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2018-2019 MLB Offseason Thread

Beau Vine

By Beau Vine
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MAROON
MAROON

best comment i read so far about the contract length.   "There are Phillies fans not yet born that will be throwing batteries at him in the later years of this contract".

Beau Vine
Beau Vine

From Levi Weaver's column in The Athletic:  

Beau Vine
Beau Vine

Gammons rambles way too much and it's like his editors are afraid to touch his work, but I like him because he loves baseball.  Not just MLB.  Gammons loves BASEBALL. And he hit this one out of t

Helobious

Helobious 9483

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Can’t believe Cashman got Paxton for Sheffield, the GM wizard strikes again. That’s the rotation help we need. So stoked.

Now if someone could inform me on who James Paxton is & how good he is, that’d be great. 

Edited by Helobious
yes that is sarcasm for you slow ones
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shnsajax

shnsajax 3592

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16 hours ago, Captain Obvious said:

Nice trade by Cashman.  Slight durability concern with Paxton (only one season with 160+ IP), but he's trending in the right direction in that department.

Nice trade by the Mariners as well. Only 2 years of control left on Paxton and they probably won't be competing in the West next year vs 6 years of control on Sheffield. Lefties hit .330/.378/.495/.874 vs Paxton last season while splitting time at Safeco. Not sure how thats going to hold up in the little league park he is moving too.  

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Beau Vine

Beau Vine 54496

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Brisbee on Beltre:

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If you want the genius of Adrián Beltré, it’s right there on the back of his baseball card. He hit 477 homers and collected 3,166 hits. He’s 26th in Wins Above Replacement, according to Baseball-Reference.com, ahead of Wade Boggs, George Brett, and Chipper Jones. He’s 10th on the all-time list for defensive WAR, and everyone ahead of him is an unimpeachable defensive legend. Some legends come up when they’re teenagers and smack you in the face, saying, “I’M HERE. LOOK AT ME.” Some legends are a slow burn that take a few years to appreciate. Beltré is most certainly the latter.

But if you want the real genius of Adrián Beltré, you should have been there, man. Should have been there. It wasn’t just the stats or when he created a Positive Baseball Event to help his team. It was the joie de vivre, the élan, the feeling that nobody in the world was having as much fun playing baseball. It was a mere feeling, sure, but it also could have been a verifiable scientific fact if you had tasked the right scientist and gave him or her the right equipment.

Beltré was the guy who (deep breath) ...

Adrián Beltré was the guy who would do this for a very simple reason:

082215_texdet_beltre_kick_med_cbknp54a.g

Because it was funny. Because baseball is fun. Because where the regular player sees an opportunity to pick up the ball and wordlessly toss it back to his pitcher, Beltré saw an opportunity to wink at everyone in the stands and watching on TV.

 

This is all well and good, but I’m going to tell you something else about Beltré’s popularity that you might not have thought of. I don’t think it’s a controversial sentiment, but it’s definitely not something we think about a lot, and it goes something like this:

Not everyone thought this about Adrián Beltré.

It’s true! Go up to 100 people at any baseball game, and ask them their thoughts about Beltré. I’m not going to pull a number out of my nether regions and pretend it’s verifiable, but I’d be surprised if more than 10 of those people could tell you a fraction of what made the Adrián Beltré experience so enjoyable and different. This isn’t 1950, where baseball’s top stars appeared on Push That Button!, a popular game show where famous people would push a button over and over again. He wasn’t on the cover of the issue of LIFE that was in every home and in every doctor’s office. He was a baseball player, one of 750, who had very little name recognition among the normies.

Do you know what that means for the people in the internet bubble, those of us who would eagerly awaited each new silly Beltré moment and gave a Gene Parmesan squeal when we got one? It means we were in a secret club. Maybe not a secret club, but certainly one with a finite membership.

There are two kinds of baseball fans in this word, those who get Adrián Beltré and those who are complete squares. When you dug down beneath the topsoil and outer crust of baseball, just really started digging and digging and digging, an enduring appreciation of Beltré was one of your rewards. Think of it like an Xbox achievement or a fancy certificate in a classy, ornate frame.

 

When you have paid attention to (x) amount of baseball, you get Adrián Beltré. You understand him and why he makes baseball better. You’re in the club.

He is our special internet friend, then, the kind of player who didn’t need to be a national star like the players from bygone eras. He was the perfect player to pass through our internet bubble without popping it. And he would leave gifts. So many gifts.

