MLB Thread

[Damian Rey 2.0]

Baltimore won't sign Cespedes. They're too buried in debt from Crushed Davis' contract.

The Mets could sign him, but I don't think they'll spend the money and part of me thinks they acquired Bruce to try and offset the likely loss of Cespedes.

Cespedes won't have any competition on the market. Unless the Mets are willing to poney up he's probably gone


What they should do is try and trade Bruce, maybe Granderson, sign Yo, and figure out how what they're going to do at 3rd base.

[Evil Vito]

Well then the Mets will need to pony up the dough. Jay Bruce was fucking trash as a Met last year and he's another lefty bat in a lineup already packed with them. He's nowhere near the fit for this team that Cespedes is.

If they don't keep Ces I'm gonna burn every piece of Mets gear I have to fucking ash and will never go to another game. Sandy promised the payroll would go up when fans come to the park and the team is contending. Both of those things have happened. They need to keep him and give him whatever it takes. If it means guaranteeing a 5th year then so be it. If he's as awesome as I think he should be from 2017-20, I couldn't care less about 2021.

[Evil Vito]

And if they do keep Ces, I think Bruce is far more tradeable than Grandy. He still put up All Star numbers prior to the Met trade, is way younger, and a guy you could get draft compensation for if he leaves his new team.

Assuming Ces stays and Bruce is traded:

Catcher: d'Arnaud looks like a bust but the catching market is totally barren, gotta just hope he goes back to 2015 numbers. Rene Rivera gives you great defense as a backup.

First Base: Duda. Not a massive fan of his but he's still way better than James fucking Loney. Last year of arbitration for him, he'll bridge the gap to Dom Smith for 2018. Flores will still be around to start against LHP.

Second Base: This is the one I'm not sure of, they're supposedly giving Neil Walker the $17 million qualifying offer. That's a shitload for a guy who just had back surgery. I think he takes it, but if not they'll roll with Reyes or TJ Rivera.

Shortstop: AssMan really had a monster run last year, and he's got a 2018 team option so who knows - he puts up another great year and he'll be locked in for longer. Whenever he leaves though, Amed Rosario is waiting in the wings.

Third Base: I mean, Wright's under contract and has said he's not retiring...so you have to pencil him in. But he's likely to sit every few games and will probably get hurt again, so this means Reyes would be in again. Reyes and Rivera are both definitely making the roster with Wright such an injury liability.

Left Field: Yoenis goddamn motherfucking Cespedes.

Center Field: This is the only spot you can put Grandy. He looked really comfortable out there after the Bruce trade and didn't butcher anything. Dunno how I feel about him being there all year but for 2017 it'll be a square peg in a round hole. They'll also have Lagares for late inning defense and to start against LHP. Nimmo/Lagares in 2018 possibly.

Right Field: With Ces locked in that means this is where Michael Conforto's long-term Mets future will be, hopefully he's sorted his shit out at the plate.

Rotation: Surely the hope is for Thor-deGrom-Harvey-Matz-Wheeler. But they'd be well served to keep Big Bart and his rubber arm. Gsellman and Lugo in the minor leagues make for great depth.

Bullpen: They definitely needed some help here but now with Familia's arrest it's even more necessary. No idea what happens to Fam but safe to assume he'll get some sort of suspension even if he's found not guilty. Wouldn't mind Fernando Salas back. Greg Holland could be a risk/reward type guy. Dunno if Koji Uehara is retiring and if not he's probably staying in Boston, but if not I'd gladly take him for a year. Dude is legit.

[Droford]

Red Sox bought the Giants pizza after they won in 2014
Giants bought the Royals pizza in 2015
Royals bought the Cubs pizza on Thursday

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Congrats <a href="https://twitter.com/Cubs">@Cubs</a>! Enjoy some pizza on us today as you plan your <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WorldSeries?src=hash">#WorldSeries</a> celebrations! <a href="https://t.co/jSSZaD5z0x">pic.twitter.com/jSSZaD5z0x</a></p>&mdash; Kansas City Royals (@Royals) <a href="https://twitter.com/Royals/status/794289678635573248">November 3, 2016</a></blockquote>
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I guess this is a new tradition

[Droford]

I wanna do one of those about the Orioles

Catcher - I think its a 50/50 shot at this point as to whether Wieters stays or they go another direction. Ideally they would give Chance Sisco another year in minors but he's the only catcher worth anything in the minors. Sisco can hit but has no power. my guess is they won't QO Wieters again even at the risk of no draft pick in return since he's be a fool not to take it and he ain't worth 17.2 million. The big question Then is can he find more money elsewhere given he's not anywhere close to where he was pre TJ surgery. Backup Caleb Joseph after being a solid backup in 2015 turned in a shitty year which I'm pretty sure he broke a record for most AB without an RBI.

First - Chris Davis obviously. Might win a gold glove this week to shut up people about him being sub par defensively. Trey Mancini who showed some pop in his call up could spell Davis at 1st if he's used as DH. Davis can play other positions like RF but Buck said in his last press conference after the Wild Card game he wasn't bouncing Davis around next year.

Second- Jonathan Schoop played in all 162 games after injuries limited him in previous year. He started off hot offensively but playing the full season seemed to wear him down. He just turned 25 though..and as far as I can tell they have no other options at 2nd on s long term basis.

Short - JJ Hardy missed a ton off time due to injuries prompting the Is to Use Machsdo at short for an extended period. Hardy will be a free agent after 2017 unless he gets 600 pa which seems impossible given his injury history. He's still a solid defensive shortstop but he's not close to the offensive production from 2011. I don't think they want the $14 mil player option to kick in though ..moving Machsdo over to SS only moves the hole in the lineup from SS to 3rd...and like 2B there's little in the organization to fall back on either way.

Third - Manny Machado

Left Field - Hyun-soo Kim is probably the best hitter on the team..his .381 OBP was the best by an Oriole since 2008. Guess is Buck will play him on a more regular basis after platoonning him vs righties (no hits vs lefties in limited AB) The platoon sucked since their other options in left were horrible which was a common theme for the outfield. Joey Rickard probably doesn't sniff the roster after completing his rule 5 year in the major league roster unless Jones goes down long term..

Center - Adam Jones was pretty close to his usual self in 2016 and would have been there if not for injuries early on in the year. He's also not a leadoff hitter and I can't see him leading off next year..no real options in CF

Right - biggest hole they have. Trumbo will be QO'ed but no way he takes it and I can't see them spending bug money to keep him. So that opens up the door to resign cheaper options like Michael Bourn to play RF who even at 34 next year would still be the speedier guy on the team. Steve Pearce could also be resigned although for whatever reason he seems to have a lot of suitors lined up. Other than that it would have to be a free agent signing..taking a look at the list of FA for right field the only name that stands out as a remote possibility is Josh Reddick but he's a righty platoon guy and two platoons liked that won't work..

DH . There's a lot of talk about getting Alvarez resigned is the biggest move they'll make or not mske. Problem is he was a platoon DH so I don't think it's as important as others do. I assume Mancini gets the DH if he doesn't stay unless they sign someone else..Jokingly I might say Mike Napoli fits here but he's be more expensive than Alvarez and barring any craziness the Orioles won't be spending any big money this off-season on single players

Rotation- I doubt it looks much different despite the fact it should. Tillman would probably be a solid #2 anywhere else but he's the #1. Was on a pace for a nice bounce back year after 2015 until he got hurt. Kevin Gausman showed spurts of being a #1 and still has potential but it pretty much has to show up more consistently in 2017. Dylan Bundy handled the transition from Bullpen to starter ok after the TJS and he is their best pitcher long term but he will probably still be another year of feeling it out in 2017 since there will still be an innings limit on him. Ubaldo Jiminez is in his final year of his contract which can hopefully mean only one thing..a great start through June and being able to trade him for something in return that might slightly ease the pain of his stint in Baltimore. I thought Gallardo would be a good fit in the back end if the rotation but he's clearly not the pitcher he was a few years ago. Wade Miley will probably compete for the spot in the rotation.

Bullpen one of the best in baseball anchored by soon to be Cy Young winner Zach Britton. A healthy Darren Oday, Brad Brach, Mychal Givens are the other keys to the bullpen. They have several options for the other spot including Miley/Gallardo and Vance Worley who was surprisingly ok.. The big question on the bullpen might actually be who the bullpen coach is (and pitching Coach since they both left for the Braves). New coaches might not have a direct impact on the bullpen but if they can somehow find a way to fix the starting situation it might at least keep the bullpen from being way overused..

