The 2016 Major League Baseball Player Chatter, News and Fantasy Thread...

[koz-man]

Would you guys rather have Salvador Perez or Russell Martin as your Catcher on your fantasy team this year ?

I would go for Perez. Becaz younger, more playing time, & less ko's.

Both are top tier catchers.

[stevenash]

Trout not going in the top 2 picks is a bit of a shock.

Been in 10 or so mocks so far, Harper is getting a shit load of love, Trout, Harper, and Goldy are no brainer top 1-2-3 I have Trout 1, Goldy 2, Harper 3, I don't think Machado is a top 5 pick and he's sliding down the ADP, Kershaw is 4 on my list but will not draft Kershaw above 8 overall, no SP is worth a top pick, I would draft Sale or Max, especially Max in the 2nd round if he falls to me at 16 overall.

[EmpireMaker]

Been in 10 or so mocks so far, Harper is getting a shit load of love, Trout, Harper, and Goldy are no brainer top 1-2-3 I have Trout 1, Goldy 2, Harper 3, I don't think Machado is a top 5 pick and he's sliding down the ADP, Kershaw is 4 on my list but will not draft Kershaw above 8 overall, no SP is worth a top pick, I would draft Sale or Max, especially Max in the 2nd round if he falls to me at 16 overall.

I won't take Harper at all, I think that he will have a hard time matching what he did last year and he is going high in the first round. I was between Trout and Kershaw and went Kershaw. It was basically a coin flip for me. I took Trout on a few teams last season and he didn't perform quite as well as I wanted him to considering where I drafted him, so that is why I went the other way this time.

[stevenash]

^
I don't want Harper, I hoping to fade the 3 pick.
If I had one or two I would take Goldy at 2, Trout at 1, and reverse.
If I had 3, I would have to take Harper, and not be happy about it, or I might shock the world and go Donaldson #3, he's the fourth ranked hitter after all.

[EmpireMaker]

We are pretty much on the same page, I don't want Machado that high either and we don't really want Harper high in the first round. I took a shot on Kershaw in this draft, which is different than I normally do but he scored a ton of points last year in standard leagues.

[EmpireMaker]

I would go for Perez. Becaz younger, more playing time, & less ko's.

Both are top tier catchers.

I drafted Perez and then accidentally timed out in my draft and ended up getting Martin too as he was still at the top of my queue. So, today I decided I wanted to get rid of Martin so I offered a guy with a crappy catcher Martin for Lance McCullers and he accepted.

[EmpireMaker]

Do any of you guys have any sleeper outfielders that you think will have a big year this year ?

[Shortstop]

Kang calm in eye of collision storm

After suffering an injury to his left leg on a controversial slide by Chris Coghlan last year, Jung Ho Kang has attacked his rehab with an eye-popping professionalism. Taking ownership

I can't wait to see Kang back in action!

He's going to play a big role in determining whether the Pirates play in October again this year...

[stevenash]

We are pretty much on the same page, I don't want Machado that high either and we don't really want Harper high in the first round. I took a shot on Kershaw in this draft, which is different than I normally do but he scored a ton of points last year in standard leagues.

I just finished a mock.
With the 7 overall, Kershaw fell in my lap, so just shits and giggles I drafted him, just to see what I can do rounds 2 through 6.
At 18 overall, Max is sitting there, so I started drooling, just for shits and giggles I daft Max too.

Now I have the best two SP on the planet.
I wind up with Marte, Todd Frazier, Chris Davis and Kipnis next four rounds.

[EmpireMaker]

I got Kipnis @ 122

[EmpireMaker]

Frazier went 66, Davis 35 , Marte 60

[EmpireMaker]

