All-purpose offseason moves thread

DanoooME

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Buck Showalter takes his douchiness to a new level

Though Showalter and the Orioles have made it clear they want Davis back and have offered him a $150 million deal to stay in Baltimore, Showalter seemed both resigned and a bit defiant in his latest comments about the situation.

"How much is enough?" he said. "I asked Chris during the season, 'Chris, when you walk into a Target store, can you buy anything you want. So, how much is enough?'

"I love Chris, but if that [his decision] makes or breaks our team, shame on us."
First of all, the Orioles (smartly) pulled that $150M offer off of the table. Second of all, fuck you, you sanctimonious prick. You don't try to maximize your income? You're such a bastion of good and nobility.
 

Minneapolis Millers

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No kidding. And what if he wants to buy the actual Target store. That's gotta cost a pretty penny.

Always nice when your manager calls you out as a greedy bastard in the press.
 

glennhoffmania

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Red(s)HawksFan

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Davis signs for 7/$161m
Would love to find out who it was the O's were bidding against (if it wasn't the trademark Boras Mystery Team). It's been a month since the Winter Meetings where they reportedly offered the $150M deal then yanked it off the table. Since then, there really hasn't been even a whisper of another team making a serious play for Davis. Yet in the end, they end up giving him more to stay. Baffling.
 

Sprowl

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Ian Kennedy for 5/$70 million to KC.

Teams are flushing money down the toilet this morning.
The icejam has shaken loose, and we're into a late-offseason signing frenzy. It's nice to have some action again.

KC is spending the future assets now: they know that this run of dominance won't last forever.

Still, Ian Kennedy? o_O
 

Yelling At Clouds

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Very surprised by the lack of movement on Upton. He does a lot of things well, and he's only 28. I was really surprised the Mariners didn't go after him (or Cespedes). Their outfield was pretty bad last year; this year's version looks to be fairly meh. I assume it's a money thing. Maybe Upton's demands are unreasonably high.
 

Papelbon's Poutine

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Very surprised by the lack of movement on Upton. He does a lot of things well, and he's only 28. I was really surprised the Mariners didn't go after him (or Cespedes). Their outfield was pretty bad last year; this year's version looks to be fairly meh. I assume it's a money thing. Maybe Upton's demands are unreasonably high.
I think that when a FA hasn't been signed yet at this time of year, it being about a month before spring training and all, it's safe to assume it is in fact a 'money thing'. And further that his demands are probably above what the market is offering
 

MakMan44

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Huh

Good for Upton. I don't really think it's a good deal for the Tigers though
 

Snoop Soxy Dogg

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Where, Houston? Can't see the Mets giving more than 3 years.
Agreed in principle; I was beating myself up for my persistent failure to remember that there's always one owner to do something stupid. Not sure who will give Cespedes the money, but somebody will. Somebody always does, and my money is on the Astros, the Cards or the Angels, despite their saying they don't have the money.

As for Detroit, Upton is actually still relatively young, so this may actually work out. But man, that team may make the Yankees look like the A's, with all the contracts they have that have a strong probability of going bad in a hurry, along with the terrible farm system. I'm always surprised their payroll isn't $200m already.

Looks like DD jumped ship at the right time.
 

InsideTheParker

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Agreed in principle; I was beating myself up for my persistent failure to remember that there's always one owner to do something stupid. Not sure who will give Cespedes the money, but somebody will. Somebody always does, and my money is on the Astros, the Cards or the Angels, despite their saying they don't have the money.
. . .
Looks like DD jumped ship at the right time.
Wasn't DD clearly pushed?
Anyway, it is interesting that yet another team that Cespedes has played for chooses someone else rather than him. I guess Upton is arguably the better buy, since he is younger. But folks on mlbn keep hinting about something worrying about Cespedes, but not saying what.
 

pjr

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MLB investigating Yu Darvish’s possible role in gambling ring.

Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish is under investigation by MLB for his possible role in an illegal gambling ring run by his brother Sho, The Japan Times reported Tuesday.
AdChoices

Sho Darvish was arrested in October after being accused by authorities of placing bets on American and Japanese sports. He and seven others were accused of taking 18.5 million yen, or $150,000, worth of bets based on the scores of 16 MLB games and 28 Japanese professional baseball games from May 12-18. It's not known if any of the games involved the Rangers.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/mlb-investigating-yu-darvish’s-possible-role-in-gambling-ring/ar-BBor7cm?ocid=spartanntp
 

trotsplits

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But folks on mlbn keep hinting about something worrying about Cespedes, but not saying what.
Vaguely vague speculation from Jack McCosky (Detroit News):

"Teams, not just the Tigers, seem wary of giving Cespedes a long-term deal. Fair or not, he is perceived to have some diva qualities and some question whether he would bring the same work ethic he’s shown in contract years once he got some security."

