Around Baseball 2019

[P2F]

 

Don't shoot the messenger if this is BS, but if this is legit...whoa.

[L54]

Luis Castillo becomes the early favourite for AL Cy Young

[Brownie19]

Adam Jones signs a 2 year contract to play in Japan. f*** him. I don't like him.

[Abomination]

I wonder what the Mets want for Nimmo?

[P2F]

 

Gerrit Cole to the Yankees for 9/324

[Hipfan]

Gerrit Cole to the Yankees 9/324

 

Wonder how long it will take for that contract to be an albatross? I think Cole will be good for a long time, though, and you have to think the Yankees are WS favourites now. I really hate being in their division.

[bones10]

Lol I guess the Jay's are signing the scraps again

[jaysguy44]

Lol I guess the Jay's are signing the scraps again

 

Because Cole signed? Did you think they were signing him?

[P2F]

[bones10]

Because Cole signed? Did you think they were signing him?

 

Every single remaining free agent pitcher just garnered a lot more attention

[Ray]

This market is absurd, especially given the last two free agent periods.

 

Ryu is gonna command 4 years at this point. Apparently Bumgarner has $100M on the table!

[Ray]

Odorizzi might have made a mistake accepting the QO. He could’ve gotten paid handsomely.

[Spanky99]

 

For JFL's heart-throb THE Steele Walker.

[Spanky99]

Odorizzi might have made a mistake accepting the QO. He could’ve gotten paid handsomely.

 

In hindsight, sure. If he puts up a similar year as last, he'll be fine.

[saskjayfan]

This market is absurd, especially given the last two free agent periods.

 

Ryu is gonna command 4 years at this point. Apparently Bumgarner has $100M on the table!

 

so pay Ryu 4 and 80. Front load it 25, 25, 15 and 15.

[G-Snarls]

This is the perfect time to front load a contact if you're Shapiro/Atkins

[Laika]

 

This trade is a good illustration of how far apart team fan bases can be, and how subjective knowledge and talent analysis is in baseball.

 

I'm seeing lots of White Sox fans crying about this trade because Mazara sucks and Steele Walker is a good prospect.

I'm seeing lots of Rangers fans crying about how they got almost nothing for the Nomar Mazara.

 

Of course, the Rangers won the deal because Nomar Mazara does in fact blow.

[Pendleton]

This trade is a good illustration of how far apart team fan bases can be, and how subjective knowledge and talent analysis is in baseball.

 

I'm seeing lots of White Sox fans crying about this trade because Mazara sucks and Steele Walker is a good prospect.

I'm seeing lots of Rangers fans crying about how they got almost nothing for the Nomar Mazara.

 

Of course, the Rangers won the deal because Nomar Mazara does in fact blow.

 

Some folks are pointing to the fact that Mazara is only 24 and may still have upside but he's also in his second last year of team control. Another mediocre season and they'd be struggling to get anything of value in return.

[Spanky99]

Man, why'd Kyle Gibson get so little... I think his camp jumped the gun?

[glory]

 

Interesting. Not Ryu, but MadBum.

[Spanky99]

Some folks are pointing to the fact that Mazara is only 24 and may still have upside but he's also in his second last year of team control. Another mediocre season and they'd be struggling to get anything of value in return.

 

Yup, it seems to be more of a deal in favour of the Rangers with control and not to mention potential upside from Walker.

[Spanky99]

 

Interesting. Not Ryu, but MadBum.

 

Yeah, he mentioned this last night on the MLB Network, they're likely the team with a 100M(?) offer on the table. Which likely means the Angels are in on Ryu.

[Brownie19]

This trade is a good illustration of how far apart team fan bases can be, and how subjective knowledge and talent analysis is in baseball.

 

I'm seeing lots of White Sox fans crying about this trade because Mazara sucks and Steele Walker is a good prospect.

I'm seeing lots of Rangers fans crying about how they got almost nothing for the Nomar Mazara.

 

Of course, the Rangers won the deal because Nomar Mazara does in fact blow.

 

My sarcasm meter is broken. Maraza's been s*** and there's a good chance he never turns into anything useful, but to get him at age 24 for a 23 year old OF in A+ ball - that seems worth the risk for Chicago.

[Laika]

My sarcasm meter is broken. Maraza's been s*** and there's a good chance he never turns into anything useful, but to get him at age 24 for a 23 year old OF in A+ ball - that seems worth the risk for Chicago.

