2016-2017 Hot Stove

this year's Qualifying Offer has been set at $17.2 million.

i feel like that's a big jump.

it is indeed the largest one-year jump

dammit, i was about to start this thread

*sizzles*

lol

three-year extension for mike metheny!

let's just throttle those how do we catch the Cubs conversations right now. jfc

That sizzling was the sound of me peeing on the hot stove FUCK

@Phillies
#Phillies have declined the 2017 club options on Ryan Howard and Charlie Morton.

pour one out

@alexspeier
Zack Scott named VP of Baseball Research & Development, overseeing team's analytics and systems development.

tricky

bad news for the sox, zacks with a k are unreliable and poor decision makers

cards pick up Jaime Garcia's $12 million option for 2017 (he'll almost certainly be traded this offseason)

apparently the cards also hired a "quality control coach" which is mystifying everyone: http://www.todaysknuckleball.com/nl/st-louis-cardinals/quality-control-coach-hiring-means-matheny-cardinals/

red sox picked up buchholz's $13m option

pitchers, man

@Ken_Rosenthal
Maybin, heading to #Angels, has $9 million club option. First to report #Tigers were working on deal: @beckjason.

Starting CF for starting CF.

Or Victor Alcantara.

Jay Bruce and Jonathan Lucroy both got their options picked up by the Mets and Rangers.

torey lovullo is yr new dbacks manager

@pgammo
Great for Tprey Lovullo; I'f hire Alex Cora as bench coach and sign Carlos Beltran, for many reasons

@JonHeyman
Sources: jeremy hellickson will be receiving the $17.2M qualifying offer today #phillies

wow

lol

@Ken_Rosenthal
Craziest prediction I’ve heard so far from a GM: Ivan Nova, five years, $75M.

Hellickson?! Why?!?!?

he did have 3 war this year

i didn't realize how not-bad his 2016 year was. i mean, still not worth 17.5m imho, since i doubt he can repeat that.

starting pitching is so insanely expensive that he doesn't even have to repeat that, really. it's a lot of money but it's only one year.

kinda screws hellickson (insofar as someone being offered $17m can be) tho -- i can imagine someone giving him a longer-term deal but not wanting to give up a first-round pick to do it

ya, he pretty much *has* to accept, or take way less (per year) on a 2-3 year deal I'd imagine.

mariners acquire carlos ruiz from the dodgers for vidal nuno

Last year only 3 players took it: Rasmus, Wieters and Brett Anderson.

xpost*

Noah Syndergaard not nominated for NL Cy Young is bullshit.

r.a. dickey to the braves

these are not 'nominations' dont fall for MLB's bullshit again

Matt Stairs, Phillies hitting coach

BARTOLO TO THE BARVES

@JeffPassan
The Braves have signed two starting pitchers in the last 24 hours. Their combined ages are 85.

lmao

kendrys to the jays, 3 years/$33m

Barvolo :(

it's okay; he still gets to bat

I'd think a couple inning eating starters could help the Braves out pretty well and considering they only have 1 year deals, it's not like it hurts any long team money.

Reds would have been smart to have an innings eater last year and still could use one for next year.

Those starters who every other start can't get through 5 just eats up and exposes a teams bullpen. Colon and Dickey should be able to get 175-200 innings each and keep them in some games.

fwiw, bartolo has outlasted turner field -- both made their baseball debuts in 1997

@JonHeyman
jeremy hellickson accepted the $17.2M qualifying offer

well, yeah

@JeffPassan
There is increasing sentiment coming out of CBA negotiations that the qualifying-offer system, as we know it, is dying as of next year.

Bartolo and RA is a buddy cops film that needs to be made.

Sale to Nats?

http://www.upi.com/Sports_News/MLB/2016/11/14/Washington-Nationals-looking-into-ace-Chris-Sale/7051479167729/

I think every team is looking into ace Chris Sale

everyone on twitter was saying Sale to the Braves last night

i thought he was going to the Dodgers?

my friend Dan says that Sale should go to the Cardinals

he belongs with Man City.

