Around Baseball 2024

[max silver]

WAR needs to get fixed if Arraez is only considered a 1 WAR player. Yes, I get he doesn't provide much else but the skill he has is the best in baseball. That has to provide more value considering the number of players ahead of him.

 

Also, we thought the Padres needed to slash payroll last year and that really didn't happen. Let's see if it happens this year.

 

The dude is a slap hitter with nearly no power and he's a terrible defender on top of that. Surely you can understand that a player who primarily hits a bunch of singles while doing very little else on the diamond just isn't that valuable of a player.

[L54]

 

Please no

 

Those guys at Fox Sports are always on the ball. Intelligent bunch. Great guys

[Brownie19]

WAR needs to get fixed if Arraez is only considered a 1 WAR player. Yes, I get he doesn't provide much else but the skill he has is the best in baseball. That has to provide more value considering the number of players ahead of him.

 

None of this is really true. He has a very unique skill - but it's his only skill. Hitting .314 (.346 OBP) with no power and no walks simply isn't that valuable - and it never really has been. Ichiro was never the best hitter in baseball, nor was Tony Gwynn. I fully expect if you told elite hitters like Betts, Vlad, etc. to give up ALL their power and just slap that ball around, they could do it just as well as Arraez can, but they have the ability to do a lot more and be much more valuable to their teams.

 

That said, Arraez's bat has been more potent in the previous 2 years (130 wRC+) and that's reflected in higher WAR's. He's a very polarizing and interesting player with 2 more years of control.

[Barrelsandbombs]

BA ranked Sasaki's 7 most likely landing spots.

 

 

1. LA Dodgers

2. San Diego Padres

3. Texas Rangers

4. New York Mets

5. New York Yankees

6. Baltimore Orioles

7. Boston Red Sox

[BTS]

Higashioka to Texas for 2/13.5. I like it for them. Jays are going to have to dip into the market for a C at some point.

[Terminator]

Higashioka to Texas for 2/13.5. I like it for them. Jays are going to have to dip into the market for a C at some point.

 

Solid signing though I'm not upset the Jays passed at that price. That would get a pretty solid reliever and the Jays have so many holes in the pen and elsewhere that dumpster diving for a 1-3 mil catcher is where I hope they end up.

[Terminator]

 

Please no

 

This is the dumbest idea I think I've ever heard

[Jays24]

Higashioka to Texas for 2/13.5. I like it for them. Jays are going to have to dip into the market for a C at some point.

 

Backup catcher is probably 10th on their list of holes to fill this off-season. Let's hope Jano's market crashes for that.

[Jays24]

This is the dumbest idea I think I've ever heard

 

Sounds like a rule you'd do for the Allstars game lol

[Terminator]

After the Boyd and Montas deals the Angels are probably feeling pretty good about the Kikuchi signing.

[G-Snarls]

After the Boyd and Montas deals the Angels are probably feeling pretty good about the Kikuchi signing.

 

Was just thinking that

 

Kikuchi should have waited a week or two longer before signing LOL

[L54]

After the Boyd and Montas deals the Angels are probably feeling pretty good about the Kikuchi signing.

 

No kidding

[Dick_Pole]

This is the dumbest idea I think I've ever heard

 

Well, this is the moving of goalposts. The extra inning ghost runner was a f***ing stupid idea. Grant was the only one to really die on that hill. With that fully implemented and baseball traditionalists like him beaten into submission now we can move onto Manfred's even dumber ideas. Maybe we will get a mid-season championship like the NBA!

 

All this ridiculous s*** to shorten games and increase offense. The game of baseball was just fine for about 150 years until Tampa with their stupid s*** gaming of the system ruined things. Now every team rotates through 30 pitchers a year. Force teams to roster no more than 15 pitchers all year. Then the need for ghost runners, shift limits, 3 batter minimums and whatever the hell this nonsense is goes away.

[jaysblue]

After the Boyd and Montas deals the Angels are probably feeling pretty good about the Kikuchi signing.

