hot stove 2019-20

yeah i'm a phan

being a rays fan must be very frustrating. first of all, there's only like 30,000 of them, total, in the world. but beyond that, particularly for younger fans, it must be frustrating to watch them trade away talent like pham in order to avoid paying an $8M salary (what Pham is expected to get after arbitration). they're godhead from the management angle of getting young talent, keeping costs low and staying competitive with a very low payroll, but if you're a kid, you just want there to be a really good player that sticks around and that you connect with and spend a few years watching and getting to know a little. that was longoria for a long time, i guess, but in general they just seem like a hard team for a casual fan to root for

A generation or 2 of Oakland A's fans can relate^^^

Michael Pineda to Twins, 2/20M

― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Friday, December 6, 2019 4:07 AM (five hours ago)

What's the largest contract for a player currently serving a suspension for PEDs?

Padres might not be great next year but they could pull a Royals and surprise people. Tatis will only be better, Machado too. Pham is real solid, Renfroe has power but doesn't walk much and doesn't hit for average.

plus it's an even year, so that means hosmer is due for a ...oh

but yeah, they could be dangerous, especially if the SP takes a step up

but yeah, they could be dangerous, especially if the SP takes a step up

i guess this could apply to every team, lol

reports of marcell ozuna to the white sox

Don Kelly, in moving from Astros staff to become Pirates bench coach, is nicely positioning himself for the manager’s gig he inevitably will get. Nice resume for a man who’s only 39.

— Lynn G. Henning (@Lynn_Henning) December 7, 2019

yesss

maybe he'll bring the cameras and whistles

strasburg stays in dc

seven years, $220m apparently

make that $245m

does that include a strike year?

sir didi to philly

kevin gausman to the giants, one year $9m

Didi Gregorius signed by PHI (1 year/$14 million dollars)

I had no idea that he was a free agent OR that he had such an off-year with the stick. Damn, just when it looked like the Yanks finally had a good shortstop...

Zack Cozart and Will Wilson traded to SF; cash considerations to LAA

Angels clearing payroll space for Rendon or Cole.

He came late to the season off TJ. 1/14 is a good pillow contract tbh and he should do well on philly

:(

Can we really believe that teams 'want' to trade Mookie Betts or Kris Bryant?

Seems jockeying for salary negations, right?

Cole to Yanks for 9 years/324 million

Which uh damn

The luxury of not having to worry about making a mistake.

That’s a 36 million avg. sweet damn.

The Yankees have gotten their spending mojo back. The Boss would have certainly approved.

I’m a Steele Walker, I kill what I eat.

can Cole have some kind of nonfatal farming accident

I don't think he has any farm bg, but he could start

Maybe he’ll injure himself carrying that contract up his steps.

I can't begin to understand this. For a pitcher. Would have preferred re-upping Didi and Dellin, going after Ryu.

Hope he's bubble-wrapped and given an ankle bracelet / full-time chaperone

can't believe this news outshone the white sox signing nomar mazara

The White Sox will be hoping this changes, but Nomar Mazara's numbers have been absurdly consistent*.

2016: 93 OPS+, 20 HR
2017: 90 OPS+, 20 HR
2018: 96 OPS+, 20 HR
2019: 96 OPS+, 19 HR

*not a synonym for "good"

— Andrew Simon (@AndrewSimonMLB) December 11, 2019

#Mets are working hard to finalize a 1-yr contract with Michael Wacha.

— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) December 11, 2019

I know money is no object to the Yankees but holy shit that contract is nuts. Cole turns 30 next year and NY doesn't exactly seem suited to his talents

Cole has been incredible two years running and i would bet he'll continue to be incredible, though of course like almost every SP he's not a sure thing (arguably the only sure things among starting pitchers over the past decade have been Scherzer and Verlander, the latter only scuffling when he was hurting a few years back iirc). the length seems crazy but the Yanks do really want a reliable ace and not many are coming along.

most likely but I doubt he'll have another year quite like what he had in Houston.

obviously the contract makes sense in that the Yankees window is very much now, iirc in the next 3 or 4 years Judge, Sanchez, Torres, Severino and Betances will all be FAs. still nuts to give any pitcher that sort of money, especially giving them the opt out clause in year 5. as good as Cole is you never knew how age is gonna affect a guy

hate to tell the mets but wacha is only going to pitch 73.2 innings in 2020 before his arm explodes

frogbs how is NY not suited to his talents? Do you mean because of RF? I don't have the numbers but iirc he radically improved ground ball rate these past two seasons. I imagine he'll do just fine.

cole's groundball rate was actually down in houston (the pirates stressed sinkers more than most) but he more than made up for it in strikeouts. his splits against lefty batters are fine and he'll be fine

i'd imagine they are hoping he opts the fuck out in 5 years.

xpost

i'm mostly pissed that cole didn't use his leverage to keep his long hair/beard, because fuck that yankee crap

yet proud that the pirates could smoothly fulfill their role in the whole process

Keep your slovenly habits to yourself.

Put on a tie. And sit up straight fer chrissakes!

I don’t have such strong feelings on this issue except I like the differentiation and I LOVE how much for whatever reason it bothers other ppl

Sources: Zack Wheeler joins Phillies on five-year deal worth more than $100 million

that's fine but if you're gonna spend that kind of money i think i'd rather spend more to get cole or strasburg

i may have underestimated the financial gap here

Jays blow their allowance on 2 years of Tanner Roark at $12 mil per

Rendon to the Angels, 7/245

frogbs how is NY not suited to his talents? Do you mean because of RF? I don't have the numbers but iirc he radically improved ground ball rate these past two seasons. I imagine he'll do just fine.

that plus his HR rate which was his one actual weakness last year. though I wonder how many of those probably shouldn't have been homers

kudos to texas for really trying

Rangers went into the process not wanting to go more than five years for Rendon and Scott Boras made it clear that seven years what clubs were offering

— TR Sullivan (@Sullivan_Ranger) December 12, 2019

Wtf Rangers?

The value of Rendon's contract isn't much more than the one he supposedly turned down from the Nationals months ago. Still, he did well. AAV is almost the same as Mike Trout's contract!

I always thought Roark was underrated, that's not a bad signing by the Jays.

Right-hander Blake Treinen and the Los Angeles Dodgers have agreed to a one-year, $10 million deal, sources told ESPN's Jeff Passan on Wednesday.