The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…
- Yankees’ chairman Hal Steinbrenner expressing openness to a Juan Soto extension (1:05)
- The Mets, Pete Alonso, extension talks and trade possibilities (9:00)
Plus, we answer your questions, including…
- What do you think about a trade between the Tigers, who are desperate for hitting, and the Orioles, whose bullpen hasn’t been great? Detroit has a surplus of good relief pitchers, could they be trade partners? (21:05)
- If Mason Miller were to be traded from the Athletics to another American League team and go on to win A.L. Rookie of the Year, would that team get an incentive draft pick? (26:30)
- Say Shota Imanaga and Yoshinobu Yamamoto finish at the top of Rookie of the Year voting in the National League, will the Cubs and Dodgers get the draft compensation for having them in the majors the whole season? Considering they both signed MLB contracts, that seems antithetical to the new draft compensation for well performing rookies rule. (28:05)
- Corbin Carroll? That’s pretty much the question: Corbin Carroll? Is there hope this season? How long can the Diamondbacks keep running him out there with no improvement in sight? I love the guy, I have as a keeper, and he was a big part of my plans for this season. Needless to say, it’s not going so well. (31:00)
Check out our past episodes!
- Paul Skenes, The Prospect Hype Machine, Willson Contreras And Rising Catcher’s Interference Rates – listen here
- Luis Arráez To San Diego, Other Marlins Trade Candidates And Discussing A Potential Automated Strike Zone – listen here
- Mailbag: José Abreu Demoted, The Positional Surplus Myth, Erick Fedde’s Trade Value And More – listen here
The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!
A Juan Soto extension is not happening before the month of December. Yankees really need to hand him a blank check but they’ve got a few of those already so this should be fun to watch
Serious question, but without deferring any money, what team can afford a $500M+ price tag for NYY to be competing with? Do we see Zaidi kick rocks again sitting on the dock of the Bay?
I know you said without deferring any money, but I think he goes back to the Gnats for a ton of money and deferred money and leads their core into their next playoff contention.
Never considered that. If that happened, that would be great for baseball, but not for the Padres. I have allegiance to the Brown & Gold and nothing but empathy for Big Jim Wood. Hope they can lock up CJ Abrams.
@Sid Bream: what an amazing move that would be for the Nats. Get a boatload of prospects for him and then bring him right back later on.
The Nats offered him $440m (none deferred) a few years back and him and Rizzo still have a great relationship. Wouldn’t surprise me to see Lerners open up the wallet again to bring him back and announce they’re ready to compete again.
“$440M None deferred”…I’m pretty sure that’s not accurate and their offer was heavily deferred. The Nats are practically the creator of the deferred contract and have never met a contract that they’d not like to defer into the future.
The. You’d be wrong. It was widely reported that there was no deferred money.
“ Soto, 23, rejected a 15-year, $440 million offer, sources said. The proposal, the Nationals’ third in recent months, did not include any deferred money, a departure from the team’s usual practice. ”
nytimes.com/athletic/3427987/2022/07/16/juan-soto-…
“A departure from the team’s usual practice”..Apparently you’re correct. I stand corrected.
@RunDMC: Steve Cohen without blinking.
@Run Even if $ is deferred for Soto, he ll still be getting a contract valued at $450-500M in today’s dollars. Those deferrals will have to be funded annually.
Well it might knock down the upfront value a tiny bit, the savings will be negligible. I’m sure Soto will ask for some deferred for the peace of mind and security, I don’t see it being a significant amount. Ohtani’s deferred $ was so significant due to his endorsement revenue and deliberately trying to overstate the true value of his earnings. The larger reported # further built upon his mystique which only increased his marketing value.
Add in for Ohtani, taxes as another reason.
I suspect taxes are as well. But I’m not sure on the tax laws and how deferred money is treated. I’d be surprised if there is nothing in place at both state(CA) and federal level ensuring they ll get theirs.
Our government never really operates efficiently until it comes to making sure they get taxes from individuals.
Even if $ is deferred for Soto, he ll still be getting a contract valued at $450-500M in today’s dollars.
===================
A lot of people don’t get that. If his value is $450M/10, that’s what he is getting. You can spread it out to infinity, but the present value of the contract will still be $450M/10.
@RunDMC The Mets for one. I think the Giants may also make a play. It will all depend on how the Mets’ season shake out as their still trying to fit together the pieces. I fully expect Steve Cohen to spend if they don’t decide to retain Pete Alonso. The upcoming free agent class will be much better than the previous.
If they don’t have an extension before the trade deadline, they might trade him!
In the Juan Soto lottery, I got the ticket that says he doesn’t sign until the opening of Spring Training has occurred.
Boras is perfectly positioned to over play his hand again. As that Gump fellow said, “Stupid is as Stupid does.”
Normally I would agree with that but last year left egg all over Boras’ face. No chance that happens again this soon. I think he signs before the new year.
Joe – Agreed, and the Yanks won’t play into Boras’ game. They will likely make a significant offer early and give a deadline before moving on to other players. They won’t be held hostage by Boras.
Same with the Mets, I think Soto is Plan A and Alonso Plan B for them. They won’t wait long before moving onto Plan B, especially knowing how Boras likes to operate.
@Rick Players such as Soto set the market. The big market teams that are interested don’t start signing players til after that domino falls. Those that miss out seek alternatives.
