MLB NEWS/RUMORS Thread

you're distorting what i've said
you said the dodgers were a 2nd tier team, i disagreed
and i would never say we'd automatically get back to the ws again next year
your hypothesis for getting stanton is 180° from everything this front office has preached and done
not saying it won't/can't happen...
just basing my guess on factual data

 

Rob Flippo, Dodgers’ Bullpen Catcher for 16-years, not returning
by Matthew Moreno | Dodger Blue — 1 hour ago



In addition to facing questions in free agency, the Los Angeles Dodgers have multiple vacancies to fill on the coaching and developmental side. Within the past month, Matt Herges, Tim Hyers, Gabe Kapler and Jeremy Zoll accepted positions with other clubs.

It’s left the Dodgers in need of a pitching coach for Triple-A Oklahoma City, assistant hitting coach for the Major League club, a director of player development, and assistant director of player development. There was speculation Rick Honeycutt would not return in 2018 as Dodgers pitching coach.

Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman refuted that notion and added he expected the club’s coaching staff to remain intact for next season. The exception being Hyers, who is now hitting coach for the Boston Red Sox.

Soon after Friedman spoke with media at Dodger Stadium, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reported bullpen catcher Rob Flippo will not return in 2018:

In addition to serving as bullpen coach, Flippo was among those who worked as a batting practice pitcher. He threw to Hee-Seop Choi in the 2005 Home Run Derby, and did the same for Matt Kemp in 2011 and 2012.

Flippo first joined the Dodgers organization in 1989 as a Minor League catcher. Prior to embarking on his role as bullpen catcher in 2001, Flippo gained coaching experience at his alma mater Fresno State University, the University of South Alabama, and University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

 

more sad news...

Red Sox catching prospect Daniel Flores, 17, dies of cancer
by Scott Lauber | ESPN Staff Writer — 34 minutes ago

Daniel Flores, a 17-year-old catcher who signed with the Boston Red Sox in July when the international amateur signing window opened, died Wednesday due to complications stemming from cancer treatment, the team announced.

Flores was signed out of Venezuela and was classified the second-best prospect available, according to MLB.com. Flores was receiving treatments in Boston when he died.

"Everyone at the Red Sox was shocked to hear of Daniel's tragic passing," Dave Dombrowski, Boston's president of baseball operations said in a statement. "To see the life of young man with so much promise cut short is extremely saddening for all of us. On behalf of the Red Sox organization, I would like to extend our deepest sympathies and condolences to Daniel's family."

A switch-hitter, the 6-foot-1 Flores said during a July news conference in Caracas, Venezuela, that Salvador Perez was his idol, according to El Nacional.

"I hope I can have the [consistency] to play between 15 and 20 years in Major League Baseball. I hope I can get to the Hall of Fame."

Although he was several years away from the majors, Flores was already being hailed by scouts for his defense behind the plate, especially his arm strength and quick release. It's likely he would have ranked among the Red Sox's top five prospects by most projections heading into next season.

Manny Padron, one of Flores' coaches, told Hardball Scoop in July that the player was very mature for his age.

"He is a catcher with a great projection, he has a great ability with his glove," Padron told Hardball Scoop. "In the offense, he shows a lot of power in the right side and a lot of ability in the left side. He will improve, he always does, in every aspect of the game. But we are happy of his behavior in and off the field."

Flores signed for $3.1 million, according to Baseball America, which made him the third-highest-paid Venezuela prospect ever, according to MLB.com.

"Every member of our organization who got to know Daniel absolutely loved him. He was energetic, hard-working, and genuinely selfless, always with a smile on his face," said Eddie Romero, Boston's senior vice president/assistant GM. "He cared for his teammates and was a natural leader.

"I'm at a loss for words today. Daniel was an impressive young man with limitless potential, and his life was cut far too short. My condolences go out to Daniel's mother and sister. Though with us for a short time, Daniel will always be a part of the Red Sox family."

The team said it would have no further comment at this time out of respect for Flores' family.

 

$200MM huh?
i was thinking more like 5/$75MM
but with boras who knows?

Early asking price for J.D. Martinez reportedly near $200MM
by Steve Adams | MLB Trade Rumors — 24 minutes ago

Teams that have spoken to agent Scott Boras about new client J.D. Martinez have come away with the impression that Boras and Martinez are seeking a deal in the vicinity of $200MM in total guarantees, tweets ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick. Martinez hired Boras as his new representative just days before the free-agent period began.

It’s a jarring number to see associated with the 30-year-old Martinez, though he certainly helped his case with an otherworldly season at the plate. Though Martinez missed the first five-plus weeks of the season due to a ligament injury in his foot, he nonetheless swatted 45 home runs in a career year at the plate. On the whole, Martinez slashed a ridiculous .303/.376/.690 with a career-high 10.8 percent walk rate through 489 plate appearances between the Tigers and D-backs.

In addition to his newfound plate discipline, Martinez’s 49 percent hard-contact rate was the best in the Majors of any player with at least 450 plate appearances. That stat may even undersell the extent to which he impressed in that regard; the next-highest percentage was Joey Gallo’s mark of 46.4 percent. Statcast data pegged Martinez’s average exit velocity of 90.8 mph 15th among players that put at least 100 balls in play this past season, and he ranked third in the league in barrel percentage and tied for fourth in total number of barreled balls despite the early-season layoff.

