Eye Black

Per Emily Waldon: Wilkerson pitched the 9th inning today for Mesa and did not give up a hit or a walk.

If Moustakas just turned down one year at $15 million to then turn around and sign a two year, $20 million contract, then I would say he got very bad advice entering the off-season for the second year in a row.

I am a big fan of Realmuto, but I think at this point for the offer to not include Hiura it would have to be headlined by Corbin Burnes with probably two other good prospects also included.

I am not a gambler, but I enjoy looking over the MLB free agent odds at the start of the off-season. Below are the current Bovada odds for three of the starting pitchers on the market (odds are for which team they will begin next season with). PATRICK CORBIN New York Yankees: -190 Arizona Diamondbacks: +300 Milwaukee Brewers: +850 Seattle Mariners: +850 Washington Nationals: +850 Los Angeles Angels: +1100 CLAYTON KERSHAW Los Angeles Dodgers: -150 Houston Astros: +375 Texas Rangers: +375 Chicago Cubs: +800 San Francisco Giants: +800 New York Yankees: +850 Cincinnati Reds: +1600 DALLAS KEUCHEL Houston Astros: +230 Los Angles Angels: +230 New York Yankees: +230 Los Angeles Dodgers: +650 Philadelphia Phillies: +650 San Francisco Giants: +650

Perhaps you meant this as past tense, but a reminder that Kyle Wren finished the year as a member of the Red Sox organization after being released mid-season to pursue other opportunities.

The Fall Stars Game rosters were announced. The game is Saturday (Nov. 3) at 7 P.M. CT on airing on MLB Network and streaming at MLB.com. Here is a listing of the MLB.com top 100 prospects participating in the game: West 1. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 3B, Blue Jays 30. Keston Hiura, 2B, Brewers 39. Keibert Ruiz, C, Dodgers 44. Luis Robert, OF, White Sox 45. Estevan Florial, OF, Yankees 68. Cristian Pache, OF, Braves East 8. Forrest Whitley, RHP, Astros 17. Taylor Trammell, OF, Reds 37. Carter Kieboom, SS, Nationals 55. Andres Gimenez, SS, Mets 58. Peter Alonso, 1B, Mets 80. Jon Duplantier, RHP, D-backs

Jake Hager reminds me that I am fascinated by the Rays 2011 draft in which they had 10 selections in what was considered the “1st Round” (it included the regular 1st round and supplemental 1st round). There were a few good selections by other teams sprinkled in-between the Rays draft picks and they definitely hit on Blake Snell towards the end of the round, but Tampa also had a lot of picks early in that draft that didn’t pan out: 2011 MLB Draft 1st Round. The MLB Draft is obviously such a crapshoot as it is, but maybe nothing illustrates that better than a team with 10 picks in the first 60 selections that basically went 1-for-10 on those draft picks.

Jim Bowden "Likes" all of his own tweets on Twitter. It is bizarre, but it also tells me about all I need to know about Jim Bowden.

It was a rumor reported (or started) by Jim Bowden (thread link). Bowden reported last January that the Brewers were interested in... "3B Michael Moustakas with the idea that if they signed Moustakas they could trade Travis Shaw to NYY, ATL or NYM according to a club source."

I’ll admit I was skeptical when Dombroski was seemingly setting their farm system ablaze, but it is tough to argue with the results after a 108-win regular season and near playoff domination on the way to a World Series championship.

I believe he is technically eligible because he was under 50 innings in 2017, but I also think it’s likely that the NL Rookie of the Year Award is a two horse race: Juan Soto and Ronald Acuña Jr.

