2015-2016 MLB Hot Stove thread
 

The transactions are heating up and the awards are starting to be handed out.

First awards are Comeback Player of the Year. Prince Fielder gets the AL award, and Matt Harvey gets the NL nod.

Link to the MLB Hot Stove tracker:

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/news/hot_stov...nt_tracker.jsp

MLB Rumors - MLBTradeRumors.com is great for offseason tracking.

Royals news...

Alex Gordon has declined his option as expected.

Royals decline options on Guthrie and Rios.

Zobrist, Chris Young, Madson, F. Morales and Cueto (obviously) headed to free agency.

Would only like to see Gordon back if they can get him for $15-16M/yr. Zobrist would be nice on a 3 year deal, but someone will likely offer him four. Don't think Colon is quite ready to be the every day guy and Infante is still an offensive liability.

Would be nice to see Chris Young back for a year or two as well, nice stopgap option in the rotation.

I'd be fine with Dyson/Orlando platooning in RF next year with Rios gone.

Giants have declined the options on Marlon Byrd ($8m, expected) and Nori Aoki ($5.5m, not quite as expected).

They've said it's so they can be flexible while pursuing a top flight pitcher, and I want very much to believe that. Unfortunately, left field is now a pretty big gap. Gregor Blanco is an excellent 4th outfielder...not sure how I feel about him being a starter. Especially when he's a better CF than the guy they use in CF (Angel Pagan).

I was surprised to see that the Rangers and Mike Maddux couldn't agree to a deal on a new contract. Since the move to the new ballpark in 1994, the six lowest team ERAs were on his watch. Greg Maddux also moved on as well from his front office consultancy gig. That is a lot of baseball knowledge to replace.

Wouldn't mind seeing Gordon go to the Tigers. Biggest need is starting pitching and bullpen help though. Please oh please do not go out and sign another dedicated closer for too much money and term.

I think the clubs that have reportedly showed interest thus far are the Cubs, Angels, and Red Sox.

I guess that means he will sign with the Dodgers or Yankees. :D

Hopefully they are setting up shop in Detroit. Doubtful, but hopeful.

Mike Maddux just signed on with the Nationals

:(

Shit...

Explain where he would play on either of those teams?

Yanks have a solid OF and their #1 prospect is an OF. Dodgers always have like 6 OFers at any given moment

Was done tongue in cheek regarding those particular teams spending habits. Although the Yankees have toned that down the past few years.

I hope the Dodgers grab Zimmerman and Heyward

I hope they re-sign Greinke as quickly as possible do I can avoid hot takes about whether he could play in Boston. Give me Price or Cueto. (I like Samardzija as a bounce back candidate too, but it's clear we'll target "an ace" to appease the media/pinkhat fans, whether it's through FA or trade.)

Greinke at 4 for 120 for sure

Although it was probably the right move, I am still disappointed the Tigers couldn't keep Price. Team has taken a nosedive with starting pitching the last 2-3 years.

I can't imagine Greinke signs anything less than a 5 year deal, probably will need an option year as well.

Rumors are bouncing around that the Giants are going to be in big on him, if only to drive the price up for the Dodgers.

The price isnt the issue, it's the years

Saw it mentioned that Royals could realistically sig Gordon, Zobrist, and Kasmir. Yes please!!! That would be fantastic.

Yeah, I was using price as more of an "overall cost."

crazy


http://www.ajc.com/news/sports/baseb...d-at-29/npKLD/

it will be interesting to find out what happened.

My phone is telling me the Braves are deep in talks to trade Andrelton Simmons.

Well, at least they re-signed AJ Pierzinski /s.

Miami Marlins will leave Scott Boras out of Jose Fernandez, Marcell Ozuna negotiations

David, you can't say this if you really want us to be on the Marlins' side in this case.

Last offseason the mets tried and the braves supposedly asked for Syndergaard, Conforto, and other pieces. That price will probably have to come down a bit to move him.

The price would have to come down a lot, at least to the Mets. I'd give up Wheeler, but not Matz and certainly not the big 3. I understand he's excellent defensively but his bat is no better, and possibly worse, than Tejada's. Obviously there's a ton of value in that glove but I'm using the excess pitching for offense, not defense.

There's no way I'd trade for Wheeler without seeing him healthy first.

