On the heels of last night’s blockbuster trade and a pair of notable free-agent signings, here are three things for MLBTR readers to keep an eye on today…
1. What’s next for the Yankees?
The Yankees hearkened back to their Evil Empire days with yesterday’s blockbuster acquisition of Juan Soto, who came to the Bronx alongside Trent Grisham in a trade sending five players back to the Padres. The Yanks now have a projected $278MM payroll and an even heftier $290MM worth of luxury-tax obligations, but it doesn’t seem they’re done. Because the Yankees traded four pitchers — current starter Michael King, depth arms Jhony Brito and Randy Vasquez, and top prospect Drew Thorpe — in order to add Soto, further maneuvering to bring some starting pitching into the fold seems likely. That could even be a high-end arm. Yoshinobu Yamamoto remains a free agent, and he’s slated to meet with the Yankees on Monday. They’ve also been tied to a (much) lower-cost reunion with rebound candidate Frankie Montas after an injury-ruined Yankees tenure.
2. Will the Reds move an infielder for pitching help?
There’d been plenty of talk about the Reds possibly trading Jonathan India even before last night — though president of baseball operations Nick Krall has worked to downplay it. Cincinnati already had a wealth of infield talent in the form of India, Spencer Steer, Matt McLain, Noelvi Marte, Elly De La Cruz and Christian Encarnacion-Strand all having reached the big leagues. Wednesday evening’s surprise addition of Jeimer Candelario on a three-year deal likely pushes Steer into left field on a full-time basis. Even still, that leaves the Reds with six infielders for four spots — five if you include a potential rotational usage of the designated hitter spots.
There’s plenty of versatility among the bunch. Candelario can play both corners. De La Cruz can play third and short, as can Marte. McLain can play both middle infield spots. Krall spoke just yesterday about India possibly moving around the infield in a utility capacity. And, of course, injuries are a near inevitability for any big league club. Still, as the Reds look to bolster their rotation, it’s hard not to wonder whether that infield depth will be used to facilitate a trade. They’ve balked at the price for Dylan Cease thus far and might be loath to part with a controllable infielder for one year of either Shane Bieber or Tyler Glasnow, but there could yet be other creative opportunities for Cincinnati to explore. The Marlins are again listening on their bevy of arms, for instance, and with so much infield talent to peddle, Krall might be able to convince another team that’s not an obvious seller of starting pitching to part with an unexpected arm.
3. All eyes (still) on Shohei:
Shohei Ohtani continues to hold up the top end of the free-agent and trade markets, to varying extents. However, he’s ostensibly met with the majority (if not all) of his suitors by now, and MLB.com’s Jon Morosi suggested yesterday that Ohtani is “expected” to make a decision on his free agent destination before the conclusion of this weekend. The Dodgers, Blue Jays, Giants and Angels are believed to be finalists, and Cubs president Jed Hoyer earlier this week denied reports that his club has become pessimistic in its quest to sign the two-way star.
Top 5 FA predictions:
Ohtani – LAD
Yamamoto – NYY
Snell – SEA
Bellinger – SF
Montgomery – BOS
I mostly agree with that but I’d put Yamamoto going to the Mets.
Yes. I have him going to the Mets too. Hell, Cohen flew to Japan, so that tells you how serious he is about getting his guy.
Atkins went to Japan 3 times last season to watch Yamamoto pitch and Yamamoto is set to meet with the Jays next week!
So did cash as well as the red sox and about 3/4 of the league..i think its more noteworthy of those that didnt go see him..which is very few
Big difference between the GM going to visit in japan and the owner going, especially from an optics perspective in japanese culture.
The mets owner is the only one to make a show of it which seems to be his style..how do we know no other owner or ceo went to visit?
Ok Atkins is the GM & not the owner who will pay the price. If Cohen on a personal level invested his own time & energy in meeting with the player in his environment it is way different from the GM doing his job and then reporting back tonan owner on what he has to offer the player. Cohen could essentially offer whatever he wants he has the pockets to do so.
So just because you want to believe the Jays swim in the same waters as Cohen they don’t. And if he has his personal feelings invested he will not be outbid.
Because other owners run their teams like business men. Steve Cohen runs his like a fan.
The Yankees are very serious about him too. Cashman and Minaya both were in attendance for Yamamoto’s no-hitter, and the team had a scout present at every single one of his starts this season.
