MLB Offseason Moves/Rumor Thread

[Frobby]

7 minutes ago, maybenxtyr said:

Why is it a concern? There's a team or two every year that goes crazy spending and some people are ready to hand them the WS trophy. Spending does sometimes improve a teams odds, but typically it ends in disappointment.

Yes, though the Dodgers were already 100-win team last year for the third year in a row and they’re on a run of 11 straight playoff appearances.  They’re very well run, unlike some of these high-spending teams. 

[maybenxtyr]

13 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Yes, though the Dodgers were already 100-win team last year for the third year in a row and they’re on a run of 11 straight playoff appearances.  They’re very well run, unlike some of these high-spending teams. 

You are absolutely correct. The Dodgers have struck a balance that the upper echelon teams would love to emulate. 

 

I'm ok with it as a fan. I don't believe Baltimore has to go anywhere near some of these deals in order to try to put the finishing touches on what they have...but they really shouldn't let this opportunity pass them by. 

[Just Regular]

A head to head I hope to see measured often the next 4 years - would you rather have Yoshinobu Yamamoto or Kyle Bradish?

I don't think Yamamoto will be a super great like Ohtani-Soto-Sasaki, and big picture the more thorough the Dodgers monopoly on the world's greatest players is, the more access to AL East championships Adley's Orioles will have.     Eventually the Mets or Giants will win a bid on someone really important.

I am not really worried about the Orioles peak lineup core's capability to smash Blake Snell, Kevin Gausman or even Gerrit Cole in the mid-long term.

[bpilktree]

1 hour ago, Moose Milligan said:

Let's not overlook that the Dodgers are one of the most well run teams in the game, if not the best.  Despite picking near last in the draft all the time, they still have a top 10 system.  They've made great trades.  They've retained their core players.  

IMO, they're like what the Rays would be if the Rays had more money.

Which makes them much more dangerous imo.  Let’s say they do go out and make a trade for Cease using Sheehan and Stone or something like that.  There rotation in 2025 could be Ohtani, Yamato, Glasnow, Cease and Buehler.  That is basically 5 number 1 or 2 guys and almost unbeatable rotation if they stay healthy.  

[bpilktree]

Just now, bpilktree said:

Which makes them much more dangerous imo.  Let’s say they do go out and make a trade for Cease using Sheehan and Stone or something like that.  There rotation in 2025 could be Ohtani, Yamato, Glasnow, Cease and Buehler.  That is basically 5 number 1 or 2 guys and almost unbeatable rotation if they stay healthy.  

I also forgot Bobby Miller as there number 6 guy.  

[Just Regular]

I don't think they'll chase Cease from here - like golden age Kershaw he maybe doesn't make the postseason rotation.

If I'm Andrew Friedman, I think I'd prioritize Emmanuel Clase.

I'd be tempted to bet Dean Kremer has a higher number of 30 start seasons remaining in his career than Kershaw, Ohtani, Buehler, Glasnow and Yamamoto combined.

[Just Regular]

11 minutes ago, bpilktree said:

I also forgot Bobby Miller as there number 6 guy.  

Miller and Yamamoto are the young and strong ones.     Miller averaged 99 on his fastball last year to lead MLB starters.    He's approximately Grayson Rodriguez among the relatively few humans who are approximately Grayson Rodriguez.

TBD of course if those fastballs can endure for a decade, and how well those blessed with the gift round it out for MLB competition.

[Number5]

16 hours ago, Just Regular said:

I guess Aaron Boone calling him a "special dude" didn't win the day.

The comment was lost in translation.  Yamamoto's translator thought Boone said that Yamamoto is "special doody."  He felt the Dodgers thought more highly of him than the Yankees.  

[Just Regular]

The Angels ZiPS piece today had the detail that both it and Fangraphs scouting guy Eric Longenhagen agree LAA is baseball's worst farm system.

I am basically rooting for Mike Trout to be visited by three ghosts Sunday night and wake up Christmas morning requesting a trade.      It might be fun to have him on the Phillies for future NL playoffs.

None of them are clear playoff pitchers, but I don't believe Reid Detmers, Griffin Canning or Patrick Sandoval are part of the next good Angels team.

[Can_of_corn]

5 hours ago, Just Regular said:

I don't think they'll chase Cease from here - like golden age Kershaw he maybe doesn't make the postseason rotation.

If I'm Andrew Friedman, I think I'd prioritize Emmanuel Clase.

I'd be tempted to bet Dean Kremer has a higher number of 30 start seasons remaining in his career than Kershaw, Ohtani, Buehler, Glasnow and Yamamoto combined.

Fun fact.  Kremer is older than Yamamoto.

Edited December 22, 2023 by Can_of_corn

[Frobby]

8 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

Fun fact.  Kramer is older than Yamamoto.

He’s never made 30 starts.  Then again, the Japanese season is only 142 games.

[Just Regular]

Kremer's way older.    DL Hall is Yamamoto's age mate among important Orioles pitchers (sorry, Chayce McDermott).

If only Hall had been pitching ball like Yamamoto the last 3 seasons!

[Billy F-Face3]

I figured once the Dodgers got Ohtani, which was always the most likely team for him, Yamamoto would follow him because great players want to be with great players, and these guy just won the World Baseball Classic together. Yamamoto also said he wanted to play with other Japanese players. Then there's the fact that the Dodgers have a rich history of bringing in Japanese pitchers whi become MLB stars. Hideo Nomo took the league by storm in the mid '90s. These guys know their baseball history in Japan.

As for the other topic of trading for Cease, I look at that like handing out a huge contract to Ubaldo Jimenez. It's a huge overpay for very little return. The risks outweigh the probable reward. Ubaldo is a case study of one of the reasons why the Orioles are afraid of recruiting pricy free agents now. 

To me it's more if a problem if accurately evaluating the talent/skills than the surface issue of signing a free agent. If the player finds teams are desperate and willing to over pay, then the front office needs to know what that player will produce and let the player walk the moment the price gets beyond the probable return on investment.

[HakunaSakata]

7 minutes ago, Billy F-Face3 said:

I figured once the Dodgers got Ohtani, which was always the most likely team for him, Yamamoto would follow him because great players want to be with great players, and these guy just won the World Baseball Classic together. Yamamoto also said he wanted to play with other Japanese players. Then there's the fact that the Dodgers have a rich history of bringing in Japanese pitchers whi become MLB stars. Hideo Nomo took the league by storm in the mid '90s. These guys know their baseball history in Japan.

Yamamoto's agent walked back the play with other Japanese players comment and even if it was true, he could have just as easily chosen to the Mets since they have Kodai Senga. I think it was all about 1) Money and 2) Proximity to Japan. It's still a brutal flight but leaving from the West Coast as opposed to the East Coast shaves off like 3-4 hours. I think LA being a top 10 City in terms of Japanese population was probably just icing on the cake.

Also, saying a team that has had one previous Japanese player who was an all-star (once) really qualifies it as having a "rich history of bringing in Japanese pitchers who become MLB stars" seems like a bit of a stretch. Yu Darvish only played for them for a few months so I don't think he really counts and Kenta Maeda is the only other Japanese pitcher I can think of who the Dodgers have rostered, but I don't believe he was ever an all-star.  

[HakunaSakata]

1 hour ago, Can_of_corn said:

Fun fact.  Kramer is older than Yamamoto.

I'm pretty sure "Kramer" is in his 70s.