offseason 2015-16

the Best Fans thing continues to annoy me because, i mean, just listen to any sports radio call-in show, anywhere. but yeah the moaning on various messageboards and twitter and elsewhere is nauseating right now. "heyward betrayed us" waaaaaaaah

people keep tossing out a 6 yr/190 million figure (who knows the source of this) as the cubs winning offer, and taking this as evidence that heyward took less money to play for the cubs than the cardinals offered (assuming cardinals offered 200+). if that figure is true, it's $31.6 million/yr, and puts him in line to enter free agency again in his age 31 year. and it's likely that the teams that offered 200 or more (nationals, probably the cardinals, maybe others) offered 200 over 8 or 9 years.

i believe the phrase is "heyward betraded us"

http://sportsmockery.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Cardinals-fan.jpg

oh yeah, fans are just as bad everywhere. but those fans aren't Best.

sounds like he took slightly less than the cards/nats offered. and why not, as the cubs are fucking loaded and winning for the first time in a century would make him a folk hero

Zobrist - Heyward - Bryant - Rizzo - Schwarber is a O_O top of a lineup

Jason Heyward is an upgrade on Fowler and there is that potential that Heyward could take his power to that next level, but it is more with the glove than the bat. The thing is that with the glove, Heyward hasn't played all that much CF. He's played some, but they always say it's a different beast than the corners, so perhaps that dWAR advantage might even out a bit especially with Schwarber being a black hole in left field (unless he really improves).

The Cards could probably break even talent wise and ahead money wise by getting Fowler and another starting pitcher with the money they were going to put at Heyward.

Cards have had some good fortune at finding players later in the free agent trade window before spring training.

as a fan of neither team, it's kind of amusing to see these cardinal free agents go to the archenemy

yeah, the applause (occasional standing ovation) that traditionally takes place when the cardinals face a former teammate for the first time will be a little different this year when the Cardinals face Heyward and Lackey.

@neal_kendrick
The Cubs should keep Heyward in AAA for 2 weeks to start the season. Try and get that 9th year our of him.

word is 8/180, though sure to have an opt-out or two

8/184*, rather

two opt-outs!

Karl, what do you think the Cardinals are going to do at first base? Cards could stand pat with Piscotty and Adams but I think those guys could be chips to use to trade too.

I figure Grichuk moves into RF on a regular basis. Not sure what the Cards are going to do in CF with Jay and Bourjos moving on.

it's really tough to predict because they could go a bunch of different ways. i really hope they don't overcompensate for losing heyward by giving a guy like chris davis a ton of money, but you never know.

assuming no big free agent purchases, i think they'll go with a mathenymess at 1B with adams, piscotty, and moss all being used in a baffling manner, all depending on how each of them has done over the past 2 games, and how well they "matchup" against a pitcher they've faced probably only 4 or 5 times.

i'd assume most days they'll be going with Piscotty in RF and Grichuk in CF. i think they like Tommy Pham quite a bit (so do i), so assuming he manages to avoid injury he'd be in the mix as well.

the cardinal fan moaning is annoying because they're still a good team, even without Heyward. they'll probably still win 90 or so. but given that the cubs have the potential to just have a bonkers-good season, i guess it'll be the wild card for us.

Barves send Christian Bethancourt to SD for RHP Casey Kelly and C Ricardo Rodriguez. Bethancourt was horrible last year, Atl's well rid of him. The rocket arm doesn't count for much when he can't frame pitches, receive the baseball, or agree with pitchers on what to throw next. Middling bat, too.

I think the Braves should trade Freddie Freeman if they can get good value for him. I'm not convinced his right wrist is ever going to be 100% ready to go, and his obliques can't seem to withstand the torque of his swing.

also, lol @ cards fans

i think freeman could be the barves' david wright? atlanta suddenly has an insane group of pitching prospects -- with any luck some of them will turn into degrom or matz or syndergaard -- and swanson should move fairly quickly. freeman isn't ~cheap~, but he's a known cost, still young, and the youth of everyone else means they can afford him.

that said, i don't know anything about his health issues, but in 118 games last year he was still worth the forthcoming fat part of his contract

Hmm yeah, I like that Wright/Mets comparison.

chris davis gives me ryan howard chills, i think any team giving him a long contract is going to have to deal with the last half of his contract averaging out .230/.320/.410 per year or something close to that.

