2018-19 Offseason News, Rumors, Trades

Rough Carrigan

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Also, terrible job to Grandal in the postseason.
Yeah, but I sort of think that catchers ought to get some slack for late season or postseason ineffectiveness. They've got to be so much more worn down than the guy looking at his little laminated card out in left field to see if he's supposed to move five steps over to one side for the next guy up.

At any rate, I'm glad that he didn't get signed by Houston.
 

moondog80

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Dozier a Nat. Read all about it here.
So now Howie Kendrick becomes a SuperSub? If Dozier has any kind of bounce back at all, great move for the Nats, who have quietly had a very busy off season. Corbin was a big move, but also Yan Gomes, Anibal Sanchez, and now Dozier. And of course, they still appear to be very much in the mix for Harper.
 

jon abbey

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I'm increasingly convinced @jon abbey won't get more than two hours' sleep until Sonny Gray is traded.
Heh, my sleep is a mess no matter what's going on (naturally very noctural combined with working from home for 20 years does that) but it is true that I have been totally obsessed with this offseason for months now.
 

E5 Yaz

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Wherein an SI writer says this:

There’s nothing in Grandal’s stat sheet to indicate that he’s a guy who should need a pillow contract like this. But here he is, all the same—signed for a single year to receive just a smidgen above the qualifying offer that he rejected two months ago.
in an effort to claim free agency is broken ... but never mentions the Mets deal he reportedly turned down

https://www.si.com/mlb/2019/01/10/yasmani-grandal-milwaukee-brewers-free-agency
 

RIrooter09

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I think his point is that the second most valuable catcher in baseball last year should have more than one serious, multi-year offer.
 

E5 Yaz

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I think his point is that the second most valuable catcher in baseball last year should have more than one serious, multi-year offer.
And my point is that it's professional malpractice to write that sort of piece and leave out the 4/60 mets offer
 

Murderer's Crow

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And my point is that it's professional malpractice to write that sort of piece and leave out the 4/60 mets offer
What other cases are there where players rejected offers only to receive something much worse when the market developed? This certainly helps the argument that the system is broken.

Grandal? Keuchel? Possibly Harper
 

soxhop411

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And my point is that it's professional malpractice to write that sort of piece and leave out the 4/60 mets offer
But again. All we know is he rejected the offer. We don’t know the terms of the deal he rejected.

As BR says
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2812966-mets-rumors-yasmani-grandal-turned-down-4-year-60-million-contract

Grandal's decision to decline a $60 million offer from the Mets is surprising, though the full details of the deal are unknown. It could've included performance-based incentives or a club option in the final year or two.

Assuming it was a standard four-year contract, Grandal's $15 million average salary would've been the fourth-highest among catchers, per Spotrac.
 

jon abbey

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The Mets sign Lowrie to a 2/20 deal, which is a fine deal for both sides except that the Mets already have a too crowded infield. It made more sense when I read that Brodie was Lowrie’s agent.
 

patoaflac

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What other cases are there where players rejected offers only to receive something much worse when the market developed? This certainly helps the argument that the system is broken.

Grandal? Keuchel? Possibly Harper
Well, if this is one of the reasons the system is broken, it has been for a long time. Ray Knight and Jody Reed say hello.
 

jon abbey

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Yeah, that's just an example of a single player and their agent misreading the market, but the system is very obviously broken.
 

moondog80

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What other cases are there where players rejected offers only to receive something much worse when the market developed? This certainly helps the argument that the system is broken.

Grandal? Keuchel? Possibly Harper
It happens in every sport. Remember Latrell Sprewell talking about having to feed his family when turning down 21 million that he was never again offered? Holding out for more money works more often than not, but they aren’t going to guess right every time.
 

patoaflac

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Yeah, that's just an example of a single player and their agent misreading the market, but the system is very obviously broken.
Of course, those are individual examples but we can also remember:
1.When Koufax and Drysdale decided to hold joint negotiations with the Dodgers during spring training in 66, because things were not fair for players.
2.In 68, Miller negotiated the first collective bargaining agreement because owners didn't want to allow joint negotiations.
3. The beginning of free agency in 75 with Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally.
4. Since the Seitz decision, 10 years later, collusion appeared.
5. More collusion from 86 to 88.
6.More collusion allegations from 2003 to 2008.
For many years we have known the system is not fair, minor leaguers should be paid more, etc.
But if the Sox win 4 more WS in the next 15 years, I see some positives.
 

ehaz

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I don’t think Grandal’s situation is an indicator that the market is broken. He’s a good hitting catcher but with a history of PEDs, Ks, injuries, and problems literally catching the ball. Sure, advanced metrics show us that he’s pretty good on the defensive side of the ball, but pitch-framing stats are still pretty green and many teams have their own proprietary compilations that may contradict what is available to the public.
 

DanoooME

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The Mets sign Lowrie to a 2/20 deal, which is a fine deal for both sides except that the Mets already have a too crowded infield. It made more sense when I read that Brodie was Lowrie’s agent.
I guess he's going to trade everyone he doesn't represent?
 

