MLB NEWS/RUMORS Thread

howard cole is meh
but he makes some good points here

Dodgers Rumors: The Calm Before The Storm?
by Howard Cole | Forbes — 12 hours ago

If you've clicked to this page you're clearly a devotee of the Hot Stove. You need every last bit of info on your favorite team -- likely and smartly the Los Angeles Dodgers -- you need it now, and you need it to be worth the digital paper it's not printed on. Which is a tough sell, because so much of what you read about players on the move before they actually do move is conjecture at best and pure crap pretty much the rest of the time. It's still fun, but it's crap. And you know it's crap.

November is the time of "the Dodgers (substitute any team here) are interested in so-and-so." As in the Orioles are interested in Lance Lynn, the Giants are interested in Jackie Bradley and the Giants are interested in Billy Hamilton. The latter two excite because they contradict, because they're Frisco-related and because a deal for Hamilton is just so Giants (and Giants outfield in particular) that you pray to the baseball gods for consummation. For the Reds' center fielder', as opposed to, say, Miami's right fielder.

Giancarlo Stanton rumors "swirl" nonstop as we approach Thanksgiving. Here are yesterday's. And today's. Perhaps some team's fan base will have something to be grateful for by Thursday. It's entirely possible the Dodgers pull a vegetarian rabbit out of a hat to substitute for the L-Tryptophan-conscious at Chavez Ravine by the holiday, or for the one next month. It could happen.

Or not. Andrew Friedman avoids big contracts -- and Stanton's is a monster --preferring the flexibility maintained by signing players to shorter, cheaper deals, and trading for guys with a year or two remaining on theirs (see Logan Forsythe), and it's tough to find fault in that.

The Dodgers are well set for 2018. They may make a change at second base. Or an addition. They may acquire a starting pitcher. They may trade a starting pitcher. They'll certainly create some turnover in the bullpen, which is a regular winter occurrence going back years and about which you should rest assured.

There are so many good relievers available it's almost comical. As is usually the case, Jeff Passan has a great list. The Dodgers' 2018 pen will be absolutely loaded. Just don't expect a complete unit before March.

Los Angeles may go blockbuster for an offensive player. That person may be an outfielder. Or a second baseman. Little has changed since I took my first look at the 2018 club 16 days ago, and I know that's agonizing. The wait for action from a front office is agonizing. It just is. But I've never had more faith in a Dodgers' management team than I do right now.

This isn't the calm before the storm because there is no storm. And there doesn't need to be. My advice to you is simply this: Patience, Grasshopper. Well, that and don't eat any grasshoppers on Turkey Day. Check the stuffing. Sometimes they find a way in.

 

i also read another article (that i can't find) that made another good point
we all already know if stanton truly wants to come here he can veto any other trade
but the next part was interesting...
marlins don't have any urgency to trade him now, and we too don't have any urgency to acquire him
that is why their asking price is so astronomically high
but this will probably change over the next couple months (or longer) until the marlins have to start forking over $$$
the longer it takes the more their leverage declines
and if stanton holds firm to his desire to come to la, then the marlins will almost be forced into making a deal with us
idk, just throwing it out there

 

Even Year Bullshit: The Revival

 

was literally just going to say the same thing

 

just found it
pirated the video so i'm not sure how long it will be available

Giancarlo Stanton to the Dodgers? If he wants L.A., he'll get L.A.
by Buster Olney | ESPN Senior Writer — 90 minutes ago



The Miami Marlins have spent a lot of time talking about Giancarlo Stanton's future with other teams, but the new ownership has apparently ignored Stanton. New CEO Derek Jeter acknowledged at the GM meetings last week that he has not had any conversations with Stanton about the possibility of trading the National League MVP.

This is a mistake that might never be entirely rectified now that the Marlins already have started trade talks. To date, Stanton has been entirely gracious about the lack of communication, and by withholding complaints about being shut out of the process, he has effectively let Jeter & Co. off the hook publicly.

Maybe that’s because he understands he is in a commanding position, and whether it’s now or later, the Marlins will have to come to him -- and in the end, he could and should play this to get exactly what he wants. Through his no-trade clause and his star power, Stanton has the leverage to ensure that his next home is where he wants to finish his career.

“This is why we negotiate deals like this,” said an agent who does not represent Stanton, referring to Stanton’s no-trade clause. “He was good enough for the Marlins to give him that contract, and to give him the no-trade protection. He should use it.”

