All-purpose offseason moves thread

[Papelbon's Poutine]

Dodgers deal with Iwakuma hitting a snag during the physical:

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/14389509/hisashi-iwakuma-los-angeles-dodgers-continue-talks-physical-red-flagged

The Japan-based Jiji Press first reported earlier Thursday that the Dodgers were backing away from the deal after evaluating the results of Iwakuma's physical.

The medical issue revealed by Iwakuma's physical is not yet known.

Iwakuma, who turns 35 in April, pitched just 129 1/3 innings last season because of a strained lat muscle. He was 47-25 with a 3.17 ERA and 1.08 WHIP in four seasons with the Seattle Mariners.

Teams have been known to rework contracts after something turns up in a physical. The Boston Red Sox, for example, renegotiated a three-year, $39 million deal with Mike Napoli in 2013 after his physical revealed a hip condition. He later signed a one-year, $5 million deal.

If the Dodgers lose Iwakuma, they would not have to forfeit their No. 25 overall draft pick next June.

Iwakuma rejected the Mariners' $15.8 million qualifying offer in November, prompting the team that signs him to surrender its pick.

 

[Tokyo Sox]

...and now the M's have re-signed Iwakuma. What a shitshow of an offseason for the Dodgers so far. Whether or not they trade for any of Odorizzi/Archer/Jose Fernandez, I have to think LAD are now the leading contenders for Maeda.

 

[FanSinceBoggs]

...What a shitshow of an offseason for the Dodgers so far.

I'm starting to think that Andrew Friedman is the most overestimated baseball executive in history.

 

[Papelbon's Poutine]

I'm starting to think that Andrew Friedman is the most overestimated baseball executive in history.

Based on what?

I'll grant you he probably got a little too much hype based on the fact that Tampa had so many first round picks - and more specifically, so many high first round picks - with which to work with, but I see nothing since he's gotten to LA to warrant such a broadly sweeping statement. I think he made poor move with the Gordon/Hendricks deals, but those were pretty well lauded (here and by a decent portion of the media). Giving Brandon McCarthy a 4/$48M certainly seemed bad on the face and has proven so, to date. He also dumped Kemp and got a nice piece in Grandal.

This offseason, he's gotten left without a chair when the music stopped on the SPs, but he's also showed some wise restraint. Going over the top on Greinke wouldn't have been a very wise move. There's rumors not even the Reds knew about Chapman's issues, so I don't blame him there. He made a solid signing in Iwakuma only to have the medicals look like shit. He didn't overreact and throw money at Cueto or Shark, he hasn't given a Kazmir or a Fister a reactionary contract to do "something" and he hasn't sold the farm.

The LAD dug quite a hole before he got there and they couldn't keep spending like that forever. He needed to do something and quite frankly, while it was nice to have Greinke and Kershaw, it's gotten them no where, and teams don't need two Cy young candidates. It's nice to have, but when it costs $65M a year, it might not prove to be the best call.

He;s still got plenty of time to make moves. As Law said in his chat yesterday, judging GMs on the offseason right now is like giving a two hour exam and then grading everyone after 45 minutes. All offseasons don't play out on the same timetable. At the very least, the hyperbole is a bit much.

 

[MR BIG STUFF]

All around good guy Matt Bush signed by the Rangers.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/rangers-sign-former-no--1-pick-matt-bush-after-51-months-in-prison-205109877.html

 

[Plympton91]

He hit a 72 year old and then drove over his head, but apparently didn't kill him? That's a lucky 72 year old. I wwonder if Matt Bush getting 17 months of his sentence is part of the push among many in America for a kinder and gentler criminal justice system?

 

[hbk72777]

He hit a 72 year old and then drove over his head, but apparently didn't kill him? That's a lucky 72 year old. I wwonder if Matt Bush getting 17 months of his sentence is part of the push among many in America for a kinder and gentler criminal justice system?

Of course it is. It's disgusting. I don't want to derail the thread so I'll leave it at that.

He and Hamilton should make great teammates.

