MLB 2019-2020 Offseason Thread

[Meacon Keaton]

We’ll give you JA Happ and Clint Frazier for him.  

[Ct1021]

1 hour ago, Carlos Buschtran said:

When the Mets signed Michael Wacha to a 1-year deal yesterday, BVW identified him as "starter depth" which was odd as everyone assumed he was being signed to be the #5 starter.  Now today those comments make more sense as they've signed Rick Porcello to a 1-year, $10 million deal.

Wacha will presumably be going to the bullpen and be the swing guy who will jump into the rotation when someone gets hurt.  Either that or we're about to hear yet another round of Syndergaard trade rumors.

I like the Porcello signing. Low risk, high reward and I always like seeing NJ natives sign with NY teams.

[The Buscher]

I dunno.  Porcello relies heavily on good pitch framing and strong infield defense, neither of which the Mets have.

[Ct1021]

1 hour ago, Carlos Buschtran said:

I dunno.  Porcello relies heavily on good pitch framing and strong infield defense, neither of which the Mets have.

Fair point. I just like the NJ/NY connection. 

Yankees are keeping Brett Gardner on a one year deal(https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/28283486/source-yankees-retain-outfielder-brett-gardner-1-year-deal), which makes me very happy. He's one of my favorite players.

[Meacon Keaton]

Yeah, with Hicks being down for who knows how long due to TJS, and Gardner not wanting to go anywhere, I assumed it was a foregone conclusion but I’m glad he’s back anyway.

[Meacon Keaton]

I know nine years is a long time, but to put into context the Cole contract:

Hes going to make $2 million more a year than Greinke and $3 million more than David Price.

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

I always think it's so silly when people get upset about these long contracts. Like, yeah, you might be way overpaying Cole in like seven years but they signed him so they can win now. If they win a ring in the next few years, who cares how much he gets paid 9 years from now. 

[gunnar hendershow]

On 13/12/2019 at 10:37, CinMCDy Lou Who said:

I always think it's so silly when people get upset about these long contracts. Like, yeah, you might be way overpaying Cole in like seven years but they signed him so they can win now. If they win a ring in the next few years, who cares how much he gets paid 9 years from now. 

The thing with term is that it largely depends on where a team is when making the deal. A bad team locking up Cole for 9 years is a lot worse than a team that is a threat to win the WS locking up Cole 9 years. If, I dunno, the Mariners had signed him to that deal it looks bad since they don't seem to have much of a window and paying him that much may hamper their ability to get there.

It's not like Gerritt Cole is Chris Davis either, an above average player with 1 great year getting paid like a team centerpiece.

[The Buscher]

Rangers close to acquiring Corey Kluber for Delino DeShields Jr. and Emmanuel Clase.

What an awful return for Cleveland.

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

3 hours ago, Carlos Buschtran said:

Rangers close to acquiring Corey Kluber for Delino DeShields Jr. and Emmanuel Clase.

What an awful return for Cleveland.

This is an MLB The Show trade where you're like "What the fuck is Cleveland thinking?"

[Gabriel]

19 minutes ago, CinMCDy Lou Who said:

This is an MLB The Show trade where you're like "What the fuck is Cleveland thinking?"

Cleveland is thinking about money, really. Kluber is under team control for one more year after this one, but it's an $18 million option. So they dealt him away for a speedy outfielder who hit a respectable .249 last year, and a top pitching prospect who had an ERA under 2.50 for Texas after skipping over Triple A entirely. He didn't play a lot, but those numbers and the potential he has at 21 is hard to pass up.

It's also likely that they deal away Liriano, who they would be priced out of re-signing anyways.

[The Buscher]

Madison Bumgarner to the Diamondbacks.  5 years, $85 million with $15 million deferred.

[gunnar hendershow]

That's low relatively speaking. Did he just negotiate only with AZ (where he wanted to go anyway by all accounts)

[DMN in the House]

Delino DeShields Jr? Fuck, does everyone's kid play baseball?

[Toe]

16 hours ago, Carlos Buschtran said:

Madison Bumgarner to the Diamondbacks.  5 years, $85 million with $15 million deferred.

I was shocked to learn he is only 30. When I saw this come through, I immediately thought "why are they giving this 37 year old a five year deal?!".

[gunnar hendershow]

5 hours ago, Toe said:

I was shocked to learn he is only 30. When I saw this come through, I immediately thought "why are they giving this 37 year old a five year deal?!".

He accomplished everything by his 26th birthday.

[MalaCloudy Black]

Fucker.

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

22 hours ago, Gabriel said:

Cleveland is thinking about money, really. Kluber is under team control for one more year after this one, but it's an $18 million option. So they dealt him away for a speedy outfielder who hit a respectable .249 last year, and a top pitching prospect who had an ERA under 2.50 for Texas after skipping over Triple A entirely. He didn't play a lot, but those numbers and the potential he has at 21 is hard to pass up.

It's also likely that they deal away Liriano, who they would be priced out of re-signing anyways.

Oh, I get that it's all about money. I just think if that's the offer you get for Kluber, you hold onto him and hope you can trade him mid-season. But that's just not what Cleveland is going to do right now because they want to dish the salary. deShields has basically always been a below average hitter. Clase is interesting but at the end of the day, he's a hard throwing reliever. Doesn't seem to align with 2X Cy Young winner.

[Gabriel]

7 hours ago, CinMCDy Lou Who said:

Oh, I get that it's all about money. I just think if that's the offer you get for Kluber, you hold onto him and hope you can trade him mid-season. But that's just not what Cleveland is going to do right now because they want to dish the salary. deShields has basically always been a below average hitter. Clase is interesting but at the end of the day, he's a hard throwing reliever. Doesn't seem to align with 2X Cy Young winner.

They probably figure that they aren't going to contend this year, and holding onto Kluber would have run the risk of him having a poor season or getting injured and diminishing the return... or worse even, making it impossible to deal him.

I love the business side of sports, but it's also a major pain in the ass as a fan, because you see teams giving up on their season before it even starts... especially in leagues where parity isn't as prevalent as it is in a league like the NHL.

Clase was primarily a starter before he got to the majors, so there's still plenty of time to see if he works in that role for the Indians. He could also turn into a hell of a closer if he's developed properly.

[The Buscher]

The Mets reduced Cespedes' 2020 salary from $29.5 million to $9.5 million with the ability to earn the $20 million back in incentives.  The fact that Cespedes agreed to such a steep reduction is an indicator that they had strong evidence that the injury he suffered on his ranch last summer was the result of him doing something really stupid and non-baseball related.  The Mets were probably trying to void the contract entirely and that was the best concession the union could get.  Makes me wonder how things will go with the Yankees' inevitable union battle over Ellsbury's 2020 salary.