Piazza confirmed he'll be going in as a Met.

In other news, the (Va)Giants signed Denard Span to a 3 year, $31 million deal.

Yeah, I thought the whole reason the committee decided they get final say was because Boggs more or less tried to sell his choice to the highest bidder.

Looking into it, appears Boggs was the reason for the Hall now "offering" which teams they can choose. In Boggs' case, I can see why, but I'm certain Dawson didn't wanna go in as an Expo and they pretty much forced him to keep memory of Montreal baseball alive, which is stupid.

<font color=goldenrod>Similar thing happened with Carter. He wanted to go in either as a Met since that's where he won his ring and he was a co-captain, or he wanted to go in with a split cap. The Hall made him an Expo.

In the case of both Dawson and Carter, they played way longer as Expos but still kinda unfortunate for both guys that the committee didn't budge like they do nowadays. If Unit had been eligible a few years ago they probably would have forced him in as a Mariner since it's where he played the longest (his HOF page on their website even has Mariners listed as his primary team despite the D-Backs cap).</font>

Former scouting director for the Cardinals pleaded guilty to hacking the Astros players database. Nobody else from the organization seems to have been involved with the hacking nor data collecting.

<font color=goldenrod>Nationals get: OF Ben Revere
Blue Jays get: RHP Drew Storen</font>

Pretty even trade. Toronto gets a decent if unspectacular bullpen arm and Washington gets a decent if unspectacular outfielder.

Looks like Papelbon is staying put for now m

Jays must be holding a lot of stock in Travis/Pompey at leadoff, as they just traded away the best potential leadoff guy (a lefty at that) they have had in years....

They needed the help in the bullpen, but I'm not sure dealing Revere was the best solution...

Hope Storen gave the Nats organization the finger on his way out the door. Them bringing in Papelblown and with him still hanging around pretty much destroyed his confidence in being a closer.

If he get its back in Toronto, Washington is gonna look stupid.

They shafted Storen big time. And now they're stuck with a volatile clubhouse cancer that tried to choke out their best player.

Not sure Revere is a great leadoff hitter. He's average at best at getting on base.

Is there a San Francisco Giants affiliate in Virginia that I am unaware of or something

Swing and miss?

He's not, but name a Jays leadoff guy that has been better?

<font color=goldenrod>Mariners announce plans to retire #24 this year, worn by former second baseman and current broadcasting great Harold Reynolds from 1984-86.

Congrats Harold.</font> :y:

You don't need sabermetrics to see how great Harold Reynolds was.

The Orioles picked up some dude from the Braves named Jerry Terdoslavich

AAA depth never hurts anyone....

His name conjures up images of a huge european dude who should be in the NBA

KC signed a guy named Chien-Ming Wang

dog dong

Yung Bong

Cardinals sign Korean free agent Seung-hwan Oh to a 1-year deal with an option for 2017.

Supposedly, he's the best closer in South Korea. And earned him the nicknames "Stone Buddha" and "Final Boss".

Final boss is an excellent nickname.

I'm just waiting for the Padres to trade Tyson Ross already. They'd be foolish to hold onto him with the pitching market now lacking top end rotation talent and really not needing him.

Trade me Tyson Ross pls,,,,,

Well, Joe Girardi has come out and said that Chapman is gonna be the closer when Spring Training starts.

I wonder how Betances and Miller feel about that?

<font color=goldenrod>Marlins sign LHP Wei-Yin Chen to a 5-year deal with a vesting option for a 6th

Alright then</font>

<font color=goldenrod>OF Gerardo Parra to the Rockies on a 3-year deal</font>

They shouldn't care and probably saw it coming.

Doesn't that give the Rockies 4 outfielders who could all start?

<font color=goldenrod>They're evidently shopping the other three. Orioles supposedly inquiring about CarGo.</font>

Marlins extend Dee Gordon. 5-years, $50 mil.


Not bad for the reigning NL batting champ, and base stealer extraordinaire.

