With the start of Spring Training just three weeks away, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. Relief Market Fallout:
The biggest domino of the relief market finally fell over the weekend when southpaw Tanner Scott agreed with the Dodgers on a four-year, $72MM deal. Scott is the latest bullpen arm of note to reach an agreement in recent days, joining Jose Leclerc, A.J. Minter, Andrew Kittredge, and Jeff Hoffman. That movement on the relief market has allowed a lot of teams, including the big-spending Dodgers and Mets, to address their late-inning needs already.
But there’s still several clubs that appear to be in the market for late-inning relief help. The Orioles, Red Sox, Blue Jays, and Cubs were all involved Scott’s market to some degree, with Chicago even putting forward a final offer of four years and $66MM that nearly matched that of Los Angeles. All four of those clubs could stay involved in the relief market going forward, with Chicago and Toronto already having been connected to the top remaining free agent reliever in righty Carlos Estevez in the wake of the Scott deal. Other top relievers available include Kirby Yates, David Robertson, and Kenley Jansen. Who will be the next to sign?
2. Twins trades on the horizon?
Over the weekend, Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey indicated that the club’s trade conversations have begun to escalate in recent weeks. Minnesota has been one of the least active teams in the entire sport this winter, as their only addition to the 40-man roster with even a single plate appearance in the majors so far is Mickey Gasper, who the club swung a minor trade for last month. It’s long been clear that the club was facing severe budget restrictions this winter as ownership puts the team up for sale, and as such the front office is in a position where they’d need to trade away salary commitments in order to bring in additional talent.
Plenty of attention has been paid to the possibility of a Pablo Lopez trade this winter, but it seems more likely that the Twins would pursue trades involving pricey but less impactful veterans like Christian Vazquez, Willi Castro, and Chris Paddack as they try to remain competitive in the AL Central this year. If Minnesota manages to get a deal done, it could allow them to address the club’s hole at first base or add a much-needed right-handed complement to their heavily left-handed corner outfield mix with the money saved.
3. Cardinals Winter Warmup Wrap-up:
The Cardinals’ Winter Warmup fan event began over the weekend, with a number of headlines emerging from the comments made by players and personnel at the event. The festivities aren’t over yet, however, as more remains on the club’s schedule for the final day of the event today. Willson Contreras and Lars Nootbaar are both scheduled to be available for autographs, as is manager Oliver Marmol. The most notable event on today’s schedule, however, is certain to be a Q&A session with ownership. Chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. and team president Bill DeWitt III will both be present for the Q&A. Marmol is also scheduled to hold a Q&A later in the day.
Looking forward to some Dodgers baseball in ‘25.
Lot of folks talking about CBA issues and the implementation of a cap because of LA but there are a handful of teams that are only spending to ensure they don’t get fined for lack of spending and another handful of teams that haven’t made ANY notable FA signings this entire offseason. Say what you will about LA, but this team is having no a hell of an offseason and spending money versus banking it and making owners richer.
Like when they lose in the playoffs!
That’s the thing I like about what the Dodgers are doing. We used to have a single team to all collectively hate back when the Yankees were doing this stuff 2 decades ago. It’s been a while since there has been a true villain team, but now we have one!
Canuckleball: I still hate the Yankees (It’s harmless, it’s only sports).
Dodgers did this in the past too. Ran up payroll then had to sell off & file Bankruptcy.
Dogs – That had a lot more to do with a very messy divorce than the team’s spending.
Correct and an owner who knew real estate and not baseball.
Fever, regardless of the reason, situations can change. Ask the Willond. It is dangerous to anticipate future revenue after a certain point. Just like teams should be required to put at least X% of their baseball related revenue back into the club before using elsewhere or pocketing
dodgers – Very similar to the current Red Sox owners.
John Henry knows commodities trading.
Tom Werner knows television shows.
Neither knows how to run a baseball team or keep a fanbase engaged.
…and yet John Henry has won 4 World Series.
Willpons
All, Henry et. al. have become baseball arbitragers, like how he made his money. He sets a price and tries to get it for even less. It explains all of the injured players he hopes will return to form. Unfortunately for true fans who understand the game is won and lost on the field, not in a computer, I truly believe it will be luck (like 13) that brings another championship if there is another. He used to invest to earn now he earns to invest. Such is not good for real fans because Fenway if allowed to, will continue to take baseball profits and invest them elsewhere.
