Here’s the latest from Ken Rosenthal, via a video from FOX Sports.
- The Royals’ best course with potential free agents Mike Moustakas, Lorenzo Cain and Eric Hosmer might be to extend qualifying offers to all of them, Rosenthal opines. That would at least give them a windfall of draft picks if all three players were to sign big contracts elsewhere. The Royals seem to be running out of time to contend, and the extra draft picks would give them a head start on reloading.
- There has been some chatter about the possibility that teams could circumvent posting rules to lure Shohei Otani by promising to sign him to a small deal now and a big extension in the future. Rosenthal, though, notes that the league would not allow such an arrangement. Of course, as FanGraphs’ Dave Cameron pointed out, the signing team would have plausible deniability if it waited to officially strike the second deal until after Otani had played in the Majors for a year, since teams frequently try to sign top young talents to extensions. Such a deal would have to fit in with established precedents, however.
- The Nationals’ recent promotion of top prospect Victor Robles underscores just how many outfield options the team will have even if Bryce Harper departs via free agency following the 2018 season, Rosenthal says. In addition to Robles, they have Michael Taylor, Adam Eaton and Brian Goodwin, all of whom are under team control for the next several seasons, plus another top young prospect in Juan Soto.
- The Dodgers’ outstanding depth could allow them to use lefty starter Alex Wood and righty Kenta Maeda as multi-inning relievers in the playoffs, Rosenthal notes. That means the Dodgers would be able to use quick hooks on any starter having a bad outing.
Brian Goodwin you mean, kind sir.
Mmm, barbecue in the bellybutton if I ever saw a fuzzy towel.
why the royals didn’t trade at least one of those guys for prospects is beyond me. there was a while mid season i thought they’d hang around the WC maybe even the central, but with so many mediocre teams in the AL fray, trade your FAs and see what you can get.
They should of been full sellers at the deadline, but can’t blame them because they had a wildcard spot. Now they are not gonna get anything for them at all, No way they resign Moustakus or Hosmer since they are boras clients.
Disagree entirely. They were 55-49 on July 31, with a 55% chance to make the postseason according to Fangraphs, and there aren’t too many better recent examples of the unpredictability of MLB playoffs than the 2014-2015 Royals.
In all likelihood, they were destined for a long rebuild after this year regardless, so unless they were completely out of it (which they clearly were not), there was basically no upside to selling. If they’re going to be terrible from 2018-2021 or so regardless, no reason to not take one more shot this year.
I agree, What did they give up? Hosmer and Moustakas probably would’ve brought was what Duda, Alonso, and Frazier did. That wasn’t much. They had/have one more shot. It makes sense to take it.
I think they should resign Moustakas if they’ll try for any of those 3. Hosmer hasn’t been as productive as I hoped.
Woods been their 2nd best SP, why move him to the pen? Who would start with Kershaw and Darvish?
Rich Hill. But Wood will probably start game 4 unless he gets fatigued again
ah, forgot about HIll. Fair enough
I was thinking the same thing. I myself would start Wood before Hill in 4 man rotation. The reason I feel that way is because I am not sure which Hill will be pitching that day. Will it be the 9 innings of no hit pitching Hill, or the 5 runs in the first inning Hill? Wood has had a few bad outings recently, but I still think he is more consistent than Hill at the moment and deserves the 3rd start. I really feel he deserves the second start but don’t think that’ll happen with him being a lefty and all.
At the moment Hill is way more reliable than wood. Hill could potentially get the ball in game 2 at the moment
I don’t have the dodgers going far in the post season, I can see the dbacks taking them out in the first round honestly.
The dbacks are a scary team. But the reality is that any team could get hot and win. If you put a losing team in the playoffs, they’d only need to play one hot month of baseball to win the World Series. That’s why the best team rarely wins.
“That’s why the best team rarely wins.”
That’s a bit much, Mr. Goat. While every additional round of playoffs decreases the odds that the best team will win it is still not a rare occurrence. Doesn’t happen as often as might be expected but not scarce.
Can you name all the teams with the best record for the season that have won the WS in this century?
It will surprise you how few have done it.
Best team and best record are not tied together. The Red Sox are a better team than the Nationals but one plays in the best division in MLB while the other plays in the weakest.
The NLE might be the weakest division in baseball this year, but the ALE is definitely not the strongest.
