2020-2021 OFF-SEASON NEWS AND RUMORS

Gray, Gonsolin, Rios, Beaty and Ruiz for Snell and Alvarado. That’s the type of guys the Rays like, MLB ready players that could be productive major leaguers without the projected insane costs associated with being and actual Star prospect.

 

idk i wouldn't be in a hurry to trade Gray
the little i've seen he looks like the real deal
and Rios changed my mind the second half of 20
he could turn out to be a beast at DH
and i think Zappa has that thing but who knows
pretty high price for a guy that typically gives you 5 imo

 

Still crazy after all these years ?

 

Sui?

 

There was a FA signing this morning, so something happened, but we are likely still weeks from things picking up until the players and owners figure out the universal DH.

• Ken Rosenthal thinks the Dodgers are in on DJ LeMahieu, but has heard no indications that they actually are. He hears that Plan A for the club is to re-sign Turner for 3B and Gavin Lux is penciled in for 2B. LeMahieu would likely be the backup option if Turner walks. In the event Turner walks, the club is unable to sway LeMahieu and the NL brings back the DH, he thinks the club will go hard after Marcell Ozuna.

• Rosenthal also thinks that contrary to reports, the Dodgers may not spend wildly this offseason. The club may be preparing to have freed up money a year from now to re-sign Kershaw, as well as Seager or his replacement and the expected increase in salary to Cody Bellinger.

• Charlie Morton signed a 1 year - $15M deal with the Braves. Interesting after the fantastic debuts of a couple of their kids, they've since signed 2 starting pitchers. There is some speculation that they may be focusing on pitching this year and that could mean the end of Ozuna for the Bravos and may not leave much room to sign an upside bat in general like they have the past couple of seasons. The Dodgers beat up Morton and he had a subpar season in general, so this on the surface does not seem like a detrimental hit.

• With the news that the Rays are listening to offers, it is said that the Reds too are listening on starter Sonny Gray. Gray had another solid season away from the bright lights of NYC. It is believed that the Reds could be doing just standard due diligence as the club is already down a starter, plus has the belief that they will contend. Gray is under very cheap control over the next 3 years so the club could be just floating his name in hopes of an absolute haul in a weakened starting pitching market.

• The Blue Jays are expected to be very active this offseason. They tried hard to sign Kevin Gausman before he accepted the QO from the Giants. They are said to be pursuing Astros CF'er George Springer strongly as well as DJ LeMahieu, Michael Brantley and our very own Justin Turner. I could see them struggling to get guys on 1-2 year deals as there is likely a good chance that they call Buffalo home a second year in a row.

• The Astros are floating Carlos Correa in trade talks as they are not expecting to re-sign him before he hits free agency.

• The Cubs are expected to be pursuing Nolan Arenado in a bit of a rebuild on the fly scenario. While the Cardinals are believed to have interest, but it is unlikely they are able to get him as they have been one of the hardest hit teams in baseball after no fans being allowed in stadiums. Another interesting team emerging in the Bryant talks is the Boston Red Sox. Fenway could be a great park for Bryant with both his power and lack of need to run all over the place in that small OF. The team talked last season, so it is presumed they would restart this year.

• Along with the Blue Jays, the Mets are said to be incredibly active in the FA and trade markets. The club is said to be big game hunting with eyes on Springer, J.T. Realmuto, Trevor Bauer, Francisco Lindor and LeMahieu according to Buster Olney. Something interesting I heard was that Realmuto has told people close to him that he has no interest in playing in NY. We have heard shit like this before and then a guy signs there, but as mentioned there are those close to him that say he hates the pressure added to playing that environment.

• Do not be shocked if we hear the names of a lot of starting pitchers being floated this offseason. The market is shit outside of Bauer(and the dude certainly has warts) so expect a lot of teams to gauge the market if they are worried about either contending or finances.

• The Kiwoom Heroes announced that SS/3B Ha-Seong Kim will be posted in the morning. There has been speculation that the Dodgers could be interested in him as a Hernandez type swiss army knife in the IF, but he is also said to be eyeing a location where he can start immediately. Some scouts that have watched him seem to think he has huge upside, but others are wary due to the competition that he has been battering in the KBO. Kim is small dude that packs a punch.

 

I think all of the guys we would be giving up in that scenario could be good big leaguers. I just feel that most if not all are replaceable with what we already have or have coming. The upside of Snell is just that much better than anyone we are giving up in the trade, imo. Of course, the team could have different views of Gray, which if that is the case then you make other pieces work. Snell would give us another young frontline starter to pair with Buehler the next 3 years, plus he is cheap. Beaty and Rios are probably 1B/DH's and the Rays would value them for being so inexpensive. I just think with guys like Busch, Hoese and Vargas knocking on the door, those two may be a bit more expendable. Same goes for Gonsolin and Gray in the cheap department. Both have upside of being mid rotation starters. I know Gonsolin looked great this year, but I do have some worries going forward after what happened to him in the playoffs. Was that nerves or was that better hitting teams knowing how to handle him? Ruiz is just a luxury item now. Smith has cemented himself as our starter for the next couple of years and it appears that Barnes has the backup spot blocked for the foreseeable future. With Cartaya on the way, it could make sense to move Ruiz. Like I said, that could be a haul to give up, but it's also for 3 years of control for a guy with a cy young already and not necessarily with his best years behind him.

