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Art Deco · 06-12-2023, 06:36 PM

As always I'll start with the "in memoriam" roll of retiring players:

Stars: Justin Verlander (Detroit retired #35), Corey Kluber, Max Muncy, Kenley Jansen, Joey Votto, Marcell Ozuna, Chris Sale, Andrew McCutchen, Madison Bumgarner, Giancarlo Stanton, Anthony Rizzo, Jose Abreu, Max Scherzer, Carlos Carrasco, Aroldis Chapman.

Others of note: Jackie Bradley Jr., Jason Heyward, AJ Pollock, Kyle Hendricks, Yuli Gurriel, Andrelton Simmons, Brandon Belt, Lance McCullers Jr.

Former Rays: Kevin Kiermaier, Wil Myers, Drew Smyly, Ryan Sheriff, Matt Moore, Hunter Strickland, Yoshi Tsutsugo, Avisal Garcia, Tim Beckham, Jesus Aguilar, CJ Cron, Brad Miller, Jake Odorizzi, Nate Eovaldi, Brad Boxberger, Yasmani Grandal.

Awards season:

Gold Glove: Surprise! Elly De La Cruz wins at 3B. He was good of course but I thought perennial favorite Matt Chapman of Minnesota would take it.

Reliever of the Year: In the AL the Rangers' David Bednar was a unanimous choice after a 51-save season with an 0.56 ERA and in the NL the Mets' Edwin Diaz took 29 of 30 first-place votes in a runaway win, having saved 46 games with a 2.16 ERA.

Silver Slugger: No winners for us.

Rookie of the Year: Toronto's Blaze Alexander took 24 first-place votes thanks to a .270-14-66, 3.3 WAR season in the AL and the NL winner was Chicago's James Triantos with 23 first-place votes coming off a .299-16-73, 3.2 WAR year.

Cy Young: AL voters had a hard time coming to a consensus as a whopping seven different pitchers received first-place votes but in the end the winner was Seattle's Logan Gilbert, who claimed 14 of them despite a losing record (9-11, 3.00). I gave my vote to our Ryan Pepiot but only one other voter did and he finished fourth behind Gilbert, LA's Ryan Costeiu and Houston's Matthew Boyd. In the NL it was an even closer vote with the Mets' Dylan Cease getting the nod even though 2nd-place finisher Corbin Burnes had more first-place votes (14-12). Cease won 145 to 137 and Atlanta's Spencer Strider was right behind at 128 and 7 first-place votes. Cease was 17-7, 3.25 while Burnes was 15-11, 3.86 but with 284 whiffs.

MVP: Another close one with Aaron Judge squeaking by Riley Greene in the AL. Judge beat out Greene 16-13 and 342-324, after a .277-47-123 year preferred to Greene's .331-27-77. Greene had the better WAR, 6.7-6.2. Wander Franco finished sixth. In the NL things were much more clear-cut with Atlanta's Austin Riley a unanimous winner after a big .323-44-136 year good for an MLB-leading 7.1 WAR.

While all this was going on we were wheeling and dealing with a trio of trades. The first:

This one doesn't solve our 40-man roster problems but saves us $3-4M. Ynoa is a solid swingman who was 13-8 with 3 saves in 141 IP with Atlanta and earned 1.2 WAR. He seems ticketed for long relief for us.

Mission accomplished, catcher version:

Going into the offseason I was comfortable with Patrick Bailey as our #1 and was looking for a backup or a #1B. Instead I was able to acquire a true #1 (much to the incredulity of my assistant GM) in Langeliers, who's averaged .250-20-80 and 2.8 WAR the last 3 years with Oakland. He's probably going to cost about $6M in arbitration this year but we can afford it. The Ynoa acquisition gave us a glut of swingman/long relievers and while Baz was great in the long role he couldn't hack it as a starter. C+ prospect Tea was what got the deal done.

One more:

So I've cast my lot at DH with Jace Jung as Manzardo is headed to Tinseltown along with fireballing reliever prospect Matthew Peguero for an excellent starting pitching prospect in Santana, who is rated as thus and put up these sterling minor league stats:

Again my AGM thinks we pulled off a heist. Santana's a bit of a changeup artist and a little homer-prone but pitching in the Trop should help with that. He's rated the #111 prospect in baseball and the deal opens up a 40-man roster spot as Manzardo and Peguero were both on it while Santana needs to take one of those spots. As Santana's on the 40-man he has a shot at the big club but will probably pitch at Durham to start the year.