My overall 2017 outlook at this point is that the Red Sox and Jays both have as many if not more (Jays) question marks going into free agency so its too early to make any bold predictions how ever I will contend that the Orioles will still be in play for the Division despite them not being as active in the off-season as the test of the Division...

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Red Sox bought the Giants pizza after they won in 2014
Giants bought the Royals pizza in 2015
Royals bought the Cubs pizza on Thursday

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Congrats <a href="https://twitter.com/Cubs">@Cubs</a>! Enjoy some pizza on us today as you plan your <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WorldSeries?src=hash">#WorldSeries</a> celebrations! <a href="https://t.co/jSSZaD5z0x">pic.twitter.com/jSSZaD5z0x</a></p>&mdash; Kansas City Royals (@Royals) <a href="https://twitter.com/Royals/status/794289678635573248">November 3, 2016</a></blockquote>
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I guess this is a new tradition

Sandoval probably thought it was a signing bonus.

[Frank Drebin]

I'm sure all the d bags in business ops and HR who have company credit cards and expense shit like that on a whim really appreciated that.

[DaveWadding]

You mean the kind that fire people that love the team they're working for an get a planted article about them "not knowing they were sitting in the Bartman seat?"

[Droford]

20 pizzas from Giordanos is what..500 bucks? Hardly a huge expense

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

25 Dollars a pizza?

[Droford]

Large cheese deep dish is $25 the one with everything is $35..I figured the Royals would be cheap

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Is it the pizza of the Wrigley Field? Why is it double price of a normal pizzeria?

[Droford]

Its Giordanos which is one of the Big Chicago pizza placed. When I went to Chicago I ate st Lou Malnatis

[Droford]

Chicago is expensive too

[Ruien]

Is it the pizza of the Wrigley Field? Why is it double price of a normal pizzeria?

This isn't Pizza Hut pizza STD.

[Frank Drebin]

You mean the kind that fire people that love the team they're working for an get a planted article about them "not knowing they were sitting in the Bartman seat?"

:shifty:

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

wait wait wait....


how does this all effect the Baltimore Orioles?

[Nicky Fives]

Cespedes is going to the Bronx, they have tons of money to spend and are likely tired of missing out on the playoffs.....

[Damian Rey 2.0]

Hard to see that. They already have enough outfielders.

I can see Toronto being a good fit for Cespedes. Especially with Bautista and Edwin off the books.

[Lock Jaw]

Can't stop reading "Centipedes"..........

[Evil Vito]

Cespedes is going to the Bronx, they have tons of money to spend and are likely tired of missing out on the playoffs.....

Shut the fuck up.

I can see Toronto being a good fit for Cespedes. Especially with Bautista and Edwin off the books.

Shut the fuck up.

[Evil Vito]

Diamondbacks hire Torey Lovullo as their next manager. Rockies hire Bud Black.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

Toronto needs to get away from players like Cespedes.

[Ruien]

Still wish the Cubs would have blown the game in the 9th just for the incredible story the following year. OF course it would have ended with them sweeping the entire playoffs next year.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Wish they hadn't shit the bed in the NLCS last year. Could have made BTTF2 Prophecy half true.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Wow! Britton isn't even a Cy Young Finalist.

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/2016-mvp-cy-young-manager-rookie-of-the-year-finalists-announced/?linkId=30911254

[Evil Vito]

I'm thinking Betts and Bryant will take the MVPs, both in tight races over Trout and Murphy.

Cy Youngs are a much tougher call. My gut says Porcello and Scherzer because there are still a lot older of "wins = Cy Young" voters, but I'd prefer Kluber in the AL at least.

I'd guess Fulmer wins a close one over Sanchez with the short stint hurting Sanchez in the end. The only question with Seager is if he wins unanimously.

Francona in the AL feels like a safe bet especially after the injuries down the stretch. Similarly, Roberts had to negotiate through a ton of injuries and the Cubs being projected to be amazing anyway could hurt Maddon's votes.

[RP]

Wow! Britton isn't even a Cy Young Finalist.

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/2016-mvp-cy-young-manager-rookie-of-the-year-finalists-announced/?linkId=30911254

No no no. Double check your links bro. Droford said for certain Britton was this years Cy Young winner. We knew this 2 months ago.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Obviously there was an error. I expect a correction.

[RP]

Yep ESPN has it all wrong too. How do they manage to get the AL Cy Young so wrong? They even went as far as naming finalists. WTF? Dont they know what we all know now?

[Emperor Smeat]

Mike Trout being in the Top 3 again for AL MVP voting a 5th year in a row is crazy. Kind of want him to continue that streak going into his next contract just to see how ridiculously massive it could get.

[Evil Vito]

No no no. Double check your links bro. Droford said for certain Britton was this years Cy Young winner. We knew this 2 months ago.

http://i.imgur.com/dGL4mNx.png

[Damian Rey 2.0]

Trout will likely get the shaft again because his team sucks. Such is life.

Bryant I think gets the rightful nod in the nl.

CY I think goes to Kluber in the al. Though it's really close. NostraDroford wrong yet again. I'm stunned. Really.

Hendricks runs away with it right?

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

It's not that close its 22 wins. Porcello wins.

[Droford]

But wins don't mean shit
/smartypants baseball analysts

[Droford]

Keith Law mentioned Trumbos market should be a 2 year 15 million deal and the os gave him a QO for 17 million. My guess is he's not stupid and takes the QO.

[Damian Rey 2.0]

15 mil per year or total?

Wins aren't indicative of performance. The American league race is pretty tight. Porcello is not the dominant strikeout arm Kluber and JV are, however, his run prevention was better than JV, and right up there with Kluber.

I do think Kluber wins but it's not really a slam dunk choice.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Boston Red Sox may replace retiring designated hitter David Ortiz internally or with a short-term free agent rather than pursuing one of the prominent long-term options on the market, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski told reporters at the MLB general managers meetings Monday.

If that means they focus on beefing up the rotation or bullpen with a quality arm or two instead, the idea sounds great.

They've been burned way too many times in recent years going after big priced players only for them to be huge busts or have career worst years during their first season with the Sox.

[Damian Rey 2.0]

I think they focus in on adding to the rotation honestly. The free agent market is pretty thin though. Not sure if they'd go after Rich Hill.

[Droford]

15 mil per year or total?

Wins aren't indicative of performance. The American league race is pretty tight. Porcello is not the dominant strikeout arm Kluber and JV are, however, his run prevention was better than JV, and right up there with Kluber.

I do think Kluber wins but it's not really a slam dunk choice.

15 total

Hed be a dumbsss to turn down 17 million for 1 year if the best he might be able to get 15 for 2.

[RP]

Are you guys really about to make me look Mark Trumbo's numbers up right now? Fuck you guys!

[Droford]

And I wont be mad if he takes it..but I think it'll be the last time the Os do a QO since they got burned by Wieters taking it last year. The QO is just too ridiculously high for most FA to turn it down.

[Droford]

Are you guys really about to make me look Mark Trumbo's numbers up right now? Fuck you guys!

Lowest OBP (.316) ever for a 45+ homer season says Keith Law

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

If that means they focus on beefing up the rotation or bullpen with a quality arm or two instead, the idea sounds great.

They've been burned way too many times in recent years going after big priced players only for them to be huge busts or have career worst years during their first season with the Sox.

Chris Young can handle some of it. Not sure what Pablo's plans are.

[Damian Rey 2.0]

Platoon DH is not a bad idea. They could always platoon Shaw and Young at DH if/when Moncada takes over 3rd full time.

[RP]

Lowest OBP (.316) ever for a 45+ homer season says Keith Law

So Mark Reynolds in his prime in the outfield.

[Droford]

MLB trade rumors likes the Orioles to sign Trumbo and Micheal Saunders. If only because he seemed to crush at Camden yards vs the Orioles Saunders would be interesting

[Frank Drebin]

Where will Jeff Blauser sign?

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

I think he probably plays for an Old Man Pitch Softball league.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

Yeah O's should sign the fuck out of Saunders, he loved playing there. And dear god never come back to the Jays.

[Evil Vito]

MLB Trade Rumors reports that the Orioles are negotiating a move to Montreal to become the Expos.

