MLB 2019 Offseason Thread

[El Guapo]

Yeah time for world’s smallest violin Dodgers haven’t won a WS in 31 years, we deserve a break

I'll be rooting for Betts in Los Angeles, for sure.

[Lorini]

That's very kind and appreciated!!!

They did a good job with the trade and also smartly traded Pederson, who is a platoon outfielder and got them under the luxury cap. Dodger fandom is happy now

[Scuzz]

The Dodgers getting Betts is great. Hopefully they can sign him beyond that. Price is a decent (if expensive) regular season starter. I just can't understand Boston feeling the need to trade Betts. I know it's money, but he could be a generational player.

[Lorini]

Hey! We have history

[El Guapo]

The Dodgers getting Betts is great. Hopefully they can sign him beyond that. Price is a decent (if expensive) regular season starter. I just can't understand Boston feeling the need to trade Betts. I know it's money, but he could be a generational player.

As far as I can tell, it really just is about John Henry wanting more yacht money.

[ImLawBoy]

The Curse of The Mook?

The Curse of Betts?

[El Guapo]

The Curse of The Mook?

The Curse of Betts?

At least it's in keeping with Red Sox tradition - win a bunch of championships in the first couple decades of the century, give away your best player for money, and then lose for the rest of the century.

The least John Henry could do at this point would be to fund a musical.

[ImLawBoy]

I figure he'll just name his new yacht the Nanette.

[Jaymann]

Pederson had 36 HR not playing every day? I liked Luis Rengifo as a great prospect, but the Angels are set at 2nd base. Pederson replaces lefty Calhoun in right field. With Otahni at DH (and some pitching) the Angel lineup is awesome. Too bad they are weak in starting pitching.

[Lorini]

Pederson can't hit lefties. Look up his splits. Your starting pitching will improve with Stripling, he's a good pitcher.

[Isgrimnur]

Yeah time for world’s smallest violin Dodgers haven’t won a WS in 31 years, we deserve a break

Glares in Texas Rangers

[naednek]

So should we do a wellness check for Lorini?

What about for me?

This is absolutely disgusting. But hey, I guess John Henry can buy a slightly bigger yacht, so that's nice.

Uh the Sox are rebuilding right??

I’m like

Let me remind you...

[Lorini]

That was pretty funny Too bad the Giants don't play in October anymore

[Lorini]

The Curse of The Mook?

The Curse of Betts?

At least it's in keeping with Red Sox tradition - win a bunch of championships in the first couple decades of the century, give away your best player for money, and then lose for the rest of the century.

The least John Henry could do at this point would be to fund a musical.

BUT WAIT!!! The trade is being held up because of a medical review, maybe he'll still play for the Sox!!!
(Probably not)
And perhaps the fans shouldn't be so angry?
Fans think that players care about championships, even though there's a gazillion examples (Machado comes to mind) of players getting huge money to go to teams that aren't going anywhere. Yes yes Brady took less money. But that's Brady, plus NFL's contracts aren't guaranteed anyway. And the Dodgers won't keep Betts because he wants a 12 year contract and the Dodgers repeatedly have demonstrated they will not do long term contracts. So in the end, I think the Sox did the right thing. Betts will get a contract they didn't want to pay for with some shitty team who is looking to get fans into the seats and the Sox will be able to get up and coming players instead of being stuck with an aging outfielder. I realize I'm biased, but really I like the way the Dodgers do things, I want the team to be good in 10 years not just at this moment and taking on long contracts is a good way to be 'rebuilding'. F that, be good all the time is my motto

[El Guapo]

The Curse of The Mook?

The Curse of Betts?

At least it's in keeping with Red Sox tradition - win a bunch of championships in the first couple decades of the century, give away your best player for money, and then lose for the rest of the century.

The least John Henry could do at this point would be to fund a musical.

