Hot Stove: MLB Offseason Thread

[JayJaxon]

I'm kinda happy the Phillies went with an overpriced, over-hyped closer.

[RyanMcD29]

1. If Papelbon goes back to pitching like he did in November, the Mets should be back in the NL East in no time!

2. It needs to be a requirement for the next Red Sox closer to continue the tradition of using a Dropkick Murphys song as an entrance song. Except make it "Johnny I Hardly Knew Ya".

[NEW.ERA]

I'm kinda happy the Phillies went with an overpriced, over-hyped closer.

But he can dance a mean jig.

[RedSox44]

Closer has to be the single most overrated "position" in baseball history. If Amaro wants to spend an ungodly amount of money on a player who gets three to four outs every couple of games, more power to them. I have complete confidence in Daniel Bard.

[Dexter Morgan]

Closer has to be the single most overrated "position" in baseball history. If Amaro wants to spend an ungodly amount of money on a player who gets three to four outs every couple of games, more power to them. I have complete confidence in Daniel Bard.

Though I agree a closer is an overrated "position", someone has to do the job, and do it well, so I'm not sure why you have so much confidence in Daniel Bard...

[McCall]

Press conference scheduled for tomorrow to announce Mike Matheny as the next manager of the St. Louis Cardinals.

[The_Admiral]

That's not a bad move. Longtime catcher, so he knows how to handle a game, and he's a member of the Cardinal Family

[CS85]

That's not a bad move. Longtime catcher, so he knows how to handle a game, and he's a member of the Cardinal Family

[pmoehrin]

This is how I would rank the relief pitchers from 2002-2006

1. Eric Gagne

2. Billy Wagner

3. Joe Nathan

4. Mariano Rivera

5. Francisco Rodriguez

6. B.J. Ryan

7. Octavio Dotel

8. Tom Gordon

9. Scot Shields

10. Brad Lidge

Here's how I would have it from 2007-2011

1. Carlos Marmol

2. Mariano Rivera

3. Heath Bell

4. Mike Adams

5. Jonathan Papelbon

6. Rafael Betancourt

7. Jonathan Broxton

8. Joakim Soria

9. Joe Nathan

10. Rafael Soriano

There's only two names on both of those lists. Mariano and Joe Nathan. You can argue the rankings or whether or not somebody like Jose Valverde should be up there all you want. The point of all this is top end relief pitchers are by nature very fleeting as well as a crapshoot. They just don't last that long and you never know when a guy is done. Look like what happened to Gagne after '06. He fell off the face of the earth. That being said, I don't know why a team would ever sign a big name closer to the kind of money for the amount of years the Phillies just signed Jonathan Papelbon to.

It also takes more then one guy to make a bullpen. I'll take guys like Mike Adams, Tyler Clippard, Greg Holland, David Robertson and over just about any closer in the game right now. You give me those four guys I have the best bullpen in baseball. I much rather have a bullpen with strong middle and setup guys with an average closer, then have average middle and setup guys with a lights out closer. And setup and middle relievers are also much cheaper, so to me its a much more economical investment as well.

[AnythingChicago]

This is how I would rank the relief pitchers from 2002-2006

1. Eric Gagne

2. Billy Wagner

3. Joe Nathan

4. Mariano Rivera

5. Francisco Rodriguez

6. B.J. Ryan

7. Octavio Dotel

8. Tom Gordon

9. Scot Shields

10. Brad Lidge

Here's how I would have it from 2007-2011

1. Carlos Marmol

2. Mariano Rivera

3. Heath Bell

4. Mike Adams

5. Jonathan Papelbon

6. Rafael Betancourt

7. Jonathan Broxton

8. Joakim Soria

9. Joe Nathan

10. Rafael Soriano

There's only two names on both of those lists. Mariano and Joe Nathan. You can argue the rankings or whether or not somebody like Jose Valverde should be up there all you want. The point of all this is top end relief pitchers are by nature very fleeting as well as a crapshoot. They just don't last that long and you never know when a guy is done. Look like what happened to Gagne after '06. He fell off the face of the earth. That being said, I don't know why a team would ever sign a big name closer to the kind of money for the amount of years the Phillies just signed Jonathan Papelbon to.

It also takes more then one guy to make a bullpen. I'll take guys like Mike Adams, Tyler Clippard, Greg Holland, David Robertson and over just about any closer in the game right now. You give me those four guys I have the best bullpen in baseball. I much rather have a bullpen with strong middle and setup guys with an average closer, then have average middle and setup guys with a lights out closer. And setup and middle relievers are also much cheaper, so to me its a much more economical investment as well.

Marmol? Are you kidding? He blew more than 10% of his save opportunities last year.

[Jigga]

That's not a bad move. Longtime catcher, so he knows how to handle a game, and he's a member of the Cardinal Family

Aren't we all?

