NEWS/RUMORS/AROUND MLB Thread (Oct 2016 - Feb 2017)

You're lookin good out there, Sal...I think all Cleveland has done is awaken a sleeping giant.
It just might be your year, as you said in your first post I think.
God knows you have all waited long enough.
Good for you.

 

I sure hope so Bluezoo. Today was the first game I actually felt comfortable. I'm a little worried Joe used Chapman so early and kept him in so long. I also hope he's not hurt. We really lead to get a lead tomorrow and hold it. Hopefully like tonight. Cleveland's bullpen is pretty darn good and there rested. I don't know how I'm going to sleep tonight. Go Cubs!

 

Kind of interested to see if we take a flyer on Greg Holland and Shawn Tolleson.

 

https://t.co/V02I01av0O

218 IP / 3.17 ERA incoming

 

I always liked Josh Johnson, but 3 TJ'S!!!! Dude, hang them up!

 

I don't know if this was posted a while back, but the growing feeling around the league is the Giants will try to be big spenders again this winter. Their crappy farm and the pairing of the best FA's playing positions they are weak at has GM's believing they're preparing to go hard at both Cespedes and sigh... Turner. They are going to look at addressing the bullpen (obviously), but it sounds like they feel that they'll be over-matched when it comes to Jansen, Melancon and Chapman with the Dodgers, Cubs and Yankees all needing lock down closers.
I think the Giants have a bigger dilemma on their hands coming around the corner... They need to get Posey out from behind the plate and probably do it sooner than later. They have the bats that could likely compensate for them moving Brown behind the plate full time, Posey to 1B and Belt to LF. The D in LF would be about the only part to take a big hit as Posey has the skills to become an above average defender and Belt is probably athletic enough himself to play just passable LF. Them exploring that approach could allow them to focus on Turner (bleh) and potentially signing a guy like Ramos to a two year deal. Also, I would fucking hate every piece of this, because like all of you, I watched a battered and bruised Posey scuffle for two months while the rest of the Giants fell flat on their faces and let the Dodgers overtake them in the division. When he does poorly, that team does poorly and him around for a shorter time is better for this organization as a whole. I have seen a few of the Giant beat writers feel this should be Posey's last year behind the plate, I think they are risking a lot by waiting that year after seeing Posey deal with obvious back pain throughout the second half. Like I said, I hope the Giants fuck themselves, but I could see this move as a precursor for them going hard after Turner only and fixing the pen with the other funds.

 

Closer is their top priority as they feel their SP is probably best in the NL West, and they're probably right.

I agree that they will probably try to pull Posey away from catching but not until they feel any replacement would be good enough to handle their SP.

I'm not sure they will go all in for a Cespedes because it really hasn't been their MO for awhile. It's run production by smart at bats, manufacturing runs and clutch hits. If their BP wasn't such a disaster, they probably would have won the NL West.

Having said that, I think Pagan is gone, so they need a LF. I forgot the name of their young rookie who played center a few games, but he looks like he has a lot of talent.

Dodgers cannot sit still because no one else will.

 

I would give it a 0.1% chance that they would entertain trading Belt. He's too good a hitter, young and signed to a VERY team friendly deal that takes him through his age 33 season. They would want WAY more than just a closer too, which in a deal would probably offset each teams needs. He is viewed as one of their cornerstones and I just can't see him going anywhere at this time.

 

The Gnats have a bit of a dilemma. If they go after a FA closer, they are going to have to spend. They still have money tied up with Cueto, Alphabet, and Cain.

They are going to have to work on a new contract for Bum. Even though there are club options for 2018-2019 @ $12M each, he's worth more than that and everyone knows it. There is already talk that the Gnats are sitting down with Bum to discuss a new contract. $12M is absurd given Cain will make $20M.

They probably won't give up cheap talent given their new economics.

 

Pagan is gone and the CF'er you are talking about is Gorkys Hernandez I believe. He's not young and he's really not that good. He's already 29 and isn't anything much more than a strong D and marginal platoon bat. The bats they currently have in the system for LF are not great as both Williamson and Parker didn't show much in extended appearances this year. Cespesdes is not their prototypical bat, but they are apparently looking for that big bat that can change a game with one swing. Grinders like they have are rare to possess big time pop, so I think them adding a bat like Cespedes wouldn't destroy their lineup.

 

Cain has only one more year remaining on his deal and in all likelihood, so does Cueto. They still have plenty of payroll room and I could see them doing another one of their ridiculous team friendly deals for Bumgarner to make things work where we see them having room for a big signing. Now if he does sign a contract comparable to his value (25+ Mil a year), then that changes the game a bit as the Span deal and Samardzija deals will look really bad and burdensome. The Giants are the second wealthiest team in the NL, so they can easily afford going over the tax a couple of years if they want to continue to compete. They're just going to really have to get to work on rebuilding that farm though. I agree that they won't be trading any of their cheap(ish) key players.

 

Serious question:

Would you guys take winning a chip like the Cubs and Royals have done recently... if that meant doing a overhaul on most of the roster (being bad for a few years)? I don't feel either way but just wanted to spark some disscusion.

 

Basically tanking? No, not in baseball at least

it is way harder to project talent...And most of the value of draft picks arent realized until years later so its legit a long term investment and there's much less predictability

Plus I think its a waste of our FO. We have Friedman, Anthopolous, Zaidi etc. Id be disappointed if the best strategy they had was to tank lmao

We have a strong nucleus now we just need to be more aggressive complementing them.