And now he’s gone. There was no ceremony, no farewell tour. We didn’t get to watch Beltré stand awkwardly in front of a San Diego crowd while he accepted a surfboard signed by Nick Cannon. That’s in part because of the sudden retirement, but it’s also in large part because there probably wouldn’t have been a team-by-team ceremony like there was for Mariano Rivera or Derek Jeter. This is more proof that you’re part of a large-yet-secret club of people who truly get it in a way that regular slobs don’t.

People love believing in conspiracies — don’t google “California wildfire government lasers” if you know what’s good for you — because of a natural desire to feel superior to people who aren’t as enlightened. But I never understood that because you can get the same feeling by doing something like, oh, paying attention to Adrián Beltré while he’s active. We’re in the know, we’re hep. Anyone else who didn’t get a chance or, even worse, didn’t understand what the big deal was? Cluck your tongue, shake your head, and pity those poor souls. It was right there, in front of us, the whole time.

It was pretty awesome, everyone.

Baseball will survive, a little duller than before. There won’t be more back-and-forths with Felix Hernandez, no more giggling from Elvis Andrus when he does something antagonistic toward Beltré. The foul balls will be calmly picked up, and the on-deck circles will stay right where they are. Home runs will be hit from one knee again, but they’ll be paying homage to a legend, not original material.

 

Eventually someone will come along who is just as fun as Beltré. Maybe they’re already here. That’s how the conveyor belt of baseball and time works. But no one will be Adrián Beltré, a true original, a guy who was so unique that he lied about his age to be younger than his peers, a special, fun-loving soul who was a member of a small fraternity of players who understood that baseball was supposed to be fun. He’ll be missed.

And when he’s in the Hall of Fame, I’m gonna touch the bronze head on the plaque until security drags me out of there, just like he would have wanted. Happy trails, Adrián Beltré. Happy trails, and thanks.

 

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Beau Vine

Beau Vine 54496

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18 hours ago, Captain Obvious said:

Nice trade by Cashman.  Slight durability concern with Paxton (only one season with 160+ IP), but he's trending in the right direction in that department.

This makes me even angrier that Dave Stewart traded the previous #1 overall pick in the draft, a good major league OF with 4 years of control left, and our #4 prospect for Shelby Miller.

 

 

I realize I need to let this go, but I can't.

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Beau Vine

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From Levi Weaver's column in The Athletic:

Quote

So I want to tell you my favorite behind-the-scenes Adrián Beltré story.

We were in Seattle, and it was the two days before what would be his final game. We had peppered him with the usual questions, and now the conversation had turned to umpires. He acknowledged that Joe West’s comments about him (which led to a suspension for the umpire) had been a joke taken out of context. He said he didn’t expect umpires to be perfect, but he just appreciated when they weren’t defensive and could play along. It’s a long season, and you need to be able to joke around, you know?

TV reporter Emily Jones brought up the fact that when Beltré is taking a pitch, he always yells “OUTSIDE!” no matter if the pitch is actually outside, or if it’s right across the plate.

Beltré chuckled and remembered a story from early in his tenure with Texas. It was spring training, and Ron Washington informed him that he was going to be playing all nine innings that game.
 
“I hate playing nine innings in spring training,” Beltré said. “I hate it. Everybody hates it. And I was like ‘How am I gonna get out of this one?’ I don’t want to play nine.”

Fortunately for Beltré, fate gave him a window. Before the game, umpire Paul Schrieber found Beltré near the dugout and made a request. A rookie would be calling the balls and strikes, and Schrieber asked that Beltre not yell “OUTSIDE”.

“And I go ‘This is going to be perfect!'” Beltré remembered. “Alright,” he agreed.

So of course, during Beltré’s first at-bat, the first pitch split the plate in half for a strike.

“OUTSIDE!”

“Schrieber goes ‘AB, come on.‘,” Beltré said through a smile. “Next pitch: ‘OUTSIDE!'” But for the time being, Schrieber let it go. Beltré made it all the way through his first at-bat with no further incident. So when he came back to the plate, he upped the ante, yelling it on every pitch.

OUTSIDE! OUTSIDE!

Schrieber had enough, and told Beltré as much, but Beltré feigned innocence. “‘What am I doing?” Schrieber made one more plea: “Just… please.” So of course, the next pitch crossed the plate, and Beltré hollered it again: “OUTSIDE!”

“He goes ‘That’s it! Next time, I’m gonna toss you!'” Beltré said, chuckling, then extending palms toward the clubhouse ceiling: “‘What?'”

