Winter '18-'19 Transactions - non-NYM version

[Frayed Knot]

- Clayton Kershaw, who had an opt-out window in his mega-deal signed back in 2014, has agreed to a new three-year deal with the club.
The deadline for opting in/out was originally Thursday but the two sides at first agreed to extend it by a day and today reached a new agreement which gives Kershaw an extra season on top of the two years
it still had to run. The $93 million dollar price tag is actually a small decrease in the rate he was scheduled to receive but, again, the extra year which will take him through his age 33 season.


- the Cubs picked up the club option they inherited on Cole Hamels for next year.
No brainer, especially in light of how several of their other high-priced pitching pickups in 2018 [Yu Darvish, Brandon Morrow, Tyler Chatwood] crashed and burned.

[smg58]

Kershaw is already worth less than that.

The Yankees bought out Brett Gardner's option but then brought him back for $7.5M. I'm guessing they wouldn't have bothered if Ellsbury were returning.

[Frayed Knot]

smg58 wrote: Kershaw is already worth less than that.

True. I suspect the days of Kershaw being KERSHAW!!! are over, at least on a consistent 25-30 starts/year basis.
On the other hand he's still likely to be pretty darn good more often than not, so if you're the Dodgers and are presented with the choices of:

A) No Kershaw at all (he opts out)
or
Kershaw at a super-expensive rate for two seasons thru age 32 (status quo)
or
C) Kershaw at a slightly reduced super-expensive rate for three seasons thru age 33

and you've got no power to force him into either options A or B, then C isn't a bad fall-back position.

[Frayed Knot]

Joe Mauer retires

15 seasons, all with his home town Twinkies, the first 10 behind the plate.

2,123 hits, 143 HR, 428 doubles.
.306 BA; .388 OBA; 827 OPS
Three batting titles (all as a catcher); two OBA plus one Slugging, one OPS/OPS+
One MVP (2009) plus three other top-10s
Five ASG, five Silver Slugger awards

[Edgy MD]

Sheesh, he seemed like he was one decent year from HoF Status. He may still get in but he might have to wait until he's 70.

[smg58]

Mauer is exhibit A for why moving catchers to first base is a quick and efficient way to render them irrelevant.

[Frayed Knot]

Well, yeah, but he also stopped hitting the way he had been at virtually the exact same time as the position change, so it was a kind of double whammy.
As Edgy says, he was on a HoF track. But whether it was age, the wear and tear of catching, or the concussions which necessitated the move to 1st base,
something changed rather quickly and turned the final 1/3 of his career into something fairly ordinary.

First 10 seasons: .323/.405/.468 -- 873 OPS / 135 OPS+, almost all as a catcher
Final 5 seasons: .273/.359/.388 -- 746 OPS / 105 OPS+, almost all as a 1B/DH


On the other hand, even with those final five seasons thrown in, the full result was still pretty darn good, as was his defensive rep as a backstop.
He wasn't Bench, but few are and he was close in several categories.

PLAYER	Gms Plyd	Gms Caught	PA	-Hits-	-2B-	-HR-	-RBI-	-BA-	-OBA-	-OPS-	OPS+
MAUER	1,858	921 *	7,960	2,123	428	143	923	.306	.388	827	124
BENCH	2,158	1,742 **	8,674	2,048	381	389	1,376	.267	.342	817	126

* 603 games at 1st base, 310 as DH, 2 in OF
** 195 at 3B, 145 @ 1B, 111 in OF



btw, Joe Mauer's older brothers Jake & Bill both played in the Twins system -- one never made it out of A-ball, the other briefly reached AA
Both have been out of the game since 2005

[MFS62]

A transaction - sorta' (since I didn't see a bon voyage thread)
https://sports.yahoo.com/dodgers-release-chase-utley-033524335.html

Ptui. Good riddance.

Later

[smg58]

The Nationals get proactive and nab Kurt Suzuki for two years and $10M.

He was not the first catcher I expected to get signed.

He's a good value at that price, but does that mean the Nats lack the funds for a more ambitious signing, or are they anticipating having their budget tied up elsewhere?

On edit: I can see the logic here. It's obvious who the Nats most want, and given a choice of (a) getting a catcher who might tighten their budget and make it hard to compete with other bidders for Harper's services, ( waiting for the Harper situation to resolve and hoping there's a decent catcher left (Boras has a way of taking his time), or © quickly grabbing a decent catcher on the cheap, they went for option c.

[Frayed Knot]

And of course the Nats have had Suzuki in the past so they pretty much know what they're in for.
Suzuki's been a decent half-time catcher: better than a typical backup but not quite what you'd want in a starter.
Yeah, he had a couple of 500+ AB seasons in his career but that was back when he was in his mid-20's and he just turned 35 a few weeks ago.

[Frayed Knot]

Yanx deal w/Seattle for LHP James Paxton giving up touted LHP prospect Justus Sheffield plus two others.
Paxton, 30 earlier this month, can be a free agent after two more seasons.