 

I don't think Mazara has any actual value in terms of projected production vs. projected contracts. He only has value if you think there is still realizable upside there and put a $$ value on the chance that he might reach it.

 

Steele Walker is pretty good and interesting.

 

It’s rare for there to be a college hitter with this kind of scintillating, violent bat speed, let alone one who’s overshadowed by an even toolsier teammate the way Walker was by Kyler Murray. Perhaps it was concerns about strikeouts, or the vague and mysterious injury bug that bit Walker during the Big 12 tournament, that caused him to fall out of the first round despite hitting .352/.441/.606 in a large conference. He’s an athletic swinger with a natural uppercut swing that seemed likely to help him lift the ball regularly, and the little bit of batted ball data we have from after Walker signed suggests that notion is correct. We’re doubtful that he stays in center field long term, but it’s hard to say that definitively because Walker lost reps there to Murray in college, and may yet develop better feel. He’s likely a big league regular if he can either stay in center or avoid perilously high strikeout rates, a star if he does both, and a corner platoon bat if he does neither.

 

A successful year for Steele earns him this spot after his time opening for Kannapolis and then finishing out the year at Winston-Salem from the very end of April. Walker has a good approach at the plate that is contact focused but still has plenty of juice to hit a decent amount of home runs a year. Although he hasn’t been able to exactly replicate the dominance he showed his junior year at Oklahoma, Walker doesn’t have any major downsides in his game.

 

Walker has shown that he can hit for power while getting on base a good amount of the time and not striking out very frequently. Because of this, Walker has a low risk with one of the higher floors in the system and definitely the highest floor of the outfield prospects. Although the ceiling may not be near to the level of an Adolfo or Basabe, a successful year at Birmingham next year could see Walker becoming one of the favorites to eventually win a spot in the outfield grass.

[Brownie19]

Fair enough Laika - I trust ya, but he's still a guy who posted a 124 wRC+ as a 23 year old in A+ ball. A .157 ISO doesn't seem to suggest this violent bat speed is producing the results yet.

 

I mean older prospects work out and Walker may, but Mazara was hitting 20 hrs and as just 5% below league average in the major leagues the same time Walker was in A+ ball. I fully expect multiple teams believe they can tap into Mazara's unrealized potential.

[Spanky99]

Fair enough Laika - I trust ya, but he's still a guy who posted a 124 wRC+ as a 23 year old in A+ ball. A .157 ISO doesn't seem to suggest this violent bat speed is producing the results yet.

 

I mean older prospects work out and Walker may, but Mazara was hitting 20 hrs and as just 5% below league average in the major leagues the same time Walker was in A+ ball. I fully expect multiple teams believe they can tap into Mazara's unrealized potential.

 

Walker will be moving up quickly, he's a college pick just turned 23 and in high A... their both banking on upside obviously, it's a lateral move with the Rangers getting Steele, control, and the money they shave off Mazara's contract, that's why I give the Rangers the edge.

[Brownie19]

Royals manager Mike Matheny said Tuesday that Salvador Perez (elbow) could see "considerable time" at first base next season.

 

That's the most Royals thing I've ever read.

[Spanky99]

Royals manager Mike Matheny said Tuesday that Salvador Perez (elbow) could see "considerable time" at first base next season.

 

That's the most Royals thing I've ever read.

 

I don't see what's wrong with that? He's coming off TJS.

[Laika]

Fair enough Laika - I trust ya, but he's still a guy who posted a 124 wRC+ as a 23 year old in A+ ball. A .157 ISO doesn't seem to suggest this violent bat speed is producing the results yet.

 

I mean older prospects work out and Walker may, but Mazara was hitting 20 hrs and as just 5% below league average in the major leagues the same time Walker was in A+ ball. I fully expect multiple teams believe they can tap into Mazara's unrealized potential.

 

The "older prospect" point is not the smartest.

 

Walker was a college pick in 2018. He'll be a 23 year old in AA in 2020. He's on track with many other college picks and only like, ~200 AA plate appearances behind a number of even elite 2018 college picks. Joey Bart spent most of 2019 in A+ just like Walker!

[G-Snarls]

Rawlings and scientists having a press conference this afternoon to discuss their findings from their analysis with respect to the ball and home runs in 2019