Offseason Transactions

[Cubswin11]

There’s always a lot of moves worth mentioning but don’t need their own thread. So figured I’d start one.

VB’s made 2 moves today to reamin pretty vaunted. Re-signed Sogard to a 1 year deal and signed Chase Anderson to a 4 year extension, 2 years guaranteed and 2 team options after (pretty good extension for them with little risk and only upside).

[Transmogrified Tiger]

That team option for Anderson's first FA year at age 33 is crucial. Also good to sign an extension to the 30 year old who was only successful after adding 2 MPH to his fastball and coincidentally missed time with a bicep injury that same year.


*Yes this is unfair because they're only guaranteeing him like 2/10, but it's more pointing out that it's a move that means basically nothing.

[Cubswin11]

That team option for Anderson's first FA year at age 33 is crucial. Also good to sign an extension to the 30 year old who was only successful after adding 2 MPH to his fastball and coincidentally missed time with a bicep injury that same year.


*Yes this is unfair because they're only guaranteeing him like 2/10, but it's more pointing out that it's a move that means basically nothing.

Yeah I mean he’s a big regression candidate for me but it’s also so cheap (even for a poor ass team like the Brewers) that it’s a pretty good deal under the off chance he’s able to maintain the velo uptick/stay healthy when he’s on the wrong side of the aging curve and if he does die off it’s very little money.

Also, again it’s likely little money and 1 year, but anytime you can keep your 31 year old journeyman 2B around who had his first over .300 WOBA year and first time over .4 WAR year in 5 years you gotta do it.

[davell]

I didn't know where to put this, so I'm putting it here. I took the 2017 Opening Day payroll of all 30 teams and also listed what Cot's has, as their current 2018 payroll, before the off season starts. It gives us an idea, at least, as to what teams may or may not have to spend. I'm also including the HIGHEST Opening Day the team has ever had, to possibly use for what the team MAY be capable of spending.....2017 comes first, then 2018 projected, amount they're currently over or under in parentheses, then their highest ever....Current means they're 2017 Opening Day salaries.

I'm updating as I go, so bare with me.

AL EAST

Baltimore 164.3, 129.7,(-34.6), Current
Boston 197.0, 202.2(+5.2), 197.9
Yankees 196.4, 156.2(-40.2), 228.1
Tampa 70.1, 85.0(-14.9), Current
Toronto 163.4, 148.0, (-15.4), Current

Looking at these figures, the Yankees stand out because they're about to be the bully again. They're in ridiculously good shape. Boston is consistent and can likely move upwards, if they choose to. Toronto is going to need to rebuild or retool very soon. Tampa seems like the team that's going to be stuck in .500 Land for a while. Baltimore would be smart to rebuild. But, they're not.

AL Central

White Sox 97.8, 58.5(-39.3), 127.8
Cleveland 124.1, 115.7, (-8.4), Current
Detroit 199.8, 129.2(-70.6), Current
Kansas City 143.0, 127.3(-15.7), Current
Minnesota 108.1, 93.7(-14.4), 113.2

The White Sox have plenty of money, but they're a year or two away from needing to spend it. Detroit has the financial resources of a top end franchise, but won't be needing them for a while. Cleveland is heading towards the time where they'll need to up the ante, or fall back down the division. Not 2018, but soon afterwards. KC needs to scrap things and hit reset. Minnesota is in decent shape, but now that they're heading upwards, how high will their payroll go?

AL West

Houston 124.3, 143.6(+19.3), Current
Angels 166.4, 145.5(-20.9), Current
Oakland 81.7, 52.7(-29.0), 86.8
Seattle 154.3, 142.1(-12.2), Current
Texas 165.3, 115.8(-49.5), Current

The Verlander move puts Houston in a new era financially. Be interesting to see how high they go moving forward. The Angels have money, at some point, they're going to try and put some good stuff around Trout. Oakland is stuck, they need help. Seattle is stuck in hell with no rebuild in site. I can see them burying themselves further, prior to being relevant again. Texas has some cash to spend and I figure they'll be a major spender this off season.

NL East

Atlanta 122.6, 97.6(-25.0), Current
Miami 115.4, 131.7(+16.3), Current
Mets 154.4, 123.7(-30.7), Current
Philadelphia 100.0, 37.6(-62.4), 177.4
Washington 164.3, 170.4(+6.0), Current

Atlanta doesn't NEED to spend big yet, but my guess is they're going to try to anyway. Miami wants to get down to 90M, they're going to be in the news a lot this offseason. The Mets need some stuff, no idewa if they'll spend or not, even though they've got the ability to. Philly may spend this off season AND next off season too. I don't think they'll be quiet any longer. I see Washington staying quiet, scraping their money together to try and keep Bryce next off season.

NL Central

Cubs 172.2, 137.1(-35.1), Current
Cincinnati 95.4, 95.9(+0.5), 115.4
Milwaukee 63.1, 68.4(+5.3), 104.2
Pittsburgh 95.8, 102.5(+6.7), 99.9
St. Louis 148.2, 126.3(-21.9), Current

We've got plenty of resources. Cincy probably stays conservative for a while. My guess is Milwaukee gets pretty aggressive now. Pittsburgh is about to hit reset, if things don't turn quickly. The Cards likely linger in the same payroll range they're currently occupying.

NL West

Arizona 93.1, 120.8(+27.7), 112.3
Colorado 127.8, 99.5(-28.3), Current
Dodgers 241.1, 202.3(-38.8), 271.6
San Diego 69.6, 53.4(-16.2), 108.4
San Francisco 180.8, 187.8(+7.0), Current

Arizona is super interesting. No idea if they're ready to move their payroll north or not, considering they've thought about moving on from Greinke. The Rockies seem set to spend a bit, to try and stay competitive. The Dodgers are going to spend, but I think the 240+ days are behind them. San Diego doesn't need to spend currently. The Giants do though, if they want to compete. They're not in good shape at all and need to go the other direction.