[Nicky Fives]

O's can have Saunders.... when he's hot, he's super hot but when he's not he's more than useless, seems like the perfect guy for a platoon in the field to keep him away from lefties

[DaveWadding]

Where will Jeff Blauser sign?

whereever his double play partner Mickey "The Stick" Morandini does.

[Emperor Smeat]

MLB breaking tradition this year about sending the losing team's World Series merchandise overseas to less fortunate people.

Surprisingly its not due to the Indians name or logo but instead MLB reworked the contract they had with suppliers and also wanted to stop the leaks of losing team merch being sold in stores and people selling it online without MLB's approval.

[Ruien]

Would pay $75.00 for a Cleveland Indians World Series Champ t shirt.

[Emperor Smeat]

Mets and Red Sox are currently rumored to be interesting in signing Jose Bautista.

Mets mainly as a backup plan if they can't sign Yoenis Cespedes to a new deal and Sox mainly to see if they can snag him for cheap and/or a 1-2 year type deal.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Red Sox and signing somebody cheap seems like an oxymoron.

[ClockShot]

Well, I guess you can say we got our first "big" signing of the offseason.

R.A. Dickey signs with the Braves. 1-year, $8 mil. with an option for next season.

[Nicky Fives]

Smart signing for them. Great leadership guy to help mentor their younger players. Best years as a starter are gone, but he is still able to eat up innings, perhaps best used as a long man to help transition to the better bullpen guys should the young starters tank their start.....

[Evil Vito]

And now they've doubled down on ancient pitchers......Bartolo Colon has signed with the Braves.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

Young team who can use the veteran leadership.

[Evil Vito]

Colon did get $12.5 million though. Hell of a lot for a guy who turns 44 next May. Can't blame Sandy for letting him pass given that he's hoping to write a huge check for Cespedes and might end up having to pay Walker $17 million.

[Evil Vito]

Bart's HR will forever be a highlight for me.

Now watch him top it by stealing a bag off of Travis d'Arnaud.

[Damian Rey 2.0]

Lol I died laughing when Bart went yard. One of the greatest moments I've ever witnessed.

[Emperor Smeat]

MLB revealed the winners for the Silver Sluggers awards this year.

Bogaerts, Betts, and Ortiz took the awards for the Red Sox.

CATCHER
AL: Salvador Perez, Kansas City Royals
NL: Wilson Ramos, Washington Nationals

FIRST BASE
AL: Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers
NL: Anthony Rizzo, Chicago Cubs

SECOND BASE
AL: Jose Altuve, Houston Astros
NL: Daniel Murphy, Washington Nationals

THIRD BASE
AL: Josh Donaldson, Toronto Blue Jays
NL: Nolan Arenado, Colorado Rockies

SHORTSTOP
AL: Xander Bogaerts, Boston Red Sox
NL: Corey Seager, Los Angeles Dodgers

OUTFIELD
AL: Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels
AL: Mark Trumbo, Baltimore Orioles
AL: Mookie Betts, Boston Red Sox

NL: Charlie Blackmon, Colorado Rockies
NL: Christian Yelich, Miami Marlins
NL: Yoenis Cespedes, New York Mets

DESIGNATED HITTER/PITCHER
AL: David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox
NL: Jake Arrieta, Chicago Cubs

[ClockShot]

Blue Jays strike first in the international market.

Sign Cuban infielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to a 7-year, $22 mil. deal.

[ClockShot]

Howie Kendrick reportedly wanted out of L.A. He got his wish.

Phillies acquire him from the Dodgers in exchange for Darin Ruf and Darnell Sweeney.

Blue Jays spending continues. Sign Kendrys Morales. 3-years, $33 mil.

[Damian Rey 2.0]

That should end Encarnacion's run with the Jays

[Evil Vito]

Edwin is obviously better but Morales is a solid replacement for Toronto.

[Nicky Fives]

That should end Encarnacion's run with the Jays

Not necessarily if they plan on shopping Smoak and flip-flopping EE/Morales at 1B and DH.... Looks less likely Bautista stays as they want to upgrade RF and Bautista would primarily be used as DH if he signed....

That being said, if they both walk, a decent power replacement if he could stay healthy....

[Damian Rey 2.0]

Thing is, after last year, I don't see their front office blowing their load on one big signing and will again spread the wealth.

I think E2 is going to command and get a much larger salary than Toronto is going to even consider offering.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

It'd be sad to see Eddie go but spreading the wealth may be the right move. They need more speed and contact.

Morales does give you more contact and I would imagine his power would go up not having to play at Kauffman stadium.

[screech]

Does Morales still play 1B or is he full-time DH now?

[screech]

Howie Kendrick reportedly wanted out of L.A. He got his wish.

Phillies acquire him from the Dodgers in exchange for Darin Ruf and Darnell Sweeney.



I like Darnell Sweeney (dude can play almost every position), but this is a good deal. Ruf needed a change of scenery two years ago, so I hope he does well. Kendrick is solid and will help the young guys for sure. I'm on board with this.

This trade analysis was brought to you by French Toast Crunch.

[Droford]

Arizona fall league is kinda fun to watch

[Nicky Fives]

Morales does give you more contact and I would imagine his power would go up not having to play at Kauffman stadium.

I'm not so sure about that first part....

[DaveWadding]

Arizona fall league is kinda fun to watch

AFL is great in person, especially when Frank Drebin throws down some Bossman-esque Sidewalk Slams and Kris Fucking Bryant hits 3 HRs in a game.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

I'm not so sure about that first part....

Last year he hit .290 with a .365 obp. Better BA than every Jay not named Devon Travis.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

Sorry that was 2015 MY BAD even still he hit 30 home runs in 2016 and that's playing in Kauffman. Pretty damned good. He did hit .263 though but that's better that Bautista.

[Frank Drebin]

AFL is great in person, especially when Frank Drebin throws down some Bossman-esque Sidewalk Slams and Kris Fucking Bryant hits 3 HRs in a game.

That was so damn fun. We want to go again some time. Not gonna see "the future" like we did the first time though. Hard to believe that year we saw Bryant, Soler, Almora (would have seen Baez had they not decided at the last minute he needed time off), a 19 year old A's prospect named Addison and, of course, Dallas Beeler.

[ClockShot]

Today's news.

Accept or reject your qualifying offer day. Most notables rejected except for 2. Neil Walker returns to the Mets, and Jeremy Hellickson stays in Philly.

Corey Seager & Michael Fulmer are your Rookies of the Year.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dodgers Corey Seager took the NL Rookie of the Year award. Took all of the first place votes and won by 108 points.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Mookie got every award he has been up for so far. Looking good for MVP.

[RP]

waiting for Drofords opinion first

[Frank Drebin]

How Mike Trout doesn't win would be beyond me.

[ClockShot]

Gary Sanchez probably could have run away with Rookie of the Year.

But Fulmer started and finished this entire season. Gotta give him props for that.

[Evil Vito]

How Mike Trout doesn't win would be beyond me.

He won't. Too many voters are still of the mindset that you have to be on a playoff team to be MVP.

[Evil Vito]

Glad Walker is staying with the Mets. There's definitely some risk since his back injury is a question mark, BUT as long as they budgeted accordingly and don't just go "welp, $17 million for one guy...there goes the rest of our offseason plans" it's fine.

[Frank Drebin]

He won't. Too many voters are still of the mindset that you have to be on a playoff team to be MVP.

Oh yeah. I agree. Wasn't saying I thought Trout would win just that he should.

[Damian Rey 2.0]

Trout has been mvp every year since his rookie year. It's as if they try to find ways to not vote for him.

[ClockShot]

Francona is AL Manager of the Year. Dave Roberts snuck in and stole NL Manager of the Year from Joe Maddon. Grabbed 16 first place votes, Maddon got 8.

[Emperor Smeat]

Sounds right. Maddon probably would have been a lock this year had he not won it last year.

People expected the Cubs to be really good based on last year while Roberts managed to do really well considering the amount of injuries he had to deal with.

Pretty much a similar situation with the AL.

[Frank Drebin]

This was Robert's first year managing. First F'n year managing at any level.

Voting took place at the end of the regular season, right? Lets look at things at that point. Look at the injuries Roberts had to deal with. Half the team is on the DL. Hell, just look at the starting rotation. He lost Kershaw -the best pitcher in baseball for 2 months. He had to deal with Puig and all his BS. What did Maddon have to deal with? Zero injuries aside from Schwarber who has no position to play in the NL anyway. Zero issues in the clubhouse. Only thing that comes close was that odd Tommy La Stella thing, but thats not a team thing just a Tommy thing. What hard things did he have to do? Make sure his position players got some rest through rotations and what funny outfits to tell the guys to dress up in on road trips. Not a hard call, but 8 people apparently thought so.