Nope didn’t give all that up for Soto just to be outbid for YY we’re pushing 300M and that’s okay with Hal.
If one of these billionaires wants to keep bidding higher..the yankees wont be able to stop them..the reason he will go anyplace will not be based on money it will be because he wants to be there..the money will all be crazy high
Hopefully Yoshi is as good as advertised. I’m always leery about players commanding big salaries who’ve never played in the big leagues.
NYY would have 3 $300M players — and that’s not even re-signing Soto, yet, who already turned down a $440M contract.
Believe it when I see it. He is not his father far from it.
No, I know, but he might think the same thing and try to overcompensate — and attempt to write his own legacy.
If the jays miss on Shohei, I think they will sign Yamamoto and use Manoah to fill the position player side
Ohtani either to LAD or returns to Angels and the loser pivots hard for Yamamoto so Moto is shrewd here to wait for the Ohtani decision.
Do the Mets ever win a FA signing over the Yankees? The answer is never. Carlos Beltran was begging the Yanks to sign him and offered to take less $.
Moto will choose the Yankees over the Mets or go to the Dodgers or Angels.
Yankees have all the momentum now to go for Soto + Moto.
Steer clear of the Lol Mets.
Mets have a different owner now, so don’t get too cocky.
Right Yankees acquire Soto while the Mets sign Scrubbs.
Can’t make this up. New Owner Same Old Mets LOL
Verlander last year chose Mets over Yankees
Not really Cohen put his eggs in a basket realized it failed and retreated. He gathered his senses got what he could while eating some of the all in money & decided for sustained success he has to build within and establish a culture. Takes a little time to do that but the rewards are worth it ask the Yankees, Dodgers, Braves & Astros.
He initially tried to buy a championship didn’t work now he is building for the future. He didn’t get his money by being a dummy
He chose the guaranteed extra year and extra cash. All things were not equal, per most reporting at the time.
I agree but have Yamamoto going to the Red Sox and playing with his old teammate..
@geno as a met fan i sadly think you may be right
If Dodgers land Ohtani and Ohtani doesn’t mind playing with another Japanese player then he’s going to the Dodgers. Why would he pass up playing with his Hero on the team he grew up a fan of…..?
It’s unlikely that any team will blow up their payroll enough for both Ohtani and Yamamoto.
Dodgers are getting one or two SPs…
The Dodgers probably value keeping their young trade assets who carry surplus value to fill out the the back of the rotation and paying Yamamoto $30 million or so a year…
Opposed to trading assets to pay Glasnow $25 million or Burnes a similarly high salary.
Yamamoto is so young that all the big market teams are more than willing to commit many years at those numbers…
Talking about Yamamoto
So am I. No team is getting both Ohtani and Yamamoto.
Blue Baron, Bob Nutting is about to blow your mind.
Guess that rules out the Pirates
Why would Shohei miss out on playing with Kikuchi. His hero growing up
@Mystery13: How do you know that?
@blue baron Because it’s widely reported, they went to the same high school and Shohei looks at him like a mentor
Reported where? Link?
All over the internet. Ohtani wears the number Kikuchi wore in high school m
He’s not lying. When he played for the Mariners they would talk about Ohtani all the time about how he idolized Kikuchi every he was on the mound. Apparently he always wanted to play with him. Apparently eventhough Shohei recently bought a house in Seattle and now lives there, he doesn’t want to sign with them because he didnt like the way they released Kikuchi.
To develop his own legacy and be the sole Japanese spotlight on a team – why share the limelight?
None of us actually knows what’s important to him.
It’s also brought up in the Jeff Fletcher book, for which Shohei was not interviewed but his people never condemned it or anything.
Kikuchi is also the most likely trade candidate if they did sign Ohtani.
Ironically Shohei signing in Toronto would save Seattle $50mil, because a big Julio contract elevator is MVP votes.
Ohtani- BJays
Yamamoto- SF
Snell- SEA
Bellinger- SF
Mont- BOS
BREAKING NEWS: SHOHEI OHTANI TO THE YANKEES… LOLOLOLOLOLOL
Obtain-Blue Jays
Yamamoto is a toss up between the Mets and Giants
Snell- Mets
Bellinger-Padres
Montgomery-Back to Texas
Jays have to get one of these guys if they miss Ohtani and their backup plans in NY
Seattle will not spend on Snell and shouldn’t. Trading Suarez, Kelenic, Marco and White was a GOOD move… if the money saved is reinvested. They need a better defensive ss, move JP to 2b, find a good defensive 3b’man who doesn’t strike out 200 times yet can hit middle of the order and get 2 OF/DH bats of note. France may be washed up offensively at 1b.
