Non-Pirates Baseball Thread

[Dickie Dunn]

LaRoche got a 2yr/25mil deal with the White Sox

And I thought the Marlins were idiotic with their 2yr/20mil offer.

Memo to White Sox: Collecting former Pirates from when they sucked is not a recipe for success.

[SolidSnake]

Now LaSuck can DH

[Dickie Dunn]

Red Sox are rumored to have reached contract agreements with Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval.

[Rocco]

I see Boston's youth movement lasted exactly one season.

[MWB]

So what happens to Bogarts? I assume they will keep him and move Hanley to the outfield. Interesting shift for them. Got older and possibly worse on defense.

[Troy Loney]

So what happens to Bogarts? I assume they will keep him and move Hanley to the outfield. Interesting shift for them. Got older and possibly worse on defense.

Guess it depends on how long Ortiz plays. Sandoval has to be bound to the DH role sooner than later.

I assume Middlebrooks is done in Boston, wonder where he'll end up.

[MWB]

Sandoval should be able to play 3rd at a high level for three more years, I would think. Maybe 2. Could be a revolving door at DH by 2017 though. Think they are decent moves in that each deal is only 5 years.

[Troy Loney]

looks like the red sox figured out how to fix that log jam. trade a bunch of people to philly for cole hamels. Weird that they wouldn't just sign one of the stud pitchers in free agency. They must have installed strict contract limits after the carl crawford debacle.

[Rocco]

Pat Lackey
‏@whygavs
Last week: Bud Selig's greatest legacy is competitive balance!

Today: Red Sox spend a quarter billion on decent players

[MWB]

And in the past year and a half, Seattle has signed three players to $100+ million contracts. For one reason or another, "small market" teams are locking up young talent.

[Rocco]

And in the past year and a half, Seattle has signed three players to $100+ million contracts. For one reason or another, "small market" teams are locking up young talent.

I'm sure the Rockies are thrilled that Tulowitzki is under contract for so long, as are the Reds with Votto.

Small market teams signing their young players isn't a brand new phenomenon. The Pirates were able to sign Kendall to an extension. They were stuck when his play dropped off and they couldn't afford replacements, but they had Kendall. The Twins were able to sign Joe Mauer. They haven't been over .500 since his $23M/year contract extension kicked in for the 2011 season(which is due to in no small part him not being worth the money he's made over the last 4 seasons), but they have him until 2018.

Meanwhile if Hanley flames out for Boston they'll just throw a pile of money at someone else.

[MalkinIsMyHomeboy]

I'm very happy about signing Sandoval, moderately happy about signing Hanley. I have this baseless fear that if we spend too much money on good but unproven players were gonna end up like the 2012 Red Sox (Crawford, Gonzalez, etc.). I want us to stay strong with Bogaerts though. He was tremendous in 2013, just had a crap last year last season

My main fear is that were just going to be the Yankees and throw money around without a plan. The beauty of our 3 WS wins in the last 10 years is that we weren't super star studded. We had a lot of unknowns or home grown players.

[Troy Loney]

i think the proximity to free agency needs to be considered in those cases. I think McCutchen was signed after his second full MLB season. Guys like Mauer and Votto were probably within either one or two years of free agency. So the years on those deals are mostly FA years and not arbitration ones.

That's why guys like Walker and Alvarez are unsignable for the Pirates at this point. Too close to FA and their FA value isnt worth it to the pirates. Too much opportunity cost in paying those guys their free market value.

What is increasingly bewildering to me is how other teams seems so ignorant to the fact that none of these FA guys are worth the free market value...unless your the yankees or dodgers or red sox who can just throw money at someone else. Do the White Sox seriously not have someone else that can hit 20 HR with 550 at bats that wont cost $12M? Don't they have like a Travis Snider that would cost 90% less and give them at least 80% of the Laroche production? I don't think it matters how much loose money you have around, that Laroche contract ensures that he gets the cash and the at bats. Why would jam that slug into your lineup everyday? I don't think teams understand the value of flexibility in the lineup, imagine if the pirates committed to some adam laroche type slug last year to plug into right field? Harrison wouldn't have been given the opportunity to prove himself in RF and would probably still be considered bench fodder.

[MWB]

And in the past year and a half, Seattle has signed three players to $100+ million contracts. For one reason or another, "small market" teams are locking up young talent.

I'm sure the Rockies are thrilled that Tulowitzki is under contract for so long, as are the Reds with Votto.

Small market teams signing their young players isn't a brand new phenomenon. The Pirates were able to sign Kendall to an extension. They were stuck when his play dropped off and they couldn't afford replacements, but they had Kendall. The Twins were able to sign Joe Mauer. They haven't been over .500 since his $23M/year contract extension kicked in for the 2011 season(which is due to in no small part him not being worth the money he's made over the last 4 seasons), but they have him until 2018.

Meanwhile if Hanley flames out for Boston they'll just throw a pile of money at someone else.

Do you disagree that teams are more teams are signing young players to extensions than ever before? The best players are not making it to through their arbitration years without getting extensions in many cases.

