Matt Breen

BTW, love your site, John.

Who would it take to get Dom Smith? The problem is that the Mets - I think - would probably want someone either in the majors or major league ready. One of the better match ups was Trent Grisham, but that ship has sailed. Perhaps they'd be happy with a prospect. Who would work? Corey Ray? Feliciano? Just wondering what people might think would work.

I remember watching García when he was with the White Sox. What I always remembered was how bad he was in the outfield. However, metrics aren't necessarily as bad as I remember him.

Rendon is going to get a lot of money, so it's either going to be all in - meaning 7 or 8 years, and $32-35M annually. Or they go short term, but for higher dollars - such as $37-40M annually for 2-3 years. I don't think either happens, but you never know.

That's how it's looking -- at least for now. The thing that happens is that teams use up their available cap space and prices start to come down. That's when Stearns likes to operate. Not always -- but often.

Hey, we trading guys while their value was high! Nice.

Brewers got the guy with the highest upside, so that's a big deal. We need players that can potentially be something more than 'okay' or 'decent'. And he fills a need - which is huge. Sure there's risk, but teams like Milwaukee have to take some chances. Lauer is okay - a lefty, but with reverse splits so far. And his home/away numbers aren't encouraging (3.46 in SD, and 5.44 on the road). Right now, at best, nothing more than a back of the rotation type. But guys like this can certainly get better. Saves some money. Now around $50M+ available for spending. Should be interesting.

Wow. I can't believe no one wanted to trade for him. Anyone in need of a 2B should jump at him if the cost is simply money.

FWIW, the 2022 year is a club option. Cot's has it at $15 and can go to $20 with performance-based incentives...buyout would be $0-$3m and I'm thinking it may be closer to $0 given his injuries in recent years. I'd still want some cash on the 2 years if we really went that route, though. If it's essentially a cash dump on Seager, that's an interesting idea, although I feel like the Mariners may be at a place where they don't want to do such things. They will run about a $100 million payroll this year but then drop way down as of next year. Say it was a cash dump of Seager/Narvaez and say the Mariners send $5m/each for the next 2 seasons. Seager vs. Mous is probably a wash. So you've got probably 5-5 WAR in Seager/Narvaez for $18-20 million. Instead, you'd have had 7 WAR out of Yas/Mous for $26-30 million. But you'd get basically both Narvaez/Seager for 2-3 years given arby for Narvaez and the option for Seager. For Yas you'd have to have gone 4 and Moustakas might be 3-4. Seager is owed $20.5M (AAV) per year for the next two years. $19.5M-18.5M and the third year is a $15M team option with a $3M buyout. The M's aren't going to send $20M cash plus Narvaez and Seager for Cain. One note about Seager. His option is currently a team option. But if he is traded, it becomes a player option.

I don't think anyone is fooling themselves that Bumgarner is going to deliver like five years ago. And his injuries in 2016-17 are concerning. But he's still pretty decent. 200+ IP. 200+ strikeouts. Sub-4.00 ERA. Good hitter (as far as pitchers go). Just turned 30, so he's not that old. That's a good player. Not great, but good. Most predictions have him coming in around $16-18M per year for 3-4 years. And that's with the qualifying offer. Of course, that might be too high. We saw what happened to Keuchel last year. The draft pick compensation tied around his neck doesn't help him either. Personally, I'm not advocating spending money like this on Bumgarner. I'm concerned about his performance outside of SF, which hasn't been that good the last few years. But even with that, he's probably going to get at least $15M a year.

Travis d'Arnaud to Braves. 2-years/$16M.

Atlanta has signed catcher Travis d'Arnaud for 2 years and $16M. d'Arnaud was probably the second best catcher on the free agent market (after Grandal). It's a nice deal for d'Arnaud as he was released just last May. He had a good campaign for Tampa, setting himself up for a good payday. The move removes an option for the Brewers. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2019/11/braves-sign-travis-darnaud.html

Seems like a $10M or so overpay, but hey, both sides seem to really appreciate it other. Power to Jose. He's been a good player, and everyone raves about his leadership. Seems like a decent guy.