Good deal for both ends. Think Gordon had a career year so getting guaranteed cash now was a smart move. The Marlins also get cost certainty on a deal they should have no problem inevitably flipping once they feel the need to trade Gordon down the line.

That seems like a very good deal for one of the best lead-off hitters in the game....Surprising to see Miami make a good decision....

They make plenty. They just revert course on them after a few years. It's a cycle with them.

Dee Gordon is the best. Good signing. Fuckers.

<font color=goldenrod>Padres sign SS Alexei Ramirez to a one-year deal</font>

Or Blackmon and Dickerson..

If they could swing a trade for one of them and the 5 year 90 million offer to cespedes works id like the Os OF of them two and Jones. Just need to find a starting pitcher..

Whoever signs Cespedes is going to regret it. A career high on base of 319 is not encouraging in his 30s.

I like the Ramirez signing. Average on balls in play took a big dip despite his contact related rates staying morning to his career line. He'll be a solid contributor if he can regress to the mean.

<font color=goldenrod>The Mets fanbase had finally moved on from the idea of re-signing Cespedes only for it to come out last night that they were actually having productive conversations on bringing him back for a 1 or 2 year deal, which would have allowed Cespedes to re-test the market when it is far weaker but before the mammoth 2018 one AND eliminate the risk for the Mets who had no interest in a long-term commitment with him.

And then today the O's jump back in, leading me to believe that Cespedes' agents leaked out news of the supposed Mets negotiations to try to get another team to jump and pony up the dough.</font>

Probably happens all the time. The Mets fans shouldn't care. Conforto was a beast, maybe even unsung hero last year. He has power, he draws walks, he's young, he's cheap. He played stellar defense and was worth 2 WAR in a third of a season. In other words, he was every bit as good as Cespedes last year in about the same sample, and, unlike Cespedes, he's still young enough to hope that his numbers will hold over the next 5 plus years instead of declining.

If Lagares returns to health, the Mets won't miss Cespedes at all. They're projected to be the 6th best team in the national league as it stands, which possibly gets them right back in the playoffs.

The Os like Cespedes over Upton because they dont lose their 14th pick for Cespedes like they woukd for upton. If theres no market for Cespedes (like Davis..) i could see him taking the deal, but it was rumored he was going to get way more.

I wouldn't spend the money on someone like Cespedes who has switched teams so many times in such few years....

Upton has bounced around too, and the Os need an outfielder

Damn Final Boss is an excellent nickname. Hope he has some kick ass video game theme song play when he comes out the bullpen.

Solid logic from the O's, Cespedes (or Upton for that matter) would fill the power void some if Davis walks....

Cespedes is looking for 6-years, $22 mil. Somebody might be stupid and give him that much, but I think his price is gonna come way down once spring training comes around.


Fernando Rodney and the Padres are reportedly close to a deal. At 39 years old, I don't think he got much left in the tank.

Except Davis is signed now (7/161), so i guess Cespedes is off. Although itd be something if they spent the cash to get Cespedes too..but then they still need a a starting pitcher..ugh

When did Davis sign?

It was breaking news few minutes ago
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">BREAKING: Chris Davis and the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Orioles?src=hash">#Orioles</a> have agreed to a seven-year, $161 million contract! <a href="https://t.co/7ocDVanYUo">https://t.co/7ocDVanYUo</a> <a href="https://t.co/80UyEKRYo8">pic.twitter.com/80UyEKRYo8</a></p>&mdash; Orioles on MASN (@masnOrioles) <a href="https://twitter.com/masnOrioles/status/688359825273556993">January 16, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Great deal for Crush Davis. Probably not do much for Baltimore. At least not after a couple of years. Once that power declines he's gonna be a real expensive dh. Also makes the Trumbo deal look like a waste of money as he's now not needed.

The real loser is Cespedes. He finally found a team willing to pony up the dough but they're assuredly gonna walk from the table now that they got their guy.

In other news, Kansas City signs Ian Kennedy to 5 years, $70mil.

