MLB Offseason 2020 News & Notes

j-man

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tanaka will be back in NY unless Sea LAA SD gives him 15+ a year
Lemahieu will be back too unless a team like the mets overpay for him
 

nattysez

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Cohen had his intro press conference today and apparently absolutely killed it. Wants to win a WS in 3-5 years, isn't in this to make money, etc.
 

StuckOnYouk

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Would the Mets make a play for LeMahieu now for 2B? Need a 2B and a just saved a ton of money for at least one year. I can't imagine cano would keep sticking at 2B much longer anyway would he?
 

Lowrielicious

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Eh, maybe for this year, but he's still signed through 2022 and 2023, so it's not like they can go out and get a free agent this year (unless they're just treating him as complete sunk cost, which I guess isn't necessarily the worst idea)
Another wrinkle is that if season is shortened with strike and/or Covid then suspension runs into 2023 also. 163 games.
 

jon abbey

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Would the Mets make a play for LeMahieu now for 2B? Need a 2B and a just saved a ton of money for at least one year. I can't imagine cano would keep sticking at 2B much longer anyway would he?
They still have bigger needs, Springer is a much better fit. Jeff McNeil's best position is 2B, so he should take over there.
 

sean1562

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I was surprised to see their team offensive numbers, they had a good offense last season. What they really need is reliable starting pitching. Trevor Bauer should absolutely be their #1 target. DeGrom/Bauer/Syndegaard(I think he is back to start the season?) is a great 1-3. Wacha seems like a lost cause while Matz is an ok 5 starter. Probably need another starting pitcher or two but if Cohen wants to start spending, I dont see how they can't throw cash at Bauer. I imagine they take a wait and see approach with Noah but also would be surprised if they don't try and sign him once he is a FA after next season.

edit: Should have looked it up before posting, Noah should be back around June. So they really need at least 2 SPs, Bauer really seems like a must sign for them.
 

jon abbey

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Bauer is an even more perfect fit if he really still wants just a one year deal since the Mets just got a $24M windfall from the Cano suspension (NY still gets the $4M from SEA somehow).
 

Oppo

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I was surprised to see their team offensive numbers, they had a good offense last season. What they really need is reliable starting pitching. Trevor Bauer should absolutely be their #1 target. DeGrom/Bauer/Syndegaard(I think he is back to start the season?) is a great 1-3. Wacha seems like a lost cause while Matz is an ok 5 starter. Probably need another starting pitcher or two but if Cohen wants to start spending, I dont see how they can't throw cash at Bauer. I imagine they take a wait and see approach with Noah but also would be surprised if they don't try and sign him once he is a FA after next season.

edit: Should have looked it up before posting, Noah should be back around June. So they really need at least 2 SPs, Bauer really seems like a must sign for them.
Stroman says hello. And also Peterson.
 

Yelling At Clouds

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I know this isn’t the “baseless speculation/advice for other teams” thread, but the Angels are the team that should aggressively pursue Bauer, right? The As and Astros look like they might take a step back, you’ve got Trout and Rendon and the Pujols Deal is in its last year, and Bundy is signed for another year and he was a real find for you. I dunno, seems like it makes a lot of sense to me, which is probably why he’ll go to like the White Sox now or something.

EDIT and doesn’t he legitimately hate the Astros, too, or is that keyfabe?
 

sean1562

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Stroman says hello. And also Peterson.
Ah, my mistake, fairly large oversight missing Stroman. I don't know a ton about Peterson but looks like he had a fairly large gap between his ERA and his FIP but certainly seems like a good bet to be a solid 4/5 guy. That being said, Bauer still seems like the guy they should be focusing on if they want to challenge the Braves in that division.
 

Oppo

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Ah, my mistake, fairly large oversight missing Stroman. I don't know a ton about Peterson but looks like he had a fairly large gap between his ERA and his FIP but certainly seems like a good bet to be a solid 4/5 guy. That being said, Bauer still seems like the guy they should be focusing on if they want to challenge the Braves in that division.
Ya I don’t disagree especially with Thor being a big question mark.
 

Marciano490

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Does pissing hot not give the team an option to void the contract? You’d think they’d want that explicit option or could find it under a more standard morals clause.
 

Lowrielicious

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Does pissing hot not give the team an option to void the contract? You’d think they’d want that explicit option or could find it under a more standard morals clause.
As a team/ownership, would you want that clause in there?
If your big money signing has been juicing to put up the stats that earned him the contract in the first place, do you really want to disincentivize him from continuing to do so?

Seems getting out of the contract for the suspension period is a pretty sweet deal for the team side as it is.
 

jon abbey

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MLB clearly needs to do the right thing here and reverse the trade with the Cardinals. :)
 

Tokyo Sox

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The Yomiuri Giants have given ace RHP Tomoyuki Sugano permission to "explore" the MLB posting system. There's no guarantee he'll choose to be posted but if he does they'll accommodate him. He was 14-2 in 20 starts this year, 1.97 ERA/0.89 WHIP. As I mentioned in the NPB thread earlier in the year, I think Kenta Maeda is a pretty good comp, and there should be plenty of interest in Sugano.