[pmoehrin]

This is how I would rank the relief pitchers from 2002-2006

1. Eric Gagne

2. Billy Wagner

3. Joe Nathan

4. Mariano Rivera

5. Francisco Rodriguez

6. B.J. Ryan

7. Octavio Dotel

8. Tom Gordon

9. Scot Shields

10. Brad Lidge

Here's how I would have it from 2007-2011

1. Carlos Marmol

2. Mariano Rivera

3. Heath Bell

4. Mike Adams

5. Jonathan Papelbon

6. Rafael Betancourt

7. Jonathan Broxton

8. Joakim Soria

9. Joe Nathan

10. Rafael Soriano

There's only two names on both of those lists. Mariano and Joe Nathan. You can argue the rankings or whether or not somebody like Jose Valverde should be up there all you want. The point of all this is top end relief pitchers are by nature very fleeting as well as a crapshoot. They just don't last that long and you never know when a guy is done. Look like what happened to Gagne after '06. He fell off the face of the earth. That being said, I don't know why a team would ever sign a big name closer to the kind of money for the amount of years the Phillies just signed Jonathan Papelbon to.

It also takes more then one guy to make a bullpen. I'll take guys like Mike Adams, Tyler Clippard, Greg Holland, David Robertson and over just about any closer in the game right now. You give me those four guys I have the best bullpen in baseball. I much rather have a bullpen with strong middle and setup guys with an average closer, then have average middle and setup guys with a lights out closer. And setup and middle relievers are also much cheaper, so to me its a much more economical investment as well.

Marmol? Are you kidding? He blew more than 10% of his save opportunities last year.

His ERA over that time stretch is also 2.82 with 382.3 IP's. That's a solid ERA and he's a workhorse out of the pen. I'm measuring the five year stretch, not one year. I'm not even sure I would put him in the top 50 for this year. Its just very hard to find relief pitchers in general that can be dominant for a long period of time, which is what makes someone like Mariano so valuable. Of every position in baseball by far relief pitcher is the one with the fluidity for who is the best in the game.

[AnythingChicago]

This is how I would rank the relief pitchers from 2002-2006

1. Eric Gagne

2. Billy Wagner

3. Joe Nathan

4. Mariano Rivera

5. Francisco Rodriguez

6. B.J. Ryan

7. Octavio Dotel

8. Tom Gordon

9. Scot Shields

10. Brad Lidge

Here's how I would have it from 2007-2011

1. Carlos Marmol

2. Mariano Rivera

3. Heath Bell

4. Mike Adams

5. Jonathan Papelbon

6. Rafael Betancourt

7. Jonathan Broxton

8. Joakim Soria

9. Joe Nathan

10. Rafael Soriano

There's only two names on both of those lists. Mariano and Joe Nathan. You can argue the rankings or whether or not somebody like Jose Valverde should be up there all you want. The point of all this is top end relief pitchers are by nature very fleeting as well as a crapshoot. They just don't last that long and you never know when a guy is done. Look like what happened to Gagne after '06. He fell off the face of the earth. That being said, I don't know why a team would ever sign a big name closer to the kind of money for the amount of years the Phillies just signed Jonathan Papelbon to.

It also takes more then one guy to make a bullpen. I'll take guys like Mike Adams, Tyler Clippard, Greg Holland, David Robertson and over just about any closer in the game right now. You give me those four guys I have the best bullpen in baseball. I much rather have a bullpen with strong middle and setup guys with an average closer, then have average middle and setup guys with a lights out closer. And setup and middle relievers are also much cheaper, so to me its a much more economical investment as well.

Marmol? Are you kidding? He blew more than 10% of his save opportunities last year.

His ERA over that time stretch is also 2.82 with 382.3 IP's. That's a solid ERA and he's a workhorse out of the pen. I'm measuring the five year stretch, not one year. I'm not even sure I would put him in the top 50 for this year. Its just very hard to find relief pitchers in general that can be dominant for a long period of time, which is what makes someone like Mariano so valuable.

Which is why I wouldn't put him above Mariano, or Bell, or Papelbon.

[Dexter Morgan]

http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/36514/olney-marlins-expected-to-land-reyes?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

ESPN Insider Buster Olney expects the Miami Marlins to sign Jose Reyes.

Money quote: "There is an expectation they will work something out with Reyes for something in the range of five years, $18-20M a year. They are seen as the team that's going to be most aggressive and he certainly fits the style that Ozzie Guillen loves to play. He loves to have a team that runs the bases aggressively, puts pressure on opposing defenses. Reyes would be a centerpiece for that with Hanley Ramirez moving to another position."

Projected lineup?