Meanwhile you don't see a lot of blockbuster AI deals but here's one:

Interesting that the Dodgers also get Johnson, the 2022 1st-round pick and #89-ranked prospect.

November 24: The Pirates sent 3B Ke'Bryan Hayes to the Cubs for a couple of mid-level prospects. Hayes still has a 70 glove but the hit profile remains questionable and he missed most of 2025 with a severe hip strain.

November 30: Arbitration hearings were held and we lost 3 of the 4 cases. Shane McClanahan, whom I'm waiting to see how he recovers from AC joint surgery before offering a long-term pact, got $15.5M instead of the $14M we offered; Ryan Pepiot got $4.75M instead of $4.2M; and Shea Langeliers received $6.5M instead of the $5.9M we offered, so that's about $2.6M more than we planned for. We did win our case against Reiver Sanmartin, who will get $1.3M. Randy Arozarena was non-tendered as we couldn't get anything for him in trade as was Ryan Thompson. As a result we go into the winter with a payroll just a shade under $114M with $40M potentially to spend.

December 3: The Padres shipped former Ray Jake Cronenworth to the Royals for a couple of prospects.

December 6: The Cardinals sent a 4-prospect package including Zach Gelof and Kameron Davis to Seattle for veteran SS JP Crawford.

December 7: San Diego seems to be in firesale mode as they sent workhorse starter Joe Musgrove to the White Sox for a couple of minor leaguers.

December 9: After trading him last year to the Mets for young catcher Kevin Parada and seeing him win a Cy Young in the Big Apple, the White Sox brought back SP Dylan Cease on a 6/192 deal. As great a year as Cease had, I don't trust his 40 control.
December 10: The Reds sent fireballer Hunter Greene to the Rockies for 2B Adael Amador and a couple of prospects. Greene has been a rotation fixture for Cincinnati but has consistently put up ERAs in the high-4s.

December 12: The Pirates are going for it, sending 2024 overall #7 pick Derek Curiel to the Giants for stalwart starter Logan Webb.

December 14: An interesting trade saw KC send starter Brady Singer to Colorado for 1B Sterlin Thompson in a trade of former Florida Gators. Thompson hit .305 in 216 AB as a Rockies rookie.

December 16: The top starting pitcher on the free agent market joined the Yankees as Brandon Woodruff signed a 5/112 deal.

December 18: Former Ray Tyler Glasnow will remain a Dodger on a big 5/139 extension. Also the Angels sent 3B Anthony Rendon to Arizona for a 19-year-old prospect with LA retaining 70% of his $38M salary. I kicked the tires on a Rendon deal myself but decided against it.

December 19: The Reds shipped hard-hitting C Tyler Stephenson to the Twins for OF Gilberto Celestino and a prospect, former Ray Jose Alvarado joined Milwaukee on a 3/18 deal, and 2B Nico Hoerner signed with the Giants for 3/56.

December 23: Added C Blake Hunt, IF Junior Caminero, OF Brock Jones, Ps Alex Ayala Jr., Franklin Dacosta, and Michael Mercado to the 40-man roster.

Cooper Criswell and Kameron Misner were waived off the 40-man and outrighted to Durham to open up a couple of more spots. Caminero and Jones are two of our top prospects while Ayala and Mercado are decent starter options. Hunt gives us a third catcher on the 40-man and Dacosta is a lefty reliever who could help next year. There were a couple of slightly better pitchers coming off surgeries that weren't protected and who I'm gambling will go unpicked in Rule 5 in starter Antonio Jimenez and reliever Israel Mateo.

December 24: A surprise trade saw the Angels send Cy Young runner-up Ryan Costeiu, who was 18-7, 3.22 last year, to the Mariners for 3 prospects.

December 24: The Rule 5 draft came and went and we didn't lose anybody. 8 players in total were taken with Dodger pitching prospect Bobby Miller going 1st overall to Seattle.

December 26: A couple of veteran closers found new homes with Raisel Iglesias joining San Diego for 2/14 and Jordan Romano surfacing in Texas with a 3/16 deal.

December 30: The Pirates acquired Nick Castellanos from Philly for starter Victor Gonzalez and a prospect.