BUT WAIT!!! The trade is being held up because of a medical review, maybe he'll still play for the Sox!!!
(Probably not)
And perhaps the fans shouldn't be so angry?
Fans think that players care about championships, even though there's a gazillion examples (Machado comes to mind) of players getting huge money to go to teams that aren't going anywhere. Yes yes Brady took less money. But that's Brady, plus NFL's contracts aren't guaranteed anyway. And the Dodgers won't keep Betts because he wants a 12 year contract and the Dodgers repeatedly have demonstrated they will not do long term contracts. So in the end, I think the Sox did the right thing. Betts will get a contract they didn't want to pay for with some shitty team who is looking to get fans into the seats and the Sox will be able to get up and coming players instead of being stuck with an aging outfielder. I realize I'm biased, but really I like the way the Dodgers do things, I want the team to be good in 10 years not just at this moment and taking on long contracts is a good way to be 'rebuilding'. F that, be good all the time is my motto

That isn't even a mildly compelling argument for Red Sox fans not to be angry. It's just a restatement of "well, this gets them under the luxury tax".

[Lorini]

You don’t think the fact that the Sox didn’t make the playoffs last year has anything to do with it? Serious question.

[stessier]

There is apparently still a question if this trade will be completed. It would amuse me if it fell through.

[Lorini]

Yes, but these things have happened with Dodger trades before (Matt Kemp and his bad hips in the trade to the Padres). The Dodgers will almost certainly just pay more of Price's salary to make up for the medical situation. One would think that the Dodgers would do a medical review of the players they are sending but I guess that's too much like work or something. Seems dumb they wouldn't do this to me.

[El Guapo]

You don’t think the fact that the Sox didn’t make the playoffs last year has anything to do with it? Serious question.

As a justification for this trade? Maybe Henry thinks it gives him a reason to "clean house" or whatever, but that doesn't make a ton of sense, since the trade clearly makes the Red Sox much worse for 2020 (*significantly* lowering their chances of making the 2020 playoffs), and probably makes them worse over the long run as well, though it gets harder to predict things the longer you go out of course. Betts, although he was merely very very good in 2019 as opposed to the best player in baseball in 2018, clearly wasn't the reason why the Red Sox didn't make the playoffs in 2019 - the reason they didn't was because their starting pitching was a dumpster fire. If Betts was being traded for a young #1 starter or something, you could maybe justify that, but he's being traded for an outfielder whose upside is being maybe 60% as good as Betts, and a pitcher whose upside is as a #3 or #4 starter (and who may plausibly wind up in the bullpen). Also Price is still a pretty good pitcher overall, so there's not much upside on the pitching front, especially for 2020.

The strongest argument for not being upset about the Betts trade is that Henry has overseen 4 Red Sox championships over the past couple decades after 86 years of famine, so maybe the man deserves a slightly larger yacht. But that's not an argument for the trade, it's an argument to chill out.

[El Guapo]

Yes, but these things have happened with Dodger trades before (Matt Kemp and his bad hips in the trade to the Padres). The Dodgers will almost certainly just pay more of Price's salary to make up for the medical situation. One would think that the Dodgers would do a medical review of the players they are sending but I guess that's too much like work or something. Seems dumb they wouldn't do this to me.

Yeah, unfortunately I think the only way this trade falls through is if the Red Sox get seller's remorse and use this as an excuse to drop out of the trade. Which is arguably a good reason for Red Sox fans to bombard the organization with complaints, with the hope that they get cold feet.

[Jaymann]

The Pederson deal isn't dependent on this one is it?

[El Guapo]

The Pederson deal isn't dependent on this one is it?

It's not explicitly linked, is my understanding. Unless there's some specific clause in the Pedersen trade, I don't see how that could be unwound regardless.

More on the injury issue. It's on the pitcher that the Red Sox are supposed to get back. So hey, maybe this will be a pure negative on the pitching side as well. It's also part of the frustration about the deal being clearly money-driven on the Red Sox side. Like, I don't know that the Red Sox care *that* much about what they get back in terms of players, it's just that they can't get back so little that it becomes too embarrassing for management.

