2023 Offseason MLB News/Rumors Thread

simplicio

simplicio

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I mean, yeah? Hedges has been the best glove at C forever. He's incapable of hitting a baseball, but until the robot umps come to the majors and shut him down he's really valuable back there.

It's not like Betancourt's offense was a selling point either.
 
Sad Sam Jones

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It's not news I want to hear when a team whose fatal flaw is scoring runs adds the worst hitter in baseball, but I suppose it makes sense. Naylor is likely already better than Christian Bethancourt in every facet of the game, but Hedges can mentor him behind the plate. Hedges already has a lot of familiarity with the other players and the holdover coaches. I'm not sure how he's worth $4M, especially to a team crying poor because of the Bally fiasco, but it's effectively $4M minus whatever cash they just received from the Marlins. With Vogt and Alomar to teach him the trade and now Hedges able to share his knowledge of working with the same pitching staff, if Naylor has any problems behind the plate, it won't be from a lack of coaching.

...but man, there are few things more painful than watching Hedges try to hit.
 
ThePrideofShiner

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Really good analysis from Mariners beat writer Ryan Divish on the team's shitty ownership and how the fans are turning on them for good reason.

It’s not enough to portray Comcast Xfinity as the evil, greedy corporation that ruined their offseason because, well, the company developed that reputation long before the decision to charge subscribers more to watch the Mariners, Kraken and Trail Blazers. Xfinity may have provided an impetus for their actions, but Seattle’s ownership still has ultimate culpability for either not anticipating it, or not having a better plan to offset it. And let’s not forget the previous three offseasons where there was maximum expectation and minimal investment.

It’s not enough to say you want to win a division title and bring a World Series championship to the city and then do so little that it appears the organization will remain the only franchise to never appear in a World Series until MLB expands to 32 teams.
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Let’s be clear, the Mariners aren’t broke or leveraged. They have money. They make money. They have the potential to make money. It’s not as if ROOT is filing for bankruptcy like Diamond Sports Group, which owns Bally Sports Network, the regional sports network of 14 MLB teams. Sources said ROOT isn’t suffering heavy financial losses, it just isn’t generating as much revenue as expected or desired.

The Mariners are a profitable organization. While they have disputed the Forbes’ reports of their high revenues and valuations, they aren’t going to offer up any insight on their finances either. They have maintained financial viability even in years when the on-field product was abysmal. They know how to make money even under the worst conditions as their former president Kevin Mather once boasted.

But where are those revenues going?
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https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/mariners/analysis-why-mariners-john-stanton-need-to-be-more-transparent/
 
simplicio

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Seems like a very reasonable deal. I have no idea what KC's gameplan is going forward, but if he continues pitching well as a starter that shouldn't be at all hard to move at the deadline for a lot more than they paid.
 
jon abbey

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Meanwhile with the Yankees and Giants seemingly now out on the Bellinger market (Jack Curry said on the YES show last night that NY was never very gung-ho on him), gonna be interesting to see how Boras finds a spot for him at anywhere near the total amount ($200M more or less) that he was hoping to get.
 
ehaz

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jon abbey said:
Meanwhile with the Yankees and Giants seemingly now out on the Bellinger market (Jack Curry said on the YES show last night that NY was never very gung-ho on him), gonna be interesting to see how Boras finds a spot for him at anywhere near the total amount ($200M more or less) that he was hoping to get.
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Boras can always call the Rockies. They'll be happy to fork over another ~$200M for an ex-Cubs outfielder.
 
