Around Baseball 2023

[Brownie19]

Aroldis Chapman to the Royals. 1 year $3.75M

 

He must be cooked.

[Stangstag]

That was my first thought. The org went out of their way to intentionally hand him 400+ plate appearances last season, including using in Game 2 of the WC series with a huge lead rather than someone who actually knew how to play defense. All that just to non tender him after the season and watch him sign a minor league deal somewhere else. Ultimately I am just thankful that it is the Red Sox giving him the minor league deal and not the Jays. For much of 2022 I thought the Jays might actually tender him a contract given how often they were playing him, but I guess they really just wanted a LH bat in the lineup (even if he stunk).

 

I still can’t believe he came in as a defensive replacement when we had JBJ on the bench….

 

Thats on Schneider. I hope the FO reamed him for it

[G-Snarls]

Aroldis Chapman to the Royals. 1 year $3.75M

 

He must be cooked.

 

Yeah. If no better team wanted him it must be bad.

[Jimcanuck]

 

Laika you know what to do

[G-Snarls]

Laika you know what to do

 

C'Mon man, that GIF is GOLD. GOLD I tell ya!

 

LMFAO

Edited January 19, 2023 by G-Snarls

[Terminator]

The O's and Red Sox finish off their respective schedules with a four game set at Camden Yards. That series could end up having huge draft implications.

 

Yeah the O's are going to suck too. They've got some young talent that gives them some hope but last year's 83-79 contained a lot of fool's gold. They had a -14 RD which would normally put them at 79-83. Their fans acted like they won the division after that season LOL.

 

If the young talent steps up and they have normal luck that could just get them back to 83 wins again. They needed to spend some money this offseason but they didn't and Kyle Gibson, Mychal Givens, James McCann and Adam Frazier aren't going to get it done.

[jaysblue]

Yeah Orioles had a very disappointing offseason. Thought they were going to add an impact player or pitcher.

 

Red Sox will probably be last in the division. For them to even sniff a Wildcard, pretty much everything for them has to go right like Laika said earlier.

[Terminator]

https://www.fangraphs.com/roster-resource/depth-charts/red-sox

 

Outside of Devers that lineup looks like the Oakland A's lol. Loving Kike Hernandez starting at SS and batting 2nd.

[Laika]

Red Sox: Well, Trevor, it looks like you are playing shortstop this season so you better get that arm stretch out.

 

Trevor Story: Blows out his arm immediately.

[L54]

I don’t think the O’s will suck at all. They’re going to get full seasons from Adley and Henderson, Rodriguez will debut at some point, have a decent pen and a couple other useful guys who come up at some point. The days of the O’s being a pushover are over it.

[Spanky__99]

I don’t think the O’s will suck at all. They’re going to get full seasons from Adley and Henderson, Rodriguez will debut at some point, have a decent pen and a couple other useful guys who come up at some point. The days of the O’s being a pushover are over it.

 

I was surprised by the O's inactivity, but I'm with you there, right now I see a 500 team or better.

[G-Snarls]

I don’t think the O’s will suck at all. They’re going to get full seasons from Adley and Henderson, Rodriguez will debut at some point, have a decent pen and a couple other useful guys who come up at some point. The days of the O’s being a pushover are over it.

 

Yeah

 

They're an over 500 team that probably could have had real WC aspirations if they'd added to the SP/offense

[L54]

Maybe they had intentions of spending until they saw what contracts were worth.

[Ray]

I don’t think the O’s will suck at all. They’re going to get full seasons from Adley and Henderson, Rodriguez will debut at some point, have a decent pen and a couple other useful guys who come up at some point. The days of the O’s being a pushover are over it.

 

Unfortunately for them, instead of using free agency/trades to address their gaps like we did to supplement their young core, they've done nothing. They're #28th in projected SP WAR (with Grayson Rodriguez), 19th in projected bullpen WAR, and 14th in batting WAR. They could've signed Carlos Rodon, Carlos Correa, & Jameson Taillon, and still had a bottom half payroll. But their only move this offseason is adding Kyle Gibson, who will probably just replace Jordan Lyle's production.

 

They're not a 100 loss team at this point. I would be hesitant to call them wildcard contenders though. Still a lot of holes on that roster. And purely from a fans perspective, it sucks because you want to maximize the pre-arb years on Rusthcman and Henderson. The clock is ticking on them already before they can start using their raises as an excuse for not spending.

[Ray]

Maybe they had intentions of spending until they saw what contracts were worth.

 

Contracts are only going to get more expensive. If they're already getting priced out of the market, that's not really a good sign.

