Offseason Hot Stove 2024-25 Thread

I'm a bit shocked that Estevez and Robertson are still on the board. There are still plenty of solid bullpen arms available. Stanek and Jansen would both be solid pickups. Also, Yates' deal isn’t official yet, either.

The fact that Flaherty, Quintana, Pivetta, and Heaney are still out there is surprising. Pivetta really intrigues me, though the qualifying offer likely makes him a non-starter. Like others have said, the longer Flaherty lingers, the more he feels like an AA one-year merchant. Quintana would be fine, though. As for Heaney, he’s my third option, but he’s a decent innings-eater.
 
Scott Barlow is interesting as well if he comes on a minor league with a bonus if he makes the ML roster. He was an elite closer just 2 short years ago. K numbers are still strong.
 
Keith Law has Baldwin as his #27 overall prospect:

Baldwin is such a good defender behind the plate that he’s almost certainly going to be someone’s everyday catcher, and if his raw power keeps showing up in games as it did after a midseason promotion to Triple A, he’s going to make some All-Star teams. He was Atlanta’s third-round pick in 2022 out of Missouri State, where he wasn’t a full-time player until his draft year, and he’s improved substantially as a hitter since entering pro ball, loosening up at the plate to try to get to more of that plus power. He had a slow start in Double A but Atlanta promoted him to Gwinnett in early June, after which he took off, hitting .298/.407/.484 at the higher level with 12 homers in 72 games. He hits the ball extremely hard — his average exit velocity in Triple A was 92 mph, his EV50 was 103, and his 90th percentile EV was 107 — so there’s every reason to think the power is real. He whistles the bat through the zone with excellent bat speed, and even with a pretty high starting position he hasn’t had trouble getting to pitches at the bottom of the strike zone so far. He’s an outstanding blocker and receiver with plus arm strength but just fringy accuracy so far, leading to a career 20 percent caught stealing rate in the minors. A 20-homer catcher with plus defense will rank among the best backstops in the majors, and Baldwin looks like he can be at least that, and probably will debut this year.
 
Tapate50 said:
I’d love to bring Max in, he’d be good for the young kids too
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Scherzer is an absolute warrior and if he has anything left in the tank, I'd be all for signing him to a reasonable deal. Like you say, he'd be a pretty good role model for younger guys on the pitching staff. I've always loved watching him pitch.
 
CJ9 said:
Keith Law has Baldwin as his #27 overall prospect:

Baldwin is such a good defender behind the plate that he’s almost certainly going to be someone’s everyday catcher, and if his raw power keeps showing up in games as it did after a midseason promotion to Triple A, he’s going to make some All-Star teams. He was Atlanta’s third-round pick in 2022 out of Missouri State, where he wasn’t a full-time player until his draft year, and he’s improved substantially as a hitter since entering pro ball, loosening up at the plate to try to get to more of that plus power. He had a slow start in Double A but Atlanta promoted him to Gwinnett in early June, after which he took off, hitting .298/.407/.484 at the higher level with 12 homers in 72 games. He hits the ball extremely hard — his average exit velocity in Triple A was 92 mph, his EV50 was 103, and his 90th percentile EV was 107 — so there’s every reason to think the power is real. He whistles the bat through the zone with excellent bat speed, and even with a pretty high starting position he hasn’t had trouble getting to pitches at the bottom of the strike zone so far. He’s an outstanding blocker and receiver with plus arm strength but just fringy accuracy so far, leading to a career 20 percent caught stealing rate in the minors. A 20-homer catcher with plus defense will rank among the best backstops in the majors, and Baldwin looks like he can be at least that, and probably will debut this year.
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So what I am taking from this is that he's some sort of combination of Buster Posey and Salvador Perez, with the defensive chops of Yadier Molina. Maybe a floor of Johnny Bench
 
Carp said:
So what I am taking from this is that he's some sort of combination of Buster Posey and Salvador Perez, with the defensive chops of Yadier Molina. Maybe a floor of Johnny Bench
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On the low side. That's why AA has refused to trade him.
 
Hudson2 said:
On the low side. That's why AA has refused to trade him.
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That and what happened with Contreras. That said, i dont think you can trade Baldwin. Top tier catchers are a luxury but when you have one, they're crazy valuable. IF we had to do it, Murphy's deal is okay enough where he has enough value where it wouldnt just be a salary dump. IF Baldwin showed enough.
 
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