MLB Offseason Moves/Rumor Thread

[RZNJ]

57 minutes ago, brooooksy said:

Pretty sure Diaz was the same signing as O’Hearn - a lefty 1B/DH bat to spell Mountcastle and McCann. Thankfully one of them worked out, but Nevin seeing any major league time would be a disaster.

I don’t think we’ll see Nevin but if Mountcastle were to go down, I’m not sure Nevin as the RH platoon partnered with  Ryan O’Hearn at 1B qualifies as a disaster.

[wildbillhiccup]

47 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

The whole switch hitting thing doesn’t matter if you aren’t good hitting from both sides of the plate.  Most switch hitters are inconsistent at that. Santander has multiple years where he struggled on one side and was good on another.  
 

I would rather just have the better player and not be so worried about things like that and we have several guys with a higher upside that play the same positions he does.

Signing him to a multi year deal means there was a failure by someone.  Whether it’s a player not putting in the work, the PD people not getting the most of a player, etc…but we should be able to get a 2-3 WAR CI/COF/DH type guy from our system or we should be able to find a Renato Nunez guy that can give us 25-30 Homers and a 750ish OPS for a fraction of the cost.

I agree with the general sentiment, but Santander held his own against lefties last season. It's not a Cedric Mullins situation where he had to give up switch hitting because he was so poor from one side of the plate. 

As I dig more and more into Santander's numbers though I become more and more convinced that he has little or no trade value so we should probably just hold him and let him walk after the season. 

[Sports Guy]

35 minutes ago, brooooksy said:

His career splits are .758 and .785 from each side of the plate. Not sure what the point is of debating that some years he’s better on one side or the other when the overall result is pretty close.

I don’t actually think we’ll see him back here, but I think he’s more valuable to us because of our lack of RHH and platoon matchups than you’re letting on.

In 2 of the last 3 years, he has a sub 730 OPS from the right side.

Yes he had been better from the right side in other years but I think the whole switch hitter thing is largely overblown. Most switch hitters just aren’t consistent year to year from both sides of the plate and in those years, the idea that they are switch hitter is largely irrelevant. 
 

As for the need for righties…I’m not saying I disagree but I just want better players and don’t feel spending on Santander is worth it, especially as he gets on the wrong side of 30.

The Os have a few vet righties that I don’t think will be here long term (like Mounty and Hays), so they will need to another bat or 2. I’m guessing we have some sort of Hays type guy as a platoon guy for the COF spots (well maybe not a strict platoon but just a righty to spell those guys at times) and you have Mayo, Adley and Westburg/Ortiz.

I would guess you have 1 OF RH bat and another guy that can spell time all over and maybe at DH.  
 

I just don’t see the need to spend 15-20M a year for middling at best production just because he has the capability to have a 775-800 OPS vs lefties. 

[Just Regular]

Santander's path to real money probably involves sustaining as a semi-decent outfielder - that's an arrow in the quiver guys like Jorge Soler and JD Martinez don't have.

Then relative to Teoscar, his advantage will be a 1-year youth advantage, which I think Sigbots will consider significant for age 30-32 vs age 31-33, etc.

Some bangles like Jorge Soler's World Series MVP wouldn't hurt.

I agree he's an underdog to earn the offer but its fun to cheer for for the help it'd give defending a division championship and Elias' knack for pulling Gunnar Hendersons out of that tier of the draft.    

[Pickles]

11 hours ago, 24fps said:

I suspect that Roch would be the first to tell you that he's not a modern-day Mike Wallace.  Nonetheless he provides plenty of actual news along with informed commentary and I don't see any evidence that he's actively propagandizing at the behest of John Angelos.  It's time to take Roch and Melewski and the rest for what they are and not what you might hope they were.

It's also time to shoot a few bucks (or more that a few) in the direction of your local news outlets because a broad funding base is the lifeblood of principled reporting.  Pay attention to the train wreck just now starting to unfold at the Baltimore Sun as an example of what happens when you don't.

We're starting to stray afield, but the Sun's problems are hardly new.  I had a friend who worked for them straight out of college 20 years ago as a graphic designer.  They were already hemorrhaging money, jettisoning staff, and the quality was declining at an alarming pace.  He only lasted a few years and apparently morale was laughably low.

Is there some new level of hell they've managed to descend to that I haven't heard about?

Your last statement gets to the intractability of the problem in some ways.  Newspapers are no longer profitable.  If they are dependent upon donations or charity to stay financially viable, then they will soon be corrupted and become a mouthpiece for those that provide the "donations" or "charity."  I know there's a whole movement going on to fund local newspapers around the country to "bolster our democracy."  If you think the people providing the money for such a project are interested in democracy, I have a bridge to sell you.

[sportsfan8703]

50 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

I don’t think we’ll see Nevin but if Mountcastle were to go down, I’m not sure Nevin as the RH platoon partnered with  Ryan O’Hearn at 1B qualifies as a disaster.

Yup. This is just Elias covering his bases with Nevin. There’s no sense of calling up a Mayo to be a platoon bat versus LHP. 

Getting any advantage around the margins is how we can compete. That and lots of depth. We can argue big trades or big name Free Agents until we’re blue in the face but these types of move provide a security blanket. 

