2019-2020 MLB Hot Stove Thread

[JSngry]

Josh Hamilton begins his new Redemption From The Dark Side narrative with a pretty deep descent into said Dark Side:

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/27968802/ex-ranger-josh-hamilton-faces-felony-charge-injury-child

Yeah, fuck this guy. Repetitive Redemption Narratives are for suckers.

[ghost of miles]

Really, Gerrit?  Donning a Boras Agency hat for an interview right after your team lost Game 7 of the World Series?  I know baseball is a business and all... but even from a business perspective, this ain't a good look (kinda crappy hat anyway, from a literal-look POV):

[Dan Gould]

Yankees decline Encarnarcion's high-priced option year.  I thought he was an obvious option for the Red Sox when Ortiz retired but they wouldn't listen to me ... certainly if JD opts out he should be considered as a short-term option. Hell I'm not sure he'd be terrible as a F/T 1B for a season or two. 

[Brad]

14 minutes ago, ghost of miles said:

Really, Gerrit?  Donning a Boras Agency hat for an interview right after your team lost Game 7 of the World Series?  I know baseball is a business and all... but even from a business perspective, this ain't a good look (kinda crappy hat anyway, from a literal-look POV):

Nope, it’s not a good look but I’m sure Boras told him to do it. 

[Dan Gould]

I'm surprised he wasn't under orders to pull on a t-shirt with an arrow pointing at his right shoulder and saying "This Arm For Sale - Serious Inquiries Only".

[soulpope]

1 hour ago, ghost of miles said:

Really, Gerrit?  Donning a Boras Agency hat for an interview right after your team lost Game 7 of the World Series?  I know baseball is a business and all... but even from a business perspective, this ain't a good look (kinda crappy hat anyway, from a literal-look POV):

Sort of disgusting .... 

[Dave Garrett]

2 hours ago, Brad said:

Nope, it’s not a good look but I’m sure Boras told him to do it. 

Now that the Series is over, it must be time to switch gears from "Fuck Joe Buck" to "Fuck Scott Boras".

[ghost of miles]

1 hour ago, soulpope said:

Sort of disgusting .... 

Yeah, kind of classless.  I don't know if he was peeved that Hinch warmed him up and never used him, or what (a generous interpretation IMO), but seems like he could've waited till today to deliver his "I'm no longer an employee of the Astros" spiel.  

2 hours ago, Dan Gould said:

Yankees decline Encarnarcion's high-priced option year.  I thought he was an obvious option for the Red Sox when Ortiz retired but they wouldn't listen to me ... certainly if JD opts out he should be considered as a short-term option. Hell I'm not sure he'd be terrible as a F/T 1B for a season or two. 

Not surprised NY passed on the option year.  So Dan, what scenario would you prefer--that J.D. opts out and Boston manages to extend Betts, or that Boston tries to leverage Betts for as much as they can in a trade?  Or other scenario?

[Dan Gould]

29 minutes ago, ghost of miles said:

Not surprised NY passed on the option year.  So Dan, what scenario would you prefer--that J.D. opts out and Boston manages to extend Betts, or that Boston tries to leverage Betts for as much as they can in a trade?  Or other scenario?

Betts will never sign an extension.

Alternative scenario is that everybody stays (at least the two you mention) for one more run at it.   But I think chances are strong they try to send Betts away for some enormous haul of prospects, which will be tougher to get when he insists on going to free agency.    

If Betts or JD are gone, sign Encarnarcion for 1-2 years.  Or how about one year of Betts to the Cubs for two years of Kris Bryant? Before they reunite on the Yankees, I mean. 

[Dan Gould]

Cole shows how douchey douchey is:

Media relations director Gene Dias told Cole that he could give interviews in front of his locker and that “you don’t have to” do them in front of the wall.

 

“I don’t have to do it?” Cole replied.

“No,” Dias said, “you don’t have to do it over there.”

 

“I don’t have to do it at all?” Cole reiterated, more forceful, with dozens of reporters looking at him.

At first, Cole’s persistence seemed comical. It was understandable that a player on the losing end of Game 7 would not be thrilled to take questions.

But Cole held his glare. He was not kidding.

“I mean, I'm not employed,” Cole said. “I’m not employed.”

