John_Havok

Yeah, I think he’s looking at the same framework as Bellinger got, just with lower AAV. Me and Spanky hashed that out either in this thread or a different one yesterday.

And yes, I’m jealous because I’m not in Florida at ST and instead am sitting in a -25 freezing hellhole of Saskatchewan. Definitely a SS in his day…look at that form!

What people infer from a statement is just that…an inference. I concede the possibility exists that Atkins had and continues to have no intention of bringing back Chapman, because I’m not in his head. But either way he can’t state he’s not interested in any specific player since it’s against the CBA to do so.

Oh that one, yeah that was Oct 7th. He said initially “The bulk of our team [is] essentially returning,” Atkins said. “We’ll miss Matt Chapman and Brandon Belt and Kevin Kiermaier. We’ll see opportunities to work to fill those holes from within and externally. The bulk of our pitching returning, minus Hyun-Jin Ryu. Maybe a couple of others, Alek Manoah coming back into the fold, thought Hyun-Jin Ryu could also be an alternative for us.” Then he said a few minutes later he was open to bringing back all three guys, one of which happened. Then Nov 7th - Atkins says “absolutely remain interested” on a multi-year deal for Chapman. Atkins has had dialogue with both Chapman and his agent, Scott Boras, and said, “our engagement has been great.” For context, the Atkins quote was after they had extended the qualifying offer but before the deadline to accept or reflect so the rejection that was clearly a formality had not happened yet. Chapman hasn’t made any comments post season as you’d expect but before the end of the season, Chapman said he was “definitely open to coming back” and praised the organization for how they take care of players. “They really care about (the) players, and there’s nothing that they wouldn’t do for you. So I have a lot of respect for everybody in this organization,” Chapman said. That last bit was from a story in the Athletic on Nov 8th

Nice! For a vid on a pasty bald white dude in a sleeveless shirt and fashionably questionable shorts catching a Westburg HR ball, click here! Please note the very excellent and fundamentally sound fielding position displayed at the 12 second mark of the video https://www.mlb.com/gameday/orioles-vs-braves/2024/02/26/748228/final/wrap

Which comments are you referring to and from when?

From recent stuff out there from a wide variety of sources, nobody can even confirm a team having even made offers on Chapman, Montgomery or Snell since the season ended. They called Boras, got the asking price, probably laughed, hung up and just never called back.

Twins GM the other day said something about free agency on a radio show "We're not going to go out and spend $30 million on a player right now," he said. "The players that are out there right now that probably a bunch of fans are talking about, we are not in the market for those players." Dangerously close to a violation. He stopped short of naming specific players, but it’s not exactly rocket science to connect the dots. Per the CBA “none of the Covered Parties may make comments to the media about the value of an unsigned free agent, or about possible or contemplated terms for an unsigned free agent, regardless of whether discussions have occurred. The prohibitions apply equally to comments that are on and off the record, as well as to comments that are provided on the condition of anonymity or published without identifying the source (e.g., "an industry source"). Making comments about the general budget is fine

Not when they both bat RH….

He hit .366 in Buffalo. With the Jays he hit .192 over 31 PA in 29 games.

Defensively he'll be fine. the only ? is how well his bat will play.

to be fair, there aren't many 3b prospects in any org that project to be an adequate replacement for Chapman.

Still kicking around yeah though I'm not sure what he does quite qualifies as playing baseball. He's been utter garbage since 2018. The perfect Pirate. Surprised Colorado didn't get him.

Bassitt is also scheduled to pitch today

Yeah, and remember the luxury tax isn't calculated until the last day of the season. Even starting the season being projected over, there's always ways to get under it later with trades.

I saw that same one, they left off a decent number of seasons with other players that were better to make Matthews look even greater than he already is. All time though he is currently 5th at .65 goals per game (minimum 200 goals to qualify). Mike Bossy is tops at .76, Mario .75....Gretz and Ovi are tied at 7th with .60

Yeah, but kinda have to think the AAV will be ~25 million. He just turned down the QO which was 20.3…so anything less than 2/50 would be a bit odd given that you’re sacrificing term to try for a higher short term AAV. I’d take him back at 2/55 with an opt out tomorrow without hesitation. Even if they had to tack on a 3rd year with a second opt out…I’m cool with that

I mean similar structure, not similar money. Something shorter with opt out(s)

How did Cooke look? From listening on the radio Shulman and Davidi sounded like he looked great

3rd. He had two misplays yesterday

Maybe a 2 year 55ish million kind of thing with an opt out after 1. After the Belli signing it’s a pretty good guess that he is going to sign something similar but probably for less AAV.

On the contrary, teams value defense far more than nerds do. They just realize they don’t have to pay top dollar for it.

and is 5 years older and massacred by injuries in 2023. How is that in any way some kind of a defense of Bellinger?

Which is exactly why he shouldn't expect to be paid like he's the hitter he was pre-injury.