Does this mythical 3B have a name?
Seattle’s pretty well stocked with pitching. I doubt they’ll sign Snell at the price he wants.
Could Marte get Cabrera from the Marlins ?
I think he could but I don’t know that the Reds would want him.
It would have to be Garrett. Cabrera can’t stay healthy and reds are already loaded w starting pitchers like that.
Plus if they won’t trade lawder for cease there’s no chance they part w marte for anyone but Perez
Not enough. Cabrera worth more.
Easily..the reds would be fools to trade marte..cabrera is def worth less than marte
I just have this crazy feeling that AA will shock the world & sign Ohtani.
So many variables that are not being talked about.
The fact that the whole core is on team friendly deals and the TV contract is up for renegotiation in the next year or 2. And lastly all the money that is coming off the books next year with Fried, Morton & Ozuna all free agents.
I myself don’t want Ohtani because of the fact he plays 2 positions and if or when he does get hurt it’s that much harder to replace to positions than it is to replace 1. A team loses its 1-2 best pitcher and it’s 1-2 hitter in the line up at the same time is hard to replace. With him that fear would always be there.
I think the bigger shock, and one that I see likelier to happen (both extremely unlikely though), is AA signing Yamamoto. That’s what I’d like to see happen.
If AA signs Ohtani, though, Ozuna would be traded this year. In fact, he wouldn’t sign Ohtani without a buyer for Ozuna.
You both sound like two spoiled kids at Christmas. Seriously guys.
Hard to tell because of all the secrecy, so no one can say you’re wrong with any certainty. That said, you’re wrong. I’m certain of that.
They can waste him & put him out to pasture just like Trout. Yankee fans are happy that if they can’t have Trout or Ohtani that they both just rot on a non contending team.
Who? What?
I doubt they care that much about other teams. Nobody’s fans do.
The Cubs SHOULD be more than pessimistic – they’re out. Looks like Angels, Dodgers & Jays. I predicted he’d go back to the Angels. I still think that. He wants his routine. and wants to be comfortable. But c’mon, I’m sure money plays at least some role in all this. At least I’m sure his agent is thinking about money. He likely gets a percentage, so the higher the deal, the more he makes.
For 2024, Yankees will have an estimated $108M payroll in the Outfield.
Thats Insane.
26 mil more than reds whole payroll even after the 3 FA signings lol
I’m a Yankees fan, but I’d find it hilarious if the Yankees reunited with Montas and he gave them like one start and then tore his UCL or something.
But hey- maybe a third season’s the charm and he stays healthy and gives them 30 starts, goes 17-8, pitches to a 2.96 ERA and shows up for them in the post season?
I guess a 1 year/$8.5M flier on him wouldn’t be awful either way….
Montas came to the Yankees with an injured shoulder and then missed 2023 (essentially) when it required surgery. He wasn’t any type of lockdown pitcher even before his injury.
Cashman better get Yamamoto and he better be the real deal, because he just traded a handful of big league pitching for One-dimensional Juan. Yanks are weaker today because of yesterday’s trade.
Weaker… in a tug of war?
Losing King was a tough blow but Vasquez and Brito are easily replaced. Thorpe wouldn’t be in the bigs until next year unless there was a major catastrophe in the starting five.
That’s still 230 effective innings they have to replace for 2024. I had no problem giving up Thorpe, from what I’ve seen of him on video, his stuff isn’t going to play MLB, at least at an elite level.
Higashioka – whom I liked – was also expendable.King is the one who hurts the most. Has some Kevin Brown in him. Would rather have given up Schmidt, but I don’t blame SD for demanding King.
Like I said, I feel they are weaker today than they were yesterday, but the offseason isn’t over yet.
I think a little context is needed. Their offensive production (which was ranked at the bottom of the 30 teams) just became stronger. Their relief pitching, which was ranked at the top of the 30 teams became a little weaker (King being a huge loss). They can inexpensively fill the relievers, but they need to improve starting pitching (also ranked mid to bottom of the 30 teams).
