The Mariners have extended congratulations (via Twitter) to Tacoma News Tribune writer Bob Dutton, who will retire at the end of the season. Dutton’s reporting on the Mariners and the Royals (he previously was a longtime beat writer for the Kansas City Star) have been indispensable to us here at MLBTR for years. We wish him the best of luck as he begins the next chapter of his life. Here’s more from throughout the game.
- Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen could have rebuilt the team when he was hired following its 69-93 record last season. He didn’t, and the club was rewarded when the Diamondbacks clinched a Wild Card berth today, Steve Gilbert of MLB.com writes. “The reason we kept the team together in the offseason was because we wanted to give these guys a chance to redeem what happened last season,” says Hazen. Last winter, the Diamondbacks did make one big trade (sending Jean Segura, Mitch Haniger and Zac Curtis to Seattle for Taijuan Walker and Ketel Marte) and a few cheap free-agent signings (including Chris Iannetta and Fernando Rodney). But they mostly retained a core held over from previous front offices, and much of that core (including Paul Goldschmidt and Zack Greinke) thrived in 2017. Hazen also, of course, later added J.D. Martinez in a huge mid-summer move that propelled the team to the finish line.
- In taking over the Marlins, Derek Jeter is also taking over “what might be baseball’s most complicated set of obstacles,” ESPN’s Buster Olney writes. One of the many problems Jeter will face is the team’s debt, which is tied to Giancarlo Stanton’s hefty contract. Keeping Stanton could leave the Marlins with little room to maneuver in the coming years, but trading him would be seen as a move similar to the team’s trade of Miguel Cabrera years ago.
- While Rangers right-hander Andrew Cashner told Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and other reporters on Sunday that he’s open to re-signing with the team, an offseason trip to the open market looks inevitable. “It’s going to be fun. I’m looking forward to it. I can’t wait,” said the free agent-to-be. “I might strike early. I think there will be some good offers soon. I’ll take what’s best for me and where I want to go.” The Rangers’ $10MM investment in Cashner last winter has paid off this season, but they still haven’t approached the 31-year-old about a new deal. That’s understandable on Texas’ part, as even though Cashner has logged a 3.44 ERA over 157 innings, he’s second last among qualified starters in K/9 (4.7) and third from the bottom in swinging-strike percentage (6.1).
- As they’ve done in the past, the Rays will at least listen to offseason offers for right-hander Chris Archer and closer Alex Colome, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Topkin adds that there’s no reason to believe the team will attempt to move third baseman and longtime face of the franchise Evan Longoria. On the other hand, righty Jake Odorizzi may find himself in another uniform next season, per Topkin. The 27-year-old has endured a down 2017 and only has two years of arbitration eligibility remaining.
- Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy hopes to return for 2018, MASN’s Steve Melewski tweets. “I still feel I can play and we’ll see what happens,” Hardy says. It’s been a frustrating season for Hardy, who’s batted a mere .218/.255/.321. Hardy also suffered a broken wrist in June, then watched the Orioles trade for Tim Beckham, who replaced him at shortstop and thrived. The O’s seem all but certain to pay Hardy a $2MM buyout rather than picking up his 2018 option. It remains to be seen what the future holds for the 35-year-old, although it’s worth noting that he was a productive player as recently as last season.
It was amazing the mariners chose to give up Walker last offseason instead of Paxton who also only had 2y of service time after 2016 and had struggled like Walker previously.
Paxton, being a Boras client was never going to sign any contract extension once figuring it all out (which he has) while Walker possibly would and both were/are immensely talented pitchers.
Another of those head scratcher deals coming out of Seattle the last 2-3 seasons
Segura and Haniger is a decent return for Seattle
No head-scratching going on in Seattle. Segura and Haniger are both excellent offensive players, both solid defensively, both young, both with good speed. They will contribute for years. Walker will be better as he matures. Seattle is in “win now” mode with Cruz and Cano both beginning to age out. Good trade for both teams.
Paxton has been a better pitcher than walker. If he could stay healthy, he could be a No. 1 starter.
The trade was probably one of two, maybe three that DiPito worked out well for the Mariners.
The M’s were willing to trade Walker because he refused to take coaching in Seattle and they were tired of his “act.” Even missing time this year, Paxton was more valuable than Walker (3.5 WAR vs 2.6).
Do you guys attribute La Russa’s demotion/reduced role in say over baseball matters for the Dbacks resurgence? Or does he still have the same role? When they hired him, I really wanted it to work with La Russa, legendary manager.
If we shadows have offended, Think but this, and all is mended, That you have but slumbered here While these visions did appear. And this weak and idle theme, No more yielding but a dream.
Else pick a liar call
Else puck a liar call
Boricua
If a team were to take on Stanton’s entire deal, would anything of value need to be headed back to Miami? I got a feeling that after Harper and Machado sign their deals, Stanton’s isn’t going to look as menacing. Inflation will make it a more palatable contract near the end.