Glad to see Neil Walker back with the Mets next year.

hmm nice

congrats to the new managers of the year, may you not be fired in the next 24 months like most of the previous winners

33-year-old Charlie Morton, who has thrown more than 120 innings just twice in his nine-year career and has a -0.8 career WAR, has signed a two-year deal for $14 million with the Astros

he's not even left-handed

yeah but morton is totally due

@mike_petriello
Charlie Morton was top 5 (min. 50 thrown) in curve spin last year (2990 RPM). The Astros threw more curves as last year went on. Easy fit.

stfu nerd

did we do an awards poll? i'm wondering what we're expecting to see today & tmrw...

lol I'm a fan of mike petriello bc he runs a dodgers blog out of new york and next thing I know hes working at MLBAM as a statcast guru.

the ol' lobber has signed with the marlins

brian mccann to the astros

New trot sheriff in town

wait is carlos gomez still there lmao

lol at the giants looking at jd martinez

why not?

old

plus park factor w/r/t power hitters

Plus bad defense

plus me googling to produce a coherent argument.. just doesn't seem like a wise move, idk

all depends on the salary, Giants could use another bat. and they already got defense covered.

jd martinez is 29, six months younger and a considerably better hitter than josh reddick, who just got $52m/4 years from the astros

but yeah, not a great fielder

andrew cashner to texas, one year/$10m

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

4 RA would be 4 runs through 9? That's ok

nah, four runs in the first inning

ha ha lol!

brett cecil to cardinals for 4 years, $30.5M, no-trade clause

devil magic right there

I love Cecil but $30M is kind of ridic.

The Twins have cut longtime third baseman Trevor Plouffe, the first significant move by new front office leaders Derek Falvey and Thad Levine.

Plouffe cleared waivers and has elected to become a free agent.

I don't get that Brett Cecil signing at all looking at his stats. Was he hurt in 2016?

yeah, hurt at the end of the 2015 season and then another injury (lat, i think) in the first part of 2016. even with that, his peripherals for the whole year were decent (28.7 K%, 1.28 WHIP) and when he was healthy in the second half he was elite (35.9 K%, 1.06 WHIP). and of course, he was very good in 2013-15.

4 years is a lot for a reliever, but i guess several other teams were offering 3 years so that's what they had to do to land him.

Cardinals can make all the dumb deals they want. Their bullpen has been pretty bad the past couple years, so I could see getting an arm, but it seems kind of stiff for a guy that looks to be kind of a loogy.

TUFFY to BARVES!

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=30734

Roger McDowell, O's pitching coach

The Arizona Diamondbacks acquired pitcher Taijuan Walker and shortstop Ketel Marte from the Seattle Mariners for shortstop Jean Segura, outfielder Mitch Haniger and pitcher Zac Curtis.

wau

what on earth

Selling high on Segura.

yankees have released nathan eovaldi

release and extend prob

edinson

i know this world is killing you

so the hot stove is going to be pretty quiet until a new CBA is agreed upon, isn't it

I guess the Dodgers credit card is maxxed out according to MLB. I'm guessing they might be looking at smaller deals this off season and probably a decent chance Jansen is not coming back.

eric thames returns (to brewers) from korea!

@Ken_Rosenthal
Sources: Cespedes back to #Mets.

praise be

i missed jon jay to the cubs somehow. suggesting that they won't be resigning dexter fowler.

not the right thread i guess but since this is the most active ilb thread during the offseason,

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/209969472/mlb-owners-players-agree-to-new-labor-deal/

it's gonna be exciting when the pirates sell low on their city's favorite player/only mvp in a quarter century, get shit in return and not reinvest the money saved

i don't understand why they're looking to trade him now, unless they truly think he's broken and he'll never have more value than he does now?

He might not be broken but he def doesn't have more value than he does now

if they don't think they can compete in the next two years, i guess it makes sense. he's been slightly worse each of the last three years, he's (i think) 30? still good, multi tool guy that comes at reasonable pay. they should be able to get a decent return for the guy.

the Stove item we didn't see comin'

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-todd-ricketts-trump-deputy-commerce-secretary-20161130-story.html

that combined with jake arrieta and them finally winning the WS means i am ready to wish for the utter destruction of the cubs, no matter who accomplishes it, with liberty and justice, amen

the ASG reward of WS homefield is no more

o rly

Yesterday afternoon I read that a lockout might be more likely that not and everyone was getting extremely nervous. Good on them for getting the deal done, I guess.

McCutchen "sell high" trade rumours have been ongoing for at least a year, but this would be the worst time to trade him considering the season he just had.

@JLester34
While my efforts to eliminate pitchers from having to throw to 1B didnt pass, I'm proud of the PA & Owners for coming together on a new CBA!

