jerichoholicninja

And now there are reportedly serious talks to trade Smardzaskansdf to the White Sox. If you're Beane, why not? He's been doing more or less the same thing for a decade or so and it's gotten him inconsistently competitive teams. He has lots of players other teams would want. Why not move them for something. With the moves he made last season and what he's done so far he's obviously trying to maintain a competitive MLB team but also get some young players. Seems like a pretty smart strategy to me.

After all the years of having teams that were just good enough to make the playoffs, Beane must be trying the "trade/sign everyone" strategy.

He's only 24, so while being technically a free agent he is basically a really expensive draft pick.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2014/11/diamondbacks-to-sign-yasmany-tomas.html $10M a year is about the going rate for Cubans these days. He has an opt-out after 4 years.

I'm not sure if he means his thumb is back to where it was when it was healthy or back to where it was before the surgery, meaning he's only recovered from the surgery, not the injury.

I know I'm in a minority, probably a small one, but I think things are looking pretty good. It's a fairly young team and despite the same prospect evaluation crowd dissing the farm system, it keeps producing players. I remember when Gennett was something like the 9th best 2nd base prospect. I wish I could remember all the guys ahead of him but i noticed that Delino DeShields Jr was just DFA'd. Jedd Gyorko is an ok player and I could see him having a big power season some time. Wong came on strong toward the end of the season and is looking like a nice player. But its the same old, same old. For a long time Peralta was a future reliever. Fiers isn't an MLB player. I know a lot of people don't like Mayo's prospect evaluations, but the MLB prospect site is an easy way to tool through them by team or position. Yes everyone is fawning over the Cubs and Pirates, but take a look at their systems. They aren't incredible. Arrieta looks great for the Cubs, but they're going to be spending a lot on pitching. Brewers fans should know what an adventure that can be. I got sick of hearing how awesome the Cardinals OF inventory was with guys like Grichuk and Piscotty, but they don't seem so great and then Mozeliak ships off their former #1 prospect in baseball for 1 year of a nice player. Sunny, optimistic (distance from realistic, unknown and up for debate) view - Taylor eventually takes over for Gogo. Nelson takes a step forward and Jungmann becomes a BOR to MOR pitcher. Other than 3rd which is more of a hot topic, what else do they need other than having 1 out 3 or 4 pitchers to turn out? Cards are going to lose Holliday, Molina and Wainwright are old and declining. Peralta could be Yuni any time. Maybe Lynn is really a great pitcher and Wacha isn't going to suffer from his weird shoulder issue, but still they aren't that deep or powerful. Pirates got great returns from their flyers on Liriano and Volquez who are both likely gone and they don't have immediate replacements. They got an outrageous career year from Martin. He's gone. Josh Harrison was an MVP candidate! I'm thinking that's not going to happen again. Walker has only a year or two left and will be gone or cost a lot. The optimism for Taillon post surgery and Glasnow might not be realistic. They've got plenty of challenges ahead of them. Cubs are really pitching thin. Yes they've got a lot of hitting prospects, so many that the inevitable failures may not matter much. I could see them being the team to beat as soon as next season, but I could also see Theo fattening up their payroll. Reds are in a world of hurt. I thought for sure they would go for it next season and not trade anyone of significance, but things might be coming apart before then. They could reload quickly if they sell off guys like Chapman and Cueto at the deadline. In my opinion, and again its probably a small minority, they are on the threshold of being in a great situation IF they avoid almost all FAs and all big dollar ones and they give some of their young players a shot. Getting back to Melvin and Mark A., my sense is that they both don't feel comfortable with that approach and would rather go with more FAs. I agree with some of this. The organization is adequate right now but could really get a boost if they cash in their big chips in Gomez and a starter or two or even Lucroy. Now we all know the chance of that happening is pretty much zilch.

There are certainly other reasons people hate Walmart, but what I think is funny is that the people that complain about Walmart putting the mom and pops out of business would never pay the prices that mom and pops charge anyway. There was a time when I wanted to be an altruistic consumer and tried to buy things from local stores until I realized how much money I could save by going elsewhere. And especially now with internet retailers, small local stores don't stand a chance.

And in what sport doesn't that happen?

In the sense that the players would be the same age as the coaches' children instead of their grandchildren, yes. I think there is something to having a few coaches who are recently out of the game and no one on the current even comes close to qualifying for that.

Call me crazy, but this seems like a steal based on the number of years alone.

I'm guessing the plan is to slowly transition Sandoval to 1B and Ramirez to 3B with Xander at SS. Even if that doesn't happen, Ortiz is going to retire at some point during these contracts making an opening at DH.

Whenever I read something about a player I don't know much about I head over to B-Ref to check out their career numbers and minors number. I learned Seager was never ranked a top 100 prospect by anyone and he's now one of the best 3B in baseball.

Medlen would be nice to take a chance on but he won't pitch until July or so.

I'm not sure what the numbers say but LaRoche has a reputation for pretty good defense, Lind not so much. If the question is do I think the Brewers would be better off with Marco Estrada and Adam LaRoche or Adam Lind and an extra $10MM, I think it's about a wash as I don't think there's a free agent that those $10MM could be spent on that would make it worth it. I guess at least Lind has an option so he can be cut loose if he stinks this year, but even a 2 year contract is not that bad. The 2015-16 offseason should still have money to spend (if needed) with Gallardo and Lohse off the books, so a potential Adam LaRoche "albatross" contract would not be a huge detriment to the team.

I hope not. He was added to the staff in a kind of nebulous coaching position, at least in terms of a "published" title. They still have "eye in the sky" coach John Shelby plus 6 regular coaches and a manager. Enough is enough. If anything this team needs more coaches, like 25, so each player is accountable to someone for their atrocious fundamentals.

Rays announced it will be Don Wakamotsu, Kevin Cash, or Raul Ibanez. Once again, Dave Martinez gets passed up. I think Counsell is being groomed for some position with the Brewers, probably not GM, but maybe scouting director (after Montgomery replaces Melvin) or manager.

Not only would he be our ace but our Wisconsin fan base would be crazy over a Wisconsin guy being here. Heck even I could support that. Problem is, we probably do not have what they are looking for with prospects other than giving up guys that we probably cannot afford to give up. How many casual fans even know who Zimmerman is, let alone know he's from Wisconsin? In terms of publicity, he's #3 in Nats rotation behind Stasburg and Gonzalez.

Isn't there already one of these in an MLB stadium? I thought I remember Brain and Bill talking about it during a game that the stadium they were in had it.

The Blue Jays said before they even signed Martin that they planned to DH Navarro often. Sounds like a dumb plan to me but that's what they said.

Wasn't Ely a somewhat well-regarded pitcheing prospect when he was with LA? Seems like a good move whether he is considered starter or reliever depth.

I'm looking to update my resume and apply for some jobs. My problem now is that in between "real" jobs I've worked some part-time jobs that have little to do with anything I'll be applying for. Should I just leave those off my resume so I have room for relevant work or will the gaps make me look like a bad candidate?

That's another thing too. It's not like they are some new, flash in the pan group. They've been around for a while but while their music continues to be terrible they continue to be "popular".

I will agree that Butler was pretty terrible last year. However, from 2009 to 2013 he put up a 128 OPS+ and averaged 20 HR a year. Those are very good numbers.

Maroon 5. They are just absolutely awful.

Oakland is probably hoping he rebounds to even an .800 OPS, at which point his contract is quite reasonable and he can be traded for younger cheaper players. I mean there really is no reason for a guy who puts up an OPS well north of .800 for 4 straight years to suddenly become terrible in his prime years.