Scoops Bolling

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That's a pretty terrifying contract. Lee is pretty comparable as a KBO hitter to Ha-Seong Kim (Lee is a better contact hitter, striking out about 8% of PAs versus 14%, but a much worse power hitter, .158 IsoP to .199) but probably a tick above Kim, but he doesn't have Kim's speed so he won't be able to match Kim's high caliber baserunning, and Kim has proven to be an elite defensive player at the MLB level while there's no guarantee that Lee proves anything near the same (there seems to be a wide range of opinions on exactly how good Lee is or can be in the outfield). If Lee's contact rate doesn't translate against the higher octane stuff he's going to face in the MLB, there's a lot of downside in that deal. I could be certainly be wrong and Lee could come over and transition faster and better than HS Kim did, but I'd want no part of that deal on my team ceteris paribus.
 
Yaz4Ever

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https://x.com/TalkinBaseball_/status/1734803343321579773?s=20

A lot of talk on Twitter when I woke up this morning about him posting this. Many people seem to think the Dodgers are going to trade for him and Glasnow. If so, does that take them out of the Yamamoto hunt? Would that give us an edge or will it still come down to the two NY teams blowing him away with crazy money?

edit: keep forgetting some won't click on a Twitter/X link - it's Randy Arozarena posting a picture of himself with Shohei Ohtani leading to speculation they'll be joining forces this year.
 
SouthernBoSox

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Yaz4Ever said:
https://x.com/TalkinBaseball_/status/1734803343321579773?s=20

A lot of talk on Twitter when I woke up this morning about him posting this. Many people seem to think the Dodgers are going to trade for him and Glasnow. If so, does that take them out of the Yamamoto hunt? Would that give us an edge or will it still come down to the two NY teams blowing him away with crazy money?

edit: keep forgetting some won't click on a Twitter/X link - it's Randy Arozarena posting a picture of himself with Shohei Ohtani leading to speculation they'll be joining forces this year.
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Teams do not let players know about things of this nature until the deal is literally papered. I have no idea if something is in the works or not, but again, we’d know about the trade by now if Arozarena does.
 
Yaz4Ever

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SouthernBoSox said:
Teams do not let players know about things of this nature until the deal is literally papered. I have no idea if something is in the works or not, but again, we’d know about the trade by now if Arozarena does.
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That's exactly what I'm thinking, but maybe they're waiting on physicals or something or he just likes the picture of the two of them.
 
Tokyo Sox

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YTF said:
Probably just glomming onto to the Ohtani hype. IIRC, the dude does love a bit of social media attention.
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It's a normal thing to post when a guy is in the news. Basically a, "my man!" type picture was my take.

As an aside, that game was fkng awesome.
 
moondog80

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More than anything else, the secret to the Rays' success is trading guys a year or two before they hit FA. Even they have their misses -- the return on Blake Snell doesn't look good -- but when you hit, you get the most valuable thing in sports, multiple years of productive guys on their rookie deals.
 
John Marzano Olympic Hero

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If the Dodgers get Glasnow, are they out on Yamamoto?

(Please, I'm looking for any sign here no matter how tenuous).
 
moondog80

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John Marzano Olympic Hero said:
If the Dodgers get Glasnow, are they out on Yamamoto?

(Please, I'm looking for any sign here no matter how tenuous).
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I wouldn't rule it out, but you'd have to think it becomes less likely, right? It certainly makes sense for teams to quickly pivot once they know they are out on Yamamoto.
 
Yaz4Ever

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I mentioned this at 5am. I'm hoping they're out, but getting Shohei for only $2M, who knows? I'm not more concerned about the 2 NY teams, but feel this has to help us even if only slightly
 
moondog80

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Yaz4Ever said:
I mentioned this at 5am. I'm hoping they're out, but getting Shohei for only $2M, who knows? I'm not more concerned about the 2 NY teams, but feel this has to help us even if only slightly
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The 2 mil figure might be helpful cashflow-wise, but to the degree that they are worried about the tax threshold (which they are currently under), Ohtani does count for 46 million.
 
