smg58

The Marlins ate no money and got a bit more than nothing in return, at a time when zero free agent infielders have signed yet. I question the Mariners' thinking more than the Marlins' on this one. The bigger question is how do you expect to build up a fan base in Miami when fire sales are already routine, and the first thing you do is hold a fire sale.

Trading for Gordon to move him to centerfield seems... dangerous. The Marlins freed payroll and got a bit more than nothing in return, so they're happy. There are plenty of options still out there, and he wasn't my first choice anyway, so I'm not broken up about this.

Chatwood has never pitched more than 158 innings, which makes this a fairly big gamble.

I think the Stanton and Ohtani situations will be resolved by the end of this weekend, and after that things will happen faster than we can keep track of them.

He actually got 3 years and $28M, so a bit higher than projections. I might have been willing to bite on that -- lefties who can also pitch to righthanded batters aren't that easy to find -- but we have multiple needs and I'd have to know how much I had to spend first. The chance to start might have factored in, although I would bet that the Rangers could find safer bets for the rotation at less of a price.

The better Rondon (i.e. Hector, of the Cubs) was also non-tendered. Hughes is more of of a ROOGY than a workhorse, but he has more value than the Brewers gave him credit for; he's generally been very good at keeping the ball in the yard, and that should be at a premium now. It was already a buyers market for righty relievers (which is good for the Mets), and now it's even more of one.

Did anybody actually fork over $110 for... that? What do you do with it when it's not St. Patrick's Day?

He wasn't as good as he looked in 2016, but like every other Mets pitcher this year, he was too hurt to get a good gauge of his real value. The pen needs help, and I do think the Mets should add a starter to what they already have. He'd need to compete for a bullpen spot, but I think he has a good chance of landing one.

The Mets have too many bigger needs. Plus, Dominic Smith might not have a .218 BABIP next season.

A nondescript starter (he did have one good season) who turned into an outstanding reliever, after losing two years with injuries. I don't think anybody's moving him back into the rotation. If we can pay Blevins $7M to pitch less than 50 innings, getting Minor at $8M per year would be a bargain in comparison. In fact, balking at that price would look silly after picking up Blevins' option. (Minor allowed a .662 OPS to righthanded batters and a .476 OPS to lefties last year; Blevins' splits were .993(!) and .455.) Pitchers like Minor are the reason I wouldn't jump too quickly on Bryan Shaw (although I'd have no problem making room for the both of them). I'd be in on Minor, and I think he's worth the added risk of going to four years to get him.

Yes, I thought it was very funny. The multiple George Michael references might seem more sad than funny now, however.

Somebody in Cleveland thinks he might be coming here: http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ssf/2017/11/two_teams_have_made_offers_on.html pros: Steady and durable. Appears to have a good working relationship with our current manager. cons: Consistently good, not consistently great. Given that neither Familia nor Ramos pitched particularly well for us this year, we need to bring in somebody capable of taking over the closer role, and I'm not sure he's the guy. verdict: He'd improve our pen, but we can't stop there. I'm also not sure I'd jump to sign him while bigger catches are still available.

Nunez is average at best defensively. If he were better than that with the glove, he'd present enough of an upgrade over what we already have to justify a look. But I think he's not the best fit here right now.

So what exactly needs to be done? Am I correct in thinking that there's a limit to how much can be spent on international signings, and that the posting fee would count towards this limit? In that case, the winner will be the team who thinks that Otani is worth sacrificing all the money they have available and missing out on anybody from anywhere else. Unless multiple teams go all in, in which case, then what? How much say does Otani actually get?

He was 21 and moving up from a league where hitting comes far too easily. I expected him to struggle out of the box, and he did. I also expect him to improve substantially. Maybe not into an All-Star next year, but an OPS in the low to mid 700s with a plus plus glove sounds reasonable.

Cozart walked a lot more this past season than he has in the past without damaging his strikeout rate. That strikes me as an improved approach, not an aberration. You would have to decide whom to move to second base, but that might be a good problem to have. Also worth considering.

The plus is that he remains an elite defender, and infield defense would become a strength with him and Rosario up the middle. The minus is that he's old enough to make you wonder if he's on his way down with the bat. He may have been a bit unlucky last year (a .244 BABIP), so a bit of a bounceback is not out of the question. The catch is that Neil Walker would likely command a similar salary without costing any players, which means that there is a severe limit to what Detroit can ask for in return and still make it worth doing from our perspective. It's possible that the Tigers would simply like to free the payroll to spend elsewhere, though. It's worth considering.