Rangers To Sign Ian Desmond

By Zach Links | February 28, 2016 at 5:45pm CST
5:45pm: Desmond has passed his physical, and an announcement is expected tomorrow, tweets MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan. He’s expected to be in camp with the Rangers tomorrow.
9:07am: It’s a one-year, $8MM deal, per Rosenthal (on Twitter). Desmond turned down a one-year, $15.8MM qualifying offer from the Nationals earlier this offseason. In 2013, the Nationals reportedly made Desmond a seven-year, $107MM extension offer. That offer included the $17.5MM he earned in his final two years with the Nats, meaning it was about $89MM for his first five free-agent years.
Financially, Desmond might have a few regrets about his past decisions. On the flipside, if Desmond can have a strong 2016, he’ll have another opportunity to cash in next offseason in a weaker class of free agents.
8:29am: The Rangers have agreed to sign Ian Desmond to a one-year deal, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). The deal is still pending a physical, but there is an agreement in place between the two sides.
Days ago, it was reported that the Rangers were eyeing Desmond as a left fielder and a club source has confirmed to Jim Bowden of ESPN (on Twitter) that he will indeed be moving to the outfield. Desmond, who has spent the overwhelming majority of his career as a shortstop, will be Texas’ starting left fielder in 2016.
Throughout the offseason, there’s been talk that Desmond could draw interest from clubs at a position other than shortstop, though there were a number of obstacles that seemed to be standing between Desmond and an agreement with the Rangers. For starters, Texas has repeatedly been said to be averse to adding further payroll, as they’re already looking at what projects to be a club-record payroll north of $145MM. Beyond that, the Rangers will have to surrender the No. 19 overall pick in the 2016 draft in order to sign Desmond. However, if the Rangers make Desmond a qualifying offer next offseason and he turns it down to sign elsewhere, Texas can recoup a first-round pick.
The Rangers picked up the No. 30 overall selection in the draft when Yovani Gallardo signed with Baltimore, though, so they will still have their first-round selection after coughing up their top pick for Desmond. That selection wouldn’t move up a spot, however, as the Nationals, who finished with a worse record than the Rangers, will gain a compensatory pick that will slot in ahead of the Rangers’ No. 30 selection.
Desmond endured perhaps his worst full season in the Majors last year, but he did rebound with a .262/.331/.446 second half, during which he homered a dozen times and stole eight bases. As it stands right now, Josh Hamilton is atop the Rangers’ depth chart in left field, but Hamilton is already slated to open the season on the disabled list and is unlikely to be relied upon as an everyday contributor even when fully healthy; given his recent injury history, Hamilton will probably require frequent rest in order to avoid the DL over the course of the season.

[Shortstop]

Do any of you guys have any sleeper outfielders that you think will have a big year this year ?

Not sure if he's a "sleeper" anymore, but I expect Starling Marte to have a very nice year...

[mpaschal34]

Desmond has to be kicking himself, last year he turned down a $107M extension....now he's making $8M this year. Not chump change, but that s $99M left on the table.

[BarkingToad]

Do any of you guys have any sleeper outfielders that you think will have a big year this year ?

I would take a look at Stephen Piscotty.

[Otters27]

Any Rockies players that are worth looking at due to the Coors field and Altitude factor?

[LT Profits]

Handy reference grading off-season Moves for all 30 teams all in one place:

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/grading-the-offseasons-for-all-30-teams/

[Wrigley]

Handy reference grading off-season Moves for all 30 teams all in one place:

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/gradi...-all-30-teams/

Might as well give the cubs the trophy now

[Shortstop]

Abraham Almonte is the most recent to be suspended for PEDs.

Is this the same kid that was of illegal age in the Little League World Series several years ago..

[EmpireMaker]

I would take a look at Stephen Piscotty.

He went at 83 in my draft, but the guy that drafted him just dropped him for some reason. I am going to try to drop Calhoun and pick him up from waivers.

[LT Profits]

Is this the same kid that was of illegal age in the Little League World Series several years ago..

No, that was Danny Almonte, who is American and thus played for Team USA. I believe Abraham is Dominican.

[BigSpoon]

Desmond has to be kicking himself, last year he turned down a $107M extension....now he's making $8M this year. Not chump change, but that s $99M left on the table.

Also turned down the $15.8M one year qualifying offer. Ouch.

[stevenash]

Any Rockies players that are worth looking at due to the Coors field and Altitude factor?

Blackmon

[Chi_archie]

Might as well give the cubs the trophy now

paper champs

[mr. leisure]

Desmond has to be kicking himself, last year he turned down a $107M extension....now he's making $8M this year. Not chump change, but that s $99M left on the table.

Holy cow , that sucks !!