They should be twinned with Manchester City
Beginning of the end for MLB, just watch out for Qatar or Saudi buying the Vegas Athletics and putting up a 500m payroll. Plenty of sportswashing money out there.
Or maybe the Washington Muskies – at some point Elon’s going to run out of, er, other things that help him pass the time
It’s a shame but it’s modern life. And plenty of people will jump on any winning bandwagon, just us old timers can’t be bothered with Abu Dhabi City v Qatar United
So, if you met Ortiz and Pedroia, you would tell them they won because of luck in 2013? The Red Sox spend around the luxury tax threshold each year. I don’t think that is cheap. I think they need to spend better and I think Breslow is working on that.
RobblyDobs: Tom Henry owns Liverpool under the FPG group. Hopefully they’re going to win the Premier League this year but could lose three of their best players if Henry doesn’t spend better than he does with the Red Sox.
Suit – lucchino was the baseball mind, he had more to do with that than either Henry or Werner.
All, 13 had a couple of great players (at least one who I believe was juiced), They hit it though with their multiplayer free agent signers, none of which were top of the class but each outperformed expectations that one season. It also took one of the best playoff runs a player has ever had. So yes, I consider 13 lucky or at worst fortunate. Everyone likes computer models. If they run the year back 100 times, I don’t think Boston wins it all more than a couple of times.
Avenger, he’ll it the money where he believes the opportunity exists to make even more. Better chance it’s neither as compared to both. If one, likely soccer based on his Ref Sox signings since DD left. His most regrets le move in his eyes is probably the Devers re-inking
dewey: WILPONS.
GA: John Henry won a World Series after Larry Lucchino left. Henry hired Dombrowski to win a World Series. Looks like he knows how to run a baseball team.
Dewey: The 2013 Red Sox were a great team. The sum was greater than the parts. There is no evidence of anyone juicing. That team beat many great pitchers in the postseason – Verlander, Scherzer, Sanchez, Wainwright, Wacha. It wasn’t luck. They won 97 games, won the AL East by 5 games and won the World Series. Nobody has that much luck.
Suit: I think its another where we’re going to wind up respectfully agreeing to disagree.
The dombrowski situation and how Henry handled it proves he *doesnt* know how to run a team. The fallout and damage from how that ended, and, what followed, steamrolled into why so many people declined to interview after bloom was fired.
Henry likes to meddle but doesn’t know how to win. DD came in and knew how to make a winner with unprecedented success in boston…. till Henry got in the way, wanted to stick his fingers in the pie and interfere in decisions that led to lots of losing.
Heck, the aftershocks of that had Sasaki decline to meet with the redsox, which follows the declined meetings from the Japanese talent the offseason before, blah blah blah. All despite the sox former positives with NPB talent.
GA: That’s quite some speculation. John Henry gets credit for hiring Dombrowski who won a World Series. He deserves some credit for all 4 World Series. I think he will win more World Series.
Suit: itd make a great barstool conversation, but, it’s too deep a dive for a board like this to really get into the exhaustive lists of evidence and reasons I have the opinion I do on Henry.
When he butts out of club ops and hands adequate *actual* cash outlays to a PBO for spending, and butts out of roster construction decisions, my definition of adequate being the true actual dollars spent that year, not what they’re taxed as, commensurate to the revenue coming into the club (ie, should be at least the CBT limit in actual dollars being paid, not tax calculation)…. things go better.
But he *always* comes back around to interfere and messes things up eventually.
GA: I think you overestimate your ability to know what goes on in the Red Sox front office behind closed doors.
Suit: I’m not talking about estimations and guesses about things behind closed doors.
I’m talking about things Henry had directly interjected himself into and are of public record, which, ultimately, were actions *not* in the best interest of a well run baseball team – which means winning. A well run baseball club wins. Its not about finding your best economic output for least input or anything else. Consistently competitive clubs are the hallmark of being well-run.
GA: No one has won more World Series than John Henry since he bought the Red Sox. What public records are you speaking of? You should really give him some credit.
