MLB Off-season

[MoeFOH]

Winter meetings done, the two big Free Agent bats off the board, Cease to the Jays, Diaz to the Dodgers... ✅

Where's your team at? What moves are you hoping for? What blockbuster trade are you predicting? Will Skubal somehow end up at the Dodgers and break baseball? 🫣

These and many more questions need answering to get us through the long dark of the off-season. 

 

[Ford2112]

Evidently still my team is at .500 after doing nothing.

[Wookie]

Red Sox ownership don’t care about winning, just barely competing. Spewing farcical BS about “serious intentions”. 

[mikejh]

The Reds gave fans a glimmer of hope for several weeks in pursuit of Schwarber, and now it’s most likely back to the normal dumpster diving off season.

[MoeFOH]

1 hour ago, Wookie said:

Red Sox ownership don’t care about winning, just barely competing. Spewing farcical BS about “serious intentions”. 

I hope you're wrong, but if we don't land at least two significant signings in this off-season, I'll 100% concur. I don't mind the smaller moves they've made so far. Gray's a good move if he's a planned #3, #2 not so much. Oviedo is an interesting move with plenty of upside. I actually think that move will be more impressive than expected. 

But we need an offensive upgrade desperately. Probably two. Or at least 1 bat and a genuine #2 starter. 

Ketel Marte would be gold. I like Okamoto as a fit, too. Bregman's going to want more years than they're comfortable with and I'm worried they're going to play chicken there till he either goes somewhere else or they overpay in desperation. 

[Ford2112]

If we are to compete in the NL west the Giants need to make pitching moves, we need a bonafide 2nd baseman, and a right field upgrade. 

[riderpride]

A lot of Jays rumors going round, both additions and subtractions. 

Berrios' elbow injury in Sept caused him to slide down the order, but his refusal to play out of the bullpen in the playoffs definitely didn't sit well with some. He's capable of a bounce-back year or two and I hope he's able to land somewhere in a starting rotation. Who knew Yesavage would have that kind of impact in a few short weeks after starting the season in A ball.

Santander is a big question mark after missing the bulk of his first season with the team. His defense could be better in RF, and it's either platoon him with Barger, or move him and go for Tucker. I guess there's also the chance they hang onto him and move him to DH after George is done.

Will Bo stay? Rumors of him staying in the division are getting loud. Glad he seems good moving to 2nd as most teams are solid at SS but could use his bat.

No matter what happens,  it's tough to make it out of the ALE, so luck will be a necessity.

Cheers! 

[riderpride]

2 hours ago, mikejh said:

The Reds gave fans a glimmer of hope for several weeks in pursuit of Schwarber, and now it’s most likely back to the normal dumpster diving off season.

The curse of Marge 😞

I tell my kids about it everytime we go to Burger King. Truely fit for kings.

Cheers!

[Capn_Jackson]

My team no longer has Bochy. My team no longer has my two favorite players, Jonah and Adolis. My team no longer has Marcus Semien. My team has a very expensive retractable roof that will probably be open for 10 games all year, tops.

At the end of the season, they will have some losses and, probably, some wins. That's all I know for sure.

[zacca]

6 hours ago, Wookie said:

Red Sox ownership don’t care about winning, just barely competing. Spewing farcical BS about “serious intentions”. 

Just like the Phillies, with their lineups propensity to go ice cold when the pressure is on, they go and do…exactly the same thing again. 

[MrBirdman]

This is the first year in a while I’m having trouble staying engaged. The Phillies seem snake bit in October, and it’s hard to get excited when the “big fish” you’re hunting are mostly players who were on your team two months ago. 

The Phillies overpaid for Schwarber, in my opinion. If they get another season or two like last year it’ll be a good signing, but I’m very wary of sluggers with huge seasons in a contract year, especially late in their career. The Orioles, intentionally or not, have successfully bid up several of the contracts signed thus far without landing anything. The word in Philly is that Schwarber was prepared to accept a deal similar to what the pirates offered (4/$125M), but then were forced to match the Orioles unexpected bid at the last minute. Phils fans born before the late 90’s still have painful memories of Ryan Howard’s albatross of a contract hanging around the team’s neck for years. The game admittedly has changed since then, and Schwarber isn’t helpless against breaking balls. 

To me the big story to follow over the next few months is going to be what players and owners opening bids are for the next CBA. It is likely to prove to be the most intense labor battle since 1995, unless there’s a short extension (unlikely). The next CBA could fundamentally change the economics of the game.

I don’t know what my prediction on the salary cap issue is, but Dodgers ownership seems to think the owners will cave given they’re pushing payroll over $400M. Either that or they assume the terms for getting compliant will reward teams that overspend now. 

[MrBirdman]

5 hours ago, MoeFOH said:

Will Skubal somehow end up at the Dodgers and break baseball? 🫣

I suspect the proportion of core MLB fans who’d support a labor stoppage to get a salary cap is close to 50% already, maybe higher. Any team trading for him is gonna give him a contract, and if it’s the Dodgers you’re going to start seeing fans demanding a salary cap not just supporting one. Maybe I’m wrong above and the Dodgers want to maximize their spending advantage while they can, or maybe this is reverse collusion - the owners encouraging one team to spend an ungodly amount of money to make sure they get a salary cap. 

[riderpride]

13 minutes ago, MrBirdman said:

I suspect the proportion of core MLB fans who’d support a labor stoppage to get a salary cap is close to 50% already, maybe higher. Any team trading for him is gonna give him a contract, and if it’s the Dodgers you’re going to start seeing fans demanding a salary cap not just supporting one. Maybe I’m wrong above and the Dodgers want to maximize their spending advantage while they can, or maybe this is reverse collusion - the owners encouraging one team to spend an ungodly amount of money to make sure they get a salary cap. 

Salaries are getting stupid at a rapidly expanding rate. I couldn't even spend someone else's money on the top tier. I'd rather let the kids play and see what they can do.

$30+ mil for a guy who's going to be under-performing for the last 4 or 5 years just to have a shot now blows my mind. 

I'm glad the contract runs into next Dec as I hate the thought of a stoppage during the season or a season ending one. The Expos had a great team in 94 despite the corruption and incredible cheapness of that market - two points which were essentially ignored in their Netflix documentary. They lost the magic permanently after that.

Cheers!