Bobthe4th

TBF they had lots of payroll budget to use and they've identified they want a strengthened bullpen so have paid what they needed to in the current market. If they were using money that otherwise would have been spent on other players then sure, but overpaying in free agency in areas of need (as long as it doesn't handicap you payroll wise) isn't a unique thing. They made the playoffs last year and wanted to improve. Yes they've overpaid, but that's what free agency is designed for, to compensate players for their initial years of being underpaid.

That’s fair. Obviously it’s much easier for an athlete to resist advances as they have the influence. It’s the abuse of influence that’s the underlying issue with the recent celebrity sexual harassment cases.

You must recognise the difference, right?

The incident is from 2015 so any recording would have been wiped by now.

Bo Bichette’s brother Dante Jr (who I didn’t realise was still in baseball) just signed a minor league with the Rockies.

Well if the potential return for Machado wasn’t good enough to trade him, perhaps the offers for JD aren’t very good either. Who knows though!

With Britton out for 6 months but due a large arbitration salary, and Machado reportedly off the market after poor trade offers, how f***ed are the Orioles?

If the front office don’t even want to trade JD with only a year left, there’s no chance Osuna is going anywhere.

Tom Koehler signs for the Dodgers for $2m plus incentives - significantly less than what we’d have had to pay him in arbitration.

If the Rays now decide to rebuild they could stock their farm quickly. Archer could get them a hell of a return.

As expected:

Even the most optimistic fan doesn’t think that the Jays are serious World Series contenders this year. But I believe that it’s too early to blow it up. I think the desire to rush to rebuild is driven by a worry that it won’t happen when it needs to, and that we’d experience another long period of mediocrity. If this season is as bad as last season, i.e. injuries, prospects not developing into contributors, older players declining, and a losing season, then a rebuild is much more likely. However, I don’t believe that is inevitable - and if enough is shown for a core of players to be built around we have the bonus that Bo and/or Vlad could be ready as early as 2019. But it’s the right thing to do to buy a bit of time to see if your team is ready to make a step to the next level in a year or 2. If we’re not, then we haven’t added any mega contracts or traded away any more significant prospects.

Exactly, any team can acquire very good players (including their own prospects turning into good players).

Also the narrative that it’s impossible for the team to be good for a number of years - the only thing that guarantees that is if a full rebuild happens.

Pentecost is made of glass.

The Yankees are in talks with the Pirates for trading for Gerrit Cole.

Nope, there are no restrictions for AAA picks. They are yours to keep.

Yankees lose 6 prospects, including 4 in the major league draft. Not sure why the Marlins didn't just pick everyone they could, trade all their real players, run out a young lineup, lose 150 games, and have a payroll of $10million!

Full rule 5 draft Major League phase Round 1 1. Tigers: OF Victor Reyes (D-backs) 2. Giants: RHP Julian Fernandez (Rockies) 3. Phillies: RHP Nick Burdi (Twins) -- traded to Pirates 4. White Sox: OF Carlos Tocci (Phillies) -- traded to Rangers 5. Reds: RHP Brad Keller (D-backs) -- traded to Royals 6. Mets: RHP Burch Smith (Rays) -- traded to Royals 7. Braves: RHP Anyelo Gomez (Yankees) 8. Pirates: RHP Jordan Milbrath (Indians) 9. Orioles: LHP Nestor Cortes (Yankees) 10. Marlins: RHP Elieser Hernandez (Astros) 11. Mariners: IF Mike Ford (Yankees) 12. Angels: RHP Luke Bard (Twins) 13. Twins: RHP Tyler Kinley (Marlins) 14. D-backs: RHP Albert Suarez (Giants) 15: Astros: LHP/OF Anthony Gose (Rangers) Round 2 16. Orioles: RHP Pedro Araujo (Cubs) 17. Marlins: RHP Brett Graves (A's) Round 3 18. Orioles: RHP Jose Mesa (Yankees) Triple-A phase Round 1 1. Giants: RHP Eduardo Rivera (Reds) 2. White Sox: C Yermin Mercedes (Orioles) 3. Reds: 3B Mitch Nay (Blue Jays) 4. Mets: 2B Andrew Ely (Cubs) 5. Padres: LHP Jose Medina (Mets) 6. Braves: 1B Skyler Ewing (Giants) 7. A's: Brallan Perez (Orioles) 8. Pirates: RHP Damien Magnifico (Angels) 9. Orioles: C Martin Cervenka (Giants) 10. Blue Jays: RHP Andrew Muren (Giants) 11. Marlins: C BJ Lopez (D-backs) 12. Mariners: C Joe Odom (Braves) 13. Rangers: LHP Locke St. John (Tigers) 14. Rays: RHP Francisco German (Tigers) 15. Angels: SS Riley Unroe (Rays) 16. Royals: RHP Daniel Duarte (Rangers) 17. Cardinals: OF Angel Moreno (Rays) 18. Twins: RHP Yancarlos Baez (Yankees) 19. Rockies: LHP Mitch Horacek (Orioles) 20. Yankees: OF Junior Soto (Indians) 21. D-backs: CF Jay Gonzalez (Orioles) 22. Red Sox: RHP Andrew Ferguson (Royals) 23. Nationals: 2B Jacob Wilson (Cardinals) 24. Astros: LHP Chris Nunn (Cubs) 25. Indians: LHP Robert Orlan (Nationals) 26. Dodgers: SS Angelo Mora (Orioles) Round 2 27. Giants: SS Wander Franco (Royals) 28. Braves: SS Tyler Smith (Rangers) 29. A's: LHP Carlos Diaz (Marlins) 30. Pirates: C Rafelin Lorenzo (Rays) 31. Blue Jays: C Alberto Mineo (Cubs) 32. Marlins: C Sharif Othman (Yankees) 33. Mariners: C Tyler Baker (D-backs) 34. Angels: RHP Matt Ball (Rangers) 35. Cardinals: OF Jean Selmo (D-backs) 36. Twins: RHP Sandy Lugo (Reds) 37. D-backs: LHP Lane Ratliff (Mariners) 38. Red Sox: CF Luke Tendler (Rangers) 39. Nationals: RHP Kaleb Fleck (D-backs) Round 3 40. A's: RHP Jaimito Lebron (Padres) 41. Blue Jays: SS Ivan Castillo (Indians) 42. Marlins: 1B Will Allen III (Tigers) Round 4 43. Marlins: RHP Brandon Barker (Orioles)

Maybe they'll use him as a poor man's Ohtani, haha. Weird to see a guy with over 350 MLB games being taken in the rule 5 draft.

Jays have the 12th pick so no chance unfortunately.

Phillips is obviously talking nonsense, but our offer could have been built around pitchers that the Marlins didn't rate as highly as the prospects that they got from the Cardinals.