do!); but you can't get mad at teams for choosing not to make fiscally disastrous decisions like these. 

[Pato del Muerto 52321]

Spread the money out more. The top earners in a profession probably shouldn’t be making 40x more than he bottom earners.  

 high producers shouldn’t be making the same as low producers just based on job experience. 

Fully guaranteed contracts are silly too because career ending injuries in baseball aren’t exactly commonplace. 

The whole thing is a mess between two groups fighting over a huge pile of money that keep getting larger while industry growth is held captive by the industry itself. 

Yay. 

[Beau Vine 53964]

2 hours ago, Hank Chinaski said:

This is why I don't think the allegation of "collusion" really applies. Teams are just too smart to give out these types of deals anymore.

Miraculously, they all got "too smart" at the same time.  And the free agents this offseason are getting the exact same offers from every team that makes an offer. 

[henrygandorf 29174]

16 minutes ago, Beau Vine said:

Miraculously, they all got "too smart" at the same time.  And the free agents this offseason are getting the exact same offers from every team that makes an offer. 

eh, sort of.  i would say more that 5-6 front offices figured it out not that long ago, and most of the others are sheep.  also you have quite a bit of activity with front office guys moving around and spreading information.

and the information i'm talking about isn't about avoiding big contracts, it's just sharpening the player valuation tool.

and when i see the same numbers repeated about the same players with [insert team here] i just assume it was floated by the player's people.

[Hank Chinaski 6310]

1 hour ago, Beau Vine said:

Miraculously, they all got "too smart" at the same time.  And the free agents this offseason are getting the exact same offers from every team that makes an offer. 

Yeah, plenty of teams weren't giving out these contracts before last offseason - it's more that other teams jumped on board. The Dodgers and Yankees, for example, have clearly changed their approach the last few years (though the Yankees did assume that massive Stanton contract). 

But you're right - they aren't all "too smart" - the Padres gave Eric Hosmer way too much money last winter. 

Edited February 13, 2019 by Hank Chinaski

[Beau Vine 53964]

[Helobious 9477]

22 minutes ago, Beau Vine said:

This might actually mean something if they added average 1st round pick position on there. 

It is interesting to see successful franchises at all parts of the chart. The Giants and Red Sox are clear outliers at the top. Every other team in the top 10 hasn't been helped much at all by having all those picks make the majors. 

[spystud13 2371]

If there wasn’t so much damn judging in baseball, we’d be onto something. 

[Beau Vine 53964]

 

[spystud13 2371]

I prefer his daughter. 

https://www.instagram.com/josiecanseco/

 

[Helobious 9477]

35 minutes ago, spystud13 said:

If there wasn’t so much damn judging in baseball, we’d be onto something. 

I’m still embarrassed about that. Skiing & other winter sports were a huge deal in the RGV growing up, I should’ve picked up some knowledge on it. Wish I would’ve joined my friends that would go hit the slopes after school let out for the day. 

[HtownHorn 14446]

2 hours ago, Beau Vine said:

Miraculously, they all got "too smart" at the same time.  And the free agents this offseason are getting the exact same offers from every team that makes an offer. 

Yes, they all did get smarter at the same time. The Astros and Cubs showed them the way to speed through a rebuild. Be as bad as you can and stockpile Top 5 picks for 3-4 years. You don't need to spend money on vets to be really bad. The NBA has a floor that is 90% of the cap. I would advocate for a minimum, say something like $120M, that would be around 60% of the luxury tax in MLB.

[HtownHorn 14446]

1 hour ago, Hank Chinaski said:

Yeah, plenty of teams weren't giving out these contracts before last offseason - it's more that other teams jumped on board. The Dodgers and Yankees, for example, have clearly changed their approach the last few years (though the Yankees did assume that massive Stanton contract). 

But you're right - they aren't all "too smart" - the Padres gave Eric Hosmer way too much money last winter. 

The Yankees didn't pay in the luxury tax for the 1st time since it's inception in 2018. In fact, only the Red Sox and Nationals owe luxury tax penalties for 2018.

[Pato del Muerto 52321]

2 hours ago, Helobious said:

I’m still embarrassed about that. Skiing & other winter sports were a huge deal in the RGV growing up, I should’ve picked up some knowledge on it. Wish I would’ve joined my friends that would go hit the slopes after school let out for the day. 

Probably tough with all the travel to the Bronx 

[MC Fresh Breath 4074]

22 hours ago, Beau Vine said:

No idea what a "food package deal" is.  I do know that you're (M's, Royals) over on the west side, so tickets should be cheaper over there.  We always had Paul get us tickets for DBacks games, and then one year we decided to go to a Rangers@Angels game, and most tickets were $50.  Fuck that.  And the Cubs games are even more expensive. 

