The Dr. Morbius Memorial 2020-2021 MLB Hot Stove Thread

Kluber to the frigging Yankees. 1 year, $11M apparently.

Source confirms: Blue Jays in agreement with free-agent outfielder George Springer. Per @JonHeyman, six years, $150M. Pending physical.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 20, 2021

A year and $20M more than I expected - but I am pumped.
They landed Kirby Yates today too.

Biggest free agent signing in Jays history -- by far!

wow

i'm guessing this means jbj stays with the boxsox

bosox

michael brantley also to the jays

... maybe. Or maybe not.
If it winds up happening, the have a logjam of corner OF/DH hitters. So the thinking is that if they do sign him, they’ll quickly deal Lourdes Gurriel for a starter.

sounds like he is instead re-signing with houston

former pirate great j.a. happ to minnesota

looks like brantley back to astros?

Ya that makes much more sense.

Astros steal another sign(ing)

Some speculation on (30-year-old) George Springer:

https://www.billjamesonline.com/a_connecticut_astro_in_queen_elizabeths_colony/

(Not James, Dave Fleming.)

jbj to stros?

profar returns to SD, 3/$21m

ryan zimmerman returns to WAS, 1/$1m

Quintana is an Angel for $8M

pirates are expected to trade jameson taillon -- their only remaining player that means anything at all to me -- in the next couple days

might as well trade ke'bryan hayes too -- sure, he's only played 24 MLB games, but his stock will never be higher

Craig Mish
@CraigMish
The Philadelphia Phillies and JT Realmuto are in agreement on a 5 year $115.5 million dollar contract. Pending physical. Per source.

Semiens to the Jays!

What an offseason for the Jays (still think a mid-rotation pitcher would do wonders).

Infielder run!!!

Also love the Semiens signing for the jays. I was hoping they’d land him.

it's semien singular

but what does this mean for bo and/or cavan?

Tommy La Stella has never had 400 plate appearances in a season, but he just got a three-year contract a few days before his 32nd birthday. My latest on a truly unique player: https://t.co/R9L28BwTTI

— Tony Wolfe (@_TonyWolfe_) January 27, 2021

love that dude

remember when the cubs tried to option him to the minors and he just refused (for a couple of weeks)

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2016/08/09/cubs-la-stella-refuses-to-report-to-minors/88494048/

Semien playing 2B and I guess Cavin or Vlad at 3B depending how spring training goes. I imagine Biggio could gain a lot of at bats just filling in at LF/1B/2B to let guys rotate into DH or sit for a day. Could see Marcus moving to the left side at some point of Bo/Biggio/Vlad really stink it up.

And the Jays just shipped three slapdicks to the Mets for Matz. Not really sure he’s an improvement over any of their borderline AAAA starters, but what do I know.

Matz had so much promise 96 mph lefty and local kid but he's gotten progressively worse.

I haven't paid attention too closely, but why did the Jays give up on Sean Reid-Foley? He was such a big deal a couple of years ago. I see look at this stats and see control issues and the possibility he's coming off an injury, but also a lot of strikeouts and he's only 24.

Matz is super streaky. He'll have a few great starts and just when you think he's an ace the wheels will come off and he'll lose his starting role and then he builds it back up and sucks you in...

why did the Jays give up on Sean Reid-Foley? He was such a big deal a couple of years ago.

i don't think he was ever a "big deal" – he was rounding out some of our top prospect list before Bo and Vlad etc came along because of a lack of depth at the time and his high draft level. i never had big hopes for the guy, his stuff never seem to develop and his control was all over the place. of all the guys who came up as a starter on the Jays right now, i liked him the least even out of the pen because he didn't seem to have any pitches that could blow anyone away. i'd rather see what guys like Zeuch or Merryweather or Borucki could do in our rotation. losing Josh Winckowski is the only thing that will keep me up at night about this deal (tho, i thought Diaz had some closer potential).