But then McCosky mentions that Cespedes was a "popular guy in the clubhouse" as a Tiger.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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I heard something on MLBN this morning that I hadn't seen or read anywhere else, and that is that one of the concerns about Cespedes is that he is a smoker. Supposedly he goes all Leyland and sneaks a smoke in the runway behind the dugout a couple times a game. Doesn't seem like a major thing, but I can see it being a bit of a conditioning concern, especially if he can't go the whole game without getting a nicotine fix.
 

Philip Jeff Frye

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I heard something on MLBN this morning that I hadn't seen or read anywhere else, and that is that one of the concerns about Cespedes is that he is a smoker. Supposedly he goes all Leyland and sneaks a smoke in the runway behind the dugout a couple times a game. Doesn't seem like a major thing, but I can see it being a bit of a conditioning concern, especially if he can't go the whole game without getting a nicotine fix.
Seemed to work for Yaz, didn't it?
 

Kramerica Industries

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I heard something on MLBN this morning that I hadn't seen or read anywhere else, and that is that one of the concerns about Cespedes is that he is a smoker. Supposedly he goes all Leyland and sneaks a smoke in the runway behind the dugout a couple times a game. Doesn't seem like a major thing, but I can see it being a bit of a conditioning concern, especially if he can't go the whole game without getting a nicotine fix.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2016/01/20/yoenis-cespedes-and-his-chain-smoking-habit-are-still-waiting-to-sign-with-a-team/

But if Cespedes spent August and September absolutely smoking NL pitching, he also apparently spent that time simply smoking. As in, puffing cigarettes every chance he got.

A recent report by John Harper of the New York Daily News, one that was cited Tuesday by Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, contained this tidbit:

“Not that Cespedes is a bad guy, according to sources, so much as someone ‘who marches to his own drumbeat’ and apparently irritated the Mets at times by not taking batting practice, not hustling during games at times and constantly smoking cigarettes between innings.”
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2016/01/20/yoenis-cespedes-and-his-chain-smoking-habit-are-still-waiting-to-sign-with-a-team/

But if Cespedes spent August and September absolutely smoking NL pitching, he also apparently spent that time simply smoking. As in, puffing cigarettes every chance he got.

A recent report by John Harper of the New York Daily News, one that was cited Tuesday by Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, contained this tidbit:

“Not that Cespedes is a bad guy, according to sources, so much as someone ‘who marches to his own drumbeat’ and apparently irritated the Mets at times by not taking batting practice, not hustling during games at times and constantly smoking cigarettes between innings.”
The guy practically drags the team to the World Series by himself and the Mets are "irritated" that he does things a little bit differently than his teammates.

Baseball everyone!
 
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Yelling At Clouds

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Is the Cespedes situation any more complicated than his agent pitching him as the guy he was for two months in Queens while everyone else is thinking of him as the guy he's been for the rest of his career?
 

Hendu for Kutch

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I don't know if any of you remember Swihart's inside the park HR in NY last season, but Cespedes pulled a move that would make Manny cringe. Notice that on a ball that richoted towards LF, Cespedes literally doesn't take his hands off his knees. You can see him as Swihart rounds 3rd.

http://m.mlb.com/video/topic/6479266/v422700483/bos-nym-swihart-hits-inside-the-park-homer-for-lead

He hit like Manny for a couple of months, but you can't expect that going forward. I'd be terrified to sign him long term.
 

hbk72777

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The guy practically drags the team to the World Series by himself and the Mets are "irritated" that he does things a little bit differently than his teammates.

Baseball everyone!

Yup. To me, if someone is getting the job done, you give them leeway. I used to fight with my boss over this back when I was fresh out of High School. I'd do 3-4 times the amount of work as the middle aged people, but I'd go to the other building (same company) to hang out with the other workers. They'd be pissed, thinking that they were being cheated by this.I'd tell them that I'll happily sit in my work area all day and do the exact same amount as the others. They grumbled but let it go. It's amazing how many people don't know when they're getting more than their money's worth

If someone like Cespy is tearing the cover off the ball and hitting more homers than the rest of the team combines, LET HIM HAVE HIS CIGS AND LOOK THE OTHER WAY!
 

Bosoxen

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I don't know if any of you remember Swihart's inside the park HR in NY last season, but Cespedes pulled a move that would make Manny cringe. Notice that on a ball that richoted towards LF, Cespedes literally doesn't take his hands off his knees. You can see him as Swihart rounds 3rd.

http://m.mlb.com/video/topic/6479266/v422700483/bos-nym-swihart-hits-inside-the-park-homer-for-lead

He hit like Manny for a couple of months, but you can't expect that going forward. I'd be terrified to sign him long term.
Ron Darling absolutely ripped him a new one for that. Then, upon further review, it was noted that he probably thought the ball was going over the wall. This is further evidenced by the fact that he merely jogged after it, likely thinking that it hit the facade above the wall, rather than the wall itself.