[EmpireMaker]

Cole won't be a Pirate after this year, they just totally fukked him over.
Pittsburgh Pirates ace Gerrit Cole on Monday agreed to a one-year deal worth $541,000 in base salary --€” the same amount he earned last year which included an All-Star bonus, according to Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Cole had little choice other than to sign the deal. He has less than three years of major-league service, meaning the Pirates have broad authority to set his salary as long as it conforms to the major-league minimum of $507,500.

"They even threatened a salary reduction to the league minimum if I did not agree," Cole told Biertempfel.

On Monday, Cole's agent, Scott Boras, issued a statement on the matter to FOX Sports.

"Every team has the CBA right to control the salaries of non-arbitration-eligible players," Boras said. "The primary consideration within its organization is to distinguish performance among players. If a star player is making near the same compensation as a utility player, the system will be held as unfair among the players in that organization.

"Teams have unilateral control over salaries of their administration. However, GMs and local scouts are not paid on a equivalent basis. Performance separation is rewarded. Further, other clubs recognize star performance and provide substantial salary separation within this class of service.

"Fairness within the organization is paramount to an organizational ethic. In a performance-driven industry, to treat excellence and below-average (production) similarly ... becomes an organizational flu and reveals a incomplete and fractured system."

[EmpireMaker]

I expect to see a DL stint from Cole this year as well. This is a really bad way to do business.

[koz-man]

I drafted Perez and then accidentally timed out in my draft and ended up getting Martin too as he was still at the top of my queue. So, today I decided I wanted to get rid of Martin so I offered a guy with a crappy catcher Martin for Lance McCullers and he accepted.

Defiantly good trade bait.

[Andy117]

Cole won't be a Pirate after this year, they just totally fukked him over.
Pittsburgh Pirates ace Gerrit Cole on Monday agreed to a one-year deal worth $541,000 in base salary --€” the same amount he earned last year which included an All-Star bonus, according to Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Cole had little choice other than to sign the deal. He has less than three years of major-league service, meaning the Pirates have broad authority to set his salary as long as it conforms to the major-league minimum of $507,500.

"They even threatened a salary reduction to the league minimum if I did not agree," Cole told Biertempfel.

On Monday, Cole's agent, Scott Boras, issued a statement on the matter to FOX Sports.

"Every team has the CBA right to control the salaries of non-arbitration-eligible players," Boras said. "The primary consideration within its organization is to distinguish performance among players. If a star player is making near the same compensation as a utility player, the system will be held as unfair among the players in that organization.

"Teams have unilateral control over salaries of their administration. However, GMs and local scouts are not paid on a equivalent basis. Performance separation is rewarded. Further, other clubs recognize star performance and provide substantial salary separation within this class of service.

"Fairness within the organization is paramount to an organizational ethic. In a performance-driven industry, to treat excellence and below-average (production) similarly ... becomes an organizational flu and reveals a incomplete and fractured system."

He's not going anywhere for awhile. He's got 3 years of arbitration before free agency.

[stevenash]

In 2015, MLB teams stole a total of 2,505 bases, the lowest total since 1974 (2,488) when there were fewer teams. The MLB per game average of 0.52 stolen bases per team was the lowest since 1973. There were 259 fewer stolen bases in 2015 than in 2014 and a whopping 724 fewer stolen bases in 2015 than in 2012.

2015: 2,505 stolen bases
2014: 2,764
2013: 2,693
2012: 3,229
2011: 3,279
2010: 2,959
2009: 2,970
2008: 2,799
2007: 2,918
2006: 2,767
2005: 2,565
2004: 2,589

[BigSpoon]

He's not going anywhere for awhile. He's got 3 years of arbitration before free agency.

With Boras as his agent there is no way he's going to stay in Pittsburgh for the long term.

[Cross]

Danny almonte talk, awesome... The 14 year old little leaguer!

[Otters27]

Blackmon

I like Blackmon. Guy is a hustler. Seems to get hurt though.

[Chi_archie]

Danny almonte talk, awesome... The 14 year old little leaguer!

yes, I remember those days

[EmpireMaker]

He's not going anywhere for awhile. He's got 3 years of arbitration before free agency.

Pittsburg did him wrong and he will be gone at the first opportunity. Also, his loyalty will certainly not be as strong as it would be if they had given him even a decent contract.