In the context of today's game (more HRs, more runs scored, more chances to drive in runs, etc.), Abreu had a good - not outstanding season. His HR total is impressive, but 30 guys hit more. Again, that's not to downplay 33 HR. It's still very good. But the lively baseball is padding those numbers compared to a few years ago.

Won't be surprised if Brown or Bickford gets picked. Especially Brown. A team can take a flier on him, and if he regains some of his 2018 flash, then they can use him in the bullpen. If he sucks, they're out 50k or whatever. No big deal.

I'm going to give this a shot: POSITION PLAYERS: Resign Grandal - 3 years, $57M Resign Moose - 3 years, $33M Sign CJ Cron - I'm betting Cron gets non tendered. Maybe something 2 years/$10M. But we could go with someone of similar status (such as re-signing Thames). Sign José Iglesias - 2 years, $7 - can start at SS if Arcia falters, or provides outstanding depth in middle IF, and late inning defensive replacement for Hiura if Arcia does well. Returning Position players: Braun, Hiura, Gamel (could be replaced), Grisham, Cain, Yeliich, Pina Needs: a 1B/3B player. Either a veteran (Todd Frazier is an example, but he is probably too price and wants a full time gig) or perhaps a AAAA guy who just hasn't gotten a chance. Move on from Shaw to save money. PITCHING: Resign Lyles and Gio Gonzalez to 1 or 2 year deals, let's say at $5M a year or so. Not really sure what their market is, but if it gets too expensive, find similar arms. Resign Pomeranz - not sure of price. I was thinking $5M for a couple of years, but people seem to think it will be more. That's fine. Let's say $7M. If the club thinks he's going to be exceptional, go head and do it. Returning starters: Woodruff, Davies, Houser. Burnes and/or Peralta could start if needed. Returning relievers: Knebel, Hader, Claudio, Suter, Guerra, mix of Peralta, Burnes, D. Williams, Black, other young guys. Regarding Nelson - let him go now - or offer arby, and if he doesn't look like he's going to be good, let him go in Spring Training - costing the team about $600,000 or so. This roster has a salary of about $130M - and still needs to get a backup 1B/3B. Perhaps we won't go that high, but it's an idea. The idea is to make the offense a little more consistent. It would be good, but probably not great. As for pitching, the 26th man gives us even more flexibility with pitchers. While I'd love Wheeler or another front line starter, it's just a lot of money (upwards of $20M annually). Instead, get okay starters who aren't expected to go 6-7 innings. They just need to okay, get us through five innings or so, and then move on to a killer bullpen. If the team elects to spend a lot more money, I'm all for adding other quality players. But I'm trying to build this at a number closer (but still higher) than last year.

Cron is an ideal guy to get non-tendered. MLB Trade Rumors have him making $7.7M - that's pretty steep for an okay player. Especially on a team like the Twins. I'm guessing he ends up getting non-tendered, and (like Thames) ends up landing someone for $4-5M.

Let's not forget that Betts will make $25M+ next year. I love Betts, but not for six years of Hiura.

Surprised by this, but I understand that players of his skillset are fairly cheap. I wish Eric well. I liked the guy.

This is basically my feelings on it. I would've leaned toward declining his option so getting an org depth player in return is about what i'd expect. Can probably re-sign Gio and Lyles for less than $10mm combined in 2020. Precisely.

Not surprised at the move. The $8.5M salary wasn't huge, but you can probably get another back-of-the-rotation arm who is just as good for less.

That's the general impression I get, but others probably know more. He hasn't played SS everyday for five years. You would think that if he could play SS passably that someone would have traded for him. If his glove work was decent, his bat would be more than adequate for the position. But since no one has wanted the guy, you have to believe his glove is pretty sub standard. I have to admit, he doesn't look the part of a SS anymore. He seems much bigger (230 lbs).

Reds picks up Freddy Galvis' option today. For what it's worth, that may limit their interest in re-signing José Iglesias.

Angels supposedly really want Cole, and he grew up near there (for whatever that's worth). Also, Angels have a huge need for starting pitching, and the owner said the team will be spending this offseason.

Nate Orf will probably end up starting at 2B in Miami or some other bad club at some point next year.