I was half joking but i do think they’re much better now. Soto is going to make a big difference to this lineup. And I’m definitely no Yankee fan. King is a nice pitcher, but can be replaced. The other three wouldn’t likely make a dent in 2024. higashioka could also be replaced pretty easily. I know some are disparaging soto but he’s an elite player and just improved the team quite a bit.
I am definitely not buying that the Mets and Red Sox are out on Ohtani.
Why Red Sox? They already have 3 DHs (Devers, Casas, Yoshida) and need immediate pitching help. That makes no sense.
Mets tried going all in with money, it didn’t work, they shed as much as they could, they’re still on the hook financially for a bunch of the contracts they shed, Cohen might be the wealthiest owner, but he’s not going to burn money that way and I just don’t see Ohtani and the Mets as a good fit- heck, I am a Yankees fan and I don’t see Ohtani and the Yankees as being a good fit.
Dunno what it is exactly, but I don’t see it.
I don’t think they were ever IN on him. Ohtani doesn’t want to play on the east coast, it’s the furthest distance from Japan. I’d put the blue jays out of the mix too and sadly tbe cubs. He would own chicago and that would be the best place for him but it’s hard to convey that to him.
I do think the mets are out. Apparently he’s made it pretty clear he doesnt love NY
They didn’t “evil empire” Soto, they didn’t sign him for big money, they traded arguably their best reliever and best pitching prospects along with a quality everyday catcher that hits .215 like the rest of the Yankees. If they sign Ohtani then yea- that’s evil empire crap.
“they didn’t sign him for big money”
1) 27M for 1 year is big money. In the Outfield, four players ($108M) are making more than 9 teams entire payrolls in 2023.
2) For the Yankees, giving up that many prospects for Soto, only makes sense, if they sign him long-term. I predict, before ST, Yankees will extend Soto.
You chose your words carefully “they didnt sign him”, but everything else about this deal says “big money”.
I personally don’t see Soto extending before he hits free agency with having Scott Boras as his agent.
Alex Rodriguez, Stephen Strasburg, Carlos Gomez, Carlos Gonzalez and many more names come up when searching “Boras extension walk year”.
Boras likes to maximize dollars by having his FAs enter Free Agency, but if a team meets his price, they’ll sign in their walk year.
The Yankees have historically let players go to FA (Hicks and Sevy being the exceptions). Their MO is let a player get his best deal and then come back to see if the Yankees will beat the offer
I’m not optimistic but let’s see what happens when the Yankees and Boras exchanges numbers for Soto’s arbitration.
“The Yankees have historically let players go to FA”
Then they gave way too much up.
I won’t argue that point but it’s what George always did and they’ve not changed under Hal.
Boras isn’t going to be able to drain the last nickel from the NYY, until there is aledges competition for Soto’s services once he becomes a FA.
I don’t think reds and fish are a match. Reds need a TOR and a Perez trade seems highly unlikely. The rest of their guys don’t move the needle enough to trade for.
So all out
Eury Perez for
Marte
Lowder
Williamson/ashcraft
India
Doubt fish would entertain the notion but that’s the making of a blockbuster
Perez isn’t available.
Marte isn’t available. He is likely the Best of the Reds young infielders. No way they trade him for a pitcher whose career could be over with one pitch.
If Marte isn’t available why the heck did they sign Candaliero?
Next for the Yankees? Signing Yoshinobu, Ohtani & Shota Imanaga.
I don’t do that if I’m the Reds. Perez is a promising arm but that’s way too much to give up for a guy who hasn’t even thrown 100 big league innings yet. Perez straight up for Marte would be closer to fair value.
@jdgoat
Waht?!?
He replied to the wrong comment. Look at the comment above your and it will make sense.
290 million and MLB continues to try and convince us that parity exists. Comical.
Why don’t people say this, for, oh, I don’t know, the Padres? Or the Red Sox? Or even the Mets, all things considered?
Seems like it almost only ever comes up from fans in regards to the Yankees…. but also how silly and stupid and bad the Yankees are for spending close to $300 million annually to be a barely .500 club with a ton of Quadruple-A and reclamation guys trying to hold the roster together like duct tape…. except when they go out and actually spend and make depth and prospect sacrifices to compete, like literally every single club.
Funny how people want to have it both ways- they’re stupid, poorly run, have poor roster construction, can’t win when it matters- but their financial flexibility is an unfair advantage and is somehow hurting others clubs’ ability to compete..
