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Art Deco · 04-08-2023, 10:19 PM

Notable retirements: Future Hall of Famers Miguel Cabrera and Zack Greinke hung 'em up, as did former Ray Chris Archer.

Awards season:

Gold Glove: We had a winner as Randy Arozarena took the AL LF award. Thought Jose Siri might stand a chance in CF but he lost to Byron Buxton, whose name we'll hear a bit more of shortly.

Reliever of the Year: Seattle's Matt Brash (8 W, 10 SV, 1.20 ERA) took the AL nod while Atlanta's Raisel Iglesias (47 SV, 2.63 ERA) won in the NL.

Silver Slugger: Wander Franco won at AL SS.

Rookie of the Year: Thought Miguel Vargas might win but he was nosed out by Baltimore's Gunnar Henderson (.281-20-63) 108-99 and 14-12 in 1st-place votes. The NL winner was Colorado's Ezequiel Tovar (.326-18-76)

Cy Young: Jacob deGrom, who went 17-7, 3.22 his first year in Texas, now has the award in both leagues, and Yu Darvish (14-11, 2.88) beat out the Mets' Max Scherzer to win in the NL.

MVP: Byron Buxton finally stayed healthy for a full season and put up a massive .260-57-116, 6.7 WAR season to just get past Julio Rodriguez (.312-34-105, 7.2 WAR) and Aaron Judge (.282-53-114, 6.7 WAR) in an incredibly fragmented AL decision that saw those three finish 313-300-295 and 13-9-8 in the voting. It was also a nail-biter in the NL as Nolan Arenado (.302-33-130, an NL-best 6.8 WAR) just get past Fernando Tatis Jr. (.294-41-114, 6.6 WAR) by a 349-339 and 16-14 margin. Perhaps if Tatis didn't miss the first few weeks due to suspension he might have gotten over the top.

We made a trade:

With only one player departing via free agency (Ian Happ), we weren't going to have too many open 40-man spots so we shopped the Rule 5-eligible Alexander Ovalles to see what we could get and were offered Wells by the Yankees, their 2021 1st-round pick. A look at Wells:

It can't have been a popular deal in New York as Wells had nice year at AAA and is pretty much MLB-ready, although he doesn't have to go on our 40-man. It also solves some position imbalance issues we had as we were loaded with 1B prospects but a bit thin on upper-level OFs who could help us in 2024.

Arbitration came and went and we settled with everyone, leaving us with $16M to spend on additional payroll.

November 29: Atlanta traded pitching prospect Bryce Elder in a 4-player deal that saw Detroit ship them Matt Manning.

December 1: More interesting trades. The Yankees and rival Red Sox hooked up with Clay Holmes headed to Boston for a couple of prospects including catcher Nate Hickey. The Blue Jays sent C Danny Jansen to the Angels for IF Brandon Drury, and the Tigers sent former Ray Austin Meadows to San Francisco for a couple of minor leaguers. Finally once-promising prospect Jo Adell is getting a change of scenery as the Angels sent him to Pittsburgh.

December 3: The Dodgers signed former Ray Tyler Glasnow to a 2/53 contact extension. Good luck and good health to Tyler.

December 4: Some big free agent news:

The St. Louis front office announced the signing of Shohei Ohtani today as the team's new starting pitcher. The 29-year-old came to terms with the Cardinals and will be hauling in $27,800,000 a year over 6 years.

In his career, Ohtani has fanned 663 batters and walked 176 in 537.1 innings of work. His lifetime won-lost record is 37 victories and 25 defeats with a 3.58 ERA and opposing hitters have compiled a .214 batting average against him.

Of course he'll also do some hitting for them.

December 7: Boston sent OF Alex Verdugo to Toronto for pitching prospect Adam Kloffenstein.

December 10: This year's free agent class isn't that exciting now that Ohtani has signed as Matthew Boyd was one of the bigger names left; he's now gone to Houston on a 5/62 deal.

December 11: Someone a little more exciting than Boyd was signed today as Miami broke out the checkbook for a change and signed Julio Urias to a 7/165 mega-deal.

December 13: Some more signings as former Dodger Max Muncy joined Detroit on a 4/60 contract and a couple of pitchers who have seen better days joined new teams with Mike Clevinger to Atlanta for 1/4 and Lucas Giolito to Kansas City for 1/5.3.

December 16: Added Ps Michael Mercado and Jacob Lopez to the 40-man roster; designated IF/OF Greg Jones for assignment.

