MLB Off Season Thread

[RoyTheHammer]

Hope you are right;otherwise, I will never let ya forget about it

Eh. Neither of us have a clue so both of our statements are nothing to see.

 

[RoyTheHammer]

Report that neither Harper or Manny want to play in Philly..

..says some guy who writes for the NY post.

Okkkkk..lol

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Still waiting for either of the "Big 2" to sign a mega-contract with someone...

I would think after January 1st, contract demands will start coming down.

There's still a whole lotta free-agents out there.

I read a report the Phillies are interested in signing Kuechel, but aren't anxious to give him a 5-year deal like he wants. Personally I think any team would be goofy to do that. 4 years may even be too much. On the plus side he'll give some team some innings, but he's no longer a top-of-the-rotation starter. His velocity has dropped and his ball placement isn't as tight as it was when he won the Cy-Young. He's a #3 starter at best... Absolute best. Giving him a 5-year deal would be goofy.

I see the Astros were mentioned as one of having one of the top-5 improved minor league systems in baseball. This struck me as odd in that the Astro farm system didn't fall any to any great depths of despair. After top guys like Correa and Bregman graduated to the majors the minor league system was probably in the 10-15 range– lower than they were in '14-'16 but not close to below average.

That being said, the current minor league system is loaded with talent– pitchers especially, which will become very useful if when Verlander & Cole leave for free agency after the '19 season.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Here we are the 5th of January and about 200 free agents are still out there, including the two "big fish".

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Mets & Astros pull off a trade...

"On Sunday, Jan 6, both teams announced that the Astros have traded corner infielder J.D. Davis and minor leaguer Cody Bohanek to the New York Mets. In return, Houston received three minor leaguers - second baseman Luis Santana, outfielder Ross Adolph, and catcher Scott Manea."

J.D. Davis is 25 and has nothing left to prove in the minors. He needs an extended time in the majors to see if he has the potential to be an everyday 1st baseman (his defense probably isn't good enough for a full-time 3rd baseman). He K's a lot but the power potential is there.

Bohanek is just a guy.

Santana offers interesting potential as an 18 YO second baseman.

Don't know much about Adolph.

Manea seems to have the potential for being a decent defensive catcher.

Davis is one of several older prospects the Astros need to move because they are blocked on the major league level.

I like the trade. It gives the Astros some younger blood in their farm system.

But I think the Mets did OK too. Davis could be a .260/25HR guy.

 

[Vegas_Cowboy]

Mets & Astros pull off a trade...

"On Sunday, Jan 6, both teams announced that the Astros have traded corner infielder J.D. Davis and minor leaguer Cody Bohanek to the New York Mets. In return, Houston received three minor leaguers - second baseman Luis Santana, outfielder Ross Adolph, and catcher Scott Manea."

J.D. Davis is 25 and has nothing left to prove in the minors. He needs an extended time in the majors to see if he has the potential to be an everyday 1st baseman (his defense probably isn't good enough for a full-time 3rd baseman). He K's a lot but the power potential is there.

Bohanek is just a guy.

Santana offers interesting potential as an 18 YO second baseman.

Don't know much about Adolph.

Manea seems to have the potential for being a decent defensive catcher.

Davis is one of several older prospects the Astros need to move because they are blocked on the major league level.

I like the trade. It gives the Astros some younger blood in their farm system.

But I think the Mets did OK too. Davis could be a .260/25HR guy.

I hate to see Davis go but as you said, there was nowhere for him to go on the Astros' roster.

He's stuck in AAA now and I'm glad the Astros gave him a shot to try and prove himself somewhere.

I have to do some research on the guys the Stros picked up.

C'mon, Mets fans. Give us the juice.

 

[FloridaRob]

I wish I could tell you something about the minor leaguers traded but those guys are so far down in the system I have no idea. I am sure they must be good tho because the Mets usually just keep the bad players in their system with tons of "upside". The guys with real talent get trade.

Also I am not sure why VanderWagensgorf or whaterver his name is is trading young talent for the bottom part of the roster when all he has to do is cut a check in the free agent market and get the same quality return. Mind Boggling I tell you.

 

[Nightman]

Here we are the 5th of January and about 200 free agents are still out there, including the two "big fish".

Starting to smell like collusion

20 years ago players were getting 60% of 3b in revenue
Today they are getting 40% of 11b

When the NYY are spending less in actual dollars today than 2003 something is very wrong..... they have over 600m in revenue and are cutting payrolls like a middle market team

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Starting to smell like collusion

20 years ago players were getting 60% of 3b in revenue
Today they are getting 40% of 11b

When the NYY are spending less in actual dollars today than 2003 something is very wrong..... they have over 600m in revenue and are cutting payrolls like a middle market team

I agree. Somethings not right somewhere.

 

[FloridaRob]

Analytics! They have to pay 100 million to one player when paying 20 million to 3 players produces the same results.

 

[FloridaRob]

Wags signed another of his former clients Jeff Lowrie to a 2 year 20 million dollar contract.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Pitchers and catchers report in less than 30 days and there is still a long list of unsigned free agents out there.

Amazing list really.

 

[Risen Star]

Pitchers and catchers report in less than 30 days and there is still a long list of unsigned free agents out there.

Amazing list really.

They need to modernize MLB free agency. It's an absolute joke that it take this long for a lot of the major names to sign. I don't know how you fix it but I know as a fan it sucks. It pales in comparison to the NFL and NBA.

 

[Tabascocat]

Wags signed another of his former clients Jeff Lowrie to a 2 year 20 million dollar contract.

Its Jed and about 18 million more that what he is worth

 

[Philmonroe]

They need to modernize MLB free agency. It's an absolute joke that it take this long for a lot of the major names to sign. I don't know how you fix it but I know as a fan it sucks. It pales in comparison to the NFL and NBA.

The only thing to make it go faster would be a salary cap like those other sports but I'm not sure mlbpa going for that. I do agree that something needs to be done to make it quicker. I'm a Phillies fan so I've been hearing about the big names for months now and I'm just at the point now where its like lets everybody sign. I know they have to do it but they definitely need to change something soon.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

They need to modernize MLB free agency. It's an absolute joke that it take this long for a lot of the major names to sign. I don't know how you fix it but I know as a fan it sucks. It pales in comparison to the NFL and NBA.

When's the next possible work stoppage for baseball? 2021.

Starting to look like a sure thing.

 

[Nightman]

They need to modernize MLB free agency. It's an absolute joke that it take this long for a lot of the major names to sign. I don't know how you fix it but I know as a fan it sucks. It pales in comparison to the NFL and NBA.

6 years is too long to wait for UFA and the guaranteed years need to be capped at 5 years....10 years guaranteed at signing is insane

 

[MichaelWinicki]

6 years is too long to wait for UFA and the guaranteed years need to be capped at 5 years....10 years guaranteed at signing is insane

Baseball needs a way of being able to keep a star player or too, like the "tagging" system in the NFL.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

13 days until pitchers & catchers report for the Astros.

Still dozens of free agents out there.

 

[Nightman]

13 days until pitchers & catchers report for the Astros.

Still dozens of free agents out there.

Great article on overpaid players today on ESPN.... I can see why some owners are having second thoughts

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/25885766/ranking-worst-current-contracts-all-30-teams