Also, not a fan of the Fernando Rodney experience but they need bullpen arms so getting him on a cheap deal is fine.

<font color=goldenrod>Mets brass have to be livid right now lol. They so badly wanted Cespedes to get a big multi-year deal somewhere else so they could reiterate that he'd be a bad fit long-term (which I agree with).

But now it's hard to imagine a 1-year, $20 million deal wouldn't look enticing to Cespedes. Unless he just totally bombs in 2016 he should be in line for a bigger payday in a weak free agent class next offseason. And if he takes a 1-year deal and it DOESN'T come from the Mets? Look the fuck out. WFAN will be a fun listen the next day.

Even the Mets beat reporters, who have done a good job of staying level headed, have started to call the Mets out. They're on track for a $106 million payroll next year, one of the lowest in baseball. And this is after winning a pennant and getting a shitload of playoff revenue. It's fine to not sign Cespedes for multiple years, but if he's sitting right there and will actually agree to a 1 year pact, if the Mets don't do it it's completely fair to question their finances.</font>

No it's not. Where do they play him? He's awful in centerfield, and you're not gonna bench Conforto, who's going to be just as good or probably better. Just because they have money does not mean they should spend it for the fuck of it. Especially on a player that doesn't fit on their roster.

<font color=goldenrod>That's the thing though. There isn't any evidence to suggest there even is still money available. Alderson right out of the gate said he hoped payroll would be slightly above what it was at Opening Day last year. And it is. At $106 million. After years of telling fans payroll will increase when attendance goes up, they still will churn out one of the lowest payrolls in all of baseball.

I didn't understand the complaints about the payroll through much of the offseason because most of the free agents weren't a fit or went for way longer deals than I thought they were worth. Cespedes, Gordon, Upton. All corner outfielders asking for a shitload. Span wanting a multi-year deal despite missing almost all of last year with a balky hip. Relievers reigning in 3-4 year deals. Too much. It was clear that the Mets were mostly looking to guys for 1-year deals, and I was fine with that approach given who was available.

But now Cespedes might be available for a year and they'll STILL balk? Christ. Yes he'd be putting a square peg into a round hole defensively, but it's not a long-term commitment AND he'd still play corner OF against lefties (Grandy sucks against LHP and Conforto will at least need the occasional breather). Cespedes makes the lineup considerably better for one season and then you can let him cash in and turn to a Lagares/Nimmo platoon for 2017.

Sandy came out and said they couldn't see them bringing back Yo for more than one year. Well now they have their chance. If he goes to another team for multiple years, good for him. But if he signs for 1 year for any team other than the Mets, the Wilpons should be fucking embarrassed.</font>

<font color=goldenrod>Jake Arrieta asked for $13 million in arbitration. The Cubs only offered $7.5 million. Yikes.</font>

Keuchel just got 7.25 in arb, so that seems fair. :shifty:

Cespedes' offense is going to offset by defense if he's playing centerfield primarily. It's not a fit. For my Padres? On a one year deal? Oh yes. Great fit. But putting him in center is asking for disaster.

I would personally take Cespedes over Davis though. At least Cespedes provides defense and base running. WAR has them as similar players over the last three years. Cespedes is a better athlete that'll age better than a one skill slugger who's already at the end of the defensive spectrum.

Cespedes defs better in LF but I wouldn't call him a disaster, seems a bit extreme

He's played about 2/3 of a season worth of games in cf over his years. He's -17 runs below average. To put that into context, that mark would put him as the second to worst qualified defensive centerfielder in the league this year. When prorated for a full season, he's -22, which would be the worst. Disaster written all over it. There's a reason Oakland moved him to a corner shortly after his arrival.

I bet when the O's offered Cespedes that deal, that rushed Chris Davis to make his deal. If Yoenis said yes, Davis would be out of Baltimore right now.

Maybe. But the Scott Boras' credit, he got the Orioles to outbid themselves. He also got the Royals to overpay for a mediocre starter. Been a great weekend for the Boras camp.

