2020 MLB Spring Training

[hagmania 8,860]

On 11/22/2019 at 9:20 AM, TheIronSheik said:

Ouch, GB.  I'm an Eagles fan, too.  

I don't know if my tone comes across on here the wrong way a lot, but I can assure you most times I'm going for the joke or to try and make people smile.  

This is my first time reading through this thread and you've pretty much made it miserable, sir.

[bigmarc27 4,160]

Rumors floating around that Wheeler might be on the White Sox soon. 

[Frostillicus 14,084]

Strasburg and Cole could both be Twins according to the rumors around my house. 

[Jules Winnfield 1,389]

1 hour ago, Frostillicus said:

Strasburg and Cole could both be Twins according to the rumors around my house. 

Hell, I would piss on an electric fence if that came true

[Senor Schmutzig 472]

8 hours ago, bigmarc27 said:

Rumors floating around that Wheeler might be on the White Sox soon. 

I"m in on this. Jerry is finally spending some money. Now I"m just hoping he spends enough of it...

[TheIronSheik 8,167]

15 hours ago, hagmania said:

This is my first time reading through this thread and you've pretty much made it miserable, sir.

[TheIronSheik 8,167]

7 hours ago, Frostillicus said:

Strasburg and Cole could both be Twins according to the rumors around my house. 

I still think Cole is going to disappoint whoever signs him.  Strasburg, in my opinion, is the real catch this offseason.  And, he'll most likely be a lot cheaper than Cole.

That said, I'd still be happy if my team signed Cole.  I'm not saying it's a definite he'll decline.  I just think he has a bigger chance of busting than Stras.

[NREC34 3,561]

9 minutes ago, TheIronSheik said:

I still think Cole is going to disappoint whoever signs him.  Strasburg, in my opinion, is the real catch this offseason.  And, he'll most likely be a lot cheaper than Cole.

That said, I'd still be happy if my team signed Cole.  I'm not saying it's a definite he'll decline.  I just think he has a bigger chance of busting than Stras.

Agree on Cole. If the Astros can get Wheeler they can turn him into something better than Cole has been the last couple of years. 

[TheIronSheik 8,167]

15 hours ago, hagmania said:

This is my first time reading through this thread and you've pretty much made it miserable, sir.

Also, I would probably suggest only reading each thread once, GB.  For the most part, all threads are bad reading them the second time through.  Although, GM's thread about the tilde was straight money.  I probably read that 20 times and each time had tears running down my face.  But, yeah, for the most part, a baseball thread is going to be boring reading it a second time through.  YWIA

[TheIronSheik 8,167]

What's everyone's thoughts on this Evan White contract signing?  I'm not sure what to think about it.  On one hand, it seems good for the the players.  But on the other hand, are they shorting themselves out of possible long term money?  I don't know enough about how MLB contracts work to know this.  

[TheIronSheik 8,167]

I can't believe the Phillies have the 5th longest postseason drought in baseball.  I mean, I know it's been since 2011 but that seems like yesterday.  And honestly, not even 10 years ago.  Seems weird to call something a drought in MLB when it's less than a decade.

But, I'm ready for this drought to end.  I'll be surprised if they don't sign either Stras or Rendon.

[NREC34 3,561]

Sheik, when the Phillies go down to Houston next year to play the Astros, who do you hope wins those games?

 

[TheIronSheik 8,167]

22 minutes ago, NREC34 said:

Sheik, when the Phillies go down to Houston next year to play the Astros, who do you hope wins those games?

 

For regular season games, I root for the team that would benefit more.  If they were to meet in the WS, I would root for the Phillies.  But I would not be sad if the Astros beat them.  

[Eephus 24,655]

6 hours ago, TheIronSheik said:

What's everyone's thoughts on this Evan White contract signing?  I'm not sure what to think about it.  On one hand, it seems good for the the players.  But on the other hand, are they shorting themselves out of possible long term money?  I don't know enough about how MLB contracts work to know this.  

It seems like a fair deal for both sides.  $24M is generational wealth for the player but not enough money to be a significant sunk cost to the Mariners if White turns out to be a bust. 

