SRB

That's not a bad trade, though we could probably just insert Parra as the new everyday CF and ask for a prospect instead of Jackson.

First base coach training http://www.leetergesen.com/images/ww2_roadietraining2.jpg

Baseball-Reference has positional splits. Here is the link to the Dodgers' 2014 positional splits. They got a line of .181/.283/.261/.544 from the catcher position... I had no idea it was that dire. Dire? They were an on-base machine! 2013 Brewers 1B - .206/.259/.370/.629 I honestly wonder if there is a worse team positional split in the history of baseball (factoring in the position).

As always, love reading your posts Joshua. Great story!

Good info, thanks! Still concerning to me that he hasn't even had a 7.0 K/9 season (above Helena), but we'll see how things pan out as he developed as a RP and not a SP.

Goforth officially added, per McCalvy on Twitter Not entirely sold, personally (just based on stats). A right-handed RP who has never struck many people out? You'd think Tyler Cravy would be much more desirable.

Looking at WAR is parsing things too much. All that needs to happen for the 2015 team to win 90+ games and make the playoffs is for them to play anywhere close to the way they did for most of last season, and then just not collapse at the end. There's no law of averages - they were incredibly hot to start the season, and then they just played improbably poor at the wrong time. Anything could happen next year.

vs RHP Gomez Lucroy Braun Lind Ramirez Gennett Davis Segura vs LHP Gomez Lucroy Braun Ramirez Davis Rogers?? 2B??? Segura This is all subject to change once we sign Yasmany Tomas, of course

He's played 1B in the majors (barely), but more importantly basically any corner OF should be able to move to 1B. I don't know why this forum acts like 1B is a difficult position to learn. He'll probably be way too expensive though, not to mention him not wanting that type of limited role.

The inverse of Adam Lind gets $30M, except Lind can actually play 1B (and OF in a pinch) and is the strong side of the platoon not the weak side. Good trade, Doug.

Sounds like he is on the fence about retiring, so a platoon role probably wouldn't lure him back, but Josh Willingham would be a good compliment to Lind as a 1B/OF who his LHP very well.

I really like Parra, but he might become expendable once the Brewers sign Yasmany Tomas. Khris Davis moves to a 4th OF/PH role and you have Schafer (or Wren?) as the defensive sub.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7SqplVHNBmI/SdD6MynHQbI/AAAAAAAAAII/HkfjsJ5Cik8/s400/Eric+Gagne.bmp

Sorry, I was excerpting it from a longer piece on the recent Braves trades. Disregard the Vizcaino reference.

Nice words about Kyle Wren: http://www.minorleagueball.com/2014/11/17/7224815/braves-move-la-stella-and-wren-in-seperate-trades

Can I be a MLB GM? I'm only half joking. So many of these contracts are so blatantly bad ideas. These GMs are paid millions of dollars to do this for a living? I don't understand it...

I can tolerate this as long as the Cardinals don't end up extending Heyward. Can't believe people are suggesting to platoon him. Take a look at the fWAR by age for Jason Heyward versus the guy who just got a $350M contract. (Hint: I would rather have Heyward)

He has incredible raw power, no doubt about it. But I don't see anything Hall of Fame about him yet other than the fact that he was rushed to the majors, so he has good counting stats for his age. His other hit tools are weak: his career stats suggest that he is a mid-.200's hitter with a mid-.300's OBP (last season those stats peaked for him, because had a .353 BABIP...). In other words, he's not even close to the power hitter that someone like Prince Fielder was at the same age. I'm very glad the Brewers didn't give Prince a $350M contract after his age-25 season. And yes, the Brewers are the correct comparator, because the Marlins are not a huge payroll team.