06-12-2023, 06:36 PM	#41
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,825	2025-26 Offseason, Part 1 As always I'll start with the "in memoriam" roll of retiring players: Stars: Justin Verlander (Detroit retired #35), Corey Kluber, Max Muncy, Kenley Jansen, Joey Votto, Marcell Ozuna, Chris Sale, Andrew McCutchen, Madison Bumgarner, Giancarlo Stanton, Anthony Rizzo, Jose Abreu, Max Scherzer, Carlos Carrasco, Aroldis Chapman. Others of note: Jackie Bradley Jr., Jason Heyward, AJ Pollock, Kyle Hendricks, Yuli Gurriel, Andrelton Simmons, Brandon Belt, Lance McCullers Jr. Former Rays: Kevin Kiermaier, Wil Myers, Drew Smyly, Ryan Sheriff, Matt Moore, Hunter Strickland, Yoshi Tsutsugo, Avisal Garcia, Tim Beckham, Jesus Aguilar, CJ Cron, Brad Miller, Jake Odorizzi, Nate Eovaldi, Brad Boxberger, Yasmani Grandal. Awards season: Gold Glove: Surprise! Elly De La Cruz wins at 3B. He was good of course but I thought perennial favorite Matt Chapman of Minnesota would take it. Reliever of the Year: In the AL the Rangers' David Bednar was a unanimous choice after a 51-save season with an 0.56 ERA and in the NL the Mets' Edwin Diaz took 29 of 30 first-place votes in a runaway win, having saved 46 games with a 2.16 ERA. Silver Slugger: No winners for us. Rookie of the Year: Toronto's Blaze Alexander took 24 first-place votes thanks to a .270-14-66, 3.3 WAR season in the AL and the NL winner was Chicago's James Triantos with 23 first-place votes coming off a .299-16-73, 3.2 WAR year. Cy Young: AL voters had a hard time coming to a consensus as a whopping seven different pitchers received first-place votes but in the end the winner was Seattle's Logan Gilbert, who claimed 14 of them despite a losing record (9-11, 3.00). I gave my vote to our Ryan Pepiot but only one other voter did and he finished fourth behind Gilbert, LA's Ryan Costeiu and Houston's Matthew Boyd. In the NL it was an even closer vote with the Mets' Dylan Cease getting the nod even though 2nd-place finisher Corbin Burnes had more first-place votes (14-12). Cease won 145 to 137 and Atlanta's Spencer Strider was right behind at 128 and 7 first-place votes. Cease was 17-7, 3.25 while Burnes was 15-11, 3.86 but with 284 whiffs. MVP: Another close one with Aaron Judge squeaking by Riley Greene in the AL. Judge beat out Greene 16-13 and 342-324, after a .277-47-123 year preferred to Greene's .331-27-77. Greene had the better WAR, 6.7-6.2. Wander Franco finished sixth. In the NL things were much more clear-cut with Atlanta's Austin Riley a unanimous winner after a big .323-44-136 year good for an MLB-leading 7.1 WAR. While all this was going on we were wheeling and dealing with a trio of trades. The first: This one doesn't solve our 40-man roster problems but saves us $3-4M. Ynoa is a solid swingman who was 13-8 with 3 saves in 141 IP with Atlanta and earned 1.2 WAR. He seems ticketed for long relief for us. Mission accomplished, catcher version: Going into the offseason I was comfortable with Patrick Bailey as our #1 and was looking for a backup or a #1B. Instead I was able to acquire a true #1 (much to the incredulity of my assistant GM) in Langeliers, who's averaged .250-20-80 and 2.8 WAR the last 3 years with Oakland. He's probably going to cost about $6M in arbitration this year but we can afford it. The Ynoa acquisition gave us a glut of swingman/long relievers and while Baz was great in the long role he couldn't hack it as a starter. C+ prospect Tea was what got the deal done. One more: So I've cast my lot at DH with Jace Jung as Manzardo is headed to Tinseltown along with fireballing reliever prospect Matthew Peguero for an excellent starting pitching prospect in Santana, who is rated as thus and put up these sterling minor league stats: Again my AGM thinks we pulled off a heist. Santana's a bit of a changeup artist and a little homer-prone but pitching in the Trop should help with that. He's rated the #111 prospect in baseball and the deal opens up a 40-man roster spot as Manzardo and Peguero were both on it while Santana needs to take one of those spots. As Santana's on the 40-man he has a shot at the