<font color=goldenrod>That's why you don't go more than one year for him if you need to play him in center. His bat should be able to offset the negative defensive value over the short-term, which is why the 1 year deal is appealing. No long-term risk.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think they're fucked without Cespedes. If they don't get him they'll probably try to sign a Pearce or Raburn type of player to be the backup righty outfielder. If they sign Cespedes, they'll have Lagares and De Aza on the bench. Actual legit bench options. Unlike when they were in the wasteland and had John Mayberry Jr getting regular at-bats.</font>

I don't know about that. Defense in centerfield is weighted heavily in value. If his career numbers are any indication, he might just grade out as just average at best.

Not to mention, if the goal is to win, putting a terrible defensive player in the second hardest defensive position to play is not seeing yourself up to win.

Shin-soo Choo was pretty bad defensively in cf with Cincinnati, but his overall offense was better than Cespedes, and accumulated 5 WAR. If that's what you could get out of Cespedes, than sure. But Choo also had better secondary skills on offense and Cespedes is literally just boom or bust. If last year was a career year, which it probably was, and he regresses all the while playing a position where his glove is overmatched, he's probably not going to be much more than average and not much in the way of an upgrade over a healthy Lagares.

<font color=goldenrod>But again, he's not going to exclusively play CF. He'd play in the corners against LHP most likely with Lagares starting in CF those days.

Besides, defense in CF was more of a concern for me going into last season when they had 3 flyball pitchers: Colon, Jon Niese, and Dillon Gee in the rotation. Now Colon is the only one left. The other 4 are all predominantly strikeout pitchers and by midseason you should have Wheeler joining them to complete the quintet of hard-throwers.

I still wouldn't want to commit to Yo long-term as a CF (not to mention the potential for decline as he gets older) but based on the current personnel a 1-year deal makes perfect sense AND he'd net them a draft pick after the year to boot, possibly giving them 2 extra picks since Walker is also a free agent. All it would cost is money for this year.</font>

Chris Davis is apparently getting the Bobby Bonilla treatment with his new contract.

He'll get $17,000,000 a season from 2016-2022. The rest comes in payments going all the way until 2037. He'll be 51 then.

Not bad.

The force is strong with Scott Boras. Clearly used the Jedi mind trick to fool Peter Angelos into paying Davis well beyond the point of reason. A brilliant win for the best agent in the world.

That would explain the huge splurging the Os did just for his contract. Something like the 4th richest ever for his position and around $90 million more than the previous Os record for a deal.

According to reports, former Cardinals scouting director who got busted for hacking the Astros databases is claiming the Astros did the same against the Cardinals. Would be almost impossible to prove due to the nature of the case.

Astros rumored to be waiting till after the court case is done to file an official grievance against the Cardinals. MLB is waiting till after investigators make some of their evidence publicly available before doing their own investigation.

Cardinals expected to get hit with two punishments by the MLB although might be able to avoid getting punished by loss of draft picks.

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/spor...witter-premium

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Yoenis Cespedes process is intensifying and something could get done in the next few days.....hearing as many as... <a href="https://t.co/7BotMT70uM">https://t.co/7BotMT70uM</a></p>&mdash; Jim Bowden (@JimBowden_ESPN) <a href="https://twitter.com/JimBowden_ESPN/status/688758117841027072">January 17, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
10 teams currently in the running to sign him with the Astros rumored as the possible front runner.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Thrice today I had execs say &quot;watch the Astros on Cespedes.&quot; 5th best HR park in MLB in '15. Good lineup. OK, I'm watching</p>&mdash; Peter Gammons (@pgammo) <a href="https://twitter.com/pgammo/status/688850738022354944">January 17, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Trumbo will be the DH and spell Davis at 1st if Davis DHs or plays OF. Last year Jimmy Paredes was the DH for the majority of the season because hecwas awful defensively

The Os only went 7 million over their supposed final offer of 154 and he was supposed to be in the 200 million range.

