Ehjays

He signed a one day contract with the Jays to retire a Jay because he was drafted a Jay and gave team friendly contracts to the jays while recruiting other star free agents for the Jays only to be killed and have his wife decide no team on his placque because "both teams were equally important" she says. F U Brandy. Sorry still pissed.

Here is another trade partner: (And they say they are further along in trade talks than before the meetings.) https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/mlb/diamondbacks/2022/12/08/dbacks-outfielders-drawing-heavy-interest-as-meetings-conclude/69710968007/ D-Backs’ outfielders drawing heavy interest as meetings conclude SAN DIEGO — As Major League Baseball’s Winter Meetings wound down on Wednesday evening, the Diamondbacks were still holding their full stable of talented, young outfielders. A trade, club officials said, was not close. But it did appear closer than at the beginning of the meetings. General Manager Mike Hazen said talks surrounding his outfielders advanced this week to the point that specific — and intriguing — names had surfaced. “We have enough specificity around some of these (discussions),” Hazen said, “that I feel like we’ll have some decisions to say yes or no.” There appears to be no shortage of interested parties when it comes to outfielders Daulton Varsho, Alek Thomas and Jake McCarthy. According to sources, perhaps a third of baseball’s 30 teams have checked in on at least one of the Diamondbacks' outfielders, with two new clubs reaching out for the first time on Tuesday. Sources say the interested teams include the Astros, Athletics, Blue Jays, Brewers, Marlins, Reds, White Sox and Yankees, among others. As for what the Diamondbacks could get in return, a number of possibilities remain in play. Talks are said to involve players at a variety of positions, with second base, third base, shortstop and catcher looking most likely. The club is focused primarily on right-handed hitters. The Diamondbacks are said to have high asks on their players. They are not looking to take back prospects but rather to acquire either an established big leaguer or a major league-ready player who will serve as an upgrade or plug a hole. Hazen said the Diamondbacks are talking about deals that include just one player coming back and those that include multiple players. Sep 12, 2022; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks center fielder Alek Thomas (5) catches a fly ball against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the sixth inning at Chase Field. “We have some things we’re still working on that I feel like we’re going to be in a position to make decisions on,” Hazen said. “There haven’t been any trades made (at the meetings). That doesn’t surprise me with the activity in the free-agent market.” Hazen said he expects that as free agents continue to come off the board, more attention will be paid to the free-agent market. The name that could most impact the Diamondbacks’ situation is that of Brandon Nimmo, the best center fielder on the open market.