Avenger – Why didn’t anyone tell me I have a group? ;o)
Blue. I know …
All, you don’t think at least Papi was juiced? I try dam hard to be objective and I still can’t get out of my head the greatest season a 40 year old hitter ever had and no one really talks about it. Add that to how the Sox quickly changed their rules and retired his number in case he was later outed (my view) says it all. Ownership knew. Nothing else explains to me why other numbers haven’t been retired with that rule change in place.
GA. Henry knows how to make money, Nothing wrong with that but as a sports team owner, he has an obligation to equally try to win.
All, you seem to believe the Henry of today is the same as when he basically was given the club over the Dolan’s (I’m not saying that would have been good). As Fenway Ownership grew, he changed and became more of a conglomerate head than a baseball head.
Dewey: I don’t know if Ortiz juiced or not. There is no evidence he did. When he retired, he had very bad, painful problems with his feet. He had to show up way before games to get his feet ready to play. I’m not saying this is proof that he didn’t juice, but I have never heard of someone on steroids having this kind of problem.
dewey – You make an excellent point.
A perfect example would be the 2023 Padres, who spent with the anticipation they’d receive postseason revenue …. then got into financial trouble in part because they missed the postseason.
dewey: Then why did you spell it with two Ls?
dewey – You are 100% correct as usual.
It’s common knowledge for true fans that Henry has wanted to run the Red Sox like he trades commodities, because that’s what he knows and that’s what helped him make a fortune.
But baseball teams CANNOT be successfully run that way. NO team has been a consistent contender by not spending on premium talent.
He wanted badly to bring Beane and Moneyball to the Red Sox after the 2002 season. Moneyball was a massive farce. Those Oakland teams were successful in the regular season because of three great starting pitchers and heavily roided hitters. I mean seriously, Jeremy Giambi?
We all know Lucky was the driving force behind the Red Sox success through 2015, he was the only Red Sox owner who craved winning and wanted to beat the Yankees badly. He was the one who saved Fenway and built it into a cash cow landmark.
Dombrowski took the baton from Lucky because he was available at the time and had a prior relationship with Henry, and Dave insisted he could maintain the success on and off the field by doing things his way which included shrewd trades and spending.
But once Cora torpedoed the 2019 season, Henry went ballistic – and rightfully so, after having the biggest payroll in MLB and not even coming close to making the postseason that year. That is when Henry said he wants the team to operate like Tampa (Oakland’s Moneyball farce was proven to be a failure by then) and therefore Dave bolted.
I’ve already talked to Netflix, when they do a documentary on John Henry I want to be involved. LOL!!!
GASox – Most people know that, but some just refuse to acknowledge it because Lucky is gone and Henry is still around and certain people are obsessed with white knighting for the greedy cheapskate billionaire owner of the Red Sox.
dewey – I have to disagree on 2013.
First of all, the Red Sox players were never so motivated and united as they were that year. They had a great new manager, and the marathon tragedy was a compelling reason to win it all that year.
And they had a helluva lot of talent. Pedroia, Ellsbury, Ortiz, Lester, Lackey, Buchholz and Koji ….. all carryover stars.
Yes the new guys contributed, but in the end it was Ortiz and Lester and Koji and Lackey that carried the team in the playoffs.
The only reason people discount that team was because 2012 was such a disaster under Valentine.
Same thing with the 2021 team, some people were surprised because the 2020 team was so bad …. but there was good reason to believe they’d contend in 2021.
GASox – You’re one of the most knowledgeable posters here when it comes to the Red Sox under Henry.
Even though certain people here will often ignore what you write about Henry, I for one appreciate you repeating the facts over and over for others who sincerely want to be enlightened.
Your efforts are greatly appreciated, and I admire your patience.
GASox – So very true!
John Henry will forever be remembered for two things:
1) Approving the trade of Mookie instead of signing him
2) Forcing out a HOF executive who put together a team that just 10 months earlier won 108 regular season games and cruised to a World Series Championship.
The sooner Henry goes, the better.
GaSox – You’ll like this ….
How desperate are the Sox to unload tickets?
Well I already mentioned including free regular season game tickets in the FSG Fest admission price.
The Red Sox are also sending out personalized email letters to every person who bought even just one ticket to a ST game last year, trying to sell 2025 tickets to them.
