Around Baseball 2023

[Laika]

Yankees won 82 games with an awful team in 2023 and in one of the toughest divisions in baseball. They were only 5 games behind the Jays considering. If the Yankees make some big adds like Yamamoto and Soto + others, they make up that ground and likely are in the 88-90 win range.

 

I dunno man. Their lineup is pretty gross. Everyone is either old or bad. Some of them are old AND bad.

 

Even Judge is 31 now. Stanton and Rizzo are 34 and sucked. DJM is cooked.

 

They should regress in the right direction on the pitching side...

 

... but the tough division is only going to get harder as Boston rebuilds, Baltimore cements itself for a 5 year window, and TB / TOR keep pushing forward.

[MikeM3]

Soto Dominguez Judge would be a scary outfield in absolute perfect case theory

[Laika]

Soto Dominguez Judge would be a scary outfield in absolute perfect case theory

 

Soto makes almost any outfield scary but yeah that would be dope. Even if you ignore Dominguez and insert some ransom CF placeholder like KK, dope OF.

 

Soto-Judge would be the best 3/4 in the league, maybe?

 

The Yanks would still need to add on the infield though.

[Dick_Pole]

Yankees won 82 games with an awful team in 2023 and in one of the toughest divisions in baseball. They were only 5 games behind the Jays considering. If the Yankees make some big adds like Yamamoto and Soto + others, they make up that ground and likely are in the 88-90 win range.

 

Cashman is stupid and getting exposed. The team is old and overpaid with likely some big egos tied to that in the clubhouse. Plus a tight free agent and trade market where there will be a lot of demand relative to supply. The Yankees can't just buy their way out of this. They need to completely flush their system but they won't do that until they put up a 90-100 loss season and really see the writing on the wall. If Cole and Judge don't put up superstar numbers next year like they have up until now, that team is in for a world of hurt. I'll put my money where my mouth is in March and clean up on bearish Yankee bets like I did this past year.

 

Cashman operates like an inexperienced fantasy owner. "Trade for Soto". My gosh, who in the league hasn't thought of that!?! When was the last time the Yankees made an insightful and impactful pickup? I talk s*** about Atkins but at least we all can make a list of his smart moves along with his duds. Cashman just signs whoever the baseball media says the Yankees should target then calls it a day.

[John_Havok]

Cashman is stupid and getting exposed. The team is old and overpaid with likely some big egos tied to that in the clubhouse. Plus a tight free agent and trade market where there will be a lot of demand relative to supply. The Yankees can't just buy their way out of this. They need to completely flush their system but they won't do that until they put up a 90-100 loss season and really see the writing on the wall. If Cole and Judge don't put up superstar numbers next year like they have up until now, that team is in for a world of hurt. I'll put my money where my mouth is in March and clean up on bearish Yankee bets like I did this past year.

 

Cashman operates like an inexperienced fantasy owner. "Trade for Soto". My gosh, who in the league hasn't thought of that!?! When was the last time the Yankees made an insightful and impactful pickup? I talk s*** about Atkins but at least we all can make a list of his smart moves along with his duds. Cashman just signs whoever the baseball media says the Yankees should target then calls it a day.

 

There's also the strong possibility that Cashman is just following orders from the Steinbrenners on whom to sign and being told just to get it done.

 

It's hard to argue with his overall body of work when you consider under his reign since 1998 they've only missed the playoffs 5 times, won the WS 4 times, lost the WS twice and won the division 14 times including a run of 9 straight and 12 out of 15 seasons. That's the optimists view of him though.

 

The "What have you done for me lately" view would be... since their East division win in 2012, in the 11 seasons since then they've only won it twice and missed the playoffs 4 times. They've only made the ALCS three times and lost every time to Houston. Granted, there's a lot of teams in baseball that would love to have that track record as their "down" cycle.

 

They have 2 massive contracts with Stanton(4 more years @32 per) and Rodon(5 more years @ 27 per) that are absolute boat anchors. So between Judge, Stanton and Rodon, they're paying 100 million dollars each year whilst praying to get 200 games out of Judge/Stanton and god knows what out of Rodon. DJL's re-signing has proved to be bad, even if his costs are not prohibitive. He went from a guy appearing 3rd and 4th on MVP ballots to being forgettably league average. The Donaldson fiasco just the latest.

 

I can see the arguments against his last few seasons, but there's very few GMs in baseball with Cashman's success.

