I have always liked Mahle too and you get him back halfway through this season. The only knock on him is Rs launch a lot of fly balls off him and he’s homer prone, so maybe not the best match for Fenway. But that’s a great contract for TEX.
2023 Offseason MLB News/Rumors Thread
- Thread starter DeadlySplitter
- Start date
St. Petersburg City Council debates whether the Rays should change their name to the St. Petersburg Rays.
The team is opposed.
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/39114300/st-petersburg-eyes-rays-name-change-team-opposed-idea
The team is opposed.
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/39114300/st-petersburg-eyes-rays-name-change-team-opposed-idea
The random pitchers are all going to be off the market before Yamamoto signs.
View: https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/1735699935129936223
View: https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/1735699935129936223
Renfroe is the most Royally Royals thing the Royals have done since signing Jordan Lyles last winter. Sometimes a team and a player just cosmically belong together.
When they signed Will Smith, I thought it was just adding pieces to sell off in July. Now, though, I have no idea
So far away from what? The Central champs could have a win total in the low 80s. They're throwing money at decent baseball players and might win more than they lose if everything breaks right. There's no downside with these short, cheapish deals for small upgrades when your roster stinks.
This is like 2021 Pats FA splurging that I think, in hindsight this time next year, won't get them much of anywhere in the end. These moves take a 100 loss team to what, a 90 loss team? That's still far away from "AL Central" contender status (80 loss team) that people are saying they're at already.
Out of curiosity, what should the Royals be doing in your mind this offseason? I bet there are fans of other middling teams out there wishing their front office could be bothered to sign a guy or two.
I mean even if they don't compete this year, they could certainly spin these people into prospects at the deadline.
Ragans
Wacha
Lugo
That's a decent top 3. And their offense was much better during the second half and they are getting Vinnie P back.
Wacha
Lugo
That's a decent top 3. And their offense was much better during the second half and they are getting Vinnie P back.
Plus, I would think being (more) competitive would be helpful if they are trying to convince Bobby Witt Jr to sign a long term deal.
I guess my overall hold-up is Renfroe looked cooked last year and 18M/yr on Wacha is pretty insane. But I forget that small market teams usually have to do that, either due to their location or having money to burn anyways.
Ragans looking like a legit #2 starter certainly was the lottery ticket jackpot they needed, can he keep it up?
I'll have to read the "offseason in review: Royals" post on MLBTradeRumors in February/March, when things settle, and see what this overhaul ends up looking like.
One other factor - Royals might be going for a new stadium and want the on-field product to not look A's-like.
Ragans looking like a legit #2 starter certainly was the lottery ticket jackpot they needed, can he keep it up?
I'll have to read the "offseason in review: Royals" post on MLBTradeRumors in February/March, when things settle, and see what this overhaul ends up looking like.
One other factor - Royals might be going for a new stadium and want the on-field product to not look A's-like.
Absolutely, good for the Royals. Nothing about these signings are hampering any kind of competitive windows or internal player development, it's just money and not all that much of it really. Minnesota and Cleveland are unserious about taking a hold on that division, and the White Sox... well. The Royals and Tigers are rightfully smelling blood in the water.
If there's one takeaway I have from these under the radar pitching acquisitions from the Royals and Tigers, it's that it's a complete embarrassment for the O's. A 100 win team with an incredible roster and farm system of position player depth, whose only flaw is a lack of SP depth in the pipeline. If they're going to claim they can't afford to sign any of the bigger name guys (which I think is bullshit), fine. But Maeda, Lugo, Wacha, Flaherty, and if we're stretching a bit, Erod... all solid arms who could have helped them without committing too much in money or years. It really is going to be a damn shame when they waste the young talent they have, the way the Mariners are.
If there's one takeaway I have from these under the radar pitching acquisitions from the Royals and Tigers, it's that it's a complete embarrassment for the O's. A 100 win team with an incredible roster and farm system of position player depth, whose only flaw is a lack of SP depth in the pipeline. If they're going to claim they can't afford to sign any of the bigger name guys (which I think is bullshit), fine. But Maeda, Lugo, Wacha, Flaherty, and if we're stretching a bit, Erod... all solid arms who could have helped them without committing too much in money or years. It really is going to be a damn shame when they waste the young talent they have, the way the Mariners are.
They have Bobby Witt Jr for four more years, might as well give it a go while he’s still around.
He grew up a Red Sox fan, btw.
He grew up a Red Sox fan, btw.
Agreed. And with this roster the Royals can evaluate in July — if they’re playing well, they can trade for some additional help to make a playoff run. If not, they can stockpile some prospects as they deal away some of these guys to contending teams.
Very little risk. And also, there’s a bit of a snowball effect — if you start signing respected veterans, other respectable players notice.
https://www.mlb.com/news/royals-pitch-free-agents-on-the-future
Speaking as a 4th place finisher fan to a 5th place finisher fan, what exactly makes someone a contender?
I'm sure it's the nebulous "commitment to winning."
Which is to say, willingness to spend money.
Which I think in this context means the teams more focused on the top end of the market, who would only turn to the Wachas of the world once the expensive items are sold out.
