October's Over: The 2014-15 MLB off-season thread.

[TheRicSlick]

With the World Series over ( congrats Giants), it's now time to talk about the off-season. The first big news story has been that the Cubs will be signing and announcing the hiring of Joe Maddon as Manager. This came after the club fired Rick Renteria.

So discuss any news and signing's related to MLB.

[jaker52]

I wonder if Maddon could change things there. I'm gonna say not but you never know.

[TheGiantsFan]

The Royals' Billy Butler is now a free agent.

EDIT: And now the Brewers acquire Adam Lind from the Blue Jays, who acquire Marco Estrada.

[BigBubba]

^Hate, hate that trade. A solid veteran hitter for a mediocre reliever? Our whole bullpen is full of those! This is clearly a cash dump.

Thanks for nine years, Adam.

[See Red]

I wonder if Maddon could change things there. I'm gonna say not but you never know.

They're said to have a lot of young talent coming up through their system (maybe already on the roster? I don't know), so it's entirely possible.

[FGM13]

I really liked Adam Lind, but if it means Billy Butler's on the table for us, I'll take it.

[OnWis97]

Looks like the Twins are going to hire Paul Molitor as manager.

[BigBubba]

I really liked Adam Lind, but if it means Billy Butler's on the table for us, I'll take it.

I suspect it means they'll throw a large chunk of the money they save Melky's way, which is either going to leave us with another horridly overpaid veteran on the wrong side of 30 (to go along with Dickey, Buehrle, and Reyes), or have him walk. There's no real way this ends well.

[CS85]

Maddon's presser today was lively. He seems like a personable guy. I'm going to enjoy this until it comes crashing down in flames, or until others decry any Cubs positivity as folly. Or both.

[Sport]

I consider myself a pretty big baseball fan and the Cubs play in the same division as my favorite team. Still, I couldn't have told you the name of the Cubs' outgoing manager if you had a gun pointed at my mom.

I think Maddon will do good things for that team. I don't think managers really make that big of a difference in baseball unless they’re like Bobby V in Boston bad.

[TheRicSlick]

Well the Cubs are talking with the Phillies about Cole Hamels. If they don't give up some top prospects to get him I will be happy.

Also, Alfonso Soriano officially retires.

[BBTV]

Every team that can afford him wants cole hamels. Considering Ruben Amaro gave up Cliff Lee for nothing, I don't trust him to trade Hamels. Considering he's one of the top pitchers in the game u would imagine there would be a bidding war - though again, that doesn't mean Amaro will make the right decision.

[tigerslionspistonshabs]

I don't see the Tigers keeping either Scherzer or V-Mart. Luckily, JD Martinez stepped up last season as a power hitter. We still have a terrible outfield and the money that would've gone to Scherzer can be used for a solid OF, possibly Nori Aoki, as well as a decent starter, maybe an Edison Volquez or Brandon McCarthy. Hopefully Dave Dombrowski can find a way to bring Torii Hunter back.

[dbadefense1990]

So the Dodgers got a new GM, Farhan Zaidi.

Good news Giants fans; because he's a Billy Beane "Moneyball" protege, expect even more frustrating and agonizing playoff-flameouts by the Dodgers. Ugh.

[TheRicSlick]

Michael Cuddyer is now a Met. This is classic Mets, they sign an injury prone guy past his prime and lose a first round pick

[JasonFromMiami]

So the Dodgers got a new GM, Farhan Zaidi.

Good news Giants fans; because he's a Billy Beane "Moneyball" protege, expect even more frustrating and agonizing playoff-flameouts by the Dodgers. Ugh.

But they got :censored:loads of money in LA, why should he Beane up the Dodgers ?

[pmoehrin]

Michael Cuddyer is now a Met. This is classic Mets, they sign an injury prone guy past his prime and lose a first round pick

Its a bad mode for a team in rebuilding mode, but I don't see the Mets as a team in rebuilding mode anymore.

This is a team that won 79 games last year without the help out of Matt Harvey. If they had Harvey, they would have almost certainly been over .500 and may have even gotten in one of the two Wild Card spots.

Juan Lagares, Matt Harvey, Travis d'Arnaud, Jacob deGrom. These are four guys you can build a franchise around long term. And what if Noah Syndergaard turns out to be as hyped? What if Zach Wheeler and Jenrry Mejia continue to develop? In two years time, this could potentially be a very scary team to have on your schedule.

So why sign Cuddyer if your looking more towards 2016, then 2015? Well a couple reasons. One they finished dead last year in the NL for OPS among left fielders. The two guys that could potentially provide a long term solution to that problem, Mike Conforto and Brandon Nimmo are both at least one if not two years away from being able to do so. So they had to sign somebody at least in the short term to fill that hole.

Two, this isn't a bad team by any stretch. As mentioned before this is a team that possibly could have contended for a playoff spot if they had Matt Harvey on the roster, who they will have this year. So why not go for the gusto and sign the best guy you can possibly find in left field for this year?

Without Cuddyer I think they are a solid 85 win team. With Cuddyer though, they should be anywhere between 88-90 wins.

I'll gladly trade a first round pick for a spot in the playoffs and if you think Michael Cuddyer is enough to put you over the top, then you make the move.

Is it a gamble? Without question it is. First round picks have gotten much more valuable in recent years and Cuddyer is a guy on the back end of his career coming off an injury plagued season. But to get the top of the standings in baseball, you have to be willing to take some chances with guys from time to time, especially if you think it can land you a spot in October.

In my opinion I think its a move that makes a lot of sense for a team that already has some solid young building blocks at the major league level that is just looking to fill some holes in order to really compete.

[BBTV]

Can't paste the link for some reason, but The Royals may be having "internal discussions" about acquiring Ryan Howard if the Philllies eat his contract, which they probably would.

Obviously "internal discussions" doesn't even mean that they want him, and even if they do, they haven't even contacted the Phillies yet, but it's an otherwise slow news day.

[Sport]

So the Dodgers got a new GM, Farhan Zaidi.

Good news Giants fans; because he's a Billy Beane "Moneyball" protege, expect even more frustrating and agonizing playoff-flameouts by the Dodgers. Ugh.

You love it. You've seen too many championships from your Lakers and Kings to be unhappy, but the Dodgers let you act like a tortured fan. The only thing you get to kvetch about anymore is the Dodgers. You secretly like that the Dodgers don't win.

The A's playoff flameouts aren't a characteristic of "Moneyball" and running your team using those tactics doesn't guarantee playoff failure. The Red Sox won a couple World Championships with "Moneyball"-like tactics, except they were able to spend for the best players that moneyball values. The Dodgers will be more like the 2007 Red Sox than they will be the A's. The A's postseason problems are because their lineups are built to squeeze the highest possible return out of cheaper players that work best as a cohesive team. This works in the regular season against 3-4-5 starters, but in the playoffs they have to see 1 & 2 starters and wins are tougher to come by. Also, the baseball playoffs are mostly luck, anyway, and the A's haven't had much.

The Dodgers will have none of the same cash-strapped problems that Billy Beane has to deal with in Oakland. So think Moneyball in the sense that he'll find market inefficiencies to exploit (which have changed in the 12 years since the book was released), but he'll also have more money to overcome mistakes.

[NJTank]

Cuddyer is a nuce veteran bat that doesn't strikeout a lot he is a big piece the Mets need to be playoff contenders.