[Ehjays]

Andre Dawson wants to change the tem cap on his hall of Fame placque from Expos to Cubs. He can have Roys.

 

https://www.si.com/mlb/2023/11/28/andre-dawson-wants-team-cap-switched-baseball-hall-of-fame-plaque-cubs-expos

[Ehjays]

[John_Havok]

Another way the Jays are ahead of the Yankees. The Jays have been saving #18 since 2019.

[Ehjays]

Another way the Jays are ahead of the Yankees. The Jays have been saving #18 since 2019.

 

lol, but our hitting coach is Guillermo Martinez #18

[Terminator]

Andre Dawson wants to change the tem cap on his hall of Fame placque from Expos to Cubs. He can have Roys.

 

https://www.si.com/mlb/2023/11/28/andre-dawson-wants-team-cap-switched-baseball-hall-of-fame-plaque-cubs-expos

 

Can't blame him with Montreal no longer being a franchise.

[Dick_Pole]

Andre Dawson wants to change the tem cap on his hall of Fame placque from Expos to Cubs. He can have Roys.

 

https://www.si.com/mlb/2023/11/28/andre-dawson-wants-team-cap-switched-baseball-hall-of-fame-plaque-cubs-expos

 

Reading that article, the whole time I'm thinking "k, what's up with Halladay then?"

 

Cooperstown picks Expos for Dawson, clearly against his wishes...but caves to Halladay's wife?

[Ehjays]

Reading that article, the whole time I'm thinking "k, what's up with Halladay then?"

 

Cooperstown picks Expos for Dawson, clearly against his wishes...but caves to Halladay's wife?

 

I think they have since changed it so the player can select what cap he goes in with. Too bad because the Hall would have selected The Jays for halladay. Id take that placque and stick it up BRANDYs ass......Sideways.

[max silver]

Reading that article, the whole time I'm thinking "k, what's up with Halladay then?"

 

Cooperstown picks Expos for Dawson, clearly against his wishes...but caves to Halladay's wife?

 

In both of these cases the hall went against the wishes of the player.

[wamco]

Now there is a blast from the past. He of the tree trunk legs and mediocre career.

 

Career 93 Ops+

 

Way higher than I thought albeit only about 475 career games

[Ehjays]

[Terminator]

Yankees will be spending money this offseason after their extremely poor 2023 season. Any rational poster on here knew that. They throw money at problems and they have the luxury to do so. Yankees will be better in 2024. Does that mean the Yankees are going to be a top team in the AL and win the division? No, but they can be a borderline WC team with 88-90 wins with a couple of big moves this offseason. As well, if they sign a combo of some big name FA's or trade for some big name players, that takes away from the FA pool and trade market for other teams including the Jays, meaning there will be more competition and suitors for other FA's and trade candidates. Will have a domino effect.

 

The Yankees could be pretty good this year. But they are going to have to spend a ton to do so and that's just asking for serious trouble down the road.

 

The Judge (32), Cole (33), Stanton (he's done), Rodon (31 and could be washed) core is signed up for 128 mil a year for each of the next 4 seasons (!!!).

 

If they throw big bucks at Yamamoto and Bellinger they are adding another 50 mil onto that pile. With various roster filler for the remaining 20 players that they would need to fill out the roster they'll basically already be at the luxury tax entering each offseason until something like 2030.

 

Maybe they'll just keep spending and blow the payroll out beyond the luxury tax but Steinbrenner Jr. doesn't seem to like to spend like his dad. They aren't even in on Ohtani, for example. I think they are in for some dark times ahead.

[Spanky__99]

The Yankees could be pretty good this year. But they are going to have to spend a ton to do so and that's just asking for serious trouble down the road.

 

The Judge (32), Cole (33), Stanton (he's done), Rodon (31 and could be washed) core is signed up for 128 mil a year for each of the next 4 seasons (!!!).

 

If they throw big bucks at Yamamoto and Bellinger they are adding another 50 mil onto that pile. With various roster filler for the remaining 20 players that they would need to fill out the roster they'll basically already be at the luxury tax entering each offseason until something like 2030.

 

Maybe they'll just keep spending and blow the payroll out beyond the luxury tax but Steinbrenner Jr. doesn't seem to like to spend like his dad. They aren't even in on Ohtani, for example. I think they are in for some dark times ahead.

 

jaysblue is confused, he told me the Yankees were signing Ohtani. And the CBT penalties are nothing to them, etc... as you say, they don't work like that at the moment. Their up against it, and it'd be tough to see that team getting much better.