Sure, if he makes any effort, whatsoever, Swihart likely only gets a double, but that play looked to me the fielding equivalent of not running out a routine ground ball.
 

Hendu for Kutch

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Are you sure we're talking about the same thing? He wasn't jogging, he never even took his hands off his knees.

Here's a shot right after it's hit:

upload_2016-1-27_12-35-31.png

Here's a shot after Swihart rounded 2nd:

upload_2016-1-27_12-34-26.png

And here's a shot with Swihart almost halfway home:

upload_2016-1-27_12-31-26.png

Cespedes never moved an inch, even after realizing that the ball was in play. Every frame, hands on knees in front of the 358 sign. If you're using the "not running a ground ball out hard" defense, it'd be more akin to staying in the batters box, even after the ball gets through the infield. And that was a tied game in extra innings for a team in a pennant race, so there isn't a blowout or "doesn't matter" excuse. Just a weird dude.
 

Flunky

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Are you sure we're talking about the same thing? He wasn't jogging, he never even took his hands off his knees.

Cespedes never moved an inch, even after realizing that the ball was in play. Every frame, hands on knees in front of the 358 sign. If you're using the "not running a ground ball out hard" defense, it'd be more akin to staying in the batters box, even after the ball gets through the infield. And that was a tied game in extra innings for a team in a pennant race, so there isn't a blowout or "doesn't matter" excuse. Just a weird dude.
this isn't disagreeing, just curious - where does the LF go when the ball gets past the CF like that? Backup 3rd maybe anticipating a rundown?
 

Just a bit outside

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this isn't disagreeing, just curious - where does the LF go when the ball gets past the CF like that? Backup 3rd maybe anticipating a rundown?
If he ran toward cf to backup the hit he would have been there first. Notice Granderson in cf because he ran to backup. Cespedes was closer and never moved.
 

Bosoxen

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Are you sure we're talking about the same thing? He wasn't jogging, he never even took his hands off his knees.

Cespedes never moved an inch, even after realizing that the ball was in play. Every frame, hands on knees in front of the 358 sign. If you're using the "not running a ground ball out hard" defense, it'd be more akin to staying in the batters box, even after the ball gets through the infield. And that was a tied game in extra innings for a team in a pennant race, so there isn't a blowout or "doesn't matter" excuse. Just a weird dude.
After further review, we are talking about the same play, but a different player. The player I remember focusing on was Lagares, not Cespedes. Got my wires crossed on who played CF in that game.

Mea culpa.
 

Hendu for Kutch

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this isn't disagreeing, just curious - where does the LF go when the ball gets past the CF like that? Backup 3rd maybe anticipating a rundown?
As JABO mentioned, he should have been backing up the CF, especially on a ball that's obviously going to at least hit the wall. I wouldn't expect him to be sprinting there, but much like Granderson jogging in that direction in case a funny carom happens and THEN running full tilt when he realized the ricochet was coming in his direction.

Mea culpa.
No need, man. I figured there was some confusion because of the word "jogging". Even the most charitable interpretation of Cespedes wouldn't go that far. :)
 

Yelling At Clouds

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Hate that deal for the Rockies - what does a rebuilding team need a McGee-caliber closer for? Dickerson probably could have brought back a starter; maybe not someone in the Archer-Ross-Carrasco tier, but the Rockies wouldn't even need anyone that good to upgrade their rotation.
 

dynomite

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Agreed, I like this trade a lot for the Rays, unfortunately.
Dickerson's an injury risk (which could explain their willingness to deal him), but especially if he can DH a few times per week I think he could be really good on that team.

One note: his home/road splits with the Rockies are stunning.
- In 122 games at Coors:.355/.410/.675 with 24 HR
- In 143 games everywhere else: .249/.286/.410 with 15 HR.
 

Flunky

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As JABO mentioned, he should have been backing up the CF, especially on a ball that's obviously going to at least hit the wall. I wouldn't expect him to be sprinting there, but much like Granderson jogging in that direction in case a funny carom happens and THEN running full tilt when he realized the ricochet was coming in his direction.
thanks! makes sense.
 

grimshaw

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I watched just about every Rockies game last year. Dickerson reminds me of Josh Reddick at the plate. Swings at everything but hits everything pretty hard. The overall numbers have been pretty, but I don't expect him to be able to keep up the average with his strike zone judgement. I think he's a fairly ordinary guy given his mediocre defense and slow foot speed.