Around the MLB 2018

[SharoneWright]

HanRam(xx) sent for x-rays tonight after (supposedly) tripping on stairs....

[LBJSeizedMyID]

http://m.mlb.com/video/v1002914683/votto-discusses-incident-making-amends-with-fan

Normally do not see professional athletes apologizing for something like this, Kudos to Votto for doing what he did

[polo007]

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When you're traded, you're never sure what to expect. I'd never been dealt before, so this was a new experience for me. After our game on Saturday, against the Pirates, I was called into an office. Something was going down. The general manager, David Stearns, told me I'd been traded. David said he couldn't say who got me because medical stuff needed to be cleared before it could be announced. I figured it must be a team that wasn't on my no-trade list, just because of everything that goes into that. Based on what I'd seen online and what I heard from my agent, I knew the Mets, Indians, Dodgers and Rangers had shown interest. Cleveland was the only one of those teams on my no-trade list, so I ruled that out.

It was already pretty clear there wasn't going to be much of a future for me in Milwaukee. They're in rebuilding mode, and they wouldn't want to pay to keep me there. I had a team option for 2017, and then that was it. It's the reality of the situation. I grew up in the organization, spent nearly 10 years with it. I love the fans, but this is all part of the game. You hear -- baseball's a business -- but it really is. They were figuring out their roster for the future, and I wanted to win now. That's the landscape, and it's something you have to deal with. So I got the news I was traded, and I was excited to know where I would play next. I knew it'd be a competitive situation. I like being part of something bigger, like a cog in an engine. In Milwaukee, I didn't feel part of that because we weren't winning. With a trade, I'd be on a team that was working toward the playoffs.

My agent, Doug Rogalski, found out it was the Indians that traded for me. I was surprised, but I wanted to keep an open mind. Great team. Competitive team. There's a real chance to win. Doug called Chris Antonetti, the Indians' president. There was one thing we wanted to know: What was my future with the Indians? We knew Cleveland already had a good catcher, Yan Gomes, who's injured right now. He's getting paid more than me, and he's younger than me. We knew they'd probably want him catching almost every day next year. Heck, if I were the general manager in Cleveland, I'd want Gomes catching every day.

We were right. Antonetti told Doug that the Indians couldn't make any promises on me catching next season. There was no way they'd drop the team option, either, because I'm pretty inexpensive in 2017. I don't blame them. I would have been mostly at first base and designated hitter. In the end, that was the deal killer. Doug called me. He said, You're not going there.

Cleveland fans don't like that part, but it's nothing against them. It wasn't personal. If anything, I have even more respect for the Indians because of Antonetti's honesty. He could have lied to my agent and said I'd play catcher every day next season. But he didn't. He told the truth. I'm thankful for that. My decision not to go to Cleveland had nothing to do with the team, but it had everything to do with my future in this game. It was an economic decision. Period. I have to look out for my family's best interests and my interests as a catcher who'd be going into 2018 not having played my position the previous year. I am a catcher. I've been catching since I was 12 years old. I love being behind the plate, being involved in the game from that perspective. I love every part of that. I'm not changing positions for anybody. I don't care who it is. My value is as a catcher, and I know it.

So we blocked the trade. And then we waited.

[JN]

Does A-Rod's 20 million advisory role next year count against the Yankees base for luxury tax? Or was this just a clever way to get around it rather than a buyout?

[Fairview4Life]

Does A-Rod's 20 million advisory role next year count against the Yankees base for luxury tax? Or was this just a clever way to get around it rather than a buyout?

Seems clever enough, but I assume the MLB has some kind of "don't circumvent the spirit of the CBA" wording in the CBA somewhere they could use if they wanted to spend some time in court.

[Schad]

Does A-Rod's 20 million advisory role next year count against the Yankees base for luxury tax? Or was this just a clever way to get around it rather than a buyout?

All indications are that he'll still count against the luxury tax.

[ldnk]

Ichiro got hit #3000 today

[Natural11]

David Price still sucking. Boy what a turd contract that will turn out to be if he doesn't come back into form.

[The_Hater]

Jesse Chavez gets the win over David Price.

[EastBayBoy]

If the Sox farm was weak and didn't have controllable contracts like Betts, Bogs, Bradley Jr, Swihart, Bientendi the Sandoval and Price contracts would be much worse.

[The_Hater]

If the Sox farm was weak and didn't have controllable contracts like Betts, Bogs, Bradley Jr, Swihart, Bientendi the Sandoval and Price contracts would be much worse.

$123 million for Sandoval, Ramirez, Porcello, Bucholz, Craig, Price and Castillo. 3 of them haven't played a single MLB game this season. They probably wish Bucholz hadn't played a game. Thank God they haven't spent wisely on Free agents or they'd be lapping the field right now.

[EastBayBoy]

If the Sox farm was weak and didn't have controllable contracts like Betts, Bogs, Bradley Jr, Swihart, Bientendi the Sandoval and Price contracts would be much worse.