Teams are certainly spending more than they used to. But, some of these teams are going to need to scale back, based on the fact that they're just not good. Free Agency is going to be extremely interesting. Most teams are near their prior limits to begin with, plus some teams are looking towards the better class in 2018.....I think prices are going to be pretty damn reasonable this year, for those reasons alone.


Teams ranked from most under last years spending, heading into FA....

Detroit 70.6
Philadelphia 62.4
Texas 49.5
Yankees 40.2
White Sox 39.3
Dodgers 38.8
Cubs 35.1
Baltimore 34.6
Mets 30.7
Oakland 29.0
Colorado 28.3
Atlanta 25.0
St. Louis 21.9
Angels 20.9
San Diego 16.2
Kansas City 15.7
Toronto 15.4
Tampa 14.9
Minnesota 14.4
Seattle 12.2
Cleveland 8.4
Cincinnati (0.5)
Boston (5.2)
Milwaukee(5.3)
Washington (6.0)
Pittsburgh(6.7)
San Francisco (7.0)
Miami(16.3)
Houston(19.3)
Arizona(27.7)

[Bertz]

The media types make it sound like the Yankees are planning to get under the tax this winter so they can go full on Evil Empire next winter. If true, they won't do much except for maybe fight us on Alex Cobb.

The Phillies are interesting. They could legitimately do Darvish and Stanton this winter and still leave room for Harper next winter.

[SouthSideRyan]

I could see the White Sox spending big on pitching. Their rotation is a mess.

[TomtheBombadil]

Will the Mets finally pull the trigger on Votto? They should also go hard after Iglesias.

[We Got The Whole 9]

Still got my eye on the Phillies. They've been BIG spenders before and they have a core I'm sure they believe enough in to try to land a couple big fish. They're not far from being a contender in that division.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

The Angels re-signed Justin Upton for 5 years, $106 million.

[Cubswin11]

The Angels re-signed Justin Upton for 5 years, $106 million.

It's not an addition 5 years, is it? Just added to the contract?

[cwood218]

The Angels re-signed Justin Upton for 5 years, $106 million.

It's not an addition 5 years, is it? Just added to the contract?

Replaces the old deal and adds a year. The contract runs through 2022.

Per ESPN link

[philosophizer75]

Good move by them in my opinion. He'll be 35 when it's up and that seems like a really safe age to give yourself an option to move on from a player.

He and Trout kinda quietly smashed the last couple months of the season and almost got the Angels into the playoffs. Couple of other good touches this offseason and they could be a solid team.

[mul21]

Good move by them in my opinion. He'll be 35 when it's up and that seems like a really safe age to give yourself an option to move on from a player.

He and Trout kinda quietly smashed the last couple months of the season and almost got the Angels into the playoffs. Couple of other good touches this offseason and they could be a solid team.

Their idiot manager needs to put Pujols in like the 7 or 8 hole but you just know there's no way he does it.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

23-year old lefty reliever who throws in the low- to mid-90s.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

What are the odds that Rosario makes it to the first day of spring training on the 40 man roster? I'll say 5% and feel that's probably incredibly generous.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Cleveland picked up Michael Brantley's option.

[Tryptamine]

Cleveland picked up Michael Brantley's option.

That's a shame, this could have been a huge boost.

[Cubswin11]

Cleveland picked up Michael Brantley's option.

That's a shame, this could have been a huge boost.

Eh, the probability of him staying healthy for 120-140+ games and being his 2014/15 self is probably lower than Heyward getting back to being something like his 2012-15 self.

[TomtheBombadil]

Cleveland picked up Michael Brantley's option.

Shucks, but if it’s possible to trade a player after an option I could see them dangling him out to interested contenders.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Heyman is saying the Reds are expected to not offer Cosart the QO. Crazy.

[17 Seconds]

trade russell while he can still walk

[champaignchris]

Heyman is saying the Reds are expected to not offer Cosart the QO. Crazy.

I don’t understand what the Reds have done with Cozart at all. He’s a plus fielder at shortstop with a career average bat who was having a break out season offensively. I heard no noise around him regarding trades. He was gimpy at the non-waiver deadline, but he’s absolutely the type that could have been moved during the waiver period. Now they don’t offer a QO for him and won’t even get a draft pick?

Maybe there’s something i’m Not understanding here, but this seems like a master stroke in turning a decent asset into nothing.

[Tim]

Heyman is saying the Reds are expected to not offer Cosart the QO. Crazy.

I don’t understand what the Reds have done with Cozart at all. He’s a plus fielder at shortstop with a career average bat who was having a break out season offensively. I heard no noise around him regarding trades. He was gimpy at the non-waiver deadline, but he’s absolutely the type that could have been moved during the waiver period. Now they don’t offer a QO for him and won’t even get a draft pick?

Maybe there’s something i’m Not understanding here, but this seems like a master stroke in turning a decent asset into nothing.

There were no buyers with a need at shortstop

[We Got The Whole 9]

Totally on board with signing Cozart and trading whichever SS they decide needs to go. Addy's in-season circus and stagnant offense make me think he'll be the one.

[Cubswin11]

Totally on board with signing Cozart and trading whichever SS they decide needs to go. Addy's in-season circus and stagnant offense make me think he'll be the one.

Russell and Cozart are pretty much the same offensive players for their career even throwing in Cozart’s outlier year at 32. They both literally have a .309 career wOBA and 90 WRC+. Unless Cozart is going all Babe Murphy I’d say it’s a pretty good bet Russell is better than him over the life of whatever contract Cozart gets. Unless we are getting Stroman for Russell I’m not trading him.