“Next pitch: OUTSIDE! and he goes ‘YOU’RE OUTTA HERE!’ and I go ‘THANK YOU!!” I walked by him and I go ‘Thank you, I was gonna have to play nine innings today’, he goes you…'”

He was holding court, just telling stories, more relaxed than I had ever seen him before or after a game. He held up a finger and continued; there was another story…

This one was in 2017, and Schrieber was no longer umpiring. This time, it was Alan Porter behind home plate when Beltré got the assignment: nine innings in a spring training game. He approached Porter and made a request: eject him from the game.

“If I have to sit out here all ballgame, you do too,” Porter told him. Beltré’s eyes opened wide in feigned shock at the memory. “‘No way, come on, dude. Please! Just talk back and get me out of here.’ And (Porter) goes ‘No.'”

So, Beltré says, he abandoned the good-natured call of OUTSIDE! and tried a different tactic with Porter. When the first pitch was an obvious center-cut strike, Beltré painted the air blue with a string of expletives.

“And he started laughing. ‘I’m not going to throw you out!’,” Beltré cackled. The insults continued through the at-bat, Beltré hurling one obscenity after another at the umpire. But Porter wouldn’t give Beltré what he wanted. He just kept laughing. “The catcher’s laughing, (Porter)’s laughing,” Beltré said, smiling and shaking his head. “I cussed him out the whole game. I had to play nine innings.”

 

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spystud13

spystud13 2371

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The Tampa Bay Rays have designated C.J. Cron for assignment after the slugger hit 30 home runs with an .816 OPS last season.

Cron batted .253, slugged .493 and drove in 74 runs in his first season with Tampa Bay, but the Rays cut the 28-year-old Tuesday before he entered his second season of arbitration eligibility. He made $2.3 million last season while splitting time between first base and designated hitter.

Tampa Bay added five players to its 40-man roster: left-handers Kyle Bird and Brock Burke, right-hander Ian Gibaut, and outfielders Joe McCarthy and Jesus Sanchez. Right-hander Oliver Drake and left-hander Hoby Milner were also designated for assignment, and right-hander Jose Mujica was outrighted to the minor leagues and removed from the 40-man roster.

2 bWAR, 123 OPS+. Come on, Tampa. 

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Hamttx

Hamttx 421

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On 11/21/2018 at 11:53 AM, txhorns said:

What a coincidence because if you randomly select 600 players 0 of them have done more steriods than Bonds.

That is an actually pretty damn good response. Though I don’t think it should have anything to do with the Hall.

The entire league was dirty for more than a decade. Sports writers who dog the guys who made the most of it during that time is disingenuous. And simply don’t like that they broke records they didn’t think they should have. But the ugly truth is many of those same records were actually set by players who were themselves using an assortment of different substances. Just no one gave a shit at the time.

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henrygandorf

henrygandorf 29198

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On 11/19/2018 at 4:03 PM, Helobious said:

Can’t believe Cashman got Paxton for Sheffield, the GM wizard strikes again. That’s the rotation help we need. So stoked.

Now if someone could inform me on who James Paxton is & how good he is, that’d be great. 

Edited November 19 by Helobious 
yes that is sarcasm for you slow ones

considering this is directed at me, i will say i think it's highly entertaining that you're acting like an idiot on purpose to cover for all the previous (and upcoming) times that you've acted like an idiot on accident.  if that makes me slow, so be it.  keep the helo show on the air.

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Beau Vine

Beau Vine 54496

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Gammons rambles way too much and it's like his editors are afraid to touch his work, but I like him because he loves baseball.  Not just MLB.  Gammons loves BASEBALL.

And he hit this one out of the park:

 

 

Quote

Gammons: The legacy of a young baseball fan can remind us of the power and meaning of the sport

GettyImages-111405776-1024x683.jpg

The last time I saw Christina-Taylor Green, in 2010, she was eight years old and at the ballpark home of the Brewster Whitecaps. Her father John, a highly respected scout with the Dodgers, came to the Cape every summer. John’s father Dallas, after whom John and Roxanna Green named their son, remains a treasured baseball legend. Christina was her grandfather’s love.

Summer after summer, Christina attended the Brewster Whitecaps morning baseball camps. In the league, the coaches and players hold camps, and the players, 19- and 20-year-olds hoping that the following June they will hit the draft lottery, for their summer jobs make small money teaching the game they love to kids from five on up. Go to a game in Yarmouth-Dennis and there are adults who volunteer stories about the unforgettable impact players (most often mentioned are Buster Posey, in 2007, and Chris Sale, in 2009) had on their children. Or go to Orleans, and hear tales of the left side of the infield in 1993, Nomar Garciaparra and Aaron Boone, or Bourne, in 2006, and Mitch Moreland.

