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I guess Manfred wants baseball to be like hockey where 16 teams make the playoffs. Just another stupid idea from the worst commish in professional sports.

I just can't see Stearns paying $7.8M for a guy to be a platoon player. If anything, try and swing a deal for Stripling alone, but Peterson makes no sense given budget constraints.

Who are the 6 potential All Stars ?

I think Bird's extensive history of injuries was just too much for Stearns and everyone else to consider him. Plus he reportedly is still not fully healed. Bird came up in 2015 and then missed all of 2016 with a shoulder injury. He had multiple surgeries on his ankle and missed 3/4 of 2017 and over 1/2 of 2018. Last year he played 7 or 8 games, then injured his left heal and was done for the season.

If Stearns was going to spend $8-10M more I would much rather have McHugh and Walker (if healthy). I'm really starting to wonder about the health of both those guys, but if they are ready to go, I'd take them over Cashner and Bettis.

No one is ignoring him, but he's gotta prove that he's healthy. I think Stearns basically said that they don't know if he will be ready to start the season, and they were happy to have the option of sending him to AAA if he isn't. Healy's had problems getting on base the last two years and is coming off hip surgery last September. He is an absolute butcher at 3B, and with the outfield and 1B covered, there is no place for Healy to play.

I don't agree on the price with Clancy. I'd be more along the lines of 1.25 mil 2020 40 man spot MiLB deal. 2021 club option for 4 mil with a 250K buyout. Maybe toss in some MLB boosters. I do agree that he's an interesting option that I want. 1st off I'm going to caution the 2017 2019 road splits being used. 1) Sample size is very very small. 2) He was coming back from having CANCER and going through CHEMO in 2017. One of my years in college we had a CB who went through that following his Senior year football season and fall camp as a freshman in college. He lost a TON of weight and was going to be cut until a few coaches were alerted to the situation. Kid rebounded massively with a healthy off season, his year 2 was night and day. Chemo is brutal. Also in 2019 he was used in the pen and that didn't suit him well, he was also pitching through pain in his hip all last year. He recently stated he hasn't felt this healthy since before he had Cancer. I think 2017 is a throw away. 2019 he was pitching through a lot of pain. 2015 and 2016 this guy was pretty even home and away. Not great but even. Guys 31 and was a 2nd round pick. I don't think he's done yet. I don't think he's going to be much better than 4.0-4.4 range as a starter. But that's Anderson Houser insurance for a very cost effective price. I also don't see him as a durability concern. Guy had cancer and a nerve issue in his hip. The nerve issue is a full recovery in 6 months (for pro athletes) and rehab starts at 8 weeks after the procedure. It's not back, shoulder, elbow and arm stuff. It's not even reoccurring soft tissue issues. These two are pretty fluky and (hopefully) a 1 time fix. If I was Stearns I'd be ok with the $1.25 + .25 buy out in 2021. That would be value for an insurance policy type guy. Could start the year in San Antonio of 8th guy in the pen.

I'd give Bettis a one-year $2 million deal with a club option at $5 million ($2 million buyout) for 2021 and a mutual option at $6 million ($1.5 million buyout) for 2022. DFA Feritas. What do you see in Bettis that you would want to pay him at all? 2019 was a disaster both home and away. Then hip surgery. He did ok away from home in 2018, but 2017 numbers were terrible again especially away from Colorado. Stearns passed on much better pitchers for less money.

I believe a DH can only be substituted for by a player NOT in the current lineup. Plus the pitcher would have to bat or a PH used when the pitcher's spot came up.

What sense would such a trade make? The Cubs get a guy owed a huge amount of money (pushing them in lux. tax territory that they are desperately trying to avoid) who will be gone in two years. The Rockies get a little salary relief (about $8M the first year and less the second) but Bryant is also gone in two years.

I saw Mediavilla pitch in Appleton twice last April. He's a big dude (6'5-6'6) and a lefty. He really dominated the hitters he faced. I guess the one drawback I saw is that he was quite a bit older than the hitters he was facing.

Here's what I cobbled together using BaseballTradeValues.com: https://www.baseballtradevalues.com/trades/trade-22207/ Brewers get: RHP Chris Archer SS Ji-Hwan Bae Pirates get: OF Tristan Lutz Pirates are $700K ahead on surplus value... Brewers get Archer, and SS prospect Ji-Hwan Bae, who has a good hit tool, OBP skills, and speed. I doubt the Pirates would even think about it. Right now Bae is a better prospect than Lutz. They could peddle Archer for something better too. The trade value sight way, way over-values Lutz.

You're right! What's the big deal about Jeter? Better players than Jeter weren't elected with 100% of the vote. Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Mantle, Mays, Gehrig, Ryan, etc...