Juan Soto was traded for prospects. Any team that wanted to could have made a better offer. Lots of jealousy out there. Envy turned the wicked witch if the west green.
Let’s not pretend there are any sort of parity between the Yankees and small market teams. A lot of teams could have offered more for Soto, but the Yankees have the resources to sign him to an extension. A team like the Reds or Pirates can’t even afford his current salary, let alone afford to sign Soto long term.
@dpsmith22
Parity is nonsense. If your hometown team’s owner is too cheap to spend money and would rather take the money that is supposed to be used to improve their team and pocket that money, that’s not the Yankees fault. Time to get rid of that tax and let teams spend how they want. I’m tired of subsidizing team owners like in Jokeland and Pittsburgh that would rather pocket the cash.
Y’all are ridiculous. There’s tons of parity in baseball ! Anyone can win. The best record at end of season rarely does and there’s teams coming out of no where every year.
When the marlins are ran better than Mets by spending 1/3 of the money and their record reflects it – that’s parity ! Same w Yankees and rays.
And look how terrible the giants business model is right now – they have next to nothing on their farm, their top prospects aren’t developing fast as hoped and they are the last stop for every big names free agent so they can leverage the giants offer to get more from the team they want to plan for.
Yankees made a terrible trade ! They gave up tons of assets to pay a super star market value. A desperate move and now they got to try to fill holes. Padres to them to the cleaners !
Agree about the Yankees making a bad trade. They should have just waited and signed him next off season. Their prospects are always overrated anyway, so it’s probably doesn’t matter that much.
Should I mentally prepare myself that the Giants are destined for 4th place in the NL West for the foreseeable future?
I keep wondering (and I’m a Dodger fan) why the Giants seem to be struggling to pull in key free agents. I prefer the Giants being really competitive with my Dodgers and outside of 2021, feels like it’s been awhile.
I’d love to know the real answer to that question as well. I’m not trying to be negative, I just want to know what the real problem is?
I took the family to a game last year. Tickets, gas, parking, food etc. cost me a ton of cost me a ton of $. I made sure that when I bought the tickets, the Giants were playing a team with actual stars. We watched them play the Mets, had a great time, beautiful park, but was wondering why the Giants can’t land the top tier players. I never really considered Correa in that category.
I probably won’t buy tickets again, unless something changes. I may instead take the family to a AAA game or just watch at home and enjoy listening to Krukow and Kuiper.
I could still see them landing snell and bellinger, for example. Maybe imanaga… I’m just not sure they’ll land Ohtani or YY. if I were a Giant fan, I wouldn’t give up hope yet.
Until the Rockies develop then they will be in 5th Farhan is a joke & terrible at his job
I am convinced more than ever after the Candelario signing that Po Boy is not going to land the veteran ace pitcher the Reds need on that staff. Pathetic.
Nah man, we didn’t add more depth to a crowded infield for nothing. We missed out on our other free agent choice so they’re definitely going to make a trade now.
Your being convinced that Krall will inevitably fail adds nothing to the conversation. We all knew that.
The Reds line up for a Cease trade very well.
Greene
Abbott
Ashcraft
Williamson
Lodolo
Martinez
Phillips
Richardson
That’s too many starters. Take 3 of those guys and turn them into Cease.
It’s kinda frustrating seeing the Reds being miserly for years and then they finally decide to spend money and they do it by signing a DH. This contract won’t age well. Feels like Moustakas 2.0.
The Mets need to sign Yamamoto and Montgomery, then trade Baty ,Vientos , a SS prospect, Allan and Megil to St Louis they need to get younger for Arenando. Than trade McNeil, Ramirez and a prospect to Cleveland for Clase only because I want to see some of the younger players, Acuna at 2b, Jett Williams in CF They need to sign Hoskins or Soler to DH. Extend Alonso and sign Woodruff for ‘25/‘26
This Yankee team is far from their Evil Empire days. The late 90s/early 00s Yankee team was a methodical, well balanced team that could beat you in many ways and had a lockdown closer.
2024 Yankees still have a lot of holes, especially their pitching, which Cashman just drained for 1 year of One-dimensional Juan.
Sites such as this one love the big-name trades because it drives clicks/revenue, but I’m not quite as excited. Soto isn’t a good baserunner, nor fielder and often has trouble with hustling and he was underwhelming for most of his time with SD. I believe Cashman gave up way too much for 1 season of One-dimensional Juan.
