Eye Black

If the Sky Sox still plan to move to San Antonio for the 2019 season it does not appear that the city’s mayor has any intentions of having taxpayers help fund a new ballpark, and he denies that any conversations have been had about a new downtown ballpark to this point. Article Link: Minor league baseball is a big league strikeout The original article that this appears to be a response to is this one: The proposed baseball stadium is very much alive

While these are a few years old now, below are Ji-Man Choi’s Baseball America Prospect Handbook write-ups while in the Seattle system. The now 26-year old Choi ranked in the Mariners top 30 prospect lists in both 2014 and 2015 (#25 and #29 respectively)... 2014 Choi had a breakout season in 2013, starting at high Class A High Desert, making stops at Double-A Jackson and the Futures Game along the way. He ended the year at Triple-A Tacoma. All of that happened while he was making the conversion from catcher to first baseman, and he wound up being protected on the 40-man roster in November. Choi made a splash in 2010 when he was the MVP of the Rookie-level Arizona League, but his career stagnated until he became a full-time first baseman and also put together a better plan of attack in the batter’s box. Already possessing a good eye, Choi has become even more selective and instead of spraying line drives to the gaps at his best. Choi fits the second-division regular description and is in an organization that continues to chase power at first base. 2015 Choi always has been known as a hit-first player—he moved off catcher to first base in 2011–whose lack of power limits his chances of being an everyday big leaguer. So when hit with a 50-game suspension early in 2014 for using a performance-enhancing substance, he faced further skepticisim. Upon his return from his suspension, Choi didn’t really assuage that criticism by slugging .392. He is a pure hitter who can line the ball to all fields with a short, direct, lefthanded stroke, but he doesn’t have much natural loft in his swing. His best-case scenario is as a James Loney-type offensive first baseman, but as a fringe-average defender, he lacks Loney’s defensive value. The Mariners tried Choi in left field, but he’s not a viable option out there.

Really good David Stearns interview overall, but the 11:50 mark is an especially intriguing tease... “What are the chances that between now and spring training, there will be a roster move that moves the needle in a big way for Brewers fans? One way or the other?” Stearns: “Boy, I am not good at handicapping these things, but I will say that we are certainly talking about moves that we think would meaningfully impact our team. Some of them have been maybe overly exaggerated in the press. And then there are some things that we are working on that haven’t been discussed publicly at all. So, we’ll keep you guys guessing for a little while longer, but we are certainly working on things and I will say this, it would not surprise me if we make a substantive move between now and Spring Training.”

Just a quick look comparing Harrison and Neil Walker in wRC+ shows them as significantly different offensive values. Harrison has finished below league average in weighted runs created in 5 of his 7 seasons. Neil Walker on the other hand has not only finished over 100 in wRC+ every season since 2010, but he has averaged a stellar wRC+ 115. His 114 mark last season ranked 8th among second baseman with more than 400 plate appearances.

For those that have followed this thread throughout the years the most recent NatsGM podcast with Josh Kusnick (agent39) is a good listen: The Joshua Kusnick Experience #21 – “Fired At Cracker Barrel” Josh opens up about his experiences being fired by former clients Kenley Jansen and Lorenzo Cain. One strange thing about Cain firing him is that it apparently happened almost seven years ago, yet Lorenzo Cain’s Baseball Reference page still lists Josh as his agent.

Here is the link to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Article.

FYI, I am going to move this post to start a new thread specific to Josh Harrison.

Pirates also included $2.5 million in the deal. Giants remain just a few million dollars below the luxury tax threshold.

This chart from Daren Williams shows home runs by team in 2017 and the photos show each player that hit 15+ home runs (164 players did so last season if I’m counting correctly). I think the current prevailing wisdom is that this time it is more likely to be the composition of the ball to blame.

It seems like the Yankees are very much interested in adding Yu Darvish while also remaining under the luxury tax. The Brewers have plenty of room to take on a bad contract and the Yankees have plenty of good prospects to make it worth their time. Couple both the opportunity for the Yankees to add a good LH hitting 3B with power at a very low cost with the opportunity to also gain additional salary relief, and I would expect the Brewers to get a very nice return. If Cashman is trying to recreate the ‘27 Yankees than this might be a good time for the Brewers to strike a deal. I respect the fact that obviously the Brewers front office is prepared, however remote something like a Shaw trade would be. I really don't have an idea on what Shaw could return but I'd have to be overwhelmed to start the conversation. If we were dealing with the Yankees what would you think is fair coming back. Would it have to include Torres? Montgomery and Adams? That is a good question. One potential hiccup could be that while the Yankees may be willing to part with players like Frazier or Florial, that isn’t something the Brewers would likely be looking for in a return. In addition to the guys you mentioned I could also see the Brewers having interest in Justus Sheffield. Getting back Miguel Andujar could also serve as a solution to fill 3B in the near future. I guess the more I think about giving up 4 years of Travis Shaw, you would really need to get back at least one player you thought could be a true future difference maker, which leads back to either Torres or Adams. If we are being honest, Torres probably isn’t realistic. Still Adams, Andujar, and 1-2 more players could be a nice return.

