hot stove 2018-19

Lucroy's such an odd player, a lot of his value as a catcher was tied up into his pitch framing skills which went from league-leading to genuinely awful in the span of only a couple of years. I'm not sure what happened to him. But 3.6m for 1 year seems like a good bet.

How does that skill even decline?!

could be noise

i think that's supposedly happened to other catchers too (maybe yadi?) and i don't understand it either

david robertson to the phillies, two years/$21m plus club option year

The Mets signed pitcher Arquimedes Caminero and outfielder Rymer Liriano to minor league deals.

"We focus on the Yankees and Cubs, the Phillies and Dodgers, but a team like the Pirates can not only sign Manny Machado without risking a loss, they are positioned to get more from the signing, based on the marginal wins he would add, than almost any other team. It’s teams like the Pirates refusing to take themselves seriously that is grating. The 2019 Marlins shouldn’t be spending money. The 2019 Royals shouldn’t be spending money. The 2019 Pirates should. That they’re just accepting 81 wins and fat checks should be more an embarrassment to MLB, and frankly to Bob Nutting, than it is."

joe sheehan otm

Mark Loretta, new Cubs bench coach

This was pretty fun.

'the team would be pretty gritty'

https://sports.yahoo.com/mlb-managers-trash-talk-spot-mvp-baseball-2005-lineup-002104365.html

.@Mets acquire OF Keon Broxton from @Brewers for RHPs Bobby Wahl, Adam Hill and INF Felix Valerio.

— MLBRosterMoves (@MLBRosterMoves) January 5, 2019

anyone know if those guys they gave up are any good?

NYY sign Zach Britton 39/3

The busy Mets acquired infielder J.D. Davis and Minor League infielder Cody Bohanek from the Astros on Sunday. Houston received Minor League outfielder Ross Adolph, infielder Luis Santana and catcher Scott Manea in return.

Looking those guys up, I'm guessing Davis was out of options and Houston is pretty packed where this guy could play. Davis has hit for some power in the minor leagues.

kelvin herrera to the white sox 2/$18m

Mets also sent Kevin Plawecki to Cleveland

https://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/mets/mets-kevin-plawecki-j-d-davis-1.25616997

BREAKING: MLB Sees Record Revenues Of $10.3 Billion For 2018 via @ForbesSports https://t.co/BGHBiUoqoY

— Maury Brown (@BizballMaury) January 7, 2019

https://www.theringer.com/mlb/2019/1/8/18173625/free-agency-slow-signing-pace-manny-machado-bryce-harper

the dilemma of teams’ bottom lines being divorced from their on-field results

indeed

Jonny Gomes is Arizona's new "outfield and baserunning coordinator"

as pointed out on the EW podcast, he was good at neither baserunning nor OF defense

former diamondbacks great shelby miller to the rangers

Tell AT&T Park goodbye, Giants fans.

Buster Posey, Brandon Crawford and their mates henceforth will play ball at Oracle Park.

The Giants on Thursday will announce a 20-year agreement with the Redwood City technology company to affix its name to their waterfront ballpark in San Francisco.

#Brewers in agreement with free-agent catcher Yasmani Grandal on a one-year contract, sources tell The Athletic.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 10, 2019

nice pick up for the Brewers, who will have the best backup catcher in the league sitting behind Erik Kratz

nationals 'close' on brian dozier

really jealous of the brewers' signings over the past two offseasons

yeah. they're doing things pirate fans can only dream of

jed lowrie to the mets?!?!?!?!

i mean how many second basemen does one team need

the mets new GM just signing all his old over the hill clients >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

well, last year it was all first basemen

(phaps Cano will play first some)

i don't hate the mets signing him -- he's old, but put up over 8 WAR over the last two seasons, and he'll be worth the money if he does a third of that -- but it seems an odd use of resources

i do find it amazing that the many teams who actually need second basemen wouldn't offer more than that. well, actually not that amazing because the whole system is obviously broken

lowrie was good last year but i'm just naturally suspicious of a GM whose big ideas are to go after his own clients. also it's the mets... there's no way them signing a 34 year old FA turns out well.

It's a bit of a head-scratcher, considering what they really could use right now is another prominent reliever, but he's a quality (albeit older) player at a good price that gives more depth to the infield. There is no such thing as too much depth when you talk about the Mets lately.

Moose Betts has 20M settlement with Red Sox

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) January 11, 2019

dj lemahieu to the yankees

all these nym/nyy second basemen should live together on the ues, they can call it keystone house

j0rdan, it's TWO Brodie clients, you cynic.

https://mlb.nbcsports.com/2019/01/11/arbitration-deadline-could-mean-more-than-usual/

Last fall, however, Ken Rosenthal reported something that got very little notice at the time: the players’ union believes that all 30 teams will take a “file-and-trial” approach to arbitration this winter.

Jaffe sez wait n' see on the Mets

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/jed-lowrie-joins-mets-overcrowded-infield/

a's have avoided arbitration with five of six, marlins agreed to deals with all five of their arb-eligible players, bunch of other big names have agreed to terms today, so that xp might be premature

treasured canadian russell martin dealt to the dodgers

"...returns...", ya mean.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/maurybrown/2019/01/11/economic-data-shows-mlb-spent-less-on-player-salaries-compared-to-revenues-in-2018/#9cb209c39d79

I’m a little surprised how much $$$ the Jays are sending along with Russ.

white sox sign jon jay

btw, fuck off deadspin

https://deadspin.com/white-sox-sign-shitty-player-1831656270

better deadspin

https://deadspin.com/baseball-doesnt-need-collusion-to-turn-off-the-hot-stov-1831644811

I have declared for the NFL Draft.

— Kyler Murray (@TheKylerMurray) January 14, 2019

.@MLBNetwork Melvin Upton announces he will be officially known as B.J. Upton, once again.

— sboeck (@scott_boeck) January 15, 2019

lol

it's Barbara Hershey/Seagull all over again