2018-19 Offseason Thread

[Black Watch]

It's official: Solarte has been non-tendered.

[So_Fresh]

Fancred’s Jon Heyman has reported that the Jay's have some interest in starter Dallas Keuchel.

https://fancredsports.com/articles/inside-baseball-mlb-notes-some-think-bauer-not-k

[polo007]

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[Schad]

Credit to Trader Jerry in Seattle: while I don't think the Paxton deal was spectacular, he's moving very quickly to turn over that roster. Seattle's ownership deserves credit as well, given that they had an old team that had won 89 games, but probably wasn't going to get back to those heights, and they authorized a total demolition rather than waiting around and hoping for the best.

They still have a long way to go given that their farm system was pretty barren, but shedding Cano (even at the cost of Diaz) and getting a couple high-end prospects back is a start, and they can probably fetch a good return for Segura.

[polo007]

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[polo007]

https://fancredsports.com/articles/inside-baseball-mlb-notes-some-think-bauer-not-k

Cleveland Indians

• There has been more talk about Corey Kluber or Carlos Carrasco possibly being traded, but a couple rival GMs said they believe Trevor Bauer is the one who’s more likely to go. It’s not because of his quirky ways either (they like him), it’s because he has a bit less cost certainty since he is arbitration eligible and not under contract the next two years. It’s not a big distinction, though, so they could consider going the other way …

• The Indians seek outfield and bullpen help …

• While they like Michael Brantley, and he is believed to relish a return, they understand how unlikely it is. They figure he will get three years on the open market, something they aren’t prepared to do …

• The OF looks pretty iffy right now. Jordan Luplow, acquired in trade from the Pirates, appears to be a favorite to win a job. Jason Kipnis could also be switched to the outfield …

[polo007]

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[Cyrus]

IT's too bad the Jays should have been doing what Seattle was doing last year, trading Donaldson, trading Stro/Sanchez/Osuna, Pillar, Martin / Tulo if they could attaching a high younger player like Osuna with them and taking a salary to get good prospects. Instead they thought they had 1 more good year, and then we know how that turned out.

[Schad]

After praising the previous Seattle move, the latest one is absolutely bizarre. JP Crawford hasn't hit enough to justify being basically the only return for Segura, never mind that the Mariners are taking on Carlos Santana's deal. Dipoto must really, really love Crawford, or he thinks that Santana can be spun off in trade.

[Tanner]

IT's too bad the Jays should have been doing what Seattle was doing last year, trading Donaldson, trading Stro/Sanchez/Osuna, Pillar, Martin / Tulo if they could attaching a high younger player like Osuna with them and taking a salary to get good prospects. Instead they thought they had 1 more good year, and then we know how that turned out.

Attaching Osuna with Tulo wasn’t going to work because a team would have actually had to want Tulo to begin with. Cano was a 3 war player last year and that was after missing half the year. The Mets for whatever reason actually wanted Cano at most of his salary (probably the NY connection). No team in their right minds was going to acquire Tulo after missing half the year and putting up a 0war (after 2017).

I can see envying many teams but Seattle is not one of them. Dipoto making trades every 48 hours and hoping at least 50% of them make sense is not my idea of fun.

[Skin Blues]

IT's too bad the Jays should have been doing what Seattle was doing last year, trading Donaldson, trading Stro/Sanchez/Osuna, Pillar, Martin / Tulo if they could attaching a high younger player like Osuna with them and taking a salary to get good prospects. Instead they thought they had 1 more good year, and then we know how that turned out.

I'd much prefer the Jays pay Tulo's salary rather than giving up assets to have somebody else pay it.

[Cyrus]

Fine Tulo is a bad example, but you could have paired Osunsa / Martin last year in the offseason, and pay down some of Martin salary, to get quality assets back. Anyways this is hindsight. I just like the direction Seattle is taking, they made a decision, and is going in all in on that direction, rather than playing the middle, where you think you can rebuild while trying to field a competitive team.

