2018 Offseason And Targets

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I think/hope we'll see/hear some action this week on some of the MLB stars with spring training starting soon.

But who really knows.
 
From MLBTR:

The Braves have reportedly agreed to a minor league deal with veteran reliever Ben Rowen. Rowen, an extreme submariner, is the owner of a rare high-grounder, low-walk profile, and has turned in a number of impressive seasons at the AAA level. The 30-year-old’s last big-league appearance came in 2016 with Milwaukee, for whom he made three late-season appearances. The Virginia Tech-product debut also threw 8 innings for the 2014 Rangers, but has mostly made his way around the International and Pacific Coast Leagues over the last six seasons. In 245 career innings at the Triple-A level, the 6’4 righty has pitched to a stellar 3.08 ERA, allowing just 0.44 homers per nine. He figures to be a candidate for the Peter Moylan role at the front end of the Atlanta bullpen, and should make a nifty righty specialist if the club can spare the roster space.
 
Heyward said:
I think/hope we'll see/hear some action this week on some of the MLB stars with spring training starting soon.

But who really knows.
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I think you will continue to see a flurry of lower level FAs sign....that is it.

Everyone in the media (including interviews with many playesr) keeps talking about how the teams have changed and something has to be fixed (like now it is broken). That just does not resonate with me though. Agents like Boras have always trended toward waiting as long as possible to let his players sign (hoping for and usually getting higher paydays). He is the primary cause and now he has been joined by many others.

Lets simply look at last year...4 of the 5 highest priced FAs signed after 2/13. Cain signed slightly before that (I think) but they ending up getting more money when the teams got more desperate.

And how did that turn out...JD = great signing, Yu Darvish = terrible signing, Jake Arrieta = poor signing, Hosmer = WTF for type signing.

It is only natural for the teams to learn from their mistakes. Without steroids to help the player overcome the bad deals, the teams are being screwed.
 
bravesguy said:
I think you will continue to see a flurry of lower level FAs sign....that is it.

Everyone in the media (including interviews with many playesr) keeps talking about how the teams have changed and something has to be fixed (like now it is broken). That just does not resonate with me though. Agents like Boras have always trended toward waiting as long as possible to let his players sign (hoping for and usually getting higher paydays). He is the primary cause and now he has been joined by many others.

Lets simply look at last year...4 of the 5 highest priced FAs signed after 2/13. Cain signed slightly before that (I think) but they ending up getting more money when the teams got more desperate.

And how did that turn out...JD = great signing, Yu Darvish = terrible signing, Jake Arrieta = poor signing, Hosmer = WTF for type signing.

It is only natural for the teams to learn from their mistakes. Without steroids to help the player overcome the bad deals, the teams are being screwed.
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I agree for most part. Seems that teams like to wait for the big guys to get signed before jumping in. Agents and players are more and more waiting later to make sure they are not leaving money on the table. So all these other guys sort of get held hostage by the superstars. That said the owners are making bank and you have teams like the Braves that reinvest that bank into paying down “debt” instead of paying players.

A balance will have to be made next CBA. Players can’t expect teams to give players huge long term contracts to them for what they have done, but more what they are projected to do. Owners are going to have to make players more compensated earlier on in career.
 
bravesguy said:
I think you will continue to see a flurry of lower level FAs sign....that is it.

Everyone in the media (including interviews with many playesr) keeps talking about how the teams have changed and something has to be fixed (like now it is broken). That just does not resonate with me though. Agents like Boras have always trended toward waiting as long as possible to let his players sign (hoping for and usually getting higher paydays). He is the primary cause and now he has been joined by many others.

Lets simply look at last year...4 of the 5 highest priced FAs signed after 2/13. Cain signed slightly before that (I think) but they ending up getting more money when the teams got more desperate.

And how did that turn out...JD = great signing, Yu Darvish = terrible signing, Jake Arrieta = poor signing, Hosmer = WTF for type signing.

It is only natural for the teams to learn from their mistakes. Without steroids to help the player overcome the bad deals, the teams are being screwed.
Click to expand...

