MLB Offseason Thread

[Maritime Q-Scout]

Mike Adams to the Phillies, looks like it's only a matter of time until Dickey is a Blue Jay

[fundmark19]

I really don't get how everyone is up in arms about KC trading away legit prospects for Sheilds when Toronto is selling the farm for a knuckle baller and everyone is excited. No way does Dickey win 20 games ever again, I am glad he is jumping all over his great season but I really think he is going to struggle in Al east. Longoria is a .400 hitter against knucklers so I hope he continues those numbers. Hopefully the Jays can get the run support needed to bail Dickey out when he is off.

[Flickered Flame]

Stephen Drew to Boston. A's in the market for a ss, it will likely be acquired via trade.

[Jason14h]

I really don't get how everyone is up in arms about KC trading away legit prospects for Sheilds when Toronto is selling the farm for a knuckle baller and everyone is excited.

The prospects KC gave up were better, and Shield is arguably a worst pitcher

[TitovFTW]

Originally Posted by fundmark19

I really don't get how everyone is up in arms about KC trading away legit prospects for Sheilds when Toronto is selling the farm for a knuckle baller and everyone is excited. No way does Dickey win 20 games ever again, I am glad he is jumping all over his great season but I really think he is going to struggle in Al east. Longoria is a .400 hitter against knucklers so I hope he continues those numbers. Hopefully the Jays can get the run support needed to bail Dickey out when he is off.

If you're going to cherry pick Longoria vs Knucklers, look at Dickey's numbers vs the AL East since 2010. Lights out. And there's a difference between a struggling KC team with still many holes on there team trading elite prospects, then a team with a strong foundation looking to put itself over the top.

LOL

Stolen from FanGraphs

The Blue Jays might trust Dickey more, and based on their offseason, they certainly think they’re more ready to win. From the looks of things, they’re the current American League East favorites. There are those major differences between this trade and the Royals’ James Shields trade — the Blue Jays are better than the Royals are, and the Blue Jays didn’t trade someone who could’ve been of immediate use. Yet, because the Blue Jays aren’t proven and because people love top prospects, there’s a sentiment that the Jays might’ve overpaid. This depends on the weight you put on trying to win in the short term, but when looking at the Dickey deal, it makes sense to look at similar previous deals.

[fundmark19]

How much work do you think players put in trying to hit a pitcher who you face once a year compared to a pitcher you face all the time? I would guess hardly any and they will figure out a way to hit Dickey.

As always I hope the jays do better then sox and yanks but worse then rays. Hopefully they don't collapse in July as per the norm.

[TitovFTW]

Originally Posted by fundmark19

How much work do you think players put in trying to hit a pitcher who you face once a year compared to a pitcher you face all the time? I would guess hardly any and they will figure out a way to hit Dickey.

As always I hope the jays do better then sox and yanks but worse then rays. Hopefully they don't collapse in July as per the norm.

This team has nothing in common with any Jays team in the last 20 years.

How much work do you think a pitcher puts in to the batters he'll face every year in his division? Tampa Bays offense still sucks, so there's that. And I love the team they have in Tampa, but that offense isn't going to figure out how to hit Dickey.

[moon]

Originally Posted by Flickered Flame

Stephen Drew to Boston. A's in the market for a ss, it will likely be acquired via trade.

Not a big loss but I was hoping that the Cards would get him.

[fundmark19]

Originally Posted by TitovFTW

This team has nothing in common with any Jays team in the last 20 years.

How much work do you think a pitcher puts in to the batters he'll face every year in his division? Tampa Bays offense still sucks, so there's that. And I love the team they have in Tampa, but that offense isn't going to figure out how to hit Dickey.

Pitcher not very much that is the catchers job to know what batters do. Pitcher throws what catcher plans out

[TitovFTW]

Originally Posted by fundmark19

Pitcher not very much that is the catchers job to know what batters do. Pitcher throws what catcher plans out

LOL Or you know, Pitchers study like crazy to find how to attack batters.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Let's just stick to the topic, please.

[dustyanddaflames]

Pitchers to wear caps with kevlar protection?

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?...s_mlb&c_id=mlb

I'm listening to this guy on MLB Radio right now - and he said for a TV news blip, he wore a 1/4" thick military grade kevlar protector on his chest, and had someone break a bat over his chest. They also designed Mike Vick's protection as well.

He also said these hats will be designed to absorb a 60 MPH comebacker off the front of the head, well within safety standards. Crazy stuff, but about time. I can't think of anything more horrific than a comebacker off a pitchers head. That Chris Jakabauskas (sp?) incident still sticks in my mind, where the ball went off his head, and was able to land behind the out stretched catching hand of his catcher.

[Montana Moe]

Mariners trade LHP Jason Vargas to Angels for 1B/DH Kendrys Morales

I'm a big Vargas fan, he's a quality starter, but the Mariners certainly need more help in the heart of the order. I guess I'll have to be cautiously optimistic about this deal.

[bluejays]

Yeah, that's a fairly steep price to pay for the Mariners. Vargas is a legit top 3 starter. Morales is his equal on the field and with the bat, but because SP is so hard to come by, I give the edge to the Angels. Angels are going to be TB and the Jays' main competition this year I think.

[GirlySports]

man the Houston Astros are 200-1 to win the WS.

If you took the reverse and bet 200000 to win 1000 that they would not win the World Series that's equivalent to 0.5% GICs at the bank!

[Gravitykillr]

http://espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/stor...-victoria-soto

Derek Jeter called the mother of Victoria Soto, a young teacher killed while protecting her first-grade students at Sandy Hook Elementary School in last week's Newtown tragedy.
Jeter telephoned Donna Soto on Wednesday, the same day she laid her daughter to rest. Carlee Soto, Victoria's sister, tweeted the family's excitement about hearing from Jeter.
"Derek Jeter just called my mom!!!!! Thanks Vicki, she needs it thank you @yankees this meant a lot to my mother and all of us," the tweet read.
.

Not a Yankee's fan at all but this is a great story and show's how good of a person Derek Jeter is.

[Sylvanfan]

Edwin Jackson to the Cubs, 4 years 52 million. Villaneuva also going to the Northside 10 over 2 years. Still a pretty substantial price for Jackson.

Pierzynski to the Rangers, guy has a bad rap, but can produce offence as a left handed bat.

[bluejays]

That Pierzynski deal is an absolute steal. I don't think anything flies under AA's radar, so I'm sure there's a reason he passed on signing him, but he'd definitely be an upgrade on Lind. Man, that guy gets on my nerves.

[fundmark19]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

Edwin Jackson to the Cubs, 4 years 52 million. Villaneuva also going to the Northside 10 over 2 years. Still a pretty substantial price for Jackson.

Pierzynski to the Rangers, guy has a bad rap, but can produce offence as a left handed bat.

I agree. Pitchers are just getting ######ed money this year. I really don't think Jackson is very special. A lot of cash for 10 wins a year. I don't think Nationals are going to be upset that they lost him

[SportsJunky]

Originally Posted by fleury

That Pierzynski deal is an absolute steal. I don't think anything flies under AA's radar, so I'm sure there's a reason he passed on signing him, but he'd definitely be an upgrade on Lind. Man, that guy gets on my nerves.

The guy has been playing since the late 90s and it is extremely rare for a catcher to improve his offense very much this late in their career. Pierzynski's numbers from last season are seen by many as an anomoly. He hit 27 dingers last season but before that it took 3 years to stroke 30.