 

Yeah those two signings make the Kikuchi deal look even better.

 

Will be interesting to see what guys like Eovaldi, Severino, Manaea, and Pivetta get now.

[jaysblue]

Higashioka to Texas for 2/13.5. I like it for them. Jays are going to have to dip into the market for a C at some point.

 

Backup C is likely last on their list, though like said before on here it could be a great and cheap way at adding extra WAR. If an opportunity comes up where they can add someone now for a couple of million, should probably do it considering the catching market right now is thinning out.

 

Carson Kelly would be a perfect fit though he likely gets something similar or a bit less than Higashioka. Grandal could likely be had on a one year deal worth a couple of million. The rest of the options suck.

 

Jansen at $5 or $6M on a one year deal wouldn't be too bad. Familiar with the pitchers within the organization and does have a comfort level here.

 

Hedges re-signed with Cleveland at $4M and Jacob Stalling went back to Colorado for $2.5M.

[jaysblue]

Backup catcher is probably 10th on their list of holes to fill this off-season. Let's hope Jano's market crashes for that.

 

Yeah probably is, but the market for catchers is starting to become thin. Probably will be really slim pickings come end of January.

 

Would be a cheap way at adding an extra 1-2 WAR. If you can sign Carson Kelly now for like $5M or so, wouldn't hesitate. Would rather spend the extra couple of million now rather than trying to sign a scrub for $1-2M at the end of January.

[jaysblue]

Well, this is the moving of goalposts. The extra inning ghost runner was a f***ing stupid idea. Grant was the only one to really die on that hill. With that fully implemented and baseball traditionalists like him beaten into submission now we can move onto Manfred's even dumber ideas. Maybe we will get a mid-season championship like the NBA!

 

All this ridiculous s*** to shorten games and increase offense. The game of baseball was just fine for about 150 years until Tampa with their stupid s*** gaming of the system ruined things. Now every team rotates through 30 pitchers a year. Force teams to roster no more than 15 pitchers all year. Then the need for ghost runners, shift limits, 3 batter minimums and whatever the hell this nonsense is goes away.

 

Manfred needs to just chill. He can't be making changes to the game every year, especially radical ones like a golden bat.

 

Their next change should be to try and lengthen the Postseason like making the DS a best of 7 series rather than a best of 5.

 

If anything the MLB needs to take a couple of tips from the NBA playbook when it comes down to the offseason. Make the MLB offseason more entertaining. The pace really moves too slow. If this was the NBA, all the stars would be locked up by now haha.

[Stangstag]

Manfred needs to just chill. He can't be making changes to the game every year, especially radical ones like a golden bat.

 

Their next change should be to try and lengthen the Postseason like making the DS a best of 7 series rather than a best of 5.

 

If anything the MLB needs to take a couple of tips from the NBA playbook when it comes down to the offseason. Make the MLB offseason more entertaining. The pace really moves too slow. If this was the NBA, all the stars would be locked up by now haha.

 

Scott Boras has a stranglehold on the offseason

[Brownie19]

I personally don't mind the cat and mouse games involved in the MLB offseason. Every other league has caps and such. The cost of players is super predictable and it's all over within 48 hours. In MLB, you just never know what the market is going to be year to year. One year, guys like Matt Boyd are going to be available for 1 year, $7M and the next year, he's getting 2 years $29M. It certainly makes the job more difficult for GM's.

[glory]

There’s no way to speed the off season up without a salary cap, and the MLBPA will never agree to one unless there’s like a 1-2 year lockout or something, so have to just take the slow build for what it is.

 

Manfred has mostly been cooking with the rule changes, I think the game is in a much better place now than it was 5 years ago, but adding weird gimmicks is not what is needed.

[Barrelsandbombs]

Aroldis Chapman is signing with the Red Sox

 

[glory]

So far the market looks very player friendly in terms of AAV’s. Will make it more difficult for the Jays to fix holes via free agency if they are on a strict payroll, even if it is $50M available to add pieces. I’m guessing there will be a trade or two for an arb eligible player on a more reasonable projected 2025 number (ex. Bohm, Ward, etc).