Oh whoa ! The Reds are exploring options for starting pitching? Maybe the WSox/Rays/Guardians?
Thanks for the late breaking news…
I hope the Reds keep Marte. I really think he may be the best eventually of their young core.
Stingray16.. I can remember reading last spring that the Reds weren’t particularly enamored with his work ethic. I like the guy, and would hate to see him go, but like the old saying goes.. ya gotta give something up to get something.
The player to give up may be McLain.
He had a .383babip and similar metrics which may indicate regression is ahead.
India is a known asset and valuable, though not overly so.
Move McLain for LGilbert…
Marte is a good headliner for Reds to use to get Cease. The WSox would not realize it’s like a hyped Moncada all over again as far as inconsistent effort/raw talent lauded by groupthink industry publications. Petty has had elbow issues already-they could be lured into him as other key piece since they have to land a controllable pitcher.
It’s wishful thinking to believe teams with starters view veteran India as anything more than a throw in. Arroyo stock going down and a DH type like CES aren’t going to hook a fish either. There will be at least 1 guy departing that isn’t easily “expendable”.
Agree. I also hope they don’t trade CES. He reminds me of a young Tony Perez and I would hate to see him dealt.
I don’t like the trade for the Yankees, but this is not Evil Empire stuff. It’s a trade for an expensive, very valuable player–for one year. That’s the only economic impact, and it’s temporary, Grisham is somewhat overpaid, but fills a need..
Baseball is better when the Yankees are. No one grows the game on a domestic and international level like the NYY.
@Slider_withcheese
Yep. We need Yankees doing well and a strong Red Sox team. Neither has been that impressive in recent years and seem to be more focused on cost savings and dumpster diving than actually putting a competitive team out there.
Where’s the Thumbs Down icon? 😉
@tonyinsingapore
People’s feelings were hurt when they got thumbs down so now we can only do thumbs up because we’re too sensitive.
Yes,,hard to swallow like Trump lost de eleccion
Highest rated World Series- Yanks/Dodgers 78
Lowest rated World Series-
Rangers/Dbacks 23
@Slider_withcheese
Exactly. Honestly, I couldn’t watch the Rangers/DBacks series as they have those terrible new rules being used along with the clock and add in the fact that you have two 80-win teams playing in it, while the 100+ win teams were golfing. The WS really is meaningless now. It’s just another form of March Madness.
What a stupid statement no one west of the Hudson River cares about the Yankees.
I have hoskins to the cubs, seems like a good fit
Anyone going to sign Trevor Bauer?
The Mets will
Based on his videos, I think he’s resigning himself to the NPB. I don’t think he’s returning to the MLB.
Baseball really needs a salary cap. These contracts are a joke. No player should be getting a guaranteed $300,$400 or more million. I’m a Red Sox fan, so my team could spend on these players, but I understand why Henry doesn’t want to. Pretty much all these contracts end up as a disaster. Not to mention it makes no sense how a majority of the league can’t be in on a player, because the salary is too high. Baseball is the only sport with no form of salary cap and the only sport where most of the league can’t sign particular players. They really need to break the union and fix the payment structure or baseballs future will be bleak.
@soxfan4381
The owners pay up for those contracts, knowing full well that it won’t work out. Personally, MLB has gotten worse the past few decades and isn’t watchable anymore. They got rid of most of the strategy with more focus on strikeouts, walks and HRs. We pay guys to walk all the time and that’s not fun.
Owners don’t want it cause they have to open their books then ppl will see how much they really make
And players don’t want it cause it limits the money they can make
Therefore it will never happen
Baseball is the only sport with no form of salary cap
===========================
The tax is a form of salary cap, just not a hard cap.
Past that, GMs have the right to pass on over-valued players and pick up under-valued players.
And there were 6 teams in the playoffs that are mid-market or smaller. And 3 teams that were mega-payroll teams that missed the playoffs.
I get that a case can be made that a mid market or small market team can make the playoffs, but my point goes further than that. Baseball used to have players stay with their teams for almost their whole career. Most players don’t do that, especially if you are not a big market. Imagine being a Royals fan knowing your homegrown talent is gone because you have no chance to compete with the bigger markets. Small and mid market teams are always at a disadvantage and generally have shorter windows of competing because they can’t retain players. Look at Ohtani, how many teams can afford him? That’s not healthy for the game when a handful of teams can take the top talent.