In the coming days, we’ll presumably learn more about other offers on the table. For now, it’s remarkable that nobody valued Tanaka’s durability and track record enough to pony up. A model of consistency, Tanaka had posted 2.5 WAR or better in each of the past four full seasons, and if you prorate his 2020 numbers to a normal innings total, he’d have cleared that bar again last year as well. You can even dream a little bit on the velocity uptick he saw in 2020, and corresponding increase in swinging strike rate from 2019. Steamer had him as a three-win player in 2021, and while ZiPS is a little more pessimistic, we’re still talking about a good mid-rotation arm here. It boggles the mind that 30 MLB teams effectively passed on him.

Look, it’s no fun at all poking at MLB and its many problems these days. I don’t want to write about all of the ways the league is failing its customers any more than you want to read it. But we can’t take the Tanaka signing, or non-signing depending on your perspective, in a vacuum. Three of the last four free agent markets have been ice cold. For all intents and purposes, the league has a salary cap, and there aren’t many teams at risk of reaching it. A bitter collective bargaining dispute looms. Amidst that landscape, one of the world’s best pitchers is leaving the country in part because nobody in the world’s best league made it a priority to sign him.

That’s a choice, as much a collective one as a series of individual decisions. What that says about the state of the league, and MLB’s place in the broader sport and entertainment industry isn’t entirely clear just yet. But whatever it is, it can’t be anything good.

link to the full piece?

I ask because I wonder if he was truly "passed" on or rather that his agent wouldn't accept an offer under "$x" as Tanaka could make that in Japan.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/masahiro-tanaka-signs-with-rakuten-eagles-wait-what/

Thanks, that was a good piece.

i don't want to speculate on this, but IF tanaka was looking at offers in A) the united states, a country of obnoxious loud racist patriot science skeptics vs B) japan, MLB veteran returning home having pitched 1000+ innings for the yankees, ending his career with tributes among friends and family, etc

i'm not sure how many millions that is worth

also: i'm just assuming there will be a strike/lockout in 2022, not sure about anyone else. but maybe he's thinking that in a pandemic, he'd rather pitch 2021 in japan than the US, and 2022 might be a wash for MLB anyway.

I know Japan is revered in awkward whimsical ways in the west, but that country is perhaps as racist and science-skeptical as this one, maybe more!

Yes, they do wear masks when they are sick, but I suggest not talking to Japanese nationals about vaccinations.

yeah, i didn't mean to emphasize that so much i guess. maybe he loves living here (who wouldnt?!?!). and as the fangraphs article mentions, most other players don't play in Japan until the end of their careers, after they can't get playing opportunity here anymore. so obviously it's not down to which country rules more (USA, obviously!!). that's why i wish i'd emphasized the factors in my second post more: pandemic + impending 2022 no mlb

Agreed it's a weird time and in a time of uncertainty he can be patient and spend a year back home and rack up another absurd stat season to bring back to the USA when the owners have bigger checkbooks.

Okay, morning news in Japan says that the Jays were aggressively pursuing him but he decided to return to Japan instead.

Also mentioned that 2021 is the 10 year anniversary of the Tohoku earthquake (and subsequent nuclear meltdown) which is near where the Eagles play so Tanaka's homecoming will be a very symbolic return for the local fans.

joc pederson to the cubs, 1 yr/$7 million

if you have to have this type of Guy, i'll take pederson over schwarber

Tanaka just be homesick. Homesickness is a big deal.

Might just be, sorry.

BREAKING: Cardinals have agreed to acquire Nolan Arenado from Rockies, sources tell @TheAthletic. Deal pending approval from both MLB and players’ union; Rockies sending Cardinals significant cash, believed to be in $50M range, and Arenado will be deferring money.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 30, 2021

The Rockies barely escaped last place last season, looks like they're just gonna phone this season (and the next few) in.

Congrats to the NL Central winners St Louis Cardinals.

Happy for KM.

Whoa!!!

Just saw this, here! Ok...