2023-24 MLB offseason thread

[TrueYankee26]

2 minutes ago, BrySmalls said:

 

It would be hilarious if Soto is a one-year rental for the Yankees, only for him to sign a long-term deal with the Mets the following off-season.

Lol that would be a nightmare especially if the Yanks fall short of a WS win

[FiddySicks]

Lol, the a Blue Jays. Ok. Ohtani to the Blue Jays

[Cujo]

34 minutes ago, FiddySicks said:

Lol, the a Blue Jays. Ok. Ohtani to the Blue Jays

 

Sources: "Trust me bro"

 

Even if Ohtani signs with the Jays, it's only going to turn out like the Roger Clemens signing -- where the Jays got in over their head with signing itseif, only to ship him off immediately to a team who could afford a megastar and afford to put a competitive roster around him at the same time.

[FiddySicks]

Yeah I’ve had some hesitations about the Ohtani move in general, but it sounds like he may have actually taken less to go to the Jays? He’s been great so far, don’t get me wrong. But I dunno, $500-600 million for a dude who already has injury issues and a seeming reluctance to really jump fully into the spotlight feels like a risk I wouldn’t want my team to take. I hope this works out for Toronto, but it feels like closer to a lateral move from the Angels. Jays look good right now, but they also looked pretty good when they were making moves for guys like David Price and Josh Donaldson, and ended up falling on their faces. 
 

 

[GDAWG]

29 minutes ago, Cujo said:

 

Sources: "Trust me bro"

 

Even if Ohtani signs with the Jays, it's only going to turn out like the Roger Clemens signing -- where the Jays got in over their head with signing itseif, only to ship him off immediately to a team who could afford a megastar and afford to put a competitive roster around him at the same time.

 

He'll have a No-Trade, so he would have to approve such scenario.  

[Cujo]

1 minute ago, GDAWG said:

He'll have a No-Trade, so he would have to approve such scenario.  

 

Which he can and would waive to join a contending Yankees or Dodgers team.

[GDAWG]

He covers MLB for the Canadian Sportsnet:

 

From one of ESPN's Baseball guys:

 

 

[BBTV]

Toronto is a top 5-6 media market.  Certainly not small market - but why are the Blue Jays talked about like they're poors?  I get that sometimes Canadian teams can be hurt by paying players in USD while the CAD is always fluctuating, but is that really the reason they don't go all-in?  Or is it merely a philosophical thing, and they simply don't believe in buying players?

 

After doing a search to see their media rights deals, I learned that since they're owned by Rogers, and Rogers owns the RSN, there's no true "rights" deal.  It's just that Rogers "company" pays Rogers "Blue Jays Division" some amount per year for budgeting purposes, but nothing close to what it probably should be if the package was bid on in the open market.  

So say the Bluejays revenue sheet says $30M for TV.  It should be >$100M for TV,  but its unquantifiable due to Rogers ownership.  So maybe that's a reason why they act low budget?  Because even though Rogers has the money, the Blue Jays books don't show it?

[Cujo]

21 minutes ago, BBTV said:

Toronto is a top 5-6 media market.  Certainly not small market - but why are the Blue Jays talked about like they're poors? 

 

"Big media market" doesn't meant a team will spend. The Athletics just spent decades in one of the biggest media markets...

[Cujo]

Huh? What? Huh?

 

[spartacat_12]

2 hours ago, Cujo said:

Sources: "Trust me bro"

 

Even if Ohtani signs with the Jays, it's only going to turn out like the Roger Clemens signing -- where the Jays got in over their head with signing itseif, only to ship him off immediately to a team who could afford a megastar and afford to put a competitive roster around him at the same time.

 

The circumstances surrounding the team are very different now than they were in '97. Clemens was brought in to a team that had been coming off 3 straight losing seasons, at a time when the Canadian dollar was about to hit an all time low.

 

The Jays had the 7th highest payroll in baseball last season, and despite a disappointing playoff exit they had been a popular pre-season pick to make the World Series. They've got some great young talent, and have had 4 straight seasons above .500, which hasn't happened since '93. They've already shown they're willing to spend on high end talent, landing big name free agents like Springer, Gausman, and Ryu.

[LMU]

 

[infrared41]

31 minutes ago, LMU said:

 

 

To be fair, I'd have a hard time telling these two apart myself. They're very close in age, they're almost the same height, and their resemblance to each other is uncanny.

 

 

 

[monkeypower]

35 minutes ago, infrared41 said:

 

To be fair, I'd have a hard time telling these two apart myself. They're very close in age, they're almost the same height, and their resemblance to each other is uncanny.

 

 

It's not even that somebody saw a person and mistook them for Shohei. It was college football-esque tail number tracking because someone noticed a private jet chartered from Anaheim to Toronto along with all these "reports" saying Shohei signing with the Jays was a done deal, so it just had to be him. Then later, better, reports said Shohei was still at home outside Anaheim with no decision from him yet and then the plane landed with Mr. Dragon's Den, further confirming that Shohei wasn't signing with the Jays tonight.

[infrared41]

26 minutes ago, monkeypower said:

 

It's not even that somebody saw a person and mistook them for Shohei. It was college football-esque tail number tracking because someone noticed a private jet chartered from Anaheim to Toronto along with all these "reports" saying Shohei signing with the Jays was a done deal, so it just had to be him. Then later, better, reports said Shohei was still at home outside Anaheim with no decision from him yet and then the plane landed with Mr. Dragon's Den, further confirming that Shohei wasn't signing with the Jays tonight.

 

My version is better.

[Fowler2]

I have first hand knowledge that Ohtani WON'T be signing with the Pittsburgh Pirates. 

[FiddySicks]

I really miss the days when these guys would sign relatively quickly and this whole free agency period was actually fun. The last few years of these guys waiting until the last possible minute to sign while half of these sports writers twist themselves into knots trying to be the first to break the news is just tiresome. It’s taken one of the most fun parts of the sport and made it more annoying than fun. Of all of the recent changes, most of which I’m mixed on anyway, this is by far the my least favorite. 

[Cujo]

He waited 7 hours, until it was clear Othani wasn't walking off a jet in Toronto, to blame his "sources" 

 

 

[LMU]

Ohtani is starting to come across as the person who puts “I hate drama” on their dating profile then proceeds to end up being the most dramatic person on the planet. And, really, he’s coming across at this point as a ringless baseball Kahwi.

[McCall]

2 minutes ago, LMU said:

Ohtani is starting to come across as the person who puts “I hate drama” on their dating profile then proceeds to end up being the most dramatic person on the planet. And, really, he’s coming across at this point as a ringless baseball Kahwi.

Not at all. It's the reporters and "insiders" who are more concerned with clicks and being first that are creating all the drama. From Buster Olney and another guy saying he's doing "a disservice" to baseball for being secretive about his free agency (which really means they're just whining cuz they don't have a story) to false claims of him signing with Toronto and then believing he was on a plane there when he wasn't. This is all on them. He's done nothing wrong or deceptive.