MLB 2015

[splent]

Red Sox in agreement with David Price..7 @ 217??!!  WTF?

WOW!

I'm just happy the cards didn't get him...
Apparently they almost did

[425]

I could stand to see David go anywhere but Boston. So this is pretty much the worst.

[mrrct]

I could stand to see David go anywhere but Boston. So this is pretty much the worst.

Don't worry.  As long as we're stuck with Hanley and Panda, we're not winning squat.

[425]

Fair enough, but it's not really because I don't want Boston to win (although that's important too). It's that I don't want players I like going to the team that I don't like.

[masterthes]

I think he was a fool. Red Sox have been on a slump lately, Jays are a playoff caliber team right now

[Destiny Of Chaos]

I think he was a fool. Red Sox have been on a slump lately, Jays are a playoff caliber team right now

Couldn't disagree with this more.

[mrrct]

I think he was a fool. Red Sox have been on a slump lately, Jays are a playoff caliber team right now

Couldn't disagree with this more.

He was going to go with whoever gave him the most money, period.  He was close to accepting a deal with the Cardinals, but the Sox zoomed in and outbid them by $30M.

He was never going to return to the Jays because Rogers Communications, who own the Jays, were never going to give him anything close to that.  They could afford to, I'm sure, but they've never given out a contract like that.  The most they'll give anybody is the $15 or 16M that they give Bautista.

[TAC]

My issue with it is does he really want to be here? Sounds like he really wanted to go to the Cards.

[KevShmev]

I don't follow baseball like I used to, but nearly everyone I know who is still a big Cardinals fan is relieved that we didn't spend big bucks to get Price.

[gmillerdrake]

I don't follow baseball like I used to, but nearly everyone I know who is still a big Cardinals fan is relieved that we didn't spend big bucks to get Price.

Count me in on that. Such a waste of $$ IMO....especially with such a lackluster playoff record and history. I'm fine with the way the Cards spend and how 'smart' they are with their cash. The type of contract Price just signed is retarded.......good for him.....but no one else. Unless he wins 28 games in the regular season and goes undefeated in the playoffs they've wasted their money IMO.

I can 'see' contracts like that for position players and I say that loosely.....but when pitchers get this type of cash I think it's a joke...doesn't matter who the pitcher is to me. Playing in 35-40 games a year ...when there are 1638 innings to be played and at 'best' your pitching in 200....maybe 220 of those.....no way that type of $$ is justified.

[dparrott]

Padres bring back the brown!
https://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/14268487/uni-watch-san-diego-padres-connect-new-home-uniforms-brown-alternates-whiff-road-sets

D-Backs modify their unis as well:
https://www.uni-watch.com/2015/12/04/ladies-and-gents-your-arizona-diamondbacks/

[mrrct]

It's impossible for a team to gain any tradition if they change their identity every few years.

I myself am especially a fan of the Yankees Friday night home alternates against Central Division teams.

[dparrott]

Dodgers get Chapman!!! 

[TempusVox]

Congrats L.A. You're gonna love watching him pitch on a regular basis. Especially if you get to see it in person, and up close. 100+ at 6'7", from a 3' mound, with an enormous stride, from 60'6" is thrilling, terrifying, and sureal to watch up close. Considering that for a batter to even come close to hitting one of these pitches he'll have to start swinging before Chappy even releases the ball. It's amazing. Be kind to our Cuban Missile. We'll miss him here in the 'Nati for sure.

[mrrct]

How does Cincinnati still have any fans?  It's obvious that ownership doesn't want to win.

[gmillerdrake]

Congrats L.A. You're gonna love watching him pitch on a regular basis. Especially if you get to see it in person, and up close. 100+ at 6'7", from a 3' mound, with an enormous stride, from 60'6" is thrilling, terrifying, and sureal to watch up close. Considering that for a batter to even come close to hitting one of these pitches he'll have to start swinging before Chappy even releases the ball. It's amazing. Be kind to our Cuban Missile. We'll miss him here in the 'Nati for sure.

Maybe Cincy could trade Votto to the Cards?  I'd take that dude and Phillips in a heartbeat!!

[TempusVox]

How does Cincinnati still have any fans?  It's obvious that ownership doesn't want to win.

Nothing could be further from the truth. The team owner wants to win so badly he can't stand it. But they went all in on a few bad deals a few years ago. This is a very small market team, with a horrible tv contract for the next two years. They have to rebuild now. But ownership has been awesome in changing the culture from say 10-12 years ago.