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Yup. This is just Elias covering his bases with Nevin. There’s no sense of calling up a Mayo to be a platoon bat versus LHP. 

Getting any advantage around the margins is how we can compete. That and lots of depth. We can argue big trades or big name Free Agents until we’re blue in the face but these types of move provide a security blanket. 

No, but in the absence of Mountcastle I think you play Mayo everyday and let O’Hearn pinch hit or be released

[24fps]

1 hour ago, Pickles said:

We're starting to stray afield, but the Sun's problems are hardly new.  I had a friend who worked for them straight out of college 20 years ago as a graphic designer.  They were already hemorrhaging money, jettisoning staff, and the quality was declining at an alarming pace.  He only lasted a few years and apparently morale was laughably low.

Is there some new level of hell they've managed to descend to that I haven't heard about?

Your last statement gets to the intractability of the problem in some ways.  Newspapers are no longer profitable.  If they are dependent upon donations or charity to stay financially viable, then they will soon be corrupted and become a mouthpiece for those that provide the "donations" or "charity."  I know there's a whole movement going on to fund local newspapers around the country to "bolster our democracy."  If you think the people providing the money for such a project are interested in democracy, I have a bridge to sell you.

You're right, we're straying off target, so after this post I will move on.

I'm not talking about donations, just subscribe to the news sources you rely on.

The Sun was just sold to local business executive David D. Smith of Sinclair Broadcasting who recently told the assembled staff that "he hadn't read a newspaper in 40 years".  You can imagine how well that went over.  Following is a link to the WaPo story if you're interested:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/media/2024/01/17/baltimore-sun-staff-meeting-david-smith-sinclair-alden/

[Just Regular]

In Fan-festive news, the Reds GM told season ticket holders the Club has no plans to offer Joey Votto a contract.

I guess Votto will do better than Trey Mancini's minor league invite, and the Blue Jays haven't back-filled their Brandon Belt type guy yet.

Votto is 8700 PA of 144 OPS+, new Hall of Famer Todd Helton ~10 years his elder was 9400 PA of 133 OPS+

[Hank Scorpio]

1 hour ago, 24fps said:

You're right, we're straying off target, so after this post I will move on.

I'm not talking about donations, just subscribe to the news sources you rely on.

The Sun was just sold to local business executive David D. Smith of Sinclair Broadcasting who recently told the assembled staff that "he hadn't read a newspaper in 40 years".  You can imagine how well that went over.  Following is a link to the WaPo story if you're interested:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/media/2024/01/17/baltimore-sun-staff-meeting-david-smith-sinclair-alden/

  

[Spy Fox]

8 minutes ago, Just Regular said:

In Fan-festive news, the Reds GM told season ticket holders the Club has no plans to offer Joey Votto a contract.

I guess Votto will do better than Trey Mancini's minor league invite, and the Blue Jays haven't back-filled their Brandon Belt type guy yet.

Votto is 8700 PA of 144 OPS+, new Hall of Famer Todd Helton ~10 years his elder was 9400 PA of 133 OPS+

If Votto keeps playing like has has the past two years he may be hurting his HOF chances. I think he has a good chance to get in but his resume looked a bit sparklier with the .300+ career AVG he carried through age 37. 

[Can_of_corn]

Is that a thing?

Can a guy go from a HoF player to not making it by hanging on to long?

I can't think of anyone I'd put in that group off the top of my head.

[Moose Milligan]

Just now, Can_of_corn said:

Is that a thing?

Can a guy go from a HoF player to not making it by hanging on to long?

I can't think of anyone I'd put in that group off the top of my head.

I can't either.  Pujols, Frank Thomas had some ugly seasons in the second half of their careers, it didn't hurt Thomas and it won't hurt Pujols.

[Orioles0615]

3 hours ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Yup. This is just Elias covering his bases with Nevin. There’s no sense of calling up a Mayo to be a platoon bat versus LHP. 

Getting any advantage around the margins is how we can compete. That and lots of depth. We can argue big trades or big name Free Agents until we’re blue in the face but these types of move provide a security blanket. 

Just about every top prospect that gets called up is plantooed its ridiculous. Westburg and Ortiz never hit righties, Cowser and Heston wouldn't hit lefties. Hell I am sure Holliday won't face lefties when he comes up

[Just Regular]

23 minutes ago, Spy Fox said:

If Votto keeps playing like has has the past two years he may be hurting his HOF chances. I think he has a good chance to get in but his resume looked a bit sparklier with the .300+ career AVG he carried through age 37. 

I'm resisting the urge to do a spreadsheet of if he could go 0-for-700 and still have Helton's OPS+.

The Mauer moment is kind of interesting with Posey a few years out, and us cheering Adley now.      If you peak seven 6-win seasons, are you good?    Shohei Ohtani already a Hall of Famer if he never plays another game?

I had a chuckle at one take that Mauer going first ballot may have been helped in part by "Coastal Elites" who just know know know they are voting for Buster Posey in a minute because big media markets + 3 good outcomes of the great roulette wheel, and thought it'd be odd if they didn't do the same for the "Heartland" guy with a 0-21 career October record.