It's a bit of a paradox in that the club is betting on the player being a major long-term contributor while White and his agent are hedging by taking the sure thing.  White has less than 100 MiLB games above A ball but the Mariners must like what they've seen. 

[NREC34 3,561]

The Astros signed a scrub catcher from the A’s. 

I would absolutely hate for anything illegal that Mike Fiers has done to get told by him. 

[TheIronSheik 8,167]

Phillies sign Josh Harrison.  Small move but I like these moves.  Low risk, high potential.  If he turns out to be done, so be it.  But if he can produce like he did a couple of years ago, nice find.

[Eephus 24,655]

Enough about sign stealing, what about Snuckles the Cat?

[TheIronSheik 8,167]

3 minutes ago, Eephus said:

Enough about sign stealing, what about Snuckles the Cat?

Apparently that dude is a piece of garbage.  

[Eephus 24,655]

1 minute ago, TheIronSheik said:

Phillies sign Josh Harrison.  Small move but I like these moves.  Low risk, high potential.  If he turns out to be done, so be it.  But if he can produce like he did a couple of years ago, nice find.

 

Organizational depth. 

Harrison doesn't bring much to a big league roster.  He's strictly a 2B at this point in his career, hits right handed, no power.

 

[TheIronSheik 8,167]

Drew Pomeranz to the the Padres.  He was ranked 23rd on the MLBTR list.

[Don Quixote 4,776]

Not sure the Nats would have made it passed the WC game without him...

Jon Morosi:

Source: Trent Grisham traded by #Brewers to #Padres. @MLB @MLBNetwork

[Eephus 24,655]

Busy day for the Padres

LHP Drew Pomeranz signed to a 4/$34M deal

Acquired OF Trent Grisham and RHP Zach Davies from Milwaukee for 2B Luis Urias and LHP Eric Lauer

I don't love these for San Diego but AJ Preller loves to shuffle the deck.  Four years is a lot for Pomeranz who has never been able to string good years together.  The Giants signed him last year for the veteran minimum but he experienced a late career breakout as a reliever.   It remains to be seen if Grisham can hit lefties well enough to play every day and whether he can handle CF.

San Diego still has too many OF.

 

Edited November 27, 2019 by Eephus
ETA: The Lowrie deal was a Twitter hoax

[RUSF18 3,845]

On 11/26/2019 at 8:22 AM, NREC34 said:

Agree on Cole. If the Astros can get Wheeler they can turn him into something better than Cole has been the last couple of years. 

Yeah good luck with that. 

[KingPrawn 1,703]

17 hours ago, Eephus said:

Busy day for the Padres

LHP Drew Pomeranz signed to a 4/$34M deal

Acquired OF Trent Grisham and RHP Zach Davies from Milwaukee for 2B Luis Urias and LHP Eric Lauer

I don't love these for San Diego but AJ Preller loves to shuffle the deck.  Four years is a lot for Pomeranz who has never been able to string good years together.  The Giants signed him last year for the veteran minimum but he experienced a late career breakout as a reliever.   It remains to be seen if Grisham can hit lefties well enough to play every day and whether he can handle CF.

San Diego still has too many OF.

 

Brewers fan here and don't know too much about who they got. How do you feel about Urias and Lauer for the Brewers? At first glance with my limited knowledge I'm excited about Urias. I think this means Arcia will be moved as well.

[cubd8 299]

On 11/25/2019 at 10:03 PM, bigmarc27 said:

Rumors floating around that Wheeler might be on the White Sox soon. 

White Sox are rumored to be after him hard, but Morosi had them as a dark horse for Strasburg. Hard to know who they will land, but they will be in on one of the higher end guys (probably not named Cole) and perhaps a 2nd tier starter. Still looking at RF as well.

[cubd8 299]

On 11/21/2019 at 3:49 PM, Don Quixote said:

AL at least means that they can give him a break as a DH every now and again.  Not worth the contract if he starts playing DH more than on a part-time basis, but may at least help to keep his legs fresher than if he stayed the NL.

He'll DH probably 2x a week, maybe play 1B once in awhile. They still have McCann and Zach Collins so very crowded, but also means DH will be a rotation with Abreu, and these catchers.

[wikkidpissah 18,515]

My Thanksgiving baseball memory was the Red Sox trading for a key piece in breaking The Curse, Reichsmarschall Curt Schilling, Tanksgiving 2003.

