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MLB 2014-2015 Offseason |OT| Playoff Dreaming

MLBTR has their top 50 FA landing spot predictions up. They have Lester, Martin, Robertson, Masterson, and Peavy to the Cubs. Idk if I want Peavy after the postseason and would rather have Miller than Robertson.
I like what they have down for the Dodgers except for Romo. More ex-Giants!

Also if we miss out on Martin to the Cubs then I will cry.
 

Malo

Banned
Yankees better resign Robertson. I don't want to see Betances relegated to just pitching the ninth.

MLBTR has us signing Max, no thanks. I rather resign McCarthy.
 
1. Bumgardner
2. Cain
3. Peavy
4. ????
5. ????

Im not even sure with Peavy at third there with how he pitched in the playoffs and the fact that he's a free agent? Maybe try to move Petit to a starting position? Timmy has to be done at this point. Pull someone up from AAA? Hudson didn't finish strong either like Peavy.
 
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After game 7 Pence was cold and she came up with a new sign: "Hunter Pence's girlfriend gives him her jacket."


On a side note. Does Bochy finally make the move next season and start Posey at first base instead of catching?


Depends what Sandoval does. If he leaves, the Giants will very tempted to move Posey to 1st or 3rd. Hopefully he stays and Posey keeps catching. I have no idea what Pablo will be offered though... the Giants could offer a Pence deal, but the Red Sox (or god forbid the Dodgers) might do something crazy.
 
1. Bumgardner
2. Cain
3. Peavy
4. ????
5. ????

Im not even sure with Peavy at third there with how he pitched in the playoffs and the fact that he's a free agent? Maybe try to move Petit to a starting position? Timmy has to be done at this point. Pull someone up from AAA? Hudson didn't finish strong either like Peavy.
1. Bumgardner
2. Cain
3. Hudson
4. Cordier
5. Strickland

lol
.
 
Edwin is now our main 1B. Smoak is just a bench player.

I don't like the return in this trade. Freeing up money is good, but the Brew Crew got a better player.
 

Corran Horn

May the Schwartz be with you
1. Bumgardner
2. Cain
3. Peavy
4. ????
5. ????

Im not even sure with Peavy at third there with how he pitched in the playoffs and the fact that he's a free agent? Maybe try to move Petit to a starting position? Timmy has to be done at this point. Pull someone up from AAA? Hudson didn't finish strong either like Peavy.

Vogey might make a come back :/
Petit will start, he was at the end of last year, cant see him not unless his spring training is utter shit. Timmy might get a chance to earn his spot back.
 
Edwin is now our main 1B. Smoak is just a bench player.

I don't like the return in this trade. Freeing up money is good, but the Brew Crew got a better player.

It freed up around $2.5-3 million, since Lind was going to make $7.5 million and Estrada is probably going to get around $5 million next year. If they need to pinch pennies that much just to sign Melky, it's pretty bad.
 

XiaNaphryz

LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
1. Bumgardner
2. Cain
3. Peavy
4. ????
5. ????

Im not even sure with Peavy at third there with how he pitched in the playoffs and the fact that he's a free agent? Maybe try to move Petit to a starting position? Timmy has to be done at this point. Pull someone up from AAA? Hudson didn't finish strong either like Peavy.

Still a chance with Lincecum if his dad can get his mechanics back on track. He pretty much got more and more inconsistent as he's moved away from working with him.
 
Is there a reason why Petit didn't move to a starting position later in the season? He was more reliable than must of our normal starters. Not sure about the nitty-gritty of things like this, like if there's something in his contract or whatever.
 

XiaNaphryz

LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
Is there a reason why Petit didn't move to a starting position later in the season? He was more reliable than must of our normal starters. Not sure about the nitty-gritty of things like this, like if there's something in his contract or whatever.

He had 5 starts at the beginning of the season to fill in for Cain I think when he had some injury issues, and then started again at the end when Lincecum lost his spot. Lincecum was having an okay season early on.
 
MLBTR has their top 50 FA landing spot predictions up. They have Lester, Martin, Robertson, Masterson, and Peavy to the Cubs. Idk if I want Peavy after the postseason and would rather have Miller than Robertson.
That's too much pitching. Peavy is done. They need to give Wada opportunities to start. That guy can get National League hitters out.
 

thefro

Member
That's too much pitching. Peavy is done. They need to give Wada opportunities to start. That guy can get National League hitters out.

Rotation Locks
Jake Arrieta
Kyle Hendricks

Pretty much everyone assumes they're going to add 2 starting pitchers via FA.

