MLB Chatter Thread

Rev

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Jason Parks ‏@ProfessorParks
Looks like the #Twins will place eight prospects on the BP 101; #Cubs, #Royals, #Pirates and #Rangers with seven; #RedSox with six.

There you go, NoDak. Hope for the future.


Half of the Cubs are probably former Rangers. :explode
 
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E_D_Guapo

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Here you go Ed......


David Kaplan of CSNChicago tweeted that an industry source told him, “Cubs will not be outbid on Tanaka.” and think that the Cubs will be the team offering Tanaka the most money.

That same source told Kaplan that, “convincing Tanaka to come to Chicago will be hard.” I get it, the Cubs have been terrible for the past few seasons. He wants to come to MLB and play for a winning organization. That is where teams like the Yankees and Dodgers, who will also pay huge for Tanaka, have the upper hand.

http://www.rantsports.com/mlb/2013/1...De1WFYK2lXU.99
I'll believe it when I see it. From the get go the rumors have the Cubs being all in on the guy. We'll see what happens when the figures start to climb.
 

NoDak

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The Metrodome is selling their seats for 60 bucks apiece, in case any of you Braves and Cardinals fans want to have a piece of history of when your teams lost a World Series.

:art
 

Carp

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There are still quite a few good FAs left out there. Jimenez, Garza, Arroyo, Drew, Burnett, Cruz, Morales, Balfour, etc...some of these guys are going to be stuck with a 1 year deal when teams max out their spending for the year.
 

Rev

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There are still quite a few good FAs left out there. Jimenez, Garza, Arroyo, Drew, Burnett, Cruz, Morales, Balfour, etc...some of these guys are going to be stuck with a 1 year deal when teams max out their spending for the year.
I'm hoping that's the case with Cruz. Think the PED concern and draft pick is scaring teams away. Even they gave his number to Choo Daniels said he didn't close the door on Cruz.
 

Carp

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Drew is not a guy I am crazy about, but I'd certainly take him over Tejada right now. Also...if we could somehow get Jimenez on the cheap, our rotation could be excellent.
 

Tony D

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Ubaldo will not be thay cheap though. Him and Garza will get very good multiyear deals. Have to wait on Tanaka though. Smart for them to do. Once Tanaka gone the other teams that need a starting pitcher will give them both big deals.
 

Carp

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They may have to settle for bargain deals...money runs out.
 

Tony D

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They may have to settle for bargain deals...money runs out.
Whose money is running out? There are at least a half dozen teams that will go big for Tanaka. Only one team will get him and the others will bid for Garza/Jimenez. Mets need to step up and I don't see it happening.
 

Carp

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The teams that spent big already. Not every team is the Yankees.
 

Carp

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No...but a 1 year 10-12 mil deal is not out of the question...just not sure they get long deal now.
 

Rev

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"Yes, I want to be a reliever the rest of my career," Neftali Feliz said. "A closer."


I dont know who wanted him in the rotation or if he did now. I thought he wanted that at the time but seems like that might not have been the case. Maybe the surgery scared him?
 

Carp

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I always said he should be a closer...he has a chance to be special in that role for years.
 

Rev

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I always said he should be a closer...he has a chance to be special in that role for years.
Yeah. Believe at the time the story was that he wanted to go to the rotation but maybe he just agreed with management about the move. Just hope he returns to form and looked like he was when he was pitching at the end of the year.
 

Carp

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Fans undervalue closers...to have one that could be a longterm answer there. Some teams have luck swapping them out alot, but the Yanks were always at an advantage because they could build their pen around Rivera. Not saying Feliz is Rivera...but he could be very good for a long time and they can focus on middle relief.
 

E_D_Guapo

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Fans undervalue closers...to have on that could be a longterm answer there.
Disagree with this as a stand-alone statement, partly because there are almost no long term answers at closer. I think most organizations overvalue them. This article is pretty much spot on (and since that article was written this past July two of the three mentioned are no longer in those roles for those teams):
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7/10/13
4:40 PM ET
By David Schoenfield | ESPN.com


From Buster Olney's blog today, talking about why the Twins and Mets should trade Glen Perkins and Bobby Parnell:

"Do you know how many teams have the same closer in 2013 that they did two years ago, in 2011? Try three: Mariano Rivera of the Yankees, Chris Perez of the Indians and Craig Kimbrel of the Braves.

Closers are like kickers in the NFL. Yes, there is the occasional Morten Andersen, the guy who is really good for a long time. Rivera is that guy.

But if baseball history holds in the cases of Parnell and Perkins, then by 2015 the odds are they'll either have lost their jobs or gotten hurt."




The point isn't that a closer isn't important; of course he is. The point is that a lot of guys can do that job -- and that the job is extremely volatile. As Buster suggests, the idea of a Proven Closer doesn't really exist, so when you hear things like "The Tigers need a closer" it's really a bunch of nonsense. What people will really mean is "The Tigers need Mariano Rivera." Unfortunately, he's taken.

Look at the major league save leaders from 2011: Jose Valverde, Kimbrel, John Axford, J.J. Putz, Rivera, Heath Bell, Drew Storen, Joel Hanrahan, Francisco Cordero, Brandon League, Juan Carlos Oviedo, Perez, Brian Wilson, Carlos Marmol, Jordan Walden, Neftali Feliz, Ryan Madson, Jonathan Papelbon, Sergio Santos.

That's 19 closers who all saved at least 30 games. Only four are still doing the job -- the three guys Buster mentioned, plus Papelbon, who switched teams (or five if you count Bell in Arizona, although his hold on the role is tenuous). Joe Nathan missed part of 2011 with an injury, so count him as well if you want, although he too has changed teams. By the way, most of those 19 guys were pretty good in 2011; 14 had an ERA under 3.00.

If you accept that any closer is a short-term job you then start to realize that you just go with the hot reliever on your staff -- in the Tigers' case, Joaquin Benoit should be fine. Drew Smyly would have been fine.

What's more important than worrying about acquiring a Proven Closer is acquiring bullpen depth. So the Twins and Mets shouldn't hang on to Perkins and Parnell simply because they worried about trading their closer. They'll find another one easily enough.
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Not saying Feliz is Rivera...but he could be very good for a long time and they can focus on middle relief.
Definitely agree with that, though history is working against the "for a long time" part. Never know though. I guess it's kind of semantics too...the guy could quite easily perform at a very high level for at least 3 years and that's kind of long term. The point was that I think organizations that give closers high dollar free agent contracts are almost always making a mistake. Obviously that wouldn't be the case in the Rangers/Feliz situation. Still plenty young, is cheap for several more years, and is pretty damn nasty.
 
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