The 2020 Major League Baseball Player Chatter, News and Fantasy Thread.

[EmpireMaker]

This could go down as an incredible couple of weeks for Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts. After helping the Dodgers to their first World Series title since 1988 last week, Betts was named a finalist for National League Most Valuable player honors Monday. If the Baseball Writers’ Association of America votes for Betts, the former Red Sox superstar will become the first player since the legendary Frank Robinson to win the MVP in both leagues. However, Betts has some stiff competition this year in the other two finalists – Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman and Padres third baseman Manny Machado.
Before the 28-year-old Betts took home his second World Series title, he was the juggernaut Dodgers’ premier player during the regular season. Betts slashed .292/.562 (149 wRC+) with 16 home runs, 10 stolen bases, the NL’s highest bWAR (3.4) and its second-ranked fWAR (3.0) in 246 plate appearances. You also can’t overlook Betts’ value in the field, as he led NL outfielders in Defensive Runs Saved (10) and came in second in Ultimate Zone Rating (5.7).
Freeman, meanwhile, went on an offensive rampage all season, especially during a September in which he recorded a remarkable 1.246 OPS in 96 at-bats. That month helped Freeman to an overall .341/.462/.640 line with 13 homers over 262 PA. Freeman was first in his league in fWAR (3.4), second in bWAR (2.8) and second in wRC+ (187).
Alongside shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr., who arguably had an MVP-caliber season of his own, Machado gave the Padres an all-world left side of the infield in 2020. Thanks in large part to those two, the Padres made the postseason for the first time since 2006. But it’s Machado who’s now drawing MVP consideration, and he’s certainly a deserving candidate. In his second season as a Padre, Machado hit .304/.370/.500 (148 wRC+) with 16 HRs and six steals in 254 PA. He ranked third among NL position players in bWAR (2.8) and sixth in fWAR (2.6).

[Otters27]

Who will lead the Majors in Batting Avg next year?

[JAKEPEAVY21]

Who will lead the Majors in Batting Avg next year?

I'll take Freedie Freeman if the odds are decent enough

[stevenash]

I'll take Freedie Freeman if the odds are decent enough

Yeah.

OR DJ, or Trea Turner
Depends on whether DJ is back in New York again.

[Cross]

Batting average is mostly meaningless, right?

[Chi_archie]

Who will lead the Majors in Batting Avg next year?

Tim Anderson

[stevenash]

Batting average is mostly meaningless, right?

OBA is much more telling.

[BigSpoon]

This could go down as an incredible couple of weeks for Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts. After helping the Dodgers to their first World Series title since 1988 last week, Betts was named a finalist for National League Most Valuable player honors Monday. If the Baseball Writers’ Association of America votes for Betts, the former Red Sox superstar will become the first player since the legendary Frank Robinson to win the MVP in both leagues. However, Betts has some stiff competition this year in the other two finalists – Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman and Padres third baseman Manny Machado.
Before the 28-year-old Betts took home his second World Series title, he was the juggernaut Dodgers’ premier player during the regular season. Betts slashed .292/.562 (149 wRC+) with 16 home runs, 10 stolen bases, the NL’s highest bWAR (3.4) and its second-ranked fWAR (3.0) in 246 plate appearances. You also can’t overlook Betts’ value in the field, as he led NL outfielders in Defensive Runs Saved (10) and came in second in Ultimate Zone Rating (5.7).
Freeman, meanwhile, went on an offensive rampage all season, especially during a September in which he recorded a remarkable 1.246 OPS in 96 at-bats. That month helped Freeman to an overall .341/.462/.640 line with 13 homers over 262 PA. Freeman was first in his league in fWAR (3.4), second in bWAR (2.8) and second in wRC+ (187).
Alongside shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr., who arguably had an MVP-caliber season of his own, Machado gave the Padres an all-world left side of the infield in 2020. Thanks in large part to those two, the Padres made the postseason for the first time since 2006. But it’s Machado who’s now drawing MVP consideration, and he’s certainly a deserving candidate. In his second season as a Padre, Machado hit .304/.370/.500 (148 wRC+) with 16 HRs and six steals in 254 PA. He ranked third among NL position players in bWAR (2.8) and sixth in fWAR (2.6).

