NEWS/RUMORS/DISCUSSION Thread

Padres Trade Despaigne To Orioles

The Orioles and Padres are in agreement on a trade that will send right-hander Odrisamer Despaigne to Baltimore in exchange for minor league right-handerJean Cosme, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com had first reported that Cosme was headed to the O’s in exchange for a pitcher off San Diego’s Major League roster.

 

Dodgers Announce Howie Kendrick Deal
By Jeff Todd | February 4, 2016 at 12:49pm CST

The Dodgers have announced the re-signing of infielder Howie Kendrick to a two-year contract. Reports suggested the deal will pay the veteran $20MM.

New details on the payout have been reported today by Jon Heyman (Twitterlinks). Kendrick will receive $10MM annually in each year of the contract, half of which will be deferred. But Heyman suggests that the deferrals won’t significantly reduce the contract’s value.

While Kendrick says he’s “thankful” to be returning to L.A., he also tells Bob Nightengale of USA Today that he was shocked at how his market played out. Interest was minimal despite his long track record of sturdy production, said Kendrick, with the QO-driven draft compensation seemingly proving a significant impediment.

“I figured there would be quite a few suitors for me, and nobody was really calling,” said Kendrick. “Here it is, getting close to spring training, and you keep hearing the same thing over and over. Nobody wanted to give up that draft pick. It was a shocker.’’








His old Halo buddy Kendrys Morales went through the same not too long ago...then won a WS title with the Royals and told everybody to kiss ass.
Lets hope for the same with Howie, but with us.

 

Wow...this guy didn't even mention Chapman....WTF? Some kinda weird mofo...what's the world coming to when a Dodger fan can't spew behind what a hack puts out?
This guy is fucked up,man...

 

THIS is the nutshell version. The question was asked why move Ethier when Joc and Puig are question marks? The answer of course is because Joc and Puig are YOUNGER, CHEAPER question marks. Both have higher upsides than Ethier and both combined cost less than Ethier, discounting of course what cash you'd have to send to the receiving team.

 

" We ain doin nothin, we need him "...the Zaidi kiss of death that we've seen in the past?
Interesting there, CHISox wanted Puig and LAD rebuffed tried to push both Ethier and CC on them instead.



Dodgers Notes: Puig, Ryu, Ethier, Kendrick
By Steve Adams | February 4, 2016 at 10:17pm CST

Andre Ethier has been the most oft-mentioned trade candidate for the Dodgers recently, in part, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today (Twitter link), because Los Angeles is telling teams with interest in Yasiel Puig that Puig is not available at this time. Puig isn’t without his red flags, as he’s facing potential disciplinary action in connection with domestic violence allegations, is coming off a down season and has long come with questions about his clubhouse persona. Of course, even Puig’s “down” season saw him bat a solid .255/.322/.436 with 11 homers in 311 plate appearances, and he remains just 25 years of age with a considerable track record of elite production under his belt. Puig’s contract guarantees him $19.5MM over the next three seasons, although it also allows him to opt into arbitration once he is eligible next offseason, so it’s perhaps likely that he’ll instead go that route, as his earning capacity figures to be greater going down the arbitration path.

A few more Dodgers-related notes…

• Dodgers GM Farhan Zaidi was a guest on High Heat with Chris Russo on the MLB Network today (video link) and discussed a number of topics regarding the upcoming season. In regard to left-hander Hyun-jin Ryu, who underwent shoulder surgery and missed all of the 2015 season, Zaidi stopped short of declaring that he’d be ready for Opening Day but did say the Korean southpaw’s recovery is progressing as expected. Zaidi sounded hopeful that Ryu would indeed be available, but as the GM noted, it’s impossible to project a player’s return from that type of procedure before seeing him pitch in a game setting.
• Zaidi deflected the notion that the team is looking to move Andre Ethier, stating that, “Right now, he’s a really important part of our team,” mentioning Ethier’s quite-productive numbers from the 2015 season (albeit in a platoon capacity). Zaidi acknowledged that the Dodgers have quite a bit of outfield depth and stressed that earlier in the offseason, the team was open to various scenarios involving a number of their players. “But right now, we have nothing going on,” Zaidi continued. “…We expect [Ethier] to be here in 2016.”
• Howie Kendrick, whose two-year, $20MM contract with the Dodgers became official today, will see time not only at second base but also at third base in 2016, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman told reporters, including Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times, on today’s conference call. “He expressed a willingness to play different spots,” said Friedman of Kendrick. “That’s when things kind of accelerated.” Friedman said there could be as many as 1400 at-bats to go around between Kendrick, Chase Utley and Enrique Hernandez, with each expected to play multiple positions. As Shaikin notes, Kendrick’s willingness to play third base is of particular importance given Justin Turner’s offseason knee surgery and the fact that Turner has never played more than 126 games in a season before.
• Interestingly, Shaikin adds his own bit about the recent trade talks between the Dodgers and White Sox, reporting that the Sox actually approached the Dodgers about Puig, but the Dodgers instead tried to sell the Sox on trades involving Ethier and Carl Crawford. At this point, there’s very little traction between the two sides, a source tells Shaikin.

 

So this is something funny that Dave Stewart said the other day on MLB Network radio and doesn't seem to have a made it on here yet. After the Segura trade, he was asked why they didn't go after Howie Kendrick (and as much as he wants us to believe it was the draft pick, it wasnt), he responded along the lines of, "Our finances are not where we would like them to be right now." You could tell the host's were surprised by this and since everyone is friends there, they didn't get him with any hard hitting follow up questions. This is off season is already looking bad for them, they got a great pitcher that they are likely overpaying and hoping he is the pitcher he was last year and not the one from the rest of his career and they destroyed their farm on two young players, one good, one not. The initial run by the D'Backs was exciting (I guess), but they have fallen hard after that Greinke signing. Their rotation is going to have some big question marks, as will their bullpen. I could see them falling flat on their faces and Greinke on the market in 12-18 months.

 

But " they burned us for the 23yr old Yoan Lopez "...who isn't even ranked among the Top 100 by anyone last I saw. Smh

 

This is exactly where I thought they would be and why I'm not mad at all about ZG going there. They will be competitive for 2 years, then ownership will try to blow it up. The ZG contract handcuffs the shit out of them and they will be fucked in the long-run.

This will coincide when we have the MOST financial flexibility and when our prospects will just be getting ready to fuck shit up. That's why it was funny to hear all the reaction to ZG and the complaining. The team has been losing for 27 years and the reason is for thinking like that. The new is here and we are going to win the WS and continue to be there for many, many years.

 

That's hilarious.

 

I'm pretty sure he's already projecting as a swing guy. I saw someone talk about how dumb of a move that was, recently.

 

This... and from Dave Stewart's comment it sounds like it is already handcuffing them. Too funny.

 

The hosts after Stewart got off the phone were funny. One of them has been hammering the Dodgers off season and lauding the D'Backs and you could tell he was completely thrown off by those comments. The other guy said something close to, "wow, I wonder if Greinke knew that, if he now wished he would have stayed with the Dodgers." They both stumbled and threw it to a commercial break. It actually pissed me off that they didn't go off on it, since MLB Network for the most part has loved the D'Backs moves and fucking hated the Dodgers, though this has a lot to do with former players paired with anti-saber hosts.

 

Yeah unless Brian Kenny is there to keep them honest, you're gonna hear some really dumb analysis.

 

Greinke is nothing if not smart and calculating. He knows the financial implications of his deal and how it would affect the DBacks ability to field a winner longterm. He went for the money. In the end, the deal he signed with the DBacks is $50 million more than what we reportedly offered - it's hard to fault him too much.