I think this was one of his failures considering he couldn't drum up any other teams interest and wasnt anywhere near the 200 million he was looking for.
His better deal was getting Wieters to take the $20 million qualifying offer because that is way more than he would have gotten anywhere

It's a win for Boras because there was one team left interested in Davis and he still got them to overpay. Also easy on throwing around the 200 mil mark. Not even Jayson Heyward is worth that......

In all seriousness, they'll get 2-3 good years out of him with the last 4 potential disasters. If they really think they can win right now, I guess. Gonna pay the troll toll sooner or later on this though.

Don't be a daft homer Droford. There was literally no market for Davis outside of Baltimore. None. They tried to play hard ball and instead ended up paying more money. Nobody was in the running except them. And they still, after giving their "final offer", spent more than they supposedly set a hard line. It's a complete pie in the face on the organization. Boras walked all over them like door mats. They don't look good at all in any of this. Especially when Davis turns into Ryan Howard 2.0.

Mark Trumbo-108 ops+, 0.8 WAR, -4 runs defensively

Jimmy Paredes-96 ops+, 0 2 WAR, - 5 runs defensively

Huge upgrade there. Great take, Droford.

Trumbo will be closer to his years for the Angels than last year..

Based on what exactly?

Well he missed half of 2014 with a fractured foot..

Plus he hits pretty well in AL East ballparks (ironically not Camden Yards though )
Camden Yards (10 games): 7-for-35, 1 HR, 3 RBIs, .200 avg., .256 OBP, .343 slugging
Fenway Park (10 games): 12-for-40, 3 HR, 12 RBI, .300 avg., .375 OBP, .550 slugging
Yankee Stadium (15 games): 13-for-53, 4 HR, 7 RBI, .245 avg., .322 OBP, .491 slugging
Tropicana Field (9 games): 10-for-33, 2 HR, 7 RBI, .303 avg., .303 OBP, .545 slugging
Rogers Centre (14 games): 16-for-55, 6 HR, 15 RBI, .291 avg., .298 OBP, .727 slugging

Theres no reason his Camden numbers continue to be that bad over a full season.

Davis / Jones / Machado / Trumbo should all hit above 30 HR.

I would be amazed if Trumbo hit over 30.....

OH SHIT THEMS FIGHTIN WORDS

Nicky Fives V. Droford in a steel cage

TRUMBO o/u 29.5 home runs in 2016

Stipulation: Loser is fired/has to sport an aviatar of the other's choice until Superbowl 51



It;s on baby it's on...believe the hype #once in a liftetime

I said Trumbo, not Davis.... I'd put money on Trumbo and the under, but no interest in betting Davis either way....

my bad...I meant Trumbo too but I was heated in the moment of passion

<font color=goldenrod>Lazaro Armenteros is approved to sign with a Major League team as soon as February 10th. He's meant to be the latest Cuban sensation. A center fielder who shows early signs of having all 5 tools. He's also only 16 years old, which makes me feel old as fuck.

He's already received a $15 million offer to play for Japan, but it's expected that multiple Major League teams will be in on him. Probably going to be the usual teams that get linked to him. Dodgers, Yankees, Red Sox.</font>

Wait wait wait ...you think he's gonna do well based on 58 games worth of at bats? Really?

I'll ask a better question. What had Trumbo done since his first full season that would lead one to believe he's going to get better instead of being the same boom or bust out machine or declining?

Read a follow up to his showcase from Keith Law that he was rather unimpressive at his open workout. Not that he was terrible, just not the upside play many expected.

We'll see what he signs for. He's definitely no Moncada.

<font color=goldenrod>Justin Upton to the Tigers on a 6-year deal at around $125 million.</font>

I CAN ONLY GET SO ERECT

<font color=goldenrod>Had to know Ilitch was going to open up the wallet again. He's 86 years old and his goal is to win a title before he passes away. I'd probably do the same thing.

Team could be a disaster in a few years as their core guys age but if they win a title nobody should care.</font>

I would care. A lot. No more 2003 seasons please.