[Eephus 24,655]

3 hours ago, KingPrawn said:

Brewers fan here and don't know too much about who they got. How do you feel about Urias and Lauer for the Brewers? At first glance with my limited knowledge I'm excited about Urias. I think this means Arcia will be moved as well.

Urias is a younger, cheaper version of Arcia.  By virtue of debuting at age 21, Arcia is now in his first year of arbitration eligibility.  Urias has split time between 2B and SS in part because he's come up the Padres ladder with Fernando Tatis Jr.

I don't know how much of a market there will be for a guy like Arcia.  It's likely they'll both begin the season on the Brewers roster, especially with questions about Hiura's defense.  The big hole (aside from starting pitching) is at 3B where they need to find someone better than Travis Shaw.

[TheIronSheik 8,167]

Moustakas to the Reds was a surprise.  I had hoped the Phils would take a shot on him.  

[Todem 4,895]

Jonathan Villar to the Marlins (will most likely to play 3B). Nice move for a year. Also picked up 1B Jesus Aguilar who hit 35 dingers in 2018. 

[TheIronSheik 8,167]

19 minutes ago, Todem said:

Jonathan Villar to the Marlins (will most likely to play 3B). Nice move for a year. Also picked up 1B Jesus Aguilar who hit 35 dingers in 2018. 

Crazy thing about this was I got an alert saying Pillar was non-tendered from the Giants.  Then two minutes later I got an alert saying Villar was sent from the O's to the Marlins.  I thought it said Pillar and was like, "Damn!  This cat has been on three teams in a matter of 5 minutes." Also, I'm an idiot.

[TheIronSheik 8,167]

I see the Yanks are meeting with Stras and Cole this week.  I would imagine if they are meeting, they are serious about getting one of these guys.  Which means that at least one of these guys would be off the market.  If I was a team interested in one of these guys, knowing these meetings are happening this week, I'd be making a push to sign one of them as quickly as possible.  This sounds like a calculated move by Boras.

[E-Z Glider 2,698]

17 minutes ago, TheIronSheik said:

I see the Yanks are meeting with Stras and Cole this week.  I would imagine if they are meeting, they are serious about getting one of these guys.  Which means that at least one of these guys would be off the market.  If I was a team interested in one of these guys, knowing these meetings are happening this week, I'd be making a push to sign one of them as quickly as possible.  This sounds like a calculated move by Boras.

The Yankees met with Corbin, Harper and Machado last year and didn't make a serious offer to any. I do think they have a more obvious need this year though.

[TheIronSheik 8,167]

6 minutes ago, E-Z Glider said:

The Yankees met with Corbin, Harper and Machado last year and didn't make a serious offer to any. I do think they have a more obvious need this year though.

I think the fact they didn't make a big move last year and fell short of the WS will make this offseason more important in signing someone big.  I think it will be Cole since they like him and he likes the Yankees.  Seems like a good match.

[TheIronSheik 8,167]

Jon Heyman reporting that it appears Wheeler will sign BEFORE the Winter Meetings open next week.  This would be pretty wild.  Even more wild is the fact that I haven't seen anything about a frontrunner.  He's been rumored to about half the teams in the league.

[NREC34 3,561]

I thought Cole’s wife wanted to go to California? Yankees might throw enough money at him to get him anyway. Ought to be interesting. 

[TheIronSheik 8,167]

1 minute ago, NREC34 said:

I thought Cole’s wife wanted to go to California? Yankees might throw enough money at him to get him anyway. Ought to be interesting. 

Yeah, what wins out: His childhood dream or her desire to live in California?  

[TheIronSheik 8,167]

Just now, TheIronSheik said:

Yeah, what wins out: His childhood dream or her desire to live in California?  

BTW, that was a serious question.  After I read what I wrote, it almost sounded like I was being a smart ###.  But I was not.  Not this time, anyway.

[TheIronSheik 8,167]

10 minutes ago, TheIronSheik said:

Jon Heyman reporting that it appears Wheeler will sign BEFORE the Winter Meetings open next week.  This would be pretty wild.  Even more wild is the fact that I haven't seen anything about a frontrunner.  He's been rumored to about half the teams in the league.

