The Blue Jays are out here playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers.
View: https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/status/1504114849906933767
View: https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/status/1504114849906933767
2021 MLB offseason - news and notes
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The Blue Jays also have gutted their farm system (they have already traded both their 2020 and 2021 first round picks!) and lost Ray and Semien, replacing them with Gausman and Chapman seems like a sideways move at best. Don't get me wrong, they're very good.
Apparently Austin Meadows is available?
View: https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/status/1504134198084476932?s=20&t=SNKNWn4Z1_TZ7mgjvo49tQ
View: https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/status/1504134198084476932?s=20&t=SNKNWn4Z1_TZ7mgjvo49tQ
His offense has trended down the last couple of years, his defense isn't very good and with Brujan and Josh Lowe knocking on the door, there is a glut in the outfield on the horizon. Plus, with 15 more DH spots online this year there should be more demand for him in a trade.
Meadows is another guy who’d seem to get a post-shift bounce in ‘23. Faced the shift in 75% of his PAs last year for a .304 wOBA. Hit .402 wOBA in the other 25%.
I still don't see the Guardians trading Ramirez this soon. He's too much of a bargain, too hard to replace and their PR team is already in over their heads with Dolan's cheapness + the rebranding. We're accustomed to our stars walking away or being traded a year before they can, but we're not willing to accept the Rays way of dealing stars just yet.
All that said, they've done nothing to fill any holes at the MLB level yet beyond adding a couple of 3rd string catcher candidates. They're in desperate (and perpetual) need of another corner outfielder.
All that said, they've done nothing to fill any holes at the MLB level yet beyond adding a couple of 3rd string catcher candidates. They're in desperate (and perpetual) need of another corner outfielder.
View: https://twitter.com/ctrent/status/1504150241854984197?s=20&t=isBeKHBrpJAX2J8RL2Ty0A
Royals freed up some money here to go get another starter.
They are going to be interesting this year.
Royals freed up some money here to go get another starter.
They are going to be interesting this year.
And that starter is Zack Greinke.
View: https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/status/1504182229219520513
Good for them. I think they are going to push things a little in the Central.
If they just add 2-3 more starters, 3-4 above average hitters and most of a bullpen they'll totally be competitive.
It will be funny if all the people squawking about how Freeman is on the downside of his career and should not be signed to a long-term deal will suddenly change their tune if the Rays make a move.
I will say that Freeman is arguably the most consistent hitter in baseball over the past decade and obviously as you head into your mid-30s decline is inevitable, but I don't see any inherent reason why he wouldn't remain an extremely good player over the next 4-5 years. No real injury history, plays a low-impact position and will have more DH reps.
I will say that Freeman is arguably the most consistent hitter in baseball over the past decade and obviously as you head into your mid-30s decline is inevitable, but I don't see any inherent reason why he wouldn't remain an extremely good player over the next 4-5 years. No real injury history, plays a low-impact position and will have more DH reps.
Bob Nightengale with one of his all-time best tweets.
View: https://twitter.com/BNightengale/status/1504173196592910339
View: https://twitter.com/BNightengale/status/1504173196592910339
I don't think they are as far off as you might think. Witt will start the season with them, and he is going to be awesome, with the added benefit of moving Mondesi to 3B. Pratto might be ready to go by the end of Spring, and if not then by the summer, and they might need to find room at some point to get MJ Melendez' bat into the lineup.
The pitching side needs some work, for sure, but both Kowar and Bubic should provide them something on top of the addition of Greinke, and I have a feeling Drew Parrish might make a pretty big leap this season (but I could be totally wrong about all three of these). A lot would need to go right for them to compete with the White Sox, but it wouldn't surprise me at all to see them in the hunt for the Wild Card.
Could the NL Central have two 95+ loss teams? Who knows what the Reds will look like after this fire sale, and the Pirates are the Pirates.
$182M for 7 years per Passan... holy shit what are they doing. Isn't that even more than Freddie's supposedly asking for?
Well, he’ll at least be well compensated while he languishes in the cellar.
The Rockies confuse me. If someone can explain their organizational philosophy that would be great.
They need to overpay to get anyone to go there, because they are probably the worst-run franchise in MLB.
But I don't think we know what Freddie is asking for, just that he turned down 5/140 from ATL.
Got to be at least one opt-out in there, no?
I feel like Boras’s plan was to string the Rockies along as leverage while waiting for someone else to get into the bidding and all of the other teams just calmly called his bluff. Is it a coincidence that this happened after Toronto, Seattle, and Philly all made big moves?