[Brownie19]

There’s no way to speed the off season up without a salary cap, and the MLBPA will never agree to one unless there’s like a 1-2 year lockout or something, so have to just take the slow build for what it is.

 

Manfred has mostly been cooking with the rule changes, I think the game is in a much better place now than it was 5 years ago, but adding weird gimmicks is not what is needed.

 

So far the market looks very player friendly in terms of AAV’s. Will make it more difficult for the Jays to fix holes via free agency if they are on a strict payroll, even if it is $50M available to add pieces. I’m guessing there will be a trade or two for an arb eligible player on a more reasonable projected 2025 number (ex. Bohm, Ward, etc).

 

I agree with all of this. The game is so much better. The changes to the way starting pitching is used has been difficult for most. Someone blamed TB for this, but it was inevitable that given the money to be made that there would be big improvements in terms of talent on both the pitching and hitting side of things.

 

I've never been a fan of building through free agency anyway. The prices this year are going to make things more difficult for a desperate FO.

Edited December 3, 2024 by Brownie19

[Jays24]

Yeah probably is, but the market for catchers is starting to become thin. Probably will be really slim pickings come end of January.

 

Would be a cheap way at adding an extra 1-2 WAR. If you can sign Carson Kelly now for like $5M or so, wouldn't hesitate. Would rather spend the extra couple of million now rather than trying to sign a scrub for $1-2M at the end of January.

 

I honestly want to see all funds possible used on 2 big bats and bullpen help first. Seeing them spend any money on anything else will give me deja vu to last year where they spent 50M but ignored their biggest weakness lol.

[Jays24]

Seeing Chapman get all these deals but Bauer still blackballed is whack. Maybe Trump can "pardon" Bauer in the eye of the public lol.

[The Cats Ass]

Seeing Chapman get all these deals but Bauer still blackballed is whack. Maybe Trump can "pardon" Bauer in the eye of the public lol.

 

Julio Urias is another one. Some team could have a good 1-2 punch if they signed both Urias and Bauer.

[Olerud363]

Well, this is the moving of goalposts. The extra inning ghost runner was a f***ing stupid idea. Grant was the only one to really die on that hill. With that fully implemented and baseball traditionalists like him beaten into submission now we can move onto Manfred's even dumber ideas. Maybe we will get a mid-season championship like the NBA!

 

All this ridiculous s*** to shorten games and increase offense. The game of baseball was just fine for about 150 years until Tampa with their stupid s*** gaming of the system ruined things. Now every team rotates through 30 pitchers a year. Force teams to roster no more than 15 pitchers all year. Then the need for ghost runners, shift limits, 3 batter minimums and whatever the hell this nonsense is goes away.

 

If you had a 10 pitcher limit on the active roster it would solve everything. They would have to go longer, so pace themselves and their would be more contact and offense. More position players. More platoons. A bit more offense from that.

[AMS528]

Julio Urias is another one. Some team could have a good 1-2 punch if they signed both Urias and Bauer.

 

I don't know about Chapman, but with Urias there's a video that came out just a few months ago right? I imagine there's no way he gets signed given the video is fairly straightforward.

 

Like lets be real, the first thing that would happen if a team was even rumoured to be looking at signing Urias, is that the video of him charging at his wife from behind gets played a million times.

[Stangstag]

Seeing Chapman get all these deals but Bauer still blackballed is whack. Maybe Trump can "pardon" Bauer in the eye of the public lol.

 

One is a loudmouth headache while the other has pretty much 0 social media presence and barely speaks english.

[Jays24]

One is a loudmouth headache while the other has pretty much 0 social media presence and barely speaks english.

 

I'm sure if you told him to stfu as part of a MLB deal he'd take it. Sucks for the whites for being able to speak English then... who would have thought the society would reach that point lol.