Non-Twins 2019 season news

[Mike Sixel]

How the heck does Cleveland not top that offer (basically, "some money") for Encarnacion??

I think we are seeing more and more that teams don't care about winning all that much. At some point, fans will also stop.

[biggentleben]

This will hit a climax when this deal becomes the catalyst for the Yankees doing nothing else this season...or for the team losing international money and draft slots next year.

 

B-Ref and Spotrac differ on contract info, but either way you look at it, the Yankees will have a tough time adding anyone else and remaining under the penalty point of the luxury tax. They're already over the tax point in both systems (Spotrac has them with $213.5M in obligations, B-Ref has it at $245M) with the penalty being at $206M. Spotrac was quite short on the Red Sox last year, not listing them in the penalty, yet they were, so where between those two numbers is accurate is anyone's guess, but picking up more salary could be something the Yankees simply cannot do this season if they're hoping to avoid the penalty.

 

This also will affect next year's draft as, barring an extension, the Yankees have been seen as front-runners for Anthony Rendon, but they're already over the luxury tax for 2020 (also to be $206M), and that's with declining Encarnacion's option this offseason and allowing all of their free agents to walk (Didi, Sabathia, Gardner, Betances, Romine, Tulo, Kendrys, Maybin), and that seems like it'd be a surprise for them to do that. We could see the Yankees being pushed into a financial corner here to some degree by the system that baseball set up. I can only see Gregorius possibly getting a qualifying offer, and even then, he'd likely not net a monster deal coming off the injury he is (barring just going bananas the rest of the year, of course). That'd leave the Yankees (if they go over the penalty) losing $1M in international money for each qualifying offer free agent that they sign and also losing their 2nd and 4th highest draft picks. The Nationals went through that this year, but they ended up with compensation back for Harper to somewhat offset it.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

This will hit a climax when this deal becomes the catalyst for the Yankees doing nothing else this season...or for the team losing international money and draft slots next year.

 

B-Ref and Spotrac differ on contract info, but either way you look at it, the Yankees will have a tough time adding anyone else and remaining under the penalty point of the luxury tax. They're already over the tax point in both systems (Spotrac has them with $213.5M in obligations, B-Ref has it at $245M) with the penalty being at $206M. Spotrac was quite short on the Red Sox last year, not listing them in the penalty, yet they were, so where between those two numbers is accurate is anyone's guess, but picking up more salary could be something the Yankees simply cannot do this season if they're hoping to avoid the penalty.

The only penalty point the Yankees likely care about is the $246 mil threshold -- that's when they not only pay a tax, but their first 2020 draft pick is dropped 10 spots too. The Red Sox had that happen to them this year, although they'd probably say it was worth it given their 2018 results.

 

Looks like Encarnacion only adds about $3.4 mil to the Yankees luxury tax payroll for 2019:

https://twitter.com/Joelsherman1/status/1140074291117121537

 

I find Cot's Contracts to be way better than Spotrac. Cot's has them still about $14 mil under $246 mil, even after Encarnacion, so they should have room to add pitchers like Bumgarner yet in 2019:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ai3Wo4UVZbUFtEEOnVEUwBgh2H45wwNe4nd6bXPAvRQ/pubhtml

 

After 2019, it's still a little tight, although they'll shed about $40.5 mil in departing free agents too, none of whom look like likely re-signs (primarily Gregorius, Sabathia, Gardner, and Betances). That could mean they are ~$54 mil under the $246 mil threshold, in which case they should be able to fit arb raises for Judge, Sanchez, and Paxton, plus a bigger FA signing if they want (although they haven't been that aggressive on that end of FA lately anyway).

 

Then they'll get another $43 mil off the books from Tanaka and Ellsbury after 2020, and perhaps another $17 mil if Happ's option doesn't vest.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

How the heck does Cleveland not top that offer (basically, "some money") for Encarnacion??

Yeah, best as I can tell, the Yankees are taking on $8 mil cash (although only ~$3 mil for luxury tax purposes).

 

Looking at Cleveland's roster, I'm guessing he would have indirectly displaced Leonys Martin, with Bauers going to a corner OF spot and a corner guy taking over in center (or Bradley Zimmer, whenever he returns)? Based on their 2019 stats to date, that could be about a 2 WAR difference going forward, although ZiPS regresses that to only about 0.8 WAR.

 

Still nothing to sneeze at for a team who is 0.5 games out of the wild card right now. Although they can't feel too confident about actually catching Boston or the 4 AL clubs ahead of them.

[jkcarew]

 

Still nothing to sneeze at for a team who is 0.5 games out of the wild card right now. Although they can't feel too confident about actually catching Boston or the 4 AL clubs ahead of them.

I don't know. 9-4 in June which includes series wins against the Twins and Yankees. Meanwhile, they've seen Boston once so far and won that series, as well. And then there's their schedule. 39 of remaining 92 games against the White Sox, KC, Det, Baltimore. Encarnacion, plus improvement in play of a couple of starters (Ramirez)...probably would (or would have) had them right there.

