2017 MLB Thread

[Meacon Keaton]

 

14 minutes ago, Cloudy said:

Do it. Pitchers and catchers report in 38 days!

You heard the man! 38 daaaaaaaaaays!

So we're coming off a weird ass season. The Cubs? World Series Champions? Bwa-uh?

Cubs lose Chapman, but trade for Wade Davis. And now they'll have a healthy Kyle Schwarber all season, so it's tough to see them taking a step down this year. I think their only real competition in the Central is the Cardinals. 

The Yanks only moves were to bring Chapman back, which I am ecstatic about because Betances sucks major fruity booty as a closer. He's a fine 7th or 8th inning man, but he shat the bed constantly when trying to close. And we also signed Matt Holiday to a one year deal to be our DH, which I'm also fine with. That short porch in right field could lead to him having a 20/25 home run season.

And I said it in the last thread, but thank you Cubs @Cloudy and @New Year New Srar! for Gleyber Torres. Kid only just turned 20, and is just a stud in the making. He won the MVP of the Arizona Fall League and he's just, well he's just aces. So thank you again for helping establish the Yanks with one of the finest minor league systems in the sport.

So how about everyone else? What signings (or lack of signings for you O's fans  ) are you excited about or not so happy with? 

[Draevyn]

Is it too early to say that the Jays shit the bed this offseason? I'm not happy with any moves they've made so far and that makes me sad.

[MalaCloudy Black]

We've still got a pretty stacked minors so losing Torres isn't a huge blow. Guys like Caratini, Eloy Jiminez, Bijan Rademacher, Duary Torrez, the list goes on.  

[Meacon Keaton]

18 minutes ago, Fork 2016 said:

Is it too early to say that the Jays shit the bed this offseason? I'm not happy with any moves they've made so far and that makes me sad.

You guys may still get Bautista back...though, if I were you I would have much preferred Encarnacion.

And shut up, Cloudy. You all won the series. Let me have my little bits of joy. 

[Draevyn]

59 minutes ago, Meacon said:

You guys may still get Bautista back...though, if I were you I would have much preferred Encarnacion.

And shut up, Cloudy. You all won the series. Let me have my little bits of joy. 

That's the problem. I thought for sure that if they were going to let anyone walk it would have been Bautista but they completely fucked that up by trying to play hardball with them both.

[The Buscher]

I mean...the Mets' top priority this winter was to re-sign Cespedes, and they did that which is lovely.

But in the 5+ weeks since then, they have done absolutely nothing.  It is the exact same roster that required a scorching hot September just to land a wild card berth in the final weekend.  Granted, the team overcame a ton of injuries especially to the pitching staff.  If you could hypothetically turn injuries off like MLB The Show and guarantee 30+ starts from Thor, deGrom, Harvey, Matz, and Wheeler with their 2 surplus starters (Gsellman and Lugo) filling the current bullpen voids - you're looking at a title contender as is.  But as we know, real life doesn't work like that.

Sandy needs another bullpen arm or two and it sounds like nothing will be done until they can trade Jay Bruce.  And between his terrible second half and guys like Bautista and Trumbo still being on the market, nobody wants Bruce.  I really have no idea how this is going to all shake out.

[ThrillhouseMAX]

Never too soon to start a baseball thread. Also, please Mets, trade Jay Bruce. 

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

11 hours ago, Fork 2016 said:

Is it too early to say that the Jays shit the bed this offseason? I'm not happy with any moves they've made so far and that makes me sad.

I'm actually not too pissed about the Encarnacion move because I don't think anybody expected his market to crash like it did. They even offered him more than the offer he eventually got. I don't love the Morales move, but I see why they did it. However, the market was so loaded with power 1Bs/DHs that I wish they had held back just a bit. Trumbo is still out there and while he will cost more, would surely be a better fit on this team than Morales. 

I actually quite like the Pearce move. He can shuffle around the infield and if he can stay healthy, he'll be good. 

I think I have a lot more faith in the front office than most Jays fans do at the moment. Their front office is filled with Cleveland people (who just made it to the World Series) and some Red Sox folk (Cherington is the head of scouting). Cherington had some good draft picks/signings while he was GM (Bennetendi, Moncada). 

The Jays farm system is not great right now. But Shaprio and Atkins are playing a longer game than some people want. I think they want the team to be sustainable. Have guys come up through the system and fill in gaps through free agency. And if you can do that, you'd be in decent shape considering how much payroll flexibility the Jays could have.

[The Buscher]

4 hours ago, El TiBaron Corbin said:

Never too soon to start a baseball thread. Also, please Mets, trade Jay Bruce. 

Welp, take the Orioles off the board for a potential Bruce suitor.  They just got Seth Smith from the Mariners for Yovani Gallardo.

Ugh....that pretty much leaves the Blue Jays, who still have Bautista or even Trumbo as fallbacks, or the Phillies who will trade nothing important to a division rival.

Hated the Bruce trade when they made it, hate it even more now.

[Meacon Keaton]

You guys may get a sack of spuds for Bruce at this rate.

[ThrillhouseMAX]

Fuck. At this rate, the Mets will end up trading Bruce to Bridgeport for Endy Chavez. Nobody's taking Bruce super seriously in trade talks. 

[gunnar hendershow]

Seth Smith is a decent haul for Gallardo given how bad he was.

[Meacon Keaton]

I was just teasing my step-dad (O's fan) on Christmas about Gallardo, because I said it was a terrible signing when it happened and he thought it was a great signing because he had a good second half of the 2015 season. At least I'll always have the memories.  

[Toe]

I'm still hoping the Jays can bring back Michael Saunders. Haven't heard too much about teams going after him.

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

Manny Ramirez has signed on to play in Japan. 

[Gabriel]

1 hour ago, Toe said:

I'm still hoping the Jays can bring back Michael Saunders. Haven't heard too much about teams going after him.

Apparently, the Phillies are the closest in on Saunders right now. I wouldn't be opposed to the Jays bringing him back. He's a good fielder, though doesn't possess a consistent bat. If he comes at a low cost, he's a steal for almost anybody though, because when he's on, he can contribute offense as well as anybody that the Jays have currently who isn't named Donaldson.

I am still hopeful that the Jays can either land a solid outfield bat through trade, or re-sign Bautista and Saunders. With the team we have right now, if they can re-add those two pieces, I will be ecstatic heading into the season, even with the loss of Edwin. Morales and Pearce are good replacements for Encarnacion when you factor in the money saved that can be re-allocated to other trouble areas for the team. We still need a solid left-hander or two in the pen before the year starts.

[DMN in the House]

I'm not late, am I? Football season just dragged on and on this year...

[Meacon Keaton]

You're not late. I bet you didn't even remember they still played football in January.

[DMN in the House]

On 1/9/2017 at 14:31, Meacon said:

You're not late. I bet you didn't even remember they still played football in January.

It did come as quite a shock.

[MalaCloudy Black]

Cubs and Jake Arrieta have avoided arbitration. 1 year, 15.6mil deal for Arrieta. 

David Ross has also been named special assistant to baseball operations.