The Official 2020-2021 Hot Stove Offseason Thread

[Warfarin]

10 hours ago, tdawg87 said:

How is Stassi behind the plate? From what I understand he's pretty good. 

But Minasian may have a different plan in mind. He stressed the importance of the C position so I wouldn't be surprised to see him sign someone like Molina. 

 

8 hours ago, Dochalo said:

I wonder if it's also even tough to quantify for teams.  Where a strong bat might still outweigh some sort of elite ability with handling pitchers that you can't see on a spreadsheet.  

If what they claim about Molina is as real as they say then it's almost like bringing in some sort of special coach who can actually enact what he's trying to pass along or teach.  

Granted, it's not crazy magic or something.  They're not gonna turn all your pitchers into cy young candidates, but it might be of more help than people realize and worth 8 mil a year vs. paying some mediocre guy with a below avg bat 6m.  

Right.  I think we will see a HUGE emphasis placed on the catching position, both in free agency and in the draft.

All you have to do is look at the Dodgers, Braves, and Giants.  Those 3 teams are absolutely stacked with catching talent.  They have made concerted efforts to draft catchers early and often in the draft, they have gone out and signed ones with strong defensive reputations, and they have drafted players internationally, too.

Minasian worked directly under AA, who worked directly under Friedman.  The Braves have d'Arnaud, Jackson, Contreras, Langeliers in their pipeline.  The Dodgers have Smith, Barnes, Ruiz, another apparent stud in Cartaya, etc.  Giants have Posey (from the previous regime) and now Bart, who is a top 15 prospect in the sport.  Basically - these teams have great catchers in the MLB and a boatload of MILB talent ready to step in as needed.

I will venture to guess that while pitching is our #1 priority, improving our catching pipeline is probably priority 1B, and we'll see both an MLB *AND* MILB additions.

[tdawg87]

I guess we as fans don't really consider the impact a catcher has on the pitching staff. There's no way to truly quantify that with stats so we can't actually see it.

As @Dochalo said, they aren't turning pitchers into Cy Young, but the importance of pitch calling, framing, and just general knowledge of the pitchers and the situation is incredibly important.

As much as we all hated Jeff Mathis, there's a reason he's still in the majors. Dude is going on 17 years with a 46 OPS+ and .194 AVG. At any other position he would have been released 14 years ago. So he's obviously doing something right.

Sosh deserves a bit more credit. After all, he was a great defensive catcher in his day.

[Revad]

50 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

I guess we as fans don't really consider the impact a catcher has on the pitching staff. There's no way to truly quantify that with stats so we can't actually see it.

As @Dochalo said, they aren't turning pitchers into Cy Young, but the importance of pitch calling, framing, and just general knowledge of the pitchers and the situation is incredibly important.

As much as we all hated Jeff Mathis, there's a reason he's still in the majors. Dude is going on 17 years with a 46 OPS+ and .194 AVG. At any other position he would have been released 14 years ago. So he's obviously doing something right.

Sosh deserves a bit more credit. After all, he was a great defensive catcher in his day.

Looking back on it Sosh may have been underrated 

[Warfarin]

1 hour ago, tdawg87 said:

I guess we as fans don't really consider the impact a catcher has on the pitching staff. There's no way to truly quantify that with stats so we can't actually see it.

As @Dochalo said, they aren't turning pitchers into Cy Young, but the importance of pitch calling, framing, and just general knowledge of the pitchers and the situation is incredibly important.

As much as we all hated Jeff Mathis, there's a reason he's still in the majors. Dude is going on 17 years with a 46 OPS+ and .194 AVG. At any other position he would have been released 14 years ago. So he's obviously doing something right.

Sosh deserves a bit more credit. After all, he was a great defensive catcher in his day.

Right, I think this is the key thing.  I'm sure FOs have a more precise way of measuring a catcher's impact on the pitching staff more than we do.  Looking at Minasian's background, and also given what he has emphasized in his interviews, I think it's very likely we'll see a significant infusion of catching talent over the upcoming years.

Notably, when Anthopolous took over ATL, they already had Flowers as their starting catcher, who rated as one of the best defensive catchers, and also had Contreras in the pipeline.  He has since drafted Langeliers with their first round draft choice.

