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

[BillJ]

I doubt it; if anything Dipoto is safe...

DiPoto is safe in 2019. Another season with missing the playoffs? I'm not so sure.

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.

The optics never look good. But, if I'm an owner in the current system, I would seriously look at what my odds are to make the playoffs/World Series. Arizona is a great example of a team that is breaking apart with multiple free agents this season and more next. Do you as an owner put a money band-aid on your roster that is just slowing the inevitable, or do you use what assets you have and start over?

Baseball will continue to be like this until they embrace a true revenue sharing model. 24 clubs that essentially serve as 4A rosters for the big six to raid whenever they need a piece.

 

[Tom Hendricks]

In LoLMets news, the Mets released Jenrry Mejia today. Having not pitched since 2015. You might have thought, wow he’s still with the Mets after receiving a permanent suspension

 

[Timby]

As of right now, the only players on the Rays' roster not making league-minimum in 2019:

Kiermaier (6/53)
Mike Zunino (arb)
Tommy Pham (arb)
Matt Duffy (arb)
Chaz Roe (arb)

The union should be screaming holy hell about this.

 

[Kirk Prime]

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

Sheffield is one of the top pitching prospects in baseball. Personally, I do think he's a bit overrated, but may thrive in a place where he will given a chance. His problem will be going deep in games. But he will be a MLB pitcher with a nice career.

Paxton is not a top tier pitcher. He never pitched more than 160 innings and that was last year. He's injured a lot. He's not Sale, Verlander, Cole or Kershaw. He has zero playoff experience.

He's not bad, but he's not the guy who will put the Yankees over the top, and I don't even think he's better than JA Happ. Who would the Mariners get for Paxton? Judge?

They didn't get hosed at all. It's a good risk for both teams.

 

[BillJ]

As of right now, the only players on the Rays' roster not making league-minimum in 2019:

Kiermaier (6/53)
Mike Zunino (arb)
Tommy Pham (arb)
Matt Duffy (arb)
Chaz Roe (arb)

The union should be screaming holy hell about this.

Did they already non-tender CJ Cron?

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Cubs pitching coach Jim Hickey resigns. Story

Most teams in this much disarray usually have much worse records.

2 straight years we replaced both top coaches.

 

[Timby]

Did they already non-tender CJ Cron?

Yep, he was DFA'd.

Cubs pitching coach Jim Hickey resigns. Story

Most teams in this much disarray usually have much worse records.

2 straight years we replaced both top coaches.

And both Chili Davis and Hickey were Maddon's hand-picked guys. There were rumors that Hickey has health issues, but Occam's Razor suggests that this is yet another sign that Maddon and the front office are not on the same page, at all.

Sheffield is one of the top pitching prospects in baseball. Personally, I do think he's a bit overrated, but may thrive in a place where he will given a chance.

Big left-handed fastball + iffy command pitchers are every GM's wet dream for some odd reason (probably because everyone wants to find the next Randy Johnson), but Sheffield projects more as a reliever than anything else. That's a pretty woeful return for a pitcher with a career ERA+ of 117.

 

[BillJ]

Yep, he was DFA'd.

What a joke.

 

[Kronos]

One could say that the Rays aren't going to the playoffs anyway, they did win 90 this year and came nowhere close, so why spend any money? just say "Rebuild" a lot

 

[Timby]

What a joke.

Between the Marlins selling Stanton to the Yankees for a pile of dumpster shit, and selling Yelich to Milwaukee for a case of beer, and now this from the Rays, we should be used to Florida teams sucking shit.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Well, this is Florida we're talking about here. Sucking shit is their unofficial state motto.

 

[BillJ]

One could say that the Rays aren't going to the playoffs anyway, they did win 90 this year and came nowhere close, so why spend any money? just say "Rebuild" a lot

And are a franchise attempting to get Tampa to pay for a new stadium. Why would Tampa pony up if they Rays are just going to openly pull the same shit as the Marlins?

 

[Yanks]

I knew they paid a bunch but...

"...since Major League Baseball instituted its first version of a luxury tax in 1997 through 2017, teams paid approximately $548,155,916 in taxes. The Yankees paid $329,519,651 of that amount, accounting for 60.1 percent of total luxury tax payments."

Wow... time for the Dodgers and Redsox to take over that responsibility.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

The only reason the Red Sox weren't keeping up pace at the beginning was until 2004 they had a culture of futility and the fans expected to lose.

Owners are never going to go into luxury tax unless it's profitable for them to do so. Which means there has to be a HUGE difference in tickets, merchandise, and TV numbers between winning a World Series and not. That only happens in cities with really enthusiastic, really spoiled fan bases. So I wouldn't expect any fourth city to join that any time soon. Not unless a team like the Cubs starts a dynasty.

 

[Jedi_Master]

I knew they paid a bunch but...

"...since Major League Baseball instituted its first version of a luxury tax in 1997 through 2017, teams paid approximately $548,155,916 in taxes. The Yankees paid $329,519,651 of that amount, accounting for 60.1 percent of total luxury tax payments."

Wow... time for the Dodgers and Redsox to take over that responsibility.

It's stories like these that make me want MLB to institute a Premier - League like tier system with promotion and relegation.

 

[Yanks]

It's stories like these that make me want MLB to institute a Premier - League like tier system with promotion and relegation.

Please explain.

 

[BillJ]

Teams quit going over the luxury tax threshold will be another major depressor of salaries. Not only will they not be spending the dollars on players, neither will the small market teams that take advantage of the additional revenue to be competitive.

 

[Jedi_Master]

Please explain.

Simple version - two tiers, with 15 teams each. Four teams with worst record in league A get dropped to League B. Four teams with best record in League B get bumped to League A. League A naturally has better endorsement, TV, and merchandise deals. Limits are in place for how many players can be raided from League B and advanced to League A.
Penalizes teams with great revenue streams that tank and rake in the cash, while giving "small market" teams something tangible to play for, and increase their overall revenue.

 

[Timby]

Teams quit going over the luxury tax threshold will be another major depressor of salaries. Not only will they not be spending the dollars on players, neither will the small market teams that take advantage of the additional revenue to be competitive.

This is what I was saying all of last offseason and y'all were basically calling me Chicken Little, saying that teams were just saving money for this year's free agent class. The revised luxury tax rules, while not onerous to teams, are enough for them to use it as an excuse to not spend, making it a de facto soft salary cap, which ownership had been looking to get since 1994.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Simple version - two tiers, with 15 teams each.

Then, every day there'd be one team in each tier with no one to play.