 

“We would like for you to do it, but it’s your call,” Dias said.

Cole grudgingly obliged and said: “All right, as an affiliate of myself.”

He wore a cap with the insignia of his agent, Scott Boras, who is expected to demand a contract worth more than $200 million for Cole this winter, while the Astros are expected not to match such an offer.

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/sports/texas-sports-nation/astros/article/Astros-insider-Scenes-of-heartbreak-and-Cole-14610152.php

And right on cue, labor activist Bill Baer writes this

We expect loyalty from players but rarely, if ever, ask that of the owners. Players give up their bodies on a year-in, year-out basis only to be discarded the moment they no longer provide value for their teams. “Baseball is a business” we often hear, but it’s only ever uttered to justify disloyal, impersonal decision-making by front-office types. Why should players have to feign loyalty when ownership doesn’t?

Cole was a mercenary for the Astros for two years and now he’s going to in search of a potentially record-breaking contract, as he should. Hopefully more players follow Cole’s lead, no longer feeling obligated to do extra labor for teams that wouldn’t do the same for them. The players have had way more leverage than they have given themselves credit for having over the years. The hat debate is symbolic of the larger, neverending battle between baseball ownership and its labor force.  (emphasis added)

*********************

Get that? It's "extra labor" to stand up and speak to the media about the game/season that just ended. Since they didn't need to hang plastic over the lockers, the Astros should have taken a few minutes to box up his shit and leave it at his car. He's not employed, so fuck him. Escort him off the property. "Go take a shower at your mansion, meat."

 

https://mlb.nbcsports.com/2019/10/31/gerrit-cole-wears-boras-corp-hat-after-astros-lose-world-series/

[JSngry]

I'm 100% understanding of the cynicism toward "owner loyalty". But refusing to engage in basic human communication has nothing to do with that. You lost the game, you're not "employed", yeah, we get that. The team has no loyalty towards you, we get that too.

But jesus dude, it's the last game of the World Series. You may or may not ever be there again. Just be a human being for a few minutes and talk to people. Or if you don't want to, defer with grace, or some semblance thereof. You're not talking "on behalf of the team", you're talking person to person about a life event.

World gone wrong.

[ghost of miles]

30 minutes ago, JSngry said:

I'm 100% understanding of the cynicism toward "owner loyalty". But refusing to engage in basic human communication has nothing to do with that. You lost the game, you're not "employed", yeah, we get that. The team has no loyalty towards you, we get that too.

But jesus dude, it's the last game of the World Series. You may or may not ever be there again. Just be a human being for a few minutes and talk to people. Or if you don't want to, defer with grace, or some semblance thereof. You're not talking "on behalf of the team", you're talking person to person about a life event.

World gone wrong.

Yep, right on. As good a pitcher as Cole is (and the Astros certainly made him a better one—he can thank their pitching system for possibly adding tens of millions of dollars to the value of whatever free-agent contract he’ll end up signing), I hope the Yankees continue their recent pattern of eschewing marquee FA deals and stay out of the chase for Cole. And yeah, also agree with the takes on owner loyalty and the lack thereof, and the players have legitimate grievances about how the current system’s structured. But that doesn’t excuse simply being a dick.

In happier news, Howie Kendrick’s game 7 HR ball is on its way to the Hall of Fame, yellow paint foul pole stain and all. 

[JSngry]

4 minutes ago, ghost of miles said:

also agree with the takes on owner loyalty and the lack thereof, and the players have legitimate grievances about how the current system’s structured. But that doesn’t excuse simply being a dick.

Just my opinion, but I think the worse thing you can do in the advocacy of a logistical position is to turn from objective to subjective by making it "personal", especially by being , as you say, a dick. Then it's no longer about the position itself, it gets to be about what a dick that guy is, and then boom, flush, back to where we started from, or even further backwards.

[soulpope]

1 hour ago, JSngry said:

But jesus dude, it's the last game of the World Series. You may or may not ever be there again. Just be a human being for a few minutes and talk to people. Or if you don't want to, defer with grace, or some semblance thereof. You're not talking "on behalf of the team", you're talking person to person about a life event.

World gone wrong.

For the love of the game 😎 ....