DL shortened to 10 days, so now starters only have to miss one start

Seems a bit abusable but probably a good thing overall

the Stove item we didn't see comin'

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-todd-ricketts-trump-deputy-commerce-secretary-20161130-story.html

― Supercreditor (Dr Morbius), Thursday, December 1, 2016 12:12 AM (nine hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

that combined with jake arrieta and them finally winning the WS means i am ready to wish for the utter destruction of the cubs, no matter who accomplishes it, with liberty and justice, amen

― Karl Malone, Thursday, December 1, 2016 12:16 AM (nine hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

let him among you whose team is not owned by awful awful people throw the first stone

there are levels

the Arrieta tweet didn't bother me that much as it didn't express much besides loathing for celebrity Democrats

(NA's team for at least the last eight months)

McCutchen "sell high" trade rumours have been ongoing for at least a year, but this would be the worst time to trade him considering the season he just had.

― NoTimeBeforeTime, Thursday, December 1, 2016 9:10 AM (three hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

apparently nationals want him bad and are most likely gonna get im

victor robles is, at least, a legit top prospect

@JeffPassan
Every home clubhouse must now have a chef. And spring-training buses must have at least two seats per player. This was important to them.

reminds me of this, which mentions other obscure details that have been collectively bargained for in the past: http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=28436

@markasaxon
Source: The Cardinals have agreed to deal left-hander Jaime Garcia to the Atlanta Braves for prospects.

hope we got some good prospects back in return. garcia had poor results last year but it was kind of hard to understand why - he was healthy all year, which never happens, and his stuff was still filthy. best raw "stuff" on the cardinals staff for several years now, and i can't count the number of times i watched yadi struggle to keep up with the movement. the biggest risk with him is just his health.

looks like the return package is Luke Dykstra (son of lenny) and pitchers John Gant and Chris Ellis.

clearing salary

jfc what is atlanta doing trading prospects

none of them are good

Garcia was only owed $12 million for 2017. I was hoping they'd get more in return for him, or that he could be a part of a larger package to get a CF.

Oh well

still probably more useful to atlanta in 2017 than jaime garcia will be

xp

i mean i guess i'll eat my hat if atlanta actually competes next year but maybe not? they shouldn't be doing anything to make them worse in 2018 and beyond for an injured one-year guy. they're doing that very stupid thing where the horrible team improves in the second half and they start thinking way too soon. it could happen next year but why risk it for a bunch of old pitchers

they should still be selling teheran

if the prospects truly are meh, then it's a great deal for atlanta. jaime is actually really good. it's not hard for me to imagine him outperforming everyone on both the cardinals and braves pitching staffs next year, and if he does, the barves could flip him at the trade deadline for a nice ROI

dykstra can hit (in low a) but zero power
gant might have some promise but not a lot
ellis walked 87 batters (fifth-most in the minors) in 146 innings this year

only owed $12 million for 2017

ikr? the pirates had to send prospects along *with* francisco liriano to get out from under the $13.6m he's owed this year. and yeah he was putrid last year (in pittsburgh; somewhat better in toronto) but steamer still has him at 2 WAR for 2017

that fuckin trade is gonna be even better when the pirates non-tender drew hutchison tomorrow

sorry, still bitter

in other news, the orioles have acquired logan schafer and logan verrett within two days of each other

i was gonna make a moneyball joke but i looked up "logan" on fangraphs and wow white people really liked that name in the 80s

@sdutdennislin
Woah. The Padres non-tendered Tyson Ross, Alexi Amarista, Jon Edwards, Erik Johnson, Jose Pirela and Hector Sanchez.

(very jon miller voice)

carlos . . . belTRAN has signed a one-year, $16m deal with the astros!

matt holliday to the yanks on a one-year

melancon to the giants; rumored at roughly 4 years/$62m

rich hill resigned with dodgers, 3 years

re-signed, not resigned

$48 million! good for him, that's a great story. i was a bit worried he'd be the reason the cubs would fail in the NLCS if it went to game 7 but i was happy for him. through this season he'd made like $3 million over his entire career.

that's more or less what EW Podcast thought he would get, right?

All great deals imo (Melancon and Hill and Beltran)

Also Steve Pearce to the Jays. 2 years, 12.5 m$

one team away from the full AL East experience

Rich Hill's deal is good for him, but 3 years for a guy at age 37 with his injury track record even for well as he pitched last year seems a huge stretch to me. But hey it's the Dodgers, they have blown far more money than that on players in the past few years and anything that might lead to them losing is not a bad thing.