[Ruien]

My Facebook blew up worse with Maddon not winning the award than when Donald was elected into office. Hilarious.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

Dave Roberts is great lol

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Pretty fitting the man with The Steal stole Manager of the Year.

[Emperor Smeat]

Rick Porcello won the AL Cy Young while Max Scherzer took the NL Cy Young award.

Porcello beat runner-up Verlander by 5 points. Verlander had more 1st place votes but only got two 2nd place votes while Kluber and Britton took a decent chunk of 1st place votes away and had more 2nd place votes than he had.

Porcello, a 27-year-old right-hander, received only eight first-place votes compared to 14 for Verlander. But Porcello got 18 second-place votes and ranked among the top three on 28 of 30 ballots. Porcello finished with 137 points to Verlander's 132, marking the second-closest election since 1970 when voters were permitted to select more than one pitcher.

Verlander's fiancee had a huge meltdown on Twitter when the results came in.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Greatest. Baseball. Tweet. Of. All. Time. <a href="https://t.co/syDCdpNFz8">pic.twitter.com/syDCdpNFz8</a></p>&mdash; SB Nation (@SBNation) <a href="https://twitter.com/SBNation/status/799042509158699008">November 17, 2016</a></blockquote>
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[Droford]

Lol Verlander lost the Cy Young to Porcello despite more 1st place votes (14-8) Zach Britton almost had as many 1st place votes (5) as Porcello as well.

Verlander wasn't even on 2 of the writers ballots at all..

Fuck off

[Evil Vito]

That tweet is glorious

[Droford]

The Orioles are installing LED lights for next season which probably wouldn't be news except that the Orioles had a combined record of 0-7 in Seattle and Houston where they have the same LED lights and they famously set the series k record in Houston with 52 ks. Houston was also one of the worst home hitting teams in the AL as well..

[Frank Drebin]

The electoral college strikes back against Michigan.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Lol Verlander lost the Cy Young to Porcello despite more 1st place votes (14-8) Zach Britton almost had as many 1st place votes (5) as Porcello as well.

Verlander wasn't even on 2 of the writers ballots at all..

Fuck off

16 game winner. Got those 1st place votes by name alone and not performance. If anything Porcello and Kluber got fucked by them.

No reason for him to be on the ballot. They are heroes.

[Damian Rey 2.0]

16 game winner. Got those 1st place votes by name alone and not performance. If anything Porcello and Kluber got fucked by them.

No reason for him to be on the ballot. They are heroes.

This is simply not true. Verlander bested Porcello in strikeouts, strikeouts per 9, innings pitched, ERA and WAR. Porcello had an edge in ERA+, and it's not like he's not worthy. But to say Verlander didn't belong is false.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

His lead era isn't big enough to justify it from the 10 game swing they have. It's only four runs. The K's are impressive though. Also his performance didn't lead to playoffs.

[Damian Rey 2.0]

Neither did Porcello's, since going to the playoffs is a team effort. It's not the fault of Verlander that his team didn't get to the postseason.

And the win loss record is moot.

[Damian Rey 2.0]

Their fielding independent pitching was only 0.11 difference in Porcello's favor, yet Verlander pitched more innings and punched out more batters.

I don't think they got it wrong with Porcello, but his win loss record is outside of his control. Inning per inning Verlander was just as good, or better if you use WAR. He belonged in the convo and you could strongly argue he should've won.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

You getting too hung up on Sabermetrics if you think wins and losses don't matter.

[Damian Rey 2.0]

TEAM wins matter. Pitcher wins are an archaic stat that no longer hold any value. If you have two guys who have the a near identical earned run average, why is it that one got more wins than the other? They're giving up the same amount of runs.

Its because a pitcher cannot control how many runs his team scores, or if a bullpen blows a lead, etc. Wins are silly. There are so many other stats, advanced and basic, that are more indicative of performance than wins.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Plus both Kluber's and Verlander's teams had 18 games against the Minnesota Twins. Sort of makes me wish teams can get Regulated.

[Damian Rey 2.0]

David Price gave up an average of 4.15 runs per 9 innings. He won 17 games.

Verlander gave up an average of 3.20 (!) per 9 innings. He won 16 games.

How would wins and losses in a pitcher's record matter when they can't even tell you who of these two are better just by themselves.

If told I told you pitcher A gives up nearly 1 full run more than pitcher B per 9 innings and asked who's better, you would almost guaranteed answer pitcher B.

And you'd be right. The guy giving up less runs is better.

If you looked solely at just his wins tally, you'd be wrong. Which is why pitcher wins are dumb. They in no way consistently indicate the better pitcher.

It would be like saying John Lackey's first year in Boston wasn't that bad since he "won" 14 games despite giving 4.77 runs per 9 innings. It makes that win loss record look stupid. Which it is.

[Damian Rey 2.0]

Plus both Kluber's and Verlander's teams had 18 games against the Minnesota Twins. Sort of makes me wish teams can get Regulated.

How many of those did they actually pitch? Porcello's team got to trounce the Rays.

The divisions are similar. You had one really bad team, 2 good teams close to the playoffs, and mediocre team near or around 500.

But that just ruins your win narrative. Why is Verlander's fault his team couldn't tally him wins against Minnesota despite his excellent run prevention and strikeouts? How's that his fault?

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

It's 22 we're talking about not 17. 20 is an achievement unlocked bonus.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

ALE was 4/5 above 500.

Central has 2 teams above and one exactly at .500.

[Emperor Smeat]

What really hurt Verlander in terms of voting was him not being able to get more than half of the 1st place votes.

Only nabbed 14 out of 30 which seems to show voters either thought he was or wasn't the best. No in between because his big lack of 2nd place votes. If he had one more first place vote or two more 2nd place votes, he would have won the award.

Porcello had fewer 1st place votes but the voters considered him as a very strong Top 2 Cy Young candidate because of his huge 2nd place votes.

Meanwhile on the NL side, Scherzer nabbed all except five 1st place votes which made it moot what the rest of the results were since the voters were decisive in saying he was the best in the NL.

[Damian Rey 2.0]

It's 22 we're talking about not 17. 20 is an achievement unlocked bonus.

No it's not. It's a misleading number that doesn't tell you anything. Verlander gave up LESS earned runs and overall runs per 9 innings. How is it that winning 22 games despite giving MORE runs in LESS innings make Porcello better?

That makes no sense. Porcello won more games despite giving up more earned and total runs on average, in less innings, with fewer strikeouts. How is it that wins matter when he couldn't do a pitcher's primary job BETTER than the guy you're saying shouldn't have been in the running? Where's the logic in all of this?

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

hahahahaha

[Nicky Fives]

Verlander gets to fuck Kate Upton every night. He is the true winner here, Cy Young or not... (IMO, Porcello prolly should have won, but Verlander not getting on the ballot is definitely a head scratcher)

[ClockShot]

Damn Kate, atta girl.

[Frank Drebin]

Arguing pitching wins and losses in this day and age makes you look baseball dumb. It just does. Sorry, STD. Too many examples of guys with large win totals who weren't that good or guys with small win totals who pitched their asses off.

Wins and losses for a pitcher go in the same box as RBI. It's a factor of the team, not the player the stats are ultimately attributed to.

[Evil Vito]

Anybody who thinks pitcher wins and losses matters know absolutely nothing about baseball.

[Evil Vito]

Bet STD would be screaming bloody murder if it were Verlander winning the award over Porcello without a single first place vote.

[Droford]

Anybody who thinks pitcher wins and losses matters know absolutely nothing about baseball.

And yet Porcello won the cy Young so I guess the award is irrelevant too

[Evil Vito]

It's already well known that a lot of BBWAA are out of touch and some refuse to accept that there are better stats to use that actually evaluate player performance than the archaic ones from baseball's roots.

[Evil Vito]

Porcello climbed the ladder to win the Cy Young.

Verlander climbed the ladder to get Kate Upton's underwear off of his chandelier this morning.

Verlander wins.

[Nicky Fives]

Porcello climbed the ladder to win the Cy Young.

Verlander climbed the ladder to get Kate Upton's underwear off of his chandelier this morning.