[mrrct]

How does Cincinnati still have any fans?  It's obvious that ownership doesn't want to win.

Nothing could be further from the truth. The team owner wants to win so badly he can't stand it. But they went all in on a few bad deals a few years ago. This is a very small market team, with a horrible tv contract for the next two years. They have to rebuild now. But ownership has been awesome in changing the culture from say 10-12 years ago.

Trading Chapman for two prospects, neither of whom is considered one of the Dodgers' best, is a prime example of trading a horse for two ponies.  If they couldn't have re-signed Chapman and were destined to lose him to free agency, they should have at least got major league ready players back in return.  Don't be surprised if they trade Votto and Frazier for prospects too, then pocket their revenue-sharing check that the Dodgers and Yankees give them instead of spending it on payroll or even international scouting.  That's the way teams like the Reds and Marlins operate.

[mrrct]

Speaking of trading a horse for a pony, the Mariners just gave the Red Sox Carson Smith and his MLB -minimum salary for Wade Miley and his $5-6M.  Thank you, Mr. DiPoto.

[TempusVox]

How does Cincinnati still have any fans?  It's obvious that ownership doesn't want to win.

Nothing could be further from the truth. The team owner wants to win so badly he can't stand it. But they went all in on a few bad deals a few years ago. This is a very small market team, with a horrible tv contract for the next two years. They have to rebuild now. But ownership has been awesome in changing the culture from say 10-12 years ago.

Trading Chapman for two prospects, neither of whom is considered one of the Dodgers' best, is a prime example of trading a horse for two ponies.  If they couldn't have re-signed Chapman and were destined to lose him to free agency, they should have at least got major league ready players back in return.  Don't be surprised if they trade Votto and Frazier for prospects too, then pocket their revenue-sharing check that the Dodgers and Yankees give them instead of spending it on payroll or even international scouting.  That's the way teams like the Reds and Marlins operate.

You have no idea what you're talking about.  The Reds are 14th in team payroll.  Miami is dead last. They don't have Dodger or Yankee money.  They spend money,  but they can't afford to keep everybody. Besides Votto has no trade clause in his contract.  He came out during Redsfest two days ago, and said he loves it here, and understands the team needs to rebuild and that he's in it for the long haul. Small market teams cannot build through free agency.  They have to retool and rebuild through trades of talent for prospects, and through the draft. Leake, Cueto, and Chappy were due contracts this year and next they cannot afford.  But the Reds want to win. They work harder on fan experience than any team in the league. I have diamond club tickets. Every time I go, I see Bob Castellini in the diamond club restaurant,  and he wants to win a championship more than anyone there. He was a minority owner for the Cards previously. He knows about building a winning cultiure. But he loves Reds baseball, and he agonizes over every loss. But he's not Bill Gates. The Reds are rebuilding.  Not to save cash, but to get young talent they can afford to make another run. They have a bigger payroll than the Mets or the Royals.

[King Postwhore]

We are spoiled here in N.E. because our baseball team does spend.  Doesn't a laws work out but the will overspend unlike others.

[TAC]

  Doesn't a laws work out but the will overspend unlike others.

Time to get the decoder out!

[King Postwhore]

  Doesn't a laws work out but the will overspend unlike others.

Time to get the decoder out!

Damn auto correct.  Doesn't always work out but they at least are willing to overspend.

[mrrct]

How does Cincinnati still have any fans?  It's obvious that ownership doesn't want to win.

Nothing could be further from the truth. The team owner wants to win so badly he can't stand it. But they went all in on a few bad deals a few years ago. This is a very small market team, with a horrible tv contract for the next two years. They have to rebuild now. But ownership has been awesome in changing the culture from say 10-12 years ago.

Trading Chapman for two prospects, neither of whom is considered one of the Dodgers' best, is a prime example of trading a horse for two ponies.  If they couldn't have re-signed Chapman and were destined to lose him to free agency, they should have at least got major league ready players back in return.  Don't be surprised if they trade Votto and Frazier for prospects too, then pocket their revenue-sharing check that the Dodgers and Yankees give them instead of spending it on payroll or even international scouting.  That's the way teams like the Reds and Marlins operate.