Even stranger is that I see ESPN has an article saying they expect Rendon to be the first big name FA to sign this offseason.  Could the Winter Meetings actually be eventful this year?  

[NREC34 3,561]

34 minutes ago, TheIronSheik said:

BTW, that was a serious question.  After I read what I wrote, it almost sounded like I was being a smart ###.  But I was not.  Not this time, anyway.

Crane said he was going to try too but I’m not sure I believe it. Judging from his actions following game 7, I don’t feel like he wants to be in Houston. 

[E-Z Glider 2,698]

58 minutes ago, TheIronSheik said:

Yeah, what wins out: His childhood dream or her desire to live in California?  

Other: Whichever teams offers the most money (just like every other big FA in history). All that stuff about which coast they prefer and what teams they liked growing up is just sports-talk fodder.

[Jules Winnfield 1,389]

3 hours ago, TheIronSheik said:

Even stranger is that I see ESPN has an article saying they expect Rendon to be the first big name FA to sign this offseason.  Could the Winter Meetings actually be eventful this year?  

Since the Minnesota twins did not tender to CJ Cron, that must mean that Sano is moving to first base and I would hope they would talk to Rendon or at least Donaldson

 

[Chemical X 5,751]

broke mets kicking tires on treinen, pillar.  i couldn’t have been born in the bronx instead of queens?

[MindCrime 621]

30 minutes ago, Chemical X said:

Cheap mets kicking tires on treinen, pillar.  i couldn’t have been born in the bronx instead of queens?

FYP. Honestly, I think they could get some decent return for Dom Smith who is a talent without a position. That doesn’t help the FA spending, but could help fill a hole. 

Edited December 3, 2019 by MindCrime

[shadyridr 14,318]

14 hours ago, TheIronSheik said:

I see the Yanks are meeting with Stras and Cole this week.  I would imagine if they are meeting, they are serious about getting one of these guys.  Which means that at least one of these guys would be off the market.  If I was a team interested in one of these guys, knowing these meetings are happening this week, I'd be making a push to sign one of them as quickly as possible.  This sounds like a calculated move by Boras.

Most stories I read sounds like Yankees won't be getting either one or Wheeler. Which sucks. 

[shadyridr 14,318]

8 hours ago, E-Z Glider said:

Other: Whichever teams offers the most money (just like every other big FA in history). All that stuff about which coast they prefer and what teams they liked growing up is just sports-talk fodder.

Exhibit A: Patrick Corbin

[TheIronSheik 8,167]

17 hours ago, E-Z Glider said:

Other: Whichever teams offers the most money (just like every other big FA in history). All that stuff about which coast they prefer and what teams they liked growing up is just sports-talk fodder.

This isn't always true.  

[TheIronSheik 8,167]

Saw an article talking about the best 7 FA's available and who's "in" on them.  Interesting pattern:

1. Gerrit Cole - Angels, Yankees, Dodgers, Phillies, Padres, White Sox, Nationals, Giants
2. Anthony Rendon - Nationals, Rangers, Dodgers, Phillies
3. Stephen Strasburg - Nationals, Yankees, Dodgers, Padres, Phillies, Angels
4. Josh Donaldson - Braves, Phillies, Nationals, Rangers, Dodgers
5. Zack Wheeler - Braves, Phillies, White Sox, Yankees
6. Madison Bumgarner - Braves, Phillies, Padres, Yankees, White Sox
7. Nicholas Castellanos - Marlins, Phillies, Royals, Giants

Also saw that the Phillies are the frontrunner with Wheeler right now.  I'm guessing their thought is if they can sign him early, they can better entice other FA's to sign afterwards.  

[TheIronSheik 8,167]

I'm not sure if I like the Wheeler deal or not for the Phillies.  Honestly, I like Wheeler going to the Astros better than the Phils.  They seem to be able to elevate good pitchers.  I'd rather the Phils go after a pitcher like Cole or Stras if they wanted a decent pitcher.  Not that I'd complain either way.  But if I had my choice, Wheeler would be my third.

[SWC 15,477]

crew has freed up a ton of money seems like there is another shoe to drop in ole brew town take that to the bank brohans