MLB Offseason 2020 News & Notes

Minneapolis Millers

Wants you to please think of the Twins fans!
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
4,753
Twin Cities

LogansDad

Member
SoSH Member
Nov 15, 2006
29,054
Alamogordo
I have a dumb question that I don't know where else to put. Was "Saturn Nuts" for Bronson Arroyo coined here at SoSH? I always thought it was just a term we used, but then I noticed that he had the nickname in OOTP Baseball and on B-Ref.
 

kenneycb

Hates Goose Island Beer; Loves Backdoor Play
SoSH Member
Dec 2, 2006
16,090
Tuukka's refugee camp
I believe Schilling called him that here before a 2004 ALCS or WS game. Said something along the lines of he had balls the size of Saturn.
 

Minneapolis Millers

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Jul 15, 2005
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Interesting/odd that WAS was willing to pay Schwarber $10M when his projected arb salary range was a bit lower. Team decision-making has seemed haphazard thus far, but this at least suggests that the Cubs either didn’t try hard enough to trade him or should have kept and continued to try to trade him. Solid landing for Schwarber, though.
 

Petey Bienel

New Member
Feb 8, 2020
47
Arlington, VA
Interesting/odd that WAS was willing to pay Schwarber $10M when his projected arb salary range was a bit lower. Team decision-making has seemed haphazard thus far, but this at least suggests that the Cubs either didn’t try hard enough to trade him or should have kept and continued to try to trade him. Solid landing for Schwarber, though.
Probably a bit of chase but I had not realized just how much less effective their line up was last year was against RHP, and how it projected to be before the Bell and Schwarber moves. Last year, OPS of .722 vs. righty starters, .883 vs. lefty starters, per baseball reference.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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Jan 23, 2009
20,676
Maine
Interesting/odd that WAS was willing to pay Schwarber $10M when his projected arb salary range was a bit lower. Team decision-making has seemed haphazard thus far, but this at least suggests that the Cubs either didn’t try hard enough to trade him or should have kept and continued to try to trade him. Solid landing for Schwarber, though.
Perhaps it's simply an indication that his market was heated. Arbitration salary =/= free agent salary. It's entirely possible likely the Nats were bid up to that salary.
 

Minneapolis Millers

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Jul 15, 2005
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Perhaps it's simply an indication that his market was heated. Arbitration salary =/= free agent salary. It's entirely possible likely the Nats were bid up to that salary.
Right. I didn’t mean odd for Washington, I meant odd in that, if there was that much interest one month later with all the questions existing then still unresolved, why couldn’t the Cubs trade him? It’s been a really weird offseason/market...
 

Minneapolis Millers

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Jul 15, 2005
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I’m having difficulty understanding the 4th year option for Hendricks. Why wouldn’t the team pick it up if they have to pay him the same amount in a buyout? To save the roster spot? They could always just release him if he stinks. Paying over multiple years? They could have more simply agreed to deferred payments. Seems odd. (Also, this is a pretty good deal for Hendricks. Not much of a pandemic discount there!)
 

johnnywayback

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Aug 8, 2004
1,421
The "option" counts against the luxury tax threshold like a signing bonus in the NFL -- evenly divided among the previous years of the contract. So Hendriks will count $18m against the cap in 2021, 2022, and 2023...and then $0 in 2024, which for a team with a bunch of pre-FA players in its core could be a real nice perk.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

Member
SoSH Member
Jan 23, 2009
20,676
Maine
The "option" counts against the luxury tax threshold like a signing bonus in the NFL -- evenly divided among the previous years of the contract. So Hendriks will count $18m against the cap in 2021, 2022, and 2023...and then $0 in 2024, which for a team with a bunch of pre-FA players in its core could be a real nice perk.
That's only if they don't exercise the option in 2024, I believe. If they exercise the option and he pitches for them in 2024, the 2021-2023 figures are re-calculated and it's a $13.5M hit on their 2024 payroll.
 

Minneapolis Millers

Wants you to please think of the Twins fans!
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
4,753
Twin Cities
The "option" counts against the luxury tax threshold like a signing bonus in the NFL -- evenly divided among the previous years of the contract. So Hendriks will count $18m against the cap in 2021, 2022, and 2023...and then $0 in 2024, which for a team with a bunch of pre-FA players in its core could be a real nice perk.
That makes sense, with RHF’s note. But have the CWS ever paid the LT?
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
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Jul 15, 2005
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1. Yu Darvish
2. Blake Snell
3. Dinelson Lamet
4. Joe Musgrove
5. Chris Paddack/MacKenzie Gore/Adrian Morejon

(Mike Clevinger on IL)
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
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Jul 15, 2005
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Not many teams left spending money, Realmuto and Bauer still on the board. Realmuto I've thought would definitely go back to PHI ever since they hired Dombrowski, Bauer I have absolutely no idea.