2019-20 Offseason Thread

[Black Watch]

Not sure if this deserves its own thread or not, but MLB has put in some new rule changes for the 2020 season:

°The size of the active roster expands from 25 players to 26 players, through August 31.

The size of the expanded roster in September is reduced from 40 players to 28 players.

°Teams must designate players as either "position players" or "pitchers" before the start of the season.

Only players designated as pitchers will be allowed to pitch in any regular-season or postseason game, with limited exceptions (such as one team leading by at least seven runs, or the game going into extra innings).

Once a player has pitched at least 20 innings and made at least three plate appearances as a position player or designated hitter in each of 20 games, he earns the status of "two-way player" for the remainder of the season plus all of the next season. Players with this status may pitch at any time during a game.

°A pitcher must face at least three batters, unless the inning ends or the pitcher is injured.

[bluerap23]

Not sure if this deserves its own thread or not, but MLB has put in some new rule changes for the 2020 season:

°The size of the active roster expands from 25 players to 26 players, through August 31.

The size of the expanded roster in September is reduced from 40 players to 28 players.

°Teams must designate players as either "position players" or "pitchers" before the start of the season.

Only players designated as pitchers will be allowed to pitch in any regular-season or postseason game, with limited exceptions (such as one team leading by at least seven runs, or the game going into extra innings).

Once a player has pitched at least 20 innings and made at least three plate appearances as a position player or designated hitter in each of 20 games, he earns the status of "two-way player" for the remainder of the season plus all of the next season. Players with this status may pitch at any time during a game.

°A pitcher must face at least three batters, unless the inning ends or the pitcher is injured.

Those are significant changes. Pitching to min 3 batters will have huge impact on strategy. Not sure why they want that.

[Skin Blues]

Not sure if this deserves its own thread or not, but MLB has put in some new rule changes for the 2020 season:

°The size of the active roster expands from 25 players to 26 players, through August 31.

The size of the expanded roster in September is reduced from 40 players to 28 players.

°Teams must designate players as either "position players" or "pitchers" before the start of the season.

Only players designated as pitchers will be allowed to pitch in any regular-season or postseason game, with limited exceptions (such as one team leading by at least seven runs, or the game going into extra innings).

Once a player has pitched at least 20 innings and made at least three plate appearances as a position player or designated hitter in each of 20 games, he earns the status of "two-way player" for the remainder of the season plus all of the next season. Players with this status may pitch at any time during a game.

°A pitcher must face at least three batters, unless the inning ends or the pitcher is injured.

Those are significant changes. Pitching to min 3 batters will have huge impact on strategy. Not sure why they want that.

It's to reduce the amount of mid-inning pitching changes.

[I_Like_Dirt]

It's to reduce the amount of mid-inning pitching changes.

And a sneaky way to try and increase offensive production by giving teams a means of changing batters when opposing teams can't change pitchers. Though I suspect we'd start seeing a bunch of pitchers go out there and "tweak" something after facing a batter and then the team would have to be cautious.

[Skin Blues]

It's to reduce the amount of mid-inning pitching changes.

And a sneaky way to try and increase offensive production by giving teams a means of changing batters when opposing teams can't change pitchers. Though I suspect we'd start seeing a bunch of pitchers go out there and "tweak" something after facing a batter and then the team would have to be cautious.

I really doubt it's anything nefarious like that. It'd have a minuscule effect on run scoring, and teams have generally stopped using the ROOGY/LOOGY types like they used to because it's just not that effective. So MLB agreed to give teams another roster spot so long as it wasn't used to revert back to that ROOGY/LOOGY usage, and this is how they accomplished that. I think it's a good idea. I hate mid-inning pitching changes.

[polo007]

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[jaymeister15]

I've seen a lot of people saying they hate the 3 batter minimum, but I'm a fan of it. For me, the innings with 3 or 4 pitching changes and the corresponding commercial breaks (and how common those innings were) have been one of the worst parts about the game in recent years.

[Schad]

The Arenado trade talk is interesting for a whole lotta reasons, but the biggest is likely what it says about FA down the road. The only reason I can imagine them shopping him this early into his new deal is that they fear he'll opt out after 2021, and don't think that they can/should make a competitive offer.

Arenado has $164m/5 remaining after 2021, and would be hitting FA at 30. The opt-out wasn't really expected to be much of a factor, because the AAV on his contract is very high, but perhaps with teams loosening the purse strings, it isn't unthinkable, or even unlikely.

[polo007]

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[polo007]

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[fbalmeida]

That's what it's all about right there.

