***The Official MLB 13/14 Off-Season Thread*** (srs)

[Realism]

The Official-MLB thread is getting pretty long, so I figured I'd start an off-season thread. This will be our sanctuary that will isolate us from the endless NBA threads. NBA trolls will be negged.

The 2013 season is over and the Red Sox are your 2013 WS Champions. Pitchers and catchers report in ~100 days and the Winter Meetings begin in 40 days.

Notable free-agents: Robinson Cano, Shin Soo Choo, Jacoby Ellsbury, Carlos Beltran, Brian McCann, Stephen Drew, Curtis Granderson, and Bartolo Colon.

[Erik111]

Cano to the Dodgers, don't exercise Ellis' option, Ellis to retire on the A's

Also,Stephen Drew will get a big contract because his postseason slump will be completely overlooked by how awesome he looked compared to Kozma

[NewYorkMets]

In for disappointment yet again.

Mets will bring back Marlon Byrd and act like it'll make a difference.

[airdog93]

angels finna do something stupid as per usual

[ItzYerrp]

angels bouta spend even more money nomsayin?

pissibly trade kendrick,trumbo

[taxe91]

Winter meetings will be interesting if it's true that David Price is getting shopped. maybe Stanton too

[OregonBBinc]

baseball was my first love and i used to watch it/play it love it 4 ever... but i cant help but feel disgusted with it lately. im a seattle mariner fan, cant be loyal to any other team and its depressing. will someone please enlighten me, tell me why seattle has a chance pls. will their management ever pls go? can the mlb force the fuks to sell? i cant believe how any team can spend high pick after high pick every year and not come up with a decent roster. give me hope brahs, tell me why im wrong to feel this way

[Realism]

baseball was my first love and i used to watch it/play it love it 4 ever... but i cant help but feel disgusted with it lately. im a seattle mariner fan, cant be loyal to any other team and its depressing. will someone please enlighten me, tell me why seattle has a chance pls. will their management ever pls go? can the mlb force the fuks to sell? i cant believe how any team can spend high pick after high pick every year and not come up with a decent roster. give me hope brahs, tell me why im wrong to feel this way

If Tampa and Oakland can do it, Seattle can definitely do it. Money helps, but it all comes down to scouting, development, and luck. I don't know what Seattle is doing, but it seems like they have development problem. You guys have developed pitching well, but have made trades that don't quite work out (Bedard for Jones). You've just made a lot of poor decisions.

You don't need to go out and sign huge names to be a contender. Even Boston with there huge payroll built the majority of their team from within. Money gives them a leg up because they can retain that talent competitively and spend when they need to spend, but it's hard to stay competitive without a farm system. Half of the biggest markets fail and consistently fail because they can't develop a core nucleus and fall into the trap of paying for past performance instead of future performance.

[brahsc1ence]

In for exciting Giants offseason. Cmon Masahiro Tanaka...

[OregonBBinc]

If Tampa and Oakland can do it, Seattle can definitely do it. Money helps, but it all comes down to scouting, development, and luck. I don't know what Seattle is doing, but it seems like they have development problem. You guys have developed pitching well, but have made trades that don't quite work out (Bedard for Jones). You've just made a lot of poor decisions.

You don't need to go out and sign huge names to be a contender. Even Boston with there huge payroll built the majority of their team from within. Money gives them a leg up because they can retain that talent competitively and spend when they need to spend, but it's hard to stay competitive without a farm system. Half of the biggest markets fail and consistently fail because they can't develop a core nucleus and fall into the trap of paying for past performance instead of future performance.

yeah true brah, i just think some major changes need to happen before i can even get excited about the game again. i mean its pretty obvious the management and owners suck dik, brb trading anyone thats decent, brb missing on the majority of your draft picks. i mean dear lord, ive been away from the game for years and if you gave me all those high picks i could probably do just as good. seattle has been a black hole for free agents anyways, as soon as people sign here their irrelevant, not that it matters cause the FO is cheap as fuk anyways. all these signs just tell me they need to replace EVERYONE starting at the top before anything gets better. i guess it makes me feel more grateful to have the seahawks doing well now but fuark, i remember going to games seeing randy, griff, arod, the bone, edgar, for fuks sake even dan fuking wilson was cooler than the majority of players currently on the team lol. im not even asking to win championships id just be stoked if they were relevant.

we are the baseball version of the jaguars..feels bad man.

