hot stove 2019-20

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

same with the Brewers, I'm not quite sure what they've got planned but they can't be done yet

Reds did have a pretty full outfield but there were also questions. Winker and Senzel have both been fairly injury prone in their first year or so in the big leagues. Aquino after 5 weeks of being The Punisher turned back into a Pumpkin in September last year, probably heading to Louisville I would figure unless dealt as he has plenty of options. I think Phil Ervin might be out of options, so I would think he would be in the pile for dealing.

Never seen him pitch before, but Ken Giles name out of the Toronto bullpen seems to be a name coming up in the Reds trade rumors.

I guess it is time to put up or shut up and see if this rumored deal in the works for Lindor happens. I never really got why the Dodgers would be wanting to deal Seager in the first place.

DUSTY is yr new astros manager

wow MLB's punishment was harsher than I expected

lol

well they have a good leadoff hitter in place

I guess it is time to put up or shut up and see if this rumored deal in the works for Lindor happens. I never really got why the Dodgers would be wanting to deal Seager in the first place.

― earlnash, Monday, January 27, 2020 9:43 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

the only issue I'm aware of is Seager has a Nomar-ish approach and swings at the first pitch all the fuckin time and management wants him to cut it out. not a big reason to dump a former silver slugger and ROY but that's part of it. they also need to get gavin lux playing time.