MLB 2023-24 Off season thread

[Cobra Mgr]

Greg Counsell is leaving the Brewers for the Cubs.

[low]

I guess Craig wanted to go from losing in the first round of the playoffs to just missing the playoffs.

Good riddance.

[Le Grande Orange]

130 Players Become XX(B) Free Agents.

[Amazin69]

Originally Posted by low

I guess Craig wanted to go from losing in the first round of the playoffs to just missing the playoffs.

Good riddance.

Managing the Scrubs is sad, yes…but his alternative was the Mets.

I guess Craig decided that he simply couldn't Bear Stearns.

(Ouch! That's the worst pun I've done in years.)

[Amazin69]

Aaron Nola re-ups for more steak sandwiches (no cheese, please) at 7 years/$25 mn per.

[Bluenoser]

Lots of $$$ being spent, even on unproven talent - https://www.mlb.com/news/jackson-cho...wers-extension

[low]

Originally Posted by Bluenoser

Lots of $$$ being spent, even on unproven talent - https://www.mlb.com/news/jackson-cho...wers-extension

Which is ironic considering Attanasio is a cheap ass. I can't wait for Chourio to get to the majors, though.

[Cobra Mgr]

Anybody else disappointed that Shohei Ohtani has kept such close wraps on his moves during his FA? Anybody dying for information?

No?

Only baseball reporters who wouldn't mail Ohtani a get well card if his career ended in the next 5 minutes? The baseball "insiders" sound like they are sore they aren't getting extra air time reporting useless rumours.

GET OVER YOURSELVES, Buster! The man's 9 figure business is none of yours!

[pilight]

I never thought my team would be in the Ohtani race, despite being a contender

[monkeyman576]

Not sure if the Yankees are helping themselves in getting soto. They need more depth, not less. Still IÂ’m sure theyÂ’ll take him and hope he doesnÂ’t get injured.

[rudel.dietrich]

How does a generational talent get traded twice by the times he is 25?

So odd

[thehef]

Originally Posted by rudel.dietrich

How does a generational talent get traded twice by the times he is 25?

So odd

Scott Boras is his agent, which means that everything comes down to money. Not that everything coming down to money is a concept unique to Boras and his clients, but it's nearly always the case - and magnified - when he is the agent (and it's not just a Boras quality; players that choose Boras as their agent are signaling that money will come first, by a longshot).

Soto/Boras turned down 15 yrs/$440m, so Washington traded him. Then, with Soto due to make $33m this year and then be ready to enter free agency, combined with the Padres' numerous high-profile moves over the last two years being very pricey but not resulting in wins, San Diego reasonably thought that it made sense to get something for him before he signs elsewhere...

Not a criticism of Soto, but so far he has chosen money over stability. Within a year, though, it's a good bet that he will have boatloads of both.

[monkeyman576]

With Baltimore and Tampa Bay running their teams legitimately better from the ground up, it's hard to believe that this trade will be a deciding factor in the Yankees making the playoffs much less winning the World Series.

While I am no Boras fan, I don't think he could have done much to prevent the Washington or San Diego trade, any other agent would have done the same thing, and as far as I know agents have little to do with trades(as opposed to free agency)

[thehef]

Originally Posted by monkeyman576

With Baltimore and Tampa Bay running their teams legitimately better from the ground up, it's hard to believe that this trade will be a deciding factor in the Yankees making the playoffs much less winning the World Series.

Perhaps not, but Judge and Soto in the same lineup has the potential to be somethin'...

Originally Posted by monkeyman576

While I am no Boras fan, I don't think he could have done much to prevent the Washington or San Diego trade, any other agent would have done the same thing, and as far as I know agents have little to do with trades(as opposed to free agency)

No, but I don't think the goal of Boras was to prevent those trades. Far from it, actually. The all-about-money agenda/philosophy of Boras - and pretty much any player signing on with him, in this case Soto - is what precipitated those trades.

[MathBandit]

The Yankees trade for Soto does probably make them better (though it absolutely cripples their pitching depth; they've lost 10 starters in the last 48 hours). The trade for Verdugo though is weird with the added Soto context; while Verdugo fits exactly what they need in a vacuum (lefty corner OF with high contact and low K/whiff), it also means Plan A is now Judge being the everyday CF, which seems like a disaster both because he's an old injury-prone superstar they've invested almost $400M in, and also because he goes from being incredible defensively in RF to a liability in CF.

[low]

Soto is overrated. Or maybe I say that because I just don't like him.

[Amazin69]

As nobody has actually bothered to post the trades, here they are:

San Diego Padres traded LF Juan Soto and CF Trent Grisham to New York Yankees for RHP Michael King, C Kyle Higashioka, RHP Randy Vásquez, RHP Jhony Brito and RHP Drew Thorpe.

Boston Red Sox traded LF Alex Verdugo to New York Yankees for RHP Greg Weissert, RHP Richard Fitts and RHP Nicholas Judice.

So the Yankees traded a back-up catcher, one good pitcher, and various spare parts for a new outfield? Not bad. I should guess that Gold Glove Grisham sees most of the CF time, with Soto/Verdugo/Judge covering the other two slots and the DH.

May not prove cost-effective, but looks good on paper, IMO.

[monkeyman576]

Soto is a rental, no way he resigns with the Yankees. They may not have given up a lot but I don't see that it changes the needle at all. They need pitching and depth, not hitting.

[thehef]

Originally Posted by monkeyman576

Soto is a rental, no way he resigns with the Yankees.

Why do you say that? Because they Yankees won't meet his price, or because he won't want to be in NY? My thinking is that he's a Boras guy so if the Yankees end up as the highest bidder and there are no extenuating circumstances (like Soto really wanting to be in a particular city and that team nearly matching the highest offer), that's where he'd end up...

[monkeyman576]

Originally Posted by thehef

Why do you say that? Because they Yankees won't meet his price, or because he won't want to be in NY? My thinking is that he's a Boras guy so if the Yankees end up as the highest bidder and there are no extenuating circumstances (like Soto really wanting to be in a particular city and that team nearly matching the highest offer), that's where he'd end up...

I think the Yanks end up in 3rd place again and Soto will want more than the Yankees are willing to pay.