MLB 2020/2021 Off-Season Thread

[Meacon Keaton]

High five on that due diligence, Mets!

[The Buscher]

It sounds like ESPN had known about this for a while but sat on the story.  The D-Backs also put out a statement that these allegations were not known to them when they had hired Porter.

 

Glad they didn't screw around here.  Throw his ass out and move on.

[gunnar hendershow]

Good to see they're not messing around or "waiting it out". Curious if they have to pay him anything based on his contract terms.

[The Buscher]

As an HR person I'm actually surprised it happened this quickly.  I had no doubt he'd be fired but from the HR side of things, no matter how obvious a firing is, there's still a lot of pieces to it with investigations, sorting through the contract, etc.  I realize he needed to be fired but sometimes the media, in NY especially, want their pound of flesh immediately and don't care about the legal side of it.

In this case, text evidence was already provided and Porter himself admitted to it so that expedited any sort of investigation.  And chances are they made someone work through this issue overnight to ensure their ducks were in a row.

[SeanDMan]

13 hours ago, Buschie Lee said:

Padres add yet another to their rotation, acquiring RHP Joe Musgrove from the Pirates in a three-team deal. CF Huston Head is the big prospect going to Pittsburgh. LHP Joey Lucchesi goes to the Mets in the deal.

This could be a pretty good deal for the Pirates, they just have to make sure that they don't try and rush Huston to the big leagues too soon, lest he get a big Head.

[The Buscher]

Even if the whole thing wasn't capped off with a dick pic, just the idea of sending 62 straight unanswered texts to somebody.

Like, I don't think there's ever a problem with sending a second text as a follow up.  Everyone's busy, you never know if she just forgot to reply or something fell through the cracks.  Hell, if it's someone you met up in person and felt you really vibed with, I could understand shooting your shot with a third text.

But after that?  Delete the number and the text history and move the hell on.  62 texts is straight up abusive and more cringeworthy than the voicemail scene in Swingers.

[The Buscher]

Another Hall of Famer has passed away, RIP Don Sutton.

[gunnar hendershow]

Don Sutton averaged roughly 7 innings per start for 23 years.

Hell of a bad run for baseball Hall of Famers. We've lost so many.

[The Buscher]

Springer’s expected to make his decision very soon, possibly in the next 24 hours.  But barring a surprise he’s probably going to the Blue Jays.

It was down to them or the Mets, and it’s clear the Mets are actively trying to stay under the luxury tax.  I don’t think Cohen cares about the financial penalties, it’s all about the fact they’re probably going to need to go over in 2022/2023 and right now you get punished draft comp if you go over three years in a row...plus the penalties might be worse in the next CBA.

Jays meanwhile have a ton of space under the threshold and a lot of pressure on them to land a big name after missing some of their earlier targets.

[The Buscher]

Well, forget 24 hours.  Springer is in agreement with the Jays.  6 years, $150 million.  An offer he couldn’t refuse.

[gunnar hendershow]

Jays have also signed Kirby Yates. They're taking advantage of Boston deciding they hate winning and Tampa Bay deciding they like to still pretend they have no money so good on them.

I'll be sitting here finally watching the Orioles top prospects start making their way to the majors this year and looking forward to what 2023 and 2024 might hold.

[Gabriel]

I absolutely love the Springer signing. Toronto has money. It's nice that they're using it.

Springer moves Grichuk back to right field, where he's much better off. We do have a bit of a surplus now though, as well. Gurriel, Hernandez and Grichuk will all need playing time, and the Jays are still pursuing Michael Brantley. Carrying four of those five guys would be doable, but if they get Brantley, I'd have to imagine that Gurriel or Grichuk are moved in a package for a starter.

They could always move Gurriel back to the infield, as they're looking for an add there as well... but an external add that is great defensively would be a better plan a, given how young the rest of the infield is.

Jays are not done though. Potential surplus in outfield and lots of depth in other areas will allow them to make some moves to bring in some pitching, and I would fully expect that they do that.

I'm not sure they're still in on Realmuto, but if they are and happen to get him, I feel like Danny Jansen gets moved and Kirk gets the back-up spot on the roster. His bat is just too good to trade away.

I don't think Trevor Bauer is headed north, so whatever pitching they add now is going to have to come from trades if they want any kind of real impact. That said, did anyone sign Taijuan Walker? He pitched extremely well for the Jays after he was traded last year. I wouldn't be upset if they brought him back.