NLW .520
ALE .513
ALW .509
NLC .499
ALC .489
NLE .469
The other consideration is the team that plays most of the season won’t normally be identical to the one that is fielded in the postseason. Teams prepare for the postseason by patching up their deficiencies. The Nationals have done a lot to fix their big problem in the bullpen. I’d much rather face the Rockies than than the Nats in the NLDS.
If the Dodgers beat Robbie Ray in game 1 its over. They are going to make him work and thats when ray gets ineffective
I don’t have the Angels making the playoffs honestly.
I’ll take Ryu in Game 4 over Wood right now. Kid is gassed, and Ryu has PO experience.
Otani’s situation is fascinating. There are no loopholes to pay him more. Some teams traded for additional international dollars but they certainly spent some money on international free agents during the season. I’d guess no team has more than $5 million left. If he’s willing to come now and give up so much money I doubt he’s going to choose one team over another because they can offer more. If he’s willing to give up $100 million by coming early, he’s willing to give up $3 million in choosing his team.
We don’t know if money will come into play or if he wants to play in a big market or for a contender. All we know is that he wants to hit. Since he hasn’t played the field in a few years that means spending a few days a week as a DH. That’d seemingly exclude NL teams.
LOTS of loopholes. After he is added to the 40 man roster he can immediately be extended. There is no rule against it and any rule they try to make would be struck down in a court. Jon Singleton signed a 7 year, $30 million extension before he played a single game in the majors. The precedent is there.
Several teams have upwards of $8 million to spend because they have received IFA pool money in trades.
Otani has said he is not excluding NL teams. In fact, one of the teams that nearly everyone is saying is in the hunt is an NL team.
Sure, but 7 years $30 million isn’t nearly as much as he could sign for. At his age he’d probably get 7 years $140 million. That’s a lot less.
The Yankees could have as much as R8.3 million in IFA pool money but they’ve probably already spent $3-4 million of their pool. The Red Sox gave over $6 million to 3 players already. While some teams have increased their pool they’ve probably spent a lot of it. And teams can’t go over the pool the way they have in the past.
I haven’t heard anything about Otani excluding NL teams or not excluding them. What I do hear is that he wants to hit at least semi-regularly the way he has in Japan. In 2016 he started 20 games as a pitcher and another 80 or so at DH. It’d be a surprise if he played in the field because he hasn’t in several years. I doubt he’d settle for being a PH.
Actually that’s not necessarily true. There is new language in the CBA that could nullify a contract. Add onto that if such were to happen you’ll have 29 teams complaining to the ent degree. So the loopholes that were thought to be open are really closed. Granted three years in a team could extend him but I’m betting he has no incentive to sign an under market value extension.
“Otani’s situation is fascinating. There are no loopholes to pay him more.”
He’s from Japan. The only foreign players where there wouldn’t be a loophole is a Cuban player who did not defect.
How many ways around paying Otani there are is limited only by the imagination and desire of a teams owner to sign him.
Does anybody know how much money he makes to play in Japan? Might that be a factor going forward if he waits the required amount of time to break into the MLB?
As I said, cerealfaminedreamer, there are roadblocks for Otani to come to where he ” should” be
So you admit he should be a Yankee. Don’t worry hockey season starts soon.
If the Yankees get Otani I’m going to be sick. Even if the Mariners can’t get him he should go somewhere else. In New York, there are already too many young stars and Otani could become lost in the shuffle. He needs to go to a city that appreciates him enough
That’s just a horrible statement. If he’s 70% of what everyone makes him out to b he will b plenty appreciated anywhere he goes.
No it’s more that you expect him to come to New York because that’s the way it is.
You misspelt smug!
As for hockey I will get a big kick out of the Leafs beating the bejesus out of the Rangers, Team Who and Team What this year
The Cubs are all in on Otani, the word in Chicago land is Epstein will most likely be out on resigning Jake Arrieta for he will be a free agent this winter. Do not count out any West Coast team especially the Dodgers and believe it or not but Otani has some strong ties with the Padres.
Regarding “established precedents” for Otani.
There are none.
For instance, the Indians didn’t threaten to rip up Lindor’s contract the second year after it was signed. Then, he was in Advanced-A ball.
There are no precedents for a first-time roll-out.
Royals unfortunately got caught in between this season, and while their run was impressive, it will ultimately cost them extra years in the coming rebuild. Offering the QO to the big 3 is about the only option they have. As bleak as things appear for the near future, Royals can take comfort in the fact that Detroit is actually in a much worse position.