The 2021 Major League Baseball Player Chatter, News and Fantasy Thread

[stevenash]

Quiz time.

What make this stat line an extreme rarity?

Name	Team	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SV	HLD	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO
Paul Sewald	SEA	10	3	3.06	62	0	11	16	64.2	42	24	22	10	24	104

[jrgum3]

Name	Team	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SV	HLD	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO
Paul Sewald	SEA	10	3	3.06	62	0	11	16	64.2	42	24	22	10	24	104

My guess is there aren't many pitchers who have double digits in wins, holds and saves.

[stevenash]

My guess is there aren't many pitchers who have double digits in wins, holds and saves.

Without a single start.
Yes

His K ratio is insane too.
Though it looks like Paul left a few curves hanging though.

[jrgum3]

Without a single start.
Yes

His K ratio is insane too.
Though it looks like Paul left a few curves hanging though.

That's crazy I suppose thats a big reason why the Mariners were in the race right up until the final weekend of the season. It's like we've been saying in here the bullpen is a big reason why the best teams in baseball win.

[Cross]

Wow, 10 wins without starting a game.

[EmpireMaker]

The Marlins have acquired right-hander Louis Head from the Rays in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations. Miami has designated outfielder Brian Miller for assignment in a corresponding move to create roster space.
Head made his MLB debut in 2021 and impressed in terms of bottom-line numbers, posting a 2.31 ERA over 35 innings out of Tampa’s bullpen (with two “starts” but as an opener). Advanced metrics like a 4.03 SIERA and 23.9% strikeout rate weren’t as impressive and Head did benefit from a .216 BABIP, but he also did a very good job of limiting hard contact.
Perhaps moreso than his solid numbers, Head might be the poster child for the Rays’ penchant for shuttling pitchers back and forth from Triple-A. Head was called up and sent down a whopping 12 times last season, as the Rays constantly looked to move fresh arms in and out of their bullpen.
Head turns 32 in April, and was originally an 18th-round draft pick for Cleveland in 2012. After eight seasons in the minors with the Guardians and Dodgers, Head was on the verge of leaving baseball entirely before catching on with the Rays this past offseason. He’ll now go to Miami with presumably a better chance of sticking in the majors for a slightly more extended period of time, adding another live arm to a Marlins bullpen that was quietly pretty solid in 2021.
From the Rays’ perspective, they have the relief depth on paper to account for Head’s departure, and Tampa now also opens up another 40-man roster spot before Friday’s deadline to set rosters in advance of the Rule 5 draft. The Rays made another roster clearance-type of deal yesterday, sending utility infielder Mike Brosseau to the Brewers.
Miller also made his Major League debut this past season, receiving 11 plate appearances over five games. Miller was selected 36th overall in the 2017 draft, but a modest .284/.338/.360 slash line over 1759 PA in the Marlins’ system kept him from truly establishing himself as a part of the team’s future. Miller does boast plenty of speed, which has led to 119 stolen bases out of 155 chances and the defensive versatility to handle any of the three outfield positions.

[JAKEPEAVY21]

Name	Team	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SV	HLD	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO
Paul Sewald	SEA	10	3	3.06	62	0	11	16	64.2	42	24	22	10	24	104

Impressive stat line, never even heard of the guy..

[Otters27]

Wow, 10 wins without starting a game.

Slot of starters don't get 10 wins.

Who had the most losses this year?

[stevenash]

Wow, 10 wins without starting a game.

10 or more wins, holds, and saves.
Without a single start is incredible.
I'll go to Mr. Database later because I'm wondering if that's ever been done before.

E-Rod declines Boston's offer and signed with the Tigers.
Brilliant move by Detroit, they're (forgive the pun) players now.
The Tigers are in it to win it, and they're on record saying they're going to be active in the Correa sweepstakes.

Rodriguez is just hitting his prime, has a real live arm, a left arm at that.
Jumping from Fenway to Comerica for a lefty is a major upgrade for him.

Good on E-Rod, he's going to tough against KC.
KC and Detroit are going to relevant again in the AL Central again.
Can't wait for 2022.

[JMobile]

Tigers signed Eduardo Rodriguez for 5 years. Wow

[Cross]

Looks like Twins are on the way to the cellar in that division.

[stevenash]

Julio Lugo died, heart attack.
Would have been 46 today.

