2017 Winter Meetings Predictions, Rumors, And Actual Happenings

The Braves taking Pence as something a little more valuable than a salary dump to play LF wouldn’t shock me at all.
 
CrimsonCowboy said:
Am I the only one who’s surprised we haven’t heard more about where he might go?
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I'm not - just the way Borass operates.

That said, I continue to believe his most of his landing spots are or have already disappeared and his market is drying up - at least until Borass convinces some idiotic owner that he can't do without him and there are a couple of mystery teams bidding against him. If you go down the entire list, there are very few teams left that would be in on him...

Angels - just signed Cozart

Astros - Bregman

Athletics - Chapman

Blue Jays - Donaldson

Braves - ???

Brewers - Shaw

Cardinals - Gyorko (for now), playing on Donaldson and Longoria

Cubs - Bryant

Diamondbacks - Lamb

Dodgers - Turner

Giants - ???

Indians - Diaz/Urshela - maybe now that they didn't bring Santana back???

Mariners - Seager

Marlins - Obviously not playing on him.

Mutts - Cabrera - say they're not spending on that level.

Gnats - Rendon

Orioles - Machado/??? - don't think they have the money.

Padres - Spangenberg/Headley/Solarte - maybe if they don't get Hosmer???

Phillies - Franco - maybe if they've given up on Maikel???

Pirates - Harrison - won't spend that kind of money.

Rangers - Beltre/Gallo

Rays - Longoria - won't spend that kind of money.

Red Sox - Devers - not likely, but you never know with them.

Reds - Senzel

Rockies - Arrenado

Royals - Probably not unless his market completely collapses and we pass.

Tigers - Candelario

Twins - Sano/Escobar

White Sox - Sanchez - could be a maybe???

Yankees - Frazier likely goes back.

That leaves 11 teams if you count the Cardinals, Yankees, Orioles, and Red Sox that might play on a 3B, and you still have Moose, Frazier, Nunez, and Yunel Escobar out there.

If the Cardinals were to surprisingly go after him, Gyorko becomes available. Even if the Padres surprised everyone and played on him, that adds Headley and Solarte to the "available" list (it seems they are already anyway). If the Yankees decide to allocate their available money to a Pitcher instead, Frazier will still be out there.

Borass has always been a magician, but I'm finding it tough to figure how even he's going to get Moose an $85 million deal given who the teams that might sign a 3B are - the Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals, and Indians are likely out at that price point since they can better use that money elsewhere. The Giants are saying they're not going to sign anyone that was offered a QO. So now you're down to...

1.) O's - maybe if they move Manny and get pitching, but not likely.

2.) Us - will AA spend the money and potentially block Riley???

3.) Mutts - makes all the sense in the world, but they're crying "poor".

4.) Phillies - probably need to move Franco before they'd sign him or risk ruining any value he has left.

5.) White Sox - my darkhorse if they don't get Machado (and possibly even if they do - with their young talent so close, an Abreu, Moncada, Machado, Moustakas infield would be awfully tough if they could somehow extend Manny).

6.) Royals - he's probably going to have to be a lot cheaper than that for them to bring him back.

I personally don't have any doubt that we can (and probably will) spend some money to upgrade 3B at some point - the question is just how much will AA spend, and for how long??? Headley has been the best option since day one (IMO), and Nunez would certainly make sense if you're going the cheap route, but if Moose's market continues to dry up and you can get him for 4 years and $60 million I don't see how you aren't unbelievably tempted to sign him and move Riley to LF (or sell high on him). The same thing happened to Turner - that's why the Dodgers got him back at a much cheaper level than they expected to.
 
My guess on how the third base musical chairs plays out:

1) Todd Frazier signs with the Yankees
2) Cards trade for Machado
3) O's sign Moose
4) Phillies trade for Gyorko
5) Giants sign Nunez
6) Royals trade for Headley
7) Braves trade for Prado
 
nsacpi said:
My guess on how the third base musical chairs plays out:

1) Todd Frazier signs with the Yankees
2) Cards trade for Machado
3) O's sign Moose
4) Phillies trade for Gyorko
5) Giants sign Nunez
6) Royals trade for Headley
7) Braves trade for Prado
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On the surface, I could see it. Then I think about it and believe that they're being transparent when they say they're only interested in a stopgap for a year. I just don't see them paying Martin $15 million to be a super-sub in 2019 if Riley is what they seem to think he is. Unless taking Prado's money on was part of a Yelich deal I just think it's a 1 year guy (Headley or Nunez) or they go "big" with Moose or Frazier and alter their plans with Riley.
 
nsacpi said:
My guess on how the third base musical chairs plays out:

1) Todd Frazier signs with the Yankees
2) Cards trade for Machado
3) O's sign Moose
4) Phillies trade for Gyorko
5) Giants sign Nunez
6) Royals trade for Headley
7) Braves trade for Prado
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What’s chances of prado returning to 2.5 to 3.0 bWAR?
 
msstate7 said:
What’s chances of prado returning to 2.5 to 3.0 bWAR?
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My guess is he will average something in the 1.5-2.0 range over the remaining two years of his contract.

The way I view the situation on the left side on the infield is we have two unproven guys currently penciled in to be our starters. We need some insurance. Prado is a decent option. I think Nunez is the best option of the guys still out there.
 
nsacpi said:
My guess on how the third base musical chairs plays out:

1) Todd Frazier signs with the Yankees

2) Cards trade for Machado

3) O's sign Moose

4) Phillies trade for Gyorko

5) Giants sign Nunez

6) Royals trade for Headley

7) Braves trade for Prado
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Machado wants to play SS. Doubt the Cards would trade Gyorko if that's the case.
 
clvclv said:
On the surface, I could see it. Then I think about it and believe that they're being transparent when they say they're only interested in a stopgap for a year. I just don't see them paying Martin $15 million to be a super-sub in 2019 if Riley is what they seem to think he is. Unless taking Prado's money on was part of a Yelich deal I just think it's a 1 year guy (Headley or Nunez) or they go "big" with Moose or Frazier and alter their plans with Riley.
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My hope is a deal for Prado would also bring back someone like Barraclough.
 
msstate7 said:
Can he actually play SS? He is a great player for sure, but does his demand to play SS diminish his value some?
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I mean he came up as a SS. Last played SS in 2016 and graded out positively.

It's probably more of a future negotiating tactic than anything. He's more valuable as a SS.
 
nsacpi said:
My hope is a deal for Prado would also bring back someone like Barraclough.
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I get it - I just think Barraclough's control struggles are enough to justify not carrying Martin as a $15 million utility guy. He's just not a sure-enough thing to make me believe he's going to be reliable enough to settle in as someone we can always count on in the late innings. As Soroka, Wright, and Allard get closer, they could potentially squeeze Newcomb and Fried out of rotation consideration, plus I honestly believe this is the season they start to transition Touki to the pen. If there's not a hitter available at #8, we're likely to add another high-upside arm in June - and the system REALLY starts to get beyond crowded.

I know it will drive a lot of people here nuts, but I'm afraid it's going to be tough for AA to pass on an arm like Mize/Rolison/Kowar (who could all move fast) or Rocker's if some of the hitters don't take a significant step forward this spring.
 
Carp said:
I mean he came up as a SS. Last played SS in 2016 and graded out positively.

It's probably more of a future negotiating tactic than anything. He's more valuable as a SS.
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Wow... had no idea he played ss that recently. I watch probably 90% of Braves’ games and probably 5 AL games per year.
 
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