Japan Times article:
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2020/11/26/baseball/japanese-baseball/giants-tomoyuki-sugano-mlb/
And a bit of a report on Sugano:
https://www.prospectslive.com/general/2020/9/13/tomoyuki-sugano?rq=Tomoyuki sugano
 

Lose Remerswaal

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Apparently Gov. Newsom did not shut down state strip clubs during Covid. Tommy Pham injured and suing.

https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/padres-tommy-pham-sues-strip-club-after-suffering-catastrophic-injuries-in-stabbing-per-report/

discussed in this thread when it happened

Phor Phuck sake, strip clubs are open?

Good thing his team was done with the playoffs
 

Sad Sam Jones

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The 3-batter rule ruined any chance of Cimber being a positive addition to a MLB bullpen. He just can't be asked to be more than a ROOGY. The Indians have officially closed their chapter of the Hand/Cimber for Mejia trade.
 

Tokyo Sox

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The Yomiuri Giants have given ace RHP Tomoyuki Sugano permission to "explore" the MLB posting system. There's no guarantee he'll choose to be posted but if he does they'll accommodate him. He was 14-2 in 20 starts this year, 1.97 ERA/0.89 WHIP. As I mentioned in the NPB thread earlier in the year, I think Kenta Maeda is a pretty good comp, and there should be plenty of interest in Sugano.
Sugano has indeed asked to be posted, here's a Japan Times article on it.

From the article:
He will become the fourth Japanese player to test the major league market following free agent reliever Hirokazu Sawamura, and a pair of players who have been posted by the Pacific League’s Nippon Ham Fighters, ace pitcher Kohei Arihara and center fielder Haruki Nishikawa.
Sugano is the biggest name of the four, and I think is probably a #2 or #3 starter. Arihara had a breakout last year (2.46/0.92) but regressed a bit in 2020. He's 28 and has a career ERA of 3.74 here. I guess he could slot in back end somewhere. Nishikawa is one of the fastest guys in Japan and gets on base a lot, but has no power is also 28 so I'm not sure how much longer the speed will play.

Anyway, the focus should be on Sugano.
 

jon abbey

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jon abbey

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For Dane Dunning and a guy. Seems like an overpay to give up 6 years of a MLB ready starter with upside for one year of 33 year old Lance Lynn. I don't get this for the White Sox.
When you hire a 76 year old manager, you are pretty much going for it. Now CWS has 3 top 7 AL Cy Young guys from last season, Keuchel/Lynn/Giolito 5th-7th respectively. Lynn was a top 5 pitcher in MLB in his two years in TEX, and of course La Russa and he have experience together in STL.

That Eaton trade was such a heist, how much better would WAS look now with Giolito in the rotation, let alone the rest of it like Dunning. WAS maybe doesn't win in 2019 without Eaton but trading away a guy who becomes an ace while still cost-controlled hurts for a long time.
 

DeadlySplitter

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Dunning looks like a #3-4 starter longterm. Lynn is probably a #2-3. It's a win now move while Eloy Jimenez, Luis Robert etc. are pre-arb cheap, and the Indians' window is probably going to close. It will come down to the year Lynn has. #2 starter, leading to a division title, no regrets. Injury / decline / reverts to the mediocre #4 type he was in St. Louis and New York, you hate it.

maybe Dunning ends up a #4-5 and not much is missed. It's an interesting deal and I think both teams did well... I still think the White Sox need to fire La Russa in spring training, if they can get their dumbass owner on board.
 

Minneapolis Millers

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Angels just traded for their second Iglesias this offseason. Have they found some kind of new market inefficiency??

Actually a somewhat curious move, as Raisel’s $9M+ salary seems like it’s at or above the current market for closers. Maybe they just really like him, or that they can control him for one more year...?
 

Diamond Don Aase

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Angels just traded for their second Iglesias this offseason. Have they found some kind of new market inefficiency??

Actually a somewhat curious move, as Raisel’s $9M+ salary seems like it’s at or above the current market for closers. Maybe they just really like him, or that they can control him for one more year...?
It is especially curious since the Angels, like every other member of baseball’s colluding cartel, could have claimed Brad Hand at a comparable salary without surrendering any talent assets.
 

Diamond Don Aase

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Noe Ramirez barely qualifies as an asset.
I remember the halcyon days of Cuevas in the eighth, Noe in the ninth, and Cuervo for a fifth after another one-run loss. However, Ramirez has been significantly better over the past two seasons than Brasier and Brice, both of whom the Red Sox elected to tender a contract to. He could be described fairly as fungible but Ramirez is not worthless, even before considering that Hand’s production can be expected to exceed that of Iglesias.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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