I guess Solar could turn into like 75% Vlad Guerrero type, but not really likely. Thats a monster steal for the Cubs. Wade Davis is legit.

He is legit but there's injury risk there. Plus, you're trading a one inning reliever for an everyday player. I'm not saying it's a bad move. There's clearly upside for both ends but it's not a hose job in favor of either club.

Very happy for the White Sox and White Sox fans that Rick Hahn finally won out. Shame it took, like, 5 years but these are great trades for them. They still have Quintana and Frazier to trade as well.

Today's Sox trade reminds me of when the Cubs traded Cashner for Rizzo. Thinking "WTF? I thought Cashner/Eaton would have brought back a decent piece, but this is insane!"

I hope for the Sox sake, this is as much of a seminal moment as the Rizzo deal was. Some of these guys wind up playing for you for 2-4 years and just as things start to turn around you can't even imagine the team without "insert name"

Both teams got what they wanted. Cubs traded a player they had no place for for a lockdown closer they don't have to commit 5 years and $80 million to. Royals get another young player with a high enough ceiling for a guy who had 2 stints on the DL with arm issues and who have enough in-house options to fill the now vacated closer role.

Adam Eaton to the Nationals for RHPs Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez, and Dane Dunning. Love Spanky.

"We lost a leader in Drake" is one of the best sports quotes of all time.

LOL. Adam Eaton is a good player but the Nats overpaid huge for him.

The only thing i can think wrong about this Wade Davis trade is that the Royals know he's close to Tommy Johns. Or that he's outright injured already. But i would think Theo would look into this before pulling the trigger.

One of the best line I heard so far is that Mike Rizzo is drunk at a bar and making these deals.

Keep 'em coming, someone might get Bryce Harper for pocket change.

Eaton is a 5 win player two of the last three years. He's a great player. However, it's a lot to give up for a guy who's defensive value in center will drop moving away from a corner. He's also signed up to 2021 with 2 team options.

So from a control standpoint, yes they gave up a ton, but they're getting an all-star for 5 years well below market value.

LMAO at that Nationals trade. They gave up there top 2 prospects for Adam Eaton. It's like the National League wants the Cubs to repeat this year.

and next year

and the year after

I'm stunned at that Nationals trade. lol I wish the Cubs were in on those talks.

White Sox came to the trade tables this offseason with a gun.

lol...."Hey we'll give you Soler for JUST Giolito and Lopez. I think we still have a Patterson brother here somewhere we can throw in too!"

That may have happened.

*rummages around*

"What else have we got here...OH...MEMBA MATT MURTON?? I MEMBA!!"

Chapman to the Yankees. 5 years, $86 million.

Knew he was coming back after that trade.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Details of Aroldis Chapman deal: no-trade for 3 years, and cannot be to a team located in California</p>&mdash; Marly Rivera (@MarlyRiveraESPN) <a href="https://twitter.com/MarlyRiveraESPN/status/806719874294657025">December 8, 2016</a></blockquote>
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Final 2 years has a limited no-trade clause attached to it.


Meanwhile the Marlins are offering Kenley Jansen a 5 year, $80+ million deal and just waiting for his response.

How many multi year deals for relievers have worked out? The salary I can get. But the years? Sheesh.

Not many. Always a huge risk which is why you see the cubs going the trade route to avoid such a commitment even though they have cash to spend. David Robertson has worked out so far for the White Sox but I cringed at first when I saw that deal struck.

Chapman's back on the relatively cheaper deal. Someone gave him a deal close to $100 mil.

Top priority is done.

Rumours in Toronto that Jose Bautista is back in talks with Toronto and that a 2-year deal may be all that he is able to get anywhere.

EE still a possibility as many suitors dropping out, and Jays may still retain him and trade newly-acquired Steve Pearce (who there was alot of interest in)

lol for fuck sake

The Padres had 7 openings on their 40 man roster and were expected to go ham with drafting dudes like last year and even they only took 1 player.

Aside from the first pick almost none of the players who were "hotly tipped" to get picked went anywhere.

They raised the cost of each pick from $50k to $100k but I don't think that had much to do with it.

Feel like the Rule 5 would get more "buzz" had the 26th player on the roster been added. As it is now it's kinda lame, but a necessary evil to prevent excess stockpiling.

Padres ended up making deals to get the first 2 rule 5 picks as well.

All the names on the Rule 5 draft list, not too many seem like they'll have a chance to stick....

