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

And the basement dwellers would still be singing the FUCKTARDS praises and jerking off at the prospects of a title run in 2026....

 

You happen to know when they can put guys on the DL? I'm guessing at the start of ST? I don't see the point in keeping Frias or Taylor but beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.

 

"While the Dodgers are willing to give up Jose De Leon in a trade that would net them Brian Dozier from the Twins, they’re not willing to include first base prospect Cody Bellinger or well-regarded right-handed pitching prospects Yadier Alvarez or Walker Buehler alongside De Leon."

Bellinger is pretty much a "duh", but holding on to Alvarez and Buehler I think is a wise decision by MGT. I kinda get the feeling that we may be running a platoon of Kiki/Calhoun to start 2017.

 

I thought it was at the conclusion of Spring Training, but I am nowhere near sure. I think Taylor has some value and we saw glimpses of that during his brief call ups. I also want to see Frias put into the pen, with his repertoire, he could be something very very special.

 

Alvarez and Buehler have both received ace ceilings in recent months by some scouting services. Even though there was not much to go off of for Buehler, his stuff was supposedly downright filthy. The Dodgers have to feel they can get a deal done without them and it is why they insist on not moving them. Our own scouting and development division is at the tops in the league, the FO has sunk tons of money into the department and I am guessing that at this point if they say, " we can't lose this guy", they see something very special.

 

Weird, Mark Saxson (who is working the Cardinals beat these days) said that the Twins were using the Cardinals as a ploy to get more out of the Dodgers. The Cardinals in fact have no interest in acquiring Dozier. I wonder who here has been saying that? Whomever he is, I am sure he is smart and very handsome.

I was going to write this last night, but I was exhausted and chose bed instead, but I was listening to the MLB radio, they did a whole segment on the Twins and had one of their local beat writers on. He said that there were no new developments, but from what he was hearing from folks around the league was that the Twins are simply expecting too much in return for Dozier. Everyone he talks to says that the Dodgers offer is more than sufficient and they should take it and run. They are still trying to extract one of Buehler, Alvarez or Bellinger in the deal and/or potentially more of the teams other top prospects and the Dodgers are not budging one bit. He added that the Twins are now starting to say that they are comfortable bring Dozier back to start the season with club. The reporter said that he thinks this is just a ploy(apparently one of many, read above) and the team has little intention of bringing him back. His reasoning was that Dozier is a notorious slow starter and that he doesn't usually really kick it into high gear for a couple of months and also tends to struggle leading up to the trade deadline. He feels that the FO is well aware of this and are somewhat reluctant to start the year with him in the event he gets off to another slow start and diminishes his value from what it currently is.

and finally.... the reason for all this posturing is likely found in another piece by Buster Olney from over the holiday.... What the Sox have done in their two deals has completely stalled the market. GM's are now asking for the moon in return for vets as they think they can get boatloads of prospects in return now. Some execs are saying that the asking prices have become absurd.

My take.... I really don't think a Dozier deal gets done at this point. I think both teams have locked in on what they will and won't give or take. I think the new Twins GM is afraid his first deal could be a dud in some fans eyes and he is going to force the Dodgers to get up and walk away from the table.

 

Force me to bitch slap Mr. FALVEY

:slap:

 

If they had no regard for defense maybe.

 

So thinkin about our 2b issue......I wonder what the feasibility of makin a trade for Cutch and then using Puig to get Profar from the Rangers. Among many reasons, it seems the rangers have no place to put him because Odor/Andrus/Beltre have those positions locked down. As well, Puig would be an upgrade to Choo in the OF.

http://www.sbnation.com/2016/12/22/14047768/jurickson-profar-rangers-trade-rumors

 

People need to realize that Calhoun is nowhere near big league ready. He still has a ton to work on defensively AND the team wants him to be better at using the whole field at the plate, as right now, he is way too pull happy and it's gonna hurt him against advanced pitching. If he makes it as anything except for a Sept call up, I'll be shocked.

 

It was mentioned in that article and some Ranger beat guys have said the same thing, the Rangers want a big return for Profar. Doubt Puig gets the deal done right now as they need and want pitching, plus they feel pretty strongly that Choo will return to form. He is not far removed from being a very good OF'er and the fact he is still owed $82 million over 4 years makes it a near zero chance of happening. Profar is the type of guy that this FO would buy low on, but doubtful they still pay the premium that the Rangers expect.

 

Played a full season last year with an OPS+ of 75. Doesn't get on base, hit for average, or power. I don't watch American League baseball or follow prospects so I'm probably just ignorant on this. But I look at Profar's numbers and think...yuck.

Educate me.


Edit: He only played 90 games last season. Misread.

 

DP

No homo

 

First 40 games of last season he was really great and the talk was that he had arrived, last 50 games he was terrible. He started really struggling when the Rangers began cutting down his playing time as players he was filling in for got healthy. They really did have an embarrassment of riches at one point last season and were moving him plus others around trying to get them all PT, but the damage was done. I remember a certain Rangers reporter during the season saying that according to his discussions with Profar, he just lost his groove and never recovered from it. He was the best prospect in the game at one point, though I never personally bought into it, and has since had two major shoulder surgeries. He is not exhibiting any implications that the power is really coming back as he hit 10 over about 500 ABs in hitter friendly environments.

 

^ that is why I think he could be had for Puig.....or maybe Puig and some other prospect. Then he and Kiki could battle it out for 2b with Calhoun working to get better in AAA

 

Another thing I forgot to mention from that interview. The reporter did say that the Twins have made the deadline for any deals for Dozier to be their Winter Caravan as he is a focal point for their current festivities. I just checked their site out and he is not listed anywhere on the tour, but my guess is that he will be tossed on once they get closer to January 16th. We are a little more than a month away from pitchers and catchers reporting, I'd expect some resolution within a couple of weeks.

Oh, and do not expect any new developments until likely next week. This is the time of year that a lot of FO's go on vacation and take time off. I've heard both the Dodgers and Twins FO have a lot of people out right now.