big club but will probably pitch at Durham to start the year. Meanwhile you don't see a lot of blockbuster AI deals but here's one: Interesting that the Dodgers also get Johnson, the 2022 1st-round pick and #89-ranked prospect. November 24: The Pirates sent 3B Ke'Bryan Hayes to the Cubs for a couple of mid-level prospects. Hayes still has a 70 glove but the hit profile remains questionable and he missed most of 2025 with a severe hip strain. November 30: Arbitration hearings were held and we lost 3 of the 4 cases. Shane McClanahan, whom I'm waiting to see how he recovers from AC joint surgery before offering a long-term pact, got $15.5M instead of the $14M we offered; Ryan Pepiot got $4.75M instead of $4.2M; and Shea Langeliers received $6.5M instead of the $5.9M we offered, so that's about $2.6M more than we planned for. We did win our case against Reiver Sanmartin, who will get $1.3M. Randy Arozarena was non-tendered as we couldn't get anything for him in trade as was Ryan Thompson. As a result we go into the winter with a payroll just a shade under $114M with $40M potentially to spend. December 3: The Padres shipped former Ray Jake Cronenworth to the Royals for a couple of prospects. December 6: The Cardinals sent a 4-prospect package including Zach Gelof and Kameron Davis to Seattle for veteran SS JP Crawford. December 7: San Diego seems to be in firesale mode as they sent workhorse starter Joe Musgrove to the White Sox for a couple of minor leaguers. December 9: After trading him last year to the Mets for young catcher Kevin Parada and seeing him win a Cy Young in the Big Apple, the White Sox brought back SP Dylan Cease on a 6/192 deal. As great a year as Cease had, I don't trust his 40 control. December 10: The Reds sent fireballer Hunter Greene to the Rockies for 2B Adael Amador and a couple of prospects. Greene has been a rotation fixture for Cincinnati but has consistently put up ERAs in the high-4s. December 12: The Pirates are going for it, sending 2024 overall #7 pick Derek Curiel to the Giants for stalwart starter Logan Webb. December 14: An interesting trade saw KC send starter Brady Singer to Colorado for 1B Sterlin Thompson in a trade of former Florida Gators. Thompson hit .305 in 216 AB as a Rockies rookie. December 16: The top starting pitcher on the free agent market joined the Yankees as Brandon Woodruff signed a 5/112 deal. December 18: Former Ray Tyler Glasnow will remain a Dodger on a big 5/139 extension. Also the Angels sent 3B Anthony Rendon to Arizona for a 19-year-old prospect with LA retaining 70% of his $38M salary. I kicked the tires on a Rendon deal myself but decided against it. December 19: The Reds shipped hard-hitting C Tyler Stephenson to the Twins for OF Gilberto Celestino and a prospect, former Ray Jose Alvarado joined Milwaukee on a 3/18 deal, and 2B Nico Hoerner signed with the Giants for 3/56. December 23: Added C Blake Hunt, IF Junior Caminero, OF Brock Jones, Ps Alex Ayala Jr., Franklin Dacosta, and Michael Mercado to the 40-man roster. Cooper Criswell and Kameron Misner were waived off the 40-man and outrighted to Durham to open up a couple of more spots. Caminero and Jones are two of our top prospects while Ayala and Mercado are decent starter options. Hunt gives us a third catcher on the 40-man and Dacosta is a lefty reliever who could help next year. There were a couple of slightly better pitchers coming off surgeries that weren't protected and who I'm gambling will go unpicked in Rule 5 in starter Antonio Jimenez and reliever Israel Mateo. December 24: A surprise trade saw the Angels send Cy Young runner-up Ryan Costeiu, who was 18-7, 3.22 last year, to the Mariners for 3 prospects. December 24: The Rule 5 draft came and went and we didn't lose anybody. 8 players in total were taken with Dodger pitching prospect Bobby Miller going 1st overall to Seattle. December 26: A couple of veteran closers found new homes with Raisel Iglesias joining San Diego for 2/14 and Jordan Romano surfacing in Texas with a 3/16 deal. December 30: The Pirates acquired Nick Castellanos from Philly for starter Victor Gonzalez and a prospect.