Some roster shuffling ahead of the Rule 5 Draft. Jones, our #1 pick in 2019, hasn't quite panned out and should clear waivers.

December 17: The Rule 5 Draft:

Some recognizable names here including a couple of former Rays prospects in Ronaldo Hernandez and Tommy Romero. Nobody lost on our end.

December 20: Claimed P Jovani Moran on waivers from Minnesota, designated P Josh Fleming for assignment.

Minnesota waived Moran in their Rule 5 roster crunch so we took advantage. The lefty has 75 stuff, 65 movement (and 35 control) but fanned 114 in 73 IP last year with the Twins and earned 1.6 WAR. Fleming failed in his shot to replace Tyler Glasnow early last season and while he was OK at Durham, we'll take our chances with him not clearing.

December 24: Claimed P Phil Bickford on waivers from the Dodgers, designated P Ryan Thompson for assignment.

If teams are going to keep on waiving good relievers, we're going to keep claiming them. Thompson struggled last year with a 5.66 ERA, becoming very home-prone with 13 allowed in 66 IP.

Also the Marlins sent SP Trevor Rogers to Houston for 3 prospects.

December 26: Andrew Kittredge, whom we non-tendered after missing 2023 with injury, inked a 1-year, $950K deal with the Phillies.

Meanwhile the Rangers traded top prospect Evan Carter as well as another decent prospect in Luisangel Acuna to the Pirates for closer David Bednar.

December 27: Our rental free agent Ian Happ has gone back to Chicago, but this time to the White Sox on a 4/57 contract.

December 30: The Red Sox shipped Chris Sale to the desert as he joins the D-backs in exchange for a low-level prospect.

Meanwhile, here's a biggie of a trade:

In an effort to add some depth to its roster, the New York Yankees have swapped 22-year old SS Anthony Volpe and 23-year old minor league 2B Caleb Durbin to the Chicago White Sox for 30-year old SS Tim Anderson. The Yankees GM told reporters, "We saw a chance to upgrade our ball club and took it."

Chicago will retain a portion of Anderson's remaining contract.

In his career, Anderson has compiled a .293 batting average and collected 1103 hits, 112 home runs and 381 RBIs.

January 5: Milwaukee sent former Rays SS Willy Adames to the Dodgers for a pitching prospect.

January 8: Speaking of former Rays, OF Hunter Renfroe cashed in with a 6/116 deal in Cincinnati after another of his usual 30-homer seasons.

January 17: The ballots are counted and the results are in. Unfortunately, no player was elected to the Hall of Fame this year. The top vote getter was Todd Helton, who received votes from 69.6% of eligible electors.

1B Todd Helton 69.6 (6th year)
3B Adrian Beltre 69.0 (1st year)
CF Carlos Beltran 68.4 (2nd year)
C Joe Mauer 65.6 (1st year)
RF Gary Sheffield 59.2 (10th year) Dropped
CL Billy Wagner 57.1 (9th year)
CL Francisco Rodriguez 45.1 (2nd year)
SS Alex Rodriguez 43.6 (3rd year)

January 23: Houston and Kansas City announced some roster changes today as the Astros acquired 25-year old C MJ Melendez from the Royals in exchange for 28-year old LF Chas McCormick.

January 30: Preseason began and Stu Sternberg decided to kick in an extra $8M for payroll.

February 17: Just got word that Garrett Cleavinger's injury is worse than believed and he'll be out for all of 2024. Thankfully we claimed Jovani Moran to take over as our power lefty in the pen.

March 3: A few of the straggling free agents found new homes on one-year deals with Michael Brantley (MIL, $3.2M), Teoscar Hernandez (STL, $4.1M) and Gio Urshela (ARI, $3.0M) signing.

March 10: Some interesting names had to settle for minor league deals: Josh Bell (TOR), Harrison Bader (MIA), Cavan Biggio (STL), Kevin Kiermaier (CHC), James Paxton (SF).

March 15: Joey Gallo signed a 1/6 deal with the Angels.

March 18: A late spring trade:

Luis Patino was out of options and wasn't likely to make the team, so we offered him around and the Dodgers were willing to give us Busch, a solid player who can be slotted at 1B or 2B. Neither are positions of need (especially 1B), but if Busch were to make the team we could play him some at 2B and stick B.Lowe in LF. He's got some pretty good ratings and really good numbers:

March 23: Easy come, easy go on Phil Bickford. Stolen off waivers over the winter, he's torn his rotator cuff and will miss 4 months.

