Let The Hot Stove Heat Up: 2015-2016 MLB Offseason

[Almighty]

How do the Red Sox and Yankees manage to pull all of this money out of their asses

Yankees are done with screwing up, now they sit back and let the red sox make fools of themselves.

31 mil a year.

[CS85]

I'm just glad the Cardinals didn't get him.

[Brass]

I'm happy with this. Guy has a career 3.09 ERA and he's done that all while in the American League. Pretty impressive. The Red Sox needed an ace and they got one. Not too mention they also got one of the best closers in the game and they did both of these big moves without sacrificing their young, MLB-ready talent such as Betts, Bradley Jr., Vazquez, Swihart, etc.

$217 million is the largest deal in MLB history for a SP. Who, by the way, has ZERO, COUNT 'EM, ZERO playoff wins.

You might want to do some fact checking on that; he has two playoff wins to his credit. Plus, even if he does have a dud playoff record, the "big money guys" have never been the ones to really make an impact in the playoffs for the Red Sox; they're always the peripheral signings. Guys like Victorino, Napoli, Lowell, etc.

[DCarp1231]

Orioles getting close to trading Steve Clevenger to the Mariners for Mark Trumbo. I really like this move.

[AnPheitseog]

Orioles getting close to trading Steve Clevenger to the Mariners for Mark Trumbo. I really like this move.

and looks like it is done.

I have a bad feeling that this is supposed to be the Chris Davis replacement.

Also, i know replaceable because of Weiters taking the QO, but losing Clevenger sucks personally.

[DEAD!]

David Price will be seeing a lot of green ... monster.

[Unocal]

David Price just made the biggest mistake of his career.

That Blue Jays lineup. The Cubs bats/Arrieta/Lester.

Instead... Rick Porcello and Wade Miley.

[CubsFanBudMan]

And it's basically been throwing money at bad decision after bad decision, too. It's the Dodgers model but instead of being funded by European central banks it's funded by, I dunno, the mob? It's mind boggling.

And the Red Sox were able to do this the past few years only because the Dodgers bailed them out from a handful of other horrible contracts.

Either way, once again, LOL @ the Cubs. It was annoying hearing for the past twelve months that Price to the Cubs was secretly but illegally worked out already with Joe Maddon because he loved Maddon, admired Theo, really loved Wrigley Field despite never playing there, and would take less money if necessary because the Cubs are going to win the World Series and he wants to be immortalized.

Yeah, this hurts the Cubs' chances. But I put on my "Believe" rubber bracelet and am holding an "It's Gonna Happen" sign outside of his front window right now. Jake Peavy is here with me singing "Go Cubs Go!" And Chris Paul is on his way in a banana boat and we're not letting Price leave until he signs with the Cubs. No matter what Mark Cuban thinks.

So yeah, get the Hall of Fame plaque with a Cubs cap ready.

[The Six]

A lot of money for a journeyman.

[2001mark]

A lot of money and years for a journeyman.

7yrs for a 31yr old who flatlined a little in the playoffs... again?

Good luck.

[Almighty]

David Price just made the biggest mistake of his career.

That Blue Jays lineup. The Cubs bats/Arrieta/Lester.

Instead... Rick Porcello and Wade Miley.

Red Sox just made the biggest mistake

[Crabcake]

I'm happy with this. Guy has a career 3.09 ERA and he's done that all while in the American League. Pretty impressive. The Red Sox needed an ace and they got one. Not too mention they also got one of the best closers in the game and they did both of these big moves without sacrificing their young, MLB-ready talent such as Betts, Bradley Jr., Vazquez, Swihart, etc.

$217 million is the largest deal in MLB history for a SP. Who, by the way, has ZERO, COUNT 'EM, ZERO playoff wins.

You might want to do some fact checking on that; he has two playoff wins to his credit. Plus, even if he does have a dud playoff record, the "big money guys" have never been the ones to really make an impact in the playoffs for the Red Sox; they're always the peripheral signings. Guys like Victorino, Napoli, Lowell, etc.

Fair enough on the stats; isn't it interesting though that it probably should be the big money guys making a postseason impact? Anyways, the point of my post was the part you conveniently didn't quote, which said that the success of the deal will depend on the Red Sox's success in October.

Orioles getting close to trading Steve Clevenger to the Mariners for Mark Trumbo. I really like this move.

and looks like it is done.

I have a bad feeling that this is supposed to be the Chris Davis replacement.

Also, i know replaceable because of Weiters taking the QO, but losing Clevenger sucks personally.

I could go either way on this one. Thumbs definitely feels like Chris Davis lite to me - lots of SOs and power hitting. I like what Bleacher Report said, that this is a good move as long as it's not their ONLY move.

[pmoehrin]

I think Price to Boston is that much of a shock.

For all the talk about Price liking it in Toronto and potentially staying there, I don't think the Blue Jays ever really had a shot at him. Their offer probably wasn't within $50 million of what Boston gave him on top of the increased taxes. It was seen as a rent a player deal from day one and it was. Best you can is that the Jays at least got an ALCS title run out of it. Most don't even get a Wild Card from those types of deals.

As for the Red Sox, it was glaringly obvious they missed Jon Lester last year, especially in the first half of the season where they had zero starting pitching. That being said I thought they were the most improved team in baseball during the second half of the season though. If they played at the same level all year that they played at in August and September, they probably would have been able to take one of the two Wild Card spots if not the division outright. No doubt the mindset heading into next year was if we can go out and go a true number one starter and at the same time solve our biggest weakness, we have a real shot next year of going all the way.

