2021 MLB offseason - news and notes

Tokyo Sox

Baka Gaijin
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Doesn't sound like Seiya Suzuki will sign before the lockout:

http://jballallen.com/heavy-interest-in-suzuki/

More teams than expected have been reaching out to negotiate with Hiroshima Carp outfielder Seiya Suzuki, his agent, Joel Wolfe told Japanese media in an online interview on Sunday. Wolfe also said he’s turned down teams wishing to sign Suzuki before a lockout occurs in December.

Suzuki’s 30-day posting window will be suspended if MLB owners lock out players as expected, and Wolfe said that despite the desire of some teams to secure a deal before that happens, Suzuki is planning to take his time.

Once the lockout ends, Wolfe said, Suzuki intends to make his decision after visiting teams’ home parks and spring training facilities, and that the amount of the contract will not be the primary factor in his decision.
 

santadevil

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Semien's a much better bet to play, but man, that's a lot of years. If Brian Dozier had got a 7 year deal after setting the 2B HR record, he'd still have 2 years left. And he's been cooked for 2 years.
This is what scared me about Semien too. Also, I recall a couple years back, while still in Oakland, there was some chatter about his batting average being so bad, that he was likely getting demoted around the All-Star break

Seems like he's turned a corner, but I'd still be wary
 

allmanbro

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It seems like the Rangers have decided to try to buy their way into immediate contention. I can't say I think it's likely to work, but I can see why they might see a suddenly open window in the AL west, with Oakland tearing down, Houston aging and losing players, LAAA being LAAA, and Seattle still ascendant. The next couple years might the the best chance they have for sometime in either direction, just in terms of the landscape of the division and strength of schedule. If you are going to try that, 2025/6/7-be-damned, going for especially long deals may not be so bad.

In any case, as a baseball fan I like to see more teams trying to compete.

Edit: credit to Scoops Bolling's post above for reasons it's unlikely to work.
 
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Ale Xander

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Ray had a FIP of 4.3 in 2018 and 2019 (and over 6 in 2020), that’s a lot of risk on someone after a career year.

These expensive long term deals to 30+ year olds don’t make much sense to me. Overpaying for 1 or 2 years especially if as an Owner you expect a protracted lockout would be different.

Not my money caveat though
 

Yelling At Clouds

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I actually preferred Stroman for Seattle as he’s a groundball pitcher and probably won’t cost that. I guess this doesn’t preclude another pitching move, but at some point they’ll need to address the offense, whether that’s Bryant or Suzuki or Story or - dare to dream - Correa.
 

Sandy Leon Trotsky

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Wow. $23M AAV for Ray. I was actually expecting him to go for more than that ($27.5M). I'm just generally confused by this offseason.
 

chawson

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I actually preferred Stroman for Seattle as he’s a groundball pitcher and probably won’t cost that. I guess this doesn’t preclude another pitching move, but at some point they’ll need to address the offense, whether that’s Bryant or Suzuki or Story or - dare to dream - Correa.
I think Seattle’s gotta ride out the cheap boring production they’re getting from Crawford at short. But yeah, they and the Giants each have three lefty-bat outfielders who struggle with LHP so I could see Bryant or Suzuki landing in either spot.
 

Yelling At Clouds

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I was thinking sign Correa or Story and play Crawford at 2B or move the new guy to 3B. I do think Bryant is the more likely possibility at this point, though. I’m also assuming Frazier was brought on to be a Hernandez/Taylor/Zobrist type and not the everyday 2B. Guess we’ll see.
 

chawson

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I was thinking sign Correa or Story and play Crawford at 2B or move the new guy to 3B. I do think Bryant is the more likely possibility at this point, though. I’m also assuming Frazier was brought on to be a Hernandez/Taylor/Zobrist type and not the everyday 2B. Guess we’ll see.
Maybe, yeah. I think they like Toro at third but this has been one of the most unpredictable hot stoves I’ve ever seen. Seager wow.
 

VORP Speed

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This offseason could not being going better so far, with all these premier free agents going to places where their talents will be wasted.
 

Petagine in a Bottle

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This offseason could not being going better so far, with all these premier free agents going to places where their talents will be wasted.
I don’t know- the fact that FA prices has gone through the roof is kind of scary considering the Sox have almost nobody signed long term. They may need a SS, CF, C, and top two starters next off-season, with Devers up the year after.

I’m pretty sure Bogaerts and Devers are digging this off-season.
 

ThePrideofShiner

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I don’t know- the fact that FA prices has gone through the roof is kind of scary considering the Sox have almost nobody signed long term. They may need a SS, CF, C, and top two starters next off-season, with Devers up the year after.