supposedly the dodgers think they can get 120 innings per year out of him -- something he's only accomplished once, in 2007

someone pointed out that hill is both older than and has fewer career strikeouts than . . . mark prior

it's weird that everyone talks about him assuming he'll throw like an ace when he's healthy. even great pitchers with great age-36 seasons are expected to drop off at any moment

his injuries mask his age. or maybe he should've been the best pitcher of all time

otoh he's been really good his 35 and 36 year old seasons, his injury this year was a blister, and there are limited good pitching options right now

tyler thornburg to the red sox

chris sale to the red sox

for moncada/kopech/two other (pitching?) prospects

http://i.imgur.com/nLdRZCM.jpg

uniform designer in boston just got a little more nervous than usual

@jjcoop36
If this trade goes through, Dombrowski has traded 4 of top 5 prospects in Red Sox system who were there when he arrived.

price, sale, porcello is a nice 1-2-3, for one year at least.

v. lefty-heavy rotation at the moment

very money themed too... price, sale, sounds-like-buck-holds

should have signed rich hill

this is better for the white sox than that proposed deal with the nats

dombrowski has now traded both basabe twins (luis alexander and luis alejandro) in a five-month span

babsabe has ben berry berry good to dombrowski

Moncada/T. Anderson pretty good block to build around.

mitch moreland to the red sox

i like it! (as a Jays fan)

Cubs working on a Wade Davis deal

Wilson Ramos inked a two-year deal with the Rays

the jeff locke era has begun in miami

ian desmond to colorado, where he will play outfield and first base (?)

also colorado loses the 11th overall pick in the draft

apparently soler is who the cubs might trade for davis. i'd be ok with losing soler

ian desmond seems like a poor choice to cost you the 11th overall pick.

the rockies don't seem to make good decisions

think we have a 2017 thread title there.

i wish they'd sign chris carter for first. that'd be funnnnnnn for fantasy baseball

so i guess the rockies are in Win Now mode

lol

imo they're in one of the better spots to make the jump

@keithlaw
New post for Insiders - Stop giving up draft picks to sign Ian Desmond:

qualx why do you say that? i don't follow them closely or anything, but from an outsider's perspective it looks like:

they don't have a catcher
they just gave up $70 million and the 11th pick in the draft for someone who doesn't play 1B and is projected to slug .414 with a 92 wRC+ in 2017
their rotation is middle of the pack (looking at their stats and peripherals for away games only)
they won 75 games in 2016, and with desmond are projected to win 77 in 2017, tied with the diamondbacks and 12 behind giants, 15 behind dodgers

i dunno, i guess they could try to flip cargo or blackmon to strengthen the starting rotation, but it doesn't seem like the time to go for broke

i think tom murphy can actually catch for them, if they let him

here's a rosier rocky scenario, involving the addition of abreu or encarnacion as well: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/lets-get-weird-ian-desmond-is-a-rockie/

maybe they liked his .379/.406/.611/1.016 career line at Coors Field, that's pretty damn good, they're probably hoping he'll be on the level of a jeffrey hammonds or jay payton.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/orioles-gm-jose-bautistas-agent-fans-dont-like-player/

lol

sounds like adam eaton is headed to washington

BE GONE

for giolito, even

dang white sox getting all the prospects

rick hahn is killin it

for giolito, even

and Reynaldo Lopez!

i like them betting on don cooper being able to fix up these young pitchers with raw talent

They can still make a killing with Quintana.

Also very good trade from the Nats' perspective.

all the biggest drake laroche boosters are gone

They used to call the Cell and Chi home.

Switch the proper nouns.

qualx why do you say that? i don't follow them closely or anything, but from an outsider's perspective it looks like:

they don't have a catcher
they just gave up $70 million and the 11th pick in the draft for someone who doesn't play 1B and is projected to slug .414 with a 92 wRC+ in 2017
their rotation is middle of the pack (looking at their stats and peripherals for away games only)
they won 75 games in 2016, and with desmond are projected to win 77 in 2017, tied with the diamondbacks and 12 behind giants, 15 behind dodgers

i dunno, i guess they could try to flip cargo or blackmon to strengthen the starting rotation, but it doesn't seem like the time to go for broke

― Karl Malone, Wednesday, December 7, 2016 2:11 PM (six hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

their pitching is on the verge of possibly being their best ever (that FG article described it as "intriguing" which is probably the right word), jon gray is ready to be a real ace and anderson/hoffman are right behind him, even chatwood was a beast away from coors, which is better than nothing. anderson was also way better AT coors last year for some reason. they're all talented guys who seem close to putting it together.

also a full year with a healthy dahl and story, and a decent bullpen. if i was betting on surprise contenders they'd be my pick

I got to think that Desmond signing is just part one of a deal for Blackmon to come. There has been talk that Charlie Blackmon was going to be moved as far back as the trade deadline last season.