Dan Szymborski detailed how Stanton might make sense for the San Francisco Giants, Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Cardinals and other teams, and how deals could be structured. Stanton is owed $295 million over the next 10 years, with an opt-out clause in his contract after the 2020 season.

But no deal can happen without Stanton’s approval, because of the no-trade clause in his contract.

And Stanton is in no way obligated to the Marlins or their new ownership to solve their debt crisis for them. If they bring a proposal to him in the next week or two and Stanton has any reservations about playing for a team he’s not prepared to wholly embrace, he should say no.

Whenever the Marlins get around to sitting down with him, he can tell his new bosses: Look, I signed this deal fully prepared to spend the rest of my career with Miami. I signed up to be the best and most expensive player on a team with a modest payroll, and that’s what I could be moving forward. Miami has become my home, and I have new digs here. I’ve played on bad teams here before, and I could stay. If you want to move my contract, well, you’re going to have to work out a trade with [whatever team I prefer]. If not, I won’t agree to a deal.

Stanton should say no over and over and over again until he gets exactly what he wants.

Some friends of Stanton believe if he could have his choice to play for any franchise, it would be the Los Angeles Dodgers. He attended Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California, about 15 miles from Dodger Stadium.

If that’s what he wants now, he can and should wait, simply by rejecting proposals to other teams. Because if he really wants to play for the Dodgers or some other team, eventually the Marlins would be forced to deal with the team Stanton has targeted.

It might not happen this month, it might not happen next month, it might not happen until sometime next year. Because right now, in the dead of winter, the Marlins aren’t particularly stressed by the enormous debt their franchise has compiled, and they have time to look for the trade that best fits their needs. They have the freedom to ask the Giants for pitcher Tyler Beede and first baseman Chris Shaw and insist they take on all or most of Stanton’s salary. The Marlins can propose the Cardinals surrender their top pitching prospects. They can ask the Red Sox for Rafael Devers, because early in the winter, you can ask for anything.

But none of those talks matter unless Stanton gives the OK. If he turns them down, eventually the Marlins will be boxed in and forced to make their best deal with the team or teams he accepts, if they want to dump most or all of the money in his contract to reduce their debt.

If Stanton needs a blueprint for how this could play out, he can draw upon the events of the 2003-2004 offseason, when Alex Rodriguez steered the Texas Rangers’ efforts to move him under circumstances similar to Stanton’s. Rodriguez was the most coveted slugger in the game, his league’s MVP, but even with Rodriguez playing at a high level, his 10-year, $252 million contract was too onerous for the Rangers -- just as Stanton’s backloaded contract is about to become untenable for the Marlins.

When the Rangers first put Rodriguez on the market, there was a lot of media speculation about where he might land, where he might fit, which team could take on his contract. But in the end, Rodriguez led a push to make a deal happen with the Red Sox. That effort fell apart, and it appeared Rodriguez might start spring training with the Rangers.

The Yankees? They had no interest in Rodriguez at the outset of the winter.

But when Aaron Boone blew out his knee playing a pickup basketball game, the Yankees had a sudden need for a third baseman and Rodriguez made the deal happen. The Rangers got Alfonso Soriano in the trade, and assumed almost 40 percent of the money owed to Rodriguez. Eventually, Rodriguez landed with the Yankees in an imperfect deal for Texas, because that’s the trade the Rangers had to make; with Rodriguez dictating his landing spot with his no-trade clause, the Rangers had no options.

At the outset of this winter, the Dodgers’ interest in Stanton seems lukewarm. They have the prospects to make a deal, and sure, Stanton and his star power would be perfect for L.A., dropped in among Corey Seager, Cody Bellinger and Justin Turner in the lineup. But the Dodgers intend to cut payroll this winter, and besides, they’re not really wild about big, long-term deals.

But if Stanton just says no to the Marlins -- if he wants to go to the Dodgers or some other team -- eventually, Miami will have no choice but to make a deal on the other club’s terms. Maybe the Dodgers help to make the money work by adding Scott Kazmir or others in the trade. Maybe the Marlins eat a healthy chunk of the Stanton contract to ensure a deal.

Stanton is one of the more powerful hitters in baseball, but right now, that on-field strength is superseded by the incredible negotiating leverage he possesses.

This is why Jeter should have met with Stanton in his first day on the job, and might want to give him a front-row seat in whatever conversations are taking place.

 

wouldn't be surprised if it was the marlins dropping these rumors about the giants being close
trying to get our front office to freak out and make a bad deal...
not gonna happen