Friedman, who Anthopolous spent a year working under, made sweeping changes the year he took over the Dodgers, including acquiring Grandal, who served as their starting catcher for years to come.

I believe investing in catching is what the best FOs do, as they literally impact every single pitch - framing, pitch-sequencing, etc.  Friedman, who I believe is the best FO executive, keeps adding to his stockpile of catching talent every year.  They have a great starting catcher, a really solid backup, two stud catching prospects, and several others who rate well.  Anthopolous has d'Arnaud and Jackson at the MLB level, as well as Contreras and Langeliers, who both project as strong prospects.  

[Vlad27Trout27]

Regardign the catching situation, i think it'll come down to what Perry thinks of Stassi behind plate. So far its seem like stassi has had a postive rating.

We also need to consider that perry is bring in a different game play, he might have a different pitching philosophy than what eppler had. 

[Docwaukee]

4 hours ago, Warfarin said:

 

Right.  I think we will see a HUGE emphasis placed on the catching position, both in free agency and in the draft.

All you have to do is look at the Dodgers, Braves, and Giants.  Those 3 teams are absolutely stacked with catching talent.  They have made concerted efforts to draft catchers early and often in the draft, they have gone out and signed ones with strong defensive reputations, and they have drafted players internationally, too.

Minasian worked directly under AA, who worked directly under Friedman.  The Braves have d'Arnaud, Jackson, Contreras, Langeliers in their pipeline.  The Dodgers have Smith, Barnes, Ruiz, another apparent stud in Cartaya, etc.  Giants have Posey (from the previous regime) and now Bart, who is a top 15 prospect in the sport.  Basically - these teams have great catchers in the MLB and a boatload of MILB talent ready to step in as needed.

I will venture to guess that while pitching is our #1 priority, improving our catching pipeline is probably priority 1B, and we'll see both an MLB *AND* MILB additions.

just to add to that, the Giants also drafted patrick bailey in the 1st round this year and 13th overall.  

The cubs, yankees, A's, Jays and padres seem to have been placing a strong emphasis on it as well.  And the Brewers who have Matt Arnold - a guy that spent nine seasons with Tampa under Friedman.  

trying to develop catchers has characteristically had a high miss rate in the past.  Especially when spending early draft capital. 

it wouldn't surprise me if that was something which stood out to Arte and Co. during Minasian's interview.  

and I was serious when I mentioned about bringing back MS.  It honestly wouldn't surprise me to see him in there somewhere as an advisor.   

[Blarg]

The Senior Vice President of Squat.

[tdawg87]

The Sultan of Squat

[Pancake Bear]

That line has now been edited in this article:

https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/ny-baseball-free-agency-20201128-kvpxd243bfgxneas6mp6rwmzfq-story.html?outputType=amp&__twitter_impression=true

This BS that they expect us to believe is why more fans no longer trust teams when they talk about how they're losing money and can't afford free agents. Creative bookkeeping to pretend they're poor and unfortunate. What a crock of crap. 

[Stradling]

10 hours ago, tdawg87 said:

Is Mathis still playing?

Of course not, because only Scioscia would ever start him.  I am pretty sure he was out of the league the second he was traded from the Angels.

[Stradling]

7 hours ago, Revad said:

Looking back on it Sosh may have been underrated 

He absolutely was underrated by our fans.  

[tdawg87]

49 minutes ago, Pancake Bear said:

That line has now been edited in this article:

https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/ny-baseball-free-agency-20201128-kvpxd243bfgxneas6mp6rwmzfq-story.html?outputType=amp&__twitter_impression=true

This BS that they expect us to believe is why more fans no longer trust teams when they talk about how they're losing money and can't afford free agents. Creative bookkeeping to pretend they're poor and unfortunate. What a crock of crap. 

There is absolutely no way they "lost" 2 billion.

Perhaps they only made 1 billion when they normally make 3. Oh noes! 

[Pancake Bear]

8 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

There is absolutely no way they "lost" 2 billion.

Perhaps they only made 1 billion when they normally make 3. Oh noes! 

