MLB 2020/2021 Off-Season Thread

[gunnar hendershow]

Oh he's being absolutely destroyed by old timer baseball fans who think all the old ballplayers would have just happily played for free.

It's really hard to tell if there will be any movement since I'd have expected one side to blink at some point today. It's been so public that I doubt Cohen feels like he can budge or it would weigh on him in all his future negotiations.

Also, a friend did bring up a point that the star FAs almost always get the money they want and it's the middle-of-the-road guys who used to get long-term deals now becoming locked in to a revolving door of one or two year deals. There's more teams with holes at SS than there are star SS FAs next year, so they'll all probably wind up with the money they want or close to it. Lindor likely leads that pack.

[The Buscher]

Yeah, Laura Goldman who has followed much of Cohen's career and accurately reported pretty much everything about the sale has been saying that this is how he gets with negotiations.  He's a straight shooter, he's not trying to be an asshole or anything, he just gets to the point where the final offer is the final offer and that's it.  In a business setting, that works.  He's used to being the big dog in the room.  He's not used to dealing with people who have star power, and having to massage the egos of players.

That said, while I'll generally side with the players over the owners, this one I'm down the middle.  Just about every source around the league thinks the Mets made a fair market offer, maybe even an overpay based on projected returns over the life of the deal.  Cohen's not wrong for not wanting to negotiate against himself.  I think Lindor's valuation is nuts, but he is not obligated to take the deal and not a villain for wanting to bet on himself if he thinks he can make more.

If anything, as much as this drama sucks, Mets fans should feel good that the financial resources to get a star shortstop long-term are there.  Maybe Lindor has fun here and they work out a deal later, maybe it's one of the other stars.  Lindor is obviously highly motivated, and has balls of steel if he turns this down.  But the risk is entirely on him at this point.

[The Buscher]

HOLY SHIT Cohen did move up a bit!

10 years, $341 million.  Deal is done.

Thank god.  Fucking great way to end the offseason.

[ThrillhouseMAX]

18 minutes ago, Buschie Lee said:

HOLY SHIT Cohen did move up a bit!

10 years, $341 million.  Deal is done.

Thank god.  Fucking great way to end the offseason.

FUCK. YES. YOU'RE TELLING ME I CAN SEE THIS SIGHT TILL I'M 41?! HUG ME, BROTHER. 

[gunnar hendershow]

Opening Day between the Red Sox and Orioles has been postponed due to rain. So there's our first postponement of the season.

[Meacon Keaton]

Just now, damshow said:

Opening Day between the Red Sox and Orioles has been postponed due to rain. So there's our first postponement of the season.

...baseball!

[The Buscher]

Mets/Nats postponed due to a positive COVID test on the Nats, they are doing contact tracing and fear there will be several more positives.  There's a chance they might not play this series at all which means my Opening Day won't be til Monday.

My balls have never been bluer.   

[gunnar hendershow]

Oh yeah there's still a pandemic going on.

[Gabriel]

The Blue Jays finalized their opening day roster, and they've made a great choice by not attempting service time manipulation with Alejandro Kirk.

Kirk skipped over double and triple-A ball, but he has looked great in his time in the majors and has advanced very quickly as a catcher for the staff. To make room, they DFA'd Reese McGuire, who was out of options. If someone picks him up, they're getting a smart catcher with good defense, but his offensive skill-set isn't good. For the Jays, choosing to go with Kirk as a bat-first catcher, with defensive catcher Danny Jansen as his partner is a smart move. Both guys should be able to improve on their areas of need by working with each other through the season.

As an insurance policy, in case someone snags McGuire off the waiver wire, the Jays added Juan Graterol yesterday. So, either he or McGuire will likely be on the taxi squad, with the other playing in Buffalo.

[The Buscher]

1 hour ago, damshow said:

Oh yeah there's still a pandemic going on.

It's one of those "can't make this up" deals that there were virtually no cases at all throughout Spring Training only to have an outbreak on Opening Day.

Right now it's two confirmed positives and five players isolated for contact tracing.  MLB's COVID protocols call for five man taxi squads for road trips and 30-man rosters at an alternate site near the home stadium so that quarantined players can be quickly replaced.  But I imagine it's one of those things where a mass replacement is a last resort option and since this is two division rivals that will play a ton this year anyway and therefore plenty of options to make up games, they don't want to force a team to be shorthanded right out of the gate.

[Maxx]

Snowing pretty good in Detroit

[Meacon Keaton]

So that’s why Miggy hit one nearly 500 feet. I knew hell froze over or it was 2011.

[Toe]

Almost forgot to tune into the Jays opener, but I've got it on my 2nd screen now. 

[Your Mom]

Cubs baseball with fans at Wrigley

[The Buscher]

Not a good Opening Day for New York.  I mean at least the Yankees got to play but the runner on 2nd in extra innings rule is still a pile of crap.

[Meacon Keaton]

Yuppppppp. The Yanks had their chance in the 9th to win it, to be fair, but can't stop striking out. But to lose a game, on a simple single is such horseshit. 

[Your Mom]

Tough loss. We just didn't have it today. Still a long way to go though  

[Meacon Keaton]

I know having the day after Opening Day off makes sense, but I still hate it. I don’t want to have to wait until tomorrow for another real game.

[The Buscher]

I remember one year in college, one of my classmates skipped to go to Yankees Opening Day only for it to be rained out.  But it was a rare year there wasn't an off-day after so suddenly everyone who had bought cheap tickets to game 2 the next night suddenly had Opening Day tickets and they had to issue all sort of refunds and vouchers because normal Opening Day is always more expensive.

So yeah, the reasoning is totally fair, but it sucks to get all geared up just for an immediate off day.

Of course, even though the Mets and Nats are still hoping to play this weekend I've already resigned myself to no baseball til Monday in Philly.   Silver lining is that hopefully it'll be the regularly scheduled 7 PM game so I can watch, and it'll be on SNY and I won't have to listen to A-Rod.

[The Buscher]

MLB has pulled the All Star Game out of Atlanta.  Milwaukee is rumored to be an early favorite for a replacement city because they can still honor Hank Aaron's legacy.