Just when you think they can’t sink any lower, they literally take it down another level.
dewey – Here’s a link to one of the articles that I was talking about earlier.
Thru 2004 he never hit more than 41 homers.
Then in 2005 he hit 47 homers.
Then in 2006 he hit 54 homers, including his 41st on August 8th which was only his 110th game …. so he was averaging a homer for every 2.68 games …. which means he was on pace for 60 homeruns that year. Red Sox Nation suspects he was increasing his “supplements” at that time because he wanted to break the AL homerun record, and that’s what caused the mysterious heart-related hospitalizations.
Can roids cause heart palpitations and arrhythmias? ABSOLUTELY. …. especially corticosteroids such as prednisone and anabolic steroids.
Then he immediately dropped down to 35 homers in 2007 and never hit more than 38 again in his career.
I will always love Papi for all he’s done to help the Red Sox, but Foxx is still the Red Sox single season homerun champ in my book and to most in Red Sox Nation.
washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/2006/08/30/ortiz…
dewey – In a perfect world, yes.
But realistically John Henry isn’t the only owner who doesn’t prioritize winning …. and now he’s got many investors to answer to as well when it comes to profits.
dewey – Some people simply live in the past. Those who think John Henry is the same person he was 20 years ago are sadly delusional.
John Henry is now 75 years old, he has 8 World Series Championship rings, and he is far more focused on his other FSG interests including Fenway Corners, PGA, Penguins, Liverpool FC, and also hoping to land an NBA (LeBron) and NFL team.
As Kanye would say, John Henry doesn’t care about Red Sox postseason appearances.
And BTW yes the sale of the Red Sox to Henry was 100% a bag job orchestrated by MLB.
Blue – Perhaps he’s a fan of LL Cool J
Fever Pitch Guy: “and that’s what caused the mysterious heart-related hospitalizations.”
=========================
FPG is once again trying to mislead people. He is attempting to say that David Ortiz had heart palpitations which indicates steroid use. Ortiz did not have heart palpitations. His heart was found to be fine. You can read about it here:
espn.com/mlb/news/story?id=2567347
“It’s not my heart,” Ortiz said. “The doctors ran all sorts of tests on me and my heart was not the problem at all.”
“I sat in that MRI tube for almost three hours and they showed me all the test results. Thank God it’s nothing serious,” Ortiz said. “Now that I know I’m OK, I’m ready to get back out there and help the club.”
Henry was fortunate to have a good FO at Liverpool.
He’s just another rich guy who doesn’t give a crap about the sport. Ego and money is what unites them – but at least there’s the practical cap of him wanting a financial return, so he just wont fire another billion at it to win at all costs a la Saudi or Qatar.
But he will get crushed eventually by the weight of Arab money if they are allowed to buy MLB teams. They don’t need any sort of return on investment its all PR spend, and they have limitless dollars coming out of the ground. Was the same with the Russian oligarchs, just PR and laundering of stolen assets.
Unless American owners start to not care about ROI at al, they are eventually going to to get drowned by weight of money. I hope MLB gets wise to it before it becomes a cheque book industry like the premier league, where nondescript mediocre clubs like Manchester City and Chelsea screw up the integrity of the sport by suddenly having a billion to spend (literally) and as much as they want to sustain it.
MLB ideally needs a salary cap or (second best) restrictions on foreign ownership, or it will go the same way, which would be a great shame.
Rob – Great post! Fascinating take, makes a lot of sense. I always say there’s a lot to be learned by looking at what’s happening in other sports/states/countries.
I’ve been in favor of MLB ownership restrictions for a long time. Shouldn’t be allowed to own more than one other sports franchise. Shouldn’t be allowed to have MLB teams owned by corporations or massive conglomerates like FSG. And definitely shouldn’t allow foreign ownership.
I know the money is appealing and drives up franchise valuations, but having ownership like John Henry and FSG is never a good thing for fanbases or the sport itself.
It would also be a lie to say that spending like the Dodgers have doesn’t give you a massive advantage over the rest of the field. Having a rotation of five Ones for example, there’s a MASSIVE gap between LA’s rotation and the rest of the league.
Baseball viewership will be in serious trouble if it becomes the Dodgers show for 5+ years, it has already been struggling with the younger demographic. Removing parity will really exacerbate that problem.