$123 million for Sandoval, Ramirez, Porcello, Bucholz, Craig, Price and Castillo. 3 of them haven't played a single MLB game this season. They probably wish Bucholz hadn't played a game. Thank God they haven't spent wisely on Free agents or they'd be lapping the field right now.

But is Rick Porcello really a bad contract? According to NESN Porcello should be in the Cy conversation cause of his 14 wins

[The_Hater]

If the Sox farm was weak and didn't have controllable contracts like Betts, Bogs, Bradley Jr, Swihart, Bientendi the Sandoval and Price contracts would be much worse.

$123 million for Sandoval, Ramirez, Porcello, Bucholz, Craig, Price and Castillo. 3 of them haven't played a single MLB game this season. They probably wish Bucholz hadn't played a game. Thank God they haven't spent wisely on Free agents or they'd be lapping the field right now.

But is Rick Porcello really a bad contract? According to NESN Porcello should be in the Cy conversation cause of his 14 wins

He's in year two of getting something like $110/5. He's been decent this year but was below average/bad the first year. He's likely the best bet of the 7 on that list to produce close to his salary but still overpaid IMO.

[Skin Blues]

Porcello has been fantastic and is certainly underpaid for this season. Whether he's this good in years 3 & 4 of the deal is questionable, but I'm sure they're extremely happy to have him. Price has also been very good. There's a good chance he earns his $30M this year. He also has the potential to be worth >$50M, as he was last year, and his peripherals are almost identical to what they were last year. As with Porcello, it's the later years that are questionable. And yeah Hanley has been a disappointment, but he has also been worth more than both Bautista and Russell Martin this year, even adjusting for playing time. This is a damn good Red Sox team, and 3 of those "terrible" FA deals have been major contributors to their success, and one of the ones listed, Allen Craig, was acquired via trade and was an albatross that they knowingly took on so that they could get 5 years of control of Joe Kelly. Maybe (probably) Kelly won't pan out at all, but he was a high-risk/high-reward chance.

[Santoki]

If Price is worth his $30 million this season then we should probably reevaluate the system we use to figure out value. If not then Estrada and Happ have been worth $120 million.

[EastBayBoy]

Porcello has been fantastic and is certainly underpaid for this season. Whether he's this good in years 3 & 4 of the deal is questionable, but I'm sure they're extremely happy to have him. Price has also been very good. There's a good chance he earns his $30M this year. He also has the potential to be worth >$50M, as he was last year, and his peripherals are almost identical to what they were last year. As with Porcello, it's the later years that are questionable. And yeah Hanley has been a disappointment, but he has also been worth more than both Bautista and Russell Martin this year, even adjusting for playing time. This is a damn good Red Sox team, and 3 of those "terrible" FA deals have been major contributors to their success, and one of the ones listed, Allen Craig, was acquired via trade and was an albatross that they knowingly took on so that they could get 5 years of control of Joe Kelly. Maybe (probably) Kelly won't pan out at all, but he was a high-risk/high-reward chance.

Bautista and Hanley's lines are almost identical in 22 less games played for Jose.

Jose: .221/.350/.443/.344 114 wRC+ 0.8 WAR
Hanley: .274/.351/.444/.341 109 wRC+ 1.0 WAR

Hanley has 0.4 WAR more than Martin playing 9 more games while Martin is playing a more premium position where Hanley can't make a routine throw home or a dig which makes the Hanley "worth more" sentiment very arguable.

Point being, the contracts the sox are handcuffed by ( maybe not this year) but down the line would affect them a lot more if they did not have very good controllable young players as well as a good farm system.

[The_Hater]

Porcello has been fantastic and is certainly underpaid for this season. Whether he's this good in years 3 & 4 of the deal is questionable, but I'm sure they're extremely happy to have him. Price has also been very good. There's a good chance he earns his $30M this year. He also has the potential to be worth >$50M, as he was last year, and his peripherals are almost identical to what they were last year. As with Porcello, it's the later years that are questionable. And yeah Hanley has been a disappointment, but he has also been worth more than both Bautista and Russell Martin this year, even adjusting for playing time. This is a damn good Red Sox team, and 3 of those "terrible" FA deals have been major contributors to their success, and one of the ones listed, Allen Craig, was acquired via trade and was an albatross that they knowingly took on so that they could get 5 years of control of Joe Kelly. Maybe (probably) Kelly won't pan out at all, but he was a high-risk/high-reward chance.

Say what?!?

[The_Hater]

If Price is worth his $30 million this season then we should probably reevaluate the system we use to figure out value. If not then Estrada and Happ have been worth $120 million.

The values that fan graphs uses has always been broken.

[BigLeagueChew]

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crazy!

[Raptor_Guy]

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crazy!

And he finishes tied for HRs with his dad, who he hates. What are the odds.