Laika

King you are a loser

If he was even a platoon quality OF it would be cheat codes in the DDL. Essentially, the owner would have an expanded roster; the value of having one more roster spot is pretty high. I'm not really sure if splitting him into two commodities is any better though. I think Boxy is right. Some players just have specific skills that make them f***ing awesome in fantasy baseball.

I think players in that league max out at like... 5-6 million /yr

For a talent like Otani... Dodgers Mets Cubs Giants Nats Phillies DBacks? Mystery team

90% probability that he simply ends up in the NL where he can hit every fifth day and if he's good enough maybe pinch hit a bit. It would be awesome to see a team get nuts and give him a chance to platoon in the OF as well as pitch every fifth day. But that type of creative roster management isn't really seen with $200M investments and high payroll teams. And by all accounts Otani seems to be a pitcher first and a hitter second... so teams will invest in the arm and protect it accordingly. If Otani was a lesser talent - some intriguing back end SP with some hitting pop - maybe you'd see a team like Oakland or Tampa Bay try it out.

150 million or more

yes oops

Fantasy baseball house money

Was he in the player pool?

Really strong analysis, NJH. Thames gets one less year and a higher AAV + total contract than those guys.

Well he signed a three year deal with the Brewers today. You're right though, it might be a scam.

Davenport Translations for his 2014 and 2015: .283/.343/.480 .333/.393/.575 2016 page isn't working for some reason. But it would basically be the same as 2014 I think.

Of course. Gurriel vs. Thames vs.... is there anyone else?

The methodology here is clearly over and under adjusting certain player archetypes. The 1B and DH cohort on the aggregate gained like 10+ points of production. 2B seem to have lost a similar amount. That's not to say that Travis' indicators aren't concerning... but we can see the steps backwards without looking at contact quality. His BB, K, and ISO all took poor turns last year. My point is that, yes, he took a step backwards, but doom and gloom probably aren't warranted. It was a shortened season. On the DH side... Kendrys Morales goes from 110 wRC+ to 150 by this contact quality reporting.

LOL what is with you and one-dimensional platoon corner outfielders.

TRADE WOW LOOK AT THIS TRADE Jose Reyes + Yadier Molina for Cal Quantrill Spanky to confirm.

Just to be clear, yes Dinger our $50 bet is on. 450 to play 93 wRC+. Also - an exciting Jose Reyes trade has happened.

haha fine

hmm good point. I edited it to 400 with this in mind before you clicked reply. I want to say 450 total PA at any level - this covers injury shortened year but if he sucks and gets demoted I can still collect

Meet in the middle at 93. 93 is a push. 400 PA for action. *extends greasy hand*

I'll put $50 on under 95.5

79 wRC+ over/under

I've got Mr. Jose Reyes OTB.

Not even an attempt to milk value out of Ramos, eh? I respect that. Cut the cord. He's probably dead meat.

This will be the sixth of many offseason threads where I'll take a stance and advocate for the Blue Jays to make (or not make) a specific move. I may not actually think Toronto should make every move, but I'll lay out the case for it in order to generate discussion. Toronto should sign Bud Norris Bud Norris has an ugly name, an ugly face, an ugly personality, and ugly numbers over the last two years. Toronto should sign him anyway. From 2010 to 2014 Bud Norris was a pretty consistent league average starting pitcher. His WAR values oscillated between 1.4 and 2.7. He started 145 in that span and his xFIP, FIP , and ERA were all between 4.00 and 4.21. He was in the same class of durability and talent in that timeframe as pitchers like Jason Vargas, Ricky Nolasco, Kyle Lohse, and Mike Leake. Those four signed contracts in free agency ranging from $30M to $80M between 2013 and 2016. Bud Norris' value as a pitcher during this timeframe is evident from the 2013 trade to the Orioles that netted the Astros Josh Hader - an extremely talented left-handed SP prospect who has since ascended to top ~30 overall prospect status. But when Bud Norris reached free agency in 2016 all he could land was a 2.5M contract with the Atlanta Braves. This is because Bud Norris was a nightmare in 2015 - his final arbitration year. He was so bad in 2015 that he got released mid-season and finished his year as a reliever for the Padres. He was also an abomination of a pitcher in 2016; he started the year as a serviceable swingman for the Braves but after getting dealt to the Dodgers he threw up a 6.54 ERA and earned getting designated for assignment. All told in 2015 and 2016 Norris pitched 196 innings (30 starts and 43 relief appearances) of 5.79 ERA and 4.63 FIP baseball. That's replacement level pitching. The thing with Bud Norris is, there's no obvious reason why he went from good to terrible. In his heyday, Norris' heater could tickle 95 and 96, sitting in the 92/93 range. In 2015 and 2016 he had the same velocity as ever (see image at bottom). His K and BB rates weren't much different than they've ever been. His GB rates in the two bad years were actually career highs. His pitch mix seems similar to his historical mix. He was in the strike zone as much as he used to be, he got swings and misses at basically the same rate.... the guy just gave up runs. His BABIP in both years was a bit higher than his career mark, his LOB% was lower than ever, and his HR/FB% was at career high percentages. If you're familiar with the concept of "the signal and the noise", Bud Norris' "struggles" in these last two years look a lot like noise to me. The signal, in a holistic sense, seems to indicate that Bud Norris' talent level is the same as it was when he was a league average starting pitcher. CLEARLY he would be available for free agency peanuts. He sucked butts on old-school paper in 2015 and then signed early for just $2.5M. Since he doubled down on the butt-sucking in 2016, there's no reason for him to cost any more than he got last year. Two things that Toronto could use are viable relief pitching and SP depth. Conceivably, Bud Norris could fill both roles, starting the year in the pen with the ability to chew up some innings if needed. My vision and personal hope is that they sign Norris and just tell him that he's a reliever. The fastball is good (at least in terms of velocity) and the slider, his bread and butter pitch, got good results even in his crummy 2016. It's hard not to think of Joe Blanton, and to be honest that's probably why I want Norris so bad. Yes this isn't great reasoning, but humour while I tell you what you already know about Blanton. Joe was a pretty solid, slightly above average SP up until 2013 when he was all of a sudden terrible. He pitched a few games in the minors in 2014 and then announced his retirement. But a change of heart brought him back to the sport as a reliever in 2015 and he has been dynamite, doing it all with a real good slider, a normal fastball, command, and veteran guile. Norris might not have Blanton's command and guile but his stuff is certainly as good as if not better than Joe's. Guys who are starting pitchers in the big leagues for a long time are REALLY good at pitching, and we should almost expect them to be good relief pitchers even when they stop being good at starting (not that I think Bud Norris has necessarily lost his ability to start.) Small sample size, but Norris may have given a tease of his RP capabilities in 2015 with San Diego, where he pitched 16.1 innings all in short relief. He had an 11.34 K/9 in that stint with a 2.65 FIP. He's also shown in the last two years that when he's used solely in relief his fastball can sit at 95+, touching 97+. Pretty good! Anyway, too many words for a dirtbag like Bud Norris (remember his public comments calling Jon Singleton dumb and saying that foreign players should conform to baseball's white culture...). It's pretty simple. Not much to lose here and a lot possibly to be gained. Sign this piece of s*** already. http://www.fangraphs.com/fgraphs/9492_P_FA_20160918.png