Brewers keeps coming up as a trade candidate, and we have dealt with them before, I think both sides were happy with the deal. ---------------------------- Brewers Interested In Catching Upgrades By Darragh McDonald | December 8, 2022 at 3:24pm CDT Brewers general manager Matt Arnold says that the club is looking to improve behind the plate, per Curt Hugg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. When asked if they were more likely to pursue trades or free agents in that department, Arnold said it’s “hard to handicap.” The Brewers used a fairly even time split behind the plate in 2022, with Victor Caratini getting 73 starts and Omar Narvaez getting 80. That’s becoming more standard practice around the league, as few teams want to wear down their best catchers by having them crouching behind the plate every day for years and years. Caratini is still on the roster but Narvaez reached free agency at the end of the 2022 season. The club already made one move to bolster their depth at the position this offseason, acquiring Payton Henry from the Marlins. However, Henry only has 20 MLB games under his belt so far and didn’t play much in the minors this year either due to thumb surgery. He still has options and so it’s fairly sensible for the club to look for a second major league catcher to pair with Caratini and bump Henry down the depth chart and into the minors. In terms of the free agent market, the top option is now off the board with Willson Contreras agreeing to a deal with the Cardinals for $87.5MM over five years. The Brewers were never really going to be shopping in that aisle, since they’ve been actually trying to trim costs around the edges of their payroll this winter. Their trade of Kolten Wong was a cash-neutral deal, but the Brewers have moved Hunter Renfroe and his projected $11.2MM arbitration salary and let Brent Suter and Brad Boxberger depart for some modest savings. Their payroll for 2023 currently sits at $116MM, per Roster Resource, about $16MM shy of last year’s $132MM Opening Day figure, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts. The Brewers might want to dedicate some resources to other parts of their roster, such as their outfield or bullpen, but there should be room for a catching addition if that’s their priority. The top free agent remaining is generally considered to be Christian Vazquez, but he seems to have wide interest, having been connected to the Twins, Red Sox, Padres, Diamondbacks, Guardians, Giants and Cubs in recent weeks. If the Brewers don’t want to go hard on Vazquez, the other options in free agency include bringing back Narvaez, as well as glove-first options like Roberto Perez, Tucker Barnhart and Austin Hedges. There’s also slugger Gary Sanchez, as well as wild card Mike Zunino who missed most of 2022 due to surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome. None of those options would break the bank but they’re also all imperfect in one way or another. If they opt for the trade route, the most prominent candidates in that department are Sean Murphy of the A’s and Danny Jansen of the Blue Jays. Both are projected for modest arbitration salaries, with Murphy at $3.5MM and Jansen at $3.7MM. The greater cost would likely be what is required to send the other way in a trade. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has been writing about the catching market recently and had one executive describe the asking prices in those discussions as high “like the moon.” The A’s apparently asked for outfielder Lars Nootbaar, infielder Brendan Donovan and Gordon Graceffo in their Murphy talks. The Jays also wanted Nootbaar in the Jansen dealings and also discussed Ryan Helsley, per Goold. Those lunar asking prices were what caused the Cardinals to turn their backs on the trade market and just spend the money required to land Contreras, though there was also the draft pick compensation since Contreras rejected a qualifying offer. The Brewers generally aren’t shy about making deals, having traded away Wong, Renfroe and Josh Hader just in the past few months. However, meeting Oakland or Toronto on their level would likely require further subtracting from their major league roster or dipping into a farm system that isn’t especially well regarded. FanGraphs currently considers their system to be 16th, with Baseball America placing them 13th and MLB Pipeline 19th. Those are obviously middle-of-the-pack placements, but many of their top prospects seem to be in the club’s plans for 2023. The Wong trade, for instance, was something they could consider because of the possibility of Brice Turang stepping up and taking over the second base job. Renfroe was perhaps deemed expendable because of outfield prospects like Sal Frelick and Garrett Mitchell. If the club is hoping for those players to step in and help at the major league level in 2023, that will make them reluctant to include them in trades. The system’s top prospect is generally considered to be Jackson Chourio, who is still not close to the majors but generally considered to be pretty close to untouchable since he’s shot up prospect lists and considered to be one of the best youngsters in the world. If that’s how things are viewed within the Milwaukee front office, they might also find it difficult to line up on a deal.

MLB selects the team that goes on the plaque now, and I think there is a 40% chance it will be The Jays. (Too bad the league didnt pick for Halladay, f***in Brandy!! That still burns my ass)

Must have, Im not really up on how the minor portion works. Is it anyone selected must stay in Buffalo the whole year. Not sure about that

Although he is not a top prospect anymore the Jays did lose Logan Warmoth In the Minor League portion also The Blue Jays added catcher Kekai Rios from the Dodgers, a 25-year-old who should offer some depth in the upper Minors

https://www.si.com/mlb/bluejays/news/blue-jays-40-man-roster-add-zulueta-martinez-rule-5 Some notable names were left off Toronto's 40-man roster, and will be exposed in the upcoming Rule 5 Draft, including: INF Tanner Morris RP Adrian Hernandez OF Gabriel Martinez P Jimmy Robbins P Adam Kloffenstein These players were not seen as locks to make the 40-man roster, and are by no means guaranteed losses in the Rule 5 draft. Even some highly regarded prospects, like Gabriel Martinez, may have been left off the 40-man because young age and lack of experience in the upper minors makes it hard for an opposing team to snatch away in the Rule 5 and keep them on an MLB roster all season

