The MLB Thread

[InCali]

Oh man......I had a feeling this was gonna happen. I figured it would be either him or Fried with Snell being the better option. If they sign Sasaki, that's going to give them a 5 man rotation of 1/2 frontline starters (Glasnow, Ohtani, Yamamoto, Sasaki, and Snell) with any one of them being the potential ace on just about any club. The Dodgers are clearly courting Sasaki with this move as he has expressed a preference to pitch once a week. All they have to do is add May or Gonsolin (both???) to their rotation (Gonsolin made the All Star team before his injury) and they are there. Depending on how May bounces back from a couple of really bad injuries (a torn esophagus doesn't sound like a lot of fun), I've always thought he could be a shutdown closer. With this move, the Dodgers bullpen got even stronger.

Wow.....the Dodgers are doing everything they can to take advantage of Ohtani's deferred salary. Everybody is going to be rooting against them next year and I can understand why. It's kind of unfair.

 

[InCali]

Please just stop......

Dodgers Have Made Contract Offer to Juan Soto in Free Agency: Reports

The Los Angeles Dodgers have made a contract offer to Juan Soto and his agent, Scott Boras, according to Randy Miller of NJ.com.

dodgersnation.com

 

[blueharvest]

Shohei Ohtani seeks $325,000 worth of baseball cards from ex-interpreter

Shohei Ohtani wants his ex-interpreter to hand over hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of baseball cards he says were fraudulently bought with his money

www.theguardian.com

 

[blueharvest]

 

[TheBatman22]

Without Lindor, the Mets never get into the 2024 playoffs. Let alone the NLCS. Francisco was clutch playing with a broken back. He did what Bryce Harper nearly did for Philly 2021. He took us deep in the playoffs, but the voters gave Harper the MVP in 2021 for putting his city on his back. But Disrespect Lindor, the best shortstop to ever play in NYC. I am not taking anything from the Dodgers. But they are in the playoffs annually, with or without Shohei Ohtani, and Lindor was outplaying Ohtani for most of the year. Lindor had to get injured for Ohtani to pass him in the war. It's very unfair the league shows us no respect, Mets nation. We are like Rodney Dangerfield. We get no respect, and Francisco broke his back, carrying the Mets into the playoffs. I'm happy he won the Silver Slugger, but a broken clock is accurate at least once because they robbed Pete Alonso over Bryce Harper, and Pete had more home runs and RBI than Harper this year. Then, again, the polar bear outperformed Harper since he broke into the league in 2019.

 

[blueharvest]

 

[InCali]

That's a really solid signing for the Dodgers. He's super versatile and is solid at the plate. He's fallen off a little bit in that department, but he's one of those guys who causes the pitcher to grind. These are the kind of guys you need if you're going to win. Injuries happen and when you've got a couple of guys (Betts and Edman) who can play middle infield and outfield, it allows you to field a solid lineup. It also gives your other guys a break. MLB has a long, long season.

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Without Lindor, the Mets never get into the 2024 playoffs. Let alone the NLCS. Francisco was clutch playing with a broken back. He did what Bryce Harper nearly did for Philly 2021. He took us deep in the playoffs, but the voters gave Harper the MVP in 2021 for putting his city on his back. But Disrespect Lindor, the best shortstop to ever play in NYC. I am not taking anything from the Dodgers. But they are in the playoffs annually, with or without Shohei Ohtani, and Lindor was outplaying Ohtani for most of the year. Lindor had to get injured for Ohtani to pass him in the war. It's very unfair the league shows us no respect, Mets nation. We are like Rodney Dangerfield. We get no respect, and Francisco broke his back, carrying the Mets into the playoffs. I'm happy he won the Silver Slugger, but a broken clock is accurate at least once because they robbed Pete Alonso over Bryce Harper, and Pete had more home runs and RBI than Harper this year. Then, again, the polar bear outperformed Harper since he broke into the league in 2019.

Terrific player and deserves every accolade he gets....

 

[blueharvest]

 

[InCali]

Dude is probably the most expensive pitcher on the free agent market. He'll probably bring between 35-40M/year.

 

[TheBatman22]

That's a really solid signing for the Dodgers. He's super versatile and is solid at the plate. He's fallen off a little bit in that department, but he's one of those guys who causes the pitcher to grind. These are the kind of guys you need if you're going to win. Injuries happen and when you've got a couple of guys (Betts and Edman) who can play middle infield and outfield, it allows you to field a solid lineup. It also gives your other guys a break. MLB has a long, long season.


Terrific player and deserves every accolade he gets....

Thank you!

 

[blueharvest]

 

[InCali]

I generally kind of root for the Dodgers. I could hardly be called a rabid fan, but I really hope they don’t sign Soto. It would make things rather unfair IMO. Especially if they get Sasaki (which has a good chance of happening).

 

[blueharvest]

REPORT: Guardians 'Open' to Trading Two Key Players

The Cleveland Guardians are starting to pick up steam in the MLB rumor mill. With the offseason starting to heat up, the Guardians appear to be a team to watch very closely.

www.yardbarker.com

 

[blueharvest]

Mets predicted to settle for $130 million slugger after losing Juan Soto to Yankees | Sporting News

As Juan Soto fallback plans go, the New York Mets have a pretty good one.

www.sportingnews.com

 

[blueharvest]

 

[InCali]

I think that's a good signing, but sometimes people have a great year, get a lot of money and don't live up to the contract. Still, and I can't believe I'm saying this, $26M a year is reasonable for a player like Adames if he can be anywhere near the guy he was last year.