The Os got Aneury Tavarez from the Red Sox. He hit .335/.379/.506 with 13 triples and 20 sb in double A and he's 24. Both were more than the os had last year as a team. He plays Corner OF so he could be the starting RF and he bats lefty..

The rule 5 was today??? Should have called in sick.

Seems like in Bautista's case, the Red Sox might have been his last hope at getting a big deal before they said no because of the amount he wanted.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Red Sox have some payroll flexibility — but not a lot http://www.bostonglobe J. Bautista's agent told Sox he wants Boston,Sox said no more $</p>&mdash; Peter Gammons (@pgammo) <a href="https://twitter.com/pgammo/status/806814856670314497">December 8, 2016</a></blockquote>
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24 years old in AA? That's not a good sign. He's beating up on kids 2 to 4 years younger.

Padres interested in Jose Iglesias. No thanks. His defensive metrics aren't impressive and he's got a wet newspaper for a bat.

Jose Bautista has a vastly inflated opinion of his own value. Look, the guy can hit particularly when his own head isn't up his ass. But he's a mediocre defender and he can't throw the ball the way he used to be able to, and he can't run the bases all that well. He's also 37-years-old without any real upside.

At best he plays a full year, hits you 30-40 home runs, 100 RBIs and hits .250 with a good OBP which is cool, but that is ALL he offers, and the game is calling for guys to have more than just a bat. Also, he's proven to be injury prone as he's gotten older so in all likelihood you aren't getting a full season out of him. He is also a shit head and teams don't care for him.

While I don't want him back, it'll be funny to watch him come back grovelling to the Jays with a very generous "home town discount".

He's given a lot to Toronto results wise and is a stalwart of the team, but I hope amongst hope this will teach him to not constantly run his fucking mouth. I get it, the players jhave a right to earn and he had a right to earn as big of a pay day as he can get, but given his situation the way he played things was a pathetically self unaware tactical blunder.

lol you're ridiculous if you think there aren't 20+ teams who would love to pencil a guy in for 30+ HR and 100+ RBI

God you're a shit head.

They don't want him for the money he wants.

Plus he's injury prone and likely won't produce those numbers being closer to 40 than 35. Not everyone is big papi

Also, suck my dick you smarmy little cunt.

lol

what's so funny Tiny Tony? Me being irritated by your cool kid complex?

Koji Uehara to the Cubs.

Good signing for the reigning, defending, undisputed world series champions of the world, and on the cheap.

And no, RDD, 20+ team aren't clamoring for those players because you're ignoring important context, like age, asking price and position. Encarnacion isn't exactly lighting up the market because he's limited defensively and he's on the wrong side of 30.

Bautista is in an even worse position. He's coming off a down year, he's been horrible defensively the last 3 years, and is pretty much a dh only on the wrong side of 35 and probably asking for more than he's worth.

Carlos Beltran's deal with Houston is probably what Bautista should be realistically expecting.

bUT wHAt aBBouT the RBBIS???

Dexter Fowler to the Cardinals

FUCK :'(

nope you're ridiculous if you don't perscribe to RDD logic.

I think 30 HR and 100 RBIs is good offensive production, because while RBIs can be misleading it means you cash in, in the spot in the lineup where you're supposed to cash in. BUT 30 HR and 100 RBIs by itself, without defence, being injury prone (therefore limiting your chances at that benchmark) and being on the wrong side of 35 is one dimensional, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that.

With Eddie E, he can play some really nice first base, and while I know it's not a premium position he made some game saving plays for the Jays this year and has great hands. Plus unlike Jose, he's a fantastic baserunner, and he's I believe 33 years old, so you can get a few good years out of him.

How many fucking former Orioles do they need?

I think the 2017 Cubs could actually threaten the 116 win record.

Just give us a reliever for Jay Bruce and be done with it.

cHrIS arCHer SUX cUZ hE LOsT 19 Gamz. He A LOSER.

Great deal for the Cards.

I can see the Cubs moving Heyward to center and having Zobrist play more right field. Or start Almora out there.

I wouldn't be surprised if they option Almora to Triple A actually. Matt Sczuzr does what Almora can do but better for the time being.

Whats crazy was on talk radio on the way home today they were saying Dex didn't want to go to STL because Mike Matheny is a dick. Ill be interested to see what the deal actually was for.

Good signing for them if he can stay healthy.