The edited version of the story says something like 'a lot of money'. A damage control leak puts it at 145 mil.

https://apnews.com/article/mlb-matt-klentak-philadelphia-phillies-philadelphia-coronavirus-pandemic-1e0053b6af3fc6b61fa9fde0deb664e4?utm_medium=AP_Sports&utm_source=Twitter&utm_campaign=SocialFlow

That seems closer to Arte's supposed loss of 200m.

https://sports.yahoo.com/angels-lock-anaheim-moreno-pledges-170022272.html

I'm highly skeptical of those numbers also, although they're less nonsensical. Still reeks of creative bookkeeping. 

[BTH]

12 hours ago, Vlad27Trout27 said:

Regardign the catching situation, i think it'll come down to what Perry thinks of Stassi behind plate. So far its seem like stassi has had a postive rating.

Stassi is coming off hip surgery for the second consecutive offseason. Even if Minasian likes Stassi, it seems likely he brings in another catcher because it isn't certain that Stassi is going to be healthy.

[mmc]

Another SP off the board.

 

[mmc]

d

[mmc]

 

[angelsnationtalk]

Must suck to be a Phillies fan right now. Just when you think you're about to be a contending team by signing Harper and getting Realmuto you realize ownership can't afford to keep some..... Ouch....

[Revad]

On 11/28/2020 at 4:21 PM, tdawg87 said:

The Sultan of Squat

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=youtube+sultans+of+swing&qpvt=youtube+sultans+of+swing&view=detail&mid=45E42348D15F9EFA8C5745E42348D15F9EFA8C57&&FORM=VRDGAR&ru=%2Fvideos%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dyoutube%2Bsultans%2Bof%2Bswing%26qpvt%3Dyoutube%2Bsultans%2Bof%2Bswing%26FORM%3DVDRE

[Docwaukee]

2 hours ago, angelsnationtalk said:

Must suck to be a Phillies fan right now. Just when you think you're about to be a contending team by signing Harper and getting Realmuto you realize ownership can't afford to keep some..... Ouch....

it's a pretty good lesson actually.  Trading significant farm assets for two years of a star player should be the last thing you do when all the other pieces are in place.  How much would the phills like to have Sanchez back right now?  Instead they'll get a supplemental pick.  Especially considering that the division was going to be a dog fight.  

The only collateral damage to Minasian via Eppler is an extra year of Justin Upton.  Just about every asset Eppler acquired is now at Minasian's disposal and on top of that, Minasian inherited a bit of luck in that he's in a very very winnable division.  

Minasian has a great canvas to work with.  This team will win if he makes the right moves.  He doesn't have to rebuild an entire farm system or start from the ground up when it comes to process.  Yes, there are definitely some refinements that will be needed and I am sure he will address those, but he's under center on the opponents 25 yard line and he's got a couple time outs with a 2 minutes to play instead of being pinned on his own goal line needing 90+ yards and a two point conversion to send the game to overtime.  

[Docwaukee]

4 hours ago, mmc said:

d

I was bit surprised about this at first for two reasons.  First that KC ponied up and spent on a free agent and second that it was for two years.  

Then I realized why I shouldn't be and how we might see a bunch of two year deals this year.  We'll see if my theory is right once the terms come out but my guess is that it'll be something like 4 or 5 mil in the first year and 8 or 9 in the second year.  Or perhaps an even split of 2/14.  Then when revenues come back next year, KC will have a reasonably priced tradeable asset.  

I think it was also very smart on Minor's part to cash in pretty early.  Teams are going to try and wait out the market for bargains as they probably think there will be a large pool of players available toward the end of the free agency period.  Yet there is likely going to be a smaller overall pool of money without that extra 5, 6, 10 mil in reserve in case that value guy is still around.  

As an aside, Morton is also a Jet sports mgmt like Minor.  As is Kluber btw.  Could be that they're advising their clients to get their money early in the game.  

[mmc]

 

[T.G.]

7 hours ago, Dochalo said:

it's a pretty good lesson actually. 

Phillies fans can take comfort in that.

[Vlad27Trout27]

So how much do think Mccann will cost? 10 mil a year.

 

I think the bright side of this is and if this is true, that Perry might have the freedom to spend money on where he wants to. 

[T.G.]

When did Katy Perry become the Angels GM?