 

[jon abbey]

Based on what?
He;s still got plenty of time to make moves. As Law said in his chat yesterday, judging GMs on the offseason right now is like giving a two hour exam and then grading everyone after 45 minutes.

It's even worse than this, IMO, it's like judging the answers on whether they look right instead of whether they actually are.

So many of these big money contracts end up being almost immediate millstones and the same writers praising the signings in November are ripping them by June. I can't say it enough, roster flexibility in today's game is still underrated, not making big-money signings is more often than not the better move.

Here are the top 11 FA signings from last offseason, how many of these look good now?

Scherzer (7/210)
Lester (6/155)
Sandoval (5/95)
Hanley (4/88)
Martin (5/82)
Shields (4/75)
V-Mart (4/68)
Nelson Cruz (4/57)
Ervin Santana (4/55)
Headley (4/52)
Brandon McCarthy (4/48)

Which of those deals do you think the signing teams are completely happy with right now? Scherzer, Lester, Cruz, Martin probably. So 4 out of 11 just one year in? Yikes.

Or go back a few years to 2012, where the top seven signings by total money (http://espn.go.com/mlb/freeagents/_/year/2012/type/dollars) included Josh Hamilton, Melvin Upton Jr., Nick Swisher, Edwin Jackson, and Michael Bourn.

 

[MakMan44]

Leake to Cards - 5 years/$75 with an option for a 6th. Leake also gets full no trade clause

 

[E5 Yaz]

John Jaso, with five career innings at 1B, signs a 2/$8M deal with Pittsburgh

 

[Darnell's Son]

Anything has to be better than Alvarez at first.

 

[MakMan44]

John Jaso, with five career innings at 1B, signs a 2/$8M deal with Pittsburgh

He's actually a sneaky good player. I think it's a fantastic deal for the Pirates.

 

[E5 Yaz]

He's actually a sneaky good player. I think it's a fantastic deal for the Pirates.

He's a terrific complement hitter. But the defense could be a real issue

 

[MakMan44]

He's a terrific complement hitter. But the defense could be a real issue

That's true. I don't think he'll be worse than Pedro Alvarez but you never know.

 

[DanoooME]

Scott Kazmir to the Dodgers for 3/$48M spread evenly with an opt-out after the first year.

Now the Dodgers will have an all-lefty rotation.

 

[Bob Montgomerys Helmet Hat]

Kazmir has an opt out after the first year

 

[Snodgrass'Muff]

Kazmir has an opt out after the first year

Another opt out. Wow. Can we all agree that opt outs are good for the team no, wait... opt outs are good for the player wait, that's not it, either... more opt out discussion may break SoSH's spine and collapse the site?

That's the one!

 

[SoxLegacy]

Kenta Maeda to the Dodgers, parameters of the deal unclear at this point, though both MLB and MLBTraderumors.com are reporting it to be 8 years, with MLBTR quoting Joel Sherman as to the contract being "complicated".

 

[Red(s)HawksFan]

Jeffrey Flanagan@FlannyMLB
According to sources, Alex Gordon and the #Royals have agreed to a mult-year deal, pending physical. Announcement likely today

 

[MartyBarrettMVP]

Jeff Passan ‏@JeffPassan 10m10 minutes ago
Sources: Alex Gordon to Kansas City is done, confirming report from @FlannyMLB. Deal is believed to be in the four-year, low-$70M range.

 

[Minneapolis Millers]

Jeff Passan ‏@JeffPassan 10m10 minutes ago
Sources: Alex Gordon to Kansas City is done, confirming report from @FlannyMLB. Deal is believed to be in the four-year, low-$70M range.

If so, a really good deal for KC. Limited the years and the annual salary. I have to think Gordon got better offers, and that he gave them a Pedey-like discount to stay where he wanted to be. As a fan, I love it when things work out this way...

 

[Number45forever]

Agreed, very happy as a general baseball fan to see him back in KC. I'm sure he wanted to stay there, and $70m is still a shit ton of money. He has another four good years, he can get another big contract when that's up. Happy to see this, KC will still be very good next year.