[Otto von Ballpark]

I don't know. 9-4 in June which includes series wins against the Twins and Yankees. Meanwhile, they've seen Boston once so far and won that series, as well. And then there's their schedule. 39 of remaining 92 games against the White Sox, KC, Det, Baltimore. Encarnacion, plus improvement in play of a couple of starters (Ramirez)...probably would (or would have) had them right there.

Could be. Fangraphs has Cleveland projected to finish 3 games behind Boston, and that's with 2.6 more WAR from Carrasco, Ramirez rebounding with 2.7 more WAR, Kipnis rebounding a little with 0.8, etc. Netting another 0.8 from Encarnacion would help, of course, but it still may not be enough. (Boston presumably plans to add a pitcher in trade too?)

[biggentleben]

Seriously, when will MLB get their stuff together in the social media landscape?

 

On draft day, Trevor Bauer is the talk of the draft with his incredible analysis while multiple MLB staff members ripped into Bauer as a person and said the praise was unwarranted.

 

Today, the Umpire's Union sends out a tweet condemning MLB for their one-game suspension of Manny Machado after he got upset with an ump and threw a bat. Alex Wood just challenged both MLB and the Umpire Union, saying that this is why players don't do social...the league can't even present a united message.

 

Oy...

[Monkeypaws]

The 2019 Astros have managed 2 accomplishments the Twins have failed to achieve:

 

- a 3 game losing streak

 

- a 4 game losing streak

 

Swept by the Redlegs!

[Vanimal46]

Seriously, when will MLB get their stuff together in the social media landscape?

 

On draft day, Trevor Bauer is the talk of the draft with his incredible analysis while multiple MLB staff members ripped into Bauer as a person and said the praise was unwarranted.

 

Today, the Umpire's Union sends out a tweet condemning MLB for their one-game suspension of Manny Machado after he got upset with an ump and threw a bat. Alex Wood just challenged both MLB and the Umpire Union, saying that this is why players don't do social...the league can't even present a united message.

 

Oy...

Baseball is LIGHT YEARS behind basketball and football when it comes to social media and promoting their players. There's so many young, fun players to follow in baseball. Unfortunately a casual sports fan couldn't pick out Mike Trout in a 3 man police lineup.

[biggentleben]

 

Baseball is LIGHT YEARS behind basketball and football when it comes to social media and promoting their players. There's so many young, fun players to follow in baseball. Unfortunately a casual sports fan couldn't pick out Mike Trout in a 3 man police lineup.

 

Trout has been getting more publicity due to the success of the Eagles and 76ers...

[Vanimal46]

[ashbury]

"Yeah, well, you should see the OTHER guy."

[Mike Sixel]

Tampa has received permission to explore the feasibility of playing half their home games in FL, and half in Montreal.......

 

Stadiums only used half the year? No one goes in Tampa ever, why stay at all? 

[twinsfanstreif]

Tampa has received permission to explore the feasibility of playing half their home games in FL, and half in Montreal.......

 

Stadiums only used half the year? No one goes in Tampa ever, why stay at all?

 

That's my thought. Apparently they would build a new one in TB and one in Montreal, the idea is to save it from having a roof......wouldn't it cost more to build 2 of them? If this happens at all I would imagine it would be a disaster and they'd scrap it all together. They need to just 100% move to Montreal

[Mike Sixel]

Most people feel this is an attempt to get one of the two cities to build a new stadium.

 

They could just move to Portland, where there is an actual plan.....

[biggentleben]

 

Most people feel this is an attempt to get one of the two cities to build a new stadium.

 

They could just move to Portland, where there is an actual plan.....

 

Or Charlotte, where they have the funding lined up and land already purchased.

 

It's incredible the waiting game that multiple locales are doing on MLB right now...

[Vanimal46]

If they're already exploring this option just move to Montreal 100%. MLB should learn from the NFL's mistake of organizations being in limbo with their city. No one wants the Raiders prior to their move to Las Vegas in 2020. The Chargers are playing in a 20k seat soccer stadium while they wait to pay rent in the new LA Rams stadium.

[SomeGuy]

 

Tampa has received permission to explore the feasibility of playing half their home games in FL, and half in Montreal.......

 

Stadiums only used half the year? No one goes in Tampa ever, why stay at all? 

Montreal didn't really draw a crowd either when they had a team. I think the theory is that attendance would go up in both cities if fans only had 40 games to choose from. 

 

Having two markets for merchandise and possibly 2 tv deals makes this an interesting scenario for a small market team. 

[SomeGuy]

Are we seeing another Philly collapse?  

 

Record of 6-11 in last 17

5.74 ERA in June (25th in MLB)

17th in run scored in June

91 wRC+ (21st in MLB)

[biggentleben]

 

Are we seeing another Philly collapse?  

 

Record of 6-11 in last 17

5.74 ERA in June (25th in MLB)

17th in run scored in June

91 wRC+ (21st in MLB)

 

Losing McCutchen was crushing for that team and extremely underrated.

 

He's still showing up as one of the top-performing free agents over the last 30 days in my fantasy leagues. He was pulling that team behind him when he went down, covering up what was already going on. With him out, it's come down like an avalanche.

