Ray

Jordan Hicks striking out 4 Phillies in 1 inning: https://www.mlb.com/unified-player/embed/c-2523343883?mute=&volume=75&autoPlay=true&useHTML=true&siteSection=mlb_gameday&playerContext=AtBat%20Real-Time%20Highlights

Just give him the Golden Spikes now. Also of note, Jordan Groshans' brother Jaxx is having a good start to his season: .406/.556/1.000, 8K's, 12BB, 6HR in 45 PA's. He's a catcher and draft eligible this year.

C: A full season of Danny Jansen who already put up a near .800 OPS last season. LF: Billy McKinney crushed RHP in a small sample size last season, and he seems to be more competent than Teoscar defensively, so he should do pretty well next season if used correctly. Teoscar for all his faults defensively still put up a 107 wRC+ in his first full season which is impressive. He could take a step forward. Cavan Biggio and/or Brandon Drury could become factors here as well. CF: Kevin Pillar does Kevin Pillar things and provides around 2 WAR and hacks his way to another underwhelming yet still not terrible ~85 wRC+. Beyond that, we also do have Anthony Alford, Dalton Pompey, and Jonathan Davis who are complete wildcards, but at the very least all 3 of them should be able to play a good defensive CF. RF: Grichuk had a 134 wRC+ after his return from the DL last season. I don't think it's unreasonable to project him for a near 3 WAR season if he's healthy. 1B: Justin Smoak proved his breakout was real last season and puts up another 2-3 WAR season at 1B. 2B/SS: I'm lost on what to think about Lourdes Gurriel Jr., although players with his offensive profile have been successful in recent years (i.e. Rougned Odor, Javy Baez). I think he could put up a better season than Odor did in 2016, and he was worth 2.5 WAR that year. Galvis plays gold glove calibre defense at SS. Drury takes a step forward after a lost season (he's still only 26). Biggio and/or Bichette may come up if they're performing well. 3B: Vladdy should absolutely mash. Pitching: We had historically bad pitching last season. The last time we as a staff had an ERA as bad as last year was 2003. Just by virtue of regression to the mean, we should be better. Stroman will be better. Sanchez will be better if he's healthy. Borucki has the ability to put up a 4.00 ERA, which would be perfectly reasonable for a #3 or #4. The upper minors starting depth we have, while not carrying any impactful superstar prospects, is mature and major league ready. The best course of action when it comes to arms is to stockpile as many as possible because history has shown us you never know who will break out at the major league level when it comes to pitchers. Sean Reid-Foley, Trent Thornton, Sam Gaviglio, Jacob Waguespack, David Paulino, T.J. Zeuch, Julian Merryweather, Thomas Pannone, Patrick Murphy, Hector Perez are all going to be in AA or above and ready to contribute in the rotation or in the bullpen. Realistically, I have no problem predicting that we'll be one of the better offensive teams in the league next season. By wRC+, we were already a top 10 offensive team in the league last season. That's only going to get better with Vlad and a full season of Danny Jansen, as well as other guys taking a step forward. I think we're a Top 10 team in Runs Scored next season. What I really question is the pitching and defense. A lot will have to go right for the pitching in order to compete.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr., not Vlad. Vlad isn't playing today.

Luis Severino scratched from todays Spring Training start for shoulder discomfort. Could potentially be a big blow for the Yankees if it's anything long term.

Averaging less than 3 runs a game so far

Yet to be seen what the terms are

I agree, although certainly not outrageous that he's not listed on there since we have a lot of depth. Good problem to have.

Well, they're at a pretty healthy level debt wise. It's not like they're massively in debt like the Marlins. It's not even about breaking even. They could spend $30M more on payroll and still have an operating income that is Top 10 in the entire MLB. They're very well off financially. On top of that Liberty Media (their owner), is using their Braves profit and taking on more debt to fund their real estate ventures: https://mlb.nbcsports.com/2019/02/28/the-braves-are-rolling-in-money-but-arent-spending-it-on-baseball/

Surprised they went 13 years.

They can easily sustain a much higher payroll. For reference, the Cubs made similar revenue, operating income, and actually had more debt in 2017. They had a opening day payroll of $215M. Not saying the Braves should spend that much, but they're not even remotely close to them. They're currently at a $118M payroll, in a division where the Phillies, Mets, and Nats got better. They have a young cheap core for the next 3-4 seasons. If you don't spend now, when do you? Instead they're going to plop Markakis out there in RF even though he reverted back to a pumpkin in the 2nd half of the season.

The Braves made $450M in revenue last year with nearly $100M in profit, and yet their payroll right now is lower than it was in 2018. I'd be really pissed if I was a Braves fan right now.

MLB Pipieline Top 30 Prospects: http://m.mlb.com/prospects/2019?list=tor They have us as a Top 5 system behind the Padres, Rays, Braves, and White Sox. I disagree being behind the White Sox and Braves, but it is what it is. 70 FV 1. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 60 FV 2. Bo Bichette 55 FV 3. Danny Jansen 4. Nate Pearson 5. Eric Pardinho 50 FV 6. Jordan Groshans 7. Kevin Smith 8. Adam Kloffenstein 9. Sean Reid-Foley 10. Cavan Biggio 11. Anthony Alford 12. Orelvis Martinez 13. Miguel Hiraldo 45 FV 14. Billy McKinney 15. Trent Thornton 16. T.J. Zeuch 17. Hector Perez 18. Leonardo Jimenez 19. Griffin Conine 20. Patrick Murphy 21. Rowdy Tellez 22. Gabriel Moreno 23. Chavez Young 24. Reese McGuire 25. Samad Taylor 26. Ryan Noda 27. Yennsy Diaz 28. Elvis Luciano 29. Alejandro Kirk 30. Cal Stevenson

What would a Grichuk extension look like?

Another extension: Miles Mikolas gets $68M over 4 years by the Cardinals.

Looks like they have a deal for 8 years $260M. That was fast. Full NTC and opt out after 3 seasons.

I also think the alternative to McKinney/Drury were lower minors arms that are very risky. Speaking of, this front office' track record with acquiring minor league pitching "prospects" certainly follows a trend: Thomas Pannone Sam Gaviglio Hector Perez David Paulino Jacob Waguespack Julian Merryweather Trent Thornton Andrew Sopko Almost all of them are in their mid 20's. Hector Perez is the youngest SP prospect we've traded for, and even he was 22. This front office hasn't traded for a single arm under the age of 20. Probably a good thing.

Galvis is technically an upgrade in the sense that he can at least stay on the field.

The AAV is low, but in terms of total dollars, I think he did fine. Like you said, he was comfortable leavign $10-$15M on the table for access to guaranteed security earlier. He's set for life now.

That Yankees team is going to be really good.

That's always been the thing with Grichuk though. He flashes that type of potential, but injuries and/or slumps have always gotten in his way. I don't think he'll put up 5 WAR, but he's a safe 2-3 WAR guy. Even that's not that easily to replace. I hope we lock him up soon.

His agency is CAA. I’m sure they wanted him to test out free agency so he could get the best deal. Maybe he just told them to get a deal done even if it sacrifices some dollars. Not entirely uncommon.

Higashioka crushed that one.

He probably sacrificed some AAV, but not all free agents are after the most money. Hicks probably just really loved New York and is comfortable. Hard to say no to $70M at a place you love to play.

Tulo has f***ed has in so many ways.