2024-25 MLB Offseason

[bluejays]

Again, how? In this case, won't age well.

[flambers]

Originally Posted by flamingred89

Sigh. And so it begins. Blake Snell to the Dodgers. 5 years 182 million.

At the end of the day I don't think that contract will age well. Snell had a hard time getting a contract last off season after winning the Cy Young. Had an absolutely terrible start to last season before turning it around. High risk high reward type player. More just annoying that it's the Dodgers and their infinite payroll.

Sounds like they have deferred some of the salary

"includes deferred money that drops the net present value of the deal to the $160-165MM range"

[GirlySports]

He will fit in with the Dodgers because their starters are only expected to go 5 innings most nights. They were very low on the Quality Start stat (6IP, 3 runs or less)

The Mariners on the other hand had 90 quality starts and lost nearly half of them.

[transplant99]

ESPN does this every year:

It's time for our annual offseason tradition, served up with your turkey and cranberry sauce: predicting one big move for all 30 MLB teams.

Here's what they say about the Jays

Toronto Blue Jays sign RHP Corbin Burnes (7 years, $225 million)

The Blue Jays are in a precarious position as a franchise. They swung and missed on Shohei Ohtani last offseason and then went on to lose 88 games. This winter, they're going after Soto, but if they fail to land him and then watch Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette depart as free agents after next season, it could be an ugly rebuilding period. So, they need to have a backup plan this time to be all-in for 2025. That means going after Burnes, the No. 2 player on our free agent board (or No. 3, if you include Roki Sasaki). Chris Bassitt is a free agent after 2025 and Kevin Gausman is too after 2026, so they'll need a long-term reinforcement for the rotation. Sign Burnes, get a bounce-back season from Bichette, strengthen the bullpen and the Jays could jump back into playoff contention. And they should sign Guerrero while they're at it.

They have Soto going to the Mets for 13 years, $611 million

https://www.espn.com/mlb/insider/sto...-signing-trade

[bluejays]

Originally Posted by transplant99

ESPN does this every year:




Here's what they say about the Jays



They have Soto going to the Mets for 13 years, $611 million

https://www.espn.com/mlb/insider/sto...-signing-trade

Logical take from them. We know the budget will be around the same, and with Vlad needing to be signed, plus whatever they're going to do with Bo, it doesn't mean a crazy budget to fill out the roster needs. It actually does sound like a rebuild without saying it. They get an Ace, spend the dollars to re-sign Vlad, then see what to do with Bo as the season goes on. If they fall out of contention with more or less today's lineup, then they deal Bo during the season for a retool. I'm just not sure how they justify going into next season with the same defensive lineup. Fans are probably tired of that line that this team and style is a contender. It's second rate at best. I may be reading into this too much admittedly but we know certain facts like:

• the Vlad and Bo free agency and their leaning to signing Vlad because of last season
• we know they have a limited budget more or less around last season
• the prospect base is minimum
• numerous position players they have today don't have a reasonable expectation of power production

All this theory contradicts what some insiders are saying the Jays are going to make a big splash. So we'll see.

[flamingred89]

The Mets signed Genesis Cabrera to a minor league deal. I find that interesting. Cabrera was a very serviceable arm for the Jays at time. Surprised he was only able to get a minor league deal with an invite to spring training.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by flamingred89

The Mets signed Genesis Cabrera to a minor league deal. I find that interesting. Cabrera was a very serviceable arm for the Jays at time. Surprised he was only able to get a minor league deal with an invite to spring training.

I wonder if he's too intense for some in MLB. The guy is 110% passionate all the time, I could see that rubbing some the wrong way/getting labeled a locker room issue. I agree though, there's definitely full time relievers in this league I think are worse then him, plus he's a lefty.

[bluejays]

Not a rumor or anything, but with LA spending so much money now they have much less to keep spending. I assume at this point, Teoscar to Toronto makes a lot of sense from their standpoint.
- HRs provided
- DH spot available
- Keeps Vlad happy in a contract year
- Probably not going to get a lengthy contract from anyone, so it helps with team flexibility

While I'm not a fan of his long term capability or his swing and miss streaks, I would guess it's all but a certainty they'll eventually pay a little more than others to bring him here for those reasons.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by bluejays

Not a rumor or anything, but with LA spending so much money now they have much less to keep spending. I assume at this point, Teoscar to Toronto makes a lot of sense from their standpoint.
- HRs provided
- DH spot available
- Keeps Vlad happy in a contract year
- Probably not going to get a lengthy contract from anyone, so it helps with team flexibility

While I'm not a fan of his long term capability or his swing and miss streaks, I would guess it's all but a certainty they'll eventually pay a little more than others to bring him here for those reasons.

One thing that will hurt Teoscar's value is the Dodgers gave him a qualifying offer. So signing him costs the Jays their 2nd highest pick plus $500k in international bonus pool money. (If they didn't get under the cbt limit then it's another pick (5th) and another 500k) It was close, I haven't seen anything definitive whether they made it under the tax threshold.

[bluejays]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

One thing that will hurt Teoscar's value is the Dodgers gave him a qualifying offer. So signing him costs the Jays their 2nd highest pick plus $500k in international bonus pool money. (If they didn't get under the cbt limit then it's another pick (5th) and another 500k) It was close, I haven't seen anything definitive whether they made it under the tax threshold.

Interesting. I still think they do it. I posted in the other thread, I just hope it's not too long a length.

[flamingred89]

Dodgers re-sign Tommy Edman. And you guessed it. Overpaying with a ton of deferred money.

I mean, other teams can do this too. But this is getting ridiculous. Their payroll in 2035 is already in the hundreds of millions.

[Roof-Daddy]

I read that the Dodgers are also the favorites to land young Japanese pitching phenom Roki Sasaki

I mean, they might as well get Soto too.

