offseason 2015-16

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

he just had a monster year if he was a free agent he'd prob get something along the lines of 8/192

feel bad for joey votto that he's on the reds for 8 more years tho

i dunno. he's 32 and has had some injury issues

8 years/192 is $24m AAV. free agent prices are escalating to the point that he could generate enough surplus value in the next few years to balance out his decline years. problem for the reds, of course, is that it doesn't matter how good he is for the next few years with the cubs in the same division (and pirates/cards, to a lesser degree). all that surplus value will come during the worst time

it appears that the reds value jose peraza a bit more than the braves and dodgers did

Talk is that Brandon Phillips might be following Dusty to DC and this deal might be a precursor getting BPs replacement.

Mike Napoli, 1 year to Indians

@AdamRubinESPN
Dick Scott, who had been overseeing player development for the #Mets, is the new bench coach.

if chris davis ends up getting ~$150 million votto could get near $200 million

also grienke is 32 and just got $200 million

i don't think either of those are smart moves, but yeah i guess that's the market

tyler flowers is a barve

Yeah, that happened early last week — kicking Bethancourt to the curb was a day or 2 later.

ah. maybe he officially passed the physical and signed today then.

also

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CWYBmjWU8AAT_k_.png