Imo no team thinks Erceg is that great a prospect anymore. He hit .248/.306/.688 OPS at AA in 2018. Last year he hit .218/.305/.703 OPS at San Antonio. He would be a throw-in at best. I'm not sure the Marlins make Anderson available, but I think you're right that they would want Turang and more.

I don't think anybody saw much in Faria. I imagine the Brewers were the only ones to offer even a minor league deal. He's been awful for two consecutive years and getting worse. 2018: 5.40 ERA/5.08 FIP - 1.43 WHIP - 4.6 BBs/9 2019: 6.75 ERA/6.75 FIP - 2.14 WHIP - 5.8 BBs/9

According to reports, the steroid found on the mass test was a cataboic steroid, not an anabolic. Ortiz was prescribed the steroids for muscle inflamation in his back. From that time on he was tested hundreds of times and never missed a test or failed a test.

I never liked Strop as a cub, but he could be a big help in the Crew's pen if healthy. I am wondering about McHugh. Has anyone heard anything about his health? It seems like he should have been signed by now with all the teams looking for pen help.

Great point! It puts the senseless rumor to bed for good.

Again it's super cool that you look at the surface numbers and use that to discredit my thoughts. How about these numbers for Aaron Sanchez. 2018 1st 2nd 3rd innings ERA 2.95. 1st inning ERA 3.15. 2019 1st inning ERA 2.33. 1st 2nd innings ERA 3.66. Career 1st inning ERA 2.62 Career 1st and 2nd inning ERA 3.46. Career ERA as a RP 1.67. I think he looks pretty good 1 time through. Looks like a guy with nasty stuff who doesn't know how to pitch. That's a reliever. Also his FB as a reliever was 97. It was 95 as a starter. Maybe I did my research before I spoke up. Cashner as a reliever last year 3.86. K/9 went up. Whip went down. Eliminating the CB from his arsenal would help him. FB CH SL would work well in the pen. That's also good cuz he cut out his cutter and sinker last year because they weren't working. He's now a 3 pitch guy because those work. If anyone wanted to pay Cashner go right ahead but he's been kicked around the league like a can and there's value in guys who have talent who look like they are just about to fall through the cracks of FA. If we can't nab him for 2 mil or under (you know a cheaper Guerra) I don't want him. There are many teams in desperate need of relief help and with all the metrics out there today, Sanchez is still unsigned. Do you think if any team, including Tor and Houston (teams he played for) thought Sanchez could be a pen stud, he would still be out there? How about these numbers for Sanchez. High leverage situations BA .300 - OBP .400 - OPS 1.054.... If the game is within one run: .305/.385 - OPS .885.....Within 2 runs: .288/.375 - .852..... Cashner has been with 5 different teams in the last 4 years. I think he has more value than Sanchez and I agree, if they can get him for under $2M, he may be worth a look.

Those are the same "sources" that make crap up all the time. "Sources" say Elvis is still alive.

I'd like to see McHugh and Walker also (if both are healthy). Neither would be expensive and McHugh may be a huge asset in the pen. Walker would be a nice come-back type pitcher. I'm just wondering about the health of both because there has been no rumors about either one of them going to anybody. However, neither Sanchez (5.89 ERA/5.25 FIP - 1.62 WHIP - 10 hits and 5 BBs per 9IPs) nor Cashner (4.68/4.66 - 1.35 WHIP - 3.5 BB/6.5K per 9 - made $9.5M) would be worth even looking at. Imo Stearns could get at least equal to and probably better than, that type of production from guys already on the 40 man roster.

Most people don't know that Garcia's numbers were very close to Castellanos' numbers last year. Stearns went the cheaper route with Garcia, so I seriously doubt he would invest the big money and long term deal in Castellanos. Castellanos: 615 ABs - .289/.337 - 27 HRs - 73 RBI Garcia: 489 ABs - .282/.332 - 20 HRs - 72 RBI

Supak and Derby are, unfortunately, following in Brown's footsteps. All three got to AAA and failed miserably. They all have to prove they can get AAA hitters out before they even can think about the big leagues. Burnes needs to show he too can get AAA hitters out. He, however has a track record (until last year) and hopefully will have somehow figured it out. I don't think Stearns can count on any of those four guys for the 26 man roster.

The Twins quickly squashed that rumor last week or the week before. Lewis hit only .238/.289 at A ball and .231/.291 at AA ball. They are probably going to leave him at AA ball to start the new year and see if he can improve his bat. He is nowhere close to being major league ready. The GM said Arraez is their 2B.

A healthy Vizcaino would really be an asset . The problem is his health. He's been on the DL six times with arm or shoulder problems and he's coming off labrum surgery last year. If he came at a bargain basement price it would be worth a chance. I don't know what Sanchez can bounce back from? His last good year was in 2016. The last three years he's been terrible. Imo the Crew has many, many better options to look at.