Jose Reyes - SS

Omar Infante - 2B

Hanley Ramirez - 3B

Mike Stanton - RF

Gaby Sanchez - 1B

Logan Morrison - LF

John Buck - C

Chris Coghlan - CF

[Dexter Morgan]

Tyler Kepner

Official dollar figure for Papelbon's four-year Phillies contract: $50,000,058.

Jeremy Hellickson and Craig Kimbrel win the AL and NL Rookie of the Year awards.

[TFoA]

Tyler Kepner

Official dollar figure for Papelbon's four-year Phillies contract: $50,000,058.

Jeremy Hellickson and Craig Kimbrel win the AL and NL Rookie of the Year awards.

It was gonna be either him or Freddie Freeman. Either way, glad to see that the Braves keep that trophy in-house for another season, and the future continues to get brighter.

[Dexter Morgan]

Jon Heyman

kemp & dodgers are in agreement, pending physical. @Ken_Rosenthalreported $160M for 8 yrs. good deal for all

[NJTank]

http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/36514/olney-marlins-expected-to-land-reyes?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

ESPN Insider Buster Olney expects the Miami Marlins to sign Jose Reyes.

Money quote: "There is an expectation they will work something out with Reyes for something in the range of five years, $18-20M a year. They are seen as the team that's going to be most aggressive and he certainly fits the style that Ozzie Guillen loves to play. He loves to have a team that runs the bases aggressively, puts pressure on opposing defenses. Reyes would be a centerpiece for that with Hanley Ramirez moving to another position."

Projected lineup?

Jose Reyes - SS

Omar Infante - 2B

Hanley Ramirez - 3B

Mike Stanton - RF

Gaby Sanchez - 1B

Logan Morrison - LF

John Buck - C

Chris Coghlan - CF

Mets dynamic ticket pricing next year better be by 1 get 2 free.

Oh and these Money Ball Sabremetric better start producing results by 2014.

[pmoehrin]

http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/36514/olney-marlins-expected-to-land-reyes?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

ESPN Insider Buster Olney expects the Miami Marlins to sign Jose Reyes.

Money quote: "There is an expectation they will work something out with Reyes for something in the range of five years, $18-20M a year. They are seen as the team that's going to be most aggressive and he certainly fits the style that Ozzie Guillen loves to play. He loves to have a team that runs the bases aggressively, puts pressure on opposing defenses. Reyes would be a centerpiece for that with Hanley Ramirez moving to another position."

Projected lineup?

Jose Reyes - SS

Omar Infante - 2B

Hanley Ramirez - 3B

Mike Stanton - RF

Gaby Sanchez - 1B

Logan Morrison - LF

John Buck - C

Chris Coghlan - CF

Mets dynamic ticket pricing next year better be by 1 get 2 free.

Oh and these Money Ball Sabremetric better start producing results by 2014.

There's no reason why the Mets shouldn't be at least a top ten team in terms of salary, and its looking like that's exactly what they are going to be.

They have to bring in a big time free agent now. You can't lose Jose Reyes in a market like New York, not do anything about it and expect your fans to be okay with it. Maybe they make a run at Albert and get a sign and trade thing with the Cardinals sending Ike Davis there. Maybe Yu Darvish. I don't know, but they have to get somebody.

[NJTank]

http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/36514/olney-marlins-expected-to-land-reyes?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

ESPN Insider Buster Olney expects the Miami Marlins to sign Jose Reyes.

Money quote: "There is an expectation they will work something out with Reyes for something in the range of five years, $18-20M a year. They are seen as the team that's going to be most aggressive and he certainly fits the style that Ozzie Guillen loves to play. He loves to have a team that runs the bases aggressively, puts pressure on opposing defenses. Reyes would be a centerpiece for that with Hanley Ramirez moving to another position."

Projected lineup?

Jose Reyes - SS

Omar Infante - 2B

Hanley Ramirez - 3B

Mike Stanton - RF

Gaby Sanchez - 1B

Logan Morrison - LF

John Buck - C

Chris Coghlan - CF

Mets dynamic ticket pricing next year better be by 1 get 2 free.

Oh and these Money Ball Sabremetric better start producing results by 2014.

There's no reason why the Mets shouldn't be at least a top ten team in terms of salary, and its looking like that's exactly what they are going to be.

They have to bring in a big time free agent now. You can't lose Jose Reyes in a market like New York, not do anything about it and expect your fans to be okay with it. Maybe they make a run at Albert and get a sign and trade thing with the Cardinals sending Ike Davis there. Maybe Yu Darvish. I don't know, but they have to get somebody.

No they need to replace Jose witha free agent that makes sense not another ass clown like Jason Bay. The Mets are in this mess from poor spending, but the new regime better start showing results soon. This kid Nemo they drafted better be a damn good player. This is what Paul Depodesta knows.