2017-2018 Hot Stove

final boss to the rangers

Seriously, would would be glad if their team acquired Jake Arrieta for a Boras type of salary?

apparently oh might have been the victim of some bad luck wrt peripherals/batted ball stuff last year. but i gotta say, watching him nearly every time he came out of the bullpen, his main issue seemed to be that the pitch he relies on heavily, a wipeout slider, had much less bite than it did in his outstanding 2016. as the year went on it just seemed to get worse as the hitters got the memo that they didn't have to fear the slider anymore. gotta love the final boss but i'd be skeptical about him having much success with the rangers unless he finds the slider again.

he could be a decent mini-boss

The capper for this offseason would be the Angels sending Ohtani to Triple-A to game his service-time clock

— Sam Miller (@SamMillerBB) February 7, 2018

We have acquired INF @DangeRussWilson from the Rangers in exchange for future considerations. Wilson is expected to be at camp in March.

🏈+⚾️ pic.twitter.com/NRyksQeQtl

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) February 7, 2018

the new market inefficiency: moonlighting nfl players

hehehe, PatsSox are "inflexible"

https://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2018/2/7/16986150/red-sox-jd-martinez-free-agency-diamondbacks-staring-contest

players association is getting pissy(/otm!) with the retweets

https://twitter.com/MLB_PLAYERS

gettin' closer to Camp Unsigned!

https://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2018/2/8/16992006/mlbpa-spring-training-camp-free-agency

https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-cubs-might-be-a-problem-for-jake-arrieta/

jay jaffe to fangraphs

groovy

writer hot stove is sizzlin'

xpost
it's awful timing for arrieta. if he hit free agency a couple years ago, i'm sure he would have found at least one taker that would pay him $25M+ for 4 or more seasons. but as others have noted, front offices finally seem to have realized that those kinds of deals rarely work out well, even for players not showing warning signs of decline like arrieta. i'm thinking he'll eventually land somewhere for more like $20M AAV over 3 seasons?

i mean he's been noticeably worse each of the last two seasons. though he's still capable of excellence and pitched very well in the playoffs.

oh yeah, i phrased that in the most confusing way possible. i meant that Arrieta IS showing signs of decline. even his second half of 2017, when he got better results (2.28 ERA), came with warning signs (4.11 FIP, 4.30 xFIP)

o i c i misread sorry

nah, i failed the english language, heh

i wonder if arrieta would be the kind of player to take a shorter deal just to prove to everyone that he's worth a longer deal? (doesn't sound like something boras would allow anyway, though)

idk -- his K rate went up slightly and his BB rate went down in 2017 over 2016 -- the main differences seem to be that he had a lower ground-ball rate and both his HR/FB and BABIP jumped. that doesn't seem insurmountable, but losing 2mph off his fastball might be

kinda feel the cubs are like: here's a boras-represented dude who has loudly proclaimed how he wants to get paid; why deal with that stuff while yu and other options are available? i mean the cubs made no effort at all to re-sign aroldis last winter and that wasn't a red flag -- they just figured he wasn't worth the money

JD Martinez said to be fed up with the Bosox and their puny 125 million dollar offer.

man, 100M+ for someone who can't play a position is a hell of deal

Scott Boras says if #MLB teams can charge extra for high-profile matchups, fans should demand lower ticket prices for games featuring two tanking clubs. "It will be like military day: Come see the two tanks,'' he says.

— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) February 9, 2018

I'm starting to enjoy this Boras vs MLB staring contest/free agency deathmatch.

terrible pun by Boras

darvish to the cubs, 6/$126m

goddammit

I suppose Arrieta’s days as a Cubs are done.

they already were, i think - cubs haven't really been making an effort to sign him

if even a couple things break right for the cubs this year they could win 100 games again

who is their fifth starter?

montgomery, i guess? that's pretty decent

chatwood, right? (lester, quintana, darvish, hendricks)

oh yeah

yeah, and then montgomery ends up helping the bullpen, too

A source says that Yu Darvish's opt out with the #Cubs is "earlier'' than three years into his contract. (That would lead me to believe it's 2 years, but I don't take anything for granted at this point).

— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) February 10, 2018

This is a new one: Esteban Loaiza, drug kingpin.

The second-winningest pitcher from Mexico in MLB history was arrested Friday with 20 kilos of heroin or cocaine, according to San Diego police records. He'll be in court Wednesday to face felony drug charges. Details are in pics. pic.twitter.com/312pf21Q4F

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 12, 2018

Bud Norris to Cardinals, terms unknown

Cubs get you darvish, cardinals pick up bud norris. Fantastic

pray 4 st. louis

But I wanted a Yuuuu waaahhh
And I all I got was a Bud.

Actually this could be fun. “Bud gets smoked in extra innings yet again”, etc

that's kind of a little bit shocking, re: Loaiza. why on earth would he be doing that?!

lol this dickhead

http://mlb.nbcsports.com/2018/02/12/goose-gossage-rips-brian-cashman-after-not-being-invited-to-spring-training

He seems to throw a media tantrum every 6 months now.

And probably too dense to realize that is why the Yanks did not pay for him a free Florida vacation.

UPDATED:
Of the top 30 FAs in our MLB FA tracker, 7 are represented by Boras. None are signed. 23 are not represented by Boras. 18 are signed.

— Heath Cummings (@heathcummingssr) February 12, 2018

Man I want to see a Lincecum comeback so bad

sources: dodgers are indeed bringing back chase utley. great for clubhouse, team

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) February 13, 2018

I guess the stove will continue into spring!

jmaas14:
If Jake Arrieta thinks he can do better than the Darvish deal, how much is he looking for and who out there would actually give it to him?

Travis Sawchik:
He can’t and no one (Well, maybe the Nats)

CarrotJuice:
(Some) Cubs fans flipping out at a contract that pays Darvish $21 mil/year after just paying the corpse of Lackey $16 mi/year is kind of funny.

Travis Sawchik:
This is happening? Pretty good deal for Cubs who needed another impact arm

orioles sign andrew cashner (2 years, $16 million)

blue jays sign jaime garcia (1 year, $10 million)

nice article about jeremy barfield, who's been invited to bosox spring training

https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/redsox/2018/02/15/jeremy-barfield-most-interesting-man-red-sox-spring-training/qefpV0TZxemcq4vXKroZ8K/story.html

former pirate great edinson volquez, who is recovering from TJ, has a two-year minor league deal with texas