Contenders for 5th rotation spot
Tsuyoshi Wada (very good in limited appearances last year)
Travis Wood (pretty good in 2013, pretty bad last year)

Reclamation Projects for Bosio that are possible 5th starters
Felix Doubront
Dan Straily
Jacob Turner

Cut/Trade
Edwin Jackson (dumpster fire that needs to be moved)

The bullpen actually was pretty good and it'll be bolstered by 1-2 of the people in the reclamation projects list, plus some more prospects as the season goes on. I don't see the Cubs spending big money on Robertson considering their other needs and the fact that they're going to want to keep payroll flexibility so they can fill in gaps for whatever prospects don't pan out.
 
Giants gotta revamp their starting rotation so badly. That postseason was embarrassing especially.

Come back to us, Matt Cain. You are our only hope (and if Tim Lincecum stops sucking).
 
The Phillies and A.J. Burnett have declined their mutual $15 million option for 2015. Burnett still has a $12.75 million player option he has until Monday to decide on. Burnett has openly discussed retiring, but the mentality is more likely that he doesn't want to play on a likely-losing team for what could be his final season in the Bigs.

The Orioles declined their half of Nick Markakis' $17.5 million option, giving him a $2 million buyout and making him a free agent. The word though is that both sides are close to a new four-year contract.
 
Rotation Locks
Jake Arrieta
Kyle Hendricks

Pretty much everyone assumes they're going to add 2 starting pitchers via FA.

Contenders for 5th rotation spot
Tsuyoshi Wada (very good in limited appearances last year)
Travis Wood (pretty good in 2013, pretty bad last year)

Reclamation Projects for Bosio that are possible 5th starters
Felix Doubront
Dan Straily
Jacob Turner

Cut/Trade
Edwin Jackson (dumpster fire that needs to be moved)

The bullpen actually was pretty good and it'll be bolstered by 1-2 of the people in the reclamation projects list, plus some more prospects as the season goes on. I don't see the Cubs spending big money on Robertson considering their other needs and the fact that they're going to want to keep payroll flexibility so they can fill in gaps for whatever prospects don't pan out.
Don't feel super comfortable about the rotation considering both are unproven at this point. Arrieta has pitched like a stud, but has injury issues and Hendricks doesn't exactly have amazing stuff. I think Wood might have a good bounce back year however. If Turner doesn't make the rotation I could see his stuff translating very well to the BP.
 

CygnusXS

will gain confidence one day
The 2015 Braves outfield is going to be Todd Cunningham, Jose Constanza, and Emilio Bonerfacio.

World Series here we come
 

aFIGurANT

Member
The 2015 Braves outfield is going to be Todd Cunningham, Jose Constanza, and Emilio Bonerfacio.

World Series here we come

I don't even know 2/3 of those names and yet I still think they should all be playing over the scrawny Upton. Speaking of the Edwin Jackson dumpster fire of a signing....
 

XiaNaphryz

LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
Is Lincecum going back to his dad? I actually use to like watching him pitch.



dont tell Jack Scofield I said that.

http://www.si.com/mlb/2014/10/11/alcs-nlcs-three-strikes-giants-cardinals-royals-orioles

Everybody seems to have a theory about how The Freak became just another pitcher. Over the past three years, Tim Lincecum is 32-38 with a 4.76 ERA, the worst ERA in baseball among all pitchers who made at least 90 starts. Assumptions were made: he lost velocity, he lost command, he was worn out from his workload, he was too small to hold up. Now there is a theory from Lincecum himself: he misses the guidance of his father, Chris.

“I thought I could put my big-boy pants on and go out on my own,” Lincecum said Friday. “I’m 30 now. But I guess I can’t. He knows me better than anybody and I’ll go back to him.”

Asked when he last worked closely with his father, Lincecum said, “My [second] Cy Young year [of 2009].”

Lincecum said he needs to return to the mechanics taught to him by his father, and will do so this offseason.
Chris crafted Tim’s unique, high-torque delivery from the time Tim was a small boy. The father knew the son so well that when Tim was in college Chris would listen on the radio to Tim’s road starts and “see” exactly what Tim was doing wrong. After the game they would talk on the phone and it was as if Chris saw every pitch.

Until they go back to work this winter, Lincecum is a man without a spot in the Giants’ rotation

He has tried to fix his mechanics on his own. He has always been a Formula One engine on the mound, an intricate series of kinetic actions that need superlative timing for all of it to work right. One hitch, one mistimed action, and it goes kerplunk. That’s been the story for Lincecum this year. It began with too much of a body turn away from the hitter. “Too much Looie Tiant,” he said, referencing the Cuban righthander who spent 19 years in the majors, the last in 1982.

It continued with eagerness out of the stretch position. Lincecum jumped too quickly at the hitter, causing his front side to open up early, which caused his arm to drag, which caused his pitches to flatten out. He has paid special attention to working from the stretch in his side work since his last appearance 13 days ago.