[SharoneWright]

Fine Tulo is a bad example, but you could have paired Osunsa / Martin last year in the offseason, and pay down some of Martin salary, to get quality assets back. Anyways this is hindsight. I just like the direction Seattle is taking, they made a decision, and is going in all in on that direction, rather than playing the middle, where you think you can rebuild while trying to field a competitive team.

Your best example (obviously) was Donaldson,,,,, because

#1. Everyone knew he wouldn't be re-signed by the Jays at his price when his contract was up, and
#2. Everyone knew the Jays weren't making the playoffs in 2018

After that, any reasonable measures to shed Tulo, Martin, Stro?, etc would have already been paying off for us.

[polo007]

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*The Mets have not given up in their quest to acquire Marlins catcher J.T. Realmuto – who, like Canó, is represented by general manager Brodie Van Wagenen’s former agency, CAA (Roc Nation shares in the representation of Canó).

A trade for Realmuto, however, would appear highly unlikely, given the depletion of the Mets’ already-thin system after the trades of Kelenic and Dunn. The same goes for a trade for Indians right-hander Corey Kluber, unless the Mets acquired youngsters for right-hander Noah Syndergaard, then flipped some of those players along with some of their own to the Indians.

The Mets conceivably could build a package for Kluber around one of their young outfielders, Michael Conforto or Brandon Nimmo. But such a move would be counterproductive with Yoenis Céspedes out until the second half after undergoing surgeries on both heels.

In any case, the Mets’ talks with the Padres over Syndergaard have cooled, at least for the moment. Their interest in Kluber was first reported by MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand.

The Jays are open to trading any player who is within two years of free agency, but they are not necessarily in a hurry to move Stroman and Sanchez, particularly when their biggest need is starting pitching.

Timing will be everything – the team can act at the non-waiver deadline, next off-season or at the deadline in 2020. In the meantime, the Jays figure to be late movers in free agency, waiting for bargains to arise.

*Speaking of the Jays, shortstop Troy Tulowitzki is working out at his alma mater, Long Beach State, and looks great according to two friends who saw him recently.

[Skin Blues]

Fine Tulo is a bad example, but you could have paired Osunsa / Martin last year in the offseason, and pay down some of Martin salary, to get quality assets back. Anyways this is hindsight. I just like the direction Seattle is taking, they made a decision, and is going in all in on that direction, rather than playing the middle, where you think you can rebuild while trying to field a competitive team.

So you wish we traded Osuna for prospects. OK, I agree with that. I think I said the same thing at the time. There's no benefit to packaging him with Russell Martin, though, unless you want to save the Jays some money. The contract (as with almost all contracts) is under water for the last couple years. So you either pay Russell Martin yourself, or you give up an asset to somebody else so that they're willing to pay for him. There's no synergy here in packaging those two trades together. What are the chances that the best return for Martin and the best return for Osuna would have come from the same team? We'd be better off saying "Hey Atlanta, here's $30M if you want to take on the rest of Martin's contract" and then finding a suitor for Osuna or Donaldson or whoever. The only reason to do a package deal like you're suggesting is so that you can offer the asset (Osuna) in lieu of cash to offset the negative surplus value in the veteran (Martin).

[Myth11111]

Corbin to the Nats for $140 million over 6 years.

[Black Watch]

Hope AA doesn't feel like he has to go out and make a move in return...

[polo007]

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[Tanner]

Fine Tulo is a bad example, but you could have paired Osunsa / Martin last year in the offseason, and pay down some of Martin salary, to get quality assets back. Anyways this is hindsight. I just like the direction Seattle is taking, they made a decision, and is going in all in on that direction, rather than playing the middle, where you think you can rebuild while trying to field a competitive team.

But what good would getting less for Osuna and saving money on Martins deal actually do? In baseball draft budget and international budget is separate from big league payroll so unless we would have reallocated that money elsewhere it would have gone in Rogers pockets. Osuna should have been traded on his own regardless but bad luck with the DV situation.

Jays can eat up $17m of Martin’s deal and get a C+ prospect and it would still be better than grouping him with someone else. Jays need to focus now on maximizing return now that they have accepted rebuilding as their fate.