What happened last year was a group that was by no means marketing setting types. So lingering and waiting for opportunities became only play.
Tigers – Quite often that is true, but not always. The agents usually have a lot to do with it, as well as how quickly the player wants to get settled into his new city.
Machado signed February 21
Harper signed March 2
@Fever It is widely believed that both Haroer and Machado were waiting for the other to sign first. Believing that they’d be able to leverage more $ off the others signing.
Tigers in a somewhat similar situation, Gerrit Cole signed with the Yankees on Dec. 18 2019, a year after a lot of players went into March getting signed.
re: Carroll = they state he’s “stealing bases” — he hasn’t stolen a base since Apr 17. Yes, he started out well, but since 4/17, he only has 2 attempts and was caught both times. So he’s not even attempting, which is baffling for someone that has no power, has 50+ SB last year, and has to know that his speed could be an olive branch to fans wanting power that he can’t summon right now. Is it possible his shoulder is also affecting his speed, as well? All very troubling.
I doubt the shoulder is affecting his speed, but I do question whether the shoulder scare last season has made him tentative about turning on pitches inside.
I haven’t looked at heat maps, but every time I’m seeing him struggle it seems to be on fastballs inside and/or high. And when he’s actually getting to his power it’s almost always on pitches on the outer third of the plate (or over the plate, but everyone does damage on those).
And his baserunning jumps haven’t been great this season; maybe he’s caught in between in multiple phases of the game. That last part is just speculation, though.
Didn’t the whole Rookie status on a Major League contract already get squashed? I thought this was discussed about Jackson Chourio and Colt Keith where neither team would get any of the incentives, unless this was only tied to prospect status and not winning the awards.
Soto and Alonso aren’t signing extensions. How many Boras clients have ever signed an extension before they got to free agency? I imagine it has happened before but we are talking a select few players out of thousands. That’s the whole reason they signed Boras to begin with.
Blackpink
The whole reason they signed with Boras was to not sign an extension? What?
Name a Boras client who signed an extension before hitting free agency.
Then name 2 more.
Wut?
If a player doesn’t want to sign an extension, they can do that with LITERALLY any agent.
@CBesibol stop trolling @Blackpink
It’s common knowledge that Boras clients, especially the top players, will hit the market to raise their prices in a bidding war. Yes, any player can do that with literally any agent, but Boras clients, specifically those at the top of FA, WILL do that
Altuve. Theres like literally nobody else.
Nimmo, Mcculers, Strasburg. Had to look it up thats about it lol
Strasburgs last (and worst for the team)deal was technically after he was a free agent as he opted out of his old deal.
@Blackpink: Carlos Gonzalez in 2011 with the Rockies, Elvis Andrus in 2013 with the Rangers, Stephen Strasburg in 2016 with the Nationals, Jose Altuve in 2018 with the Astros, and Xander Bogaerts in 2019 with the Red Sox.
Nimmo actually became a free agent before-signing with the Stems.
Bogaerts, Altuve, CarGo, Strasburg to name a few.
And no these players did not sign with Boras just to hit free agency. Any player can do that with any agent. Players sign with Boras Corp as they are the largest players agency for MLB players and have a track record of getting the players they represent paid.
Bogoarts? Not sure if a two year extension due to opt outs counts.
He signed as a pending free agent, so it meets the criteria whether or not you think it “counts.”
Scott Boras is terrible at reading the room. He uses the same stale negotiating tactics even when the market conditions are in flux.
Boras Corporation(yes it is more than one person) represents more players than any other player agency involved in MLB. They regular get THEIR(plural) players paid and numerous times have gotten players they represent record contracts.
@mlb fan: He’s quite successful, wealthy, and influential nonetheless.
Most of us would love to be that terrible at something.
Blue Baron
Right?
Imagine how mlb fan must feel about their own mediocre existence if they think Boras is terrible.
Can you imagine if the Padres had extended Soto? I know the odds were firmly against it for a variety of reasons, but Peter Seidler intended to make every effort to do so. The possibilities would be worthy of a novel if Seidler had survived and extended Soto.
cp
People get everything backwards
Boars does what the players want.
If a player tells Boras to talk extensions that’s what he does.
But the players hire Boras (and any agent) for their input. The player says yes or no, but Boras tells them what he thinks they should do.
JB
The agent advises the player as to the pros and cons of different possibilities, yes
The player decides based on that advice
The league always wanting to take things from the A’s like they don’t mess things up themselves . The A’s drafted Mason Miller and gave him the earned roster spot so the draft pick should stay with the A’s . Even if traded . Not like he wasn’t putting up the numbers on the A’s in the first place . A’s got beat by the pitcher who I wanted to draft in the first place . Brady Singer . No A’s took Kyler Murray and got nothing . So stop finding ways to take from the A’s . It’s almost racism
Almost?
The Diamondbacks should do Corbin Carroll like what the Cardinals did with Jordan Walker. Send Carroll to the minors for a little bit, so he can get confidence in his hitting again and bring him back to the majors when it is time.
Soto and Boras like honey and milk
One of the best players in the game and the most successful agent ever seem like a strong pairing.
I watch the Mets everyday and I see Pete Alonso as a perfectly fine defensive first baseman. The Mets will resign Alonso and sign Soto and Burns.
DDD09,
Marijuana must be legal in your state.
Soto doesn’t offer the same additional revenue streams to teams that Ohtani did.