 

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

15 minutes ago, Gabriel said:

I absolutely love the Springer signing. Toronto has money. It's nice that they're using it.

Springer moves Grichuk back to right field, where he's much better off. We do have a bit of a surplus now though, as well. Gurriel, Hernandez and Grichuk will all need playing time, and the Jays are still pursuing Michael Brantley. Carrying four of those five guys would be doable, but if they get Brantley, I'd have to imagine that Gurriel or Grichuk are moved in a package for a starter.

I imagine this all sorts itself out. I'd be surprised if they got Brantley. Having 4 capable outfielders is a good problem to have. They can swap them out for the DH and give guys a break when needed.

[Gabriel]

17 minutes ago, Mx. Canadian Destroyer said:

I imagine this all sorts itself out. I'd be surprised if they got Brantley. Having 4 capable outfielders is a good problem to have. They can swap them out for the DH and give guys a break when needed.

The only issue with that is the 1B/DH platoon that we already have with Guerrero and Tellez. So, Toronto's got an extra outfielder and an extra first baseman that will need reps at DH. I suppose they could always let Vlad move back to 3rd and see if his leaner physique and off-season work translate to better success at the hot corner.

Or maybe Tellez gets included in a package for a pitcher.

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

6 minutes ago, Gabriel said:

The only issue with that is the 1B/DH platoon that we already have with Guerrero and Tellez. So, Toronto's got an extra outfielder and an extra first baseman that will need reps at DH. I suppose they could always let Vlad move back to 3rd and see if his leaner physique and off-season work translate to better success at the hot corner.

Or maybe Tellez gets included in a package for a pitcher.

The problem with MLB as a whole right now is that there are so many unsigned free agents that it's clogging everything else up. The Jays must be talking to teams and seeing who they can move to get the best package for someone, but it feels like everything is clogged up. It's wild that Spring Training is supposed to start in a month and you can field a whole team with the unsigned free agents. Surely some teams are hoping they can sign Brantley for cheap rather than pay what the Jays would want for Gurriel, for example. 

[Gabriel]

3 minutes ago, Mx. Canadian Destroyer said:

The problem with MLB as a whole right now is that there are so many unsigned free agents that it's clogging everything else up. The Jays must be talking to teams and seeing who they can move to get the best package for someone, but it feels like everything is clogged up. It's wild that Spring Training is supposed to start in a month and you can field a whole team with the unsigned free agents. Surely some teams are hoping they can sign Brantley for cheap rather than pay what the Jays would want for Gurriel, for example. 

Oh, that is completely an issue we are experiencing. Too many quality players are still waiting for contracts. A lot of the more desirable teams though, either don't really have a need for those players or don't want to spend the money... so we're at a bit of a stalemate. The trade market won't really reveal itself until some of those dominoes fall, and they just might not fall at all. I'd rather carry too many talented players at a position than give them up for nothing because the market is garbage.

I know that Covid has had an impact on team revenue and thus, spending... but I feel like these types of situations are too commonplace in the baseball world. We either need expansion (because as you said, you can field an all-star calibre team just using free agents right now), or there needs to be a payroll floor introduced, to force "non-contending" teams to actually spend money. Especially because, you never know if signing that one guy or two guys to $15 million deals might actually push you into the post-season if you refuse to do it because you expect to lose.

Losing should not be an expectation.

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

7 hours ago, Gabriel said:

Oh, that is completely an issue we are experiencing. Too many quality players are still waiting for contracts. A lot of the more desirable teams though, either don't really have a need for those players or don't want to spend the money... so we're at a bit of a stalemate. The trade market won't really reveal itself until some of those dominoes fall, and they just might not fall at all. I'd rather carry too many talented players at a position than give them up for nothing because the market is garbage.

I know that Covid has had an impact on team revenue and thus, spending... but I feel like these types of situations are too commonplace in the baseball world. We either need expansion (because as you said, you can field an all-star calibre team just using free agents right now), or there needs to be a payroll floor introduced, to force "non-contending" teams to actually spend money. Especially because, you never know if signing that one guy or two guys to $15 million deals might actually push you into the post-season if you refuse to do it because you expect to lose.

Losing should not be an expectation.

Lol they just signed Brantley.

Spoiler

Narrator: They didn't.

 

[Meacon Keaton]

Toronto is going to have 27 outfielders on their 40-man.

[Toe]

Turns out they haven't officially signed Brantley yet.

[gunnar hendershow]

Brantley is staying in Houston.