It kind of has a "know it when you see it" I think because the Yankees are very clearly not contenders by last year's performance so are they just automatically contenders now because of Soto? And the Royals look to be playoff contenders too. I just see the term contenders thrown around all the time in various sports and it always sticks out to me. In this context, it feels like basically a players' interpretation of who might have a chance to win next year, I think.
Anyone who can potentially get to 88 or 90 wins is a 'contender' currently.
Asked a friend of mine, lifelong Royals fan, what he thought they were doing. His response, particularly the first sentence, makes some sense:
Showing a willingness to spend on players before asking taxpayers for $1 billion for a new ballpark. And admitting failure in taking 4 college pitchers - Singer, Bubic, Kowar & Lynch - in the first 40 picks in the 2018 draft.
I’m fine with Lugo & Wacha, though they overpaid slightly, which isn’t surprising for a 106-loss team. Don’t love the player options, in particular. But that’s the price of poker. Pay it, or go with Greinke & the 2018 four.
I also like the deals for Nick Anderson & Kyle Wright for ‘25.
I don’t get the Hunter Renfroe signing though. They already have too many right-handed bats, and he doesn’t work defensively at Kauffman Stadium. He almost seems like a concerted effort to add power before they ship out Salvador Perez.
With Witt, the Royals arguably have the best player in the division. So I think the thought is they should be able to compete in the AL Central.
Showing a willingness to spend on players before asking taxpayers for $1 billion for a new ballpark. And admitting failure in taking 4 college pitchers - Singer, Bubic, Kowar & Lynch - in the first 40 picks in the 2018 draft.
I’m fine with Lugo & Wacha, though they overpaid slightly, which isn’t surprising for a 106-loss team. Don’t love the player options, in particular. But that’s the price of poker. Pay it, or go with Greinke & the 2018 four.
I also like the deals for Nick Anderson & Kyle Wright for ‘25.
I don’t get the Hunter Renfroe signing though. They already have too many right-handed bats, and he doesn’t work defensively at Kauffman Stadium. He almost seems like a concerted effort to add power before they ship out Salvador Perez.
With Witt, the Royals arguably have the best player in the division. So I think the thought is they should be able to compete in the AL Central.
Seventh! It’s wild. The Renfroe trade relitigations were some of the most tedious stretches on this board.
Well, dumping Renfroe and taking on like $20M for the corpse of JBJ, forcing the team over the tax, and then giving JBJ a million at bats was pretty frieking awful. But, Alex Binelas is the teams #87 prospect, or something.
ugh.
(and not sure what Renfroe’s bouncing around means- same was true of Kluber, who was supposedly a wonderful teammate who made all those around him better. Think he’s just in the class of players who teams will only give a year to, so they will move a ton.. unless the insinuation is that he’s some kind of clubhouse cancer?)
Yeah, it's not really looking like a great trade at this point - JBJ was cooked and whatever plan they had to uncook him failed.
That said, Binelas is 23 in AA. Strikes out a ton, so, unless something in the org is done to address it, he's not looking great. Hamilton was the other piece. He's 26, has speed, and hit well in AAA. Didn't show much in 15 games with Boston - but we probably shouldn't be writing him completely off.
But I don't think Renfroe would have made a difference in 2022 when the Sox finished 5th. I mean, even if you spot Renfroe 3 wins, that just gets the '22 team to .500. So getting 2 prospects with legitimate shots seems worth it, and not "pretty freaking awful."
Renfroe's 2023 actually produced negative WAR.
I mean, Kluber got one year deals because he was a former ace in his mid-thirties recovering from a shoulder tear.
Renfroe hit well for us but his defense slipped badly. He’s not a valuable player. The Brewers traded him for a 27 year old emergency starter who put up a 6 K/9 in AAA.
This has come up between you and I before, and it’s an interesting debate! I maintain that the impetus behind that trade was to clear a lane for Duran or Cordero to take the job. Renfroe (and Kiké) had too good a year to fit neatly in a platoon, and Renfroe would have more justifiably opposed losing playing time for a youth movement than JBJ would.
My guess is that Bloom idealized a LF-CF-RF configuration of Duran-Kiké-Verdugo or Verdugo-Duran-Kiké by July 2022. It obviously didn’t work, and we’ll never know.
Anyway, I think the Royals are a little silly for signing Renfroe at 2/$13 but good for all involved.
Agreed. And I think I'd rather have O'Neill at his price than Gurriel at his. At least as the sox are currently constructed.
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/12/rays-interested-in-naoyuki-uwasawa.html
Rays sifting thru the bargain bin at the ¥100 store
Rays sifting thru the bargain bin at the ¥100 store
I think we're at the point where the Braves (Alex Anthopoulos) are having a very questionable offseason:
View: https://twitter.com/mlbbowman/status/1736784693914210693
Braves spent a few million to acquire one prospect, Kerr. He better be a hit!
View: https://twitter.com/mlbbowman/status/1736784693914210693
Braves spent a few million to acquire one prospect, Kerr. He better be a hit!
Impossible to judge. Braves want pitching and there is a lot of it out there but everything seems to be on hold until The Decision 2.0.