Tough call between Betts and Freeman.

[JMobile]

Who will lead the Majors in Batting Avg next year?

Fernando Tatis Jr, El Nino.

[BigSpoon]

Who will lead the Majors in Batting Avg next year?

Bo Bichette as a deep sleeper.

[EmpireMaker]

The coda to an unforgettably weird 2020 baseball season came when Justin Turner celebrated with his Dodgers teammates in the wake of a mid-World Series COVID-19 diagnosis. That incident led Major League Baseball announce a “full investigation into this matter” in a statement that flatly panned Turner for his recklessness.
Now, the league and MLB Players Union are “moving closer to a resolution” of the case from a disciplinary perspective, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter links). Just when we’ll learn of the outcome isn’t known; neither is it clear what range of punishment is under contemplation.
The league and union typically interact regarding disciplinary matters. There’s a reason that most PED or domestic violence-related suspensions are announced alongside the player’s decision not to challenge the result.
That was all the more necessary here. The league’s coronavirus protocols were jointly developed and obviously required significant buy-in from union officials and the players they represent. And Turner’s covid-shedding celebration presents a situation without any obvious precedent.
It seems we’ll have a final determination — and an opportunity for Turner to make some amends — before free agency begins in earnest (whenever that may be). Turner is one of the top available players on the open market this winter. It’s an open question whether and how the surreal scene will impact his free agency.

[jrgum3]

Yeah.

OR DJ, or Trea Turner
Depends on whether DJ is back in New York again.

Hard to bet against my boy Lemahieu that guy rakes wherever he plays. He's won a batting title in both leagues so if I had to bet on someone winning a batting title he'd be on the short list.

[Otters27]

Hard to bet against my boy Lemahieu that guy rakes wherever he plays. He's won a batting title in both leagues so if I had to bet on someone winning a batting title he'd be on the short list.

Lemahieu is so good. Rockies let the good players go of course

[Cross]

I think LeMahieu was a Cub as well.

[JMobile]

How many months until Spring training now?

[batt33]

How many months until Spring training now?

Too many.... for me

[stevenash]

I think LeMahieu was a Cub as well.

He was.
In 2011 he went 15 for 60 for the Cubbies.
Today's DJ fun fact.
He was a Tiger before he was a Cub.

[jrgum3]

How many months until Spring training now?

The winter is often the cruelest without baseball but Pitchers and Catchers will report before you know it. I guess 4 months is a long time if you live for the game like we do in here.

[EmpireMaker]

The Mariners have agreed to sign right-handers Matt Magill, Gerson Bautista, and Brady Lail to minor league contracts, The Athletic’s Corey Brock reports (Twitter link). All three pitchers were outrighted off Seattle’s 40-man roster following the season.
Magill entered the season as a candidate to become the Mariners’ closer, following a solid performance (3.94 ERA, 10.1 K/9, 2.79 K/BB rate) over 107 1/3 innings for the Twins and Mariners in 2018-19. As it happened, Magill’s only two save opportunities of 2020 resulted in blown saves, and the only two poor outings of his season — Magill tossed nine scoreless innings over nine of his appearances, and seven earned runs over 1 1/3 innings in those two blown saves, working out to a somewhat misleading 6.10 ERA for the season.
Shoulder surgery cut Magill’s season short in mid-September, and it’s quite possible that his injury played a role in those two blown saves, given that they both occurred within Magill’s final three games of 2020. Magill is expected to be healthy and ready in time for the start of Spring Training. He was eligible for arbitration for the first time this winter, projected to earn somewhere between $700-$800K depending on how arb salaries are calculated this offseason.
Bautista didn’t pitch at all in 2020 due to a flexor strain in his elbow, and he also missed significant time due to a pec injury in 2019. The hard-throwing righty still has only 13 1/3 big league innings under his belt, all with the Mets and Mariners in 2018-19. Bautista is best known for being one of the five players acquired by the Mariners in the huge blockbuster trade in December 2018 that sent Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz to New York.
Claimed off waivers from the White Sox in August, Lail posted a 4.41 ERA, 1.71 K/BB rate, and 6.6 K/9 over 16 1/3 combined innings for Seattle and Chicago last season. Originally an 18th-round pick for the Yankees in the 2012 draft, Lail’s eight seasons in New York’s farm system resulted in one MLB appearance before he was let go after the 2019 season.