[L54]

Actually pretty crazy to think that the New York Yankees are sitting out the sweepstakes for biggest FA of all time because they can’t afford him

[Spanky__99]

Actually pretty crazy to think that the New York Yankees are sitting out the sweepstakes for biggest FA of all time because they can’t afford him

 

And the Dodgers and others know it. He'll be in Dodger Blue, our Blue would be better, but I don't see anyone beating them. They've saved for this, haha.

[L54]

And the Dodgers and others know it. He'll be in Dodger Blue, our Blue would be better, but I don't see anyone beating them. They've saved for this, haha.

 

This is exactly how I feel. I’ll be shocked if he ends up anywhere else. It was clear when they sat out last offseason

[Spanky__99]

This is exactly how I feel. I’ll be shocked if he ends up anywhere else. It was clear when they sat out last offseason

 

Yup. He'll get like 50/60 AAV depending on term.

[jaysblue]

jaysblue is confused, he told me the Yankees were signing Ohtani. And the CBT penalties are nothing to them, etc... as you say, they don't work like that at the moment. Their up against it, and it'd be tough to see that team getting much better.

 

I am confused?

 

I said the Yankees could be a possible spot for Ohtani. Dodgers are still the No. 1 team to sign him most likely, but never count the Yankees out when it comes to a big name FA. As well, NYC is a huge market and the Yankee pinstripes always have a huge appeal to a lot of baseball players. Ohtani would be a perfect fit there if he wants to play in the Pinstripes.

[jaysblue]

This is exactly how I feel. I’ll be shocked if he ends up anywhere else. It was clear when they sat out last offseason

 

Ohtani Team Opening Day 2024 odds (Jays ranked third in Vegas):

 

Dodgers - 1.90

 

Rangers - 5.50

 

Blue Jays - 6.50

 

Cubs - 8.00

 

Giants - 9.00

 

Mets - 9.00

 

Yankees - 9.00

 

Red Sox - 13.00

[connorp]

Yup. He'll get like 50/60 AAV depending on term.

 

He won’t get $50m AAV. Do you want to bet, meatsack?

[connorp]

Ohtani Team Opening Day 2024 odds (Jays ranked third in Vegas):

 

Dodgers - 1.90

 

Rangers - 5.50

 

Blue Jays - 6.50

 

Cubs - 8.00

 

Giants - 9.00

 

Mets - 9.00

 

Yankees - 9.00

 

Red Sox - 13.00

 

I wonder if you can get reverse odds at any books. Where he doesn’t sign.

[BigCecil]

The 30+ dudes all have pretty spotless health histories at the very least.

 

"Injury history was still the top predictor, along with raw number of pitches thrown, and as you might expect, having a previous injury or being older made things somewhat worse."

 

There has been a million studies done on this and ^ holds up.

 

Gausman 1500+ IP (33)

Berrios 1200+ IP (30)

Bassitt 900+ IP (35)

Kikuchi 600+ IP(33) MLB but not sure how many IP in Japan

 

Ryu held consistent to his IL history. The 2024 rotation IL history is encouraging, but miles on them.

 

2016 and 2023 are the most healthy SP rotation seasons I can recall. I don't think it would be wise for the FO to anticipate the same in 2024.

[max silver]

"Injury history was still the top predictor, along with raw number of pitches thrown, and as you might expect, having a previous injury or being older made things somewhat worse."

 

There has been a million studies done on this and ^ holds up.

 

Gausman 1500+ IP (33)

Berrios 1200+ IP (30)

Bassitt 900+ IP (35)

Kikuchi 600+ IP(33) MLB but not sure how many IP in Japan

 

Ryu held consistent to his IL history. The 2024 rotation IL history is encouraging, but miles on them.

 

2016 and 2023 are the most healthy SP rotation seasons I can recall. I don't think it would be wise for the FO to anticipate the same in 2024.

 

Thankfully it was the Blue Jays prospective depth starters that suffered a litany of injuries last season vs the rotation itself. All of White, Francis, Hutchison and Tiedemann suffered from injury which limited their availability.

[Laika]

Brewers reportedly close to extending Chourio.

 

Really interesting.

[Jimcanuck]

Brewers reportedly close to extending Chourio.

 

Really interesting.

 

What the O's should be doing with Halliday but won't because they are stupid, thankfully

[Stangstag]

What the O's should be doing with Halliday but won't because they are stupid, thankfully

 

Why spend more money when less money do trick?