Gonsolin, May, Knack, Sheehan are Ones…? Yamamoto went 90 IP last year. He was a $300M opener. Interested to see what he and Snell does in a full season.
So when the Yankees won every year views were bad huh? Pretty sure baseball was in huge demand
Snell, Yamamoto, Glasnow, Ohtani and Sasaki are all 1s. Those other guys are their depth starters. Figure it out.
choof – Yep, the Yankees brand is still #1 throughout the world.
That’s why the Yankees still have the highest revenue in MLB by a country mile (679M for 2023, followed by the Dodgers at $549M).
This is exactly what i’ve been saying. The Dodgers aren’t just automatic champs, people need to stop crying. Remember the Dbacks? that was 2 years ago people give me a break
Correct, Captain. More teams that look great on paper and even lead the league in wins aren’t the last one standing. The Dodgers have realized that over the last 10 or so years. Takes a lot of talent to cross the finish line more than twice in the last decade, not to mention a repeat.
Cap – If MLB had any integrity, they would make the Divisional Series best of seven ….. which they could easily do if they had just one WC in each league instead of three.
But as always, greed wins out.
Fully agree Fever.
In a way it has to hold back the development of their farm system, in a way they will have to part with some pretty good players that they wouldn’t have to have if they didn’t sign everybody available to them in FA. It will balance itself out somehow someway.
Kershaw already on the outside looking in and he is one of the greatest pitchers of all time. I guess he will have to show up this spring and earn that spot like a rookie.
Dodgers have deferred their next championship.
@jmaa And countless fans have deferred their financial competence…
Let’s see if Hoyer signs Charlie Sheen for the Cubs. I complain a lot about him dumpster diving, but it looks like he actually tried with Tanner Scott. Definitely need more bullpen help.
Across: I wonder if the cubs played in LA, if they would have a better chance at signing some of these top players. Then again, it could be the old smokescreen of floating names that they never intend to sign.
avenger – The Cubbies have been kinda following in the Red Sox footsteps, milking the large fandom and Wrigley for all it’s worth. They’ve been cheap, but not as cheap as the Red Sox.
Avenger,
It is a little bit of smokescreen with the Cubs, only because Hoyer has been adamant about not signing relievers to long-term deals.
Fever,
Oh yeah, after 2016, Ricketts has been reluctant with spending too much. Hoyer will spend just enough to look competitive, and as the last two seasons have shown, Cubs end up falling short. Even now, I am not counting out the Brewers, Cubs have to show they can beat them before I can feel confident they’ll win the division.
Wouldn’t matter if the owner stays the same. The Cubs could own the Central if they actually spent like the large market team that they are, but they don’t.
stan – And they won’t as long as the fans keep putting up with it.
Cubs fans need to hit ownership where it hurts, in their wallet. It’s the only way to bring change.
Fever: But cubs fans aren’t like that. Too many of them have rose colored glasses. It’s not wrong to be optimistic, but a sense of realty wouldn’t hurt, either.
A few days ago, Ichiro was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame.
news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/a9ad994fa15af3de8790a161…
So the Dodgers will probably sign him then.
Old York: Just now? They must also have the five year rule.
Only another 8 months of Twins trades on the horizon. Awesome. And will they won’t they regarding the Cardinals and Arenado.
TIL there’s an MLB player named Mickey Gasper.
gbs – I’m really rooting for Mickey ………. to break the all-time record for career AB’s without a hit.
Hey if you can’t be famous, then be infamous ;O)
He does have an OBP 217 points higher than his BA. If he can keep that up and get his BA around .250, he’ll be more than famous.
He (Gasper) needs to go 0-for-24 to break the record set by Randy Tate who played one season as a pitcher in 1975 and went 0-for-41.
So you’re telling me there’s a chance!
Let – There’s also the longest hitless streak to begin a career, 66 AB’s by old friend Jon Lester.
You people are cruel. I’m rooting for his first hit to be a playoff winning HR that has the Twins knocking out the Yankees…
People complaining about the Dodgers are absolutely correct. What they do is drive up the cost of the remaining market. By signing Scott to an expensive contract, the others are now going to increase their demands. This shrinks the list of teams willing to pay the new going rate. BUT, the other effect is to make it harder for the remaining pitchers to get signed. So not only are the Dodgers causing harm to other teams, they’re also causing harm to other players. But hey, it’s right out of Steingrabber’s playbook so it’s perfectly ok. As a nation, we admire criminals.