The way teams evaluate players has changed. Teams aren't fantasizing on marketing value, and how much it might increase their TV share, and instead looking at it in black and white wins\$. They are also shunning the crazy long term deal in favor of shorter high AAV contracts, which agents need to adjust to... They are still telling major clients they can get 8-10 years, when its likely not happening anymore.

This all sets the market back a good bit.
 
Jim Bowden
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According to multiple sources there are indeed “mystery” team(s) in on Bryce Harper that the public is not aware of…and as many texts/emails & phone calls I’ve made…I still can’t find them…..#Braves ? #Cardinals ? #Astros ? #Giants ? #Angels ? #Yankees ? #BlueJays ? I give up
 
Mystery teams are good for writers trying to generate clicks as well. Just hashtag as many teams as will fit in a tweet!
 
bravesfanforlife88 said:
Jim Bowden
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Verified account

@JimBowdenGM
1h1 hour ago
More
According to multiple sources there are indeed “mystery” team(s) in on Bryce Harper that the public is not aware of…and as many texts/emails & phone calls I’ve made…I still can’t find them…..#Braves ? #Cardinals ? #Astros ? #Giants ? #Angels ? #Yankees ? #BlueJays ? I give up
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So in other words, only the teams we know about are in on Harper. Good to know.
 
Hey, a bryce rumor linked to Braves. Hot damn. **Click**. Mother****er is just speculating.

I sure hope there aren’t any Braves fan still believing we are going to land Harper
 
While I'm not for putting more money into MLB Owners pockets I also believe the high tier baseball players are vastly overpaid. There probably is a strike coming, but I don't see how what's happening with free agents can be solved. Teams are simply not willing to bid against themselves.
 
The issue is half the teams aren't trying to win, which is decreasing demand for FAs.

The reason half the teams aren't trying to win is revenue sharing has disincentivized winning. Teams make about the same cash losing as they do winning, so why give Harper $400M? Why give some veteran $10M to produce 1.5 wins when a young guy can produce 1 win for $500k?

There was a study I read that concluded no team benefits from a financial point of view by signing a player for more than something like $7M per year, because winning simply doesn't pay for itself.

All these teams content to be non-contenders is the issue. Teams don't bid against themselves because nobody is bidding.
 
Enscheff said:
The issue is half the teams aren't trying to win, which is decreasing demand for FAs.

The reason half the teams aren't trying to win is revenue sharing has disincentivized winning. Teams make about the same cash losing as they do winning, so why give Harper $400M? Why give some veteran $10M to produce 1.5 wins when a young guy can produce 1 win for $500k?

There was a study I read that concluded no team benefits from a financial point of view by signing a player for more than something like $7M per year, because winning simply doesn't pay for itself.

All these teams content to be non-contenders is the issue. Teams don't bid against themselves because nobody is bidding.
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I think there's also the issue that small market teams have to plan for short windows of competitiveness. Why on earth would the Royals be players for any FA right now when they're in the middle of a rebuild?

About half the teams in baseball at any given point are being forced to rebuild so they can shoot for a window where they can assemble a roster to compete with the big payroll teams.

If there were more parity in spending, you'd see a lot more teams feeling they have a chance at winning so there would be a lot more teams shopping for FAs. How you get parity in spending in the current landscape of baseball is anyone's guess.
 
striker42 said:
I think there's also the issue that small market teams have to plan for short windows of competitiveness. Why on earth would the Royals be players for any FA right now when they're in the middle of a rebuild?

About half the teams in baseball at any given point are being forced to rebuild so they can shoot for a window where they can assemble a roster to compete with the big payroll teams.

If there were more parity in spending, you'd see a lot more teams feeling they have a chance at winning so there would be a lot more teams shopping for FAs. How you get parity in spending in the current landscape of baseball is anyone's guess.
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There are also some big players who are either rebuilding or maxed out.

Red Sox, Cubs, Tigers, Rangers, Giants, and to some degree the White Sox, Mariners, etc.
 
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