[NewYorkMets]

one of the problems the mariners have had recently is the same problem the mets have had throughout their history and that's just signing the wrong free agent (figgins,sexson,beltre,etc) also a lot of the young players they have drafted and/or acquired through trade (smoak-trade, montero-trade, drafting Ackley) they haven't panned out, sets u back but maybe those young arms (walker comes to mind) a long with king felix will help turn the franchise around.

[airdog93]

yeah true brah, i just think some major changes need to happen before i can even get excited about the game again. i mean its pretty obvious the management and owners suck dik, brb trading anyone thats decent, brb missing on the majority of your draft picks. i mean dear lord, ive been away from the game for years and if you gave me all those high picks i could probably do just as good. seattle has been a black hole for free agents anyways, as soon as people sign here their irrelevant, not that it matters cause the FO is cheap as fuk anyways. all these signs just tell me they need to replace EVERYONE starting at the top before anything gets better. i guess it makes me feel more grateful to have the seahawks doing well now but fuark, i remember going to games seeing randy, griff, arod, the bone, edgar, for fuks sake even dan fuking wilson was cooler than the majority of players currently on the team lol. im not even asking to win championships id just be stoked if they were relevant.

we are the baseball version of the jaguars..feels bad man.

lmfao that is the marlins m8

[eyebrowbrah]

giancarlo to dodgers

[Mac_xX]

Not a very big FA but Rajai Davis is now on the market. Perfect 4th OF for a team, especially with that speed on the basepaths. I'm hoping the Jays can resign him but someone will probably overpay for the guy.

[OregonBBinc]

lmfao that is the marlins m8

wot? do you know when the last time mariners won a chip and the last time the marlins won a chip? dont you dare take away from my pitty party *******.

lol not srs.


but srs,

[OregonBBinc]

one of the problems the mariners have had recently is the same problem the mets have had throughout their history and that's just signing the wrong free agent (figgins,sexson,beltre,etc) also a lot of the young players they have drafted and/or acquired through trade (smoak-trade, montero-trade, drafting Ackley) they haven't panned out, sets u back but maybe those young arms (walker comes to mind) a long with king felix will help turn the franchise around.

i just dont see it happening with this management even if they have a couple arms. their inability to find top level talent is an embarrassment, not only that, they cant even find talent when they pay it to come. i truly wish i could say wow im being hard on them and that theyve came up huge on a few guys in the last 10 years but i cant even say that lol. i feel like i could use the sports misc as my personal advisors and field a better team in 5 years then theyve had in the last 15. first business move would be to change stadium name to balco fields and get dat der special sponsorship's if u nom sayin. havent seen a legit long bomber here since arod and griffey lollllll. id put dan wilson on cell tech and he could out hit half the bums on the team currently.

[Zylantypic]

Angels DO's this offseason - Do everything you can to sign Tanaka, offer Vargas a 1 year qualifying offer at 9m (if he re-signs great, if he doesn't we get a first rounder), and try and see what we can get for Trumbo/Kendrick/Bourjos pitching wise. Also go after two quality bullpen arms that we can slot in right away, cut dead weight and hope Maronde does well in ST and gets a permanent role.

Angels DONT's this offseason - DON'T SIGN CANO, GRANDERSON, CHOO OR BELTRAN!!! Top 5 offense top to bottom statistically without Pujols/Kendrick for 2 and a half months, without Bourjos all year and without Hamilton or Trumbo playing well. That was the worst case scenario last year, if everything ends up working out the offense can be top 2-3. Pitching pitching pitching pitching.

