Official 2022-23 Offseason Hot Stove Thread

[Warfarin]

1 hour ago, Angels 1961 said:

Dodgers have a lot of good young players. I think they try and stay under lux tax this year. Maybe try and trade players like Chris Taylor, Daniel Hudson among others. Give experience to young players and regroup for next year. I predict Dodgers do not make playoffs this year.

I'd be shocked it they don't.  I think the Padres are clearly the best team in that division, but I think the Dodgers are a top 6 team in the NL.  All they have to do is be the 6th best.

I agree though.  I think they will view this as a "retool" year, go with the young kids they have, and reset their luxury tax.  They will then use that space to heavily pursue Ohtani, and if he doesn't go there, they will still be in position to use their financial might to add whomever - Rafeal Devers, Aaron Nola, etc.

[Angels 1961]

1 minute ago, Warfarin said:

I'd be shocked it they don't.  I think the Padres are clearly the best team in that division, but I think the Dodgers are a top 6 team in the NL.  All they have to do is be the 6th best.

I agree though.  I think they will view this as a "retool" year, go with the young kids they have, and reset their luxury tax.  They will then use that space to heavily pursue Ohtani, and if he doesn't go there, they will still be in position to use their financial might to add whomever - Rafeal Devers, Aaron Nola, etc.

Mets, SD and St Louis win their divisions. Philly, ATL and the 6th team. Always one surprise team and I pick SF.

[Warfarin]

15 minutes ago, Angels 1961 said:

Mets, SD and St Louis win their divisions. Philly, ATL and the 6th team. Always one surprise team and I pick SF.

Sure, anything is possible.  I just wouldn't bet on them missing it.  Friedman is arguably the best at what he does and he built a juggernaut in TB despite having no money.  I'm guessing, just based on their history, a few of their random under-the-radar signings turn out to be very good, much like how they picked up Thompson last year and he became a stud.

[Second Base]

I think the NL is going to lacking any drama this year. Five of the six playoff spots are already spoken for and we've just reached Christmas. 

Whereas in the AL, just about anything can happen. Astros are defending champs, but Seattle, Texas and maybe even the Angels can threaten the division. The Yanks, Rays and Orioles are all good teams as well. The AL Central is always the most boring division in baseball and figures to be again followed closely by the NL Central.

[Stradling]

25 minutes ago, Second Base said:

I think the NL is going to lacking any drama this year. Five of the six playoff spots are already spoken for and we've just reached Christmas. 

Whereas in the AL, just about anything can happen. Astros are defending champs, but Seattle, Angels and maybe even the Texas can threaten the division. The Yanks, Rays and Orioles are all good teams as well. The AL Central is always the most boring division in baseball and figures to be again followed closely by the NL Central.

Fixed

[Angels 1961]

1 hour ago, Warfarin said:

Sure, anything is possible.  I just wouldn't bet on them missing it.  Friedman is arguably the best at what he does and he built a juggernaut in TB despite having no money.  I'm guessing, just based on their history, a few of their random under-the-radar signings turn out to be very good, much like how they picked up Thompson last year and he became a stud.

They do have a lot of good young players. Big question for them is pitching. 

[BTH]

1 hour ago, Warfarin said:

I agree though.  I think they will view this as a "retool" year, go with the young kids they have, and reset their luxury tax.  They will then use that space to heavily pursue Ohtani, and if he doesn't go there, they will still be in position to use their financial might to add whomever - Rafeal Devers, Aaron Nola, etc.

It’s gonna be hard for the Dodgers to stay under the luxury tax.

Unless they shed some payroll, they’d go over with any non-league minimum player acquired at the deadline.

If they’re contending, which they always are, will they really stand pat at the deadline? I doubt it.

[Warfarin]

4 minutes ago, Trendon said:

It’s gonna be hard for the Dodgers to stay under the luxury tax.

Unless they shed some payroll, they’d go over with any non-league minimum player acquired at the deadline.

If they’re contending, which they always are, will they really stand pat at the deadline? I doubt it.

This last year, while they did pick up Gallo at the deadline, they also traded away a few players too from their MLB roster.  

I think they'll find a way to duck under.  Friedman has swung some big deals in the past to duck under (Gonzalez trade with Braves, some trade with the Reds that I'm blanking on).  The task is much less daunting this time, as I think he'd probably have a shed a few million to get there.  Maybe he'll find someone to trade for Bauer in exchange for a couple million - who knows.  They're right at the border though, and I would bet on Friedman figuring out how to get below and compete at the same time.  That is where he excels the most.

[Pancake Bear]

Texas ahead of the Angels? Would take a lot of injuries for that to happen (and none in Texas).

[Second Base]

14 minutes ago, Pancake Bear said:

Texas ahead of the Angels? Would take a lot of injuries for that to happen (and none in Texas).

It'll be interesting for sure. The Angels are solid in their rotation, but so is Texas now. Minasian has successfully stabilized the offense, barring something catostrophic, but Texas has a ton of weapons too offensively. 

