MLB Hot Stove 2019-20

[4everwarriors]

Hang out on Water St., hey?

[MU82]

The World Series trophy is just "a piece of metal" ... wow, did Manfred ever spit the bit on the Astros' cheating.

He came out of it looking weak and clueless, lacking both oversight and vision.

[MUBurrow]

The World Series trophy is just "a piece of metal" ... wow, did Manfred ever spit the bit on the Astros' cheating.

He came out of it looking weak and clueless, lacking both oversight and vision.

Between this and his refusal to say anything meaningful on the Marlins sale to Jeter's undefunded group, I'm really getting sick of this guy.  I understand that the commissioner serves at the pleasure of the owners, and his job should always be viewed through that lens. But his defensiveness is getting to the point where it seems he has pretty open disdain for the media, the fans, and the game itself.  Pretty great to have him drop gems like this and then propose large scale changes to the schedule and structure of the playoffs to draw the fans back in.

[WI inferiority Complexes]

I guess I had forgotten Brock Holt was still available.  Nice pickup for MIL.

[RushmoreAcademy]

Ross came out and just said Bryant is going to lead off.   It's not such a shock on Rossy's end because they've refused to address the spot in free agency again.  It's more of a kudos to Bryant who is supposedly totally on board with it, because it certainly won't help his RBI numbers going into potential free agency and his one big payday in a couple of years.

[cheebs09]

Ross came out and just said Bryant is going to lead off.   It's not such a shock on Rossy's end because they've refused to address the spot in free agency again.  It's more of a kudos to Bryant who is supposedly totally on board with it, because it certainly won't help his RBI numbers going into potential free agency and his one big payday in a couple of years.

Do RBIs factor into contract negotiations anymore?

[Jockey]

Do RBIs factor into contract negotiations anymore?

In some cases it may. In Bryant's case, I would say no as he will have fewer opportunities to drive in runs. They would look at his stats with runners on base rather than a cumulative category like RBI.

[The Sultan]

Cmon...   No serious GM is going to care about a drop off in RBIs.  They will know why it happened if they ever worried about the stat in the first place.

[RushmoreAcademy]

Everything means something in these negotiations. Guys who drive in runs make more than those who score them.  He's also going to have a different approach at the plate, which will likely affect his power numbers.  It's not a huge thing, but I'm sure Boras likes to have all the firepower he can get when the time comes.

[Lennys Tap]

Everything means something in these negotiations. Guys who drive in runs make more than those who score them. 

That's how it used to be. Of course it used to be that a Nellie Fox was the ideal second hitter. Now most teams put their best hitter in the second slot - or the first. Will Carlos Santana or Jose Ramirez make more money than Lindor?Was JD Martinez making more than Betts? How about Springer and Bregman at the top of Houston's order? Acuña leading off for Atlanta? RBIs are an "old" stat- don't mean much anymore.

[buckchuckler]

That's how it used to be. Of course it used to be that a Nellie Fox was the ideal second hitter. Now most teams put their best hitter in the second slot - or the first. Will Carlos Santana or Jose Ramirez make more money than Lindor?Was JD Martinez making more than Betts? How about Springer and Bregman at the top of Houston's order? Acuña leading off for Atlanta? RBIs are an "old" stat- don't mean much anymore.

Pretty sure Nellie Fox is would still be an ideal 2 hitter.  Or 8 hitter.  Or lead off hitter.  The guy was a great hitter.  From 1949- 1960 he averaged .300-.360-.378.  Sure not a lot of pop, but still a pretty ideal guy to have hitting at the top of an order.  And the power numbers between then and now are hardly comparable. 

[The Sultan]

Everything means something in these negotiations. Guys who drive in runs make more than those who score them.

Correlation is not causation.

[buckchuckler]

Fun Nellie Fox Fact!

Tony Gwynn's strike out rate, of 4.2% was more than double that of Nellie Fox.  2 out of the last 4 years, there have been players that struck out more in that season than Fox did in his entire career (2367 games).

[Lennys Tap]

Pretty sure Nellie Fox is would still be an ideal 2 hitter.  Or 8 hitter.  Or lead off hitter.  The guy was a great hitter.  From 1949- 1960 he averaged .300-.360-.378.  Sure not a lot of pop, but still a pretty ideal guy to have hitting at the top of an order.  And the power numbers between then and now are hardly comparable.

Fox was one of my favorites growing up (Minnie Minoso was my absolute favorite). Not putting him down, but "didn't have a lot of pop"? C'mon - 35 lifetime HRs, career .363 slugging %, etc - so almost no pop. He "used to be" the ideal #2 hitter. Could take strikes and still make contact deep in the count (helping Aparicio steal bases), great bunter (for hits or sacrifices), etc. Now, nobody bunts or cares about strikeouts and most teams put their best hitter in the 2 hole.

[Mutaman]

Fox was one of my favorites growing up (Minnie Minoso was my absolute favorite). Not putting him down, but "didn't have a lot of pop"? C'mon - 35 lifetime HRs, career .363 slugging %, etc - so almost no pop. He "used to be" the ideal #2 hitter. Could take strikes and still make contact deep in the count (helping Aparicio steal bases), great bunter (for hits or sacrifices), etc. Now, nobody bunts or cares about strikeouts and most teams put their best hitter in the 2 hole.

Don't disagree but sort of moot re the 59 Sox. Who was a better hitter than Fox? (59  champs) Al Smith? Jim Landis? Earl Torgeson? Jim McAnany? Sherm Lollar?

