2023 Offseason MLB News/Rumors Thread
- Thread starter DeadlySplitter
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His athleticism goes a long way toward covering for his poor plate discipline, but I wouldn't want to guarantee all that money to a guy for his age 30+ seasons before he's shown he'll work a walk from time to time.
So they buy his age 24-31 seasons for something like $26M per year. He can then opt out, but if he's injured or the like he has a 4 year guarantee on top of that for another 4 years (which is $104M out of the total deal.)
Got it. Seems like the chances of KC exercising their option at the end of the deal are remote, since Witt would likely have already opted out at that point if he was good enough for the club option to be worth it.
Which means that KC is taking on a huge amount of risk, with their upside being the degree to which 3/100 is a bargain for Witt's age 28-30 years (3/100 + the amount that they are overpaying him the next 4 years, to be exact). So seems like not a ton of upside? Until we consider this...
Jackson County officials override veto, sending Royals and Chiefs stadium tax to voters
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First thought is that's a fuckload of money for a guy that doesn't seem to project aging especially gracefully.
Second thought is that wow, even the Royals, arguably the most impoverished franchise in the league, can extend guys past their arb years. Seemingly every team can. Except the Red Sox.
Second thought is that wow, even the Royals, arguably the most impoverished franchise in the league, can extend guys past their arb years. Seemingly every team can. Except the Red Sox.
So Rafael Devers doesn't count? Is it because his deal came when he had just a year left until free agency instead of four or five? The result is the same either way.
I was just going to say, this is their Devers contract. Along with the other offseason moves they've made, they can improve in the division while showing the public they are "trying" as they ask for the new stadium.
I don't think the plate discipline is that concerning? Yeah he could stand to draw more walks, but he had a K% around 17% in 2023 and the contact/whiff rates look fine. He's not exactly Javy Baez.
Yep. Jeff Euston, Cot's founder and lifelong Royals fan, sent this today when I asked about the Witt deal
This, combined with the Super Bowl, pretty much assures passage of the Chiefs-Royals stadium tax on the April ballot here. So the downtown ballpark should be coming online sometime after KC's World Cup matches in 2026. No one knows where exactly it'll be. But it will be known as the House That Mahomes Built. Meanwhile, the Chiefs will renovate Arrowhead. I think Kauffman Stadium will be razed and replaced by a Taylor Swift Museum and Entertainment District.
Love this. Nice to have a smaller market team make a splash like this. It's good for the game. I hope he's a superstar.
Next week teams can start to put guys on the 60 day IL again, so that will open up some 40 man flexibility and maybe get more of the remaining FAs signed.
SD/LAD start the season earlier with games in Korea, so they get a head start here if they want.
“Dodgers 2/8, Padres 2/11 and all 28 other clubs 2/14.“
SD/LAD start the season earlier with games in Korea, so they get a head start here if they want.
“Dodgers 2/8, Padres 2/11 and all 28 other clubs 2/14.“
I did not know this, and it kind of blows my mind that teams could have such vastly different roster rules.
It's a dumb rule that should be changed, there's no good reason that players shouldn't be allowed to be on the 60 day IL all winter, as long as they don't play for the first two months of the season.
But the different dates here I don't think matter much, teams can just wait a few days to officially announce signings (the Dodgers are already likely doing this with Brasier).
Cleveland's Hi-A affiliate, the Lake County Captains, is dusting off the most phallic mascot of all time – The Baseball Bug. Honestly, I don't think I've ever even heard of this, but apparently it was a Cleveland thing in the early '80s and it's kind of obscene.
The way my brain works, I can't read something like this and not google 'most phallic mascot', and without posting any results, trust me when I say this is not correct.
5/125 from 2025-29, he only has one year left on his current deal.
View: https://twitter.com/JonHeyman/status/1755011250126266600
View: https://twitter.com/JonHeyman/status/1755011250126266600
That’s great, the Royals should not be in the lower classes of MLB. It always struck me as a serious baseball town, and the only problem was that it had been hijacked by a horrible garbage owner in David Glass.
Very true. Although it did come with a 151 OPS+ and an OBP near .400.
Still, in the old Belichickian wisdom of not paying for past performance, this feels like a risk. The Astros front office has shown themselves to be pretty shrewd for a while now, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, but his similarity scores on BRef would concern me for the aging curves here: Hanley Ramirez, Ryne Sandberg, Pedroia, Brandon Phillips, Craig Biggio. Obviously that's an odd group (his comparisons are all a little wacky) but few of that group aged gracefully into their mid-30s.
I was going to say something about Altuve as a future HoFer, but he's not quite there yet, he needs to put up a couple years that are more like '21-'22 than '23 before I'd feel more confident about that. He does have 2000 hits, though, maybe he gets to 3000 with some good injury luck, but I'll admit that I thought it was more likely than that.
It seems unlikely Altuve (or most anyone) will be playing 140+ games a year at second base when he's getting into his late thirties. That could be fine since he still has a bat that can play anywhere, but the issue is that they also have Alvarez signed through 2028. I guess Alvarez's contract only runs his age 31 season, so maybe he's young enough to keep spending time in left field, but it feels like this could take a toll either on their defense or Altuve's durability. It looks like it's also a front-loaded deal, and if he becomes completely worthless, eating the last year wouldn't be that painful.