To answer the question asked earlier here is a schedule of important dates and calendar events during the MLB off-season (via Cleveland.com)... * One day after World Series ends, eligible players can file for free agency. * The conclusion of the fall classic also starts the clock on a five-day "quiet period" where teams can negotiate exclusively with their own free agents, but are prohibited from signing anybody. * At the end of the "quiet period," clubs must decide whether or not to extend one-year qualifying offers to free agents. The qualifying offer was $17.4 million last year and will likely be around $18 million this offseason. * Also at the end of the five-day quiet period, clubs are faced with a deadline whether or not to pick up player options for the 2019 season. * The day after the five-day quiet period, free agents are allowed to sign with any club, kicking off free agency in the traditional sense. Nov. 5, 2018: BBWAA Awards Finalists announced. The top three finalists in each of the BBWAA's four major awards categories will be revealed on MLB Network. Nov. 6, 2018: Rawlings Gold Glove Award winners announced. Nov. 6-8, 2018: General Managers' meetings, Carlsbad, Calif. Nov. 8-15, 2018: MLB All-Star tour of Japan. Nov. 12, 2018: Rookies of the Year announced. Nov. 13, 2018: Managers of the Year announced. Nov. 14, 2018: Cy Young Awards announced. Nov. 15, 2018: MVP Awards announced. Nov. TBA, 2018: Deadline for free agents to accept qualifying offer (15 days after World Series ends). Nov. 26-29, 2018: MLBPA Executive Board Meeting, Dallas. Nov. 30, 2018: Non-tender deadline (last day for teams to offer 2019 contracts to unsigned players on their 40-man rosters). Dec. 9-13, 2018: MLB Winter Meetings, Las Vegas. Dec. 9, 2018: Hall of Fame Today's Game committee vote announced, Las Vegas. Dec. 13, 2018: Rule 5 Draft. Teams can choose non-exempt players from other clubs' minor league systems, but those players must remain on the selecting team's 25-man roster for the duration of the season, or be offered back to their original club. Jan. 11, 2019: Players and teams exchange salary Arbitration figures. Feb. 1-20, 2019: Arbitration hearings.

I found this Fangraphs article, Potential Pitch Mix Improvements for Free Agents (Part 1), to be interesting. It outlines which pitchers could most likely improve by adjusting their current pitch mix. I summarized the list of pitchers discussed below. Check out the article link for explanation of each pitcher’s possible area for improvement within their pitch usage. Major Improvement Candidates Jeremy Hellickson Derek Holland Garrett Richards Matt Harvey Some Improvement Possible Jamie Garcia Hyun-Jin Ryu Chris Tillman Nathan Eovaldi Dallas Keuchel Brett Anderson No Improvement Here Trevor Cahill Patrick Corbin Drew Pomeranz Hector Santiago Drew Hutchinson Lance Lynn

To put that 111.6-mph exit velocity on Hiura’s home run yesterday into context, only 5 home runs during the current MLB postseason have been hit harder and just 11 total balls in play this entire postseason have come off a bat at a greater velocity.

I don’t even dislike Machado as much as some, but I am having a hard time trying to fathom a team choosing to invest $300+ million in him this off-season.

Floro started this season as a 27 year old in Triple-A with the Cincinnati Reds and is now pitching in a 9th inning tie game in the World Series. Good story, but the Dodgers bullpen’s “second tier” does seem to finally be catching up with them.

I know it is only tied, but it would be nice to see the Dodgers lose and change the stat via this Tweet: “The Dodgers are 54-0 when leading by 4 runs at any point this season, including postseason. They're the only team without such a loss.”

Marwin González seems like a much better version of Hernán Pérez. In a vacuum I would take that upgrade in a heartbeat, but with the likely financial commitment it will take to sign him it may not be worth the upgrade (as compared to using that money to upgrade other places). Still I wouldn’t completely rule it out, and have confidence that the Brewers will check in on just about every worthwhile free agent this off-season.

From Eric Longenhagen: “23 [RBIs]. More importantly, made a strong throw to complete a 6-4-3.”

Keston Hiura just hit his fourth home run (and now 22 RBIs) in the Arizona Fall League. He is really in a good hitting grove right now with a lot of baseball scouts and front office personnel paying attention. I don’t think it is crazy to think he will vault his stock into a consensus top ten prospect in baseball by the end of the fall league season.

When do they announce the MVPs? It is usually mid-November. I believe this year the MVP awards are announced on November 15th.

If they do look for a LOOGY type I think Jerry Blevins could be a candidate that could be signed relatively inexpensively on a short-term deal. He struggled this year with the Mets for whatever reason (including against the Brewers), but throughout his career has been very good against lefty batters.

I agree that acquiring him will require trading players of significant value. I believe too much in Hiura at this point to think that giving up good talent for Merrifield would be worth it.

If Nathan Eovaldi’s arm doesn’t fall off during the World Series he seems to be the free agent starting pitcher that has the potential to turn into a bonafide top of the rotation power arm.

This pretty much summarizes my feelings toward the In-Game Threads. Most of the other threads across the site require a higher level of thoughtfulness. The IGTs are often a collection of reactionary moments throughout the ups and downs of a baseball game. I enjoy them because those who frequently post in them are much more engaged in the day-to-day storylines of the long baseball season than my friends and family.