[Lennys Tap]

Don't disagree but sort of moot re the 59 Sox. Who was a better hitter than Fox? (59  champs) Al Smith? Jim Landis? Earl Torgeson? Jim McAnany? Sherm Lollar?

The "Go Go Sox" of 1959 didn't have much in the way of hitting. Aparicio stole bases, Fox hit singles, Smith and Lollar provided occasional power. (Minoso was in Cleveland that year but returned the following year) They picked up Ted Klusewski (sp?) late and he hit some bombs. Mostly it was pitching and defense up the middle. Bob Shaw was 18-6 that year and I think Early Wynn won 22 or 23. Billy Pierce was past his prime but decent and Dick Donovan rounded out an excellent rotation. Gerry Staley and Turk Lown anchored a solid bullpen. They won a ton of low scoring one run games.

[buckchuckler]

Fox was one of my favorites growing up (Minnie Minoso was my absolute favorite). Not putting him down, but %u201Cdidn%u2019t have a lot of pop%u201D? C%u2019mon - 35 lifetime HRs, career .363 slugging %, etc - so almost no pop. He %u201Cused to be%u201D the ideal #2 hitter. Could take strikes and still make contact deep in the count (helping Aparicio steal bases), great bunter (for hits or sacrifices), etc. Now, nobody bunts or cares about strikeouts and most teams put their best hitter in the 2 hole.

Obviously lineup construction has changed, but I can't imagine any team would hesitate to put a .350 (Fox's career number was .348) OBP guy hitting 2nd.  A guy that I think of as a similar type is Whit Merrifield.  A .300-.350 type hitter.  Even in today's game, pretty ideal for a 2 hitter, though he typically hits leadoff I think.  And yeah he hits more homeruns, but everyone does (and heck,with the lower mound and last year's baseball, Nellie may have hit 35 bombs.   )

Maybe a better question is, what team is going to hit a .350 OBP guy toward the bottom of the lineup?

[buckchuckler]

Correlation is not causation.

Josh Hader lost his arbitration case because of his saves number.  HRs and RBIs were strikes against Realmuto.  Those numbers still matter for compensation, at least in arbitration.

[Mutaman]

The "Go Go Sox" of 1959 didn't have much in the way of hitting. Aparicio stole bases, Fox hit singles, Smith and Lollar provided occasional power. (Minoso was in Cleveland that year but returned the following year) They picked up Ted Klusewski (sp?) late and he hit some bombs. Mostly it was pitching and defense up the middle. Bob Shaw was 18-6 that year and I think Early Wynn won 22 or 23. Billy Pierce was past his prime but decent and Dick Donovan rounded out an excellent rotation. Gerry Staley and Turk Lown anchored a solid bullpen. They won a ton of low scoring one run games.

Don't forget Buba Phillips and jim Rivera. And John "Honey" Romano.

[The Sultan]

Josh Hader lost his arbitration case because of his saves number.  HRs and RBIs were strikes against Realmuto.  Those numbers still matter for compensation, at least in arbitration.

I thought Bryant was a UFA next year.  Not that he had one arb year left.  You are correct that these stats matter in these hearings because everyone maniuplates whatever data they can in these situations.  I was thinking more in terms of when a player hits the open market.

[Lennys Tap]

Don't forget Buba Phillips and jim Rivera. And John "Honey" Romano.

Or Billy Goodman, who platooned with Bubba at 3rd.

[Dish]

Sox and Moncada are hammering out a big extension, at least six years, with player and team options to push it out further. Will buy out his arb years, and by his late 20's pay him $20 mil a year.

[JamilJaeJamailJrJuan]

Probably a long shot to find anyone here, but....

Starting a new $350 MLB Keeper League on Yahoo.  This will be the inaugural season.  12 team H2H 7x7 stat categories.  100% payout (payouts below).  I currently have 11 managers, but only about half of those are paid so plenty of spots left.  Looking to try to fill this league within the next couple days, so if you have any interest, shoot me a PM and I will get you more info or whatever else you need. 

Keepers will be pretty straight forward - get to keep 4 players.  All players drafted in top 3 rounds not allowed as keepers.  You get the keep the player the following season in the round in which you drafted them in current season (ie: draft Vlad Guerrero Jr in 5th round this spring, you get to keep him in 5th round next year, etc.)

Payouts as follows:
1st Place Regular Season: $1000
2nd Place Regular Season:$600
3rd Place Regular Season: $350
1st place Playoffs: $1,500
2nd Place Playoffs: $750

Draft is Tuesday March 24th at 8pm CT. 

Thanks!

[JamilJaeJamailJrJuan]

Probably a long shot to find anyone here, but....

Starting a new $350 MLB Keeper League on Yahoo.  This will be the inaugural season.  12 team H2H 7x7 stat categories.  100% payout (payouts below).  I currently have 11 managers, but only about half of those are paid so plenty of spots left.  Looking to try to fill this league within the next couple days, so if you have any interest, shoot me a PM and I will get you more info or whatever else you need. 

Keepers will be pretty straight forward - get to keep 4 players.  All players drafted in top 3 rounds not allowed as keepers.  You get the keep the player the following season in the round in which you drafted them in current season (ie: draft Vlad Guerrero Jr in 5th round this spring, you get to keep him in 5th round next year, etc.)

Payouts as follows:
1st Place Regular Season: $1000
2nd Place Regular Season:$600
3rd Place Regular Season: $350
1st place Playoffs: $1,500
2nd Place Playoffs: $750

Draft is Tuesday March 24th at 8pm CT. 

Thanks!

Still got a couple spots in this guy. 

[Jockey]

Auction or snake draft?