2016 MLB thread. THE CUBS HAVE BROKEN THE CURSE! Chicago Cubs are your 2016 World Series champions

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Speaking of that:
Prior to the signing, there were rumors that a potential trade involving Brett Anderson was contingent on the A's being able to bring free agent Bartolo Colon back into the fold for 2014. Now, with Kazmir filling that spot in the rotation, the phone will likely start ringing off the hook with inquiries from team on the availability of Anderson.

Multiple teams, including the Minnesota Twins, and the Kansas City Royals (according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney) have expressed interest in Anderson. Presumably, there's now one less hurdle to making those rumors into a reality.
 
If you need a starter, you've gotta pay someone... Might as well be a guy that, if he's right, can be a frontline starter.

Given the market, that's not a bad deal.
 
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How much more do you like Hudson's deal over these other ones?
I think Hudson is a better pitcher than all of  Kazmir, Nolasco and Hughes.  I think he is slightly overpaid for what he brings to the table, and I sincerely hope (but probably believe) that this isnt the Giants big offseason move.  But overall, I like the signing. 
 
Welcome to DC, Doug Fister
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acquired for Steve Lombardozzi, Ian Krol, and Robbie Ray.
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Either someone stole Dombrowski's phone, or he has something huge in the works.

Ski mask deal for the Nats, though.

And I find it a little strange that the A's are essentially choosing Kazmir over Anderson.

Both left-handed, both always hurt, both now owed about the same amount of money (two years, $20/$22 million). Anderson is younger and better. They are totally betting on very recent history.
 
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1. Nats lineup has literally 4 aces. Good luck with that, NL East.
2. Something big coming from the Tigs. DD has something cooking, I can smell it.
 
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Lombo, Ray, and Krol for Fister is a straight robbery. However, this allows the Tigers to put Smyly in the rotation like they wanted to and they did get a lefty back…although Krol really only has one pitch.

Strasburg
Gonzalez
Zimmermann
Fister
Detwiler/Roark/Jordan
:pimp: :pimp: :pimp: :pimp: :pimp:
 
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Tigers don't get enough for Doug Fister.

The Washington Nationals seemed like a good bet to go after an undervalued starter for the back of their rotation -- I guessed Brett Anderson, who was originally drafted by Mike Rizzo in Arizona, in a post earlier on Monday -- and they did just that, sending some quantity -- infielder Steve Lombardozzi and lefties Ian Krol and Robbie Ray -- to the Detroit Tigers for Doug Fister, who'll give Washington one of the best rotations in either league for 2014.

Detroit may fill some minor holes, but I don't think they got full value back given the market for starters right now and how effective Fister has been the last two seasons.

The Nats get Fister for the next two years before he hits free agency, coinciding nicely with their main window of contention, as Jordan Zimmerman, Ian Desmond, and Tyler Clippard are all scheduled to hit free agency after 2015 as well. Fister has been quietly effective since Detroit acquired him from Seattle for the baseball equivalent of a wad of used chewing tobacco in 2011, shifting his pitch mix to throw more two-seamers and generate more ground balls; that, combined with plus-plus control, means he can be extremely valuable (averaging more than 4 WAR over the last three seasons) without big velocity.

He's been fairly durable, with one significant injury in those three seasons, a costochondral (cartilage connecting the ribs to the sternum) strain, meaning he's had no arm trouble. The Nationals could be looking at 400-plus innings from him over these two years and 9 WAR, all for maybe $18-20 million total if he just goes through arbitration twice.

Fister's arrival gives the Nationals a potential surplus in the rotation, with Tanner Roark, Taylor Jordan, and the injured Ross Detwiler all candidates for the fifth spot; Detwiler could move to relief, as the Nationals just traded Ian Krol, the only left-handed reliever in their bullpen, or prospect Sammy Solis could ease into the majors in a relief role to fill that void. They don't have any obvious needs at this point other than that left-hander in the pen, which as needs go is a minor one. This is a stacked team if they can stay healthy.

I can't believe the Tigers couldn't get more total value than this for Fister, who is easily a top 25-30 overall starter in the game; they may have traded more to fill needs than to maximize their return. Krol flourished after a shift to the bullpen, going from 86-89 mph as a starter to 92-95 in relief, with an above-average changeup and fringy curveball; he's underutilized in a lefty specialist role but I like him as a potential seventh- or eighth-inning guy given more time to adjust to short relief.

Lombardozzi is a backup second baseman, lacking the stick to play there every day, and has played just 22 games in pro ball at shortstop, meaning it's unclear whether he can even be a utility infielder in the era of the four-man bench.

Ray is the prospect, a potential back-end starter who shows four pitches but has nothing plus, although there's some upside here if the Tigers can get him to lengthen his stride. His sharpest pitch is his spike curveball, but like most pitches of that type it usually ends up out of the zone, and his changeup is fringy enough that he's had trouble finishing off right-handed hitters. He's a project, a guy with some value but who could use some mechanical adjustments.

Drew Smyly, who was superb in relief for Detroit in 2013, takes Fister's spot in the rotation but won't be able to match that production.