The key to all it – where the real magic happens in the engine – is what Lincecum calls “dangle.” It’s the moment when he brings the baseball behind his butt after taking it out of his glove. He wants his arm to be loose as a whip as he curls his wrist, right before he snaps back up to the loaded position. “Just like a whip,” he said. Lately, he said, this swinging of his arm down and up has been more labored, feeling like he is pushing and pulling, and less like a whip.
 
Jays are interested in signing Russell Martin.

The Jays are interested in doing many things. That doesn't mean they have the money to do any of them.

But yes, Navarro is pretty bad behind the plate. The only reason Jays fans tolerate him is because he's still a massive upgrade over JP Arencibia.
 

Lambtron

Unconfirmed Member
Sounds like the Twins are going to hire Molitor. Eh. Not a surprising signing in the least. I was kind of hoping they'd hire Lovullo.

I think it's more important how he fills out his staff, and who the pitching coach will be. I hope he brings back Brunanski as hitting coach, keeps Cuellar on the staff as BP coach, and gets a bench coach who speaks Spanish.
 

XiaNaphryz

LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
Cuban prospect Moncada petitioning for free agency

Scouts believe Yoan Moncada could be the best teenage prospect to come from Cuba in years.

Now, Moncada is one step closer to making his Major League dream a reality.

Moncada, 19, a switch-hitting infielder from the city of Cienfuegos, has established residency in Guatemala and is petitioning for free agency with Major League Baseball, according to an industry source. He must still be unblocked by the U.S. Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control before he can come into a final agreement with a club.

Moncada has a showcase tentatively scheduled for Nov. 12 in Guatemala.

Because he is under 23 and has not played in a Cuban professional league for at least five seasons, Moncada will be subjected to the international signing guidelines, but it's unclear if he would be eligible to sign during the 2014-15 international signing period, which started July 2 and ends June 15, 2015, or during the 2015-16 signing period, which starts on July 2, 2015.

Scouts have called Moncada the next Jorge Soler, and his skills have been compared with those of Yasiel Puig at the same age. He once beat new Red Sox outfielder Rusney Castillo in a baserunning competition during the Serie Nacional all-star festivities in Cuba, and his power has been compared with that of Cuban slugger Yasmany Tomas.

Moncada, who plays shortstop and third base, starred for Cuba's top team of 15- and 16-year-olds and made a name for himself at the U-16 IBAF World Baseball Championships in Mexico.


He made his debut for Cienfuegos at age 17 and hit .277 during parts of two seasons. He played alongside White Sox slugger Jose Abreu and Dodgers infielder Erisbel Arruebarrena. Moncada was also teammates with Abreu, Arruebarrena and other notable players like Yulieski Gourriel, Alfredo Despaigne and Jose Miguel Fernandez on Cuba's national team during the 2013 World Port Tournament in the Netherlands. Raisel Iglesias, who signed a seven-year, $27 million deal with the Reds, was also one of Moncada's teammates.

Additionally, Moncada was on Cuba's preliminary roster for the 2017 World Baseball Classic.

Though many Cuban players are known to leave the island in late-night escapes or defect from the national team during an international tournament, the 6-foot-2, 205-pound Moncada was granted his release from the Cienfuegos team this year and cleared by Cuba's National Baseball Commission. He was granted a visa and a passport by the Cuban government and left on an airplane to Central America, where he has been training for the past several months.

The Moncada sweepstakes should be interesting. The Yankees, Red Sox and Rays, who have a reputation for signing top talent on the international market, have spent more than 15 percent of their allotted bonus pools and are in the maximum penalty range for the 2014-15 signing period. The penalty includes a 100 percent tax on their pool overage and prohibits them from signing any pool-eligible player for more than $300,000 during the next two signing periods. In short, those three clubs will not be able to sign Moncada if he becomes eligible to sign after June 15.

The Cubs and Rangers, who are big players in Latin America but cannot sign an international player for more than $250,000 during the current signing period because they exceeded their 2013-14 bonus pools by more than 15 percent, could become players in the Moncada sweepstakes if he becomes eligible after June 15.

Representatives from every team are expected at the showcase.

Puig to shortly become old news!
 

aFIGurANT

Member
So does this mean the Cubs are going to be next season's Royals now? Personally I see a lot of strife incoming as they try to graduate players across the entire diamond all at once.

Maddon don't hurt though.
 

jbug617

Banned
Qualifying Offers so far:

Francisco Lirano
Russell Martin
Hanley Ramirez
Michael Cuddyer
Ervin Santana
James Shields
Nelson Cruz
David Robertson
 
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