OT: Baseball Free Agents
- Thread starter Hungry Jack
- Start date
Looks like he's only missed significant time once, in 2015. He's had ~600 PAs in each year other than his rookie year, but he would have still had around 600 had he played the full season in Washington.
That said, from everything I've been told, the Nationals are pretty hellbent on extending him (long shot with Boras) or re-landing him in free agency next year. I was told back in December that the Nationals were completely out on Harper and told Boras as much, and Boras told them that if word got out that they were "out" on him that he'd make sure they didn't have a shot at Rendon once he does reach free agency. He needed Washington as leverage
That said, from everything I've been told, the Nationals are pretty hellbent on extending him (long shot with Boras) or re-landing him in free agency next year. I was told back in December that the Nationals were completely out on Harper and told Boras as much, and Boras told them that if word got out that they were "out" on him that he'd make sure they didn't have a shot at Rendon once he does reach free agency. He needed Washington as leverage
Either way, this management won’t overpay a boras client, even to save chicago from a cow. So, I think Rendon is a non starter. And really, what’s left of that great 2019 class?
Sox really whiffed on Machado. They couldn’t have known the avalanche of extensions, unless they anticipated the upcoming PA expiration might cause a bunch of smart teams to act proactively... damn Sox.
The problem wasn't that they didn't anticipate the next market thinning out so soon. It was that they didn't make the move that was in front of them when they had the ability to do it. San Diego recognized the value of the early buy and got it done. The Sox had the right idea but didn't go all the way with it, and now they're going to spend assets on top of cash to get a lesser player.
If the Sox think they'll be ready to compete in 2020 but need to fill the 3B position up, Kyle Seager may make a decent trade target if he can get healthy and bounce back some from a disastrous 2018. He'll certainly be available in a trade, and he's under contract through at least 2021. Same for Evan Longoria. I think they'd probably rather hope that Moncada and Madrigal both hit enough to force their way onto the roster and that one can stick at 3B.
Really intrigued to see Madrigal - scrappy little sh*t who resurrects the lost art of, you know . . . PUTTING THE BAT ON THE BALL. The game isn't the better for that having gone out of style. Kid's a throwback; I think we're gonna like him.
None of us have crystal balls, but I'm very interested to see how he develops. I know you'd love to be wrong, too, so let's sit back, relax and strap it down . . . . .
None of us have crystal balls, but I'm very interested to see how he develops. I know you'd love to be wrong, too, so let's sit back, relax and strap it down . . . . .
From what I understand they're really going to rush him too. I just don't see ANY power potential at all. If he turns into someone like Adam Eaton offensively, awesome, but I'm holding my breath on that. But yes, hope I'm way wrong
Yep, I bet he is on the big team after the all star break. I think he will eventually be a 300 hitter batting first or second with great D. I know you are the baseball guru, but I am on the other side of the coin with him.
Batting average isn't a great way to measure offensive output anymore. Yeah, the higher the better, but there are better metrics to measure it. I am a huge OBP guy. If he hits .300 and gets on base at a .325 clip but Moncada (for example) hits .260 and gets on base at a .360 clip, the latter is putting his team in a better position to score more runs.
I'm also a huge ISO slugging fan, which measures how many XBH a player has per AB. I don't see Madrigal ever having even an average ISO power. Just a lot of singles
BUT - and this is a big but - he can change this by sacrificing strike outs for power with his swing mechanics. He's going to beat a ton of balls into the ground and hit a lot of singles. I'd rather him strike out 15% of the time and hit gaps consistently than 5% and ground out/hit singles consistently. We will see. It's possible, Jose Ramirez did it and they're similar in size/frame
PS - I'd take him 100000000x over 1000 over Yolmer Sanchez right now, as we speak
I admit that I am old school on baseball. I like the pests that frustrate pitchers by fouling off their good pitches and players that can hit to the opposite field. Players that cut down their swing with 2 strikes and can actually move a runner over with no outs. We used to call it baseball know how and got it screamed at us every game when we made a mental mistake.
The White Sox should eventually had big power in the outfield with Eloy and Luis Robert. Micker Adolpho or Rutherford should be decent in RF. There are a couple other youngsters that could blossom for RF too. I think Mocada will eventually be an above average 3B, Anderson is adequate But they might look to upgrade there. Magrigal will man 2B for 10 years and you sign a free agent at 1B when Abreau gets long in the tooth. That’s potentially a pretty good offense in 2-3 years. They even have a couple of young catching prospects, plus they should draft a stud in this year’s draft.
It will pain Willy, but this team will start to get very good in 2-3 years.
Don't hold your breath. Think the Sox have more potential stars on the DL then on their current roster.
Nico Hoerner assigned to Double A. he’ll be the Cubs starting second baseman by May 2020.