Chapman signed with the Yankees, 86 millions. 5 years.

man the yankees are a great team, fun to cheer for them

and concerned about image, always

The Marlins have made an offer of five years and more than $80MM to free agent closer Kenley Jansen.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/12/marlins-make-80mm-plus-offer-to-kenley-jansen.html

ooooook

well why not

the yankees' plan last year of stockpiling ace relievers was obvious and brilliant, if they competed they'd buzzsaw through the playoffs and if they were out of it they had the most coveted free agents at the deadline

and they turned that into a massive haul that's going to give them 5 more championships when it's all said and done

and they got chapman back anyway

get used to this

er coveted trade targets

they should've traded betances too, just to kill me dead

Who was the last closer to get a five year contract? Maybe I'm forgetting some obvious names, but it feels like it's been a while.

Would like to see non-save-situation/G% stats for closers.

The only other reliever to receive a five-year deal in MLB history was B.J. Ryan in 2005 for $47.5 million. Ryan was released in the middle of his fourth season.

I remember that fiasco well.

Chris 'No-Hit' Heston to Seattle

http://mlb.nbcsports.com/2016/12/07/report-mariners-acquire-chris-heston-from-the-giants/

Blackmon dangled for Jays

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/mlb-hot-stove-trade-rumors-rockies-blue-jays-talking-blackmon-stroman-deal/

no one will probably care about this but the padres grabbed allen cordoba from the cardinals in the rule 5 draft. cordoba is promising but he's never played above the rookie league level. as i understand it, the padres would have to keep them on their roster all year or the cardinals get him back through waivers?i know the padres are rebuilding but it wouldn't make much sense to have play cordoba way above his level all year or let him rot on the bench and stunt his development

the padres let alexei ramirez accumulate -2.4 WAR at shortstop for them last year, so if cordoba can simply field the position he can barely be worse.

they don't really have anything to lose -- they're not going to contend, he's cheap, they have the roster space, and if they can stash him on the bench this year they can send him back to the minors next year -- he just turned 21. or they can send him back, which is not a huge deal.

also a fair number of these guys develop mysterious injuries that require them to 'rehab' in the minors hmmm

holy shit, -2.4 WAR! i didn't realize he was that bad!

welp, cordoba's signing bonus was $7,500, so i'm sure he's pretty happy about getting a bump up to minimum MLB salary

Blackmon for Stroman would be super super super dumb.

Toronto wants more

lots more.

cubs 'on the brink of' signing koji uehara

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/12/cardinals-nearing-deal-free-agent-with-dexter-fowler.html

hmm might end up being the first cubs player to leave for the cards to get a standing O during his first visit back to wrigley

if the cardinals sign justin turner as well i'll be officially a-ok with the cardinals offseason

Fuuuuck. I really wanted the jays to land Fowler. Fuck.

Sheff is a bit of a modern Dick Allen player that ticked off quite a few people over his career and with his nomadic career, I think he might find it more difficult than the other steroid era players. Dude was a beast of a right handed power hitter.

Kenley Jansen back to the Dodgers, 5 yrs/$80 million. wtf imo.

encouraging

Major League Baseball created an Anti-Hazing and Anti-Bullying Policy that covers the practice. As part of the sport's new labor deal, set to be ratified by both sides on Tuesday, the players' union agreed to not contest it.

The policy, obtained by The Associated Press, prohibits teams from "requiring, coercing or encouraging" players to engage in activities that include "dressing up as women or wearing costumes that may be offensive to individuals based on their race, sex, nationality, age, sexual orientation, gender identify or other characteristic."

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/18266346

whew finally we can get Corey Kluber out of this getup

http://itspronouncedlajaway.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Corey-Kluber2-FI.jpg

2017 competitive balance draft pick order announced:

Competitive Balance Round A

Tampa Bay Rays (No. 31 overall)
Cincinnati Reds (32)
Oakland Athletics (33)
Milwaukee Brewers (34)
Minnesota Twins (35)
Miami Marlins (36)

Competitive Balance Round B

Arizona Diamondbacks (No. 67 overall)
San Diego Padres (68)
Colorado Rockies (69)
Cleveland Indians (70)
Kansas City Royals (71)
Pittsburgh Pirates (72)
Baltimore Orioles (73)
St. Louis Cardinals (74)

There's no such thing as a small-market team
Just because an owner doesn't want to spend more money doesn't mean they can't.

catcher swap

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/18272418/milwaukee-brewers-get-jett-bandy-deal-martin-maldonado-angels-catcher-swap

Turner back to Dodgers

derek holland to the white sox

ppl are being weird about the hazing ban, of course

gonna go check to see if curt schilling has a take on this

@VernonWells10 1h1 hour ago
BREAKING NEWS: Players are now allowed to enter your workplace yelling you suck and should be fired.