But, Synd and Conforto are clearly worth more now than they were at the deadline.

Apparently when the Mets heard he was on the market again, they inquired... the Braves said for either Harvey or deGrom.... wtf?!

It's hard to quantify, but he's clearly the best defender in all the land - down year or not. I don't think you can give up your well-established front-line starters for him, but I think Wheeler's probably a fair value.

And I agree that I wouldn't expect Atlanta, or any team for that matter, to give up a significant asset for Wheeler before he comes back.

Well either him or Jason Heward... someone else Atlanta dealt away.

Definitely.

Mets have excess pitching, every fan base thinks they can get one of the 4 cheap, so there's going to be a lot of dumb rumors. And a lot of them will be true - if the Mets inquire why wouldn't Atlanta ask high to start?

I know the Red Sox are talking to them, although I think the Mets are asking for Bogaerts, which is a non-starter. Even though I think he's a (slightly) better player and I still hope it doesn't happen, I actually could see Mookie Betts being used as the headliner in our trade for an ace due to our current CF/2B depth, but we just have no other SS options.

There is asking high and then there is asking for something ridiculous that shuts down all future negotiations. If you ask for Harvey or deGrom, you aren't being serious, IMO. Asking for Matz is more realistic.

Simmons to the Angels

Holy Shit, the Braves got Mike Trout?

Ok, I'm done with the Braves for a few years.

Heyward I understand, you probably won't pay him. Wood was less understandable, but Ok, he has a weird motion. But Simmons, who you have for 5 years $50 million?

If I'm Freddie Freeman, I refuse to play until I'm traded.

Reportedly the Braves were down on Simmons' bat. So they traded for a guy who hours worse and is worse on defense

Newcomb could well be a very good #3 starter in a few years but holy hell I am excited about this trade for the Halos. Talk about incredible defense up the middle for the next 5 years.

I just don't understand the Braves - I mean I get rebuilding through trades but they are basically trading everything down to the bare walls, and what do we end up with? Like 40 pitching prospects? What about bats?

yeah just doesn't make much sense

They were demanding Matz and Conforto. Enjoy the return you got.

That's a bummer. I followed him pretty closely because I had him on my fantasy team his first two seasons. Really seemed to have a lot of troubles after that though. Always got the sense that something was not right in his life.

Mainstream seems to have danced around it but the strong rumor when the story broke was a massive (or at least catastrophic) cocaine overdose.

Totally agree. When they've pissed off the last fan will he please turn out the lights?

That wouldn't shock me. He was highly touted when he came up, and pitched phenomenally, but there was always this sort of detachment from the media about his ability level, and the corresponding hype. Like, if he's this good, and you think he's going to be this good, shouldn't he be getting a ton more pub? It was odd, like they were purposely not exposing him to much or avoiding talking about him.

The same thing happened with his subsequent trade and injuries and issues. It always felt like, "we don't really wanna talk about him too much because we don't want to convey, or dig too deep into what's going on".

Then he just sort of disappeared. And now he's dead.

How likely is it for the Jays to land ANTONIO BASTARDO? They need lefty bullpen help, and I seriously just came across this guy today. What a name!

re: the Braves trade of Simmons. The new GM spins it as being an offensive upgrade, says they might even win more games just through this one trade. Let's look at this "upgrade"

Simmons 2015: .321/.338/.660
Aybar 2015: .301/.338/.639

Maybe Aybar just had an off-year though so maybe ... oops, the peaks of the two players over three years are virtually the same. And Aybar is older by five years, so room for improvement is considerably less.

In other words, the new GM is full of crap.

Canned response from a new GM. It is 100% a move for the future, and honestly not a bad one at all.

I've been saying this for a while now, but I thought they were looking at a HOU-level tear down and trying to get the payroll as low as humanely possible going in to the new stadium. Aybar makes half of what Simmons makes and is on the final year. The Braves are currently 23rd and may move down after this deal.

Maybin is a 2017 option, and I believe Swisher and Bourne have 2017 options. That is also when Freeman's contract goes to over 20M (why they think he's worth that I have no idea). So I believe the idea was to get the payroll as low as possible going in to 2017 when they can go on a spree, call up a bunch of young players, and open the new stadium with some excitement.