You can never have too much bullpen depth, plus he's a lefty with a pulse, plus he does have some upside. Worth a shot.

He must have had some connection with St. John's. I remember going there with my dad (he taught there and just recently retired) one day, and as we're leaving the University Center, up walks Ed Lynch (who was a lot taller than I thought), in his Mets uniform. THAT was cool. I can also remember going to a game in 1984, when a Met reliever comes in and gives up a few home runs, and somebody in the stands who's had a few too many drinks shouts out, "another victim of the Eddie Lynch Syndrome!"

Ceetar wrote: Lance Lynn looks like a bargain compared to Darvish and Arrieta. He had a higher ERA+ last season than either of them (Lynn 124, Arrieta 123, Darvish 118); his FIP suggests there might have been some luck involved, but it was his first year back from TJS and he's a good bet to improve. more than some. It was a whole season too, but before that he was a consistently solid mid-rotation guy. Depends if you think the reduced Ks and increased BBs can revert to pre-2017 levels or you think that and the HR spike are a result of the juicier ball and he's basically garbage. .244 BABIP. Seems like at best he was effectively wild. Digging a little more it looks like it was cutter/changeup movement that may have had an impact. So I guess there's hope that he can replicate that, there was a lot of out of zone contact, but hitters may adjust to a new scouting report.. There's definitely risk involved. But there's also a chance that he will be as good going forward as the big 2 for about half the price. Regarding second base: Well you're not going to upgrade on Neil Walker in the free agent market, but you might be able to get Neil Walker...

Lots of relievers on the list. I think the play there is to wait for the market to cool a little, there will still be plenty of options. Mike Minor looks like a bargain, and I'd take Addison Reed back for the price they're suggesting.

Lance Lynn looks like a bargain compared to Darvish and Arrieta. He had a higher ERA+ last season than either of them (Lynn 124, Arrieta 123, Darvish 118); his FIP suggests there might have been some luck involved, but it was his first year back from TJS and he's a good bet to improve.

Kipnis doesn't have a firm position right now with Cleveland. The Indians moved Jose Ramirez to second in Kipnis' absence and were happy with him there. The weak hitting they got from their third baseman should have put Kipnis back at second (the long winning steak notwithstanding), but he wound up spending more time in the outfield when he returned. He strikes me as being an undervalued player in Cleveland right now. Of course, our current manager knows Kipnis well, and that will probably affect how interested the Mets are in Kipnis. His defensive values dipped in his down offensive years, which is consistent with playing hurt. But a healthy Jason Kipnis is easily a top-10 second baseman, if not a top-5 one. If the Indians were OK with Gsellman and Guillorme, then I would be as well.

SplitGPAABRH2B3BHRSBCSBBSOSO/WBAOBPSLGOPSTBGDPHBPSHSFIBBROEBAbiptOPS+sOPS+2nd PA in G as RP704246922054456381125110002034272.10.289.353.494.847109055288252322.3121251003rd PA in G as SP4395276852487634776766139813310253656228050962.24.272.337.462.8001150562525987170132258.3031131003rd+ PA in G as RP4512911515306240010222.20.261.333.452.78652630100.2891091002nd PA in G as SP481342213378545311100252014183152644135346285302.46.265.331.449.78016983869401230257142403.3031081004td+ PA in G as SP6931446130417935280941051212582.13.270.337.439.7765732713441112.3081071001st PA in G as SP48604352639158434897762001189138751104346798072.83.250.315.417.7321631686136729223081344.298951001st PA in G as RP4801678276005584111462927862742012701326286159642.54.244.320.400.720239991367692304481581591.29693100 Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table Generated 11/10/2017. So the difference between the second and third appearance against a starter is 20 points of OPS. That's not that big of a deal. What I read from this is to field a better rotation, not to add more relievers.

The concern is that you'll have to pay for 2015 in order to sign him, but you'll get something less. Of course, if you DO get 2015, you have the best pitcher in baseball. You have to make a realistic assessment of whether that kind of form is still in him. I'm leaning towards no, but I'm glad more knowledgeable people than I are making the decision.