2018 Hot Stove League

[tdawg87]

2 minutes ago, Lou said:

why the hell would you give him a 2-year deal?

Why the hell would you give him a 1 year deal?

[Stradling]

Yea I think we should all just accept the fact that he brings something to a team that isn’t measured in his stats.   By the time this contract is up he will have something like 16-17 years in the bigs.   Both Haren and Greinke have said he’s the best catcher they’ve ever pitched to.  

[Lou]

Rangers To Sign Jeff Mathis

By Jeff Todd | November 15, 2018 at 7:50pm CDT

The Rangers have agreed to a contract with free agent catcher Jeff Mathis, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). It’s said to be a two-year deal for the veteran receiver, with financial details not yet known.

Let’s get the obvious out of the way up front: Mathis is already 35 years of age and he’s an exceedingly unproductive hitter. Of course, even when he was 25 the deficiencies with the bat were well known. Over his 14-year MLB career, Mathis has rarely wavered too far from the anemic .198/.258/.306 mean batting line he has produced through 2,694 trips to the plate.

For virtually any other player, that sort of accumulation of statistics would not even be possible, simply because the opportunity would dry up. Mathis, though, is a rare bird. Not only is he still at the top of the class in many of the measurable tools of the trade — he made the framing the art in a masterful 2018 — but he’s also regarded as a game-management savant.

[Docwaukee]

9 minutes ago, Lou said:

Rangers To Sign Jeff Mathis

By Jeff Todd | November 15, 2018 at 7:50pm CDT

The Rangers have agreed to a contract with free agent catcher Jeff Mathis, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). It’s said to be a two-year deal for the veteran receiver, with financial details not yet known.

Let’s get the obvious out of the way up front: Mathis is already 35 years of age and he’s an exceedingly unproductive hitter. Of course, even when he was 25 the deficiencies with the bat were well known. Over his 14-year MLB career, Mathis has rarely wavered too far from the anemic .198/.258/.306 mean batting line he has produced through 2,694 trips to the plate.

For virtually any other player, that sort of accumulation of statistics would not even be possible, simply because the opportunity would dry up. Mathis, though, is a rare bird. Not only is he still at the top of the class in many of the measurable tools of the trade — he made the framing the art in a masterful 2018 — but he’s also regarded as a game-management savant.

f'n Scioscia.  

[Troll Daddy]

He’s basically a backup catcher who makes the pitching staff better. I’m sure he works with all the pitchers off the field. 

So he gets 2 hits instead of 2.5 hits every ten AB’s like most catchers. 

He’ll comeback and haunt the Angel fans as a manager someday lol

[Lou]

so Mike Trout gets 3 hits instead of 2.5 hits every ten ABs like most centerfielders 

[Docwaukee]

10 minutes ago, Troll Daddy said:

He’s basically a backup catcher who makes the pitching staff better. I’m sure he works with all the pitchers off the field. 

So he gets 2 hits instead of 2.5 hits every ten AB’s like most catchers. 

He’ll comeback and haunt the Angel fans as a manager someday lol

If I was really good with the pitching staff, would you let me be the backup catcher?  

[Troll Daddy]

1 minute ago, Dochalo said:

If I was really good with the pitching staff, would you let me be the backup catcher?  

I thought you were a baseball guru ... funny you can’t figure it out on your own. 

Can you hit like Mathis?

[Lou]

1 minute ago, Troll Daddy said:

I thought you were a baseball guru ... funny you can’t figure it out on your own. 

Can you hit like Mathis?

I'm guessing he can 

[UndertheHalo]

1 hour ago, Stradling said:

Yea I think we should all just accept the fact that he brings something to a team that isn’t measured in his stats.   By the time this contract is up he will have something like 16-17 years in the bigs.   Both Haren and Greinke have said he’s the best catcher they’ve ever pitched to.  

100% truth.  He’s easy to make fun of here, mostly because we all hoped he’d be a star and cuz Sosh.  Anyway, the star thing didn’t ever happen but no one just hangs out in the big leagues for 15+ years.  

Edited November 16, 2018 by UndertheHalo

[Troll Daddy]

21 minutes ago, Lou said:

I'm guessing he can 

[ettin]

10 minutes ago, UndertheHalo said:

100% truth.  He’s easy to make fun of here, mostly because we all hoped he’d be a star and cuz Sosh.  Anyway, the star thing didn’t ever happen but no one just hangs out in the big leagues for 15+ years.  

In Peeping Tom circles, Mathis is called 'The Collector'. He is revered.

[UndertheHalo]

5 minutes ago, ettin said:

In Peeping Tom circles, Mathis is called 'The Collector'. He is revered.

This is also true. 

I assume. 

[ukyah]

i don't care if he's the horse whisperer (don't even think it), nobody can offset those offensive statistics to be worth it defensively.

[ettin]

5 minutes ago, ukyah said:

i don't care if he's the horse whisperer (don't even think it), nobody can offset those offensive statistics to be worth it defensively.

That is why Scioscia thought of Jeff as his right-hand man. His Lackey so to speak.

[UndertheHalo]

Did someone say Lackey ? 

[Lou]

2 minutes ago, UndertheHalo said:

Did someone say Lackey ? 

neigh 

[Yellow Balloon]

It's not like Mathis will be blocking anyone.  They have two young catchers in Trevino and Kiner-Falefa and my guess is they wanted a mentor for them.  Plus they'll probably sign another cheap vet.  They could even bring back Chirinos, whose notoriously bad defensively, on a cheaper deal.   They also added Bandy but I can't imagine they're counting on him contributing at the ML level.

 

 

[ukyah]

 

it's just so easy.

[Inside Pitch]

Incredibly, Mathis' career will end up having outlived Napoli's and Mauer's..    There isn't anyone on the planet that would have taken that bet.

Edited November 16, 2018 by Inside Pitch

[Blarg]

2 hours ago, Lou said:

so Mike Trout gets 3 hits instead of 2.5 hits every ten ABs like most centerfielders 

It's why he ended up 2nd place in the MVP voting, the other guy got about 3.5 hits per game. 

[Blarg]

15 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

Incredibly, Mathis' career will end up having outlived Napoli's and Mauer's..    There isn't anyone on the planet that would have taken that bet.

[Stradling]

15 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

Incredibly, Mathis' career will end up having outlived Napoli's and Mauer's..    There isn't anyone on the planet that would have taken that bet.

 

[Blarg]

Beat you to it.

[Stradling]

2 minutes ago, Blarg said:

You asshole