I’m pretty sure Bogaerts and Devers are digging this off-season.
VORP is a Rays fan, so I doubt he cares too much about how this hurts the Sox.
 

scottyno

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AL west will be absolutely ridiculous next year. Ms and Rangers adding, Astros and As likely taking steps back
 

ThePrideofShiner

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When Seager has to switch positions because he can't play short anymore, where will he move to? Those are two pretty wild signings by Texas.
 

chawson

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When Seager has to switch positions because he can't play short anymore, where will he move to? Those are two pretty wild signings by Texas.
Even after Seager, Semien, Gray and Calhoun (lol) the Rangers are still probably 4th in the AL West, and for awhile! Semien will be 35 by the time Jack Leiter’s ready.
 

E5 Yaz

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Seager's 27 ... how soon exactly do some folks think he's moving off SS?
 

sean1562

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The Rangers were top 5 in attendance last year, have a brand new baseball stadium, are in one of the largest and fastest growing metro areas in the country, and had $48.1 million in payroll on the books before these signings. They have money to spend and if they want people to keep coming to their fancy new stadium, they are going to have to at least try and be competitive soon. Its not like there are any real powerhouse teams in the AL right now. Semien and Seager alone is what, best case scenario, 12 wins?
 

jon abbey

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AL west will be absolutely ridiculous next year. Ms and Rangers adding, Astros and As likely taking steps back
We'll see about the Astros, they likely have lost Correa but they still might sign Story to replace him, and also they essentially added a healthy Verlander.
 

Catcher Block

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The Rangers were top 5 in attendance last year...
Top 5 in attendance only because they had zero restrictions in place on Opening Day. (The only team allowed to operate at 100 percent for all 81 home games.) Most teams were operating at 50% capacity (or lower) until July at the earliest.
 

moondog80

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Once Gallo was traded I could not have told you a single guy on the Rangers last year. They had Brock Holt? If these moves combine to give them 15 wins (unlikely) that still leaves them at only 75. OTOH, what good is money if you don't spend it? Maybe some kids develop this year and they contend in 2023?
 

CarolinaBeerGuy

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Ale Xander

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The Rangers were top 5 in attendance last year, have a brand new baseball stadium, are in one of the largest and fastest growing metro areas in the country, and had $48.1 million in payroll on the books before these signings. They have money to spend and if they want people to keep coming to their fancy new stadium, they are going to have to at least try and be competitive soon. Its not like there are any real powerhouse teams in the AL right now. Semien and Seager alone is what, best case scenario, 12 wins?
This is not a fanbase that attends baseball games pre-new stadium, unless there's a WS (granted a lot of that was weather pre-retractable roof, but point stands). Each year, stadium gets less new. There will be diminishing marginal returns as you go into the future. They need to win, and you do that by being efficient.

This is 2018, 24/30 by capacity %
https://www.espn.com/mlb/attendance/_/year/2018/sort/homePct

2017, a little better, 18/30
https://www.espn.com/mlb/attendance/_/year/2017/sort/homePct

2016 even better, 16/30
https://www.espn.com/mlb/attendance/_/year/2016/sort/homePct

Edit: semi-beaten by CBG
 

Minneapolis Millers

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.... Plus the whole saga helped you get your jersey at a discount!
Ka-ching!!

Moving on, I'd still like to see Chaim be in on Taylor, although I'm not holding my breath for now. I think it's likely we sit out the frenzy of the next few days, and see what's let when the dust clears. The deals right now aren't exactly bargains.
 

jon abbey

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The Braves can’t be happy that Freeman hasn’t signed yet, with all this money flying around and the Dodgers and Yankees both lurking.
 

Apisith

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God damn, Boras is really good at his job. Every contract is a huge overpay, based not only on expected wins but also based on Fangraphs crowdsource and also based on MLBTR projections. LOL. I guess the Scherzer deal will hurt the least because it's only three years, but still, god damn. The Semien deal might actually look bad in a year, which would be pretty spectacular. The Seager deal might look all right for a few years, I guess, because he has the upside. He might put together a couple of 5-6 win seasons. But signing him through his age 37 season at a ridiculous AAV when no one expected him to get more than 8 years is pretty inexplicable. Who were the Rangers bidding against for Seager?
 

Tokyo Sox

Baka Gaijin
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Apisith

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Given that Seager signed for $325m, someone must have already promised $350m for Correa, right? And he’s still holding out for more, obviously. It would suck if the Yankees got him.
 

jon abbey

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I predicted 11/375 for Correa here in mid-October, Lindor's deal but one year longer. I did not think it would be NYY giving out that deal but it seems a lot more possible right now than it did a few days ago.