[polo007]

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[Scott Hall]

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[polo007]

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[Schad]

We actually drafted Shane Farrell (as the standard courtesy draft for a kid of a coach) back in 2011.

Seems to be pretty well-regarded, and becoming a scouting director at 30 isn't terribly uncommon these days.

[Wo1verine]

You don't know Shane and that's fine but you do know that scout who said those nice things about him and refused to name that person why exactly?

I'm telling you these guys lie all the time about stupid ****.

[polo007]

Read on Twitter

The Cubs are also changing their national scouting coverage. After they lost national crosschecker Sam Hughes to the Yankees, Ron Totsenton will likely operate as the lone national crosschecker. (A regional crosschecker is in charge of seeing amateur prospects recommended by area scouts, and the national ones see the best of those players before the draft.)

Two people now working under Kantrovitz this season interviewed for his job: Lukas McKnight and West Coast crosschecker Shane Farrell. Both reportedly impressed in their interviews, but when Kantrovitz turned out to be available, a bit of a surprising turn of events, Epstein decided to go outside of the organization.

Many around the industry assumed Farrell was the favorite for the job. Like his brother Jeremy, who was recently promoted to assistant director of baseball development, Shane is viewed as a fast-riser in the industry. McKnight interviewed for the Blue Jays scouting director job when it was open prior to the 2017 season. That job ultimately went to Steve Sanders, who recently was named Ben Cherington’s assistant GM in Pittsburgh. Sources confirmed that Shane Farrell will get an interview for the Blue Jays job while it seems unlikely that McKnight will this go-around. Farrell has numerous connections to a Toronto Blue Jays front office that includes Mark Shapiro, Ross Atkins and Tony LaCava, all of whom worked with Shane’s father, John, during their time in Cleveland.

[Wo1verine]

Lets hope he isn't an idiot like his father who also was highly regarded.

[Schad]

You don't know Shane and that's fine but you do know that scout who said those nice things about him and refused to name that person why exactly?

I'm telling you these guys lie all the time about stupid ****.

The scouting community is a pretty tight one. No matter what team one is working for, they end up interacting with other scouts more than their own families most of the time. So if you want to get a take on a scout, the best place to turn is probably another scout in your Rolodex.

As for naming them, I sincerely doubt that he's making it up. Behind-the-scenes baseball people seem to be pretty wary about having their name in print; if you read any of the prospect journos, it's forever "a scout/an exec told me", and never for attribution, because while they all talk to the press, most of them don't want to be seen as talking to the press, even on innocuous stories.

[polo007]

Blue Jays aren't about to win PR points by hiring another Farrell - Sportsnet.ca

Farrell, 30, comes from the Chicago Cubs, where he was a west coast crosschecker. His ties to the Blue Jays organization date back to 2011, the first season his father managed the Blue Jays. That summer, Toronto made him their 46th round draft pick, but he never played professionally and soon transitioned to a front office role.

In Chicago, Farrell worked alongside two brothers, Luke and Jeremy, at various points. Jeremy works in the Chicago front office as a field coordinator while Luke pitched for the Cubs in 2018 before joining his current team, the Rangers.

The Blue Jays are hiring Farrell at a critical time. Just six months remain before they make their highest pick in decades – the fifth overall selection in 2020. Underscoring the importance of the pick, the Blue Jays haven’t chosen this high since 1997, when they landed Vernon Wells. With the worst of their rebuild potentially over, there’s hope that they won’t be picking this high again any time soon. Farrell’s first pick may be his most important.

Along the way he’ll have support from other executives such as senior VP of player personnel Tony LaCava, described by Atkins as a “stabilizing force.” Still, Farrell won’t have the luxury of easing into the new role.

The timing’s more rushed than usual because former scouting director Steve Sanders left to become the Pirates’ new assistant GM less than a month ago (he’s now working for former Jays executive Ben Cherington, who also happens to be the GM who acquired Farrell from Toronto back in 2012).

Regardless of the circumstances, this move won’t likely be popular with Blue Jays fans. Cue the ‘dream job’ jokes now.

Yet one experienced scout for a National League team believes Farrell was the right hire even if it’s met with criticism.

“The honestly not fair at all,” the scout said. “He works his ass off. Nobody will outwork him, and he’s very intelligent and a strong evaluator who trusts his area guys.”

Clearly, it would be unfair to assume Farrell will treat Toronto as a stepping stone just because his father did. But by that same logic, we can’t assume he’ll be successful simply because his family’s well-connected in the game.

The way the MLB Draft plays out, it’ll be years before we know how Farrell’s draftees do. In the meantime, he probably shouldn’t expect a particularly warm embrace from the many Blue Jays fans who still haven’t forgiven his father.