MLB 2020-2021 OFF-SEASON NEWS AND RUMORS

all tied to Phil Niekros death somehow
impressive but i think injuries will take them down and the window will slam shut

 

Good for the Padres on seeing a division rival win the world series and knowing they as well are on the cusp so they are going out and being hyper aggressive. There is a lot of talk though that they are doing this as they expect that something is wrong with Lamet and they're preparing to not have him for a big chunk of the season. No Lamet to add to Clevinger still means that they will be thin in the starting pitching department. They got a great year out of Davies, but that dude crashed and burned at the end. Their farm is still fairly strong, but they are certainly depleting it and this on the heels of reports that uber-prospect Mackenzie Gore was very underwhelming at the Alt-Site this year. I am waiting to see what it costs them to land Darvish if they do.

 

Here are some other rumors:

• There is a feeling around baseball that the Dodgers are a major team to watch as we creep closer to the start of spring training in regards to FA and trades. A lot of the talk is that the Dodgers are believed to be heavily in on both Trevor Bauer and DJ LeMahieu.

• The Dodgers have stated over and over that they want an IF Power RH bat this offseason to put into the everyday lineup. Justin Turner is expected to be one of those guys. With today's news of Kim signing with the Padres, don't be surprised if the Blue Jays ramp up their talks with both Turner and LeMahieu.

• The Dodgers are telling folks that the plan is for Corey Seager to remain with the club for a very long time and there is said to be optimism that this happens. If this is the case, it could mean that the org is out on Francisco Lindor. There has reportedly been no signs that Seager is willing to move off of SS any time soon and some with close ties to the World Series MVP have said that he probably would not want to. If that is the case, then SS will remain the only position in the IF set in stone going into the 2021 season and the club would have to locate options elsewhere. Could the Cubs moving Darvish open the door to a deal for Kris Bryant?...

• The Padres are said to also be talking to the Cubs about one of their catchers in their potential deal for Darvish. Immediately the press jumped on the Contreras bandwagon, but it is more likely to be Yu's personal catcher, Victor Caratini. Nightengale is reporting that Padres top prospect Luis Campusano is one of the prospects being discussed.

• Now that Snell is out the door, don't be surprised if Rays CF'er Kevin Kiermaier is moved. Injuries have completely side tracked Kiermaier's career and he is not the defensive wizard he once was, so it is hard to see much of a return there.

• Enrique Hernandez and the Red Sox are said to be in talks about a potential deal.

 

Reports out of SD make is sound like the deal is almost complete. Going to SD appears to be Darvish and a catcher, with names like Cronenworth and Campusano going back.

 

Ken Gurnick announced he is retiring today.

According to rumors, CKWG is on the short-list of people being considered to replace him.

 

Gurnick had to have been among (or the last) of the old Herald-Examiner guys still working.

 

I’m in!

*googles average salary for a beat reporter*
I’m out!

 

so the padres are not getting caratini and they are trading campusano. thanks nightengale

 

Pure salary dump. Wow...

 

I watched their episode of Undercover Boss. That family is cheap AF!

 

• Dodgers have made a deal with the Rays and Phillies. Jose Alvarado is one player involved and is going to the Phillies.

• With everything that has happened for the franchise in the last 48 hours, there is belief that the Padres are not yet done and have at least one or more deals in the pipeline coming as talks are said to be beyond the kick the can stage with multiple other organizations. There is a belief among other club officials that the Padres are now likely to be looking to move off of one of their higher priced vets in either Wil Myers, Eric Hosmer or Tommy Pham. While Hosmer has 5 years remaining on his 8 yr $144M deal, the contract is close to 50% paid off. The Padres heavily front loaded Hosmer's contract, so it is easier to move on the surface. Hosmer and Myers enjoyed their best seasons since joining the Padres organization, but questions remain on whether these guys have taken big steps forward or merely enjoyed the benefits of a shortened season. Pham was terrible and appeared to be a non-tender candidate, but the team elected to bring him back. With no place to play breakout prospect Jake Cronenworth, Hosmer may make the most sense to move on from.