Paying players more does not hurt them. You sound like an industrial revolution tycoon trying to moralize lower wages.
I’m speaking on behalf of players like the “Boras Four” who were priced out (partly by their own doing of course) and players this year like Alonso. I realize these guys are where they are because they want their “fair share”. Also, players at lower levels of income are removed from the league and replaced by cheaper alternatives.
Yes, it’s an oligarchy of a few rich teams. But there is always a cost.
Why, Steinbrenner never cornered the market like this. Yes, he wanted the top free agent be it Catfish or Reggie at the beginning but he had a balanced team, not a 25 man AS club like the Dodgers are assembling.
hayzee – Not really, the Dodgers are just part of a group of teams driving up the price of superstars.
Why is Vladdy demanding so much now?
Because the Mets and Yankees kept offering Soto an insane amount of money.
But you look at two other Dodgers signings, Snell & Teo, both were very reasonable compared to other contracts given by other teams.
Fevet, Boston and Toronto had no business in that auction as they were never going to pony up enough. The talk otherwise or of Pedro and Papi helping Boston looked good for marketing as did Toronto’s offer but he was always getting the most money in NY and not moving out of the City.
Corbin Burnes? Max Fried? Juan Soto?
(Not the Dodgers)
Yes, the Dodgers aren’t acting alone in this pyramid scheme.
It isn’t a pyramid scheme. Just an open market. Players are aware who the big spenders are and once those teams are done they will have to reset their expectations.
Actually it is. Wealthy teams have created a system where they are the only ones who can “buy” the most talented players. Everyone else is closed out of that option. No, the teams don’t lose money, but they very much lose players. So it’s not a pyramid scheme involving money, it’s one involving the elite players who can make their teams markedly better. When you’re a small market team and you draft and develop a potential Hall of Fame caliber player, you have very little hope of keepng that player past a portion of their career. That is how the pyramid functions.
“A pyramid scheme is a fraudulent business model that pays people for recruiting new members, rather than selling products or services. The scheme is called a “pyramid” because the number of investors increases at each level.” That is not what you just described. I am not disagreeing just don’t think “pyramid scheme” is what you should call it. It isn’t truly an open market either but closer to that than a pyramid scheme. The one with the most money can always buy more goods.
Wade – Exactly!!
It’s like front row tickets to a game, or oceanfront property.
The biggest spenders always want the best and are willing to overspend to get it. That doesn’t mean 2nd row seats or property a block from the water will also be in high demand with the remaining potential buyers.
There is a huge divide between guys like Ohtani/Soto and everyone else.
hayzee – That’s totally wrong.
That’s like saying a $100K income household can’t afford a Mercedes. They can, but it involves saving money on other things by spending smartly and making sacrifices … and THAT is the difference between being rich and being middle class.
I’m talking about baseball players of which there are a limited number who belong in the major leagues. The teams at the bottom of the pyramid are forced to employ players who don’t belong in the major leagues. Now some of those teams are better run than others. That helps them move up a little but they will never reach the top. The short era between the draft and free agency was about the only time when it wasn’t a pyramid. Then success and failure were dictated by decision making skill as well as the performance of the players on the field.
What you are describing is not a pyramid scheme. It is literally just the natural order of the world.
hayzee – If a team has 15-25 pre-arb players on their active roster, there is NOTHING preventing them from signing a great player at $20M-$30M annually.
Or trading for great players.
For instance if you buy into Crochet being a “great player”, every team in MLB with some good prospects could have traded for him and would be paying only $3M for him this season. They could have kept him for around $10M next season or traded him for even better prospects.
Where there’s a will (and intelligence) there’s a way.
With the way you’ve tried to describe a pyramid scheme, I’m certain you don’t know economics as well as you think you do.
Just because the reasoning sounds good in your head, doesn’t mean it’s a hill worth dying on.
I wonder if the Twins would be interested in taking a flyer on Spencer Torkelson for their 1B needs?
Also, Spencer Torkelson is one of the all-time great baseball names, sounds like someone who would have played in the 1920s.
