Laika

It’s all about connections and networks in lots of businesses. You must pump gas or teach or something like that?

Toronto drafted Shane Farrell back in 2011 with one of their throwaway picks. Sometimes those things pay off down the road.

I see you did not read the article. Mr. Benjamin Clemens starts with a hypothesis that free agency is different - the narrative in his first sentence. He then falsifies that narrative in numerous ways. The conclusion is that the narrative is not true. His last paragraph is a bit weird, sure. The comment is not sarcastic.

It would be a perfect move. They have a hole in the 1B/DH department. It would please the casuals a little bit. It would show some gumption. It would almost certainly be just a one year deal at a palatable AAV but a team option would be cool too. The Veteran Presents could actually matter with the young positional core, maybe he could teach Vlad how to lift the f***ing ball a little bit and how to be fat but good.

Wow, seems like he's moving. I don't see why the Dodgers would sacrifice their future to make a Lindor move. With Seager, Turner, Muncy, and Lux, they have a strongly projected infield already and good depth. Of the rumoured to be interested teams he would mean the most to the Reds. Lindor would be a 5+ win upgrade for them and it would significantly increase their playoff chances given their position on the win curve. I wonder if the Reds could make it happen without giving up Senzel. Jonathan India + Tyler Stephenson + some other good piece.

It's all currency.

To be fair to Ross, it seems like the Blue Jays might have been the first team to call nearly every free agent.

The dissonance between these two statements gives me vertigo.

They have Jo Adell to take over RF. They could just bench Pujols 2/3 of the time. Tommy La Stella somehow is now a 2 win player? Patrick Sandoval is also pretty good. They should acquire Kenneth Giles for, say, Brandon Marsh.

Teheran is probably slightly preferable to Anderson considering age and upside, but Anderson has two years of control at the price point so he might be a slightly better asset than Teheran. Hmmmm.

I don't know if the farm would still be loaded. It would take a few big bullets to land Clevinger. Honestly, not sure it makes sense. Seems like a bit of a Padres thing to do.

If you think they are good for 4 WAR and 3 WAR respectively, Clevinger + Ryu is probably a 5 win upgrade for the 2020 Blue Jays. That would make them what, a .500 team?

Ah yes, the old "sign a replacement level 34 year old closer and then trade him to a contender" strategy.

I don't see much gap between Cron and Smoak. Of course I would love to see Greg Bird in blue.

On the roster I think it's Teoscar lmao. As far the longest tenured organizational 40-man player I think it's Anthony Alford lmao even more.

I think both, probably. I doubt Toronto even made an official offer but even if they did it would have been a one year offer and I could see him taking the $5M in Milwaukee anyway. The team really f***ing needs another 1B option though. I can't stomach Rowdy Tellez being handed the assignment with only, I dunno, Brandon Drury behind him? f*** me.

Hmmm I have heard that one before!

Hyun-Jin Ryu is very arguably the top starter remaining on the free-agent market, though his injury history is a clear red flag despite the southpaw’s dominant showing over the past couple of seasons. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported earlier this week that Ryu was “expected” to top four years and $80MM on his next contract, but on this morning’s appearance on MLB Network’s Hot Stove show (video link), Rosenthal indicated that multiple teams have since told him they were immediately skeptical of that price point: “I heard from a couple of clubs yesterday that said ’That’s not going to happen — not with that medical history.'” Certainly, that doesn’t rule out the possibility of a four-year pact for Ryu, but the pushback serves to underscore what makes Ryu such a polarizing free agent. The 32-year-old (33 in March) has a 2.21 ERA over his past 265 innings and a 2.71 ERA in 391 2/3 innings dating back to 2017. On a per-inning basis, he’s among the market’s elite options, but Ryu’s age and injury history likely have some teams steering clear of him on any type of notable multi-year arrangement. It only takes one team to push to four years, but to this point, his realistic price tag is hard to pin down. More on Ryu and the rest of the pitching market… Ryu’s agent Scott Boras, who also represents lefty Dallas Keuchel, chatted with MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand about the two free-agent southpaws and (unsurprisingly) offered optimism that a deal could come together in the near future. “Clubs are identifying their needs, and we’re certainly narrowing the corridor of finality,” Boras said with characteristic idiosyncrasy. “It could happen soon.” Meanwhile, Bruce Levine of 670AM The Score/CBS Chicago writes that the White Sox are interested in both Boras lefties, also implying that the team might find it preferable to add a free-agent of that ilk rather than for a one-year rental (e.g. Robbie Ray). The ChiSox are still hopeful of reeling in a rotation upgrade but are wary of surrendering notable young talent for a one-year upgrade.

#Elbowgate

One of the biggest predictors of catastrophic elbow injury is elbow inflammation (and similar things like forearm strains, etc.) Giles battled elbow inflammation multiple times in 2019. The health is a concern to teams. He'll make nearly $10M and has only one year of control. For an elite closer that you can count on there is surplus value above that, but for a question mark reliever there really isn't. See the Blake Treinen deal and what Betances is looking for. Giles has value above those two but how much more value is pretty subjective. The right approach is Jim's - if Giles can make it through a couple of months without any flare-ups then Toronto can get that sweet, sweet elite-close-at-the-deadline trade value. I'm not sure that an extension is a greaaaat idea but it might be. Depends on the trade market and the extension details! I doubt Toronto will want to sink any of their coveted "payroll flexibility" into a long-term closer in 2020 though.

Arrieta I guess

The Rangers are like the opposite of the Blue Jays. They now project to be top ~10 in pitching WAR after stocking the rotation but look at this f***ing lineup: DH - Choo SS - Andrus RF - Gallo CF - Danny Santana???? LF - Willie Calhoun 3B - Nick Solak 2B - Odor C - Jose Trevino 1B - Ronald Guzman They have one player projected for over 2 WAR (Gallo). Are they really going to go with an all free agent / veteran rotation and then roll out this f***ing lineup?

Elite (or nearly elite) spin on the 4 seamer and slider. I think his velo backed up a bit recently and he needs to understand himself differently, as a spin-doctor relief pitcher.

You need to relax. Even Casey Mize, 1-1 from 2018, only reached AA last year. Even if Manoah develops well as a SP he probably only spends part of 2020 in AA in the first half in Dunedin. If everything goes swimmingly there is a chance at a 2021 debut depending on the MLB situation.

They have tons of SP depth above Manoah and they likely won't be competing so you SHOULD be shocked if they start Manoah's service time this year.