You look at the rotation next year and it has the potential to be pretty nasty. Obviously Price is going to be the number one, but Buccholz fits nicely in as a two. If Wade Miley can pitch just as well as he did last year he could be a solid #3. Eduardo Rodriguez could be the best young pitcher the Red Sox have had since the aforementioned Buccholz. 23 years old heading into next year and coming off a season where he had a sub 4 ERA and threw over 100 innings at the Major League level. Those types of numbers tend to project out pretty well. Even Rick Porcello looked to be getting better as the year went on. His ERA was above six at the start of July and he was able to get his ERA lowered by over a run before the end of the year.

Without Price I thought the Red Sox had the potential to have solid pitching staff that could be one of the best in baseball. With Price, I think the potential is there to be flat out scary.

With Price, nobody has ever questioned whether or not he was good. A #1 overall pick out of Vanderbilt. He's lived up to that billing since day one. Five All-Star appearances and a Cy Young to go with it. The only thing missing is a ring and there are questions as to whether or not you can really build a World Series winning team around him.

Personally I think those types of statements are silly. I'd take Price over any pitcher on the Kansas City Royals and I think even the Kansas City Royals would agree with that. But the fact is that type of discussion will not go away until he does win. The one thing you can say is that he's joining the best team he's ever been on. The Red Sox will probably never go through a rebuilding period with David Price on the team and I would expect both sides to be extremely happy with each other for years to come.

[jrodsep]

Do you guys think that Greinke will be a $33 million a year guy? I can actually see the Cubs give him a 5 year/$165 mill deal.

I can see the Sox get another pitcher using a trade or O'Day via free agency.

[TheOldRoman]

Yeah, this hurts the Cubs' chances. But I put on my "Believe" rubber bracelet and am holding an "It's Gonna Happen" sign outside of his front window right now. Jake Peavy is here with me singing "Go Cubs Go!" And Chris Paul is on his way in a banana boat and we're not letting Price leave until he signs with the Cubs. No matter what Mark Cuban thinks.

So yeah, get the Hall of Fame plaque with a Cubs cap ready.

I didn't pay any attention to the Cubs until they got into the playoffs, so excuse my ignorance of their current situation. I'm hearing that they want to sign a big-money outfielder, either Heyward or Gordon. I thought they were loaded with outfield prospects, though? Where are their position players stacked in the minors?

[CS85]

Yeah, this hurts the Cubs' chances. But I put on my "Believe" rubber bracelet and am holding an "It's Gonna Happen" sign outside of his front window right now. Jake Peavy is here with me singing "Go Cubs Go!" And Chris Paul is on his way in a banana boat and we're not letting Price leave until he signs with the Cubs. No matter what Mark Cuban thinks.

So yeah, get the Hall of Fame plaque with a Cubs cap ready.

I didn't pay any attention to the Cubs until they got into the playoffs, so excuse my ignorance of their current situation. I'm hearing that they want to sign a big-money outfielder, either Heyward or Gordon. I thought they were loaded with outfield prospects, though? Where are their position players stacked in the minors?

Gleyber Torres (ss) is probably the top prospect but I don't think he's ready quite yet. Wilson Contreras (c/3b) & Albert Almora (of) are their big two potential call ups for 2016, at least at this point. Nobody thought Schwarber would be ready last year and look what he did.

[Brass]

Anyways, the point of my post was the part you conveniently didn't quote, which said that the success of the deal will depend on the Red Sox's success in October..

I did not "conveniently" leave out the rest of your post. I was responding to a specific point that you got incorrect.

[Crabcake]

Anyways, the point of my post was the part you conveniently didn't quote, which said that the success of the deal will depend on the Red Sox's success in October..

I did not "conveniently" leave out the rest of your post. I was responding to a specific point that you got incorrect.

Fair enough.

[TheOldRoman]

From what I saw of Schwarber, I really think they should trade him. For one, I don't know if his value is going to get any higher. We'll see how he adjusts when the league adjusts to him in year two. But most importantly, the guy's a DH. They have Rizzo, so he's not getting moved to first. Maybe he can hit well enough for them to tolerate him belly-flopping in LF, but as we saw in the playoffs, the baseball has an uncanny way of finding the guy who shouldn't be on the field at the biggest moments.

I guess their problem is that the DH position has changed. Outside of David Ortiz finishing out his chemically enhanced career, most teams have either rotating DHs or else someone they aren't paying that much. Even if Schwarber shows he can be a monster hitter over several years, I don't think any AL team would give up a huge haul just because nobody is investing at the DH position current.

[CS85]

From what I saw of Schwarber, I really think they should trade him. For one, I don't know if his value is going to get any higher. We'll see how he adjusts when the league adjusts to him in year two. But most importantly, the guy's a DH. They have Rizzo, so he's not getting moved to first. Maybe he can hit well enough for them to tolerate him belly-flopping in LF, but as we saw in the playoffs, the baseball has an uncanny way of finding the guy who shouldn't be on the field at the biggest moments.

I guess their problem is that the DH position has changed. Outside of David Ortiz finishing out his chemically enhanced career, most teams have either rotating DHs or else someone they aren't paying that much. Even if Schwarber shows he can be a monster hitter over several years, I don't think any AL team would give up a huge haul just because nobody is investing at the DH position current.

Schwarber's a DH, no doubt about it, but you simply don't deal him away unless you get a haul that equates to half of another organizations top prospects and a starting pitcher of high caliber. I know that sounds ludicrous, but I'll happily watch Schwarber suck ass in the outfield if it means he cranks bombs ad nauseam.