You have no idea what you're talking about.  The Reds are 14th in team payroll.  Miami is dead last. They don't have Dodger or Yankee money.  They spend money,  but they can't afford to keep everybody. Besides Votto has no trade clause in his contract.  He came out during Redsfest two days ago, and said he loves it here, and understands the team needs to rebuild and that he's in it for the long haul. Small market teams cannot build through free agency.  They have to retool and rebuild through trades of talent for prospects, and through the draft. Leake, Cueto, and Chappy were due contracts this year and next they cannot afford.  But the Reds want to win. They work harder on fan experience than any team in the league. I have diamond club tickets. Every time I go, I see Bob Castellini in the diamond club restaurant,  and he wants to win a championship more than anyone there. He was a minority owner for the Cards previously. He knows about building a winning cultiure. But he loves Reds baseball, and he agonizes over every loss. But he's not Bill Gates. The Reds are rebuilding.  Not to save cash, but to get young talent they can afford to make another run. They have a bigger payroll than the Mets or the Royals.

I don't need a lesson in economics from you.  I know that Cincinnati is one of the smaller markets and that they have to be judicious in how they spend their money.  I am just saying that they did not maximize their return in the Chapman trade.  And what the hell do you think your owner is going to tell his fans when he makes himself available to them?  I don't know what year Castellini succeeded Schott as your owner, but it was in the late 2000s that George Steinbrenner wrote a huge luxury tax check and then mentioned the Reds by name as not using it to increase payroll.  Fact, not opinion.  I assume he is not as bad as Jeffrey Loria and his club president/son-in-law David Samson, who unapologetically bilked southern Florida for a new stadium, the luxury box money, and never spent a dime until they gave Giancarlo Stanton a huge contract that everybody knows the Yankees or Dodgers will end up paying the bulk of.

  Doesn't a laws work out but the will overspend unlike others.

Time to get the decoder out!

Damn auto correct.  Doesn't always work out but they at least are willing to overspend.

There are times I wish the Red Sox were more like the small- and mid-market teams, and didn't give awful contracts to the likes of Carl Crawford, Hanley Ramirez, Pablo Sandoval, and RIck Porcello.  Stars like Manny Ramirez deserve to be paid, and Price was the best available ace (Greinke can't cut it in the AL East).  I hate overpaying mediocrity, and it prevents teams from making improvements later on.  Some years they spend just for the sake of spending, when Brock Holt could have given them as much as Sandoval for $500K and Travis Shaw's second half is probably just as good as what Hanley is going to give them at first next year.

[King Postwhore]

It's how you spend that is important. You have to mix from your minors and paying for big time players. 

[mrrct]

It's how you spend that is important. You have to mix from your minors and paying for big time players. 

Agree wholeheartedly.  Which is why I was dead set against trading Bogaerts for anything.  Even though we have some good young outfielders, I wouldn't lose sleep over losing Betts, Bradley, or Castillo, because none of the three has the size or power potential I want from my outfielders, although Betts is going to be a good all-around player.  None of their young pitchers that have made it up recently look to me like they are going to be anything, with the possible exception of Rodriguez.  Losing Lester made me absolutely miserable, and Price isn't worth double what they offered Lester, that's for sure.  I was upset when they lost Ellsbury, although two years later it is looking like the right call.  I'd prefer to keep homegrown stars whenever possible.

[TempusVox]

I don't need a lesson in economics from you.  I know that Cincinnati is one of the smaller markets and that they have to be judicious in how they spend their money.  I am just saying that they did not maximize their return in the Chapman trade.  And what the hell do you think your owner is going to tell his fans when he makes himself available to them?  I don't know what year Castellini succeeded Schott as your owner, but it was in the late 2000s that George Steinbrenner wrote a huge luxury tax check and then mentioned the Reds by name as not using it to increase payroll.  Fact, not opinion.  I assume he is not as bad as Jeffrey Loria and his club president/son-in-law David Samson, who unapologetically bilked southern Florida for a new stadium, the luxury box money, and never spent a dime until they gave Giancarlo Stanton a huge contract that everybody knows the Yankees or Dodgers will end up paying the bulk of.