[biggentleben]

 

If I was Bryce Harper or Manny Machado or Giancarlo Stanton or any other hundredmillionaire in this league, I would have Gofunded Albies in the short term in return for a potential cut of whatever he might have made in the long term.

 

What I'm thinking is maybe like a form a life insurance or something...basically accept the risk of Albies flaming out by with the hope that in the long run the owners have to shell out a hell of a lot more.

 

There are companies that actually do that. Players can put themselves into a pool and the success of everyone in that pool pays out to those who are in the pool, so it's an investment sort of situation.

[SomeGuy]

 

Losing McCutchen was crushing for that team and extremely underrated.

 

He's still showing up as one of the top-performing free agents over the last 30 days in my fantasy leagues. He was pulling that team behind him when he went down, covering up what was already going on. With him out, it's come down like an avalanche.

Hard to win with the way they are pitching.

[SomeGuy]

 

 

Losing McCutchen was crushing for that team and extremely underrated.

 

He's still showing up as one of the top-performing free agents over the last 30 days in my fantasy leagues. He was pulling that team behind him when he went down, covering up what was already going on. With him out, it's come down like an avalanche.

To his credit Jay Bruce is doing a fantastic job filling in for McCutchen from a hitting stand point.

 

Since joining Phillies

.348/.388/.783 (1.170 OPS) wRC+197

[biggentleben]

Frankie Montas suspended 80 games. His statement identified a tainted supplement purchased within the US as the culprit.

 

I investigated this after the Cano suspension, which was a legit tainted supplement. When will baseball follow the lead of leagues like the NFL and set up their own supplement certification/testing or even supply the supplements in house for all players on MLB 40-man rosters? The cost would not be prohibitive by any means, and it'd keep players from being damaged in this way. The issue is incredibly bad in Latin countries, many of which have either very little or no regulation on supplements sold in their country (the DR being in the latter group). I think it's nuts that the league continues to allow players to get a horrible stamp placed on them by the common fan when they took the same thing that common fan did, but the lack of regulation on the industry allowed for enough of something that triggered a bad test to show up in their system...

[Mr. Brooks]

Frankie Montas suspended 80 games. His statement identified a tainted supplement purchased within the US as the culprit.

 

I investigated this after the Cano suspension, which was a legit tainted supplement. When will baseball follow the lead of leagues like the NFL and set up their own supplement certification/testing or even supply the supplements in house for all players on MLB 40-man rosters? The cost would not be prohibitive by any means, and it'd keep players from being damaged in this way. The issue is incredibly bad in Latin countries, many of which have either very little or no regulation on supplements sold in their country (the DR being in the latter group). I think it's nuts that the league continues to allow players to get a horrible stamp placed on them by the common fan when they took the same thing that common fan did, but the lack of regulation on the industry allowed for enough of something that triggered a bad test to show up in their system...

Players are responsible for what they put in their body.

If they choose to use supplements that are not NSF Certified, then this is the risk they take.

[biggentleben]

 

Players are responsible for what they put in their body.
If they choose to use supplements that are not NSF Certified, then this is the risk they take.

 

Montas took a supplement (from sources) that was certified, but that supplement has now been pulled due to being tainted with exactly what Montas was caught with.

 

How in the heck is the player responsible for that?! Certification in this country by any regulatory body is an absolute joke. Full-on anabolic steroids have been found in levels high enough to set off a test in supplements that are certified in the US.

[Mr. Brooks]

Montas took a supplement (from sources) that was certified, but that supplement has now been pulled due to being tainted with exactly what Montas was caught with.

 

How in the heck is the player responsible for that?! Certification in this country by any regulatory body is an absolute joke. Full-on anabolic steroids have been found in levels high enough to set off a test in supplements that are certified in the US.

Certified by whom? NSF? Because they are the only certification company that MLB recommends it's players use.

I'd like to read any links you have regarding NSF Certified supplements being tainted.

[biggentleben]

 

Certified by whom? NSF? Because they are the only certification company that MLB recommends it's players use.
I'd like to read any links you have regarding NSF Certified supplements being tainted.

 

I don't honestly have the certification on the products. That said, MLB suggests NSF, but they do not have any formal contract with NSF at this time. USADA does have a deal with NSF that allows for a reduced or even no punishment if they can show that an NSF-certified supplement was the source of their positive test. That hasn't been made public yet, but I can verify that this came into play during the National Female Open Powerlifting Championships in May when a competitor did test positive for a diuretic, but it turned out to be through an NSF-certified supplement and she received no punishment due to USADA's rules. Even if a player in the MLB would get popped with NSF-certified supplement, there is no change in how the league punishes him, which is complete BS.

 

I return to...they need to figure this out.

[Monkeypaws]

Lucky enough to be in DC tonite at the park (very nice).

 

Twins reunion tonite. Dozier, Suzuki, Sanchez.

 

 

Man is Atlanta stacked 1-8 offesively. Happy to see em lose tho.

[biggentleben]

 

Lucky enough to be in DC tonite at the park (very nice).

Twins reunion tonite. Dozier, Suzuki, Sanchez.


Man is Atlanta stacked 1-8 offesively. Happy to see em lose tho.

 

What was that again?