MLB Offseason 2018-19: SIGN KIMBREL AND KEUCHEL YOU FUCKS

[Herbert]

I simply don't see Cora, as a rookie manager, winning 108 games under the type of restraints that exist in Oakland or even 96.

As I said previously, I have no issue with Melvin winning (although Cash might be just as good a choice) but I think you and others are not giving Cora enough credit for the job he did.

Next season he will coach another collection of cast-offs and rentals, and Rollie Fingers willing, we will take 5 out of 6 from you again.

If the end result is another Red Sox WS title, I'll take it.

 

[Jedi_Master]

The one voter who didn't put deGrom in first place on his ballot did so because he didn't have enough wins. As though we needed more proof that the BBWAA is completely up its own ass.

Christ, I hate the obsession with pitcher wins.

As the voter explains his vote, he confirms the worthlessness of the "wins" stat in one paragraph, and then decides it's actually meaningful in the next. LOL.

 

[BillJ]

...but I think you and others are not giving Cora enough credit for the job he did.

I give him credit that he won with an absolutely loaded roster. That was the job he was brought in to do. Melvin? Damn, 96 wins in that toilet bowl of a stadium, stringing together a team that no one gave a chance? That gets my Manager of the Decade award, even if he doesn't win another game as A's manager.

There is part of me that wonders, if John Farrell had JD Martinez last year, would he still be the manager in Boston?

 

[Scout101]

No, Farrell was bad.

 

[BillJ]

No, Farrell was bad.

They won 92 games and the AL East in 2017 (without a real run producer in the lineup). Couldn't have been that bad. If 92 games is bad, then Cora was simply meeting expectations.

 

[BillJ]

Marlins get new uniforms...

https://mlb.nbcsports.com/2018/11/16/introducing-the-marlins-new-uniforms/

Same shitty product, new look!

 

[Scout101]

They won 92 games and the AL East in 2017 (without a real run producer in the lineup). Couldn't have been that bad. If 92 games is bad, then Cora was simply meeting expectations.

Maybe you didn't have to watch how he handled things on a daily basis, players, interviews, etc. There was going to be a bump just from getting rid of him (unless you found someone worse). 15 games over last year is more than a bump, though, and that's with some key guys missing stretches as well. Healthy Sale down the stretch has gotta be worth a few more wins all by himself (especially compared to who they trotted out to take a beating)

JDM definitely helped, but Farrell didn't seem to be helping many of the players in 2017 do very much. Not like they picked up Mookie in 2018, he's been there a while. Is he not a run producer? Xander looked a heck of a lot different with a new approach as well, he was trying to be Ichiro-lite in 2017. So on and so forth

 

[Skywalker]

I'm loving (most of) the Marlins' new uniforms. They actually look like baseball uniforms but with their own unique Miami flair. Dropping orange and going with the bright blue and pink was a great move. My only complaints are the black alternates (black as an alternate color is so '90s) and I'm not a big fan of uniforms where the home jerseys have the location on them instead of the team name. Otherwise those are a massive upgrade.

 

[Herbert]

I give him credit that he won with an absolutely loaded roster.

And he could have easily not won with a loaded roster. Teams with loaded rosters fail every year. It happens. Plus, huge payroll doesn't guarantee championships. Yeah, I get it that Cora will never win Manager of the Year while he's the Red Sox manager. I understand that but to dismiss the impact he had on this team is selling him short.

 

[Herbert]

They won 92 games and the AL East in 2017 (without a real run producer in the lineup). Couldn't have been that bad. If 92 games is bad, then Cora was simply meeting expectations.

108 wins and walking through the best playoff teams en route to a WS championship is simply meeting expectations? Okay

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Even with the 108 wins the Sox were being considered underdogs against Houston.

It's the 11 wins that really matter.

Cora had a loaded roster but he helped them bring out their best games too. He makes mechanical adjustments after Price's terrible first playoff outing and he's gold the rest of the way.

 

[Timby]

The Baseball Hall of Fame has released its ballot for 2019 and the new guys on it are:

Roy Halladay
Todd Helton
Andy Pettitte
Mariano Rivera
Rick Ankiel
Jason Bay
Lance Berkman
Freddy Garcia
Jon Garland
Travis Hafner
Ted Lilly
Derek Lowe
Darren Oliver
Roy Oswalt
Juan Pierre
Placido Polanco
Miguel Tejada
Vernon Wells
Kevin Youkilis
Michael Young

I can't wait to see what knucklehead puts Juan Pierre on their ballot.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

^ A whole list of "Meh, don't care."

Yahoo reports that the Mariners have traded James Paxton to the Yankees.

Edit: Yankees traded prospects LHP Justus Sheffield, OF Dom Thompson-Williams, and RHP Erik Swanson for Paxton.

 

[Timby]

That's ... really not a great return for Seattle. Cashman robbed Dipoto blind.

Edit: Okay, that explains it; Dipoto told reporters the Mariners are "stepping back" in 2019, with an eye towards 2020 / 21. In other words, yet another team tanks.

 

[BillJ]

Edit: Okay, that explains it; Dipoto told reporters the Mariners are "stepping back" in 2019, with an eye towards 2020 / 21. In other words, yet another team tanks.

Didn't we already know this a few days ago? When they said they were "reimagining" their roster.

 

[Timby]

Didn't we already know this a few days ago? When they said they were "reimagining" their roster.

It just seems like a strange thing to do. They had the fourth-best record in the majors at the break; why burn that down?

 

[BillJ]

It just seems like a strange thing to do. They had the fourth-best record in the majors at the break; why burn that down?

DiPoto and company trying to hang onto their jobs beyond this season because they are unlikely to catch the Astros or A's? Diminish the expectations of ownership.

 

[Yanks]

"Big Maple' to the Big Apple.

https://www.mlb.com/news/james-paxton-traded-to-yankees/c-300933092

Sorry to see Sheffield go, but it was needed I think.

 

[Timby]

DiPoto and company trying to hang onto their jobs beyond this season because they are unlikely to catch the Astros or A's? Diminish the expectations of ownership.

I doubt it; if anything Dipoto is safe and Mather would be the one to go, given that he was outed as a sex pest last year. But the optics don't look good:

Cleveland won 91 games and won the division by a mile. Selling.
D-Backs led the NL West for most of the summer (before falling apart in September). Selling.
Mariners won 89 games. Sold their ace.

I have no problem with tanking on a certain basic level (Lord knows the Cubs did it), but now even the good teams are doing it. This ain't right.

Put another way:

Mariners: "Let's not be competitive for a few years. Not spending money with a guaranteed revenue stream in place rocks so fucking hard."

Other teams: "Fucking A, that does rock. We're all over it."

More teams: "Just think, by not spending, we can be the Astros in five years."

Free agents: "You fucking rat bastards."

 

[Timby]

Adrian Beltre is retiring. Goodnight, sweet prince, and may the Hall of Fame sweep you in on the first ballot in five years.

If Bartolo doesn't sign somewhere (and assuming Ankiel doesn't make it back), that's it for players who debuted in the '90s.