2019-2020 MLB Non-Phillies News/Notes Discussion

el-pietro 2019-03-04 01:27:42 UTC #121

Swap the Indians in for the AL central and the Rays for AL Wildcard 2 and I'm with you.
Though I think the NL East and Central will both be really wide open. It wouldn't surprise me to see a West team take a wildcard just because the win totals are so low in those divisions.

andyb 2019-03-04 20:17:08 UTC #122

Could be pressure on the Braves to add Keuchel or even Kimbrel:

4 pitchers delayed with sore arms: Foltynewicz, Kevin Gausman (shoulder), Mike Soroka (shoulder) and Luiz Gohara (shoulder)

Article also notes that their operating profit (before interest and depreciation) went from $7 million to $94 million last year, so they clearly have the money. Phillies side of this is that maybe the Braves will have some regression to the mean if they are not that healthy.

andyb 2019-03-11 15:19:18 UTC #123

Kimbrel now considering a wait till after the June draft to sign a long term deal. It would eliminate the draft and international compensation attached to him. Might also give the Phillies time to see how the bullpen performs.

I think this is posturing, but he certainly is more attractive in June. Might even take a high dollar "prove himself" half season deal. $10-$12 million for the rest of 2019 only? Kind of like a trade deadline acquisition for only money.

el-pietro 2019-03-11 16:21:59 UTC #124

Comment from Anthopoulos. Foltynewicz won't be ready to start the season.

After the opening series with us the Braves play 3 vs the Cubs, 3 vs the Marlins, 3 at the Rockies and 4 vs the Mets to start the season.

In an ideal world for the Phillies he would miss the games vs the Cubs, Marlins and Rockies and return to beat the Mets. It definitely seems likely he would return ahead of the Mets series, though how early is unclear from this video.

tom81 2019-03-12 03:00:00 UTC #125

What a cheap short sighted move by the Rays! A 2.78% raise after winning the Cy Young award.

zambonir 2019-03-12 03:30:30 UTC #126

pretty much what the Phillies did to Ryan Howard (they eventually paid him back, lol).

el-pietro 2019-03-12 09:42:59 UTC #127

From the Rays point of view it makes sense. They aren't' going to sign him long term so theres no benefit to giving him a pay increase now as they won't see the long term benefit.
Paying him more than the minimum now will impact them in arbitration over the next few seasons while he is still under contract. So from a purely financial point of view it makes sense.

But this is exactly the sort of behaviour that is going to lead to a strike. Teams are no longer paying players in their 30s for previous performance, which I am largely on board with. None of us want to give Keuchel a 5 year contract. So if you aren't paying players in free agency for what they did in their pre arb/arb years you should be rewarding them more while they are under team control. This guy just won Cy Young. Surely hes worth 1M minimum. If he were a free agent hed get 20M+ over 6 years. Hes the same age as Harper.

andyb 2019-03-12 13:46:33 UTC #128

I think it would be smart business to give him a Nola-type deal. Remember he is a year further from free agency. You could get for 4 years and something in the neighborhood of $35-$40 million that would pay him more in the first year than the half million he is getting now. Remember Nola was only slated for $6-$7 million in his first year of arbitration so the first 2 years of a Snell deal would only have to replace like $8-$9 million total of salary.

It would be smart business to sign Snell. If you have to trade him on the back year or two of the deal, so be it. You get a discount for signing him so early. Sometimes going year to year for a team like the Rays is penny wise but pound foolish. The biggest return on trades are for guys like Chris Sale who sign early but then become too expensive for their original teams.

jimbomill 2019-03-12 14:37:02 UTC #129

Verily. TB doesn't want to reward their players; that's not a winning baseball model.

zambonir 2019-03-12 16:44:52 UTC #130

This is not entirely on the Rays, all the teams are more or less in sync with this stuff. Pretty sure Rhys refused to sign his offer last year (it was $552,500, so the Phillies "gave" him an extra $7500). Mookie Betts refused to sign his $950,000 offer in 2017. But it is baffling the Rays wouldn't make a similar raise for a similar player (in terms of service time and accomplishment). I think this kind of thing is indeed a reason why there will be a strike but ownership groups are also holding their line because they know that.

jimbomill 2019-03-12 17:30:40 UTC #131

He's sporting a pretty spiffy contract nowadays, though. Hopefully Rhys will be upgraded nicely, too.

zambonir 2019-03-12 17:41:42 UTC #132

Rhys has still got a couple of years to go. Betts got $10 million last year. But DeGrom only got $4 million and $7 million in his first two arb years before getting the $17 million this year. So long as Snell pitches great again he should still be able to leverage the Cy Young, and the Rays not giving him an extra $100 or even $400K probably won't affect that. But it sure is a dumb system. And if you're a pitcher even moreso.

allentown 2019-03-12 22:36:49 UTC #133

Yes, there is no need to step out early on Rhys. It is far from clear that the Phillies should want him for longer than his 6 years of team control, We know that he can't be an OF. We don't know if he is capable of being an average MLB 1B on defense -- I'm guessing probably not, Rhy's lousy D made him a +0.5 bWAR player last season. An .850 OPS really isn't all that special at 1B, if you can't be at least average defensively. Rhys has to show more and show consistency, before the Phillies should even consider a longer-term contract. The Howard deal killed us and Howard was a much better hitter than Rhys was last season. He's 26 this year; we control him through age 30 -- no rush whatsoever. We will need a spot away from the OF, likely DH, for Harper prior to Rhys becoming a FA.

zambonir 2019-03-19 00:52:08 UTC #134

Are we sure we can't get Keuchel?

(MLBTR has more, about $3 million, April 20 opt-out).

Squire 2019-03-19 14:45:06 UTC #135

OF Mike Trout signs a 12 year/$430 million extension with the Los Angeles Angels. So thank goodness we closed on Bryce

Philsmania 2019-03-19 15:31:37 UTC #136

Yes, Klentak and Middleton looking good now.

zambonir 2019-03-19 15:35:14 UTC #137

Begin the Mookie Betts watch! I kid, but we'll see where they are. I imagine next year's priority will be a pitcher (if they haven't acquired a controllable or re-signable one at the deadline) and maybe locking up Realmuto.

el-pietro 2019-03-19 15:37:40 UTC #138

That works out at about 35.83M USD per year. Does that set a new record AAV?

I have to wonder what they are doing, why didn't they solve any of their problems this offseason? They have been sat at about 80 wins per year for the last few years. Do they have a good farm system?
I don't blame them for signing Trout to a long term deal, hes one of the best players to ever play the game but they need to surround him with talent to at least compete for their division.

el-pietro 2019-03-19 15:38:24 UTC #139

Gerrit Cole and Chris Sale are free agents next year I believe. Hopefully we are in the race for one of those players, or trade for a starter mid season.

zambonir 2019-03-19 15:50:45 UTC #140

And Bumgarner (we'll see), Verlander (old), Wheeler. Of course Bauer (assuming he's not already traded this month) and Ray remain available as they approach 2020 too.

We should also be so lucky if Jake Arrieta were to become a free agent after this season, because that would mean he had a really great year (but if that happens the Phillies will probably pick up the option).