Laika

???

I don't even remember if there were legitimate Jays - Darvish rumours. I remember the whole Kevin Gray press conference thing

Time to get excited!!!

Kim's last two seasons in the KBO aren't far off Thames' first and third years: 142 wRC+ vs. 165 for Thames. Even more impressive is that Kim did that at 23 and 24 years old and with better contact numbers than Thames. He doesn't have to be a great MLB hitter to be valuable if he carries any defensive value. It is possible that teams will value his age too much and end up overpaying, but everyone in the industry is placing a premium on age these days, in all areas of player acquisition.

Rangers were also rumoured to be in on Sugano. Probably good that they landed Arihara with that in mind. The other known Arihara suitors were the Red Sox and Padres... they are probably competing for Sugano with the Jays and maybe the Mets

Jim Bowden gets clicks from guys like Carlos Danger, no doubt.

Bowden is a poser. He knows less than nothing.

Not sure if Kim will be the first domino but you're right that Toronto and the Mets are driving a lot of this offseason. Lots of players/agents are probably waiting on them, holding out hope that they will pony up the big money

Bell has warts. He doesn't project to be great because of those warts. BUT he is capable being a truly great hitter and he has two years of control. For the Nats, he's a clear upgrade on on their 1B depth chart. Have you even heard of Jake Noll?

wow a significant move. Both top 15 prospects for Washington.

uh huh. then the under-developed kids can make the rep teams when they develop physically and are good enough. you've actually just highlighted one of the issues with starting the rep/travel pipeline so f***ing early.

It sounds like you have a healthy perspective on all this. Sorry if you took my posts personally. I still think the pro camp for 5 year olds is weird but you're clearly being thoughtful about this stuff.

These people are in a cult, right? It's basically a cult.

Oh it's not baseball specific at all. Some kids just aren't good athletes. There will be cuts regardless. It's okay if they get cut... they can play house league. If you have to drill fundamentals with your kid at 5 and 6 just so he doesn't get cut from the travel team at age 7, guess what - he's almost certainly not going f***ing anywhere in that sport. Read him more books.

I just remember when I was 6 my dad sent me to a Canadian Hockey Enterprises camp. Seemed innocent and I wanted to go. Roger Neilsen bag-skated me for the entire week and he made me wear a dress. It was a nightmare. It hurt even more when I later found out that my dad was gay and only put me in the camp so he could ask the old pros out for drinks.

It's about parents taking kids sports way too seriously. A camp with old pros for five year olds is just absurd.

Parents should have enrolled the kid in Kevin Mench's "Dingers and Diapers" Camp. Only $100/day. Teaches the fundamentals like how to s*** in a f***ing toilet. If you don't drill those fundamentals early you'll have a pants-shitter forever.

If I had a 6 year old daughter who wanted to play with a GI Joe I would give her the GI Joe. Any parent who goes further than that and tries to force or foster a gender swap is a f***ing psychopath. I still don't understand what this has to do with the line about youth sports.

Is this directed at me? I am legitimately having troubling straightening out the analogy and figuring out what your gripe is.

I'm glad YOU are excited for it but sorry, this is an early example of the type of modern youth sports s*** that has parents spending thousands upon thousands of dollars for their kid to maybe end up as a solid fundamental high school baseball player, but they are just as likely to end up resenting the sport. It's also part of the culture that makes sports like baseball and hockey inaccessible to poor kids; five year olds should be as connorp says "chasing butterflies" on a school ball diamond and maybe doing some catching and hitting if they like it, but that's about it. Your kid doesn't know who the f*** Brad Wilkerson is and he'd probably have more fun if you dressed up like Wags the Dog and flipped balls to him. He's not rubbing elbows with Bo Bichette. Products like this are marketed to the parents. Again, I'm glad you are excited about it. I am not just being a snarky wet blanket. This is a microcosm of problems that are part of a broader discussion about the nature of youth sport and accessibility to sport. Everything that you are saying about Florida baseball culture seems s***** to me. I remember playing AAA hockey up here at 10 and 11 years old and how serious the adults took it almost ruined the sport for me. I was pretty good but after those two years I hated hockey. Surly coaches, angry coaches after losses, annoying off-ice training multiple times per week, parents screaming at referees and getting into arguments, long ass bus rides all the time even on school nights. I'm glad I had the presence of mind to tell my dad that I didn't like it anymore after those two years. 5 year olds are so impressionable. Most of them will copy their parents, do what they like, do whatever dad says. If your kid truly is a baseball rat and never loses the fun then that's awesome but I hope you listen to him and he doesn't just end up as some cog in a youth baseball business marketed at you that will steal a huge chunk of his childhood.

No no no, groundballs up the middle are what make money in mosquito baseball

Neither of them are actual stop gaps. Turner might take 3 years to sign, same with Didi. This DJLM rumour mill is turning into the blob because New York is at the centre of it but Gregorius is 1.5 years younger and pretty damn good... he could get about as much $$ as DJ when the dust settles. Stop gap might be someone like Gyorko, Brad Miller, Kike Hernandez, Hanser Alberto, maybe Marwin Gonzalez, maybe Maikel Franco wants to sign a one year deal, maybe the market for Cesar Hernandez never develops and he is cheap. Sexy list, right?

Sign Max Headroom, cowards!

Apparently not... at least not anyone on the BA top 50