Before the end of the season, there were some hints and rumors about him considering the idea of retiring or going back to Japan because of his recent injury problems.

Mlb trade rumors saying the Fowler deal is around 5 years at $16 mil per. More to come I'm sure.

DBacks sign Fernando Rodney 1 year, 2.75 mil.

Happy for D. Fowler. Dude played the game and won. He got paid. He will forever be a huge piece of of the Cubs 2016 WS winning team. No doubt. Love that guy.

And I hate him for going back on signing with the Orioles

He didn't go back on signing, you tit. He agreed to a 2 year deal with an opt out after 1 year and Baltimore backed out.

Your lackluster front office was the reason he ended up back in Chicago.

Pfft. How dare you besmirch the Baltimore coaching staff or front office, sir!

Damian Ray 2.0 made a deadly enemy with that remark.

I thought Droford and Dale eye feuding into Wrestlemania? Guess it's now a triple threat.

handicap match, let's get serious

The following players have confirmed their participation in the World Baseball Classic:

Canada: Russell Martin
Colombia: Jose Quintana, Julio Teheran
Dominican Republic: Adrian Beltre, Robinson Cano, Manny Machado
Mexico: Adrian Gonzalez, Oliver Perez
Netherlands: Jonathan Schoop, Andrelton Simmons
Puerto Rico: Carlos Beltran, Yadier Molina
United States: Nolan Arenado, Kris Bryant, Andrew McCutchen, Max Scherzer, Christian Yelich
Venezuela: Jose Altuve, Carlos Gonzalez, Felix Hernandez, Salvador Perez

The WBC seems to get shit on a lot but personally I love it. Spring Training is ridiculously long, after about 2 weeks of games I'm tired of it and desperate for the season to start. At least the WBC is more interesting and helps break up the monotony of Spring Training.

I can see why teams get concerned about their pitchers participating, even with pitch limits you have guys throwing high stress innings in March. Never got the concern about position players going. Hitting is hitting, and most hitters are ready for the season after a few weeks.

I absolutely love the WBC. It's an electric atmosphere to watch.

Droford gets Machado as his tag partner, only to have him turn heel at the finish, revealing a Yankees jersey.

Dexter Fowler then comes out and ddt's Droford onto an Orioles hat, and Newstead picks up the pin.

BAH GAWD IT WAS MACHADO ALL ALONG

If every American born player was all in on participating in the WBC, you'd probably get something like this:

C: Buster Posey
1B: Anthony Rizzo
2B: Daniel Murphy
SS: Corey Seager
3B: Nolan Arenado
LF: Kris Bryant
CF: Mike Trout
RF: Bryce Harper
DH: Josh Donaldson

That'd be just plain silly. Not to mention Scherzer being joined by guys like Kershaw and Bumgarner in the rotation and Zach Britton (who will actually be used!) coming out of the bullpen.

Poor Canada gets the likes of Martin, Lawrie & Votto.... It's not even fair :'(

Kenley Jansen back to the Dodgers. 5 years, $80 million. They're also close to bringing back Justin Turner on a 4 year deal.

White Sox sign Derek Holland for a year and $6 million.

Os signed Welington Castillo to a 1 year 6 million deal with player option for 2018.

Orioles killing it this offseason.

World fucking champions

I really like wellington when he was a cub. Could be a poor mans yadi molina with an average bat but above average for a catcher and a strong arm behind the plate. I think he wasn't a good pitch framer early on if I memba so I wonder if he's gotten better at it.

There was an article on Camden Chat that said he was not good at pitch framing but neither was Wieters

Well good thing the brain trust in Baltimore saw this as an opportunity to upgrade...oh...wait...nevermind

Its a 1 year tide over until Chance Sisco is ready. He's 21 and in AA last year he hit .317/.403/.430 and even with limited power he hit a homer in the Futures game in PetcoPark. He only caught 86 games last year and they want him to get more work behind the plate since they drafted him out of HS and he wasn't a catcher.

What does hitting a homerun at petco with limited power supposed to insinuate? Bart Colón hit a homer there. Big whoop.

But hey it's a 1year signing. No need to sign a guy who's good who could either be traded or fetch a draft pick the next year.

Odubel Herrera gets a 5 year extension from the Phillies with club options in '22 and '23. Love it!

