hot stove 2019-20

Todd Frazier to Texas

Welcome to Truist Park, home of your Atlanta Braves! pic.twitter.com/WruvGmkIeJ

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) January 14, 2020

truist no one

phillies dfa odubel herrera. it's a low bar, but he was one of the most successful rule 5 draft picks of the last couple decades

6:50pm: The Twins have agreed to a four-year contract with free agent third baseman Josh Donaldson, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com tweets. There’s an option for a fifth season on the deal, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 SKOR North Radio. Donaldson is represented by the MVP Sports Group.

7:01pm: Donaldson will be guaranteed $92MM, tweets Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The option on the contract would bring its total value to five years and $100MM, if exercised.

7:19pm: Donaldson will earn $84MM over the first four years of the contract, tweets Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com. The option is valued at $16MM and comes with an $8MM buyout.

BringerOfSnow

that's a huge buyout.

The Red Sox have traded 1B/OF Sam Travis to the Rangers in exchange for LHP Jeffrey Springs.

Travis was a longtime top prospect who never broke through, but is still just 26. The Rangers DFA'd Springs a few hours ago.

— Kyle Glaser (@KyleAGlaser) January 15, 2020

How many HR did the Twins lose in the off-season? Donaldson could really have a big season if he gets in the middle of a lineup like last year's. Or, yes, he could fall off a cliff.

I don’t see that happening tbh. So long as he stays healthy, I think his glove and plate discipline could carry him trough this contract pretty well.
I’d expect his home runs to decline as his bat speed goes down with age, but (again) if his injury issues in his later Jays days are behind him he could have a Beltre-esque ending to his career.

If the Twinkies shore up their rotation they could surprise some folx.

they're probably =the favorites to win the division again right? i know the white sox have improved but it's still unclear how good they're going to actually be

as far as home run power, the Twins lost Cron and Schoop and gained Donaldson. Garver, Polanco, Sano, Kepler, Rosario, and Cruz are all back (and w/the exception of Cruz they're all going to play 2020 in their age 26-29 seasons). i can't imagine they'll all build on last season's power surge, individually, but i bet a couple of them do.

Shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria returned to the Braves on a one-year, $1 million deal, the team announced.

Toronto signed Joe Panik to a minor-league deal.

Great--next year's thread title writes itself (the same dumb Smiths joke I always want to make when I see Panik's name).

good! the pressure is off me this year!

he may not make the big club

King Felix to Barves -- minor league deal, invitation to camp.

Kinda sad it’s come to a MiL contract for the man. Just a few years ago he seemed destined for the hall.

I'm just glad there's a chance his career isn't over. Rooting for him!

arenado in colorado may be turning into a giancarlo-in-miami scenario

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/28527906/nolan-arenado-ire-rooted-rockies-inactivity-71-91-season

how do the rox feel about miguel andujar

arenado's opt-out is really hurting him, too.

i mean, financially it really helps him of course. but in terms of getting traded to a good team, it hurts

could he agree to use his opt-out as part of waiving his NTC, if he really wanted out, no?

The Braves have agreed to a one-year deal with free-agent outfielder Marcell Ozuna, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN.com. The MDR Sports Management client will receive an $18MM salary that slightly exceeds the $17.8MM qualifying offer from the Cardinals that he rejected back in November.

Hey that .2 is college tuition for one of his kids!

appreciate the arenado situation because a) it's been less than a year since he signed the extension, b) colorado was 11th (not bad!) in salary last year but spent it terribly, just as it has for 25 years, c) this team has commited to pay you a quarter of a billion dollars over eight years; how much more fucking respect do you want

alex gordon returns to kc, 1yr/$4m (but waived his 10/5 rights)

some additional ozuna prognostication

there's a good chance that his hitting will be even better next year. maybe not 2017, but better than 2018-19. i watched quite a few of his games last year and he did seemed to suffer from some bad luck while consistently making very hard contact. i think his x-peripherals back that up, too.

his defense is really bad. somehow he graded out as average last year by the metrics, but what i saw was awful. his arm is gone, his routes are often bewildering, and every month or so he'll do something like climb up a wall only to have the ball land at the foot of the warning track

"See, what had happened was..." - Marcell Ozuna, probably. pic.twitter.com/1pHXLaeDOq

— Cut4 (@Cut4) April 10, 2019

as i expected

https://www.amazinavenue.com/2020/1/22/21077257/mets-news-luis-rojas-manager-carlos-beltran-multi-year-deal

i (understandably, i think) did not realize he was felipe alou's son

didnt know that either

ilx user dominic leone to cleveland

hot

The family name in the Dominican Republic is Rojas, but Felipe Alou and his brothers became known by the name Alou when the Giants' scout who signed Felipe mistakenly thought his matronymic was his father's name.

scout was paid off by Big Crossword

Reds supposedly offered Ozuna a 3 year deal and he turned it down. Reds seem to be still going after an outfielder pretty hard considering how many they have on the roster, which leading to think it is a step to doing a big deal to get Lindor or Seager (as most likely Nick Senzel would be traded).

castellanos to the reds

the reds are the only team in the NL central that are actively trying to get better

2020 is going to be even more of a fight than 2019 was, i think

the poor pirates though

honestly, i have no idea what the pirates' ownership are doing, but i know it's not good

NL central 2020 payroll at the moment:

CHC $182m
STL $156m
CIN $116m
MIL $90m
PIT $58m

the pittsburgh metro area is more populous than that of cincy or milwaukee

2019 total payrolls, for comparison:

CHC $219m
STL $174m
CIN: $128m
MIL: $136m
PIT: $73m

i guess more costs get added on from here (last minute spring training/hot stove acquisitions, trade deadline acquisitions, maybe the cost of the draft bonuses they pay out?)

pirates' most expensive player this year is starling marte (whom they have been shopping) at $11.5m

the cubs alone have eight guys making more; marte is tied with jed lowrie for 117th in the majors

I’m honestly not sure if the Reds approach here. Their outfield is crowded already, and they sign a guy who can opt out after one or two years in order to trade a young and affordable outfielder?

starling marte to the dbacks

qed

19yo shortstop, 19yo right-hander

Liover Peguero and Brennan Malone were rated the Diamondbacks' Nos. 7 and 9 prospects. They are young -- Peguero has just a brief time above rookie ball -- but exciting. High bust risk, though.

— Zach Buchanan (@ZHBuchanan) January 27, 2020