Castellini didn't buy the team from Marge Schott. He took over in 2005/2006 from Carl Lindner. And is that Steinbrenner fact the same kind of fact that you mentioned when you lumped the Reds with the Marlins? The people here love Reds ownership. They have invested heavily on the fan experience, and continue to do so, despite one of the worst TV contracts in all of professional sports (one that ends in two years thankfully). They have changed the culture here. Unfortunately their window closed on the current club two years ago, and they need to retool. People aren't happy about that, but it's an easy pill to swallow when we all realize the owner is unhappiest of all over that fact. His goal from day 1 has been to bring championship baseball back to Cincinnati. If you understand the luxury tax (you brought it up) then you understand the penalties for going over your allotted spending each season. The Yankees had a limit in 2014 of 2.19 million. They spent over 20 million. And they paid 18 million in penalties because of it. The Reds can't afford to do that. The Dodgers were even worse. Baseball gave them an allotment of 2 million this year. They spent 16 million on one player and another 5 or so on two other prospects. As a result they acquired over 40 million in penalties. There aren't many teams that can afford that.

As for the Chapman deal, as of this posting, it hasn't been finalized, so no one knows who he was traded for. Word has it that there may be several teams involved in a multi-player trade scenario. Be that as it may, prospects, no matter how highly they are rated are just that. Prospects. There are a ton of high end prospects that never amount to a hill of beans. So if it's prospects they get for him, then so be it.

[TAC]

  Some years they spend just for the sake of spending, when Brock Holt could have given them as much as Sandoval for $500K and Travis Shaw's second half is probably just as good as what Hanley is going to give them at first next year.

Yes and Yes! Travis Shaw was a great surprise.

[mrrct]

If Castellini purchased the team in 2005-6, then it is most likely Lindner that George was ripping, since he had begun suffering from dementia the last couple years of his life and stopped making public statements.  And Lindner's Reds deserved to be lumped in with Loria's (and Huizenga's) Marlins.  And I never said that the people of Cincinnati didn't love their team.  I just said that I personally couldn't root for a team that gets rid of everybody worth watching, or is constantly rumored to be salary dumping.

Yes, I know how the luxury tax works.  I know that only three teams are generally over it (Dodgers, Yankees, and Red Sox), and a few others are sometimes (Angel, Rangers, Cubs, Tigers) over or are at the threshold.  I also know that the seven poorest teams, or more accurately the teams that spend the least (Marlins, Rays, usual suspects) receive a check from a pool drawn from those teams that are over.  I also know that one year one team received a check equal to 32% of its revenue and put only 6% of what it received back into payroll.

You are right, the trade is not yet official.  The ESPN talking heads have just said that the Reds won't be receiving Seager (a SS) or any of the Dodgers' best pitching prospects, none of whom I admit that I have ever heard of.  IMHO, that is not enough of a return for someone as electric as Chapman.

[TempusVox]

I will be sorely disappointed if all they get are a lifetime A ball player and a bag of balls, trust me. My hope is the deal is contingent on them getting someone from another team via the Dodgers.  Maybe Jensen to someone for prospects sent to the Reds.  Who knows. 

I will tell you what does concern people here is Walt Jocketty.  I think his time has come and gone,  and while we have a new GM now, he's staying on for the next couple of years as an advisor. I wish he were gone 

[mrrct]

It's probably no coincidence that the Cardinals resurgence took place after they got rid of Jocketty and replaced him with Mozeliak.  I'm sure that the Reds will get something decent at least out of the trade, although they should have insisted on Seager when all they have is Cosart and Suarez.  Jensen probably wants out now that he's been displaced as a closer; maybe it isn't official yet because a third team is involved.

By the way, I found the article online which I referred to earlier.  It seems that the team Steinbrenner referred to was actually the 2006 Royals and not the Reds.  I "misremembered," in the words of Roger Clemens.  Sorry for the insult and/or misinformation.

[splent]

Dodgers/Chapman on hold due to domestic violence issue

[TempusVox]

Yeah....did not see that coming. Now his trade value went from top tier to "I'll give you a bag of practice baseball's, and this broken bat".

[splent]

Jason Heyward has picked a team, and it sounds like the Cards and Nats are out... It's possible it's the cubbies... If that's the case that's huge...

[mrrct]

I don't know how well Heyward can cover ground in center (his body type looks more like a corner outfielder to me), but assuming he's average, that is a great signing for the Cubs and may put them over the top.  With Zobrist and Heyward being offensive upgrades at second and center, and Lackey as the #3, the Cubs may have improved enough to the point that they are the NL favorites.  They still might want defensive replacements in the late innings for Schwarber and Soler, but those are cheap and easy to find.