I could see Chris Davis falling into that hole like Nelson Cruz was in a couple years ago. If B-more is not going to give him a long deal, I don't see who has the dollars to do so for his history. I think he is way too inconsistent to go long term.

If Chris Davis does fall into some 1 year max type deal to try to play the free agent game again next year, I think the Pirates could use him and Davis playing for a team with a chance to go somewhere might be appealing. That would be a nice power bat to put behind McCutcheon. Don't really see any other contending clubs putting any money into a 1b/dh type. I can't believe this guy would play outfield much now.

i wouldn't mind that, really, but it would be *extremely* uncharacteristic of the pirates to do it -- especially since it means losing a draft pick

cardinals have money to spend (now), but they're not crazy and adams is good enough at a fraction of the price. cards do have comp picks coming for lackey and heyward, tho, so they're in a good position to sign an offered free agent

not prepared to give the Cubs 108 wins next year quite yet

more moves may be ahead (Carrasco and Salazar from Indians)

cuddyer retiring?

ty Jesus

@keithlaw 6h
Before everyone gets wrapped up in "Heyward took less money!" 1) the opt-outs are worth millions + 2) IL state taxes are lower than DC/MO

i was surprised at 2)

phillies get charlie morton, mark appel, a dozen other pitchers

no. 1 picks getting swapped

‏@Ken_Rosenthal
#Phillies’ trade of Giles bigger than initially reported. 5-for-2, Velasquez and Appel go to PHI with Eshelman, Arauz and Oberholtzer.

Bruce Rondon is in the fighting shape of his life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VozFZ_rUa0g

Manfred declines to reinstate Pete Rose

@Buster_ESPN
Sources: Johnny Cueto has an agreement with the Giants, pending a physical.

Watch your back, dodgers fans

So happy right now

http://blog.plumpjack.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/zito1.jpg

poor rockies

Hope rigetti can work his magic

Maybe we'll get 2 1/2 good years instead of 2

Apparently the DBacks ownership signed Greinke on a whim without any input from the guys who actually run the team:

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/67056/how-the-diamondbacks-got-zack-greinke

the price for Cueto is okay. the FO really trust Righetti and why should't they?

I've seen Johnny Cueto pitch quite a bit and he knows what he is doing. I'd think the ability to use that big outfield in San Francisco will play to his pitching skills. It's a big change to Great American ball park which is such a cheap home run park. Cueto's pitching style has enough guile to it that I think even if he does lose some velocity, he could still be effective. It all comes down to how many innings the Giants can get out of him, which is true of any long term pitching contract.

SF won and made a ton of dough the past few years, they can afford to get Cueto. They already are paying Cain. If it all lines up, the Giants could have a heck of a rotation. Rich team problems.

I'd think with Leake being from SoCal and the Dodgers needing another starter, that seems like a logical destination. That said, I think if I was the Yanks and a deal like Leake real affordable by their standards, I think he could give them some depth. NYY's pitching seems to be built by trying to have the back end of the bullpen top notch and just find a starter that can get six innings.

looks like some Phillie fans moved to KC

http://www.makegamedayeveryday.com/newsfeed/2015/10/29/10116/changes-in-mlb-attendance-by-team-2015-season-2014-season

big things afoot

Mets re-sign Jerry Blevins as LOOGY

Nats said to be shopping for Brandon Phillips or Kelly Johnson for 2b

bigger than those?

three-way deal:

white sox get todd frazier
dodgers get frankie montas, micah johnson, trayce thompson
reds get jose peraza, scott schebler, someone named dixon

btw joey votto has eight years and $192m guaranteed left on his deal with the reds

lol dam