Verlander wins.

[Damian Rey 2.0]

Droford misses the point yet again. Nobody said Porcello didn't deserve to win.

[Frank Drebin]

Kate Upton is just mad because Verlander winning meant he got an extra half a mil. Got to love rich spoiled brats who feel entitled to everything. He made 28 mil in base salary. I'm sure the two of them will be able to make ends meet.

[Damian Rey 2.0]

I think their ends are probably meeting as we speak.

Is today the day we find out Trout got shafted out of the mvp again?

[Frank Drebin]

Yah

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

Who gives a flying fuck. Ain't like it gets Verlander a ring.

[Emperor Smeat]

If Angels end up trading Mike Trout within the next 2 years, its already being rumored the Yankees are going to be the heavy favorites to get him.

A couple of reports teased a growing belief in the league the Yankees only rebuilt their farm system to pull off a mega trade and not because they wanted to go in a younger or cheaper direction for the future. Also the belief the Angels farm system being soo bad they probably won't succeed rebuilding within the window needed.

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2016/11/15/mike-trout-new-york-yankees-los-angeles-angels-sweeny-murti/

[ClockShot]

Yankees JUST traded Brian McCann to the Astros. Prospects Albert Abreu and Jorge Guzman are coming back.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

Jayzus. Who the fuck would want that fat sac of crap. Apparently Houston I guess.

[ClockShot]

Jason Castro became a free agent, that why Astros made the trade.

Astros followed that up with the signing of Josh Reddick.

[Emperor Smeat]

Mike Trout won AL MVP and Kris Bryant won the NL MVP award.

In terms of 1st place votes, Trout took 19 votes and Bryant took 29.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">2016 AL MVP: Mike Trout, Angels. More voting details to come. <a href="https://t.co/VJ0uB15UFm">pic.twitter.com/VJ0uB15UFm</a></p>&mdash; BBWAA (@officialBBWAA) <a href="https://twitter.com/officialBBWAA/status/799391334519816192">November 17, 2016</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">2016 NL MVP Kris Bryant, Cubs. More details on voting to come <a href="https://t.co/vbHztcjCUG">pic.twitter.com/vbHztcjCUG</a></p>&mdash; BBWAA (@officialBBWAA) <a href="https://twitter.com/officialBBWAA/status/799398709775605760">November 17, 2016</a></blockquote>
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[Evil Vito]

Sanity reigns supreme - Trout was clearly the right call.

Whoever gave him a 7th place vote needs to be kicked out of the BBWAA.

[Damian Rey 2.0]

Bah gawd they went with the right guy!

[Droford]

Reminds me of when Cal Ripken win mvp on a shitty 67-95 Orioles team in 1991

[Evil Vito]

Of course it reminds you of the Orioles.

[Droford]

Considering trout was mvp for a losing team and its only happened two other times in AL History and one of them was Cal Ripken of course it would. The other was A rod in 03 with the Rangers.

[Droford]

Ripken was on the worst team to ever have an MVP. I seriously doubt a team with 96+ losses will ever have an MVP. So..2 unbreakable records for Cal..

[Droford]

Ill tie Kris Bryant winning to Cal too. Cal won rookie of the year in 82 and MVP in 83. Bryant won ROY and MVP in consecutive years too.

[Damian Rey 2.0]

As did Ryan Howard and Dustin Pedroia.

I'm glad Trout won. They actually got it right. Guys been the best player in the league since day one and his team stinking didn't rob of him being recognised as such.

[Frank Drebin]

Please trade Mike Trout. Anywhere.....but he would look great playing in front of the ivy at Wrigley.

[ClockShot]

Please trade Mike Trout. Anywhere.....but he would look great playing in front of the ivy at Wrigley.

I ultimately think the Yankees are gonna land him. With the longest of long shots being this offseason, or a year or 2 down the road when the Angels hit rock bottom since they have nobody on their farm and can't compete. I ain't saying this as a Yankee homer, but pretty much what the general vibe is going around the league.

[Evil Vito]

Everybody knew that either Trout or Harper would be a Yankee before their career was over. It was inevitable.

[Damian Rey 2.0]

The Angels can't trade Trout. There's no package a team could come up with that would be fair return.

[Evil Vito]

Gary Sanchez
Aaron Judge
Jorge Mateo
Clint Frazier
+ at least one of their top pitching prospects

And that's just the starting point.

[Evil Vito]

Happy "Last chance to protect eligible prospects from the Rule 5 Draft" day!

Mets will be adding Amed Rosario to the 40 man roster today. Not sure who else they'll be adding...probably a dude like Paul Sewald who is a 26 year old reliever whose had great numbers his whole minor league career. He might not be much of a traditional "prospect" but he's exactly the kind of guy who a team could potential draft and have a reasonable chance of staying on a roster for a full year.

Rumor has it rosters could be expanding to 26 so that would make it easier to stash Rule 5 guys for a whole year. Teams need to be careful with who they choose not to protect.

[ClockShot]

The Angels can't trade Trout. There's no package a team could come up with that would be fair return.

Yankees have been stockpiling everybody's best prospects for a reason.

The tricky part IF a trade does happen is the money. Trout's deal is heavily backloaded and stands to earn About $100 mil. in his last 3 years.

[ClockShot]

And, if anybody is looking for a little fun. MLB Trade Rumors got their Free Agent Prediction contest up and running.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/11/mlb-trade-rumors-free-agent-prediction-contest.html

[Damian Rey 2.0]

Here's the thing, though. Prospects are volatile. The Angels would be trading the best player in baseball for some maybes. Its not a worthwhile risk for them.

And really, if the talent in aggregate is as good as Trout on his own, why give it up when you can just add on to it? The team trying to trade to acquire Trout might be just as well off keeping their players and building and buying around them.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

When does Trout become an FA?

[ClockShot]

2020

[Damian Rey 2.0]

They'll have signed Harper and Machado by then

[Droford]

They won't sign Machado

[Damian Rey 2.0]

Keep dreaming Droford.

[Damian Rey 2.0]

The Orioles ain't signing him either. Can't wait till he hits arbitration. He's gonna bleed their wallets dry

[Droford]

I've told you how they'll handle it

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

I've told you how they'll handle it

Why do you possibly think you have any insight on this other than being a desperate homer

[Sepholio]

Braves currently have multiple Cy young winners on their staff again. Trying to recreate the old days I guess. Not gonna work.

[Evil Vito]

Now that Josh Thole is a free agent $20 says he goes to the Braves.

(That's what his contract value should be, tbh)

[Droford]

Why do you possibly think you have any insight on this other than being a desperate homer

Manny Machado has been open to the Baltimore Sun saying he wants to stay in Baltimore with a long term deal. His agent had talks back this off-season with team officials about the matter BEFORE they made the Chris Davis deal. They made the Davis deal knowing roughly what Manny wants in order to stay an Oriole. They wouldn't have done the Davis deal if they knew it would prevent them from keeping Machado which is 80% of the reason people give as to why they can't resign Machado.

Also in hot stove action I saw thisc pisted


Baltimore Orioles trade 3B Manny Machado, RHP Darren O’Day to Los Angeles Dodgers for LHP Julio Urias, OF Yasiel Puig, 1B Cody Bellinger, UTIL Charlie Culberson, RHP Yadier Alvarez and SS Gavin Lux
So, let’s say you’re the Orioles. You’re playoff team, with a good offense, good defense, a stellar bullpen, a mediocre rotation and no real farm system to speak of. Your best player is going to be a free agent in two years, and there is no chance you are going to be able to re-sign him. There’s a firm foundation around him, enough that you’re pretty sure you’ll be in the playoff hunt each of the next two years. But after 2018, everything goes up in the air. Do you stay the course for two years and hope one year is magic? Or do you cash in on your perennial MVP candidate and build a roster whose window extends years beyond what it did before?

Let’s build the blockbuster of the offseason.

The Orioles need pitching. That’s step one. If they’re going to trade their MVP candidate and give him to a team that will control him for two years and has the pockets to extend him beyond that, they’re gonna require a damn good major league ready, controllable, young starting pitching talent. The epitome of that in the big leagues at this moment is Urias, the prodigy who just turned 20 years old in August and had a rocky but overall promising first turn against big league hitters. He could be a future ace. That’s where you start.