[Erik111]

^^^ With JB Shuck, Calhoun, and Grant Green a lot of the up and comers with the Angels should sustain a decent offense, Arte would be insane to not fix pitching at this point

[Zylantypic]

^^^ With JB Shuck, Calhoun, and Grant Green a lot of the up and comers with the Angels should sustain a decent offense, Arte would be insane to not fix pitching at this point

Totally agreed. Calhoun was such a revelation down the stretch. He's such a scrappy ballplayer. He doesn't do one thing really great, but he's does alot of things very well, offensively, defensively and on the basepaths. Shuck can rack up the hits, but other than that..he doesn't bring much to the table. Solid #4-5 outfielder. Green did pretty well too, solid player that we can keep at 3B until some of our prospects come up. Arte is confirmed insane already, so hopefully Dipoto knows what's up this offseason.

[Realism]

Things I'd like to see the Red Sox do:
-Make a run at Tanaka
-Offer Drew, Ellsbury, and Napoli qualifying offers.
-Extend Lester.
-Try to resign Ellsbury, after he rejects the QO, but don't overpay.
-Look into Beltran, Chris Young, Bloomquist, and/or Choo.
-Do not trade Xander, Henry Owens, Cecchini, or Swihart (stick with the plan).

Also, I wouldn't be totally opposed to feeling out suitors for Lackey. Lackey will earn $15.2M next season and has a club option in 2015 for $490,000 because he missed time due to TJ surgery. So that contract is very valuable and Lackey's player value is pretty high. I'm not saying they should trade Lackey, but he's a potential piece in a blockbuster trade.

[NewYorkMets]

haters gonna hate

[taxe91]

Things I'd like to see the Red Sox do:
-Make a run at Tanaka
-Offer Drew, Ellsbury, and Napoli qualifying offers.
-Extend Lester.
-Try to resign Ellsbury, after he rejects the QO, but don't overpay.
-Look into Beltran, Chris Young, Bloomquist, and/or Choo.
-Do not trade Xander, Henry Owens, Cecchini, or Swihart (stick with the plan).

Also, I wouldn't be totally opposed to feeling out suitors for Lackey. Lackey will earn $15.2M next season and has a club option in 2015 for $490,000 because he missed time due to TJ surgery. So that contract is very valuable and Lackey's player value is pretty high. I'm not saying they should trade Lackey, but he's a potential piece in a blockbuster trade.

I wanted Cherington to trade for Choo last offseason but after Nava's season I've soured on that idea. Choo is better but is it worth paying him $80M when you've got a slightly worse version of the same player earning the league minimum?

[NewYorkMets]

Brian McCann is going to be a hot commodity this offseason, how many teams need a guy like that? going to take advantage of this market and get a 5-80 type deal.

[taxe91]

arizona fall league all star game is being streamed: http://wapc.mlb.com/play/?topic_id=7...nt_id=31194447

Buxton, Kris Bryant, Aaron Sanchez, Soler, Addison Russell, Austin Hedges, Colin Moran all playing

[NewYorkMets]

Brad Ausmus to be named the new manager of the tigers.

[aestheticsGSF]

Brad Ausmus to be named the new manager of the tigers.

Nice to see. Good hardnosed player who knows all the in and outs of the game

[taxe91]

god damn this thread is on the 12th page

[Mac_xX]

Players that were given qualifying offers: Jacoby Ellsbury, Mike Napoli, Stephen Drew, Robinson Cano, Curtis Granderson, Hiroki Kuroda, Carlos Beltran, Shin-Soo Choo, Nelson Cruz, Ubaldo Jimenez, Brian McCann, Kendrys Morales and Ervin Santana.

Notables that were not given qualifying offers: Bartolo Colon, Grant Balfour, Bronson Arroyo and Josh Johnson

[NewYorkMets]

Players that were given qualifying offers: Jacoby Ellsbury, Mike Napoli, Stephen Drew, Robinson Cano, Curtis Granderson, Hiroki Kuroda, Carlos Beltran, Shin-Soo Choo, Nelson Cruz, Ubaldo Jimenez, Brian McCann, Kendrys Morales and Ervin Santana.

Notables that were not given qualifying offers: Bartolo Colon, Grant Balfour, Bronson Arroyo and Josh Johnson

cruz and granderson should accept, both play in hitter friendly parks, have strong bounce back years and test free agency next year.

[NewYorkMets]

the hot stove is starting to bake.

phils sign marlon byrd, 2/16.