[L54]

Contracts are only going to get more expensive. If they're already getting priced out of the market, that's not really a good sign.

 

Top end sure but even mid tier guys got paid like all these teams just cashed their CERB cheque.

 

Dansby was probably a realistic target for them but would you wanna pay him 25M/year for 7 years? I would not. Or the Tigers being tied up in the Baez contract because they felt like they had to do something.

[Spanky__99]

Top end sure but even mid tier guys got paid like all these teams just cashed their CERB cheque.

 

Dansby was probably a realistic target for them but would you wanna pay him 25M/year for 7 years? I would not. Or the Tigers being tied up in the Baez contract because they felt like they had to do something.

 

They should've been in on at least one big name, I was legit surprised they went in limp.

[L54]

They should've been in on at least one big name, I was legit surprised they went in limp.

 

Well nobody really knows who they were or weren’t in on. It takes two to tango as well, and if they’re not comfortable spending 30M for 13 years I can’t fault them for that.

[Jimcanuck]

O's were smart not to spend, it's too early and Jays, Yanks, Rays are far ahead of them

[Stangstag]

O's were smart not to spend, it's too early and Jays, Yanks, Rays are far ahead of them

 

Could have spent on someone like Correa for the future like SD did with Machado, but yeah probably better of them to wait.

 

How crazy would it be if they completely shelled out for Ohtani next year

[John_Havok]

Could have spent on someone like Correa for the future like SD did with Machado, but yeah probably better of them to wait.

 

How crazy would it be if they completely shelled out for Ohtani next year

 

Myabe they bring Machado back home to play SS.

[Terminator]

I can see why they didn't spend on the offense. I think a lower tier OF would have made some sense though.

 

But they definitely needed starting pitching. They project to have the 4th worst starting rotation in the league based on WAR projections.

 

Rodon made tons of sense for them even with the high price tag. Failing that I think some mid tier guys with high upside like Heaney or Tyler Anderson would have been big for them as well. They needed like 2 or 3 mid tier guys. Instead they dumpster dove for Gibson and now they've got Grayson Rodriguez and a collection of backend guys with almost no depth.

 

They basically wasted a year of this core by solidifying themselves into 4th place.

[Stangstag]

Myabe they bring Machado back home to play SS.

 

Oooo spicy

[G-Snarls]

Could have spent on someone like Correa for the future like SD did with Machado, but yeah probably better of them to wait.

 

How crazy would it be if they completely shelled out for Ohtani next year

 

They were the ONE TEAM that didn't meet with Ohtani's agents during the posting process

[G-Snarls]

Well nobody really knows who they were or weren’t in on. It takes two to tango as well, and if they’re not comfortable spending 30M for 13 years I can’t fault them for that.

 

Yeah

 

A guy like Rodon could have easily been offered the same contract by BAL and NYY and chosen the Yankees

[Terminator]

Yeah

 

A guy like Rodon could have easily been offered the same contract by BAL and NYY and chosen the Yankees

 

Just have to outbid them. Throw another year on there and they probably get him. They should have been in on Verlander and DeGrom as well. Their payroll is so pathetically low that if they signed Verlander to 50 mil a year for 2 years it'd still be a below average payroll.

 

If they couldn't stomach spending on one of those guys then they should have gone after at least 2 guys in the 2nd tier.

[Orgfiller]

Aroldis Chapman to the Royals. 1 year $3.75M

 

He must be cooked.

 

He’s kind of a headcase these days (even ignoring the previous DV incident) and too wild to make up for being a diva I guess. Smart deal by the Royals, nobody cares about your team so the PR hit or whatever is small, and if Chapman rediscovers his control you trade him at the deadline for a legit prospect, otherwise you only paid him to be barely above replacement and the sunk cost is little.

[Laika]

Well nobody really knows who they were or weren’t in on. It takes two to tango as well, and if they’re not comfortable spending 30M for 13 years I can’t fault them for that.

 

I don't think the Orioles came up once in rumours

 

They went into the off-season with Kyle Gibson etc as their top targets

[Terminator]

Another thing to remember is that Grayson Rodriguez probably has a pretty significant innings cap. He's thrown over 100 innings once in his career to date. Last year he threw 75.

[L54]

Another thing to remember is that Grayson Rodriguez probably has a pretty significant innings cap. He's thrown over 100 innings once in his career to date. Last year he threw 75.

 

Nobody is saying that they’re going to win the division but they aren’t going to suck. Of course they’re not going to open the throttle on their most prized possession.