Arms are a risky gamble, though, no matter where they come from. So, you need insurance. Do they have a young major league ready guy who can supplant some of Machado’s power from the right side of the plate as soon as he arrives? Get him. Do they have another near-ready position playing prospect at the top of their system? Get him too. This is Manny Machado we’re talking about.

Remember why you started this, though. You need arms. Go get another top-100 pitching prospect out of their system. And it wouldn’t hurt to have another infielder. Did the other team just draft one of those in the first round? Good. Grab him too. And throw in another utility infielder who can act as a 25th man type while you’re at it.

There’s a lot of talent flying both ways, but who says no to this? The Dodgers now have three guys who are going to be MVP candidates each of the next two seasons in Machado, Corey Seager and Clayton Kershaw. They also grab a time-tested, consistent back-of-the-bullpen arm in Darren O’Day. You can never have too many of those.

Losing Urias hurts, but they still have Jose De Leon ready to enter what is already a crowded (if oft-injured) stable of starting-caliber arms. Bellinger would be great to have, but they already have Adrian Gonzalez at first base for a while. We know they’ve been shopping Puig, and losing Lux doesn’t hurt much because, you know, Corey Damn Seager.

For the Orioles, you’ve rebuilt a large segment of the franchise. Urias is a huge boost to your rotation, for starters. Bellinger could come in and boot Davis into the DH role full-time, or could even play in the corners. Puig replaces Mark Trumbo in right, and is a great candidate to bounce back to form in a new environment far away from LA. Lux is a legitimate shortstop of the future candidate, if a bit of a long-term project, and another pitching prospect who could end up being a future No. 2 starter.

It does create a big hole on the left side of the infield for Baltimore, though. Which brings me to my final deal:

Baltimore Orioles trade OF Adam Jones to Cincinnati Reds for 3B Eugenio Suarez, LHP Brandon Finnegan and RHP Rookie Davis
The “Reds make a win-now move for a veteran leader-type” move that Wickster’s been buzzing about in these parts for a while now. For this one, I used the Scott Rolen deal for reference. Then, the Reds traded a major league third baseman along with two exciting but ultimately disappointing arms to the Blue Jays for a 34 year-old Rolen. So, I went into this with the same idea.

Suarez, 25, has made some great strides toward being a productive big league regular in the hot corner. With incoming top prospect Nick Senzel only about a year away from (hopefully) taking over the everyday third base spot, along with Jose Peraza and Dilson Herrera ready to take over the middle of the infield for the future, Suarez could still find himself on the outside looking in.

In addition to unloading Suarez, the Reds also give away a durable, young arm in Finnegan who has proven himself ready to take on big league hitters as a starter and could jump right into the middle of the Orioles’ rotation. They also add in Rookie Davis, a top ten prospect in the Reds’ system who projects as a mid-rotation starter and is close to being able to contribute at the big league level.

Jones, meanwhile, could slide into right field for the Reds to with Jesse Winker in left and Billy Hamilton in center. He’s always hovered around average defensively in center, so there’s little doubt he could handle right. He’s coming off a season in which he was worth just 1.1 bWAR, his first season of fewer than 3.0 bWAR since 2010. That was largely due to a dip in slugging, but it could be worth gambling on that just being a blip, as Jones remains just 31 and still knocked out 29 homers in 2016. He’ll be due $33.7M over the next two seasons, but with the Reds having little to spend money on outside of Joey Votto, Brandon Phillips and Homer Bailey, that won’t be a dealbreaker, especially if the Reds aren’t giving up any of their top seven or eight prospects to get him.



I can't see either if these trades happening but I had a good lol reading them

[Damian Rey 2.0]

You've created a blind homer situation where you think Machado will be a nice guy and take a 3 year pay cut while Davis' contract finally erodes, which is a ridiculous idea lol. Wanting to stay in Baltimore and being a nice guy giving them an unrealistic hometown discount are two different things.


You're talking out of your ass. You have no insight or proof to point to your claim that they wouldn't have signed Davis if it hindered them from signing Machado. You're just being your usual blind homer self and saying dumb things with no basis.

[Droford]

They will have the fucking money yo pay him. The payroll will be at least $160 million this year and that's if they don't sign a single free agent (it was $152 million last year) due to all the arbitration raises coming even with losing 32 million in salary in Trumbo/Alvarez/Wieters

Speaking of arbitration, Machado is going to make close to 12 million this year through arbitration anyway..

Off the books after 2017
JJ Hardy 12.5 million in 2017 with a 2 million buyout of a 2018 contract that vests if he gets 600 pa (he won't)
Ubaldo 13.5 million free agent 2018
Gallardo 11 million free agent 2018


Those three alone they could afford to give Manny a $30 million contract in 2018 and be no worse off than they are now..Jesus Christ. If he wants more than 30 million fuck him I guess (haven't seen any projections for him to make more than 25 per over 8 years)

[Droford]

Projected arbitration raises via trade rumors

Chris Tillman (5.113) – $10.6MM (+4.4 mil)
Ryan Flaherty (5.000) – $1.7MM (+.2 mil)
Zach Britton (4.158) – $11.4MM (+4.7 mil)
Vance Worley (4.112) – $3.3MM (+.7mil)
Brad Brach (4.063) – $2.9MM (+1.7 mil)
Manny Machado (4.056) – $11.2MM (+6.2 mil)
Jonathan Schoop (3.027) – $3.4MM (+2.9 mil)
T.J. McFarland (3.006) – $700K --
Kevin Gausman (2.151) – $3.9MM (+3.4 mil)
Caleb Joseph (2.145) – $1.0MM (+.5 mil)



The bigger question is can the afford to keep Schoop Britton Tillman Gausman. School is guaranteed I would think since he's best friends with Manny and is an everyday 2B but os fans pretty much expect Britton to get traded before his cost skyrockets. They have to keep Gausman and Tillman since the pitching sucks

[Damian Rey 2.0]

They ain't signing him bud.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

lmfao Droford you are such a wank. Don't get me wrong I'm not a doomsday guy like Damo, but to just blindly say they'll sign him without taking into account he'll want to play the FA market is borderline retarded.

[Damian Rey 2.0]

DoomsDamian Rey has a nice ring to it

[Damian Rey 2.0]

And c'mon Dale. He's gonna be a nice guy and take a 3 year pay cut. Didn't you see Droford's foolproof idea that's surely going to happen and work?

[Evil Vito]

I don't even like the Yankees and I hope Machado signs there. I also hope he has sex with Droford's next girlfriend.

[Frank Drebin]

So hes never going to have sex again?

Sorry, dro. Had to. It was just sitting there.

[ClockShot]

I don't even like the Yankees and I hope Machado signs there. I also hope he has sex with Droford's next girlfriend.

HELL NO!

He's going to the Red Sox.

[Evil Vito]

Brett Cecil to the Cardinals. 4 years, $30.5 million.

Holy shitballs...all of that for a fucking middle reliever. That's going to completely change the market.

[Droford]

And c'mon Dale. He's gonna be a nice guy and take a 3 year pay cut. Didn't you see Droford's foolproof idea that's surely going to happen and work?

Usually the yearly salary is higher st the end of long term contracts. If they don't get a long term deal done he'll be making 20+ million through arbitration in 2018 anyway so I dont see how this is so impossible for the Orioles to do.

[Droford]

Brett Cecil to the Cardinals. 4 years, $30.5 million.

Holy shitballs...all of that for a fucking middle reliever. That's going to completely change the market.

I remember last year when everyone criticized the Orioles for their deal with Oday and its basically the same deal Cecil got. Oday is better when healthy..

[ClockShot]

Brett Cecil to the Cardinals. 4 years, $30.5 million.

Holy shitballs...all of that for a fucking middle reliever. That's going to completely change the market.

Bullpens rule these days.

[ClockShot]

White Sox are moving into fire sale mode it seems. GM Rick Hahn put the word out that all players with 4 years or less of team control are up for grabs.

Chris Sale, David Robertson, Melky Cabrera, Todd Frazier, Jose Abreu, and James Shields are some of the players who are in this boat.

[Ruien]

Should keep Abreu. Everyone else can do assuming we get the right price for Sale. We should never have even picked up Shields last year.

[Frank Drebin]

Shields is sunk cost at this point.

As far as them going into sell mode? I'll believe it when I see it. Still think they'll come back with the same team plus Jason Castro and Matt Holiday and say "we're a good team....." like usual.

[Ruien]

Holiday will save the White Sox!

[Droford]

White Sox are moving into fire sale mode it seems. GM Rick Hahn put the word out that all players with 4 years or less of team control are up for grabs.

