patar4097 :

It's been official since earlier today I think.

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A couple rumors and news bits out there...

The Marlins are trying to shop Logan Morrison and Ricky Nolasco (and every player NOT named Giancarlo Stanton, which is a shame, since he's the only player on their team I'd want.)

Brian Fuentes officially retired.

The Braves and Nationals have shown interest in BJ Upton.

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On the topic of the Jays-Marlins trade... I'm not sure it was a great move for the Blue Jays. I mean obviously, you always want to get better, and in the AL Beast, you need to.

But they were a 4th place team before... and this keeps them as a 4th place team. Their team looks like this

C - Arencibia/Buck
1B - Encarnacion
2B - Bonifacio/Izturis
SS - Reyes
3B - Lawrie
LF - Gose
CF - Rasmus
RF - Bautista
DH - Lind

SP - Johnson, Romero, Buehrle, Morrow, Happ.

The offense in Toronto was probably the best part of the team last year, and yet they STILL only finished 4th. If Encarnacion regresses, or injuries plague Reyes/Lawrie/Bautista (any of those 3...) then the team is effectively where it was before the trade. The rotation is improved, but scary in a lot of bad ways. Johnson will be expected to be an ace, and he can be one when he's healthy, he hasn't been in a while. Buehrle used to get beat up on by AL East teams before he went to Miami... and in Miami he had a mediocre year, despite going against collectively weaker offenses, and pitching in a pitcher's park for a huge chunk of the season. Morrow and Romero were already there, and Happ... well good luck with him.

Plus, Johnson is a year from free agency, and Buehrle/Reyes contracts are very back loaded. The flexibility in Toronto is at an all time low.

Let's look at the Marlins haul though... They got...

Yunel Escobar - Controversial gay slur on his eye black aside, he's a passable player, who might find use in the NL.
Adeiny Hechavarria - Reminds me a LOT of Mike Aviles (I watched Aviles a lot this past season obviously), and that's not a terrible thing. He has some more speed than Aviles, certainly. Could become a rather useful player.
Jake Marisnick - Centerpiece of the deal. Honestly, I valued him higher than Travis D'arnaud (who was the #1 prospect in the Jays org before, and still is obviously). He has a good chance of being something special in Miami... I doubt all the players stick around, but an outfield of Morrison, Marisnick, and Stanton is rather compelling.
Anthony DeSclafani - I'll be honest, I knew the least about him out of all the players involved, but I checked some facts and did my research. A steal of a player potentially. He's far from the majors obviously, but the Marlins won't need to rush him by any means... they won't be good for a good time.
Justin Nicolino - I was surprised they got this guy and not Syndergaard, but he's still a rather valuable pitcher, who will slot in nicely into the rotation in 4 or so years. A rotation featuring him and Turner? Sounds interesting, not lying.
Jeff Mathis - haha why

I think all told, the biggest winner of this deal is the Marlins as a team. The Marlins as a fan base though have been utterly screwed by Loria, the owner.

They basically paid for a new stadium, with the promise they'd have a team to watch.

Worry not, they won't have a team. Eventually Loria will start losing money, and sell off the team. Good riddance Loria. You are the worst owner in professional sports.

AL and NL MVPs announced.

In the NL, it was Buster Posey, as it should have been. There just wasn't any player close to as valuable as him. Ryan Braun, a distant second, was deserving of second. No arguments.

In the AL, it was a little more controversial. Miguel Cabrera won, which is as expected. He was the most valuable player in the AL after all.

What was surprising was the margin by which he beat Mike Trout.

It wasn't even close really.

Either way, for the first time as a baseball fan, I can't argue the choices that the BBWAA made in regards to voting. The only one I didn't vote for personally was Bob Melvin as AL manager of the year. I voted Showalter, but I recognize Melvin was also a fantastic choice. It was close enough, I couldn't really argue it.

Well crap.

The Blue Jays signed Melky Cabrera. (2/16 I think?)

They are going for it all next year...

legacyme3 :   You may care about this.
The Red Sox and Jonny Gomes will be together for 2 years.  The deal is worth 5 million a year.