The combination Ohtani & Trout must be better than Judge & Soto and California go to nowhere,let see
It’s almost as if people have forgotten that the aging, recent surgery patient Ohtani turns 30 during the next season and wont have the chance to be a 2 way player again until the season he turns 31. His contract is already one of the worst in mlb history and he hasn’t even been signed yet. It could easily end up being the worst contract in mlb history. Whatever team is stupid enough to sign him- enjoy all those sub 4 war seasons. And the best he will possibly put up for 2024 is 5 war and it will probably end up being more like 3-4. He has also been an aging drama queen about the free agency process- he’s paid tens of millions (soon to be hundreds of millions) to be a public figure, yet he threatens teams if they aren’t completely secretive about the process. No thanks. Next.
Praying the Dodgers don’t do something stupid and mortgage the future for Ohtani.
Plus, having Ohtani on the roster means carrying 6 pitchers- so that basically means that the team has to carry a bad or terrible pitcher so that Ohtani can be in the rotation- since decent #5 pitchers are very rare. Further detracts from Ohtan’s value and something not even considered by most. Along with the fact that he doesn’t play the field. The Ohtani contract will be an absolute disaster and wouldn’t be surprised if his performance also goes way down because of leaving the low-light of Anaheim and the pressure of the new contract- in addition to the aging. Ohtani has no MLB youth left whatsoever and is entering the phase when players’ performances typically fall off a cliff anyway. I’ve never seen a player whose upcoming contract is more likely to be one of the worst, if not the very worst, contract in MLB history moreso than the situation with Ohtani.
The “saved roster spot” with Ohtani is a myth. He actually costs his team extra roster spots because his team has to have 6 pitcher rotation so he can pitch and because he doesn’t play the field. Another thing to consider with him.
It says the Reds are not likely to trade a controllable infielder for a year of Shane Bieber. I surely hope the Guardians wouldn’t be trading Shane Bieber for an infielder. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd are covered. They have 4 prospects (Arias, Freeman, Rocchio, Tena) all ready to give SS a shot, and they need to see if one of them is the answer…unless they trade a couple of those prospects + Bieber, but, in that scenario, they better get someone a lot better than India.
The Reds shouldn’t trade any of their prospects for one year of an often injured pitcher who is past his prime. Bieber is a shadow of his former self. The G’s should have traded him two years ago when he had some value. Bieber is no better than a #3 or #4 starter on most teams. Besides, the Reds have moved on.
This is the first trade in the last Decade where someone finally trades *fart noises who haven’t performed since AA Somerset, if they’ve even gotten to AA yet* for one of the 5 best hitters in the game and a possible CF solution. Prospects are useless until they perform at the MLB level
Remember the Yankees didn’t want to trade future All-Stars Deivi Garcia, Clint Frazier, etc?
These contracts are getting out of hand. That luxury tax sure did wonders for competitive balance. There are rich teams and there are poor teams, then there’s 50 feet of crap, then there’s us. It’s an unfair game!
Bauer
For a team in need of Pitching between the Soto/Verdugo trades and the Rule V draft the Yankees lost 11 arms in 2 two days. Whether or not half were even on the MLB team’s radar that’s still a lot of depth to replace.
I agree Rsox. I dont know why they went to all out rebuilding outfield when pitching is a major weakness, as well.
So, the Yankees gave up a total of 4.9 wAR and got 7.5 WAR for a net of 2.6 WAR. So, expect 84 to 85 wins next year. That might help them make it to the WS given that the D-Backs were there with 84 wins.
All that for a rental? No way he’s gonna sign an extension if his agent is Scott Boras. Hopefully Soto stays healthy unlike half of our fragile team ffs. Kinda wish they just blow up the team and go full rebuild, replenish the farm for long term… Kinda like what the Dodgers do.
Am I completely off my rocker in thinking that Matt Chapman would look awfully good at 3B for the NYYs? If they could get him for, say, $20M for 5…I mean, what’s another $100M for The Empire? It’s clear that Hal 2024 is greenlighting a strategy of all in. If they get Yammamoto and Chapman added to Soto and Grisham? Perhaps the biggest/fastest off season makeover in club history. Give him a bell Brian.