Rough Carrigan

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I don’t think Grandal’s situation is an indicator that the market is broken. He’s a good hitting catcher but with a history of PEDs, Ks, injuries, and problems literally catching the ball. Sure, advanced metrics show us that he’s pretty good on the defensive side of the ball, but pitch-framing stats are still pretty green and many teams have their own proprietary compilations that may contradict what is available to the public.
And if he's such a great defensive catcher, why did Kershaw have the other guy, the backup, as his personal catcher?
 

charlieoscar

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And if he's such a great defensive catcher, why did Kershaw have the other guy, the backup, as his personal catcher?
In 2017, why did Vazquez catch all starts at home by Rodriguez and Pomeranz and Leon catch 12 of 13 of home starts by Sale and 15 of 19 by Porcello? I don't think it is all that uncommon for a pitcher to prefer a particular catcher. (Retrosheet Game Logs, and I haven't added the 2018 season yet and since it is after 1 a.m., I didn't bother to look at the away games.)
 

edoug

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Cubs? Then they can ditch Russell (whose contract is non-guaranteed, if I'm not mistaken). Machado plays short until Bryant leaves, then he slides over.
On mlbnetwork, they had a list of potential "mystery" teams. Including the Mets and Padres and another team that I forgot that I don't think makes sense. But they had also named St. Louis and Washington. I can see the Nationals moving pieces around to make him fit.

The fifth team was the Rangers.
 
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YTF

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On mlbnetwork, they had a list of potential "mystery" teams. Including the Mets and Padres and another team that I forgot that I don't think makes sense. But they had also named St. Louis and Washington. I can see the Nationals moving pieces around to make him fit.

The fifth team was the Rangers.
I can't see St. Louis being in on Machado unless the the years and $$$ come down. For that matter I don't see many in on him at what he's asking. The typical big spenders don't seem in to be in play and most other teams don't have the resources.
 

edoug

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I can't see St. Louis being in on Machado unless the the years and $$$ come down. For that matter I don't see many in on him at what he's asking. The typical big spenders don't seem in to be in play and most other teams don't have the resources.
I agree and it's been an interesting storyline of where he should go or not go to.
 

edoug

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I wonder what the terms will be. I really like what Tampa is doing this off season.
Not counting his first season when he appeared in 23 games. his .330 AVG. of '17 is higher than his OBP of any other year. Except 2017 of course.
 

Sad Sam Jones

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I hope the White Sox land Machado. They have a terrible starting rotation, need major help in the outfield, and might be the worst defensive team in baseball. Machado won't help them with the first two problems, and they'll probably let him play shortstop as long as he likes, so he'll exacerbate the third problem. He'll also make a team I love to hate that much more hateable.

*
 

edoug

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I hope the White Sox land Machado. They have a terrible starting rotation, need major help in the outfield, and might be the worst defensive team in baseball. Machado won't help them with the first two problems, and they'll probably let him play shortstop as long as he likes, so he'll exacerbate the third problem. He'll also make a team I love to hate that much more hateable.

*
Not to mention the influence he'll have on his young teammates. Hawk retired too soon.
 

VORP Speed

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I wonder what the terms will be. I really like what Tampa is doing this off season.
1 Year/ 3.5m plus 2.5m in incentives. Pretty reasonable bet to see if he can recapture his 2017 form. Rays payroll for 2019 is just over $60m right now. Room for more free agents on bargain short-term deals.
 

YTF

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At age 27, I like this deal. He's not a great defender and is coming off an injury plagued 2018 season, but if he can slide into the DH slot that negates some of the defensive concerns and perhaps lessens the chance of a recurrence of the knee and hamstring problems that bothered him last year. $3.5 M is a fairly low risk gamble on Garcia to bounce back and regain some of what he displayed in 2017.
 

RedOctober3829

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deep inside Guido territory

The White Sox offer to Machado is for $175 million, over seven years. In some ways, their approach is like Boston's w/ J.D. Martinez last winter -- the Red Sox offered $100 million and waited for two months. If CWS offer emerges as best, a big ? is: Would Machado/NYY re-engage?
 

jon abbey

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So are there any thoughts on the team that Harper has "an offer in hand" from?
I’m sure the Phillies are being aggressive although not sure what’s taking so long, maybe Boras hoping Machado signs first.

I think with Machado’s price lower than people expected, it’s a case where an actual mystery team or two makes sense, SD seems like it could be a nice fit and their payroll is only $94M.
 

jon abbey

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I’m kind of shocked Harper isn’t a Dodger yet, after they moved Kemp and Puig. Seemed to portend it.
He was so bad defensively last year, it's got to be a bit hard for such a sabermetric-focused front office to pull the trigger on a long gigantic deal with no DH possibility.
 

moondog80

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Yankees supposedly close to a deal with the Reds for Sonny Gray. It would be very Yankees if they traded for Gray with 2.5 years on his deal, watched him be a mild disappointment for them, and then traded him somewhere else when he has only a year left on his deal for a better return than they gave up in the first place. Please tell me this won't happen.
 

SydneySox

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Oh, good, I get to cross 'long-out-of-baseball veteran announces highly unlikely comeback attempt' one off my card.

Next, I'm looking for 'xxxx has shown up at Spring Training in the best shape of his career' and 'xxxx is a young rookie who is learning from xxxx the wise veteran whose position he hopes to one day take over as the face of the franchise' for pre-season BINGO.
 

Sad Sam Jones

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Yeah, I knew I had heard about this early in the off-season, but it happens so often I had to read the article to make sure I wasn't thinking of some other retiree instead. Don't forget "xxxx isn't expected back on the field until June, but he says his rehab is ahead of schedule and believes he'll be on the opening day roster" for that preseason bingo.
 

jon abbey

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Texas signs Asdrubal Cabrera to play 3B, a one year deal for under $5M.
 

jon abbey

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1/3.5 for Cabrera actually, not that he's anything special but what a brutal market for players.