On a different note, I want to see if the cardinals can pick up a quality second baseman in the offseason, even if that means a trade. 

Only Detroit fans will really care but Ryan Rayburn got released by the Tigers! This is the best thing that could have happened. (Slight sarcasm) Anyway, this happened a while ago but Gerald Laird got picked up by the Atlanta Braves. And lastly, Hiroki Kuroda got resigned by the Yankees for a one year, 15 million dollars, plus incentives.

Yunel Escobar - Controversial gay slur on his eye black aside, he's a passable player, who might find use in the NL.

Adeiny Hechavarria - Reminds me a LOT of Mike Aviles (I watched Aviles a lot this past season obviously), and that's not a terrible thing. He has some more speed than Aviles, certainly. Could become a rather useful player.

Jake Marisnick - Centerpiece of the deal. Honestly, I valued him higher than Travis D'arnaud (who was the #1 prospect in the Jays org before, and still is obviously). He has a good chance of being something special in Miami... I doubt all the players stick around, but an outfield of Morrison, Marisnick, and Stanton is rather compelling.

Anthony DeSclafani - I'll be honest, I knew the least about him out of all the players involved, but I checked some facts and did my research. A steal of a player potentially. He's far from the majors obviously, but the Marlins won't need to rush him by any means... they won't be good for a good time.

Justin Nicolino - I was surprised they got this guy and not Syndergaard, but he's still a rather valuable pitcher, who will slot in nicely into the rotation in 4 or so years. A rotation featuring him and Turner? Sounds interesting, not lying.

Jeff Mathis - haha why



Legacy, your critique of the Jays-Marlins trade was very interesting. I disagree that Marisnick was the center piece of the deal. That was Hechavarria the short stop. I believe that Marisnick was actually the 4the best part of the trade for the Marlins. I have Alvarez (who you forgot to mention) and Nicolino ahead of Marisnick. I believe that Alvarez is one of those pitchers who is a good 3rd or 4th starter in the rotation and is a solid supporting cast starter for a team. He also has some stuff that can be compared to Felix Hernandez if he develops well. Nicolino in 5 or 6 years could be a number 2 starter if they are patient with him, and he stays healthy. I prefer Syndergaard over Nicolino regarding future potential. I believe Hechavarria will be an all star in 3 or 4 years and I have Marisnick roughly equivalent with Anthony Gose, with less speed. I agree that DeScalfani could be a steal, with the big upside potential he has. Believe it or not, The trade was extended for 6 more hours to include the Mathis for Buck swap. I believe that Mathis is a better catcher than Buck, and he works better with pitchers. All in all, I believe that if Toronto can resign Johnson long term, They barely won the deal, assuming that the players Toronto got can stay healthy. I believe that this trade is a lot more promising for Miami than a lot of people think, but the timing was very poor. Bonifacio will be very important to Toronto with his ability to play multiple positions if a position player gets hurt. I do hope we can resign him as well, because speed is very convenient to have on your bench.

With the signing of Melky, it appears that Gose will go back to the minors for some extra seasoning, and Davis will be our number 4 outfielder. This has our starting line up looking like this:

1. Reyes (SS)
2. Cabrera (LF)
3. Bautista (RF)
4. Encarnasion (1B)
5. (some left handed hitter that Toronto will trade for later in the off season)
6. Lawrie (3B)
7. Arencibia (C) I'm not convinced we will trade him this year, since D'Arnaud is hurt.
8. Rasmus (CF) he needs to go big this year, or he will be gone next year.
9. Izturis (2B) he left LA because he didn't like splitting playing time, so he will be a guy to watch (I hope he doesn't clash with our new GM)

As far as Starting pitching goes, I have Buhrle as more reliable that Johnson.