<font color=goldenrod>Oh...Upton's deal includes an opt-out after 2 years at age 30. So it's really only a 2 year commitment for Detroit. Even better for them.</font>

<font color=goldenrod>Cardinals will emerge as a mystery team to sign Cespedes. Calling it now. Would be such a Cardinals move.</font>

Heh. Apparently Illitch was going to try and sign Chris Davis but Al Avila talked him out of it to go for Upton. Fucking love everything Avila has done this offseason so far.

Love Justin Upton.

Great deal for both sides.

The more I think about the signing the more I like it I think.

I'm cautiously super optimistic about the deal. As it is now, we get to field JD and Upton. JD isn't a free agent for another two years IIRC, and around that time Sanchez and VMart will be coming off the books. If Upton exercises his opt-out after two years, it's not like we'll be handicapped financially and should have plenty to pay JD. Moya and/or Collins should be "major league-ready" by that point so we should have an average/above-average LF to take over there too.

That, and after this year the luxury tax threshold is either being eliminated or expanded greatly, so it's not a huge deal to go over this year.

MLB Investigations Squad gonna take a look at Yu Darvish after his brother was arrested for being involved in an illegal gambling ring.

He'll probably be fine. But since there was a couple instances last season involing Jeff Locke and Jared Cosart, MLB's involved.

Padres kicking the tires on Cespedes. Not sure why, as he's not going to dramatically change their fate.

My thinking is he's free of draft pick compensation, is likely as good as Upton for at least a few more years, and because they're holding the all-star game and probably wanna save face by acquiring a big name and hoping he makes the club.

<font color=goldenrod>Mets sign LHP Antonio Bastardo. 2 years, $12 million.

Love the move. I know Sandy is against signing multi-year deals for relievers, but they badly needed one more arm to shore up the back end of the bullpen and it's not like he's making anything close to what Darren O'Day got. Bastardo was good against hitters from both sides of the plate, so I imagine he's going to be penciled in as the 8th inning guy with Addison Reed going to the 7th, Blevins as a LOOGY, and Hansel Robles filling in wherever.

Now just sign Cespedes (or at least a Pearce or Raburn type RH OF bat for the bench) and I think they'll be ready to roll.</font>

Aroldis Chapman won't be facing charges from his domestic dispute back in October.

<font color=goldenrod>FUCKKKKKKK sounds like Cespedes is going to be a National. They've put a 5 year offer out there worth over $100 million with a ton of deferred money like they did with Scherzer. Really don't see him getting a better offer than that this late in the offseason.

That's way more money and years than I would have been comfortable giving to him, so in that respect I'm fine with the Mets not getting him. But fucking christ why did it have to be the Nats?</font>

<font color=goldenrod>In a single offseason they'd have poached the #3 and #4 hitters from their top rival. That's surely never happened before.

Pretty sure the Cespedes deal will backfire on them long term. But for right now it probably pushes them past the Mets in terms of being the favorites in the East for 2016. Very tough lineup to navigate and still a strong pitching staff without Zimmermann.

Here's hoping the wheels fall off for them like they did in 2015.</font>

I'd have favored the Nats just based on them being healthy. Adding Cespedes is probably a 3 to 4 game swing in the win column over the all glove, no bat Michael Taylor.

Think Harper moves to cf if they do sign him.

National League close to adopting DH in 2017, will be keypoint in new CBA voted on this year

<font color=goldenrod>Yep. I don't think the Mets should overpay Cespedes. $100+ million for him is just too much given that he'd have to play CF and his skillset would deteriorate. But this really hurts the Mets' chances for this upcoming year. FanGraphs had them penciled in for 84 wins which felt low to me...but even if you give them a few more wins the Cespedes move for the Nats offsets that.

Just reading the reactions on Mets Twitter...holy shit I've never seen a fanbase THIS angry.

And to Droford's point, if the NL does get a DH in 2017, the failure to bring back Cespedes will hurt a lot more since him playing CF is the main reason the Mets don't want him.</font>