 

[blueharvest]

It's official:

 

[InCali]

It's official:

Good for them. Soto is a very young guy and should have a lot of great years in front of him. It'll be interesting to see the details of the contract and how much is deferred. Word around here is the Dodgers are probably going to resign Teoscar Hernandez to a 3 year deal for about 25M per. For them, I think that's money better spent. They've really bolstered their starting pitching, they've got plenty of pop in their lineup, and some nice prospects that can help them. Dalton Rushing, in particular, can spell Will Smith behind the plate and also play outfield. Smith clearly was worn out towards the end of last year and is at a point where he shouldn't be catching more than 100 games or so. If he can be kept relatively fresh, it's gonna help them long term. What they really need is help at SS. Mookie is not the answer. I love the guy, but he should basically be playing between 2nd and RF. They have a guy in their farm system who "might" be the answer, but he's at least a year out. At this point Rojas is the best they've got, but he's 36, had a crazy good year in 2024, and I don't expect it to carry over into 2025.

 

[InCali]

Blake Treinen returns to Dodgers for reported 2 years, $22 million

Blake Treinen returned from nearly two years missed due to shoulder injuries to be one of the best pitchers in the Dodgers bullpen in 2024, and their highest-leverage reliever in the postseason. He signed a two-year, $22 million contract to return to Los Angeles.

www.truebluela.com

I thought Treinen was gone. This is a significant boost to the bullpen. The Dodgers' pitching looks to be stacked. Evan Phillips is another guy that can be a big help.

 

[TheBatman22]

Juan Soto is what Bryce Harper thinks he is. He's an actual winner! His signing has made the Mets a free-agent destination over the Yanks. No more little brother nonsense baseball's LeBron signed with us over the Dodgers, Yankees, Red sox, and Blue Jays. It stung when the top free agents refused us for the Dodgers last year. But I'm over it. We got the modern-day Ted Williams in Juan Soto for 15 years, and the Dodgers got Ohtani for 10. I think it's better to give a monster contract to guys who are like 26, not anyone who turns 30 in the season, so I think Juan's deal will age better than Ohtani's deal, we got Soto's prime years, and with the playoff success we had in 2024 hopefully other great players will choose us, over the dodgers we won't defer your contracts but, we can't compete with the west coast weather still we are the favorites coming out of the NL East for years to come good things come to those who wait thank you, David Sterns, Uncle Steve and Aunt Alex Cohen, Scott Borris, and Juan Soto for getting this done I'm grateful uncle Steve kept his word he said while he was celebrating with Alex with the goggles and wearing team merch with the team pouring champaign on everyone in the playoffs, he wanted to slay the Negative Mets fans perspective that's plagued the franchise!

 

[InCali]

Juan Soto is what Bryce Harper thinks he is. He's an actual winner! His signing has made the Mets a free-agent destination over the Yanks. No more little brother nonsense baseball's LeBron signed with us over the Dodgers, Yankees, Red sox, and Blue Jays. It stung when the top free agents refused us for the Dodgers last year. But I'm over it. We got the modern-day Ted Williams in Juan Soto for 15 years, and the Dodgers got Ohtani for 10. I think it's better to give a monster contract to guys who are like 26, not anyone who turns 30 in the season, so I think Juan's deal will age better than Ohtani's deal, we got Soto's prime years, and with the playoff success we had in 2024 hopefully other great players will choose us, over the dodgers we won't defer your contracts but, we can't compete with the west coast weather still we are the favorites coming out of the NL East for years to come good things come to those who wait thank you, David Sterns, Uncle Steve and Aunt Alex Cohen, Scott Borris, and Juan Soto for getting this done I'm grateful uncle Steve kept his word he said while he was celebrating with Alex with the goggles and wearing team merch with the team pouring champaign on everyone in the playoffs, he wanted to slay the Negative Mets fans perspective that's plagued the franchise!






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We'll see which signing works out better. Hitting starts at the legs and Soto should be fine for the next few years in the OF. It's hard on your legs though (which is why the Dodgers want to move Mookie to 2nd). Ohtani is being paid about 20M/year more, but he's also expected to be a frontline starter so that makes sense (some LOL). The Dodgers are being smart with the pitching. They look to be going with a 6 man rotation which will really help keep their starters fresh and hopefully minimize injuries. Ohtani is going to be DH plain and simple and pitching about 1 game a week. This could save a lot of wear and tear on his body. I suspect they'll use his day in the pitching slot to rest guys like Will Smith and Mookie. Baseball is a long, long season and that extra day off every week or so is a big deal when you get into October. Anyway, I can see Ohtani having a very strong 6-8 years. He keeps himself in terrific shape and the Dodgers are doing everything they can to take care of him during the year (and if you're paying someone $70M per year, you damn well better ). There were rumors that he wanted or felt he could pitch late in the season, but the organization wasn't having any of it. He's gonna have a pretty light workload as MLB players go.

 

[InCali]

Roki Sasaki was officially posted by his team in Japan. This opens up a 45 day window for him to sign with an MLB team, but can only be signed with money from the international pool. A lot of that money has already been committed and he will probably be better off if he waits until Jan 15 of next year as the pool money resets. If he doesn't sign in 45 days, he goes back to his old club (ain't happening).

 

[blueharvest]

Shohei Ohtani won't be ready to pitch when Dodgers open 2025 season in Japan

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts still expects Shohei Ohtani to be in their lineup as the designated hitter for 2025 opener in Japan.

www.usatoday.com

 

[blueharvest]

Roki Sasaki was officially posted by his team in Japan. This opens up a 45 day window for him to sign with an MLB team, but can only be signed with money from the international pool. A lot of that money has already been committed and he will probably be better off if he waits until Jan 15 of next year as the pool money resets. If he doesn't sign in 45 days, he goes back to his old club (ain't happening).

So...The Dodgers, probably?

 

[InCali]

So...The Dodgers, probably?

I'd say it's likely, but you never know. The Padres are also being bandied about.