I feel like Boras’s plan was to string the Rockies along as leverage while waiting for someone else to get into the bidding and all of the other teams just calmly called his bluff. Is it a coincidence that this happened after Toronto, Seattle, and Philly all made big moves?
They've recently reconstituted baseball ops, so this feels like an attempt at a statement. What that statement is is anyone's guess.
They've got that and then some in their farm in the high minors or already breaking into the MLB. They won't all pan out, but Witt, Melendez, Pratto, Pasquantino, and Isbel are all pretty close to MLB ready already, plus they've got another middle infield combo in Loftin and Massey starting the year in AA, plus Lacy, Kowar, Heasley, Coleman, Zerpa, and more on the pitching side. The Royals' next wave is imminent, adding some high quality vets who can help the kids break in makes a lot of sense for Kansas City.
On the other hand, the Rockies ain't got shit, and adding Bryant makes little to no sense for them. I guess it replaces Arenado?
Yeah I get that. $26M for Bryant is the same that the Sox will pay Paxton, Wacha, Bradley, and Strahm next year though. Maybe the Sox method to team building is the right one, but damn is it boring.
2/1/21 - Trade away Nolan Arrendo's remaining 6/$209M, paying $51M to Cardinals
3/16/22 - Sign Kris Bryant to 7/$182M
Talk about whiplash.
3/16/22 - Sign Kris Bryant to 7/$182M
Talk about whiplash.
Isn’t that Bryant deal more then Story is likely to get? I’m in the confused camp. But maybe Bryant was the only one willing to take their money. Bet he got an opt out included, too, in case he blows up in CO and wants out.
Would you prefer they make signings like Pablo and Hanley in 2015 in an attempt to “win” the off season? What would you have done so far this off season if you were Bloom?
They used to prioritize and recruit players of Christian faith. Less explicit about it these days, but same ownership group.
https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/rockies-pitch-religion/tnamp/
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Well, that is certainly a luke warm take.
does it make a difference if you sign guys the first few days in a frenzy as opposed to picking up guys later when all the information is in?
I will hang up and listen.
Well, the off-season has been going on quite a while. Of course most of the deals signed by competitors don’t appear to be great value, but I think the team is quite a bit weaker now than it was in October, while many of our competitors have improved. Given how many free agents they have after next year, they are going to have to start taking on some risk if they want to keep guys around.
Of course, no team is ever final and I’d imagine more work to be done, and I’m excited for the season and anxious to see how this team does.
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The only big contract signed today I'd be comfortable being tethered to was Suzuki's, if only because outfielder depth in the minors isn't great right now. Even then, 5/85 is a lot for a Japanese player coming over, no matter how strong the scouting / projections say he'll transition fine.
It might be prudent to just continue "retooling", let the Blue Jays shoot their shot (they have traded away quite a lot of their farm to supplement with Berrios and Chapman, as mentioned), and hopefully the farm pans out starting in 2024.
It might be prudent to just continue "retooling", let the Blue Jays shoot their shot (they have traded away quite a lot of their farm to supplement with Berrios and Chapman, as mentioned), and hopefully the farm pans out starting in 2024.
Three months+ of the offseason were off limits to signings. So many guys still out there that making a take right now is nearly pointless,
Your many posts in this vein and your frequent observation that NO ONE IS SIGNED BEYOND THIS YEAR! make me think that you may catastrophize as a coping mechanism. I get it. I do that sometimes, too. But I think this team is in good hands and that Bloom has a clear understanding of what he’s doing and a clear plan.
BLOOM ONLY GOT THE TEAM TO THE ALCS LAST YEAR!!
I wonder what Peta’s take was last year before ST games had begun.
That's great for their long-term future, but how is any of that going to make the Royals playoff contenders in 2022? It would require an obscene amount of luck for them and misfortune for their competitors to get there this year. Sal Perez was their only hitter who was a better-than-mediocre MLB hitter last year (slap-hitting Nicky Lopez had to bat .300 just to put up a 102 OPS+). They have a rotation full of former 1st round draft picks, but aside from a couple months of Hernandez, no one who's shown they can get MLB hitters out yet.
The AL Central isn't a great division, but there are no terrible teams in it... no team KC is clearly better than. The White Sox should sleepwalk to another division title. Cleveland's lineup will be one of the worst in the league, but their pitching staff should still keep them around the middle of the pack. Minnesota is one of the most active teams right now trying to bounce back from last year's disappointment. Detroit is probably a year ahead of KC in the rebuilding process. KC might be interesting in a sense of watching their development. They won't be interesting if that's supposed to mean competing for the playoffs.
My wife accuses me of it with some regularity, so she gets the credit….