[EmpireMaker]

Utilityman Chris Taylor will reject the Dodgers’ one-year, $18.4MM qualifying offer and test the open market, reports Jon Heyman of the MLB Network (Twitter link). The Meister Sports Management client will presumably set out in search of a multi-year pact, be it with the Dodgers or another club.
That’s not at all surprising, since Taylor should be in plenty of demand. Even with draft pick compensation attached, MLBTR placed the 31-year-old sixteenth on this offseason’s list of top free agents, projecting him to land a four-year deal worth $64MM. Taylor’s ability to play essentially any non-catcher position on the diamond should make him a highly coveted player, with teams seeing him as a potential solution for weaknesses on their current roster at various positions.
While Taylor’s best known for his defensive versatility, he pairs that with strong work at the plate. The right-handed hitter strikes out a fair amount, but he also draws walks and hits for power at high clips despite spending his past few years in one of the game’s more pitcher-friendly home parks. By measure of wRC+, Taylor has been an above-average bat in each of the past five seasons. He slowed down in the second half of the 2021 campaign, but Taylor was scorching hot during the postseason to hit free agency on a high note.
If Taylor doesn’t re-sign with the Dodgers, they’ll stand to receive a compensatory draft choice. As a team that exceeded the luxury tax threshold in 2021, they’ll only add a pick after the end of the fourth round. Teams that sign Taylor (or any other qualified free agent), will surrender draft and potentially international signing bonus capital, with the extent of the forfeiture dependent on the signing club’s market size.

[jrgum3]

Utilityman Chris Taylor will reject the Dodgers’ one-year, $18.4MM qualifying offer and test the open market, reports Jon Heyman of the MLB Network (Twitter link). The Meister Sports Management client will presumably set out in search of a multi-year pact, be it with the Dodgers or another club.
That’s not at all surprising, since Taylor should be in plenty of demand. Even with draft pick compensation attached, MLBTR placed the 31-year-old sixteenth on this offseason’s list of top free agents, projecting him to land a four-year deal worth $64MM. Taylor’s ability to play essentially any non-catcher position on the diamond should make him a highly coveted player, with teams seeing him as a potential solution for weaknesses on their current roster at various positions.
While Taylor’s best known for his defensive versatility, he pairs that with strong work at the plate. The right-handed hitter strikes out a fair amount, but he also draws walks and hits for power at high clips despite spending his past few years in one of the game’s more pitcher-friendly home parks. By measure of wRC+, Taylor has been an above-average bat in each of the past five seasons. He slowed down in the second half of the 2021 campaign, but Taylor was scorching hot during the postseason to hit free agency on a high note.
If Taylor doesn’t re-sign with the Dodgers, they’ll stand to receive a compensatory draft choice. As a team that exceeded the luxury tax threshold in 2021, they’ll only add a pick after the end of the fourth round. Teams that sign Taylor (or any other qualified free agent), will surrender draft and potentially international signing bonus capital, with the extent of the forfeiture dependent on the signing club’s market size.

Taylor was a key piece on the Dodgers. I'm sure he'll find a team that wants him because you need guys like Taylor on your club.

[JAKEPEAVY21]

Taylor was a key piece on the Dodgers. I'm sure he'll find a team that wants him because you need guys like Taylor on your club.

Hoping him and Seager both leave the Dodgers

[Otters27]

Julio Lugo died, heart attack.
Would have been 46 today.

Sad how many pro athletes die at a young age

[BigSpoon]

Jays sign Jose Berrios to a 7 year extension worth $131M. Very team friendly signing imo.

[JMobile]

Syndergaard comeback player of the year for 2022???

[EmpireMaker]