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/12/the-opener-giants-rule-5-mid-rotation-market.html The Opener: Giants, Rule 5, Mid-Rotation Market By Nick Deeds | December 7, 2022 at 10:27am CDT The stove is so hot that we couldn’t even get this post out this morning! Judge, Quintana, Jansen, Contreras! Here’s what else we’re looking at: 1. How Will The Giants React To Missing Out On Judge? Perhaps the biggest news of the offseason came in this morning, as reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge re-signed with the Yankees on a monster contract. In yesterday’s Opener, we discussed how the Judge decision was likely holding up most of the remaining top players on the market. With Judge’s decision now made, it’s possible we’ll see movement on other top players, and any such movement will likely involve the Giants and Padres, the losing bidders on Judge. The Giants signed Mitch Haniger last night, but San Francisco will likely be thinking much bigger with regard to future pursuits, as they’ve been connected to Carlos Correa at the top of the shortstop market, have interest in bringing back Carlos Rodón, the top pitcher left on the market, and may turn to Brandon Nimmo in their pursuit of a second outfield signing. Nimmo, of course, is the top outfield free agent available now that Judge has signed. With the Giants reportedly having offered Judge a deal in the range of $360MM, they should have plenty of money available for pursuits of any of these top free agents. 2. The Rule 5 Draft Is Today The Winter Meetings are set to end today, and they’ll likely feature the same flurry of activity the past two days had. Today won’t be entirely the same, however, as the Rule 5 draft will occur at 4 PM CT this afternoon. Any players that were 18 and under at the time of signing and were signed in 2018 or earlier, and any players 19 or older and signed in 2019 or earlier who are not on a club’s 40-man roster are eligible to be selected in the Rule 5 draft. Teams must have space on their 40-man to accommodate their Rule 5 selections. Currently, the 40-man rosters of the Angels, D-Backs, Rangers, Rays and Royals are full. This year’s Rule 5 draft is of particular note because the major league phase of the Rule 5 draft did not occur last year, leaving more players than usual freshly vulnerable in the draft this time. Between the Rule 5 draft and a likely third straight busy day of rumors and signings, the final day of this year’s Winter Meetings looks to be one to watch. Be sure to check in here at MLBTR throughout the day today for all the latest coverage and analysis of the Winter Meetings. 3. Who’s Left On The Mid-Rotation Market? Yesterday saw the market for mid-rotation starters heat up in a big way, as the Rangers signed Andrew Heaney, the Phillies inked Taijuan Walker and the Cubs landed Jameson Taillon. It isn’t slowing down today, with the Mets and José Quintana agreeing on a deal. Walker and Taillon landed similar deals of four years, with Walker’s $72MM slightly outdoing Taillon’s $68MM, while Heaney took a different approach to his free agency, settling for a guarantee of just two years, $25MM in order to secure an opt-out that will allow him to test free agency again next offseason if he so chooses. In any case, the deals indicate that the market has gotten much stronger for mid-rotation starters since Tyler Anderson’s three year, $39MM deal with the Angels last month. With prices soaring, the supply of mid-rotation options in free agency is shrinking rapidly, with Kodai Senga and Chris Bassitt the best options remaining behind Rodón, the last remaining ace. Looking a bit further down the free agency tier list, the likes of Nathan Eovaldi and Sean Manaea also remain on the market. Any of these pitchers could see their markets heat up as the Winter Meetings come to a close, now that the mid-rotation market has been established and their fellow free agents are beginning to sign.

Or....and its a big OR the market keeps increasing so much that even Kikuchis contract is attractive and teams are banging down our bullpen door to get him.

ffs

Yeah, that contract could get ugly. And soon.

So does this take the Mets out of the Senga Pursuit

Yeah and Turner turned them down as well, but they probably used Turners money for the Judge offer but Turner-Tatis-Soto-Machado-Judge