hot stove 2019-20

40 years ago it woulda been just the Castro

LaRussa to Angels as baseball ops adviser

Will Smith to Braves

Ben Cherington is new Pirates GM

Kind of surprised Abreu and Odorizzi took the QO.
I guess last off-season has them spooked?

abreu strikes me as a guy who would get a decent two, maybe three year deal, but he also feels like a guy who could drop off a cliff any season now.

1b is really shallow this offseason too.

everything sounds great at the owners meetings in arlington

Astros owner Jim Crane is sitting about 30 feet away. We're not allowed to approach him and a sherriff and constable are standing in between the media and the owner. He'll get to decide whether he wants to speak about the cheating investigation. Stay tuned...

— Laura Albanese (@AlbaneseLaura) November 20, 2019

Jacoby Ellsbury Poly has been released.

Way to mess up my vanity search results

lol it took me a second to get that

Sorry, Poly.

OFFICIAL: The #WhiteSox have agreed to terms on a four-year, $73-million contract with free agent All-Star catcher Yasmani Grandal (@YazmanianDVL08). Under terms of the agreement, Grandal will receive $18.25 million per year from 2020-2023. pic.twitter.com/dczzZo8UTE

— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) November 21, 2019

nice signing imo

dude had a low-key Tettleton-esque season last year

oh wow

although i guess the perception of grandal depends on how much stock you put in pitch framing value stats

only thing that worries me is that he's 31 and caught a *lot* of games over the last couple seasons (137 last year, 135 in 2018)

surprised the Brewers didn't try to match that offer. their backup is not exactly someone you'd want in the lineup every day and I don't think they have anyone on the horizon. maybe they're saving up for a monster offer to Yelich.

are the brewers in a good position to offer a massive contract to someone like yelich without hurting the rest of their team?

(hurting the rest of the team by not having much extra money to sign/extend other players, i mean)

They don't have a whole lot on the books right now. Actually the Stearns era is the first time I can remember us not having some 35 year old starter signed who absolutely sucks but is still getting paid $15 million so he gets to stay in the opening day rotation, then eventually mop up duty by early June. 2 more years for Braun, 3 for Cain, combined $30m, plus Yelich. I'm not sure who else on that roster they'd want to give a significant extension to. Houser, Woodruff, and Hiura aren't free agents for a long time. They'll probably keep a ton of players through arbitration but some of the potential big money guys like Shaw & Jimmy Nelson basically tumbled off a cliff last year. Hader & Knebel might be kinda expensive I guess. They're gonna have to field some sort of rotation next year but there are a lot of options for them there.

Steve Stone was on the Russo's show and was saying since rosters are going to 26, the White Sox will most likely carry three catchers with Zack Collins and James McCann then use them also at DH. Grandal's switch hitting fills having a lefty for the lineup to split things up. Seems plausible.

So which starter would you give the long term deal to, Cole or Strasburg?

I’m going with the + 2 years of prime Cole offers.

Abreu resigned with the Sox, 3 years, 50 millions.

like to see a stalwart get re-signed, but i'm not sure that was a great idea

White Sox love their lumbering long time first basemen. Idk how much Adam “Sports Dad” Laroche counts, not much imo, but it’s been Thomas/Konerko/Abreu going back to 1991.

they took a (college) first baseman with the third overall pick in june; would probably expect him to arrive by 2021

eh, whatever -- they can afford it

seems like he's also seen as an important mentor for their younger players, especially fellow cubans yoan moncada and luis robert

tru

so apparently the yankees are going to try to get out of paying the rest of Ellsbury's contract. i guess they think that him seeing an outside trainer has negated the thing?!

lols all around

cubs acquire jharel cotton from the a’s for $$

Gerardo Parra to Yomiuri Giants

Travis d'Arnaud signs a two-year, $16 million deal with the Braves

BLUE JAYS SIGN COLE https://t.co/gS73gw2oSp

— Céspedes Family BBQ (@CespedesBBQ) November 25, 2019

cheap

longtime replacement-level tigers reliever drew verhagen is off to japan to fight ham

Mets:

Jeremy Hefner - pitching coach
Hensley Meulens - bench coach
Chili Davis returns as hitting coach

https://www.amazinavenue.com/2019/11/26/20983870/mets-news-jeremy-hefner-bench-coach-carlos-beltran-coaching-staff-new-york

BAM
BAM

kyle gibson to texas

i guess someone has to eat the innings

the gibson family thanksgiving dinner, 2054

Kyle Gibson Jr III: "was grandpa good at baseball?"
*uncomfortable silence*

brewers trade trent grisham and zach davies to the padres for luis urias and eric lauer

*four glasses of wine later*

"...which brings us to the concept of the "replacement value" player, by which your grandpa did provide positive value, to an extent..."

former red sox great drew pomeranz to san diego

xp
wow, that trade!

grisham, urias, and lauer all seem like high ceiling players/prospects. seems likely that one team or the other will "win" the trade, but it's not clear which team that is..

gotta wonder how dangerous the padres would be if they hadn't chosen to build their team around wil myers and eric fucking hosmer a couple years ago

Urias was considered a pretty hot prospect a couple of years ago.

for sure. and grisham is a 2015 first round pick who demolished AA and AAA last year. lauer was drafted first round the following year, and his peripherals are already better than zach davies' (who will be a free agent after 2020 anyway)

oops, i think davies isn't eligible for free agency until after 2021 season? sometimes it's hard to tell.

Rays have agreed on a contract with backstop Mike Zunino, who’ll earn $4.5MM for the 2020 campaign and remain under control in the 2021 season with a $4.5MM club option.

so my HACKING MASS catching pick is set! dude can't hit