[Lorini]

The Pederson deal isn't dependent on this one is it?

The LA Times reported that the Pederson deal won’t finalize until the Betts deal happens.

With the Dodgers I’m unsure about money rationales but I have seen they will not take on long contracts. Kershaw got a two year deal after his four year deal with a player option on the third year. We'll see what happens with Bellinger when his big day comes but I suspect that if he demands more than four or five years he’s walking.

[Lorini]

Sources are saying that the SF Giants want to sign Puig as a free agent. naednek will finally be able to root for his favorite player

[naednek]

Sources are saying that the SF Giants want to sign Puig as a free agent. naednek will finally be able to root for his favorite player

wouldn't surprise me with our dodger spy of a GM. Giants signed Hunter Pence today, Panda last week. Next week I'm guessing we'll sign Bumgarner

[Lorini]

According the Wall Street Journal Astros GM indeed knew about illegal sign stealing.. But what's even more disturbing to me is that Manfred covered for him.

In his nine-page report detailing the investigation, Manfred explained the Astros stole signs illegally throughout their 2017 World Series season and early in 2018 as well. The report says the investigation "revealed no evidence to suggest that Luhnow was aware of the banging scheme." There appears to be more to the story, however.

Astros employees told investigators there was no attempt to hide Codebreaker from Luhnow. Manfred's letter says Luhnow was aware of Codebreaker, the team's sign-stealing algorithm, but his final report says there was no evidence Luhnow knew about the banging scheme. Luhnow knew they were stealing signs but now how they relayed them. Semantics.

Exactly.

They really really need to get rid of this issue entirely by telling pitchers the signs will be relayed to the stadium billboard for everyone to see. It's so stupid.

Edit: ESPN's article on Hinch's interview with MLB.com. I think I'd be happy with him as the Dodgers manager if the front office can't break Roberts of his bro love. The main thing with him is for the front office to assure him that if he has cheating or other concerns about the way the team is behaving, the door is always open.

Oh and another edit to make my point:
From Fangraphs:

Rob Arthur of Baseball Prospectus had this to say after his initial look at Adams’ data:

“By and large, the Astros tended to get the signals right, but it was hardly perfect. They were most accurate when they whacked the can: When they did so, a non-fastball was on the way 93 percent of the time and they were wrong seven percent of the time. … Based on Adams’ data, the Astros used the trash can frequently and they were relatively accurate, moreso when banging than when silent.”

A 93% accuracy rate seems high, but when the banging misidentified pitch, it had a significant negative effect on the overall value of the scheme — at least according to Arthur’s methods:

“When the fix was in, the Astros received a substantial advantage. But when the players in the tunnel thought they had cracked the code and it turned out they hadn’t, it harmed the batters at the plate more than knowing the incoming pitch helped them. … The net effect of the banging comes astonishingly close to being zero. Nothing. Statistically, for all the work and effort that went into the cheating scheme, the grand result of it, at least as measured in this way, turned out to be no runs at all.”

[Lorini]

Rumors are surfacing that the medical issues the Sox claim are really them trying to back out of the deal with the Dodgers because of fan blowback. So the pundits were wrong; fans should get angry.

[Jaymann]

Rumors are surfacing that the medical issues the Sox claim are really them trying to back out of the deal with the Dodgers because of fan blowback. So the pundits were wrong; fans should get angry.

So probably no Pederson deal, Oh well, Rengfilo is solid and they have a huge outfield prospect coming up in Jo Adell. Gonna miss Stripling though.

[Lorini]

Rumors are surfacing that the medical issues the Sox claim are really them trying to back out of the deal with the Dodgers because of fan blowback. So the pundits were wrong; fans should get angry.