[Mex17]

You missed this one. The Rays continue to be interesting.

http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/rays/2018/11/08/what-getting-mike-zunino-dealing-mallex-smith-deal-means-to-rays/

[Centerfield]

Frayed Knot wrote: Yanx deal w/Seattle for LHP James Paxton giving up touted LHP prospect Justus Sheffield plus two others. Paxton, 30 earlier this month, can be a free agent after two more seasons.

Paxton has pretty good peripherals according to the articles circulating now. The general consensus seems to be that Seattle didn’t get enough back.

[smg58]

Sheffield is #31 on the MLB.com list of prospects. Paxton just gave up 23 home runs over 160 IP -- a career high -- and is going to hope for better luck in the glorified little league field in the Bronx. The backfire potential is enormous.

[Centerfield]

Let’s hope so. Looks like Paxton has trouble staying healthy too. Maybe he will suck and then his arm will fall off.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Maybe he'll get caught slathering pine tar on his neck like the last alleged stud pitcher they acquired from Seattle

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

This probably gives us an idea of Thor's starting price in trade. Our guy is younger, with one more year of control and a higher ceiling; theirs is a lefty, with more of a track record, and 52 starts over the last two years (compared to 32).

[Frayed Knot]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Maybe he'll get caught slathering pine tar on his neck like the last alleged stud pitcher they acquired from Seattle

He's a Canadian so it'll probably be Maple sap instead.

[ashie62]

Yankees pick up Mariners James Paxton for three prospects. Best being 22 year old pitcher Justus Sheffield

This would be Sheffield's 3rd organization already. Seattle got screwed

[Frayed Knot]

Anthony Rizzo was a guy in his 3rd org by age 22 and other top players reach the ML after already being dealt once or more.
Plus Sheffield wasn't exactly dumped, he's been a main cog in deals for two All-Star pitchers: Andrew Miller and now James Paxton.

So while we'll have to wait and see how his career goes, Seattle isn't getting screwed just on that basis alone.

[MFS62]

Here's a move reported by the Onion:
https://sports.theonion.com/yankees-avoid-luxury-tax-by-moving-franchise-to-offshor-1830544223

Funny, but I can believe it.
If you can afford a season ticket to that bandbox, I have no doubt you can afford the round trip fare to each game.
And getting rid of that piece of crap would do wonders toward the urban renewal of the Bronx.
Plus, I can believe that somewhere at the bottom of this, the Wilpons will be making money from the real estate transactions.

Later

[Mex17]

C.J. Cron, him of 30 HR, 74 RBI, an .816 OPS, and 2.00 WAR (along with 145 Ks), DFAed by Tampa Bay.

There is a method to their madness, and I know it works, but sometimes it really makes me scratch my head.

Edited November 21, 2018 by Guest

[smg58]

First basemen who can't do much better than an .800 OPS, especially if their defense is suspect, are a dime a dozen right now. The Rays think they can sign Cron (or an equivalent player) for less than Cron would get from an arbiter, and they're probably right.

The Marlins cut Derek Dietrich, a useful lefty utility player.

[Mex17]

What are the odds that the Yanks pick up Cron in order to platoon with Voit? I don't have much confidence of Bird staying healthy.

[smg58]

Cron, or Matt Adams, or Lucas Duda, or Logan Morrison, or Justin Bour, or probably a half-dozen other similar players that I can't think of off the top of my head -- it's a very safe bet that one of them will wind up in pinstripes.

[smg58]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: This probably gives us an idea of Thor's starting price in trade. Our guy is younger, with one more year of control and a higher ceiling; theirs is a lefty, with more of a track record, and 52 starts over the last two years (compared to 32).

I would disagree on more of a track record -- Paxton's best season was a 2.98 ERA (140 ERA+) over 136 IP, and Syndergaard's was a 2.60 ERA (155 ERA+) over 183 IP. But yeah, you'd need to start with at least the equivalent of this to get a return phone call from me.

I like the dealing that Seattle has done; they've gotten younger and cheaper, and it's quite possible they got the best player in 2019 in both deals.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Braves close to 1year deal with Donaldson.

That's....not good.

They also reacquired Brain McCann on a 2-year deal

[smg58]

The Rangers re-sign Jesse Chavez for 2 years and 8 million. A 35-year-old for whom the lightbulb finally clicked last year, Chavez had a 2.55 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP in a whopping 95 relief innings for the Rangers and Cubs. It's a huge bargain if he can repeat that -- even if the Rangers don't contend, they could get a very nice haul for him in July.

[Frayed Knot]

Paul Goldschmidt to the Cardinals
StL sends RHP Luke Weaver, catcher Carson Kelly, minor lg infielder Andy Young, and a Compensation Round 'B' selection (whatever the hell that is!) to the desert in exchange for the final season
of Goldschmidt's contract.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

A) You can trade draft picks?
Yes, it's a dumb, knee-jerk thing, but... Wheeler, Kelenic, Plawecki and a midlevel minor-league pitcher or two wouldn't have gotten this done?