Yelling At Clouds

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I was expecting the Dodgers to be the team to trade for Burnes, so I guess this makes that less likely, too, if that’s your preferred transaction. (I know, “why not both”)
 
moondog80

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For what it's worth, Ryan Pepiot's b-ref and stacast page look really, really good. Accordingly, BTV has them as:

Pepiot: 25.3
Deluca 4.8

Glasnow 12.8
Margot -2.5

It's worth for the Dodgers if they make a run and/or they sign Glasnow to a solid extension. But the evidence above combined with recent history says don't expect a drop off from Tampa.
 
PedroKsBambino

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Glasnow is precisely the kind of high-upside guy the Dodgers (and Red Sox, for that matter) should invest in. I get it from TB perspective---they can't afford the risk. Pepiot is a nice cost-controlled guy for them to plug in....but I'd much rather have Glasnow for most rosters and especially a large-market team. He is a legit number one in terms of stuff and performance, albeit with major durability questions
 
koufax32

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Max Power said:
Probably not. Glasnow is just a stopgap for the year that Ohtani can't pitch. Yamamoto is another 10 year commitment and would be considered for a different spot in the rotation.
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Which raises an interesting question: what’s the better investment?
A) A 10 year deal with an unknown but presumably healthy pitcher
B) A shorter term (maybe 4 years) commitment to a feast or famine (due to injury) pitcher
 
simplicio

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SemperFidelisSox said:
Ken Rosenthal was saying today that the Giants are dealing with a negative perception players have of the city.
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Probably worth posting a fuller quote on this for context before the SF politics claws come out like they inevitably do:
“Something I think is noteworthy, something that unfortunately keeps popping up from players and even the players’ wives is there’s a bit of an uneasiness with the city itself, as far as the state of the city, with crime, with drugs,” Posey said. “Whether that’s all completely fair or not, perception is reality. It’s a frustrating cycle, I think, and not just with baseball. Baseball is secondary to life and the important things in life. But as far as a free-agent pursuit goes, I have seen that it does affect things.”

And yes, Posey said, it affected the Ohtani pursuit.

Posey made it clear that Ohtani never said or did anything to express concerns about San Francisco. But within his camp, “there was some reservation with the state of the city right now.” Two offseasons ago, similar reservations were a factor that steered former Hiroshima Carp star outfielder Seiya Suzuki away from the Giants to sign with the Chicago Cubs.

Without painting too broad a brush, the cultural expectations for cleanliness among Japanese players in particular, and perhaps a greater preference for urban living as opposed to renting a 3,500-square-foot house in a leafy suburb like Lafayette or Blackhawk, could make those negative perceptions of San Francisco a significant impediment in the recruitment of those players. It could be a factor the Giants are also working to overcome as they are in the final stages of an aggressive competition with most of the big-market franchises for Orix Buffaloes ace right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
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From Andrew Baggarly's Athletic column: https://theathletic.com/5133154/2023/12/12/giants-shohei-ohtani-offer-buster-posey?source=user-shared-article
 
Yelling At Clouds

Yelling At Clouds

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I read a suggestion that the Lee signing might inspire the Giants to trade an outfielder for starting pitching. So with that in mind, I present to you A Logan Gilbert Trade I Wouldn’t Hate!

Giants get Logan Gilbert (65.9 on BTV)
Mariners get Luis Matos (33.2) and Marco Luciano (23.0)

I really think everyone gets what they want here: the Giants get a running mate for Logan Webb and the Mariners get MLB-minimum upgrades in the IF and OF with real growth potential. And somehow BTV says the Giants should still give up more!

EDIT: I deleted the screenshot
 
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MuzzyField

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YTF said:
Can't wait to see how those Pittsburghers react to Charlie Moore out on the Allegheny with Bobby Bonilla and Sid Bream.
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It has to be better than Charlie with Christian Laettner dropping poles in the retention pond next to the Town Center Costco here in Jax.

This is a Charlie sucks example. I'm a fan of Christian 2.0 and he was a fine guest.

Again, Charlie sucks!
 
dynomite

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Grew up within hearing of Fenway PA
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