 

For those wondering about the SS market that starts next year, here are the FA's to be and their representatives:
Seager - Boras
Baez - Wasserman
Correa - GSE Worldwide
Lindor - Sportsmeter
Story - Excel

Nobody with matching agents so it could be a bit of a blood bath out there. Naturally we have the one that has the biggest piece of shit in baseball with a few more coming down the pipeline.

 

He planned on playing in 2020

 

He has that domestic violence case or whatever that he will need to handle first if he wants to play. Except for the Astros, they don't give a shit about that stuff.

 

• Speaking of Domestic Violence, Randy Arozarena has been taken into custody in Mexico after an alleged incident over his daughter with the mother of his child. It has been reported that he is being held on both charges of violence against a woman and abduction charges, but this is only coming from local media outlets. The Mexican government allows for 3 days to press formal charges, so we may not know the results immediately. His agent said she is not sure what happened, but that Randy is a loving father and he is very involved in her life. He wants to make sure that the money he is sending down there is being put to good use.

• Oh boy, apparently the Mariners reached out to the Rays about Ian Snell and the return they asked for was HEFTY. You can throw out my trade idea from the other day cause it would not get it done.

• The Giants have shown interest in former Cubs LHP Jon Lester. He is coming off back to back sub par seasons, including an abysmal 2020 that saw the worst ERA+ and second worst FIP of his career. I'm stopping short of welcoming this event as I am wary of old dudes going to the city by the bay only to magically re-find their prime form. Almost like there is a magical healing presence up there.

 

Yeah, what I've seen suggests the Rays aren't actively shopping Snell, but they are willing to look at offers if someone is willing to blow them away. It seems low likelihood that he is traded. He's actually a good fit in Tampa, he's fairly cheap and he gives you a shot to win against anyone, like in a one-game WC game or a short series.

 

Yeah, I was surprised to hear them shop him. The only thing I could really think of as the reasoning behind actually moving him was that they are worried about him and Cash going forward. He is an outspoken dude and he was pretty pissed about the way his season ended. I think some teams are floating these big names in hopes of landing some major hauls, but aren't pressing to move these guys.

 

Hey, we have some Dodgers rumors!

• The club is showing interest in Brad Hand in the event they aren't able to bring back Blake Treinen, according to Jon Morosi

• Jorge Castillo & J.P. Hoornstra are both saying that it is not a certainty that the club will bring Justin Turner back in 2021. The team is likely more intrigued by other impact options out there in Nolan Arenado, Kris Bryant and Francisco Lindor. The club may very well bring back Turner, but they are likely going to first exhaust higher impact options. Hoornstra adds that the club may be more willing to bring back Turner if the universal DH is implemented.

• Hoornstra went on to mention that the Dodgers and Indians have previously gotten deeper into talks regarding a trade for Lindor, but that was prior to the club acquiring Mookie Betts. The likelihood of the Dodgers willing to go to the level they were a year ago to acquire the superstar SS is slim. He does add that the Dodgers are more likely to swing a deal for Lindor as he comes with less of a premium than Arenado.

 

Roid rage

 

I mean, that is only a civil case

 

Can’t imagine MLB will just let that slide though. They still do their own investigations and have laid some heavy handed punishments for dudes that never got in actual trouble.

 

I would not be shocked if this is the winter of the Blue Jays. They are said to be the most active team in free agency, in trade talk and in some other news headlines:

• The Blue Jays are exploring the potential of building a new stadium. Outside of Oakland and Tampa, the Jays getting a new stadium makes a lot of sense since there have been grumblings about the playing surface for some time. The team made a switch a couple of years ago to something better, but with all except 1 other team now playing on natural grass, this move makes sense. The current plan would be to demolish the Rogers Centre and build the new stadium on the current site, which would in turn make the club homeless for likely 2+ seasons. Another idea being floated if that is turned down is a lakefront site. This is not something that would happen overnight like in Atlanta and Arlington as Canada moves a bit slower with projects of this magnitude. Expectations are that it would be at least 5 years to come together and maybe even reach the 10 year mark to come to fruition. Toronto is an amazing city, so something a bit more picturesque would be nice. Feels like moving to a lakefront location could push some fans away as ease of access to Rogers is aided heavily by Union Station being roughly only 3 blocks away.

• The Blue Jays are said to be past the kicking tires phase with the Indians in talks for SS Francisco Lindor. The Jays are one of those teams that could go from mediocrity to scary in a flash. Though their payroll is regularly in the bottom 3rd of baseball, they have the assets to set themselves up with the other league powerhouses and buy their way into continued contention. With the emergence of their young/cheap stars, they could be looking at a run that could push the Yankees in that AL East.

• The Jays are also said to be going HEAVY after Justin Turner and have emerged as a serious threat to the Dodgers to retain our clubhouse leader.

• Another player the Dodgers are said to have interest in that the Jays are also pursuing heavily, Brad Hand is also near the top of the Toronto wish list. Toronto is setting themselves up to be the champions of the 2020/2021 offseason, but their biggest hurdle seems to be whether players will want to play a season in Buffalo before calling Toronto truly their home.

• The club is also said to be going hard after catcher J.T. Realmuto. Realmuto is considered one of the, if not the prize of the free agent market this offseason.

 

Sounds like I may get a call from the Jays expressing their interest soon lol