And we should all just become Dodger fans. They get all the players, might as well have all the fans too. Then they can tour around the league pummeling all the local teams with their all-star team in front of packed stadiums full of 10's of thousands of Dodgers fans and we can all cheer and be happy.

Like the Harlem Globetrotters of baseball.

[jayswin]

No kidding hey? What a joke.

[flambers]

Originally Posted by jayswin

No kidding hey? What a joke.

Well the Owners, are the responsible parties...

They really needed a proper CBA,

I don't see it ever happening.

[Jason14h]

MLB viewership is on the upswing while NBA is on be downswing . MLB has had the most unique champions over the last decade (and 15 years)

MLB has new very restrictive luxury tax brackets that punish teams with draft picks , international signing money , and actual Tax $$

MLB owners are pocketing ridiculous amounts each year compared to other sports .

More owners just need to start actually spending . MLB players actually are getting the short end of the stick (I know hard to believe) with their CBA compared to other leagues (Arbitration rules , no spending floor , minors pay , etc)

If anything the players are the ones who need a new/ better CBA .

The Dodgers spending is the least of the issues (and superteams make for good ratings)

Most teams realize paying 70 mil for an extra 2 wins from Edman vs starting an pre Arb / Arb 1 guy for 1-2 million just isn’t worth it and it’s better to put that money in your pocket

Teams have been doing it for years (TB , Miami) and now the bigger market teams like Boston are copying the business model

[Strange Brew]

While this kind of sucks, I'm not sure it is the death blow to MLB some think it is.

Remember a few years ago when everyone complained that players in the NBA had too much power and were banding together to form super teams that would dominate. And here we have teams like Milwaukee, Toronto, Denver and Boston win championships and teams like OKC, Cleveland, Houston and Minny all look good.

While the payments are deferred, these contracts require the Dodgers set aside funds now in safe investment vehicles for the players. We'll see when it's all said and done how much the Dodgers are paying this year, their deep pockets have some limit. I'm not ready to call them a dynasty just yet.

[bluejays]

Much of the problematic things that people bring up are perception of the sport. If fans are complaining about super teams or some teams loading up on talent, you do see viewers tune in to see them lose, but more importantly when that angle doesn’t work and it gets stale, where your favourite team truly has little chance of succeeding, fans tune elsewhere. IMO, this is the cycle we’re seeing with the NBA. It’s a question of perceived excesses that can’t seem to be systematically overcome. For all the faults of the Yankees, I don’t think it was ever this bad. If the Dodgers keep doing this and winning, it does do damage to the sport in the long run. If numerous teams do the same then it will exasperate how quickly fans feel jaded. Because baseball requires a complete lineup instead of one or two big guys, the effect could be far worse than basketball between the haves and have nots. Look at Oakland in comparison to what the Dodgers can do. MLB really has to monitor this.

[Jason14h]

TB made $300 million in revenue in 2024 . Almost every team makes $300+ million in revenue .


https://www.statista.com/statistics/...teams-in-2010/

Their payroll is a joke and their owner pockets the money . Here’s every teams payroll

https://www.statista.com/statistics/...aseball-teams/

LA is one of the few teams that plays to win va line their pockets . The Yankees have complained about this for years paying luxury tax to “have nots” who just line their pockets

As long as MLB allows teams to just pocket money and not spend there’s way more incentive to field a 150 million team and take your chance in the playoffs (as championships have shown over the past 15 years) vs spend $250-300 million and win 5 extra regular season games

The Red Sox are a perfect example . They realized it is better business spending $150/$200 million and winning 90 games then $250 for a marginally better chance in tbe playoffs

This is the biggest issue that allows a LA to accumulate so many stars . Team CAN relatively compete with LA / as a league outbid them on individual players . They are mostly choosing not too to pad their pockets

Here is the % spend on payroll from last year . Obviously not perfect as the Jays for example fudge the broadcasting revenue to be tax effective for Rogers , and I’m sure there’s lots of other accounting tricks , but gives a general idea

https://www.reddit.com/r/baseball/co...ast/?rdt=51145

[bluejays]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

TB made $300 million in revenue in 2024 . Almost every team makes $300+ million in revenue .


https://www.statista.com/statistics/...teams-in-2010/

Their payroll is a joke and their owner pockets the money . Here’s every teams payroll

https://www.statista.com/statistics/...aseball-teams/

LA is one of the few teams that plays to win va line their pockets . The Yankees have complained about this for years paying luxury tax to “have nots” who just line their pockets

As long as MLB allows teams to just pocket money and not spend there’s way more incentive to field a 150 million team and take your chance in the playoffs (as championships have shown over the past 15 years) vs spend $250-300 million and win 5 extra regular season games

The Red Sox are a perfect example . They realized it is better business spending $150/$200 million and winning 90 games then $250 for a marginally better chance in tbe playoffs

This is the biggest issue that allows a LA to accumulate so many stars . Team CAN relatively compete with LA / as a league outbid them on individual players . They are mostly choosing not too to pad their pockets

Here is the % spend on payroll from last year . Obviously not perfect as the Jays for example fudge the broadcasting revenue to be tax effective for Rogers , and I’m sure there’s lots of other accounting tricks , but gives a general idea

https://www.reddit.com/r/baseball/co...ast/?rdt=51145

Yup, I posted The Score version of that a little earlier. One thing about it is its team payroll. There are other fixed and variable cost factors such as operating of the franchise not taken into account (ie: staff at Rogers centre). Though you understand the biggest cost is likely the players. So I don’t believe the lower teams are hiding hundreds of millions as that may lead us to believe. For instance they could be saving to reinvest like Tampa has done for the new stadium about to be built.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Good to see Manfred is focused on the real issues...



https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/596...-bat-rule-mlb/