[Chi_archie]

never heard of those dudes

[stevenash]

never heard of those dudes

That's what makes the Mariners the Mariners.

[Cross]

Stevenash, you are a baseball encyclopedia bro!

[BigSpoon]

The coda to an unforgettably weird 2020 baseball season came when Justin Turner celebrated with his Dodgers teammates in the wake of a mid-World Series COVID-19 diagnosis. That incident led Major League Baseball announce a “full investigation into this matter” in a statement that flatly panned Turner for his recklessness.
Now, the league and MLB Players Union are “moving closer to a resolution” of the case from a disciplinary perspective, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter links). Just when we’ll learn of the outcome isn’t known; neither is it clear what range of punishment is under contemplation.
The league and union typically interact regarding disciplinary matters. There’s a reason that most PED or domestic violence-related suspensions are announced alongside the player’s decision not to challenge the result.
That was all the more necessary here. The league’s coronavirus protocols were jointly developed and obviously required significant buy-in from union officials and the players they represent. And Turner’s covid-shedding celebration presents a situation without any obvious precedent.
It seems we’ll have a final determination — and an opportunity for Turner to make some amends — before free agency begins in earnest (whenever that may be). Turner is one of the top available players on the open market this winter. It’s an open question whether and how the surreal scene will impact his free agency.

Turner escapes without any punishment from MLB.

[JMobile]

Turner escapes without any punishment from MLB.

That way he can get picked up or resigned fast

[stevenash]

Stevenash, you are a baseball encyclopedia bro!

That's what they tell me.

I'm just a geek from way back.
If it's trivial meaningless baseball data that nobody really gives a shit about, I know it.

[batt33]

Turner escapes without any punishment from MLB.

par for the course

[jrgum3]

Alex Cora back in the game and back with the BoSox. They need a lot more than their former manager to return to past glory though. Will be interesting to see how they do in Cora's second go around.

[Otters27]

Will the Dodgers Repeat? Yankees want Gherrit Cole to get them one at least

[BigSpoon]

Alex Cora back in the game and back with the BoSox. They need a lot more than their former manager to return to past glory though. Will be interesting to see how they do in Cora's second go around.

More cheating to get some extra wins.

[Cross]

So the cheaters get to come back after missing one really short shitty season? What a joke.

[EmpireMaker]

The Mets could go after Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor in a trade during the offseason, but the return might prove prohibitive for New York. As David Lennon of Newsday tweets, the Indians could ask for an Andres Gimenez–Jeff McNeil tandem in trade talks. That would be a lot for the Mets, who saw Gimenez perform well as a rookie in 2020 and who have gotten tremendous production from the versatile McNeil dating back to his 2018 debut. McNeil has batted an outstanding .319/.383/.501 in 1,024 major league plate appearances, so it seems highly unlikely the Mets will part with him and Gimenez for one year of control over Lindor.

• Former Marlins president of baseball operations Michael Hill, whom they parted with in late October, continues to look like a serious candidate for the Angels’ general manager job. Hill will have an in-person meeting soon with Angels owner Arte Moreno, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network.
• Padres left-hander Matt Strahm recently underwent successful surgery on his partially torn right patellar tendon, Robert Murray of Fansided reports. The 28-year-old Strahm logged a 2.61 ERA/4.93 FIP with a career-worst 6.53 K/9 against 1.74 BB/9 over 20 2/3 innings in 2020.
• John Baker looks like the front-runner to take over as the Pirates’ farm director, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette reports. The former major league catcher has been working in the Cubs’ front office since 2015.

[jrgum3]

So the cheaters get to come back after missing one really short shitty season? What a joke.

Hell they didn't punish any of the players which says alot about MLB as well as the owners who hired these managers that were known cheaters.

[JAKEPEAVY21]

So the cheaters get to come back after missing one really short shitty season? What a joke.

Damn shame the Astros did not get booed all year due to Covid...

[Stallion]

I heard 5 Dodgers tested positive for covid. Its possibly Turner's fault??

[JMobile]

I heard 5 Dodgers tested positive for covid. Its possibly Turner's fault??

He didn't get in any trouble.