Interesting to go back and see that Medeiros was ranked as high as #14 on somebody's list (MinorLeagueBall) back in July 2013, because I thought he was more of an unknown when the Brewers "reached" for him. And of course we got him and the player ranked #1 by Scout.com in July 2013 (Gatewood), and another top 20-30 player to boot

That's pretty generous for a guy who hasn't even hit 40 HR in season yet. I just don't get the hype I guess (hype meaning Hall of Fame caliber talent as opposed to just a fantastic, top-10 OF that any team would kill to have).

Stanton just turned 25. Votto was 28 when he signed his deal. Cabrera signed his deal a month before he turned 31. Stanton through age 24. .271/.364/.540/.904 Votto through age 24. .300/.367/.511/.878 Cabrera through age 24. .313/.388/.542/.929 You're completely underrating Stanton here. He's got probably 8 years of elite production left and after that he should still be pretty good for a couple years. He was better than Votto at the same age and pretty much on par with Cabrera. It's not that I don't think he can be a great player, the reason this contract is so bad is because the enormous risk the Marlins are taking on (for no reason). He could very easily have a great career and justify the contract, no question. He could also get injured and/or fall off a cliff like so many players do year after year. That's why these mega-contracts are almost a bad idea. The only time it almost makes sense is if you are dealing with a once-in-a-generation type player (like Alex Rodriguez, or Pujols but he was obviously too old at the time). Stanton is a really good player, but he's nowhere close to that level (at least not yet). They're paying $350M for a hope and a prayer. This is a guy that was worth 2.3 fWAR as recently as 2013. Come on, it's a horrendous deal.

Seems like Quintana is the kind of player where some organizations might just really like him as a flier with upside. Maybe they think they can fix him.

13 years is crazy, but i'd rather have Stanton's contract on my books if i owned a team compared to say the Votto contract with the Reds. While a healthy Votto is probably the last hitter i'd want at the plate with say the bases loaded two outs in the 9th of a one run game vs the Brewers in an important game, he is already 31 and the Reds will be paying him an insane 25 million per through 2024. Miguel Cabrera is a great great HOF hitter, but he's also 31 and not exactly a guy who keeps himself in tip top shape. Over the next nine years Detroit will owe him 270 million dollars with an 8 million dollar buyout in 2024 which i'd bet will be exercised vs paying him 30 million when he's likely a shell of his former self at age 41. The Angels still owe the declining Albert Pujols 192 million dollars through the 2021 season. This is the same Pujols who has posted back to back sub-.800 OPS seasons. My guess is that by the time Boras gets Max Scherzer signed, he'll instantly join this list if he gets some sort of 7-8 year deal nearing or topping 200 million for a 30 year old starting pitcher who saw his average velocity drop a bit last year even though he was still really good. These super long contracts in the 8 years or longer range do baffle me given the odds are so slim of each one not becoming an albatross at some point, especially when handed out to guys nearing the age of 30 or already older than that. I do understand the high yearly salaries simply because team and overall league revenues are skyrocketing, so the corresponding salary inflation is to be expected. It's just the length of so many of these deals which i can't wrap my brain around, not the yearly salaries. Those are all pretty bad, but the Marlins have to burn off roughly $100,000,000 just to get to the starting value of the Votto contract. And unlike Cabrera or Votto, Stanton barely has a track record as an elite-elite player. It's bonkers. Can't forget that horrible Prince Fielder contract either, who was actually below replacement value last year. Oof. Even with his worrisome thumb issues, the Braun contract is looking pretty great (in comparison).

Emphasis on "probably" - if he falls off like so many promising young players have in the past, then it's a historic albatross. They're basically banking on him being a Hall of Fame player, which is absolutely insane (and unnecessary) for a guy with so many flaws in his game. I don't get it at all.

Instantly one of the worst contracts of all time. Stanton has been injured in all but one of the seasons in his career, has never had an OBP north of .400, and has a peak fWAR of 6.1 (Rickie Weeks's career peak was 5.8 fWAR...). Severely overrated because of HR and RBI, just like Prince Fielder. If Stanton is worth $325M, then what is Mike Trout worth, $600M?