Angels Twitter gave us a video of the moment Mike Trout gets drafted. The voices of optimism are loud that the 2021 season will start on time. The Red Sox hired a female coach to work in their minor league system at Fort Myers (Rookie League). She will primarily work with position players.
Free Agent Rumblings
The Angels are still not being mentioned as being in the hunt for Tomoyuki Sugano. Trevor Bauer claims to have had meetings with several members of the Blue Jays staff. I’m not sure how much credence to give this. The Blue Jays are the team that doesn’t even know where they will play this year. On a related note, the Blue Jays have also met with Liam Hendriks. The Mets are apparently kicking the tires on Brad Hand. Catcher Curt Casali got a one year $1.5 Million contract with the Giants. The Corey Kluber showcase is set for January 13, 2021 in Florida.
Minor League Signings
Kim Ng is signing a lot of minor league contracts with Spring Training invites. As long as there are enough warm bodies at Spring Training the Marlins could cobble together a reasonable team on a budget. The Tigers are following the same strategy. They just signed Locke St. John and five other guys to minor league contracts.
Photo credit: Rex Fregosi
Bad month ahead in California, some offseason movement would certainly be welcome.
There is some movement… out of state.
Seriously bad month ahead lots of places. Please be safe. But as the old saying goes “it is always darkest before the dawn.” Hopefully we emerge from this right about the time the days get a little longer, the grass a little greener, and the crack of the bat is heard.
Robbie Grossman, who Brent tabbed and I copied for our PM pieces, has landed in Detroit on a deal larger than we expected.
I’m really starting to think our Opening Day right fielder is on the roster already. Probably be a time share between Ward, Walsh, and the new guy whose name I can’t recall.
Scott Schebler, unless you meant Brian Goodwin.
Schebler it is. I almost dropped Schoenweiss (probably massacred that).
Yes, we are “said” (MLB.com) to be in on Sugano.
He has an offer in Japan that is his fallback plan.
He has some leverage; with another strong performance in Japan the earnings differential this year can be somewhat recouped in 2022-2024, when attendance returns (or will it?).
Ok, I get this. There’s more to life than money and he already makes plenty of it. If he can enjoy the comforts of home and make the $6 million he made last year he needs some incentive to uproot his entire life and move here.
So the question is whether GM’s would rather spend $10 million per year on him or a similar, possibly lower sum, on more familiar arms like Happ.
I wonder what that asking price is. Bleacher Report suggests it would be reasonable (in 2021) for him to get 3 years/30M. If he wants four years at 10M, we should be able to afford that (that is what we paid Harvey and Cahill, and I have more faith in Sugano than either of them).
What would you be willing to pay for him?
He made 6M in Japan last year.
4/10 isn’t unreasonable and could be a bargain, as long as he resembles more Masahiro Tanaka than Yusei Kikuchi.
Let’s get trout and ohtani with the guy on a zoom meeting and get him in a halo uniform!
I’ve always hated how Bud Selig says Los Angeles.
Hey Bud, its Los An juh less, not Los Ang juh lees
Well, those stupid Marlins and Tigers only care about doing the bare minimum to put a team on the field and make money. They have hardly any pieces of championship flare on their vests and don’t seem to care about their fans or winning or being number one or Mambas or Bald Eagles or being Spartan Warriors who leave all their money on the field.
Good Morning to all.