04-08-2023, 10:19 PM	#8
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,086	2023-24 Offseason Notable retirements: Future Hall of Famers Miguel Cabrera and Zack Greinke hung 'em up, as did former Ray Chris Archer. Awards season: Gold Glove: We had a winner as Randy Arozarena took the AL LF award. Thought Jose Siri might stand a chance in CF but he lost to Byron Buxton, whose name we'll hear a bit more of shortly. Reliever of the Year: Seattle's Matt Brash (8 W, 10 SV, 1.20 ERA) took the AL nod while Atlanta's Raisel Iglesias (47 SV, 2.63 ERA) won in the NL. Silver Slugger: Wander Franco won at AL SS. Rookie of the Year: Thought Miguel Vargas might win but he was nosed out by Baltimore's Gunnar Henderson (.281-20-63) 108-99 and 14-12 in 1st-place votes. The NL winner was Colorado's Ezequiel Tovar (.326-18-76) Cy Young: Jacob deGrom, who went 17-7, 3.22 his first year in Texas, now has the award in both leagues, and Yu Darvish (14-11, 2.88) beat out the Mets' Max Scherzer to win in the NL. MVP: Byron Buxton finally stayed healthy for a full season and put up a massive .260-57-116, 6.7 WAR season to just get past Julio Rodriguez (.312-34-105, 7.2 WAR) and Aaron Judge (.282-53-114, 6.7 WAR) in an incredibly fragmented AL decision that saw those three finish 313-300-295 and 13-9-8 in the voting. It was also a nail-biter in the NL as Nolan Arenado (.302-33-130, an NL-best 6.8 WAR) just get past Fernando Tatis Jr. (.294-41-114, 6.6 WAR) by a 349-339 and 16-14 margin. Perhaps if Tatis didn't miss the first few weeks due to suspension he might have gotten over the top. We made a trade: With only one player departing via free agency (Ian Happ), we weren't going to have too many open 40-man spots so we shopped the Rule 5-eligible Alexander Ovalles to see what we could get and were offered Wells by the Yankees, their 2021 1st-round pick. A look at Wells: It can't have been a popular deal in New York as Wells had nice year at AAA and is pretty much MLB-ready, although he doesn't have to go on our 40-man. It also solves some position imbalance issues we had as we were loaded with 1B prospects but a bit thin on upper-level OFs who could help us in 2024. Arbitration came and went and we settled with everyone, leaving us with $16M to spend on additional payroll. November 29: Atlanta traded pitching prospect Bryce Elder in a 4-player deal that saw Detroit ship them Matt Manning. December 1: More interesting trades. The Yankees and rival Red Sox hooked up with Clay Holmes headed to Boston for a couple of prospects including catcher Nate Hickey. The Blue Jays sent C Danny Jansen to the Angels for IF Brandon Drury, and the Tigers sent former Ray Austin Meadows to San Francisco for a couple of minor leaguers. Finally once-promising prospect Jo Adell is getting a change of scenery as the Angels sent him to Pittsburgh. December 3: The Dodgers signed former Ray Tyler Glasnow to a 2/53 contact extension. Good luck and good health to Tyler. December 4: Some big free agent news: The St. Louis front office announced the signing of Shohei Ohtani today as the team's new starting pitcher. The 29-year-old came to terms with the Cardinals and will be hauling in $27,800,000 a year over 6 years. In his career, Ohtani has fanned 663 batters and walked 176 in 537.1 innings of work. His lifetime won-lost record is 37 victories and 25 defeats with a 3.58 ERA and opposing hitters have compiled a .214 batting average against him. Of course he'll also do some hitting for them. December 7: Boston sent OF Alex Verdugo to Toronto for pitching prospect Adam Kloffenstein. December 10: This year's free agent class isn't that exciting now that Ohtani has signed as Matthew Boyd was one of the bigger names left; he's now gone to Houston on a 5/62 deal. December 11: Someone a little more exciting than Boyd was signed today as Miami broke out the checkbook for a change and signed Julio Urias to a 7/165 mega-deal. December 13: Some more signings as former Dodger Max Muncy joined Detroit on a 4/60 contract and a couple of pitchers who have seen better days joined new teams with Mike Clevinger to Atlanta for 1/4 and Lucas Giolito to Kansas City for 1/5.3. December 16: Added Ps Michael Mercado and Jacob Lopez to the 40-man roster; designated IF/OF Greg Jones for