[JSngry]

Wrong venue for that game, though.

[Soulstation1]

Tribe needs to sign a hitter and another starting pitcher if possible 

[soulpope]

Ad Cole & Co .... :

[Patrick]

2 hours ago, Soulstation1 said:

Tribe needs to sign a hitter and another starting pitcher if possible 

...or maybe 2 hitters.

[Soulstation1]

plus figure out how to keep Lindor 

[ghost of miles]

Curious to see if Aroldis Chapman opts out today. As good as he still is, I wonder if the Kimbrel debacle would make teams more wary of signing him—plus Chapman has his own DV past, though I think he handled himself much better than Osuna in the aftermath (not to mention that Chapman’s girlfriend at the time is now his wife), which perhaps lessens the PR stigma for him. I’m hoping the Yankees, who still owe him $30 million over the next two years, offer a 1-2 year extension. He’s 31, and though he’s developed a nasty slider, his velocity has begun to decline from its stratospheric heights. I think the smart move for him would be to go for an extension as well.

[Matthew]

43 minutes ago, ghost of miles said:

Curious to see if Aroldis Chapman opts out today. As good as he still is, I wonder if the Kimbrel debacle would make teams more wary of signing him—plus Chapman has his own DV past, though I think he handled himself much better than Osuna in the aftermath (not to mention that Chapman’s girlfriend at the time is now his wife), which perhaps lessens the PR stigma for him. I’m hoping the Yankees, who still owe him $30 million over the next two years, offer a 1-2 year extension. He’s 31, and though he’s developed a nasty slider, his velocity has begun to decline from its stratospheric heights. I think the smart move for him would be to go for an extension as well.

I think in the current market, there's no way a closer can get 15 million whose on the wrong side of thirty. Chapman is lucky with that contract, he should stay put.

[ghost of miles]

8 minutes ago, Matthew said:

I think in the current market, there's no way a closer can get 15 million whose on the wrong side of thirty. Chapman is lucky with that contract, he should stay put.

That’s what I think too, Matthew. Tanaka was in a somewhat similar situation a couple of years ago (albeit a couple of years younger at the time then Chapman is now) and made what in retrospect was a very wise decision to pass on opting out.

I am curious to see where Gerrit Cole lands. I really don’t think it will be the Yankees, partly because they are wary of adding any big long-term contracts, and partly because Cole wants to play on the West Coast (his recent protestations to the contrary smack of Scott Boras “kid don’t lessen the price in any way for your suitors!” talk). I wouldn’t be surprised to see him land with the Angels or Padres (maybe Dodgers as well, though not sure where they are with their payroll cap/luxury tax situation).

[soulpope]

16 hours ago, ghost of miles said:

Curious to see if Aroldis Chapman opts out today. As good as he still is, I wonder if the Kimbrel debacle would make teams more wary of signing him—plus Chapman has his own DV past, though I think he handled himself much better than Osuna in the aftermath (not to mention that Chapman’s girlfriend at the time is now his wife), which perhaps lessens the PR stigma for him. I’m hoping the Yankees, who still owe him $30 million over the next two years, offer a 1-2 year extension. He’s 31, and though he’s developed a nasty slider, his velocity has begun to decline from its stratospheric heights. I think the smart move for him would be to go for an extension as well.

Here you go .... :

https://sports.yahoo.com/chapman-yankees-agree-48m-3-contract-050523495--mlb.html

[ghost of miles]

8 hours ago, soulpope said:

Here you go .... :

https://sports.yahoo.com/chapman-yankees-agree-48m-3-contract-050523495--mlb.html

Ideal outcome for the Yankees IMO, extending only one year and with only a $1 million/year increase in overall contract AAV. 

Strasburg has opted out from his Nats contract, which would have paid him $100 million over the next four seasons. Pretty gutsy move—obviously he’s an elite starter, but he’s also 31 and has a disquieting injury history.

Edited November 3, 2019 by ghost of miles

[ghost of miles]

Story out in the Athletic today (behind a paywall) that Rob Manfred says automated balls-and-strikes will be introduced in some form at the minor-league level next year. I’m all in favor, but they gotta work some kinks out first. Thinking that Trackman won’t be the system they eventually use in MLB.