MLB 2018 Season

[Lennys Tap]

Chico is celebrating.

[MU82]

Cool.  Trout, Otani, Upton.  Pretty nice trio there. 

If Ohtani is any good.

[Vander Blue Man Group]

Looks like Stanton to the Yankees is nearly done.

[🏀]

Poor, poor Starlin Castro.

[buckchuckler]

Looks like Stanton to the Yankees is nearly done.

Stanton,  Judge, Sanchez is a pretty decent trio I guess.

[muwarrior69]

Stanton,  Judge, Sanchez is a pretty decent trio I guess.

Beginning to smell #28; just need another pitcher.

[Lennys Tap]

Stanton,  Judge, Sanchez is a pretty decent trio I guess.

And I wouldn't be surprised if Greg Bird hits 40 dingers next year.

[Mutaman]

The one bright spot is that it will stop all their whining about how Ohtani to the Angels was rigged.

[RushmoreAcademy]

Judge and Stanton in the same lineup? The Yankees are going to have to put the protective netting on the bleachers too.

[MUBurrow]

Poor, poor Starlin Castro.

At least he'll be the most popular Castro in Miami. 

He should be able to play himself off that team soon enough, though. He makes $10+ MM for each of the next two years, plus a $16M club option for a year after that. Gotta think Jeets and the rest of that impoverished ownership group will have him flipped for cheap prospects by this time next year.

[jesmu84]

https://www.barstoolsports.com/baseball/shohei-ohtanis-physical-with-the-angels-reveals-damaged-ucl-in-pitching-elbow-further-damage-could-result-in-tommy-john-surgery

[buckchuckler]

https://www.barstoolsports.com/baseball/shohei-ohtanis-physical-with-the-angels-reveals-damaged-ucl-in-pitching-elbow-further-damage-could-result-in-tommy-john-surgery

Saw that.  Apparentlu Otanis' camp was very upfront about it so it wasn't a "damaged goods" case.


Also the Cards just got Marcel Ozuna.  Great move in my opinion, though the return hasn't been reported yet.

[Dish]

I'm not surprised by the Machado/Sox rumors. I've been hearing for over a year now from people I'm friendly with at the Sox that they were going to be all in on Machado, and have mentioned that on here. I don't know if they flip him immediately or not to another team, but I know he's been their #1 target for next year's FA class.

[tower912]

Purge continues in Detroit.   Kinsler to Angels for two prospects.    Down to Cabrera, Victor Martinez, and Jordan Zimmerman with huge contracts.   Next will probably be Fullmer to the Yankees.    If they back up the prospect truck and give up a few.......

[MerrittsMustache]

I really think that Alex Cobb ends up with the Cubs. He has connections with Maddon and Hickey and would likely come at a reasonable price. I also wouldn't be surprised if they gave Tyler Chatwood a serious look. He's had some injury issues but he's only 28 and had a 3.49 ERA outside of Denver last season. Former Theo draft pick Clay Buchholz could be an option on an incentive-laden deal as well. They also still have Eddie Butler who was adequate in 11 starts last season before getting injured at AAA.

In terms of relievers, Addison Reed and Brandon Morrow appear to be pretty high on their list. I'd also anticipate that they're expecting Justin Wilson to bounce back from his awful Cub cameo last season. As ugly as it was, his FIP was still just 3.72. An under-the-radar signing could be Steve Cishek who finished 2017 pitching light's out under Hickey in TB. I definitely don't like the idea of dealing Russell, Baez or Happ for a closer.

Cobb hasn't signed yet but still...

[GB Warrior]

Cobb hasn't signed yet but still...

[Lennys Tap]

Purge continues in Detroit.   Kinsler to Angels for two prospects.    Down to Cabrera, Victor Martinez, and Jordan Zimmerman with huge contracts.   Next will probably be Fullmer to the Yankees.    If they back up the prospect truck and give up a few.......

The V Mart and Zimmerman contracts are among the worst in baseball.

[tower912]

Agreed.

[Vander Blue Man Group]

Epstein and Hoyer meeting with Darvish in Dallas today, potentially because they've found Cobb's asking price to be prohibitive. 

Going into the offseason I didn't think Darvish was a remote possibility but maybe things have changed. 

[jesmu84]

Epstein and Hoyer meeting with Darvish in Dallas today, potentially because they've found Cobb's asking price to be prohibitive. 

Going into the offseason I didn't think Darvish was a remote possibility but maybe things have changed.

Don't they need to save money to be able to afford Harper?

[Vander Blue Man Group]

Don't they need to save money to be able to afford Harper?

The Cubs print money. My guess is they stay under the luxury tax this season and blow through it in 2019.

I still don't think Darvish is likely but I also don't think they'd sign anyone to a deal that would take Harper off the table.

[buckchuckler]

Longoria to the Giants.





And the O's.  Ouch.  Yikes.  Britton tore his ACL.  Wonder if this inspires them to trade Machado even moreso.

[GB Warrior]

Chacin to the Brewers on a 2-year, $16MM deal.

His stats look good, but his road-splits produced a 6.50 ERA away from Petco. eek. On the plus side, it doesn't appear he was susceptible to the long ball, even back in his COL days. So maybe he'll fill the role of innings-eater for the time being.

[Vander Blue Man Group]

Who is signing Yu:

-Twins
-Cubs
-Astros
-Field

[#UnleashSean]

After the mlb 17 intro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTMbj4WrnQw

Can mlb 18 the show get any better?