assignment. Some roster shuffling ahead of the Rule 5 Draft. Jones, our #1 pick in 2019, hasn't quite panned out and should clear waivers. December 17: The Rule 5 Draft: Some recognizable names here including a couple of former Rays prospects in Ronaldo Hernandez and Tommy Romero. Nobody lost on our end. December 20: Claimed P Jovani Moran on waivers from Minnesota, designated P Josh Fleming for assignment. Minnesota waived Moran in their Rule 5 roster crunch so we took advantage. The lefty has 75 stuff, 65 movement (and 35 control) but fanned 114 in 73 IP last year with the Twins and earned 1.6 WAR. Fleming failed in his shot to replace Tyler Glasnow early last season and while he was OK at Durham, we'll take our chances with him not clearing. December 24: Claimed P Phil Bickford on waivers from the Dodgers, designated P Ryan Thompson for assignment. If teams are going to keep on waiving good relievers, we're going to keep claiming them. Thompson struggled last year with a 5.66 ERA, becoming very home-prone with 13 allowed in 66 IP. Also the Marlins sent SP Trevor Rogers to Houston for 3 prospects. December 26: Andrew Kittredge, whom we non-tendered after missing 2023 with injury, inked a 1-year, $950K deal with the Phillies. Meanwhile the Rangers traded top prospect Evan Carter as well as another decent prospect in Luisangel Acuna to the Pirates for closer David Bednar. December 27: Our rental free agent Ian Happ has gone back to Chicago, but this time to the White Sox on a 4/57 contract. December 30: The Red Sox shipped Chris Sale to the desert as he joins the D-backs in exchange for a low-level prospect. Meanwhile, here's a biggie of a trade: In an effort to add some depth to its roster, the New York Yankees have swapped 22-year old SS Anthony Volpe and 23-year old minor league 2B Caleb Durbin to the Chicago White Sox for 30-year old SS Tim Anderson. The Yankees GM told reporters, "We saw a chance to upgrade our ball club and took it." Chicago will retain a portion of Anderson's remaining contract. In his career, Anderson has compiled a .293 batting average and collected 1103 hits, 112 home runs and 381 RBIs. January 5: Milwaukee sent former Rays SS Willy Adames to the Dodgers for a pitching prospect. January 8: Speaking of former Rays, OF Hunter Renfroe cashed in with a 6/116 deal in Cincinnati after another of his usual 30-homer seasons. January 17: The ballots are counted and the results are in. Unfortunately, no player was elected to the Hall of Fame this year. The top vote getter was Todd Helton, who received votes from 69.6% of eligible electors. 1B Todd Helton 69.6 (6th year) 3B Adrian Beltre 69.0 (1st year) CF Carlos Beltran 68.4 (2nd year) C Joe Mauer 65.6 (1st year) RF Gary Sheffield 59.2 (10th year) Dropped CL Billy Wagner 57.1 (9th year) CL Francisco Rodriguez 45.1 (2nd year) SS Alex Rodriguez 43.6 (3rd year) January 23: Houston and Kansas City announced some roster changes today as the Astros acquired 25-year old C MJ Melendez from the Royals in exchange for 28-year old LF Chas McCormick. January 30: Preseason began and Stu Sternberg decided to kick in an extra $8M for payroll. February 17: Just got word that Garrett Cleavinger's injury is worse than believed and he'll be out for all of 2024. Thankfully we claimed Jovani Moran to take over as our power lefty in the pen. March 3: A few of the straggling free agents found new homes on one-year deals with Michael Brantley (MIL, $3.2M), Teoscar Hernandez (STL, $4.1M) and Gio Urshela (ARI, $3.0M) signing. March 10: Some interesting names had to settle for minor league deals: Josh Bell (TOR), Harrison Bader (MIA), Cavan Biggio (STL), Kevin Kiermaier (CHC), James Paxton (SF). March 15: Joey Gallo signed a 1/6 deal with the Angels. March 18: A late spring trade: Luis Patino was out of options and wasn't likely to make the team, so we offered him around and the Dodgers were willing to give us Busch, a solid player who can be slotted at 1B or 2B. Neither are positions of need (especially 1B), but if Busch were to make the team we could play him some at 2B and stick B.Lowe in LF. He's got some pretty good ratings and really good numbers: March 23: Easy come, easy go on Phil Bickford. Stolen off waivers over the winter, he's torn his rotator cuff and will miss 4 months.