So probably no Pederson deal, Oh well, Rengfilo is solid and they have a huge outfield prospect coming up in Jo Adell. Gonna miss Stripling though.

So apparently Pederson blew up his arbitration by saying he wasn't sure of which team he worked for

[Hrothgar]

Ludnow claimed that codebreaker was used to teach a baserunner to read an opposing catcher's signals and relay them to the batter.

Whether that conforms to the spirit of the rule, I think it was allowed by the letter of the rule. That sounds very Ludnow.

I have to admit that I was surprised at the number of sharp knives that came out after Ludnow was fired. It especially contrasted to the town's love and support given to Hinch.

[Lorini]

Ludnow claimed that codebreaker was used to teach a baserunner to read an opposing catcher's signals and relay them to the batter.

Whether that conforms to the spirit of the rule, I think it was allowed by the letter of the rule. That sounds very Ludnow.

I have to admit that I was surprised at the number of sharp knives that came out after Ludnow was fired. It especially contrasted to the town's love and support given to Hinch.

I can't read the WSJ article but the article I referenced said that what the codebreaker suggested was not legal. And in any case, Ludnow should have checked with MLB to make sure it was. I have no idea if it was legal or not

[Lorini]

Trade's done finally.

[Lorini]

Well ESPN is reporting that theathletic.com is reporting that the Pederson trade is off. I went to theathletic.com and no such story exists. Perhaps theathletic.com jumped the gun and withdrew the story? I don't go there that often so I could have easily missed it.

[El Guapo]

Trade's done finally.

It's cool, we have a catching prospect now, so now obviously I'm totally fine with dealing away a generational player.

[Lorini]

Pederson deal off the table because Moreno got impatient. Angels gonna be the Angels.

[Jaymann]

Pederson deal off the table because Moreno got impatient. Angels gonna be the Angels.

So apparently Pederson blew up his arbitration by saying he wasn't sure of which team he worked for

Moreno doesn't care much for dissidents, or idiots for that matter. Big sigh of relief from Goodwin.

[Lorini]

Pederson deal off the table because Moreno got impatient. Angels gonna be the Angels.

So apparently Pederson blew up his arbitration by saying he wasn't sure of which team he worked for

Moreno doesn't care much for dissidents, or idiots for that matter. Big sigh of relief from Goodwin.

Anyone looking for intelligence in a baseball player needs to keep looking, I mean c'mon really? Outfielders are supposed to hit, not think

[El Guapo]

Pederson deal off the table because Moreno got impatient. Angels gonna be the Angels.

So apparently Pederson blew up his arbitration by saying he wasn't sure of which team he worked for

Moreno doesn't care much for dissidents, or idiots for that matter. Big sigh of relief from Goodwin.

Anyone looking for intelligence in a baseball player needs to keep looking, I mean c'mon really? Outfielders are supposed to hit, not think

Per the great scholar Johnny Damon:

But we don't think. If we use our brains, we're only hurting the team.

[Lorini]

As was demonstrated

[Isgrimnur]

ESPN

Major League Baseball is mulling significant changes to its postseason, including increasing the number of teams from 10 to 14 and adding a reality-TV-type format to determine which teams play each other in an expanded wild-card round, sources told ESPN.

MLB is considering a move in which each league would have three division winners and four wild-card teams make the postseason, sources said. The best team in the league would receive a bye into the division series. The two remaining division winners and the wild-card team with the best record of the four would each host all games of a best-of-three series in the opening round.

The potential changes were first reported by the New York Post.

Once the teams clinch and the regular season ends, the plan gets congested:

• The division winner with the second-best record would select its wild-card opponent from the three wild-card winners not hosting a series.
• The division winner with the worst record would then choose its opponent from the remaining two wild-card teams.
• The final matchup would pit the wild-card winner with the best record against the wild-card team not yet chosen.
• All of the selections, sources said, would be unveiled live on television the Sunday night of the final regular-season games.