Could be. Certainly no later than next May. The kid at minimum will be an above average major league starter with upside beyond that. That bet still on?
Cubs will waste all of that talent if they don’t find a closer that can lock down October. Theo needs to work the phones.
The bet was best first 500 MLB at bats, Hoerner vs. Madrigal. My money is on Hoerner and I don't think it will be close.
https://2080baseball.com/reports/nico-hoerner/
https://2080baseball.com/reports/nico-hoerner/
Last edited:
Might need to score a dozen with this bullpen. Theo didn’t get it done this winter. Where is Kimbrel? Arms will fall off with this pen and Joe’s quick hook.
Wasn't where Theo was this winter, it's where he was the previous few winters. Team is at about a $225MM payroll with taxes right now. Hayward/Darvish/Chatwood completely handicapped them from signing anyone of relevance and they won't be able to do too much moving forward the next few years either
I’d have to imagine the entire office is shitting their pants knowing how badly they ****** up
I disagree with the last part. Baseball Budget is going up with meaningful new TV money. They also have meaningful dollars coming off the books in the next several years with Zobrist ($16mm), Hamels($20mm), Morrow ($10mm) coming off next year and Chatwood ($13mm) coming off the following year.
They also have very good cost controlled prospects on the verge of making the major league roster. Hoerner, Alzolay, Mekkes, Justin Steele and a few others.
Why? As long as Jerry is alive, they'll all be employed. Kenny Williams has "Shoot someone in the middle of 5th Avenue" job protection.
Right. There isn’t a hard cap. You are the frigging Chicago Cubs and you are about to your own TV network. Pay the luxury tax and sign Kimbrel, the BP is a mess. Joe pulls the starter in the 6th as soon as they give up a hit, you need quality arms. Lots of them.
The guys you mention are a long way off from helping and the Cubs squandering potential championship years is worse than the Sox missing on Machado.
The guys I mentioned with be up in the majors this year or at the latest beginning of next. There is an even more talented wave behind them that is 2 years out.
I should have looked into it more before making that blanket statement, but you are correct in your disagreement. That's my bad.
For some reason most people don't understand that the collective bargaining tax basically acts as a hard cap. Each dollar over the amount is taxed and the percentage is taxed at a higher rate every year it's exceeded. After 3 years in a row of it, lowering of draft picks and loss of international money occurs. Teams do NOT do this. In the analytics age, teams put X value on Y player. Being taxed on overages because of a signing lowers the value of said player. So, teams will get less bang for their buck. People think it's just a cop out for owners to not pay as much money, but it's a whole lot more than that.
This is why the Nats (Lerner is (I think?) the richest owner in baseball) didn't have much of anything to do with Harper. Same for the Yankees, Red Sox and Dodgers on Machado/Harper. The shareholders of each team are also the ones who pay the tax. There's no such thing as "unlimited payrolls" anymore.
Doesn’t the tax become more punitive it the team exceeds the threshold in consecutive years? I thought that was what owners were trying to avoid. I made my comments based on the facts laid out by Corb on the upcoming reduction of payroll. Do I misunderd the ramifications of the luxury tax? Being s Pale Hose fan, I haven’t studied it as much as I should.
Yes, the penalty gets worse each year. They’re over it this year, and have about $60MM to play with before arb deals, player options picked up (haven’t looked, may not apply to them) and new free agent signings heading into 2020. It’ll be really tough to stay under the threshold for them, especially with new Bryant/Baez deals being something they’re going to have to be planning for soon as well
Last edited:
Edit: and yes the penalty also resets if you dip under the tax for just one year
Digging up an old topic to change the topic of discussion around here. Nico Hoerner with his Major League debut last night. 3 for 5 with 4 RBIs, 2 runs scored and played flawlessly at shortstop. Not bad at all.
Rick Morrissey wrote in the ST that the Ricketts family needs to “pony up” for an ace starter this offseason.
How many ponies can you give with September payroll approaching $240 million?
Writing like that makes me want to gouge my eyes with a box cutter.
Oh that's right , they're broke. Guess increased ticket prices, private clubs and restaurants inside Wrigley, an outdoor beer garden and additional restaurants in new office building, along with their hotel doesn't leave them any spending money. Oh let's not forget their new TV station comes on board in a few months. Maybe they could just cut back their spending on Republican politics.
Oh Willy. So easy for you to spend other people’s money!
You realize their payroll is equivalent to that of the Yankees? You realize they probably spent $500 million trying fix Wrigley Field? They took on a boatload of debt to buy the Cubs too.
Cmon man. Dispense with bottomless pockets argument and try using some facts and logic.
So Miley is 13-4 this season and has been a pretty decent starter for the Astros.
Auspicious or suspicious?