hot stove 2019-20

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.

bryant lost his grievance; free agent following 2021 season

i guess it makes sense that a team without a GM doesn't want to commit to a 70yo manager, but i'm a little surprised dusty agreed to this. also it means the astros will spend the entire season dealing with rumors that they'll re-hire hinch

Dusty Baker's contract is officially a one-year deal with a club option in 2021 that includes a buyout

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) January 29, 2020

i just realized that there's a possibility of the astros having to deal with a bunch of fans banging on trashcans and containers during away games

cannot imagine what the Astros will "have to go through" on the road this season lol

They’re gonna have to go through some things

Me being one of them.

roundup

American League

Yankees: $336.5MM on two players (Gerrit Cole and Brett Gardner; top 50 MLBTR signings: two)

Angels: $260.85MM on three players (Anthony Rendon, Julio Teheran and Jason Castro; top 50 signings: three)

White Sox: $196.5MM on six players (Yasmani Grandal, Jose Abreu, Dallas Keuchel, Edwin Encarnacion, Steve Cishek and Gio Gonzalez; top 50 signings: five)

Twins: $151.8MM on eight players (Josh Donaldson, Michael Pineda, Jake Odorizzi, Homer Bailey, Sergio Romo, Alex Avila, Rich Hill and Tyler Clippard; top 50 signings: four)

Blue Jays: $114.35MM on four players (Hyun-Jin Ryu, Tanner Roark, Shun Yamaguchi and Travis Shaw; top 50 signings: two)

Rangers: $62.25MM on five players (Kyle Gibson, Jordan Lyles, Robinson Chirinos, Joely Rodriguez and Todd Frazier; top 50 signings: two)

Tigers: $17.8MM on four players (C.J. Cron, Jonathan Schoop, Austin Romine and Ivan Nova; top 50 signings: one)

Astros: $15.65MM on three players (Joe Smith, Martin Maldonado and Dustin Garneau; top 50 signings: zero)

Rays: $12MM on one player (Yoshitomo Tsutsugo; top 50 signings: zero)

Red Sox: $9.9MM on three players (Martin Perez, Jose Peraza and Kevin Plawecki; top 50 signings: zero)

Athletics: $7.5MM on one player (Jake Diekman; top 50 signings: zero)

Royals: $6.95MM on two players (Alex Gordon and Maikel Franco; top 50 signings: zero)

Indians: $6.25MM on one player (Cesar Hernandez; top 50 signings: zero)

Orioles: $3MM on one player (Jose Iglesias; top 50 signings: zero)

Mariners: $2.95MM on two players (Kendall Graveman and Carl Edwards Jr.; top 50 signings: zero)

National League

Nationals: $316.75MM on 10 players (Stephen Strasburg, Will Harris, Daniel Hudson, Starlin Castro, Yan Gomes, Howie Kendrick, Eric Thames, Asdrubal Cabrera, Ryan Zimmerman and Kyle Finnegan; financial details unclear for Finnegan; top 50 MLBTR signings: four)

Reds: $164MM on four players (Nick Castellanos, Mike Moustakas, Shogo Akiyama and Wade Miley; top 50 signings: four)

Phillies: $132MM on two players (Zack Wheeler and Didi Gregorius; top 50 signings: two)

Braves: $116.25MM on nine players (Will Smith, Marcell Ozuna, Cole Hamels, Travis d’Arnaud, Chris Martin, Nick Markakis, Tyler Flowers, Darren O’Day, Adeiny Hechavarria; top 50 signings: five)

Diamondbacks: $109.65MM on five players (Madison Bumgarner, Kole Calhoun, Hector Rondon, Stephen Vogt and Junior Guerra; top 50 signings: two)

Brewers: $48.38MM on eight players (Avisail Garcia, Josh Lindblom, Justin Smoak, Brett Anderson, Eric Sogard, Alex Claudio, Ryon Healy and Deolis Guerra; financial details unclear for Healy and Guerra; top 50 signings: two)

Padres: $48MM on three players (Drew Pomeranz, Craig Stammen and Pierce Johnson; top 50 signings: three)

Mets: $24.35MM on four players (Dellin Betances, Rick Porcello, Michael Wacha and Brad Brach; top 50 signings: three)

Marlins: $23.855MM on five players (Corey Dickerson, Brandon Kintzler, Francisco Cervelli, Matt Joyce and Yimi Garcia; financial details unclear for Joyce; top 50 signings: one)

Giants: $17.775MM on four players (Kevin Gausman, Drew Smyly, Tony Watson and Tyler Anderson; top 50 signings: one)

Dodgers: $15.25MM on three players (Blake Treinen, Alex Wood and Jimmy Nelson; top 50 signings: one)

Cardinals: $15MM on three players (Adam Wainwright, Kwang-hyun Kim and Matt Wieters; top 50 signings: one)

Cubs: $2.5MM on three players (Steven Souza Jr., Jeremy Jeffress and Ryan Tepera; top 50 signings: zero)

Pirates: Signed OF Guillermo Heredia and C Luke Maile (financial details unclear; top 50 signings: zero)

Rockies: Signed RHP Jose Mujica (financial details unclear; top 50 signings: zero)

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2020/01/free-agent-spending-by-team-american-league.html
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2020/01/free-agent-spending-by-team-national-league.html

(for anyone who doesn't follow, "top 50 MLBTR" refers to the top 50 free agents list on MLBTradeRumors)

The Kris Bryant ruling shows MLB’s “impartial” arbitration is a farce

lol the Rockies do not give a single fuck about winning baseball games

appreciate that the tigers are making a token wave at being watchable, unlike some other teams i could name

your 2020 pittsburgh pirates

https://i.imgur.com/zT9rZRG.png

are there fun players on this team?

Josh Bell will probably be very fun for half the season and very unfun the other half

The half of the season he plays at the plate vs the half of the season in the field

reynolds is a 'professional hitter' -- which is nice, i like him -- but i don't think he can play center. polanco is a disappointment but i still like him because he reminds me of a plague-ridden man's dave parker

the projections for archer, musgrove and moran -- among others -- are extremely optimistic. the catchers too, unless they're framing wizards

brault is kind of fun because he can actually hit

they have a prospect named oneil cruz -- who will probably play in double-a this year -- but if they just called him up now it'd be cool because he's a legit 6'7" shortstop

that's the upper limit for fun

I like Reynolds - but he should not be in CF

oh yeah i forgot about brian reynolds, probably because his name is "brian reynolds"