To be, or not to be. That is the question. Whether tis nobler in the mind to endure the slings and arrows of outrageous misfortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles.
You’re a real genius Big Cubbie!!
I’m sure the Yankees would give up some talent depending on how much would be taken off the contract. Like a sliding scale.
Dodgers would probably just take it straight up. They seem to like adding money when they don’t even really need too.
The tough thing is the new agreement really clamps down on luxury tax teams.
The Dodgers dabble in contracts under $50M. This FO is not keen on handing out anything higher except for maybe homegrown stars, i.e. Turner, Jansen. They’ll hand out a bunch of those contracts to pitchers because they know how hard it is to develop pitching depth. It’s not like they enjoy wasting cap space. Going after Stanton would not be the MO of this front office.
Um, the Yankees have a younger, cheaper RFer who just hit his 50th HR. I understand why they always turn up among the usual suspects when big money is involved. But I’d think the Yanks are among the last teams to go after Stanton.
Yes, even going forward Stanton may be an upgrade over Judge. And yes, between LF, 1B and DH the Yanks would find a place for both of them. But Stanton is worth less to the Yanks than he would be to a team that doesn’t already have a similar, if ultimately lesser, player.
Is that accurate? Watching Hardy play, it seems like he’s 80……
A year ago, according to a lot of people here, the D’backs were a totally doomed team that had to sell and sell fast if it ever hoped to be competitive again for many years to come. I wonder if anyone will now confess to having expressed that point of view?
It’s a wild card spot in a weak NL. They ain’t the 27 Yankees. Simmer down.
NLW .528
ALE .515
ALW .509
NLC .498
ALC .489
NLE .471
As for your other remark, you might look up “reductio ad absurdum.” Understanding that concept might help you make better arguments.
Hoorible argument.
1. If you add them up, al is higher.
2. Only difference between them is interleague since every win in the division corresponds to a loss.
3. Those numbers don’t tell the whole story when a terrible team beats another terrible team. Same for vice versa.
Reductio that.
Hoorible logic.
They were kinda getting ready to regress until JD Martinez saved them. He’s a free agent next year and will cost a ton. If they don’t sign him, I could see them returning to a ~81 win team again.
Not sure how you use it, but I use regression in the statistical meaning of the word. So by that definition, they were due to regress to better performance this year, since they’d were undercut by key injuries in 2016 and an uncharacteristically poor year from Greinke. They’ve had the lineup for several years but lacked the pitching. This year they have the pitching. Martinez was just icing on the cake. As a Dodger fan I hope the Rockies can get lucky and win the wild card game because I’d much rather face Colorado in the NLDS than Arizona.
Anyhow, the point is still out there. Took a lot of guff a year ago for saying that the D’Backs should stay the course for this year at least. Difficult to see how anyone who thought they were due for a complete rebuild were right.
Their line-up was good this year until JD Martinez. Goldy was still Goldy, but Pollock was hurt and they had a few question marks at 2B/SS/RF.
JD’s 27 HRs was more than just “icing on the cake”. They needed another bat in their line-up.
I’m not discounting the importance of the Martinez trade, but they were not exactly floundering before then. They don’t make that trade unless they are already well in the hunt. The point again is the D’backs were due for a bounce-back this year by keeping their 2016 roster largely intact. All the talk about how they needed to tear it down and start over this year seemed pretty silly at the time, and seems even sillier now.
Idk if “get lucky” is the right sentiment for 1 game with Gray on the mound. If it were a series I’d hold similar views, but definitely not one game.
Winning the wildcard game always requires some luck, but since we’re on the subject, if it’s Gray vs. Grienke or Ray, I would not necessarily give the edge to Gray.
Ok I understand what you’re saying now. People seem to be automatically filling in Az as the winner. My point was Gray is a pretty damn good pitcher. That said I’d probably give a slight edge to Grienke, but I’d give the bigger edge to Col bullpen.
The Dodgers are probably the stupidest team financially speaking. Do they remember Carl Crawford and the trade fiasco from the Red Sox? The Dodgers took on $250 million. Not smart.
Sure I’m just payroll sense it was pretty stupid, but in business sense it was the smartest thing they could have done. Fans stopped showing up. Their farm was decimated, because McCourt didn’t have the financial resources to take on any money. That trade marked a turning point. Funny people started showing up to the stadium after that.
Yup, it was a definite statement move from the new owners, going after Gonzales (taking on the dead money owed to Crawford was the price). At that point the Dodgers were running an annual payroll of around $100m. The stadium was often at half capacity during those years. The farm had been decimated under two successive ownerships, Fox and McCourt. They not only didn’t sign top free agents, they starved a development system that was once one of the best in baseball. Ah, the good old days, when the Dodgers were run by “smart” owners!
That was the old front office. Not Andrew Friedmann’s crew. Very smart people running it now over there.
Angels gave 77 to Wilson and 240 to Pujols. Took on vernon wells. Thats worse buddy
@dodgersfan, you can add Josh Hamilton’s contract to that list.