Chris Sale, David Robertson, Melky Cabrera, Todd Frazier, Jose Abreu, and James Shields are some of the players who are in this boat.

And you can take em off our hands...yeees!

[Evil Vito]

Phillies went ham in protecting prospects from the Rule 5 draft, added 11 draft-eligible prospects to their 40 man roster.

Mets added Amed Rosario as expected along with 4 other players. The only real headscratcher was deciding to keep Chris Flexen. Great name and all but he's 22, coming off an injury, and hasn't pitched a game over Single A. Really don't see a team keeping him in the big leagues all season even if rosters expand to 26. And they chose not to add Paul Sewald, who I think is good as gone.

[Frank Drebin]

Holiday will save the White Sox!

You know thats what Kenny Williams is telling Jerry right now while Rick Hahn cries into a organizational minor league scouting report.

[Damian Rey 2.0]

Hahaha. The White Sox need to tear it down. It's not working. Blow that shit up.

[Ruien]

Not working? It was 100% broke like 3 years ago. We are past not working and more into completely disabled territory.

So many throw back jerseys too. So many jerseys for Sale to cut to pieces.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

What's the final judgment on that?

The Bad guys are the team not letting the Ace decide the most comfortable stuff to wear when pitching? Or Sale for making them useless?

White Sox throwbacks always makes me think about the Black Sox and Shoeless Joe.

[Ruien]

Both parties imo were dumb. If Sale does not want to wear the uniform because it effects his pitching then don't schedule the jersey to be worn on the day he pitches.

Sale on the other hand should not have went on a rampage destroying the jerseys. Was immature by him. Still laugh when I imagine him in the locker room with scissors cutting everyone's jerseys up while the coaches/players just look at him acting nuts.

[Evil Vito]

2017 Hall of Fame ballot released"

Jeff Bagwell (71.6%, 7th year)
Casey Blake
Barry Bonds (44.3%, 5th year)
Pat Burrell
Orlando Cabrera
Mike Cameron
Roger Clemens (45.2%, 5th year)
J.D. Drew
Carlos Guillen
Vladimir Guerrero
Trevor Hoffman (67.3%, 2nd year)
Derrek Lee
Edgar Martinez (43.4%, 8th year)
Fred McGriff (20.9%, 8th year)
Melvin Mora
Magglio Ordonez
Jorge Posada
Tim Raines (69.8%, 10th and final year)
Manny Ramirez
Edgar Renteria
Arthur Rhodes
Ivan Rodriguez
Freddy Sanchez
Curt Schilling (52.3%, 5th year)
Gary Sheffield (11.6%, 3rd year)
Lee Smith (34.1%, 15th and final year)
Sammy Sosa (7.0%, 5th year)
Matt Stairs
Jason Varitek
Billy Wagner (10.5%, 2nd year)
Tim Wakefield
Larry Walker (15.5%, 7th year)

Still think it's dumb that voters are limited to 10 votes, but if I had a ballot I'd go with:

Bagwell
Bonds
Clemens
Guerrero
Hoffman
Martinez
Raines
Ramirez
Rodriguez
Wagner

I took Schilling off of my ballot from a year ago. I can't in good conscience vote for such a piece of shit.

Beyond that I don't care about punishing steroid guys - I've little doubt that all of them would have been amazing even without PEDs. I'd have voted for guys like Sosa and Sheffield but their vote totals are so low there's little reason to expect they'll come anywhere close. At least a guys like Bonds and Clemens could stay middle of the pack and possibly make a late charge as they approach the end of their eligibility.

Bagwell, Raines, and maybe Hoffman seem like good bets this year based on where their vote totals were at a year ago.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

I don't think morals should apply. Schilling is a piece of shit but he's a 2 time World Series Champ, 6 Time All Star, 200 Game Winner, 3 Time Cy Young Runner Up, Co-Series MVP, Breaker of Curses and maker of an ok video game.

[Evil Vito]

I'm not arguing his on-field merits. If he made it in I wouldn't complain. He's just been such an insufferable piece of garbage I'd rather give my vote to other candidates who are deserving. If I had unlimited votes, maybe that would be different.

Looking ahead to 2018, Chipper and Thome are the 2 slam dunks. Omar Vizquel will probably get more votes than he deserves.

[Frank Drebin]

Always love seeing the randos that show up on the ballot who might have made an all star game or won a gold glove by default. Maybe a local beat writer votes for them and it's kinda cute. Guys like Casey Blake, Arthur Rhodes, Matt Stairs and Melvin Mora.... Darwin Barney is gonna be on the ballot one of these days.

[Evil Vito]

I think Melvin Mora is my favorite out of this batch.

[Frank Drebin]

Damn. Didn't realize how good he was. Put up a 5 WAR in 03 despite only playing in 96 games. Had an OBP of 418/419 in 03 and 04.

I mean he was really good for 5 or 6 years but its still goofy seeing his name on the hall of fame ballot.

[Emperor Smeat]

If I had to guess, its probably just Bagwell and maybe Iván Rodríguez going in this year.

2017 Hall of Fame ballot released"



Still think it's dumb that voters are limited to 10 votes, but if I had a ballot I'd go with:

Bagwell
Bonds
Clemens
Guerrero
Hoffman
Martinez
Raines
Ramirez
Rodriguez
Wagner



MLB should copy NFL's system for ballots where the final ballot is a lot smaller and guarantees multiple people making it each year because the votes are not getting spread too thin.

[RP]

Who's ready for Texas Rangers baseball?!?!?!?!

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/sources-rangers-prospects-questioned-for-allegedly-sexually-hazing-underage-teammate-210055315.html

[Frank Drebin]

lol...its like that episode of South Park where Cartman puts Butter's dick in his mouth because he thinks that makes Butters look gay.

[Droford]

I saw Orlando Cabrera play A Ball in 1996 when the Shorebirds were affiliated with the Expos. Jesus Christ

[Frank Drebin]

Are you worried he got diddled right before you saw him?

[Droford]

No but it makes me feel old knowing a guy I saw play inn the minors 20 years ago is on a HOF list even if no way in he'll he makes it..

Jayson Werth is the next big player I saw when he was with the Orioles in 1998..

[DaveWadding]

Derrek Lee 4 the Hall....

[DaveWadding]

Dbacks trade MI Jean Segura, OF Mitch Haniger, and LHP Zac Curtis to Seattle for RHP Taijuan Walker and SS Ketel Marte.

[DaveWadding]

I think the Dbacks just sold ridiculously high on Segura even though Haniger is supposed to be a decent prospect. Damn good job by the new guys in the front office.

[DaveWadding]

Greinke, Miller, Walker, Corbin, Ray seems like a good solid rotation.

[Damian Rey 2.0]

Great trade selling high on Segura.

[DaveWadding]

Dbacks fans are whining because they think Segura is the team's best hitter. I can't.

[Frank Drebin]

Yeah, I thought Segura was more or less "done" Surprised about this unless the M's think Walker sucks. Didn't think Segura had that much trade value to be honest.

Reminds me of the Cashner/Rizzo trade. IE didn't think Cashner was worth THAT much (despite the Pads being overloaded at 1B).

[Damian Rey 2.0]

You're breaking my heart, Drebin.

[Frank Drebin]

Awwww.

[DaveWadding]

I don't know anything about the M's front office, but they've never seemed to be the most analytically inclined.

[DaveWadding]

Not to keep on with the Dbacks talk, since I know no one else cares, but ESPN had a really interesting article about Robbie Ray and how the 3 different kinds of WAR can view players differently:

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/18114272/miller-going-war-mystery-robbie-ray

With Ray, though, it's hard to say even after it happened. By wins above replacement, he was worth a pitiful 0.7 wins last year, worse than Archie Bradley (the pitcher Ray beat out for the fifth starter's job) and Chase Anderson (the pitcher Arizona traded the previous winter to help make room for Ray). On the other hand, by wins above replacement, he was worth a robust 3.0 wins last year, tied with Cole Hamels and Marco Estrada. On a third hand, by wins above replacement, he was worth 4.8 wins last year, better than Johnny Cueto, better than Kyle Hendricks, better than all but 14 pitchers in the majors.

[RP]

CUBS WON THE WORLD SERIES WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[Damian Rey 2.0]

Jerry DiPoto is the M's gm and he's pretty analytical. I'm thinking his logic is to try and get a decent shortstop and that Walker was a high bust risk.