A lefty reliever, a backup at second, and a non-top 100 prospect is just not a good return for two years of one of the top 30 starters in baseball.

Kazmir a shrewd investment for A's.

The Oakland Athletics probably have outgrown their reputation as a team operating on a shoestring that forces them to shop in the bargain bin during free agency and in the trade market, as they've handed out a few larger deals -- such as the four-year, $36 million contract they gave to Yoenis Cespedes -- in the past couple of seasons.

That said, they do still look for hidden value or potential upside plays, now a little less out of necessity and more because it's just smart business for any team that doesn't have an infinite payroll. Giving two years and $22 million to Scott Kazmir entails significant risk -- the guy was out of baseball a year ago -- but has the potential upside to make this the kind of high-ROI deal Oakland needs.

Kazmir replaces Bartolo Colon, who was in similar straits when Oakland first signed him after a shocking return to the majors with the Yankees in 2011. Colon gave the A's 342 pretty good innings in two seasons around a PED suspension and a mountain of fat jokes, but he's older than I am (which is no longer a positive for a ballplayer) and his durability and effectiveness have to both be real concerns going forward.

Kazmir won't even turn 30 until late January, had most of 2011 and 2012 off recovering from injury, and reworked his delivery to reduce some of the violence and, one hopes, keep himself healthy into his early 30s. The A's didn't invest in Kazmir for the long haul, as Kansas City and Minnesota just did with Jason Vargas and Ricky Nolasco, respectively, and are paying Kazmir to provide what Colon gave them over the past two years: 300-350 above-average innings.

I like Kazmir's chances to do it, recognizing that he's about as high-beta a player as there was on my top 50 free-agent rankings. Since those adjustments to his delivery, which included getting better leverage off his back leg and getting more torso rotation, Kazmir is throwing harder than he had in several years and started throwing his slider for more strikes than ever.

The results were astonishing; two years after the Angels couldn't find any way to deploy him in the majors, he struck out 24 percent of the men he faced, stopped walking so many batters, and was a league-average starter for 158 innings. That's worth a two-year deal, and probably close to $9-$10 million a year given the acceleration in salaries already this offseason, although $22 million guaranteed assumes a lower risk that he reverts to form or gets injured than I would want to assume given his history.

The A's look likely go into 2014 with a rotatin of Kazmir, Jarrod Parker, Sonny Gray, Dan Straily and A.J. Griffin, with Tom Milone a potential sixth starter (or maybe a home-only pitcher, if they want to be clever about it), which means Brett Anderson, due $8 million for 2014 and effective when healthy, should be an attractive trade piece for a team with the flexibility to risk losing that money to the disabled list.

Texas and Toronto are obvious fits, as are the Nationals, who tried this with Dan Haren last year and might be willing to do the same, while the Angels could certainly use Anderson even if he only gives them 15 starts.

The good news for the A's is that they don't have a glaring need; they could use a better bat at second base for 2014, and they don't have an established option at DH, although they've used the latter as a rotational option to give some of their hitters a day off from the field. They can simply shop Anderson for the best return, even if it's a low-minors prospect, or could try to move Milone or Griffin and see if Anderson makes them a better team this year even with a limited workload.
 
Still think the Kazmir signing was horrible, but Beane just made a great trade. Weeks is trash!
 
Best of luck Jemile. I hope you get it together.

Johnson was up and down last year so hopefully he can rebound, especially if he gets $10+ mil. :x

Overall I like the deal. It fills a hole we have and we didn't give up any big prospects.
 
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I saw Kazmir pitch several times in high school and even for the Sugar Land Skeeters lol. I'm rooting for him cause he's a Houston guy.
 
good...get cano out of the AL East :lol:

interested to see what the sox plan do about either keeping or replacing napoli and salty. banking on ellsbury and drew not playing boston next year, obviously.
 
good...get cano out of the AL East :lol:

interested to see what the sox plan do about either keeping or replacing napoli and salty. banking on ellsbury and drew not playing boston next year, obviously.

Nats will have to really outbid on Cano..


Yankees are currently at $24mil a year on Cano for 7. They've been standing firm on that number, but recently hinted that they would increase that number to about $26-27 mil a year for him.


Not a whole lot of wiggle room for the Nationals to get him. Isn't like Yankees are offering him $15 mil, and he wants $25mil.
 
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good...get cano out of the AL East :lol:

interested to see what the sox plan do about either keeping or replacing napoli and salty. banking on ellsbury and drew not playing boston next year, obviously.

Nats will have to really outbid on Cano..

Not completely out of the realm of possibility. Lerner's pockets are deep, and he's really getting up there in age. It's been said that he's happy to spend money if it'll significantly improve their team. And Cano certainly would.

I imagine he'll resign with the Yanks, though.

I do find it strange Cano went with Jay-Z if all he was after is the biggest check. No one extracts max value like Boras.
 
That's what rubbed me the wrong way...he left Boras because Boras refused to open up negotiation talks with the Yankees and he didn't want to disrespect the Yankees by demanding too much money.

The Nats could definitely afford it. The MASN deal is all resolved I think, that should pump more cash into the team.
 
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