There’s little point in doubting Martinez’s status as an elite bat after his impressive four-year run between Detroit and Arizona, but he still comes with plenty of red flags. Martinez has tallied 1973 innings in right field over the past two seasons and turned in an awful mark of -27 Defensive Runs Saved (though 2017’s mark of -5 was a noted improvement over 2016’s ghastly -22). Ultimate Zone Rating is similarly down on his glovework, rating him 25 runs below average. Statcast’s new Outs Above Average metricT suggested that Martinez converted five fewer outs than an average defensive outfielder would have in 2017. That he’s missed 85 games over the past two years due to injury and will turn 31 next August both figure to limit his earning capacity to some degree as well.

We ranked Martinez as the No. 2 free agent on the market this winter and pegged him for a six-year, $150MM deal. If Boras’ aim is to secure a $200MM payday for his newest client, though, he’ll need to broker a deal of at least seven years in length — if not eight. While that’s difficult to envision, it’s certainly not out of the realm of possibility. Both Jacoby Ellsbury and Shin-Soo Choo landed seven year contracts in their recent trips through free agency, with Choo’s contract beginning in his age-31 campaign. A seven-year contract for Martinez is not outside the realm of possibility, though it also goes without saying that any agent would aim high entering free agency. While Martinez should have no shortage of teams with interest, there are very few clubs that can realistically afford to pay him at that level.

Boras spoke to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic about Martinez’s free-agent case and specifically referenced the free agencies of Ellsbury and Choo — both his clients — as well as fellow Boras clients Matt Holliday, Jayson Werth and Carlos Beltran. Boras indicated that he feels Martinez, who hit 40+ homers this season and has established himself as a .300 hitter, is a cut above that group (and above more recent cases like Yoenis Cespedes and Justin Upton) while entering free agency at a similar age. “It’s a very rare place. It’s a unique place,” said Boras. “…all of these guys that are at this level, they’re really good players. None of them were in the 45 [homer] and .300 [average] category.”

Asked whether he felt the Diamondbacks could be a realistic landing spot in free agency, Boras unsurprisingly suggested that he firmly believes that to be the case.

“You don’t sign Greinke and not sign this guy,” said Boras in a reference to Zack Greinke’s six-year, $206.5MM contract with the D-backs. “I mean, once you drop in the pool, you’re in the water. Once you’re in the water, it’s kind of hard to say you’re not wet.” Boras called D-backs owner Ken Kendrick a “competitive owner” and suggested that the onus will fall on Kendrick to increase payroll or find a way to fit the slugger onto the team’s books moving forward. Piecoro’s column is full of quotes from the polarizing Boras and is well worth a full read.

 

He will get a huge payday.
Baseball has turned the clock.

 

like the guys who stopped a mob beating up on some kid at a rally in germany
kid's name was hitler

 

this exactly

 

more delusion...

Jay Bruce seeking 5-year deal
by Steve Adams | MLB Trade Rumors — 33 minutes ago

Earlier tonight, ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick reported that teams have come away from initial talks with J.D. Martinez’s camp that he’s seeking a $200MM deal, and Crasnick now tweets that clubs are under the impression that free-agent right fielder Jay Bruce is seeking $80-90MM over a five-year term.

Certainly, it’s worth keeping in mind that virtually every agent will come out aiming high early in free agency. But an early run at a five-year deal likely indicates a confidence out of Bruce’s camp that he can secure at least a four-year pact down the line. It’s a steep ask for Bruce, who the Mets were unable to trade just one year ago in a crowded market for corner bats.

Bruce’s 2017 campaign has undoubtedly boosted his stock, though. The 30-year-old (31 on April 3) hit .254/.324/.508 with 36 home runs for the Mets and Indians this past season and turned in dramatically improved defensive contributions in right field. Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating felt that Bruce improved by anywhere from 10 to 16 runs over his dismal 2016 season, with each metric pegging him as an above-average defender this year. Statcast’s Outs Above Average metric pegged him at one out below average. At worst, it seems fair to count on him as a respectable right fielder in 2018, and it’s worth noting that he did log 91 innings at first base in 2017, as well.

The defensive turnaround isn’t necessarily without explanation. Bruce underwent arthroscopic knee surgery early in the 2014 season and rushed back to the Reds in less than three weeks’ time. He’d carried a strong defensive reputation to that point in his career — twice a +16 DRS mark, for instance — but turned in largely unimpressive numbers in the coming years. It’s possible that further distancing himself from that knee procedure helped to improve his mobility.

All that said, a $16-18MM annual salary on a five-year term (or even on a four-year pact) is ambitious for Bruce. It’s unlikely that his glovework will return to its previous heights, and he hasn’t posted even league-average offensive output against left-handed pitching since the 2013 campaign, by measure of wRC+. This past season, he slashed a meager .222/.285/.433 against lefties (albeit with a gaudy .268/.341/.542 slash while holding the platoon advantage).

Bruce’s camp will also have to deal with the reality that there will be no shortage of corner outfield options available both in free agency and on the trade market. While Bruce is probably the top free-agent alternative to Martinez now that Justin Upton has signed a new deal with the Angels, the free-agent market still offers useful veterans like Carlos Gomez and Jon Jay as well as bounceback candidates Carlos Gonzalez, Jose Bautista and Andre Ethier. Over on the trade market, Giancarlo Stanton, Marcell Ozuna, Christian Yelich, Randal Grichuk, Stephen Piscotty, Avisail Garcia and Gerardo Parra are among the possibly available names for teams eyeing corner-outfield bats.

When looking at recent comparables, Bruce seems more similar to Josh Reddick, who signed a four-year $52MM contract last winter, than he does to the Upton and Yoenis Cespedes tier of free agent sluggers. A three-year deal for Bruce seems definitively attainable and a four-year outlay is a clear possibility, but it’d be a surprise to see him reel in a five-year guarantee — especially at such a lofty annual value.