 

[Snoop Soxy Dogg]

If so, a really good deal for KC. Limited the years and the annual salary. I have to think Gordon got better offers, and that he gave them a Pedey-like discount to stay where he wanted to be. As a fan, I love it when things work out this way...

I don't know about that. We're in January, the supply of outfielders is higher than demand -at the price the players seem to want. Seems to me Gordon didn't get the type of offer he wanted; if there were any offers higher than this, they were not high enough to make him leave KC. Agreed with the rest of your post though, great deal for KC.

What I'm curious about now is what Cespedes and Upton get + where Boras is going to find $100m+ deals for Davis (well, >$150m, I suppose) and Chen. Silly to bet against Boras, but man, he's got quite a few prominent clients still out there.

 

[E5 Yaz]

Agreed, very happy as a general baseball fan to see him back in KC. I'm sure he wanted to stay there, and $70m is still a shit ton of money. He has another four good years, he can get another big contract when that's up. Happy to see this, KC will still be very good next year.

He's not going to get "another big contract" at age 36. He could get a nice one-year deal.

But you're right about the best place for Gordon is KC ... particularly since Moustakas and Hosmer aren't likely to stay when their turn comes

 

[E5 Yaz]

Sam Brownback ‏@govsambrownback 2h2 hours ago
Congrats, Alex Gordon! With your new contract, you'll save about $1.8M/year in taxes just by living in KS instead of CA.

 

[Papelbon's Poutine]

Haven't been following the rumors lately, they've been trickling out, were the Angels the presumed competition? I thought the Cards were going to go after him after Heyward left? Since the winter meetings, the rumor mill have been bizarrely quiet this year...

 

[Papelbon's Poutine]

Dp

 

[E5 Yaz]

Haven't been following the rumors lately, they've been trickling out, were the Angels the presumed competition?

Yes, but even now, Gordon won't be living in Kansas

 

[SoxLegacy]

Denard Span to the Giants for 3 years/31 million

 

[timlinin8th]

Yes, but even now, Gordon won't be living in Kansas

Well, he COULD live there, but he certainly won't be playing there.

Wonder what the tax difference between CA and MO is???

 

[Minneapolis Millers]

Seems like a good deal for Span and San Fran, too. Fair balance of risk/reward.

 

[Papelbon's Poutine]

Seems like a good deal for Span and San Fran, too. Fair balance of risk/reward.

Disagree, seems low for Span. Was hurt last year, but was a pretty well established 3-4 WAR player. I think it's a steal for SF, but I also think the OF market is a buyers market.

 

[Minneapolis Millers]

Disagree, seems low for Span. Was hurt last year, but was a pretty well established 3-4 WAR player. I think it's a steal for SF, but I also think the OF market is a buyers market.

Exactly, but that market plus his hip likely had him staring at pillow offers. Getting 3 years from a competitive team is a decent deal.

 

[MakMan44]

Yeah, the guaranteed years are decent.

 

[Wingack]

Heyman says Drew Storen is about to be traded for Ben Revere.

Like this deal for the Nats I think. Revere had a nice OBP last season and is only turning 28 this year.

Edit: Deal done. Good deal for both sides.

 

[Bob Montgomerys Helmet Hat]

So...who is going to close for the Nats? Are they really going to keep Papelbon?

 

[jon abbey]

Well, they pretty clearly couldn't keep both of them, and Papelbon is probably impossible to trade without swallowing most of his deal, so I guess they will just ride it out with him.

"The day after Storen’s trade, Rizzo again wouldn’t commit to trading Papelbon unless there was a good offer, which may not thrill some fans.

“We see Papelbon as being one of our late-inning relievers,” Rizzo said. “He’s been very effective at it his entire career, including last year, except for the last portion of the season. This guy’s a quality reliever, quality closer, and the biggest stage that you can be in — pitched the last out of a World Series game and got a World Series ring. He knows how to win. He brings a swagger to the bullpen.”