[MWB]

I'm very happy about signing Sandoval, moderately happy about signing Hanley. I have this baseless fear that if we spend too much money on good but unproven players were gonna end up like the 2012 Red Sox (Crawford, Gonzalez, etc.). I want us to stay strong with Bogaerts though. He was tremendous in 2013, just had a crap last year last season

My main fear is that were just going to be the Yankees and throw money around without a plan. The beauty of our 3 WS wins in the last 10 years is that we weren't super star studded. We had a lot of unknowns or home grown players.

Lol at Red Sox fans who don't think they are already the same as the Yankees.

That said, Sandoval was probably a good signing. Some risk, but good defense and a decent hitter. Hanley... Questionable, but could turn out great. They improved themselves for the next couple years at least. I agree, Bogaerts should be kept no matter what.

[MalkinIsMyHomeboy]

Our pitching is still going to be in shambles though, even with Lester.

[MWB]

Red Sox are kind of mirroring what the Yankees did. Yankees won with a lot of home grown players and no real big free agen studs in the late 90s. Then the went for everyone and it didn't work out.

[TheGhostofGoulet]

At least MLB fixed the real problem, teams like the Pirates who spend extra money in the draft.

[Rocco]

And in the past year and a half, Seattle has signed three players to $100+ million contracts. For one reason or another, "small market" teams are locking up young talent.

I'm sure the Rockies are thrilled that Tulowitzki is under contract for so long, as are the Reds with Votto.

Small market teams signing their young players isn't a brand new phenomenon. The Pirates were able to sign Kendall to an extension. They were stuck when his play dropped off and they couldn't afford replacements, but they had Kendall. The Twins were able to sign Joe Mauer. They haven't been over .500 since his $23M/year contract extension kicked in for the 2011 season(which is due to in no small part him not being worth the money he's made over the last 4 seasons), but they have him until 2018.

Meanwhile if Hanley flames out for Boston they'll just throw a pile of money at someone else.

Do you disagree that teams are more teams are signing young players to extensions than ever before? The best players are not making it to through their arbitration years without getting extensions in many cases.

Teams are buying out those arbitration years and then regretting the deals/trying to foist them on a team that can afford to pay a guy 125% of what he's worth.

[Troy Loney]

Red Sox are kind of mirroring what the Yankees did. Yankees won with a lot of home grown players and no real big free agen studs in the late 90s. Then the went for everyone and it didn't work out.

I can't see anyone matching that yankee dynasty. The yankees never had any down years then, Boston takes advantage of their down years and cuts the extra fat. I think their flexibility there is what's going to differentiate the red sox going forward from what the yankees have become since 2000. Aside from 2009 when NYY added Teixera and Sabathia to a roided Arod and Jeter the Yankees have stagnated. I think the only really good thing you can say about the current yankees is that their really bad contracts are winding down.

These two moves by Boston make them really deep in position players, but the rotation needs to be upgraded to make the playoffs. But I wouldn't be surprised if they are a WS contender next year.

[MWB]

And in the past year and a half, Seattle has signed three players to $100+ million contracts. For one reason or another, "small market" teams are locking up young talent.

I'm sure the Rockies are thrilled that Tulowitzki is under contract for so long, as are the Reds with Votto.

Small market teams signing their young players isn't a brand new phenomenon. The Pirates were able to sign Kendall to an extension. They were stuck when his play dropped off and they couldn't afford replacements, but they had Kendall. The Twins were able to sign Joe Mauer. They haven't been over .500 since his $23M/year contract extension kicked in for the 2011 season(which is due to in no small part him not being worth the money he's made over the last 4 seasons), but they have him until 2018.

Meanwhile if Hanley flames out for Boston they'll just throw a pile of money at someone else.

Do you disagree that teams are more teams are signing young players to extensions than ever before? The best players are not making it to through their arbitration years without getting extensions in many cases.

Teams are buying out those arbitration years and then regretting the deals/trying to foist them on a team that can afford to pay a guy 125% of what he's worth.

We haven't really seen the results of this yet, as many of these are over the past three years.

Longoria, Clayton Kershaw, Elvis Andrus, Jay Bruce, Homer Bailey, Brett Gardner and Clay Buchholz are among the players who could have been free agents this winter had they not signed extensions. Andrew McCutchen, Gio Gonzalez, Wade Davis and Alcides Escobar highlight the list of potential free agents after the 2015 season who are already off the board because they signed extensions.

The post-2016 list is even glossier: World Series star Madison Bumgarner, Freddie Freeman, Chris Sale, Craig Kimbrel, Michael Brantley, Starlin Castro and Buster Posey are among the players who could’ve hit free agency then.

http://m.nydailynews.com/sports/basebal ... 5430#bmb=1

[Rocco]

Oakland dealt Brandon Moss for...not a lot. They made a bold move to try and win a title. Now they have to blow it up and start over.

[Troy Loney]

Oakland dealt Brandon Moss for...not a lot. They made a bold move to try and win a title. Now they have to blow it up and start over.

They better hope they can still flip Samazrzjia for a good prospect.

[Ad@m]

A's trade Jeff Samardzija to White Sox for Marcus Semien, Trayce Thompson & Chris Beck.

[Mr. Colby]

The A's operate weirdly.

Will the ChiSox actually be good this year?