NEWS/RUMORS/AROUND MLB Thread (Oct 2016 - Feb 2017)

But for an extra 10MM they can get you

 

I wouldn't draw that parallel.
Longoria is the guy with the pedigree, the guy without the drastic fall off when facing LHP, the guy who legitimately sits in the 3 spot of the order every day.
And Longo is a year younger

 

People keep concentrating on the big 3 closers, but beyond them there are actually some solid bullpen pieces still available. You could arguably do better by getting two or three of the fill ins from the open market for shorter contracts. The Dodgers have a bevy of power arms in their system right now who could be on the verge of helping in the pen by the end of this season. Walker Buehler being one to keep an eye on.

 

And perhaps Sheffield

 

Yup, and he is actually more likely to head to the pen. Could also see Wood head there as well depending on how the offseason goes. Though I hate the idea of his upside in the rotation going to waste in the bullpen. Ross Stripling was another guy who looked fantastic coming out of the pen.

 

Stripling could fill the Blanton role.

 

Hell, bring Blanton back 2/15 (or something in that range), whatever you think of his postseason performance, guy was a beast the whole 6 months.

Tony Watson is another that has been mentioned, he took over the closer role when Melancon got traded last year, and was pretty good sans a couple of appearances. His arb projections are only in the ~$5M range.

 

Yeah, ultimately, I feel the pen will be fine with AF running it, so I'm in the group that wants JT over Kenley.
He'll probably add some below the radar guys, if not a Colome in a trade, or possibly both.
Dayton flashed big ability in high leverage spots against both RHP and LHP and Liberatore is capable of filling a late role for at least a couple months.
Trade deadline will roll around again and they'll have another opportunity to land another reliever if they need one.
SFG going the measured Melancon route, after their wild - go for it all - trade deadline, spoke volumes to me..they're not confident as fuck about anything..if they were they would've gone bigger for Kenley.
Makes sense..not even the most injury plagued season in MLB history was enough to crown them NL West champs for the 1st time in forever it seems.

 

Yeah, I still blame Blanton for LAD not making it to the WS..that hanging 0-2 slider, smh.
Still, Blanton was rock solid for 6 months and I'm pretty sure this past post season was his 1st taste of late inning/high leverage ball in that atmosphere.
I'd give Blanton another go..especially since he's proven he can go 2-3 innings at times and be solid.

 

This BITES!!!! You guys make very good arguments for not signing Kenley. It looks like MGT is watching money, IE this statement from the article Irish posted:

"We had to take a little step back to process some of the [CBA] changes, and even last night, we were uncovering things that weren't revealed in the first wave. There's a lot of stuff. For a team like us, right around the tax threshold and trying to work our way under it, there are a lot of repercussions. We reassessed the implications of long-term deals, and other teams are in the same boat."

If that is the case, signing Turner is the priority. Then filling out the back of the bullie with say Colome/Watson/Blanton would make a very strong 7-8-9 combo that would be cheaper than Kenley.

 

I feel like Kenley wants to stay in La, otherwise he would've already taken that offer

 

Having DBB and other former LAD players in Miami is the perfect excuse for Kenley to take the bigger offer and just not look back.
Pit stop w/pals and then on to a contender at the deadline

 

Nah...people will just pat the FO on the anus, and compliment them on not"overpaying" for one of the most dominant closers in the game...no matter what the closer history is. No one's head is rolling anywhere, really.
Either you want the best there is, and are willing to pay for it ( especially when you are the richest team, supposedly), or you save more Guggs money, and go with some untried, " clever" alternative.
Of course, it could work again, and these highly touted MiL players could come through. Or not.
But assuming the Giants, for one team in particular, is going to have a back end to the bp like it did last year, and disintegrate like it did last year, is a joke.
And as bad as it was, and it was bad... they still made the playoffs.
And if a team "overpays" for a player, and he helps them get to the promised land, who gives a shit about profit margin for fucking billionaires basically?
They get that kind of money because they are the best...not that difficult to grasp.
And the Dodgers need him the most... hands down.

 

But with that contract, who's gonna bite on that trade? All the teams with the cash either already got their big FA and the rest were sellers.

Marlins are going to be stuck with Kenley for good and for the bad.

 

Yup, and it's asinine to try and justify these (non) moves by assuming you know what goes inside these guys' heads or predicting their trade futures. The Giants saw what was wrong with their team and just acted to fix it - done. The Red Sox did the same thing - done. Both with lower payrolls and both with 3 WS titles....and us, what do we have? FUCKTARDS!!!!


As a consolation we get to listen to someone's BS self empowerment through moving multimillionaire human chess pieces from the basement, followed by the demand.....

MOM!!! THE MEATLOAF!!!!!

 

Nah, its a fluid market, my man.
Opportunities will come up, they always do.
There are ways around that contract..Marlins can pick up a portion, offering team can dump money in the deal, etc.
Plus, injuries happen and contenders sometimes need replacements.
A small market team that ends up contending would absolutely pick Kenley up at the deadline for a WS push and then deal him thereafter to somebody else.
So long as he's pitching well, the season will present opportunities to move him

 

I'd like to see what McCarthy could do out of the pen if they went all in on a role change.
Could apply his cutter a bit more, dial up the MPH on his 4 seamer a bit more.
Yeah I think Stripling just made Cotton expendable in every way, with the way he pitched out of the pen

 

With the way closers get paid nowadays, taking an assignment in the bullpen might look like a good business decision to some guys.

 

Let me state up front, I want MGT to spend the cash to resign Jansen and Turner.

Now that aside......if you could add 3 guys via trade or FA that performed like Blanton did least year for less than it would cost to sign Jansen, wouldn't that make more sense.

Think about it, if we signed Jansen, then our bullie is probably going to be similar to last year in Jansen/Dayton/Baez/Fields/Frias/Garcia/Hatcher. However if we did not sign Jansen and went out and resigned Blanton, traded for Colome, and Watson next years bullie would look like Colome/Blanton/Watson/Dayton/Fields/Baez/Hatcher. That is a really solid with the potential to be amazing bullie.