I can add that there is pretty amazing hiking in the Phoenix area.  It was a blast to go on a morning hike, and then catch an afternoon game. 

I sure missed where you knew him on a first name basis..that's awesome!  Knew you were fan, didn't know beyond that.  

Yeah, so for us poors (non-Surly elite for sure) buying tickets, some of the games seem to have "for 60 bucks get a food voucher" kind of thing.  Just wondered if anyone had experience with it.    Not sure we want to to just see Royals/M's games, so we might try to hit other stadiums, but on the map things look pretty darned spread out.  

Now to figure out where geographically to get a hotel.  I won't bog up the thread further with this stuff.  I thought given the subject there would a be a bunch of folks here with this kind of trip experience. 

[spystud13 2371]

Brett Anderson back to Oak for 1/$1.5M, that is cheap. 

[ocugolf 1202]

Aaron Nola signed a 4 year - 45 million dollar extension with the Phillies. That’s a really good deal for the Phillies. Nola was phenomal last year.

[MAROON 445]

41 minutes ago, ocugolf said:

Aaron Nola signed a 4 year - 45 million dollar extension with the Phillies. That’s a really good deal for the Phillies. Nola was phenomal last year.

ya, I'm thinking Keuchel didn't like seeing that deal considering he's older and wants more years.

[shnsajax 3589]

ya, I'm thinking Keuchel didn't like seeing that deal considering he's older and wants more years.

 

You could look at Arrieta’s contract and say Kuechel isn’t going to be happy. He should be happy if he can get 4 years. I wouldn’t give him more than 3/60 and I think that is an over pay.

[DanRydell 799]

ya, I'm thinking Keuchel didn't like seeing that deal considering he's older and wants more years.

Apples to oranges. Nola’s deal buys out arb years.

[Beau Vine 53964]

NL Central looks interesting...

[Hank Chinaski 6310]

1 hour ago, Beau Vine said:

NL Central looks interesting...

Wow - Mets and D-Backs seem high; Cubs seem low. Everything else looks about right. 

[Beau Vine 53964]

Kinda dusty in here:

I went to a game there last summer and got to the stadium before they opened the gates.  He was walking around shaking hands and thanking people for coming like at 0:11 in the video. 

[DanRydell 799]

The Cubs having the second most runs allowed in the NL is an interesting projection. They were 2nd behind the Dodgers in runs allowed last year despite the Darvish and Chatwood disasters. By comparison, Fangraphs predicts 9 NL teams to give up more runs.

Edited February 14, 2019 by DanRydell

[shnsajax 3589]

The Cubs having the second most runs allowed in the NL is an interesting projection. They were 2nd behind the Dodgers in runs allowed last year despite the Darvish and Chatwood disasters. By comparison, Fangraphs predicts 9 NL teams to give up more runs.

Morrow missed a lot of time as well. Kris Bryant basically missed half the season, and Rizzo being a disaster the first half of the season. Somehow the Cubs are going to be 15 games worse? I expect Schwarber, Almora, Bryant, and Contreras to be better this season.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Rholl 217]

10 hours ago, DanRydell said:

 

Apples to oranges. Nola’s deal buys out arb years.

 

 I bet Keuchel is wanting another chance at the 90 mil he said no thanks to!

[Beau Vine 53964]

'Murica:

 

[TheFlagship 432]

8 hours ago, shnsajax said:

 

Morrow missed a lot of time as well. Kris Bryant basically missed half the season, and Rizzo being a disaster the first half of the season. Somehow the Cubs are going to be 15 games worse? I expect Schwarber, Almora, Bryant, and Contreras to be better this season.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Bryant and Rizzo should def be better, but I think Schwarber and Contreras are who they are. Can you count on Baez repeating his MVP caliber season?

Correct me if I’m wrong, but the problem for the Cubs is they are relying on old pitchers not dropping off precipitously (Lester and Hamels) and guys coming off injury or down years (Darvish and Q). Their bullpen should be good. 

[UTexasFight 9369]

NL Central looks interesting...

One 90 win team in the NL?
Oof

[Pig Bellmont 8679]

5 minutes ago, UTexasFight said:

One 90 win team in the NL?
Oof

Yeah, I think it shows a lack of conviction in the predictions. Also, I don’t buy the Mets as the second best team in the NL East. 

[HtownHorn 14446]

33 minutes ago, Pig Bellmont said:

Yeah, I think it shows a lack of conviction in the predictions. Also, I don’t buy the Mets as the second best team in the NL East. 

Why, they have the best rotation in the NL as long as everyone stays healthy? It might be the best in the majors.

[UTexasFight 9369]

Why, they have the best rotation in the NL as long as everyone stays healthy? It might be the best in the majors.

Because.... the Mets.