MLB Offseason Thread

[Cartman]

;D

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Giants signed Trevor Cahill to a minor league deal. These deals strike me as great low risk/high reward ones. He's mostly been a below average starter but could serve as depth at AAA as a SP or be a low leverage option at the MLB level as a reliever.

Seattle signed Wei-Yin Chen to a minor league deal in hopes he finds his form like when he was with Baltimore. Same deal as Cahill where can provide depth at AAA as a SP or being a #5 starter at the big league level if needed.

Cubs signed Jason Kipnis to a minor league deal. A little surprised he didn't get a big league contract as he can still give a team 15-20 HR and around 5 SB in a given season while being league average or slightly above in fielding percentage at 2B.

 

[Master Thrasher]

https://twitter.com/MLB_PR/status/1227699302757289985

This is so dumb.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

I thought the 3 batter rule was instituted last year (I think it's pretty stupid to take away part of the strategy).

I'm fine with the additional player on the active roster as it can help a AAAA player make a roster, especially if they have a heavier platoon split, though I'm not too fond of the idea of limiting pitcher roster spots.

 

[alkeiper]

I like the idea of a batter minimum, though I'm wary of instituting it as a hard rule.

I like limiting September rosters. But cynically I can't help noticing on balance this saves owners about $600,000 in salaries.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Milestone Watch For 2020
SP Felix Hernandez: Needs 11 Wins for 180
SP Jon Lester: Needs 10 Wins for 200
1B Chris Davis: Needs 5 HR for 300
2B Robinson Cano: Needs 130 Hits for 2,700 and 6 HR for 330
OF Ryan Braun: Needs 77 Hits for 2,000 and 6 HR for 350

 

[alkeiper]

The Astros just gave a press conference with owner Jim Crane along with Dusty, Altuve and Bregman. Crane claimed there's no way to prove sign stealing actually helped their team. He apologized not because sign stealing helped them but because they "broke the rules." It wasn't exactly a shining moment of positive PR.

 

[alfdogg]

https://twitter.com/BWWings/status/1228391037678297094

Astros fans are now calling for a boycott of Buffalo Wild Wings as a result of this heinous tweet.

 

[alkeiper]

Tony Fernandez has apparently passed away :'(

 

[Master Thrasher]

https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/1229092103982133249

Bring back Bud Selig. This is absurd.

 

[909]

He’s worse than Gary Bettman.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Dodgers acquired LHP Tyler Gilbert from the Phillies in exchange for OF Kyle Garlick. Gilbert has put up a 3.18 ERA with 70 K in 82.3 IP the last 2 years for the Phillies AAA affiliate and has a good chance to make the majors this season.

Garlick's older (will be 28 this year) but hit .314 last year in 81 games and has 39 HR over 595 AB between 2018-2019 at the AAA level.

 

[Big Beard Booty Daddy]

The penatly for hitting an Astros player will be more harsh than the Astros cheating to win a title. Fuck outta here.

 

[Precious Roy]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8013487/Married-Yankee-Brett-Gardner-files-restraining-order-against-obsessed-fan.html

 

[909]

https://twitter.com/JonHeyman/status/1229535389683265536

Tainted tattoo ink imo

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Sounds like the Red Sox are close to signing C Jonathan Lucroy to a minor league deal. He hit .242/.310/.371 with the Angels last year and .241 with Oakland in 2018. At best, he'll serve as depth at AAA and offer a bat that can hit RHP some with a BA in the .240-.265 range, maybe a little higher if things break perfectly.

Milwaukee is also close to terms with utility player Brock Holt. Can play all over the infield and the outfield, great depth move for the Brewers.

 

[Baby Shoes]

Brock Holt is a smaller scale player that should've been a Red Sox player for life. Terrible, awful offseaon and least I've looked forward to baseball in some time.

 

[Brocklock]

Lucroy seemed washed up when he was on the Cubs last year, but he's still worth a risk for depth.

 

[Master Thrasher]

https://twitter.com/KingJames/status/1229894652234321920
https://twitter.com/KingJames/status/1229895410426118144

The King has spoken.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Cubs manager David Ross said Wednesday that he is committed to Kris Bryant as the team's leadoff man for 2020. Should be an interesting move in how it pays off. Should lead to an uptick in AB and Runs for Bryant but could it hurt the Cubs' overall run production taking one of their best hitters out of a deeper spot where he could drive in more runs?

 

[alkeiper]

Last year the Cubs used Schwarber/Bryant for a chunk of the year. Nicholas Castellanos became their #2 hitter when he arrived, but the Cubs never settled on a true leadoff hitter. I assume it'll be Rizzo/Baez batting 3/4 and that's solid. But who bats second? And if it's Schwarber, they're just flipping a couple guys in the lineup.

Ultimately though, I don't think it makes much of a difference.

 

[Brocklock]

They didn't use Bryant at leadoff at all last year. I'm looking at a list from a NBC sports Chicago article and they primarily used Schwarber, Hayward, Almora, Zobrist, and gag Daniel Descalso. Unless I read wrong and you meant Bryant as the 2 hitter?

The Cubs haven't had a true leadoff hitter since Dexter Fowler left after the 2016 season and it's been a big problem. Bryant will be better than most of the guys they had last year. Hayward and Almora were particularly atrocious. Weirdly enough, Rizzo has been their best leadoff guy when they used him and has a career .462 batting average at leadoff since 2017. They should use him if Bryant bombs.

 

[alkeiper]

Yes. I meant Schwarber batted first and Bryant batted second.

Looking over the table again, the only thing certain is the Cubs will probably blow up the lineup again in May.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CHC/2019-batting-orders.shtml

 

[Krankor]

I'm expecting the Cubs to use Nico Hoerner at #9 as a leadoff guy essentially throughout the remainder of the game. Cubs just want to have a higher chance of 1st inning runs. Makes sense having Bryant in that role.

 

[Master Thrasher]

https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1230585004230631425

 

[909]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmpvcwLy3sA

The Astros didn't swing and miss on all 51 breaking balls that Kershaw threw in Game 5.

"Wasn't a factor in our winning the title*"

 

[Master Thrasher]

https://twitter.com/barstoolsports/status/1231612242925379585