Rizzo mentioned Shawn Kelley, one of the relievers signed this offseason in the overhauled Nationals bullpen, as a potential set-up candidate to replace Storen. He suggested Trevor Gott, Felipe Rivero, Blake Treinen and Yusmeiro Petit could help, too."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/nationals-journal/wp/2016/01/09/mike-rizzo-on-trading-drew-storen-for-ben-revere/

 

[MakMan44]

Marlins go nanners and sign Wei Yin Chen to a 5 year deal



Dodgers sign Yasiel Sierra to a 6 year deal.

 

[E5 Yaz]

The Chen deal is fascinating, depending on trade provisions.

 

[E5 Yaz]

Gerardo Parra to the Rockies 3/26 ... will a CarGo trade be forthcoming?

 

[E5 Yaz]

Chen will receive a $8MM signing bonus to go with the $6MM salary in 2016 and $14MM salary for 2017, Rosenthal tweets. That means that he’ll have $52MM left on the table when the opt-out decision comes due.

 

[Papelbon's Poutine]

Honest question - wtf is with signing bonuses in baseball lately? Do players just want cash in hand quicker? $8/$6 in the first year is the same as $14 in the second year for everyone otherwise.

 

[E5 Yaz]

Honest question - wtf is with signing bonuses in baseball lately? Do players just want cash in hand quicker? $8/$6 in the first year is the same as $14 in the second year for everyone otherwise.

I was trying to figure out how it benefits the Marlins

 

[glennhoffmania]

I don't know that it helps either side but it's not a recent trend. Based on a quick look the list of players who received a signing bonus include Pedroia, Buchholz, Sandoval, Porcello, ARod, Teixeira, CJ Wilson, Weaver, Trout, Felix, Cruz, Kershaw, AGon, Crawford, Cain, Posey, Peavy, Pagan, and Bumgarner. Some of those deals were signed in the last year or so but players have been getting signing bonuses for years.

 

[Bowlerman9]

Honest question - wtf is with signing bonuses in baseball lately? Do players just want cash in hand quicker? $8/$6 in the first year is the same as $14 in the second year for everyone otherwise.

Yes, it's quite common. A lot of times a player will buy a house in the city they are playing for, so you'd rather have $8M now and $6M spread throughout the season as opposed to $14M from April to October.

I wouldnt even say this has been common "lately". Sabathia signed in 2009 and received a $9M bonus and a $14M salary.

Back in 2005, Beltran received a $5M upfront bonus, a $10M salary, and an additional $2M bonus in June of that same year.

 

[E5 Yaz]

The Marlins and second baseman Dee Gordon are in agreement on a five-year extension that will pay the reigning National League batting champion $50MM, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter link).

 

[MakMan44]

Seems like a pretty good deal for both sides.

 

[Sampo Gida]

Yes, it's quite common. A lot of times a player will buy a house in the city they are playing for, so you'd rather have $8M now and $6M spread throughout the season as opposed to $14M from April to October.

I wouldnt even say this has been common "lately". Sabathia signed in 2009 and received a $9M bonus and a $14M salary.

Back in 2005, Beltran received a $5M upfront bonus, a $10M salary, and an additional $2M bonus in June of that same year.

I think state taxes play apart too

Signing bonuses are another way to avoid state taxes. Generally if the bonus meets certain criteria it is only taxable in a player’s home state. Jon Lester is also making $30 million this season. However, half of this amount is via the signing bonus. If we assume that Lester resides in a tax-free state, he could avoid state taxes on $19.8 million of the $30 million he will make this year. He will pay a grand total of about $583,000 in state and local income taxes on his $30,000,000 salary, if he resides in a tax-free state. Even if he lives in Illinois, which cut its income tax rate by 40% this year, he will still only pay a total of about $1.13 million in state and local income taxes on his income.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2015/04/06/opening-day-tax-planning-for-ballplayers/#2715e4857a0b4d0b1b274c1b

 

[Minneapolis Millers]

Seems like a cheap buyout of 2 FA years for the Marlins. Plus an affordable vesting year. I'd love to see the Sox ink X to a similar deal.

 

[kenneycb]

I think state taxes play apart too



http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2015/04/06/opening-day-tax-planning-for-ballplayers/#2715e4857a0b4d0b1b274c1b

And the time value of money. A dollar today is worth more than a dollar tomorrow.