[Evil Vito]

Please god just let the Mets sign Cespedes already...their entire offseason revolves around him

[Evil Vito]

Also that was a really good trade for the D-Backs

[Damian Rey 2.0]

I think teams might be leary of Cespedes, which will give the Mets some leverage. If they sign him I think they need to try and move Granderson and Bruce

[Evil Vito]

Bruce would certainly be the one to go, teams have already been contacting the Mets to inquire about him. Grandy would require them eating a big chunk of his 2017 salary.

[Evil Vito]

Marlins sign Edinson Volquez. 2 years, $22 million.

[RP]

I think teams might be leary of Cespedes, which will give the Mets some leverage. If they sign him I think they need to try and move Granderson and Bruce

LOL no. MLB money is flush.

[Droford]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/OriolesFanProbz">@OriolesFanProbz</a> Rusty Buntafolio should be a nickname for one of our pitchers when they suck next year lol <a href="https://t.co/fYcSMGLhzk">pic.twitter.com/fYcSMGLhzk</a></p>&mdash; Matthew (@droford) <a href="https://twitter.com/droford/status/803469004195164160">November 29, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

This was from the new episode last night. Delmarva is the Delmarva Shorebirds who are the Orioles A ball team that plays 5 minutes from me. I think this is awesome lol

[Evil Vito]

Here's one you don't see every day.

Brewers sign 30-year old 1B Eric Thames to a 3 years, $15 million deal with a club option for a 4th year.

Thames hasn't played in the big leagues since 2012. They're gambling on his recent 3 year stint in Korea where he hit at a .348 clip with 124 HR and 379 RBI.

[Evil Vito]

CESPEDES IS BACK!

4 YEARS $110 MILLION!

FUCK YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

[Evil Vito]

YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES

[Damian Rey 2.0]

Yaaaaaay Vito. Good deal for both I think.

[Evil Vito]

http://cdn2us.denofgeek.com/sites/denofgeekus/files/daniel-bryan-top.jpg

[Evil Vito]

Fuck it, I might go to Port St. Lucie this year

[Ruien]

I don't care about the deal one bit but I am super happy for Vito.

[Evil Vito]

Now to trade Bruce and get some bullpen help. Possibly in the same trade.

[Evil Vito]

If Billy Beane isn't liking what he's being offered for Sean Doolittle, maybe he'd consider trading him for Bruce and taking his chances flipping Bruce instead.

[Damian Rey 2.0]

I think they can find a market for Bruce. Especially if they have a low asking price. As I've said before, I think they should try to flip Granderson as well unless they plan on starting him in c.f..

Nonetheless they're in a better spot today then yesterday.

[Emperor Smeat]

Rich Hill sweepstakes has 4 teams in the mix (Yankees, Dodgers, Rangers, and Astros) with another 2 teams somewhat interested (Red Sox, Orioles).


Rick Porcello and Anthony Rendon took this year's awards for AL/NL Comeback Player of the Year.

[ClockShot]

I really don't want Rich Hill.

Think Yankees are gonna bide their time and see how the CBA talks go.

[RP]

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO CUBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBIES WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNS

[Evil Vito]

I think they can find a market for Bruce. Especially if they have a low asking price. As I've said before, I think they should try to flip Granderson as well unless they plan on starting him in c.f..

Nonetheless they're in a better spot today then yesterday.

C: d'Arnaud
1B: Duda
2B: Walker
SS: AssMan
3B: Wright (Reyes when Wright gets hurt)
LF: YOENIS GODDAMN MOTHERFUCKING CESPEDES!!!!!
CF: Granderson (Lagares vs. LHP)
RF: Conforto

Barring injury I'm fairly certain those would be the starting 8 come April 3rd. Bruce is a goner.

[RP]

CUBBIIES WIN IT ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Damian Rey 2.0]

C: d'Arnaud
1B: Duda
2B: Walker
SS: AssMan
3B: Wright (Reyes when Wright gets hurt)
LF: YOENIS GODDAMN MOTHERFUCKING CESPEDES!!!!!
CF: Granderson (Lagares vs. LHP)
RF: Conforto

Barring injury I'm fairly certain those would be the starting 8 come April 3rd. Bruce is a goner.

You know how I feel about defense. Not sure I'd rely on Granderson holding up or producing much with that glove in center. But I can see that lineup as a worst case scenario for them should they not be able to move him, which I do think is an option.

Nonetheless, Cespedes signing is huge for them. They're now clearly a playoff caliber team with him there. They need to address 3rd base and the bullpen but as it stands they're in a good spot.

[Nicky Fives]

Here's one you don't see every day.

Brewers sign 30-year old 1B Eric Thames to a 3 years, $15 million deal with a club option for a 4th year.

Thames hasn't played in the big leagues since 2012. They're gambling on his recent 3 year stint in Korea where he hit at a .348 clip with 124 HR and 379 RBI.

Worth the gamble for them in my eyes..... He's not going to produce at the same clip as he did in Korea, but if he could put up solid numbers they could trade him for some decent prospects or keep him and have themselves a 1B for years to come....

Also rumours in Toronto area are swirling that Encarnacion will make a decision by the end of the week and he will likely return to Torotno or head to Houston, with Toronto "showing him the most love"....

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

Like the idea of Eddie E and Morales as two mashers. Morales will hit well at Rogers Centre

[Evil Vito]

You know how I feel about defense. Not sure I'd rely on Granderson holding up or producing much with that glove in center. But I can see that lineup as a worst case scenario for them should they not be able to move him, which I do think is an option.

Nonetheless, Cespedes signing is huge for them. They're now clearly a playoff caliber team with him there. They need to address 3rd base and the bullpen but as it stands they're in a good spot.

Granderson played CF pretty much the entire second half last year and looked really solid. Sandy's shown a willingness to plug a square peg into a round hole when needed, and this might be one of those situations.

In addition to his bat a clubhouse leadership, it can't be discounted that Grandy's played at least 150 games in all three years he's been with the Mets. On a team notorious for having so many injuries, he's been the one guy they can count on to stay out there. So that's why I think they will trade Bruce but keep Grandy as opposed to dealing both.

[Nicky Fives]

Jays are linked with Bruce as well, which as a Jays fan, I want no part of.... I'd rather keep Saunders than Bruce....

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

Jays are linked with Bruce as well, which as a Jays fan, I want no part of.... I'd rather keep Saunders than Bruce....

both of them can stay far away

[Damian Rey 2.0]

Granderson played CF pretty much the entire second half last year and looked really solid. Sandy's shown a willingness to plug a square peg into a round hole when needed, and this might be one of those situations.

In addition to his bat a clubhouse leadership, it can't be discounted that Grandy's played at least 150 games in all three years he's been with the Mets. On a team notorious for having so many injuries, he's been the one guy they can count on to stay out there. So that's why I think they will trade Bruce but keep Grandy as opposed to dealing both.

I get what you're saying. I just personally feel that if they go with him in center it's outta necessity. I'm not sure what he's gonna look like 150x out there at this point in his career.

Honestly, if I'm the Mets, I'm gunning for Dexter Fowler. Fuck it all and go all in. They have a young staff that will give them a shot to compete the next handful of years. Might as well go balls deep.

[Evil Vito]

I'd love Fowler on this team, but I'd be stunned if the Mets handed out another huge contract this winter. I think they're going to just shore up their bullpen, and maybe make an attempt at bringing back Kelly Johnson for a 3rd go-around without having to trade Tim Tebow to the Braves to get him next year.

[Evil Vito]

Ideally I'd like to see the Mets grab a righty reliever and a lefty reliever. I expect Bruce will help fill one of those needs via trade.

I'm also thinking that they'll have a triple threat match for the #5 starter spot between Wheeler, Lugo, and Gsellman. The winner goes into the rotation, the loser goes to AAA to stay stretched out, and the one who doesn't get pinned goes to the bullpen.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

want want want Dexter Fowler. Jays need a proper leadoff hitter.

[Droford]

Orioles got Logan Verrett from the Mets for Cash

[Frank Drebin]

I think that needs its own thread.

[Ruien]

Who is Verrett?

[Ruien]

Feel like Vito would have mentioned his name at some point but never has.

[Evil Vito]

He was decent for the Mets in 2015 but sucked in 2016.

No great loss, they traded him because they needed to free a spot on the 40 man roster for Cespedes.