1. Buhrle
2. Johnson
3. Morrow (this guy has ace type abilities if he can stay healthy)
4. Romero (Buhrle can help Romero channel his frustration and be more stable on the mound, I expect a bounce back year)
5. Happ (we traded a lot to get this guy last year, he has ace type stuff if he can learn from his mistakes, Buhrle should help a lot)

People talk about the trade as Reyez and Johnson being the best part of the trade (depending on who you ask), but I have Buhrle as the best piece because of his leadership abilities with other pitchers, his consistencies on the mound, and his familiarity with the AL. I believe that Buhrle will help develop Happ and Romero (and maybe Drabek) into much more stable and solid pitchers. I'll admit that I wish we still had Alvarez instead of Drabek or Happ, but you never know how things will turn out.

My predictions:

Toronto will slip into the final wild card spot if we can close out games (Santos is always a major ?) Our weakest area is definitely our relief pitching, which needs to be improved still, and if Darren Oliver comes back, that is a major plus. I predict that Lind will be traded for a left hander who hits for average or OBP and Buck will be traded for a relief pitcher. Or a package deal involving both of them. I really hope we keep Arencibia until we make the big deadline trade this year or next year to help propel us into the post season. Next season is still a ? because we don't know if Johnson will resign or not.

It appears that Toronto has a much deeper bench than we have had in recent years, and also a much faster bench, which will be helpful in close games late. It seems like our bench will consist of Davis (speed, arm strength), Bonifacio (speed, versatility), Buck (veteran presence, power ; pending trade), Lind (well rounded if he sees the ball well; pending trade).

I really don't know who our relief pitchers are. We go through so many and call up young pitchers a lot. All I know is Oliver was great for us, Loup was solid when he was rested, Delbar was surprisingly good, and Lincoln was good, but still has so much potential. I am very uneasy about Santos as the closer, since he blew 2 or 3 saves and then was hurt for the rest of the season. A lot of Toronto's relief pitchers walked this year, so we will have a very new cast and likely fairly inexperienced, unless we can grab some more through a trade or free agency. A lot of games that were lost by our bullpen last year were thanks to Fransisco (who we traded Mike Napoli for; horrible trade). Frasor is gone, and so is Lyon. That about all I can think of besides a few no names we called up from the minors. I know that Chad Beck, a pitcher I really liked, got claimed off waivers by the Pirates, so he is gone to.

There is a lot of optimism in Toronto, but we know that there is a lot of risk involved with our roster moves. This season seems to be go big or go home. It looks like Anthopolus is going big on building the team up, so I predict a few more trades or free agent signings worthy of noting will happen for the Jays before spring training begins. I don't think we will trade a catcher (whether it is Buck, Arencibia or Wilson, until D'Arnaud is healthy again.

Oh and by the way, no team in the MLB should want Escobar on their team. He is selfish, he doesn't care at all, and he jogs around the bases instead of running hard and putting in an honest effort. I saw him get thrown out at second base several times last year on ground balls that should have gone to first base. Other teams picked up on the fact that Escobar doesn't run hard and doesn't really care, so he gets himself out a lot. Instead of 1 out with a runner on second, we would have 1 out with a runner on first because Escobar decided to jog. He puts forward an effort when he decides to, instead of when he should. He also rattles teammates so he is poison to a dugout.

So, that LaHair guy from Chicago has gone to Japan (he was an all-star this year).  I'm also waiting for the Cardinals to maybe do something STILL, I mean come on, I haven't seen anything done yet.

Apparently Josh Johnson is "open" to signing a contract extension in Toronto beyond the 2013 season, according to his agent.

Also, Mark Buhrle's situation regarding Toronto's pit bull ban is a non issue and will be taken care of, according to the Jays GM.

Jays GM also said that D'Arnaud will begin the season in triple A, and Arencibia will be the Jays starting catcher, with Buck backing him up.

Jays GM also claimed that the players received in the Miami trade are "excited" to play for Toronto.

Jays GM also said that he is looking for some support for the Jays starting rotation. I'm not sure if that means he is looking for some more starters for possibly a 6 starter rotation, or if he is implying that the Jays need to significantly upgrade their relievers so that there is not so much pressure on the starters to go deep into ball games, or both.

I hope that means that he is also looking for some more options at the closer position, since I have no trust in Sergio Santos.

