MLB NEWS/RUMORS Thread

"General sense from a few agents, rival execs: The Dodgers are active, as always, but the concerns about the luxury tax make maneuvering more difficult than usual. Obviously played a major role in the Stanton talks."
This is from Andy McCullough

 

I'll leave the FA maneuvering to the nerds because it hurts my brain but I hope we can do a couple of trades at least??? What do you think?

 

Pittsburgh seems like the best opp at a 1 stop sho, fairly cost controlled
Cole, Rivero and McCutchen for like Verdugo, Alvarez, Will Smith and DJ Peters

 

That’s a lot for 2 1 year rentals and a Relief pitcher

 

I go back and forth on it. I actually talked myself into being ok with mostly standing pat until the deadline just based on the upside throughout the roster and that this team should easily win the west. I definitely agree that if an opportunity presents itself, they should take it, but it is getting pretty obvious that the goal over the coming months is probably to reduce the payroll, not add to it. I would think they could find landing places for McCarthy, Ryu and Grandal, which would free up about $25+M and if they do pursue an OF'er, Joc could probably go back to cut another couple of mil. The $40M in basically dead money to AGon and Kazmir is just brutal, so creativity is going to be the key and the FO may choose to see how things play out during the season before making a decision.

 

If the 2018 luxury tax was a major hinderance in a Stanton deal, then I think it will be an even bigger hinderance for most other options. Stanton's deal was so big that there was opportunity to shed 2018 payroll because picking up later salary justified it - the Yankees deal actually does just that. So the idea of picking up Ozuna and his ~$11 million for 2018 + another bad contract (like someone suggested) seems like it would be a much bigger problem with the luxury tax.

Honestly, I would stay put with the OF we have and just focus on pitching, backend rotation and bullpen. See where we are at the deadline and look for an OFer then, when it will be a smaller hit to our payroll and our needs are more clear. We have the best team in baseball and we don't need to go out and try to make a big splash now, that ship has already sailed. We should save cap space so we can be aggressive at the deadline.

 

The Pirates are said to be not even considering tearing things down right now and would probably only move Cutch in the right deal. The radio guys this morning said that what they're hearing is that the Pirates are not looking to move Cole right now. His value is meh and it's much more worth it to hold on and see if he regains some value. Rivero has 4 years remaining and the Pirates look to contend before that, so I would not expect them to move him. Huntington doesn't like to move guys until the last minute he has to and with the specs they have on the way, he is probably not going to move pieces that he can compete with. People forget that the Pirates were kicking around until the final couple weeks of the season with a fairly young team.

 

Right on cue
Jon Heyman‏Verified account@JonHeyman
Yankees are interested in gerrit cole, who they once drafted. But initial impression is pirates arent trading him.

 

With the upside of Joc, Toles, and Verdugo, there's definitely a better than 0% chance we are looking at OF as a considerable strength in 2018 even without a move.

 

Cole comes with 2 years of control and Rivero is amazing (4 years of control), I think I would do that deal.

 

Control will be the watch word the rest of this year and into the trade deadline. I had posted that I was hoping that we would sign a significant reliever but after a nights sleep I changed my stance. Guys with control left will be our targets I'm afraid. I can see only 1 year deals for a replacement for Morrow which won't get much. Internal options are there of course.

 

Kool Aid, to wash down the bitterness of swallowing a $100 parking pill.

cKocksuckers!

 

Read a piece by TrueBlueLA today and it mentioned that Verdugo is finally taking the diet thing seriously and plans to use the off season to add some bulk so that he can start generating more HR's. He already has elite bat speed and hand-eye coordination, if he finally takes the training part seriously(maturity is a well documented issue of his), he could develop into another dangerous bat in the lineup. Maybe hearing his name in trade rumors after initially being untouchable kicked him into gear. Bellinger did the same thing before his breakout season in HiA a couple years ago. Best thing would be for Verdugo to get with a coach that could get him to change his swing to add a bit more loft to it, though the K's would in all likelihood rise.

 

Can he pitch?

 

As a matter of fact...

 

https://dodgers.mlblogs.com/dodgers-40-man-roster-entering-mlb-s-annual-winter-meetings-655971188d9d

Profar for Harvey being discussed.

 

Matt Harvey? Dude is a mess.

 

So is Profar so it's a wash.

 

That is an easy win for the Rangers IMO as Profar is just nothing at this point. He is actually a guy I would like to see the Dodgers take on. Could benefit from being in that clubhouse and I think his future more honestly is out of the pen at this point. Just don't know what the team could give up that seems to of fair value. Maybe Trayce Thompson and Pedro Baez?

 

Deleted by the author, fake news? LOL

(Him, not you)