Agreed he’s not there yet but he’s building a pretty strong HOF case. Already at 2000 hits, an MVP, a World Series MVP, 8 All Stars, 2 rings and the face of the most successful franchise of the past decade. If he just plays out his new deal at an above average level and builds some counting stats I think he’s in. I guess the caveat here is the trash can stuff but the evidence against him there is very thin (and doesn’t seem to be hurting Carlos Beltran who was much more involved).
He's very close if not in. His HOF monitor is already 166
He has 3 batting titles, 2 SB titles, an MVP in the regular season and an MVP in the playoffs, .850 OPS in the playoffs in OVER A HUNDRED games, a GG for show, 8 AS, 2 (1*) rings and compares very favorably to Ryne Sandberg. and is a good interview. (as opposed to Rice etc)
I think he’s really close to the HOF. Unless he gets Pedroia’d (or I guess, Machado’d), he’s in.
It's an ALCS MVP I believe. (2019)
Pena won MVP in WS in 2022, and Springer in 2017.
No idea the point of guaranteeing Altuve those 25-30M AAVs when he isn't even a FA yet.
Even with another great year, is he really going to beat that contract after 2024?
I don't see the upside for Houston to do this, if they want him to retire as an Astro, they can just pay through the nose in a year. No one is going to give the guy 200M at age 34
Even with another great year, is he really going to beat that contract after 2024?
I don't see the upside for Houston to do this, if they want him to retire as an Astro, they can just pay through the nose in a year. No one is going to give the guy 200M at age 34
I didn't read about this yet but one thing is that locking in Altuve now I think gives them more leverage with Bregman, they will not lose both next winter now.
Ah yep, there is some here:
https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/could-astros-follow-jose-altuve-extension-with-a-long-term-deal-for-alex-bregman-what-contract-may-look-like/
Ah yep, there is some here:
https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/could-astros-follow-jose-altuve-extension-with-a-long-term-deal-for-alex-bregman-what-contract-may-look-like/
I forgot all about that guy.The way my brain works, I can't read something like this and not google 'most phallic mascot', and without posting any results, trust me when I say this is not correct.
Forgot might not be the right word.
View: https://twitter.com/AP/status/1756026439181144510
I seem to recall some speculation about this on the board from years past.
I seem to recall some speculation about this on the board from years past.
Oh yeah, I'm sure ownership had no idea whatsoever. Very believable.
I assume this is just their way of cracking down on it without actually punishing anyone (Eppler's still getting payed for the year). But practically speaking, which teams does this affect the most? Aren't the Rays constantly manipulating the IL, or do they just break their pitchers for real?
I assume this is just their way of cracking down on it without actually punishing anyone (Eppler's still getting payed for the year). But practically speaking, which teams does this affect the most? Aren't the Rays constantly manipulating the IL, or do they just break their pitchers for real?
MLB did put a "Rays rule" in place last year, capping the number of times you can option a player from the MLB roster in one season. That was their most egregious workaround – building a bullpen with a dozen or so guys and then swapping them to the AAA roster when they were overworked. Their own pitchers were complaining about getting demoted for doing their job, but they're optionable/pre-FA pitchers who can't choose to sign somewhere else.
I don't get why Eppler was allowed to do this for two years. MLBPA should be pounding it into all their members' brains that if they're placed on the IL without being injured, report it to them immediately so they can file a grievance.
I don't get why Eppler was allowed to do this for two years. MLBPA should be pounding it into all their members' brains that if they're placed on the IL without being injured, report it to them immediately so they can file a grievance.
FTA:
Feels a bit like the Red Sox getting dinged for IFA shennagins - everybody's doing it to some degree, but you're the one who was caught or just a bit more egregious. Still no idea how the Rays get on with it.
Spring Training starts in four days. Bellinger, Snell, Chapman, Montgomery, Soler, J.D Martinez still haven’t signed.
The first three of those guys will be more in demand once the draft compensation attached to their QOs disappears, but that's not until after the draft which isn't until mid-July now.
Chapman should probably just go back to Toronto for a year, I assume they still want him. Try again next year without the pick attached.
I guess the players are on board with Boras's tactics, but I would think it's a logistical mess for their families. You'd think they'd want as much time as possible to move to a new city, get children in new schools, etc ... unless the players involved are just going to have the home situation ride itself out early on, and not move until the school year ends.
Yes, it's a logistical mess for the families. I don't know, but I would think that "not move until the school year ends" will be the norm since school started back up in January, since the players won't play in their home cities until end of March, and since players are on the road half the time anyway.
I would also worry about injury risk, particularly with the pitchers. I’m sure they’re starting to ramp up their throwing to prepare for the season. All it takes is an elbow or shoulder injury and they’re out $100M+.
Responding to my own post here, I did forget about Turner until just now, but even with him on board, they have the roster space to bring back Chapman for a year (or, like, five years with four opt-outs or whatever). I would think the upgrade from IKF/Espinal/Biggio to Chapman would be worth it to a team with postseason aspirations, especially since it's "just" money for them.