Assuming we're being paid $20-25 million to perform below average, cool.

not gonna read Huston Street's pro-hazing column

According to a pitcher who said he'll retire if he's assigned only high-leverage situations, MLB has become too sensitive.

j0rdan on Loria's case

http://deadspin.com/jeffrey-loria-is-having-a-bad-day-1790071258

ManWithOneChopstick
12/13/16 6:39pm
Have you ever considered introducing yourself over the phone as “Sargent, J0rdan?”

the incredibly rare example of a funny gawker comment, though i'm sure he's heard that one before

the orioles have reportedly signed former expo great tomo okha to a minor league deal

he'll be 41 in march, last pitched in the majors in 2009, last pitched anywhere in 2014 (a 5.15 ERA in the indy atlantic league)

"Great"?

all former expos are greats

this is true. Rob Ducey 4 evah!

http://www.springtrainingcountdown.com/

jimmy rollins has a minor-league deal with the giants

Omar Infante and Brendan Ryan to Detroit.

that's terrible

how many players have had three-plus separate stints with the tigers?

https://usatftw.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/clay.gif

to phillies

ManWithOneChopstick
12/13/16 6:39pm
Have you ever considered introducing yourself over the phone as “Sargent, J0rdan?”

the incredibly rare example of a funny gawker comment, though i'm sure he's heard that one before

― Karl Malone, Wednesday, December 14, 2016 4:26 PM (six days ago) Bookmark

sometimes when i was a kid someone would say "hey do you know if you join the army you could be sgt. sargent." and i would say "yes i do know that"

has Loria had it with the crank calls?

http://www.fishstripes.com/2016/12/20/13994960/will-jeffrey-loria-sell-the-marlins

DiComo sez nope on McCutchen to Mets, but

MLB.com's Jon Paul Morosi reported late Monday that the Mets remain engaged with the Blue Jays on deals for Bruce and Granderson, though Mets officials prefer to keep Granderson due to his center-field ability.

http://m.mets.mlb.com/news/article/211927054/mets-likely-to-stay-in-house-for-center-field/

ivan nova returns to pittsburgh, 3/$26m

Tribe in hot pursuit of EE

http://mlb.nbcsports.com/2016/12/21/report-indians-pulling-out-all-the-stops-for-edwin-encarnacion/

ee to cle

EDWINDIANS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't believe it!! I only thought he was only using the Indians as leverage to get a better deal. We'd seen it so many times before.

ender inciarte signs insanely cheap extension 5 years/$30.5m with barves

that buys out several arb years but jeez

Great deal for the Barfs.

Cheap ass jays management blows it with yet another free agent.

Alex Avila: another once-former Tiger

glad the jays management didn't go for it, i believe it's all about donaldson and the rotation at this point.

idk, i'd have given edwing a lot for three years and an option

he's nearly 34 and he's a first baseman at best and his strikeouts spiked last year, but that contract seems very reasonable

yeah, 3 years/$65 million is pretty good for him, even at 34. both the indians and the dodgers (turner) got their guys for very good deals from the team's perspective

Pirates talking a Jose Quintana trade, per Olney

i don't blame the Jays if they fail(ed) to sign EE/Bats, they have other needs and two aging bats that can only kind-of field should not me taking up all their free cash. however, i can blame them when they fail to read the market correctly and then all they do is fill our needs with cheap-o spare parts.
that is why i am annoyed (and not buying a flex pack this year).

The Jays are swimming in cash and choose not to spend it. Resigning Estrada and Happ last year and passing on Price wasn't being cheap, they saw value in two solid SP's where others didn't and Price isn't worth 200 Million (no pitcher is, except maybe Kershaw). With EE, he wanted to come back, expected to come back, and they pissed away that good will when they could have had him for a very reasonable 3Y/60M.

But didn't the Jays begin by offering him 4Y/80M? That's better than what he ended up signing for.

Really? I hadn't heard that. They signed Morales very early on and then completely lost interest in him, which I thought was both shortsighted and classless.

I'm pretty sure the sequence was that the Jays made the 4Y/80M offer first (right after the World Series, according to the link), EE declined, then they signed Morales.

http://www.thestar.com/sports/bluejays/2016/12/22/edwin-encarnacion-agrees-to-3-year-deal-in-cleveland-reports.html

The villain in all this is EE's agent.

