MLB NEWS/RUMORS Thread

A tad more team control for Archer..again, a tad more could be asked for in return in comparison to Quintana. We know that the market will have it's say as well. As far as the team goes, Tampa was in the running for a wild card..their actions this off-season, selling Longoria off, is the obvious tell here. Tampa knows, just as well as you do, that they're not in Boston's/NYY's class..can make the argument that they're closer to Baltimore or Toronto and I will go to my grave preferring Buck Showalter over whatever Tampa has going. Tampa is shitty..their venue is shitty, their payroll obviously meager, all the reason in the world to lose focus once in a while there. They pretty much have one thing going for them..a solid developmental system. Outside of that, it's underwhelming baseball all the way around. They are not a threat. Them being " scary " if Archer turned it on means what? Wild card berth and out, at the most. If you're Chris Archer right now, you know your team isn't winning a WS this year, no matter what you do, and that's just reality. A lot of players deal with that, some better than others, but it's always there. We already know some guys could just use a fresh start to reignite the fire.

All that said, not even sure that Archer wasn't 110% locked in..just saying, I can imagine and understand if he wasn't or if a new beginning were to get him back to where he once was. There's also the matter of him being locked into a team friendly deal for a while, potentially doing a number on his hunger as well. But again, the tools are there. That aside, in regards to whatever piece you read that said LAD should deal Buehler, we know it's not happening. That's all I have on the Buehler stuff. It's not happening.

 

Camillo has a couple of updates from his source within the club and they are not terribly surprising
- Matt Kemp is said to be in better shape than he was a year ago. I am trying to see whether he meant last season or actually a year ago at this time. For those who are unaware, Kemp came into last season in great shape, but fell into a bucket of lard as the season progressed. His performance along the season really went hand in hand with the shape he was in. Great shape-great start, then got fatter-got ummmm...... badder. I've asked for some clarification on the subject. He also says the team still intends to move him if the opportunity presents itself (not shocking).

- The Dodgers are not as interested in Arrieta as they were with Darvish. Arrieta's declining velocity appears to be a red flag as are his splits, as it should be. Stupid fucking Boras turning down 6 years for him. Says Nats and Brewers are front runners for him.

 

Nats should absolutely dump Gio and put Arrieta in Gio's old spot
Arrieta also has a QO attached to him..not sure what draft comp the team would lose for signing him, but it'd have to be significant

 

He’s a cost controlled 4+ WAR pitcher with a K/9 over 10. How is that “league average”?

 

Yeah, that K/9 is anything but average
Tools, arm talent, stuff, all in working order
The FIP is respectable enough as well
I would love to see what Honey could do with Archer

 

Actually, they ablated it. Heart was beating like a fucking hummingbird.
Maybe my childhood wish coming back to haunt...teacher asked what creature would we like to be if we could change to whatever we wanted?
I answered " a bird"...
So she says " so you could fly anywhere you wished"?
So I said, " nah...I've just always thought it would be great to shit white".
Don't you agree?

 

What's his RA9 WAR?

I don't disagree with you but it seems like his basic run prevention has been meh

 

Would spin Verdugo outta here so fast for Archer
But with questions about Verdugo's maturity, I could understand if Tampa didn't value him a shit ton
With little flexibility, they should be very careful about the sort of individuals they bring in

 

I guess it depends on who you choose to pull your info from. I usually prefer Baseball Reference a lot more than Fangraphs or Prospectus and they are usually in the same neighborhood as one another(I prefer FG for defensive value), but I see that Fangraphs and Prospectus vary wildly from BBREF on this issue. So that is where I came up with my league average concerns.

 

I would think that an OF of Kiermaier and Verdugo would be pretty enticing from a defensive value standpoint alone for them. I really hope his attitude is something he wants to work on. There was a report saying that he realized it was a problem and he intended to address it, but saying is one thing and doing is another. Right now if I am the Rays, I am looking for high ceiling guys that are a couple years away from reaching the bigs so that they are potentially in year 2-3 when a new stadium may be ready.

 

Speaking of which, last week the Rays and city of Tampa announced a joint agreement to pursue a new stadium in Ybor City. From what I can tell, many folks familiar with the area are very excited about this as it is said to be an area that is a big draw right now. Still plenty of hurdles, but it would be nice if the Tampa and Oakland situations could finally be put to bed.

 

If they were close to being true threats in the AL, perhaps they would favor the MLB ready Verdugo a little more than the other LAD OF specs
As it is, yeah, targeting Kendall or maybe Peters..possibly Diaz, and shooting for 2-3 years down the road seems reasonable
Of course, that'd just be the starting point
They'd likely want one of Mitch White or Santana as well with Buehler off the table
Personally, I wouldn't be against Mitch White + Jeren Kendall + Trayce Thompson + Yasmani + Ryu for Archer and Wilson Ramos
Something that allows LAD to break even payroll wise, and get a little better fit as far as Ramos goes since he's closer to backup caliber these days and Yasmani is a clear-cut starter in a situation where he knows he's done with LAD after this season

 

Not a very active FA market this off-season, but old friend Esteban Loaiza was definitely making some moves

 

Wonder which cartel he belongs to

 

A couple notes about the NL West
- The Giants addition of Derek Holland is nothing earth shattering, but it has the chance to be one of those deals that could be a great addition for that club. Their SP depth is an atrocity and if he is Derek Holland 2015-2016ish rather than 2017, he could be the perfect #5 for that club if the lineup stays healthy. He'll give up some runs, but could eat needed innings for them while keeping them in the game.

- The Padres are said to still be trying to lure Eric Hosmer to SD with potentially a deal in excess of 7 years, which just seems like all kinds of terrible for them.

- Speaking of the Padres, I would be interested to see if they are one of those clubs that try to maybe take a jump on a slow FA market. They have a hell of a farm, but I wonder if they were to land a Hosmer if they could then look at a Moustakas at 3B or land a decent SP or two sitting out there.

- D'Backs are said to be closer to bringing back JD Martinez than some assumed not all that long ago. Him back in AZ would genuinely fucking suck, especially after what the Giants have done, the Rockies will be and the Padres could be.

For those that aren't paying too close of attention, here are the notable FA's STILL AVAILABLE a day before Spring Training begins

C
Jonathan Lucroy

1B
Lucas Duda
Eric Hosmer
Adam Lind(thought he signed?)
Logan Morrison
Mike Napoli
Mark Reynolds

2B
Neil Walker

3B
Mike Moustakas
Eduardo Nunez(Utl)

LF
Melky Cabrera
Jarrod Dyson
Andre Ethier

RF
Jose Bautista
Carlos Gonzalez
JD Martinez
Seth Smith

SP
Jake Arrieta
Alex Cobb
Matt Garza
Jeremy Hellickson
John Lackey
Francisco Liriano
Lance Lynn
Wade Miley
Ricky Nolasco
Edinson Volquez

Relievers
Greg Holland
Trevor Rosenthal
Huston Street
Oliver Perez
Tony Watson

 

Holy crap.....Archer is the same age as Quintana, well Archer is actually older by a few months.

 

Estaban will be cleared. His defense will be just like this one

 

I am assuming this must be his gang cartel after baseball.

 

Dang, just checked BBREF and he’s at 1.2 WAR so I see where you’re coming from. That seems strongly conservative to me IMO.