• While we are still sifting through the ashes of the Darvish deal, it's good to remind folks that the Padres joined the Dodgers in completely locking down their alt site. Teams did not have reports on Padres prospects that were there, but each of the prospects dealt yesterday were guys that went to instructs (3) or played for an int'l club (1). The Cubs farm is years away from helping again, so instead of reloading with lesser talent at the top, they went for 4 guys they supposedly had good long looks at. FG came out with a piece today and said that while each of these guys are young, all 4 have decent upside and 1 player in particular, Reginald Preciado, has gotten some very high praise and could develop into something very special. I was pissed at how little the return was for Darvish on the surface, but it is also important to remind people that the shortened 2020 was the first year that Darvish had his "Ace" FIP/ERA since 2016. Not to mention as we found out, the Central was a fucking dumpster fire last year of shitty teams just beating up on one another. I am not saying that Darvish is not some great pitcher, but I do think that we will see 2020 as more of an outlier. I don't think he will be as bad as he was in 2018 or even 2019, but I would bet money on the now 34 year old not being as dominant as he was in 2020 either. The Padres have greatly improved the front end of their rotation, but if Dinelson Lamet is not fully healthy, they will have trouble getting through a 162 game season and their bullpen could be running on fumes.

• While this was a definite salary dump, the Cubs still did get some intriguing value down the road. The chatter after yesterday's trade had many people saying that the Cubs would likely move Kris Bryant next(myself included). There have been a couple of reports today, including from Mike Ferrin this morning on MLB Radio, that sources within the franchise feel that the money unloaded was enough to get ownership off the FO's back. So belief that more trades a comin' seems to be premature. The team is said to want to retain both Rizzo and Baez long term and are not in a place to decide on Contreras yet. The FO thinks they can still compete in the crappy NL Central and appear more likely to prefer to sell Bryant at the deadline if they are out of it, and/or if Bryant has greatly improved his stock after an abysmal 2020. Nightengale is now reporting that the Cubs are "extensively shopping catcher Willson Contreras".

• In the hours after my post from yesterday in regards to the Dodgers said to be lurking, there have been a couple other reports of the Dodgers picking up talks behind the scenes. The club needs to figure out 3B and if Turner/LeMahieu continue to drag ass, the Dodgers may need to pursue other avenues to not miss out. The club has been linked to Bryant, Arenado and Lindor this offseason, but recent signs point to them being unlikely options and as for Lindor, most people expect the Blue Jays to be creeping into desperation mode. I will be interested to see if the Dodgers look at someone overlooked elsewhere.

 

Dodgers are giving up 1B prospect Dillon Paulson in the deal. I am annoyed that we were not the ones to get Alvarado. We received LHP Garrett Cleavinger who has been pretty terrible. He is on the 40 Man roster which now stands at 38. Very obvious that our guys see something in Cleavinger that they liked as even with Alvarado losing a bit of bite, on the surface he was the better pitcher.

 

I want Jose Ramirez. Give the Indians Ruiz and Gonslin. Let's go

 

That would be nice, but the Indians have him signed to a sweetheart deal and have supposedly told teams that they have no interest in moving him. Gonsolin and Ruiz would probably not come close to getting him.

 

I've heard that the Indians have been listening to all trade offers to all players. Give 'em Taylor and a lesser prospect too.

 

SD has a little momentum going for itself. No fault in being aggressive and creating a sense of urgency in their situation. Imagine they also saw what everyone else saw in the post....that LAD barely got by the Braves and Rays, just one year after failing to reach the WS altogether

Plus, Guggs is about to cheap out on the guy that many agree is the heart of LAD, so is there a better time to go for it than now? Should SD wait until LAD has 10 straight division titles? 15? Now seems to be good....before LAD becomes a dynasty and the fans that they're lucky to have in SD decide to ride with the winners

 

Since SD is following in our footsteps mebbe they should go ahead and sign Puig already?

 

Cheap out? Dodgers are far from cheap. Turner may be the heart of the team but I'm not paying for clogged arteries and stints. If he's hell bent on 3 years then let some other team sit on that thumbs up.