Makes so much sense for Minnesota to go after Torkelson but would Detroit make an inside division trade?
The Tigers biggest need is a right handed power hitter. Would Harris be dumb enough to trade away the thing they need the most?
He’s already sidelined Torkelson with the signing of G Torres and moving Keith to 1B. Torkelson seems to be a head case who, rumor has it, is semi-uncoachable.
I don’t understand the reluctance to trade within a division. This *could* be a win/win for both teams. Twins have the need for a righty 1B, question is, what would help the Tigers? They don’t need Vasquez or Castro. Pitching depth is always good. Lopez would be a nice upgrade to the rotation, and the Tigs have room in their budget. Maybe the Twins have a prospect they’d move?
Does Helsley go with Arenado to the Red Sox to get a deal done ? I wouldn’t have thought that Helsley would be tied to anyone earlier this offseason but it’s now almost February.
Waaaaaaaaah I dont like what the Cardinals are doing this winter and it’s all MLBTR’s fault!!! waaaaaaaaaah the biased writers here have affected the way the St Louis front office operates!!!!!! waaaaah Every article here paints my team in a bad light! waaaaaaaaaah Something something Arenado no trade clause trade him anyway WAAAAAAAH!
You don’t ever get tired of your own act?
That’s a fake profile pretending to be me.
BITA, the simple truth is no one wants to be you…
I hope your day gets better <3
I think Tim may have cracked.
PITA – Have to give credit, the handle is excellent!
BTW – I just want to point out yet another team, the Cardinals, who appreciate their fans and treat them with respect. Their annual winter fan event sounds great, and it’s 3 days long. And many of the events are free.
Unlike the Red Sox event that was just 8 hours and you had to pay $85 to attend anything. Red Sox Nation deserves better!!
Cardinals Winter WarmUp is an awesome event and all but to say ownership appreciates the fans as of late just doesn’t ring true. The DeWitts are proving to be more and more cheap with the product on the field and behind the scenes. The Cardinals used to be looked at as THE model organisation but now they don’t even have a direction
qbert – You are correct, I was referring specifically to just their Winter Warmup event.
BTW – Your handle brought back great memories, I loved that video game!
@Fever Pitch Guy
That’s what the Sox get for trading Babe Ruth to finance the production of a Broadway musical, Go watch the musical.
York – No no, I don’t do musicals.
Really he was sold, because he demanded a raise. But yeah that definitely helped Harry fund his other endeavor …. sound familiar?
Just throwing out a question here. It has to do with generational players. At first, it was rightfully Ohtani. That was it. Now practically everyone who has a good season is considered “generational”. The only other player I would give that title to is Soto, though he’s been above and beyond since 2019 but only recently was called generational. In hockey, it’s Gretzky even though McDavid is going to pass his goal total this season. I would hesitate to call McDavid generational, maybe because Gretzky was the first one to do it or, in my opinion, as someone who was lucky enough to see him play, he had abilities like seeing plays two-three moves before they happened. He was much more than just a goal scorer.
Back to baseball. My question is, do you think the word “generational” is being thrown around too much? Just wondering.
Yes
Jordan / James
Yea he good but Jordan records are what 12 years or so LeBron 20 years. I would have all the records if I played 50 years .
Another
Manning / Brady
Same deal.
Baseball no cap
Los Angeles / Tampa bay , marlins, wow 400 million to 50 million.
Where the real competition ??
McDavid is going to pass Gretzky’s goals record? I think you mean Ovechkin.
Someone doesn’t watch hockey….
Twins another victim of Manfraud and DSG . Fix the TV revenue ! No blackouts !
In NFL each team receives 280 million a year in media money . That would be nice for my MlB team at 30 million . In mlb it goes LA/NY get the money. Rest suck
Each MLB team gets the same amount from the national contracts and MLB network.
The issue is the disparity in local tv revenue. The Dodgers bring in over six times as much as the Brewers, for example. Milwaukee spends to its capacity (unlike the Pirates) but is so severely outgunned by LA they are always at a huge disadvantage.
It will take a combination of more revenue sharing, a floor, and a cap to actually make MLB competitive.
Doubt if it will be a verylong line for that Marmol autograph.
Get a 50 dollar jersey autographed jersey will be worth 40.