Around Baseball 2025

[hanton]

That has to be a typo?   I swear I read it as 1.2M and thought that was an overpay LMFAO

[Orgfiller]

1 hour ago, Laika said:

holy flucking sharts the White Sox guaranteed Anthony Kay $12M 

His K-BB% numbers in the NPB last two seasons would be below and right around the MLB average lmao. Good for him I guess. He could be a cromulent innings eater for cheap, but with no real upside to speak of.

[Orgfiller]

1 hour ago, Terminator said:

That's pretty wild. They must plan on starting him.

ChiSox might know a few things about pitching. Maybe he can stick.

They did just lose Ethan Katz to the Astros, but in general their pitching development is quite good all things considered, so maybe they think they can get him to be a 2-3 WAR innings eater.

[Laika]

Just now, Orgfiller said:

His K-BB numbers in the NPB last two seasons would be below and right around the MLB average lmao. Good for him I guess. He could be a cromulent innings eater for cheap, but with no real upside to speak of.

Bro just parlayed his NPB ERA into generational wealth 

[Orgfiller]

Rockies hired Josh Byrnes, SVP of Baseball Ops for the Dodgers who apparently supervised the scouting and player development for them, to be their GM.

That's two FO hires outside their usual box, which in theory seems like they're making good progress moves for the first time in years.

[sliderguy35]

58 minutes ago, Orgfiller said:

They did just lose Ethan Katz to the Astros, but in general their pitching development is quite good all things considered, so maybe they think they can get him to be a 2-3 WAR innings eater.

brian bannister (the CWS pitching director) is the man & one of the smartest pitching people out there. if they saw something they liked, it's probably legit & i'd be shocked if he wasn't at least league average, then flipped at the deadline

[bronson44]

28 minutes ago, sliderguy35 said:

brian bannister (the CWS pitching director) is the man & one of the smartest pitching people out there. if they saw something they liked, it's probably legit & i'd be shocked if he wasn't at least league average, then flipped at the deadline

We should try to poach him

[G-Snarls]

Rays nabbed Cedric Mullins for 1 year 7M 

You just know he's gonna bounce back right?

[Spanky__99]

Pagan's going back to Cincy...
 

 

[Spanky__99]

51 minutes ago, G-Snarls said:

Rays nabbed Cedric Mullins for 1 year 7M 

You just know he's gonna bounce back right?

Where does his salary show it's 7M?  I can't find it at all on twitter, just the 1 year deal, that would be less money than what we're paying Straw, lol.

 

[G-Snarls]

3 minutes ago, Spanky__99 said:

Where does his salary show it's 7M?  I can't find it at all on twitter, just the 1 year deal, that would be less money than what we're paying Straw, lol.

 

 

 

[G-Snarls]

That could turn out to be a great deal 

[G-Snarls]

Pirates "gonna spend" while decent players get signed to reasonable deals and they sign nobody

[Jays24]

Can someone tell me why Mullins got so little?  I really like the guys game. 

[Pendleton]

In Oakland they couldn't afford a net to get the possum out of the visiting broadcast booth, but in Vegas they'll have a Skydome on stilts 

[L54]

This is hilarious. Devin Williams was the only man able to alter the Yankees facial hair policy then he dips for Queens 😂 

[mphenhef]

3 hours ago, L54 said:

This is hilarious. Devin Williams was the only man able to alter the Yankees facial hair policy then he dips for Queens 😂 

Now if only that two but organization would take a stand against domestic abuse like they do facial hair…🤡

[Brownie19]

11 hours ago, Jays24 said:

Can someone tell me why Mullins got so little?  I really like the guys game. 

He's been worth 1.7 WAR on average over the last 3 years.  It's a league average bat, .300 OBP and declining defense.

Solid piece, but there's not much upside anymore.  Probably best as a 4th OFer at this point?

[Orgfiller]

12 hours ago, Jays24 said:

Can someone tell me why Mullins got so little?  I really like the guys game. 

The short answer: look at his Statcast page https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/cedric-mullins-656775?stats=statcast-r-hitting-mlb

Longer answer, he was a 1.3 WAR player in his age 30 season, with declining defense and hitting, who may not be able to play a good CF any more. He projects for a 94 wRC+ and 1.3 WAR, those kinds of guys just don't get very much in free agency.

[Orgfiller]

13 hours ago, Spanky__99 said:

Pagan's going back to Cincy...
 

 

Weird deal for Cincinnati. I know Pagan doesn't suck, and this might be reasonable ish terms considering what every other reliever that's signed is getting, but he's firmly a tier below anyone that's signed yet. Heading into his age 35 season, I don't really see the need to give him an opt out, and he's coming above MLBTR and Fangraphs projections in both AAV and years.

His Statcast page looks good so hey, if they think he's legit then power to them. I just have this image in my head of Emilio Pagan continually blowing games with homeruns. Don't think I've ever been watching a game and just seen him dominate through a lineup without trouble, but the numbers certainly seem to indicate he's been doing that more often than not.

[Pendleton]

https://www.si.com/mlb/pirates/onsi/news/pittsburgh-pirates-tommy-pham-lofty-goals-before-retirement 

 

Good for a chuckle on a dreary Thursday 

[glory]

 

[Pendleton]

Cost controlled back end starter with remaining upside (Oviedo) for a top 80-100ish prospect (Garcia)...I would have to look closer at the other three pieces

[Jonn]

I think the Red Sox are having a pretty good off-season so far.

[Laika]

Why? 

Oviedo sucks. The Red Sox are acting like a small or mid market team so far. 

Their 2025 trade deadline was pathetic and so was the Devers trade. They are operating like a franchise with an identity crisis.

[sliderguy35]

first impression: this is an all-time exchange of player names

oviedo is interesting. he came back from TJ with a lower arm slot but also somehow picked up 5(!) additional inches of vertical break on his fastball (lowering your arm slot usually has an inverse relationship with vertical break), so now he's got an elite fastball & a plus slider, but he's still got below average command and no real approach against left-handed hitters.

i'd bet my house that the red sox give him some kind of split or kick change to help out against left-handers but we're still talking about a guy who's literally been the worst pitcher in MLB at throwing first pitch strikes since 2023. if they can get him even close to league average in that category, he'll be a steal, but if they can't he's probably just a middle reliever.

[G-Snarls]

14 minutes ago, Laika said:

Why? 

Oviedo sucks. The Red Sox are acting like a small or mid market team so far. 

Their 2025 trade deadline was pathetic and so was the Devers trade. They are operating like a franchise with an identity crisis.

When you make these big, big betts...

[G-Snarls]

Barger and Santander gonna each hit like 4-5 HRs off Oviedo this year. 

[Pendleton]

16 minutes ago, sliderguy35 said:

first impression: this is an all-time exchange of player names

oviedo is interesting. he came back from TJ with a lower arm slot but also somehow picked up 5(!) additional inches of vertical break on his fastball (lowering your arm slot usually has an inverse relationship with vertical break), so now he's got an elite fastball & a plus slider, but he's still got below average command and no real approach against left-handed hitters.

i'd bet my house that the red sox give him some kind of split or kick change to help out against left-handers but we're still talking about a guy who's literally been the worst pitcher in MLB at throwing first pitch strikes since 2023. if they can get him even close to league average in that category, he'll be a steal, but if they can't he's probably just a middle reliever.

Yeah it makes sense that the Sox see some sort of adjustment that could pull a breakout from Oviedo. He has that elite extension, can generate plenty of whiffs with his fastball and with two breaking pitches. There's definitely a path to becoming a mid rotation guy with big K totals. 

[BTS]

Fangraphs did a year in review. Please pray for me.