Felipe Rivero’s last two Tweets aren’t so inspiring if your a Pirates fan, Tweet #1 & Tweet #2 I agree that the return doesn’t seem that bad for one season of McCutchen.

It seems like the Yankees are very much interested in adding Yu Darvish while also remaining under the luxury tax. The Brewers have plenty of room to take on a bad contract and the Yankees have plenty of good prospects to make it worth their time. Couple both the opportunity for the Yankees to add a good LH hitting 3B with power at a very low cost with the opportunity to also gain additional salary relief, and I would expect the Brewers to get a very nice return. If Cashman is trying to recreate the ‘27 Yankees than this might be a good time for the Brewers to strike a deal.

Would assume the Pirates will also explore moving Josh Harrison one season and two team option years remaining on his contract. The better question might be whether they consider moving guys with beyond 1-2 years of control? With the returns for these trades being players closer to MLB ready it strikes me as a team hoping to be relevant within a couple of years, but is it worth wasting two years of an elite reliever like Felipe Rivero when trading him could bring back a significant return?

Pitcher Kyle Crick is part of the return.

Did the Pirates go for Major League ready talent once again? Saw an MLB player might be coming back to Pittsburgh. Could be for salary relief though.

Jon Heyman also mentioned that the Giants remain in the market for another outfielder even after acquiring McCutchen. [sarcasm]If they are into Longoria and McCutchen, maybe they would be down with adding Braun as well.[/sarcasm]

It is good news indeed, I just hope he doesn’t push it too much with such high stakes. Happy for Jimmy the recovery is going so well... oh yeah, pretty happy for the fan base also.

McCutchen is owed $14 million and they are reportedly trying to stay under the luxury tax, so Cain doesn’t seem likely for them. Maybe they also trade for Broxton and try to get the Brewers to take back a current salary obligation for a bigger return?

I think we are all well aware that we are lucky to have Mass Haas (Jim) as the primary contributor on this site, but this Gabriel Garcia find is a quintessential example of just how incredible he is at scouring the interwebs for information we would otherwise likely never be privy to.

When presented with it at first it appeared that Haudricourt thought it was some random Twitter user throwing the idea at him, there was no reference to Jim Bowden. My perception was Haudricourt initially responded as a hey, look at this ridiculous thing this person just said to me type of response. He seemingly took it more seriously upon learning it was an actual report, stating: “What I have learned about Stearns and Co is that they "check in" on nearly every available player, just to make sure they know cost. Very big on due diligence. Doesn't mean it will hapoen.” My initial internal reaction to that was something along the lines of, well why don’t you “check in” with your team sources to see if there is any truth to the rumor?... but then decided to keep that thought to myself.

Saw this story from a couple of years ago dug up, Ji-Man Choi is the latest baseball player to be haunted by a ghost at Milwaukee's Pfister Hotel. Admittedly the headline is better than the actual story.

This seems really far fetched, but according to Jim Bowden:

A few other interesting tidbits using Google translate... * ”There is also a bonus based on the at-bats to receive an annual salary of $ 850,000 (approx. 950 million won) when joining the major league roster. If you fill 200 at-bats, you get $ 200,000, and every time you add 100 at-bats, you get a bonus of $ 100,000. Up to $ 650,000.” * “The most recent US agency 'GSM' said it had signed a deal with Milwaukee last month, but only after the medical test.” * “The Milwaukee club has promised Choi Ji-sung that they will not get an additional first baseman.” * “He will compete against Eric Thames and Jesús Aguilar in the major league spring camp starting mid-February for the first place of the Milwaukee Mainland.” * “He will challenge not only the first base but also the left fielder. After discussing with the Milwaukee club, I decided to play as many left fielders as possible in spring training camp.” It’s a minor league contract with a spring training camp invite. Also interesting from that article it mentions that at least one team (Rays) had offered a major league contract with a 40-man roster spot.

Per Sung Min Kim on Twitter... EDIT: A couple more links... Ji-Man Choi Baseball Reference Page Brew Crew Ball Article

Marcell Ozuna’s comments with reporters in St. Louis today: “When I heard they were trying to trade me to the Oakland A’s I said, “God please leave me over here”. And then I heard they traded me to the Cardinals and I said “OK, thanks”.” First that is some ruthless candidness that I am sure the self appointed “best fans in baseball” are eating up. Second, it reminded me (once again) that Oakland is a potential trade partner in need of outfield help.