Ray

And put up roughly league average starter numbers (career 99 ERA+) in the 6 seasons before that. There's a larger track record that dictates he's more just 'good' than elite. He'll improve any rotation he joins, I just think giving an AAV close to Gerrit Cole for a guy with 1.5 elite seasons is a little dangerous. If you think he's figured something out and will join that upper echelon of starters and be more consistent going forward, I see an argument for that. There are red flags though.

Bauers 11 starts in 2020, the opponents team OPS+, and their runs scored rank: 3 against MIL, 88 OPS+ (13th in NL runs scored) 2 against DET, 89 OPS+ (12th in AL runs scored) 2 against CHC, 90 OPS+ (10th in NL runs scored) 2 against PIT, 74 OPS+ (15th in NL runs scored) 1 against KCR, 92 OPS+ (13th in AL runs scored) 1 against CHW, 113 OPS+ (2nd in AL runs scored) There's a case to be made that his true talent level isn't what he showed. He faced a total of two good offenses all season. The Braves in the playoffs, where he was really good, and the White Sox, who were slumping badly towards the end of the season when he faced them. Whoever ends up paying Bauer $35M AAV thinking he's a bonafide #1 may end up regretting it when he slides in as a good #2.

A dream offseason would be: - Signing Ha-Seong Kim as 3B/SS/2B - Signing George Springer for CF - Re-signing a mid-tier starter like Taijuan Walker, or signing Jake Odorizzi. - Sign a Brad Hand or Liam Hendricks Those moves will cost you, what, maybe $50M-$60M in total AAV? We added that much in payroll last offseason, and we didn't even really expect to be competitive this year. I get the appeal for trading for Lindor and extending him, but the above moves will cost you just money instead of forfeiting prospects and subtracting from your major league team.

I’m not saying Yamaguchi is good, but 15 of the 23 runs he gave up all season were condensed in 3 separate outings. He had a stretch there where he looked like a good long man, but the blowups were mega bad and skewed his numbers a bit.

This is why they're not GM's anymore.

As an intellectual exercise, if the Mets end up signing both Bauer & Springer, how would they stack up against the Dodgers?

Baseball dugouts and clubhouses are huge. They can be situated as far away from each other as possible and have absolutely zero contact with each other if they really wanted to. They literally don't even have to speak to each other. It's not like they're two guys hanging in the bullpen or there is a relationship that needs to be maintained like catchers and pitchers. SP's are probably the one role in baseball that are relatively isolated from the rest of the team in general. If the Yankees really wanted Bauer, they wouldn't let a petty college feud get in the way of making their team significantly better. They traded for Alex Rodriguez full well knowing the friction he and Jeter had with each other, and they played directly besides each other.

That makes sense, because there couldn’t possibly have been a locker room during the course of history that featured two teammates that hated each other.

Looks like the market for Realmuto is going to move pretty slowly:

That Greg Holland deal seems like one the Phillies should’ve done.

If you want to give up a significant sum for a really good pitcher, I’d rather it be out of division and preferably league. The Rockies are a dumpster fire right now and are desperate to shed patrol. They are also one of the teams that place a high emphasis on catching. They are looking to shed payroll in one way or another, and the only contract they have they can unload is German Marquez. Sign Realmuto Jansen, Kloffenstein, Hiraldo, plus throw in for German Marquez.

This is such a bad trade when you consider the circumstances. We’re filling the gaping hole the Rays have at catcher, giving up two of our highly touted prospects that will already bolster the best farm in the league, and the Rays will likely have a pitcher come up that will provide similar value to Snell given their depth. Snell is a luxury for them, which is why they probably want to trade him in the first place for a kings ransom. The Rays are getting significantly more marginal value then we are. We would make them instantly better now and in the future.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the Mets end up signing both Bauer and Springer. Cano testing positive and being off the books was the best thing that could’ve happened to them.

Looks like we’re probably getting Realmuto lol.

