The 2021-2022 Non-Fungible Hot Stove Thread (Presented by Monkeyjizz)

i'm glad bryant is getting paid -- by all accounts i've heard he's a good guy -- but yeah it's sad

In nearly 20 years covering baseball, not sure I’ve seen a better lineup than the one the Dodgers will use this season. In some order, it’s going to be Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Trea Turner, Will Smith, Max Muncy, Cody Bellinger, Justin Turner, Chris Taylor and A.J. Pollock.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 17, 2022

fuuuck freeman to dodgers

he would have been a v good fit for the red sox

and sale's out indefinitely w a broken rib, the guy appears to be made of tissue paper

not sure what bloom's gameplan is here

Dang, I was rooting for Freddie to go to the Jays.

I have only been catching up on all this Hot Stove stuff. Agree with others on here about the Bryant contract, glad for him but he is way overpaid and the years make no sense for Colorado.

Joc Pederson to the Giants is a nothing move when you lose both Posey and Bryant. Farhan is not doing much this year but has money, I do trust him but hope he isn't being too cheap.

The Dodgers are just going to buy everything I guess. They have to be up to around $300MM payroll at this point. This can't be good for baseball and fuck them.

Are we having the paying players is bad for baseball debate

really bizarre thing to say after a labor strike centered primarily around the fact that essentially every team in baseball is slashing salary, which beyond the moral issue of where the money flowing, is obviously bad for the sport from an entertainment & competitiveness perspective

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for Kris Bryant but I watched him the last half of last year. He airmailed at least three balls to first base, which was very bizarre as he was a third baseman in Chicago. He's just not worth that kind of money in my opinion and doesn't make Colorado any better than a forth place team.

xpost

or meant to say fourth place team in that loaded NL West division

"In nearly 20 years covering baseball, not sure I’ve seen a better lineup than the one the Dodgers will use this season."

Without any kind of comparison, that strikes me as wrong. Houston's lineup the year they won was better (putting aside the controversy). I think I could find a few more, too. Toronto's lineup in '93 was better.

Okay, the '93 Jays are outside his window...The Dodgers finished fourth in baseball last year in runs scored. They've added Freeman, and they've added the DH; they lost Seager, and they have a lot of good (not great, I'd say) hitters a year older. Who knows what you'll get with Bellinger. I'd bet against them to lead baseball in runs.

padres acquire luke voit

matt carpenter to the rangers on a minors deal

there’s your former cardinals update

Surprised the Yankees are dealing for minor leaguers

Voit didn’t have a position w rizzo DJLM and a surely immobile stanton and rehabbing at some point Judge

Also anyone who throws 100+ is major league ready for 20 innings a year

Also anyone who throws 100+ is major league ready for 20 innings a year

yeah i think it's more that the yankees were trying to dump voit, and everyone knew it, and that's all they could get

does anyone know what the deal with arbitration-eligible players is? seems like there are a lot of contracts to be agreed to/arbitrated and only three weeks to do it

kenle y jansen to the braves, 1yr/$16m

Jansen is “specifically NOT a genius” personified abd probably a dumb use of 16 mil

Ya, that number comes as kind of a surprise to me

Probably could have kept freeman for that

isn't Freeman going to get hosed with his salary due to playing in CA? that's one of those things i'm just baffled by if i was a potential FA - sure you're making $30 mil a year but $30 mil as a Dodger vs. $30 mil as a Marlin ends up different in the bank account after taxes.

Come on, when you make that much money the taxes don't matter.

somehow castellanos and schwarber ended up on the same team

Correa to the Twins 3Y/$105M, with opt-outs the first two years. Did not see any of that coming.

idgi for correa. i mean obviously he’s set for life and has some insurance if he gets hurt, but does kicking the can a year down the road really help?

i guess the dodgers will be in the market for a SS next year, and brandon crawford will be 36, but

it’s unexpected and fun, though, so i still like it

I guess competing with 4 other top SS drained his market too much - so the year-to-year makes some sense. His career has been a little up and down so this lets him pick his spot.
Wonder what this means for Story. Apparently he’s backed down from his “must play SS” stance.

The AL Central is back.

Does it have a NTC?

Worst case for Correa: 105M in his pocket, free agency at 30, still young enough to get a huge five year contract.
Best case: MVP-level year in 2022, bathes in money for the next ten years or so.

How exactly the Twins fit into this master plan is anybody's guess.

Guess the twins are figuring they have a decent shot at a wildcard spot. They’ve definitely made some interesting moves so far (aside from screwing themselves with Gary Sanchez behind the plate)

Story to Boston for 6 yrs/$140M. I think the only notable unsigned free agent left is…Conforto?

The opt out situation for Story is really bizarre.

blue jays sending randall grichuk and cash to the rockies for raimel tapia and a prospect

Leaving Alejandro Kirk as the handsomest blue Jay. The prospect, I’d never heard of, but had some great numbers last year. Looks very Altuve-esque

Don't know much about Tapia. His home/road splits are typical of Colorado.

Tapia's numbers would look pretty good if he happened to be a plus defender, but he isn't.

@matttadelphia
Nick Castellanos collects his first hit as a Phillie after the Blue Jays broadcast read pitching coach Pete Walker’s DUI apology statement on-air.

The Machine is back in St. Louis.

The Cardinals are finalizing a one-year deal with Albert Pujols, sources tell @katiejwoo.

The 42-year-old spent his first 11 seasons in St. Louis where he won three MVP awards and two World Series titles. pic.twitter.com/sGsKGEsref

— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) March 28, 2022

nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

FUCK

i will say, i was looking at his 2021 splits earlier today, after hearing a broadcaster talk about how much he could still kill lefties.

i totally get it. look at last year, 2021:

vs LH: 146 wRC+ (146 PAs)
vs RH: 36 wRC+ (150 PAs)

if 35-year-old new manager Ollie Marmol can manage to restrict prince albert to appearances against lefties only, great! but fuck, no, that's not happening.

the brewers will win the division, the cardinals will sell more merchandise. i don't doubt that there will be many moments of nostalgia with pujols/molina/wainwright this season, but they just made the team worse

can i just say that i love this deal though? god this is horrible

prince
albert
pujols

35-year-old oli marmol is managing pujols (42), molina (39), and wainwright (40)

the retirement tour is going to be excruciating for everyone who witnesses it.
also, "the road to 700", oooof

I knew you'd be all over this, KM...There were times I wanted certain Jays to come back and take a final curtain call (maybe McGriff and Delgado, or Alomar...can't remember exactly), even though I knew it made zero sense. So I understand "can i just say that i love this deal though? god this is horrible."

haha, for sure. god, it's already excruciating, just listening to the broadcast for today's game. but that's because it's a jim edmonds game (when he rotates in as the color commentator, he speaks for about 80-90% of the game). edmonds said both pujols AND molina are in the best shape of their lives, so that was cool.

also, after the first inning, pujols walked from the bullpen to the dugout, appearing in the cardinals uniform (#5) for the first time since 2011. apparently he was finishing up a physical before being allowed to join. he got a huge standing ovation from the crowd and the team, was pretty fucking emotional tbh

and i have to admit, i wasn't planning on going to opening day because i need to be not spending any money at all, but i am VERY tempted to see wainwright throwing to molina with pujols as the DH, the clydesdales, the organ song, the old hall of famers riding around, all of that. feels like i shouldn't miss that

You're right about that platoon split. In slash stats:

vs. RH: .180/.233/.266
vs. LH: .294/.336/.603

The bizarre thing is, he had almost equal PA against each: 150/146. His managers just totally ignored what was painfully obvious.

this guy is a psycho

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