Jays need relievers, their GM knows that, so expect another trade to happen before spring training. I predict that Buck, Wilson, and/or Lind will be involved.

An update from off season baseball. David Wright signed a seven year extension with the Mets, for 122 million dollars. This means he will be on the Mets up until 2020. This isn't yet official, but should be some time next week. The exact value of the contract is probably the only thing that may change.  Then the Braves and Angels made a trade. Atlanta is trading Tommy Hanson for Jordan Walden, from the Halos. And also, Mariano Rivera has agreed to a one year deal to stay in New York, for 10 million, plus incentives. Not surprised with that one at all. Not sure what's up with this one, but it looks like Russell Martin got signed by the Pirates for a two year deal. I can't find anything on it though.

Brad Lidge is going to retire. I remember watching back in 2008 when he was going through his perfect save season, and was a big part of the Phillies winning the world series that year. I don't think he's a hall of famer, but he's definitely one of the best Closers of the last 2 decades.

I just want to let people know that today is the first day of the winter meetings, they will end on Thursday or Friday.

I expect a few significant trades to be announced throughout the week, as well as a few more free agent signings. I doubt any of the big name free agents will be signed this week. That is unless of course a team unloads a lot of money or depth in order to afford such a player. You really never know what will happen.

I expect Tampa Bay to be involved in a major deal involving one of their starting pitchers, likely James Shields.

This should make for an interesting next 2 weeks in MLB. Expect some teams' rosters to look a little more clear by the time Christmas rolls in.

Who will be the team that makes a big splash this year? It is rumored to be the Mariners, but I expect the Angels and Rangers to make some noise as well.

With Houston joining their division this year, it looks like the AL West will be stiff competition (Houston will be destroyed in division series), much like what the emergence of Baltimore and the bold moves of Toronto will bring to an already super competitive AL East. I don't expect Boston to regain playoff contender form until 2014.

Red Sox signed Napoli.

3/39 I think it was.

I'm very happy about this... especially if we get one mote power bat in the outfield and a decent straying pitcher.

Don't count the Sox out yet.

legacyme3 : What's really going to be the biggest issue for the Red Sox next year is just how good that division is going to be, especially with the additions the Blue Jays have made. Napoli is definitely a good sign. He's basically there, I suspect, to replace Gonzalez, and he'll probably play catcher some as well.

All in all, good sign.

In other news, I REALLY home the Indians don't resign Sizemore.

trouble982 :

I honestly feel like people are buying way too much into the jays right now. An awful lot can go wrong with this trade they pulled off... keep in mind that those players move from the NL to the much tougher AL. Johnson and Buehrle in particular will be affected more so than Reyes... but still.

What would help the Sox is either Edwin Jackson or Anibal Sanchez. I feel like having Farrell in the dugout will really help reclaim Lester, provided he isn't traded to the Royals

I wouldn't be opposed to Hamilton on a short term deal if we can get him.

C - salty, lavarnaway, ross
1B - napoli
2B - pedroia
3B - middlebrooks
SS - iglesias
LF - hamilton
CF - Ellsbury
RF - gomes
DH - ortiz

SP
Lester
Buccholz
Doubront
Sanchez/Jackson
Lackey

RP
Bailey
Melancon
Tazawa
Mortensen
Padilla
Aceves

Sign some backups and that's a solid competitive team that can take on the Rays and Yankees.

legacyme3 : What are your thoughts on the rumor that the Sox are looking seriously at Dickey. I have a weird guy feeling that he will never have a better than 12ish win season again in his career.

trouble982 :

frightened.

The Mets apparently asked for Bogaerts AND Bradley Jr.

I don't care if he's Cy Young for the next 3 years. No.

legacyme3 : They'd be crazy to give up that much for him.

trouble982 :

They'd be crazy to give up any of their top 5 prospects for him.

Really... I'd be willing to talk Lavarnaway plus a Stolmy Pimentel... but that's the most. Mets need catching help anyway.

legacyme3 : I wonder how much they'll end up paying Hamilton...probably some crazy 200mil/5 years deal...