Relevant: FBJ: Gaby Moreno is one of the best athletes in the system, and has developed in leaps and bounds over the past two seasons. He came part way through your time in Rochester, but what were your impressions of him? Hunter Mense: He’s a completely under-the-radar guy, and he was the best hitter in Rochester. He has among the best bat-to-ball skills in the organization. Moreno reminds me of Bo (Bichette) – he makes contact, and he knows that he can hit pitches outside of the strike zone. Sometimes, he’ll lay off a pitch in a spot that he knows he can’t do much with, then go after one out of the zone because he knows he can drive it. When Nate Pearson came to Rochester, Moreno turned on a 98 fastball about 6 inches off the plate. He drove it down the line just foul, with an exit velo of 105.

Gabriel Moreno is slashing .382/.462/.529 in winter ball so far through 10 games. He also posted this highlight of himself hitting in the alternate training site: Instagram WWW.INSTAGRAM.COM What a beautiful swing.

It'd be contingent on an extension, which, I don't really believe this front office would trade for Lindor in the first place unless there's an extension lined up or a near certainty that he'll sign one when he gets here. Lindor being locked up for the next 8-10 years is worth giving up a Rk ball prospect who is 2-3 years away. If we can swap Orelvis Martinez out for Miguel Hiraldo and somehow keep Gabriel Moreno/Orelvis Martinez out of that package, that's great. But even the Dodgers had to give up a Top 100 guy in Jeter Downs on top of Alex Verdugo to get the deal done. Maybe you don't need Pardinho in there, but I'd be fine giving up one of Orelvis Martinez/Gabriel Moreno if we can get an extension done imo. Obviously you try to keep the price as low as possible though, and if we really are the only team willing to offer a competitive package (which may be true), you only give up a little more than the next best offer. It may be that Cleveland has to take Gurriel + Riley Adams because that's the best offer on the table, but I'm operating under the assumption that other teams are in on him.

Jansen had a better xWOBA than Gurriel did last season and was one of the more unluckier hitters in baseball. Gurriel has more power, but Jansen will take more walks and get on base more. On top of that, Jansen has demonstrated himself to be pretty great defensively and plays a premium position. I wouldn't be surprised if their values aren't that far off, especially since the Indians catching and OF situations is equally as bad.

Mets seem focused on adding through free agency. I don't think they want to trade a player off their major league roster and their farm to get Lindor, and I think that applies to a lot of natural "fits". Dodgers: Have Seager. Yankees: Focused on LeMahieu and pitching. Also probably don't want trade a guy like Clint Frazier+ to get it done Reds: lol Phillies: Maybe now that Dombrowski is there, but I don't think they want to give up Bohm and there's not much else of interest in their farm. Really, it's us and the Mets, and we seem to have by far the most motivation to offer a good package. It also helps there's different permutations of an offer to get a deal done: Trade Gurriel + Orelvis Martinez + Pardinho + Riley Adams for Lindor, fill in the OF gap with Springer, Brantley, Jackie Bradley Jr., or Joc Pederson Alternatively, substitute Danny Jansen for Gurriel, and sign Realmuto for catcher.

I think they definitely prefer Springer, but won't shy away from adding Realmuto if Springer picks NYM & LeMahieu stays with the Yankees. Would really be our only chance to add an impact position player at that point, and Realmuto also loses a significant suitor if the Mets end up signing McCann so his asking price may naturally come down. I don't see any other obvious fits for him either? Phillies are crying poor, Angels seem more concentrated on pitching, Yankees seem fixated on LeMahieu. Nats could be an option, however little indication they want to add anyone of significance this offseason. You could add Realmuto and then proceed to flip Jansen + prospects for Lindor and then you're looking at one of the absolute best lineups in baseball*: Biggio, 3B Bichette, 2B Lindor SS Teoscar, RF Vlad, 1B Realmuto, C Gurriel, LF Kirk, DH Grichuk, CF *defense not included Blue Jays receive: Francisco Lindor Indian receive: Danny Jansen, Miguel Hiraldo, Riley Adams, and... Derek Fisher or Santiago Espinal?

Jays projected to have the 5th best position player core in 2021, according to Fangraphs. Pretty insane to see us tied with the Yankees and other teams who've supplemented their core with free agents/big trades, while we have yet to really add any position player of significance just yet. Most every position is home grown for us, barring Grichuk.

MLB Pipeline ranked Anthony Castro as the #19 prospect in our system after adding him, above Joey Murray, TJ Zeuch, Trent Palmer, Josh Winckowski, Sem Robberse, & Julian Merryweather.