I think right now, both can win 80-90 games. 

[Stradling]

I don’t see the Rangers improving five more games than the Angels this off season. 

[Pancake Bear]

16 minutes ago, Second Base said:

It'll be interesting for sure. The Angels are solid in their rotation, but so is Texas now. Minasian has successfully stabilized the offense, barring something catostrophic, but Texas has a ton of weapons too offensively. 

I think right now, both can win 80-90 games. 

The Angels had to have serious injury issues last year to finish behind Texas offensively. With their depth, there's zero chance that happens again. The Angels have better pitching this year and were already 8 wins ahead of them on pitching. That isn't going to be made up by deGrom and Heaney, assuming both can even pitch close to a full season. Texas will be lucky to be a .500 team considering they couldn't even win 70 last year. They haven't improved that much. Meanwhile the Angels bolstered their depth majorly. A .500 season is their floor unless they have even worse injuries than last year. 

[Tank]

20 hours ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

Whole thing is pretty weird. 

First I just want to say I love it. Correa is kind of a dirtbag, so seeing him and Boras getting stress is entertaining.

But you'd think if it truly is an old injury, it should be fine.

But the odd part is that two separate doctors in the span of a week said "don't do it".

Combine that with the fact he hasn't exactly been Ironman during his career to begin with....

Has this old injury affected his play in recent years? Are doctors concerned that he’s teetering on the edge of a career ending injury if this thing resurfaces? 

[Tank]

Corey Kluber’s name keeps coming up. Why should the halos be interested in him? He seems to be injured a fair amount. 

[Pancake Bear]

12 minutes ago, Tank said:

Corey Kluber’s name keeps coming up. Why should the halos be interested in him? He seems to be injured a fair amount. 

Guys with upside and durability issues should be avoided by teams with shallow rotations. They make sense for teams with solid depth. We have an excellent 1-5, so we can afford to gamble on upside where teams with murkier situations in their 4-5 pitchers shouldn't.  

[Second Base]

1 hour ago, Pancake Bear said:

The Angels had to have serious injury issues last year to finish behind Texas offensively. With their depth, there's zero chance that happens again. The Angels have better pitching this year and were already 8 wins ahead of them on pitching. That isn't going to be made up by deGrom and Heaney, assuming both can even pitch close to a full season. Texas will be lucky to be a .500 team considering they couldn't even win 70 last year. They haven't improved that much. Meanwhile the Angels bolstered their depth majorly. A .500 season is their floor unless they have even worse injuries than last year. 

Serious Homer vibes there. I think they'll both be better. Texas has a lot of up and coming talent, and DeGrom is the best pitcher in baseball, when healthy. And similarly, we can't just assume Rendon, Drury, Walsh and Urshela will hit. I strongly believe that will but you never know. 

I don't think I'm making a bold prediction by saying both teams will win 80-90 games. 

 

 

[BTH]

1 hour ago, Stradling said:

I don’t see the Rangers improving five more games than the Angels this off season. 

Agreed.

Their offseason moves so far:

Peréz: likely gonna regress.

DeGrom: elite when healthy, but huge health concerns.

Heaney: was good for LAD last season, but health concerns here too.

 

[Docwaukee]

Rangers are gonna need a lot of love from the baseball gods to be better than the Angels.  They're big time relying on the progression of a lot of young talent and the health of both a top heavy lineup and rotation.  

Both the Rangers and Angels stand to be the biggest improvers because of their negative relative to base runs.  They were -9 and -8 respectively.  A combo of bad luck and bad depth can do that. 

The rangers haven't improved their depth nearly as much as the halos but they also have a lot more young talent waiting in the wings a either ready or very close.  

[Stradling]

If someone assumes deGrom will be healthy then that person should assume health from Rendon. They have about the same track record the last two years health wise. 

[Second Base]

What do you guys think it would take to get Sale out of Boston, if he were to waive his NTC? 

They might be looking to get out from under the 27.5 million owed to him over the next two years. If he's healthy, Sale is an ace. IF IF IF. 

[Tank]

22 minutes ago, Second Base said:

What do you guys think it would take to get Sale out of Boston, if he were to waive his NTC? 

They might be looking to get out from under the 27.5 million owed to him over the next two years. If he's healthy, Sale is an ace. IF IF IF. 

would love to have him IF, IF, IF.

would also depend on what boston asks in return, of course.

[Revad]

13 minutes ago, Second Base said:

What do you guys think it would take to get Sale out of Boston, if he were to waive his NTC? 

They might be looking to get out from under the 27.5 million owed to him over the next two years. If he's healthy, Sale is an ace. IF IF IF. 

Boston likely holds him at least until the trade deadline, but a SP and a position player prospect.

[Stradling]

Bachman and Adell.  Something they can sell to their fans. 

[Angels 1961]

9 minutes ago, Stradling said:

Bachman and Adell.  Something they can sell to their fans. 

I was thinking Rendon so they can trade Devers to the Mets.

[Second Base]

I'd totally do Bachman and Adell.