Christina was exceptionally athletic, smart, outgoing, energetic. She was the only girl to play on her Canyon Del Oro Little League team. Her father thinks she was a natural for politics, as when she was eight years old, she had mastered the art of talking with others, not to them. That last time I talked with her — she had no idea who I was, she just loved meeting people around baseball fields and sharing her joy — she promised she would someday be either the first woman to play in the major leagues (as a second baseman, of course) or she would be a member of the United States Congress, like her Tucson, Ariz. Representative, Gabrielle Giffords.

My friends who run the Cape Cod League have instituted an annual award in my name, to be given at their annual Hall of Fame Induction Weekend this Saturday. They kindly constructed no guidelines, just whatever seems appropriate. The first award is going to someone who embodies the spirit and soul of the game, and the good a league like the CCBL brings to the community and to families through baseball.

Christina is that person. She embodied all the good in our national pastime. Not television ratings or licensing deals or parking lot revenues, but the love of baseball and a pure, selfless love of what she dreamed her country was, is and always would be.

Eight years old.

The next time I saw Roxanna and John was at Fenway Park the following July. They had sprinkled Christina’s ashes out onto the rocks off the Brewster Flats and had driven up to Fenway to be honored before the Red Sox game, months after that January 8 morning when her neighbor was going to a meet-and-greet speaking event at Tucson supermarket and invited Christina, who’d turned nine on Sept. 11, 2010, to come along and meet the congresswoman she so admired. A 22-year-old man opened fire on Giffords, who was struck in the head, but survived a serious brain injury. Eight others died, including Christina.

The following spring, the Diamondbacks and Dodgers combined to make significant improvements to the Tucson little league field on which Christina had played, and named it Green Field in her honor.

During the regional little league tournament at Green Field, Logan White Jr., son of the former Los Angeles scouting director Logan White (now with the Padres) and a friend of Christina’s, changed his uniform to No. 12, the number she had worn. In the final inning of the championship game, White hit a two-out, three-run walk-off homer, and as he circled the bases he pointed to the 12 on his back and afterward dedicated the home run to her.

This offseason, like so many before it, Major League Baseball will hand out millions of dollars to players, brainstorm to create varied revenue streams worth hundreds of millions to individual teams, and continue to explore pace of play and its impact on the ever-changing platforms from which baseball is watched. But that is only the edge of what the sport can do.

On January 31, we will celebrate Jackie Robinson’s 100th birthday, and on February 5 at UCLA begins the year-long celebration of what he meant to baseball, to sports, to our country. In a nation culturally and racially divided and faced with daily fears, and for all the sports’ ongoing challenges, baseball still holds an important place in our history — reflecting our immigration patterns, and standing tall to end the notion that discrimination is “just the way it is” with giants like Robinson, Branch Rickey, Bill Veeck and Larry Doby.

The two World Series teams had players from a dozen different countries; it was the first Series to feature two managers of color. (In the end, one of the greatest leadership traits that Alex Cora brought to the Red Sox was his ability to reduce fear from a team playing in a market where fear is pervasive. Go back and watch Craig Kimbrel struggling to preserve a 4-0 ninth-inning lead; when TBS cameras turned to the dugout, Cora looked as if he were in line at Starbucks.)

After the second game of the Series, the American League’s Most Valuable Player grabbed a friend, gathered postgame food, walked a mile to Copley Square and the homeless huddling outside the Boston Public Library, and distributed the food to them. A photographer saw and captured the moment. “That was not intentioned to be a public thing,” Mookie Betts said later. Meanwhile, the National League MVP has been trying to help friends and families coping with the grief of fires and shootings in his hometown of Thousand Oaks; Christian Yelich has done so quietly, appreciating that the horrors are not about him, but others.

While we watch the Harper and Machado races, wait to see if Mariano Rivera and Mike Mussina get to Cooperstown, and think about whether Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Fernando Tatis Jr. are going to be the 2019 Rookies of the Year, whatever canyons are created in our country, we still have baseball. And baseball helped bring us Alex Cora and Mookie Betts and Christian Yelich, Mike Trout and Adrián Beltré, Christina-Taylor Green and Logan White Jr.

George Plimpton once said, “Baseball is not really the American Pastime. It’s not a pastime. It’s the American spirit.”

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