I really want the Jays to sign Matt Wieters to give Martin a few more extra days off without losing too much offensively or defensively... He'd help to contribute the loss of power as well with Bautista & Encarnacion on the way out (potentially)

Matt Wieters isn't hitting for much power anymore

The TJ surgery ruined his offense

Part of that could be because he played so much because Baltimore had no production at catcher behind him....Same can be said for Martin in Toronto.... Basically a split in time makes sense to me, Martin versus lefties and Wieters versus righties and if one happens to have good splits versus a certain starter, throw him in at DH, shift Morales to 1B instead of DH or simply give him a day off...

And a good locker room guy

Wieters isn't an upgrade offensively and he isn't likely to help fill any gaps left by Encarnacion or Bautista. He and Martin were about the same player last year overall.

They'd be better off waiting for Bautista and EE's market o crater.

The Orioles signed Tomo Ohka to a minor league deal.

40 years old throws a knuckle ball now and hasn't pitched in The US since 2009.

Dan Duquette signed him back in 1998 from Japan and he got his first win vs the Orioles in 1999.

https://frinkiac.com/gif/S14E15/1104...VhbCBFeHBvcy4=

Orioles with a hot stove for the ages

Anyone who's played for the Expos probably has no chance to make a dent in the bigs anymore (minus Big Sexy)

Delino Desheilds still plays. He's a 24 year old outfielder for the Rangers now. :shifty:

John Wettland could probably still throw a solid BP session to Tim Tebow.

Anybody is an upgrade offensively over Josh Thole. And I mean anybody.

Giants sign Jimmy Rollins to a minor league deal.

If he can still go, more power to him.

BoSox just sent Clay Buchholz to Philly for minor leaguer Josh Tobias.

Oh Tobias, you blowhard.

:eek: Someone was dumb enough to trade for Buchholz.

Low risk for the Phillies that could pay off if can avoid another bad injury bug since that was a big problem for him the past few years. Combo of that and being way too streaky in quality basically killed any real value he had for trades.

The fact that the Red Sox are paying him for 2017 to play for Philly is what blows my mind. More teams should have been interested

Only about 20% of the ballots have been made public so far, but the early returns are looking very favorable for Bagwell and Raines to make their overdue trips to Cooperstown. Both are polling at around 90%, which is way higher than they were at this point in the voting last year.

Those seem to be the only two clear projectable inductees right now. Pudge, Vlad, and Hoffman are all hovering right around the 75% threshold but there's plenty of time for that to drop.

I have nothing against Hoffman, but that he's very likely to go in soon while Wagner may not even get the 5% needed to stay on the ballot another year feels like an egregious mistake. I don't know how you could vote for one and not the other unless you're blindly following the saves stat, which is just punishing Wagner for deciding to not extend his career into his 40s when he was great in his last year and clearly could've kept going if he wanted to. I don't know if Aroldis Chapman has desensitized voters to how ridiculous Wagner was but when he was around it was unheard of to have a dude coming out of the bullpen throwing 98 with his left arm. At his best he was practically unhittable. He might be the second best reliever of all time behind Rivera.

Bonds and Clemens have also seen a huge surge from where they've been in recent years. It's likely not going to be enough to get them in this year but it's now a very real possibility that they are going to make it before their ten years on the ballot are up. Several voters have gone on record of saying they decided that Selig being put into the HOF now makes it impossible for them to overlook Bonds and Clemens any more.

Manny is still probably never going to make it and A-Rod might have trouble too once he's eligible. Voters are now drawing a line between using steroids before there was testing and willfully cheating after testing was implemented.

Schilling has taken the biggest fall so far, losing at least a dozen voters who had voted for him last year. With voters limited to ten selections and there clearly being more than ten deserving players, it does appear Schilling's hateful comments are what has put him on the chopping block.

People will blindly follow the save stat. Got into an argument with another Padres fan via Facebook when he tried to say Hoffman was snubbed. Wagner was absolutely dominant, much more than Hoffman.

Hoffman, despite having a narrative that says otherwise, was never on Mo's level at any point.

Glad to hear about Raines and Bagwell though

Huh? I thought Phillies would have to pay. He didn't pitch yet.

Great trade for Phillies in my eyes. You get a guy whose been great (at times) in the past for essentially nothing, played on winning teams and will probably help sell some jerseys.... If he gets off to a hot first few months, trade him away to help fill some holes and bank more prospects for next year....

Indians signed Edwin Encarnacion to a 3 year, $60 million deal