Looking Ahead - The 2020 Offseason Thread

JohnAdcox said:
Tomahawk Take (I know, I know) pointed out that Trey Mancini was asked by the Orioles to defer some of his arbitration salary, and speculated that he might be available in a trade. Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

Absolutely.

Acuna RF - Freeman 1B - Mancini LF - Ozuna/Cruz DH - Albies 2B - Swanson SS - Riley 3B - Pache CF
 
JohnAdcox said:
Tomahawk Take (I know, I know) pointed out that Trey Mancini was asked by the Orioles to defer some of his arbitration salary, and speculated that he might be available in a trade. Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

He's not very good defensively (or so it appears from the two-dimensional representation), but he had a great 2019 with the bat. Cancer treatment is worrisome. It was Stage 3 colon cancer which is pretty serious stuff, so I don't know what the corresponding physical effects of the chemotherapy may have on his baseball abilities.

PS--I'm a little pissed about the Sandoval signing. Why even waste the effort. Probably some humor on Twitter about the signing, but I just don't see this as a move any team that is serious about anything would consider.
 
Last edited:
50PoundHead said:
He's not very good defensively (or so it appears from the two-dimensional representation), but he had a great 2019 with the bat. Cancer treatment is worrisome. It was Stage 3 colon cancer which is pretty serious stuff, so I don't know what the corresponding physical effects of the chemotherapy may have on his baseball abilities.

PS--I'm a little pissed about the Sandoval signing. Why even waste the effort. Probably some humor on Twitter about the signing, but I just don't see this as a move any team that is serious about anything would consider.
Click to expand...

It’s a minor league deal and he provides massive depth
 
UNCBlue012 said:
None of the names - Bell, Hand, Lester, or Schwarber - are massive improvements, but they fill clear holes for the Nationals. These parts are all decent enough so it's hard to think they don't move the needle for a team with a good core. It'll essentially be up to Soto and Turner to continue their success.
Click to expand...

Seems like a situation where the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts. Each player individually isn't a massive improvement, but their team is improved nonetheless.
 
JohnAdcox said:
Tomahawk Take (I know, I know) pointed out that Trey Mancini was asked by the Orioles to defer some of his arbitration salary, and speculated that he might be available in a trade. Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

The Orioles and Pirates are getting dangerously close to being forced to be sold and/or moved IMO - taking the profit sharing money while making no attempt to put an acceptable product on the field.

Tanking has become acceptable in recent years, but only to the extent that the teams doing so are working towards contention at some point in the not-so-distant future - and they're expected to spend to try to contend once they have an acceptable number of competitive pieces on their roster (or close to ready). It's understandable when teams restructure and rebuild in today's environment, but having the same handful of bottom-feeders year in and year out sounds like it's beginning to wear on the legitimate franchises - many of the quotes I've heard recently (paraphrased) are along the lines of "if these teams are going to continue to act as 'finishing schools' for young MLB talent while taking our money, there need to be rules in place that require them to trade whatever they have to EVERY competitive team rather than picking and choosing between 2 or 3 of them".

It's understandable when you see someone have to tear it down and start from scratch in order to eventually get better, but when the same few teams piece a few nice players together and then sell them off before they even come close to playing .400 baseball it sounds like more than just the fans in those cities are growing tired of the SSDD routine.
 
Last edited:
The Orioles will trade you anyone if you take their full contracts and chip in a few bucks so the front office can order some pizzas. Whether there's anyone on Baltimore a team like the Braves should really want is the question.
 
JohnAdcox said:
Tomahawk Take (I know, I know) pointed out that Trey Mancini was asked by the Orioles to defer some of his arbitration salary, and speculated that he might be available in a trade. Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

As for Mancini. I'd take a shot at him if he could be had for a reasonable return, but I was someone who really liked him before his health issues so I'm probably higher on him than many.

That said, if he could be had for one arm and one bat from the Tarnok/Vodnik/Devito/Owens/Estes/Terone Harris/Paolini/Ramos/Parker/C. J. Alexander crowd I'd take him. I'd make the same offer for Colin Moran as well. Adding Mancini and Moran for a little over $7.5 million and signing one of the left-handed LF bats would make the roster really deep - with or without a DH.
 
UNCBlue012 said:
None of the names - Bell, Hand, Lester, or Schwarber - are massive improvements, but they fill clear holes for the Nationals. These parts are all decent enough so it's hard to think they don't move the needle for a team with a good core. It'll essentially be up to Soto and Turner to continue their success.
Click to expand...

Their lineup isn't going to strike fear into anyone, and their rotation which used to be a huge plus now appears to be full of question marks. Strasburg coming back from major injury, Corbin regressing a bit last year, and Scherzer losing a bit with age. Plus they have no depth anywhere from the rotation to the bullpen to the position players. All of that and their roster is still pushing against the luxury tax.
 
I really think AA is playing the bullpen situation well by waiting. There are still plenty of good arms to be had out there, and if he just stays patient, he can probably snag a couple for good deals. Especially someone like Melancon.
 
Sounds to me like the PA is slow on the take. Possible late start, reluctant to help owners earn the money to pay them, dont want extra pay for playoffs. If covid doesnt get results soon, what is the chance MLB will cancel this season to force union down for 22?
 
UNCBlue012 said:
Heyman: MLB memo says union rejects deal for DH and expanded playoffs
Click to expand...

MLBTR sums it up very well:

“The MLBPA clearly doesn’t view the addition of a designated hitter in the National League to be as advantageous to its side as the expansion of playoffs is to the league. “

The owners think they can toss the players this bone in exchange for a windfall of cash generated by more postseason games. The players were right to reject this terrible offer. It’s laughably bad, and thankfully the players have competent labor lawyers.

At the end of the day both sides want the DH, so once the owners agree to a more fair split of the increased postseason revenue this should be settled. How long they will keep roster construction stuck in the mud is the only question.
 
UNCBlue012 said:
Welp, do the Braves still go after Marcel knowing the DH isn't likely (at least for now)?
Click to expand...

Supposedly he thinks he can play the OF.
I'd like to see him put his money where is mouth is. Pay him X with a decent bonus if he's 0-positive defensive value.

AA hasn't had a lot of incentives in contracts as I recall.

20 million per year for 3 years. 5 million if he's 0-1 DRS, 5 million more if >1 DRS.
 
Pitchers did not hit all of last year. Nor run the bases. It's going to be a big talking point when a NL pitcher gets hurt hitting or running this year.

Good news for the Culberson's of the world that there is no DH. Now our roster construction may change b/c we have to have PHs and more versatility.
 
Russ2dollas said:
Supposedly he thinks he can play the OF.
I'd like to see him put his money where is mouth is. Pay him X with a decent bonus if he's 0-positive defensive value.

AA hasn't had a lot of incentives in contracts as I recall.

20 million per year for 3 years. 5 million if he's 0-1 DRS, 5 million more if >1 DRS.
Click to expand...

Unless something has changed then incentives can only be based on benchmarks like innings pitched, ABs, games closed, etc. and not any kind of statistical achievement.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top