Rumour is they even added on an option for a 5th year!

good news, Mets fans: Dusty to be extended by Nats

i saw raj davis to oakland

o's send yovani gallardo to seattle for seth smith

kc sends jarrod dyson to seattle for nate karns

how much can they get?

http://www.amazinavenue.com/2017/1/10/14225154/mets-trade-rumors-jay-bruce-new-york

rangers are signing a cuban infielder named

Luis Yander La O

rip expos : /

barves acquire luiz gohara, a 20yo brazilian who can throw 100mph with his left arm, from seattle. because jerry dipoto just can't help himself

seattle picked up best beloved mallex, but it sounds like they might already be working on dealing him elsewhere

traded him to the Rays for Drew Smyly.

Tebow NOT invited to Mets' spring training

both leagues' HR champs still available

http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2017/1/13/14262554/mark-trumbo-free-agent-rumors-orioles

w/o clicking that i literally have no clue who led the nl in homers

it wasn't ryan howard was it

no, but he is like a young Old Ryan Howard!

A's signed Trevor Plouffe, $5M/1

tyson ross to the rangers for a year

The Royals have signed pitcher Danny Duffy to a five-year, $65 million deal according to Jeff Passan. The club has confirmed the deal.

that's a little bit of a surprise.

Outfielder Jose Bautista is returning to the Toronto Blue Jays after agreeing to a one-year contract Tuesday, sources told ESPN, confirming multiple reports.

The contract, which includes mutual option for the 2018 and 2019 seasons, will pay Bautista $18 million in 2017, a source told ESPN's Jim Bowden. If both options are exercised, the deal would max out at $60 million for the three years.

Edwin Encarnacion's agent presently en route to parts unknown.

mutual options are a joke

Yeah, I can see that now--good year, gone, bad year, walking papers. Do both parties ever agree?

i'm wondering that too. is a mutual option basically saying "contract ends here unless a miracle happens"

Tigers reportedly after Peter Bourjos

tigers have acquired outfielder mikie mahtook, who was deeply awful for tampa last year, for cash/ptbnl

extensions for wil myers (6 years, $83 million + an option for 2023) and kole calhoun (3 years, $26 million + an option for 2020)

reds send dan straily to miami for three surprisingly decent prospects (keeping in mind that the marlins system sucks)

10 months ago straily was traded straight-up for erik kratz, then waived, so that's a nice job by the reds

sounds like the orioles are gonna re-sign trumbo

also, the Saga of Brady Dragmire

9/27/16  DFA'd by TOR
10/5/16  acquired by PIT for cash
?        DFA'd by PIT
12/2/16  claimed off waivers by TEX
12/13/16 DFA'd by TEX
12/14/16 claimed off waivers by PIT
12/21/16 DFA'd by PIT
12/23/16 claimed off waivers by TEX
1/19/17  DFA'd by TEX

also he's never pitched above double-a and isn't even good

37 million for three years isn't bad, tbh.

especially when kendrys got 3/$33m

(not that trumbo is actually much better, but he's younger, at least vaguely capable of playing the field, and did lead MLB in homers last year)

i suppose without the QO he likely would have gotten more tho.

tigers have acquired outfielder mikie mahtook, who was deeply awful for tampa last year, for cash/ptbnl

― mookieproof, Wednesday, January 18, 2017 5:45 PM (two days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

"No we asked for 'MEAT HOOK.' :("

dodgers send RHP prospect jose de leon to tampa for 2B logan forsythe, presumably ending their quest for brian dozier

sam miller on 'mutual options': http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/18519226/show-mind-games-mutual-options-not-money

minors deals:
james loney to texas
jarrod salty to toronto
eric young jr to los angeles of anaheim

looks like Mets are keeping Bruce

http://nypost.com/2017/01/24/mets-now-plan-to-keep-jay-bruce-as-everyday-right-fielder/

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C08JOmQXcAAPWlv.png:small

You like the fights? You like the rough stuff? Yeah, bet you do. Like to get down and tussle a little bit? Like me and Tuffy, before she got run over. We used to get down on the floor and tussle all the time. I'd say to her, "You a good bitch, Tuffy. Here's a treat for you." And I'd give Tuffy what all good bitches love best, and you know what that is? You know what that is? A bone. I can give you a good bone, too, girl.

one of my fave fantasy bb team names ever was my pal's team one year, "tuffy gosewisch engage"

Mets 'pen shopping

http://www.amazinavenue.com/2017/1/26/14405322/new-york-mets-free-agency-rumors-sergio-romo-joe-smith-jerry-blevins

@dgoold
BREAKING: #MLB hammers #Cardinals for hack: Must send 2 draft picks to #Astros, pay $2m fine.

i suggest that we send them the draft picks from rounds #39 and #40 of the 2014 draft

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C3cNxxYUMAAXQen.jpg:small

also colby rasmus to tampa 1 year/$5m + incentives

fwiw, chris correa (the cardinals/astros hacker knower of top secret passwords) put out this statement:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C3gU15qW8AELgGe.jpg:large

https://twitter.com/chriscorrea/status/826435422834266112
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/01/chris-correa-alleges-that-astros-improperly-utilized-cardinals-data.html

Nolan Ryan was 70 yesterday

13 days til ST

Nationals signed veteran relievers Matt Albers and Joe Nathan.

rockies send eddie butler to the cubs for minor league reliever james farris

Cardinals agree to a five-year, $51 million extension with Carlos Martinez.

with 2 club options, too. i think it's fantastic, i irrationally love martinez

i bet his agent was stoked after martinez said "I want to spend my entire career with the Cardinals" a few weeks ago

Rays are set to sign right-hander Cory Rasmus to a minor league contract, cornering market on Rasmii.

@USATODAYmlb
Hal Steinbrenner says Yankees fans love Aroldis Chapman despite DV incident. "Sooner or later we forget, right?"

cool

let's see if a Wilpon says something similarly classy about Familia

on the guys like richie shaffer who have been waived and claimed multiple times this winter: http://www.si.com/mlb/2017/02/01/waiver-wire-rollins-shaffer-lavarnway

@Ken_Rosenthal
Source: Sergio Romo to #Dodgers, pending physical.

3 mil ain't bad for the guy.

napoli to texas

chris carter to the yankees!

Saw a preseason Fantasy guide on the magazine rack today that had Russell Martin on the cover. They may want to rethink their marketing strategy.

Just pandering to the Canadian market.

I know these publications have multiple covers aimed at specific markets, but still--Russell Martin? There's got to be at least a half-dozen guys you'd want on there ahead of a 34-year-old catcher with a .398 slugging average and iffy health. Even if you do give him some citizenship points.

"Guys" meaning "Jays": Donaldson, Sanchez, Tulowitzki, Estrada, Happ, Osuna, Travis, Pillar, Stroman maybe, even Bautista.

regardless of Martin's season last year, he's still a face most people will recognize. you throw Estrada or Happ (or even Sanchez, despite how much he's earned it), a lot of people are going to wonder who the fuck they're looking at!

Brandon Phillips to the Barves.

Dodgers sign Chase Utley, Franklin Gutierrez for one year

Prince Fielder apparently launching a cooking show called "Fielder's Choice", good for the big fella

@BaseballAmerica
Baseball America has been sold to Alliance Baseball LLC, owners of the Omaha Storm Chasers and Richmond Flying Squirrels

breaking: completely revamped Baseball America top prospects list includes 46 players from Omaha Storm Chasers and Richmond Flying Squirrels

i hope Richmond plays the Bullwinkle theme during pitching changes

grady sizemore to the indians!

as a player development advisor

adam lind to the nats

aint done yet

http://www.bluebirdbanter.com/2017/2/15/14630606/blue-jays-discussing-deal-with-mat-latos

not content with the yankees' arbitration win over dellin betances, randy levine proceeds to shit on the three-time all-star from a great height

Jered Weaver and his 80-mph fastball to the Padres for one year, three million dollars.

@euqubud
When the pitch clock hits MLB, does it restart when the pitcher throws the ball or when he gets it back? Asking for Jered Weaver

Donaldson's hurt, but supposed to be ready by Opening Day.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/josh-donaldson-felt-something-calf-misses-1st-full-workout/

Phony selective stat, I know, but I think he's got a chance to be the second third basemen ever with five consecutive seasons of 7.0+ WAR. (Boggs's five seasons are clearly superior, and Schmidt and Matthews just missed much longer streaks.)

I think there's a thread for old players complaining, but I can't search for it. This is good.

http://joeposnanski.com/the-goose-is-loose/

wieters to nats

cardinals sign Adolis Garcia (younger bro of the Barve's Adolis Garcia), a Cuban free agent.

the next generation will be flush with adolii

whooops
(younger bro of the Barve's Adolnis Garcia)

mailman fails to deliver : /

hey man, my real mailman failed to deliver today and it totally screwed my day up. so basically anything goes tonight

basically anything goes tonight

adolis ~ adonis gifs or gtfo

(i don't really mean anything close to gtfo <3)

anything goes!

and for me that means the whole bag of munchies is going down