Though the consensus around the game remains that a reunion between Freddie Freeman and the Braves is something of a fait accompli, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports that the two sides are still hung up on the length of the deal. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale had previously reported that the 2020 NL MVP had already rejected the Braves’ best offer ($135MM over five years), though it’s unclear if that’s the same offer the club had made when Heyman reported a “gap” between the two sides in September.
Freeman, who has played the entirety of his twelve-year big-league career in Atlanta, is reportedly looking for a deal that would pay him something closer to $200MM over six years. Whether or not the Braves have bumped up their dollar offer is unclear, but the first baseman, who cemented his place in the annals of Braves history during the club’s 2021 World Series run, appears set on receiving a deal that would take him through at least his age-37 season. It’s quite clear that a carbon-copy of the five-year, $130MM deal Paul Goldschmidt signed with the Cardinals ahead of the 2019 season won’t get it done. MLBTR projects that Freeman will ultimately sign for six years and $180MM.
Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos has already confirmed the club will run a higher payroll in 2022. To keep Freeman around, they’ll have to; following yesterday’s signing of Manny Piña, Cot’s Baseball Contracts estimates (including arbitration salary projections) that the Braves have already committed just shy of $133MM to their 2022 roster. This figure could decrease with a suspension of Marcell Ozuna (who’s slated to earn $16MM next year) or if the club chooses to non-tender a few of its arbitration-eligible players (Johan Camargo, Sean Newcomb, and Orlando Arcia are all non-tender candidates), but not by enough to accommodate the roughly $30MM Freeman will command on an annual basis without a significant payroll bump.
Beyond Freeman’s importance as the face of the franchise (a role he inherited from Chipper Jones), his career numbers justify a significant investment. Since debuting as a September call-up in 2010, Freeman has put together the numbers of a likely future Hall 0f Famer, compiling a .295/.384/.509 career slash-line while mashing 271 homers. His best year came in the abbreviated 2020 season, when he put together a monstrous .341/.462/.640 line across 60 games and won his first career MVP. A pillar of consistency, Freeman hasn’t posted an OPS+ below 132 since 2012 (his age-22 season) and has played in at least 147 games in all but two of his eleven full seasons. He’s not yet shown any signs of regression, as he followed up his MVP year with a .300/.393/.503 line (basically identical to his career marks) and an OPS north of 1.000 in the playoffs.
Among the many interesting wrinkles in the surprisingly drawn-out process of a reigning World Champion attempting to hold on to its best player is the Braves’ ownership structure. Because Liberty Media, the club’s owner since a complicated stock swap deal with Time Warner in 2007, is a publicly traded company, it must disclose a detailed account of its earnings on a quarterly basis, giving fans and followers of the industry a unique look into the team’s internal financial workings. Maury Brown of Forbes reports that the club posted baseball-related revenues of $222MM in the third quarter of 2021 (roughly the second half of the season) alone.
Heyman reported yesterday that the Yankees, who beat the Braves in both the ’96 and ’99 Fall Classics, have at least kicked the tires on Freeman — a development likely to send shivers down the spines of Braves fans. Though hardly surprising — every team with money and a need at first base is likely to at least check in — the news will only put further pressure on Anthopoulos to re-sign his team’s most consistent and recognizable player. Travis d’Arnaud, Ozzie Albies, and Atlanta-area native Dansby Swanson (an infant when the Braves last won a title) have already joined the chorus of fans demanding a speedy deal, calling on club management to “re-sign Freddie” during their speeches at Truist Park following the team’s championship parade.
Even if the Braves do wrap up a deal to keep Freeman in Atlanta into his elder years, Anthopoulos’ offseason business is unlikely to be done. Three of the four outfielders the club acquired in July (Joc Pederson, NLCS MVP Eddie Rosario, and World Series MVP Jorge Soler) are also free agents, and the fourth (Adam Duvall) is arbitration-eligible after turning down his half of a $7MM mutual option. With Ozuna’s future in Atlanta uncertain, Ronald Acuña Jr. still recovering from a major knee injury, and top prospect Cristian Pache a major question mark with the bat, the reigning champ’s outfield situation remains up in the air. They may also wish to add a veteran starter to a mix that includes Max Fried, Ian Anderson, Charlie Morton, and a stable of promising-but-unproven arms (including Huascar Ynoa, Kyle Wright, Tucker Davidson, Kyle Muller, and Touki Toussaint) with mixed records in the big leagues.

[stevenash]

Syndergaard comeback player of the year for 2022???

Angels will contend in the AL West

[jrgum3]

Angels will contend in the AL West

Yes I wondered when they would fully address their pitching but they started by drafting all pitchers in the latest draft and then going out and signing a big name free agent pitcher in Thor. I applaud this move because I think it was long overdue by the Angels orginization to get Trout some help specifically by bolstering the pitching rotation.

[Otters27]

Angels will contend in the AL West

Need troutto have a healthy and productive year. Love that guy

[JAKEPEAVY21]

Angels will contend in the AL West

You think so after this one move? I don't see it, we shall see.

[BigSpoon]

You think so after this one move? I don't see it, we shall see.

They need another top line starter to make me a believer. Scherzer would be ideal but a trade for a younger guy under team control is probably more realistic.

[Cross]

Angels must be going all in finally, sacrificed some draft players by getting Thor.

[stevenash]

They need another top line starter to make me a believer. Scherzer would be ideal but a trade for a younger guy under team control is probably more realistic.

The bullpen did a nice job last seasson.

MLB eight rankned.

Iglesias doesn't get enough love.
Insane K ratio.

Name	G	IP		W	L	ERA		SV	BS	HLD		SO	BB		HR
Raisel Iglesias	65	70		7	5	2.57		34	5	0		103	12		11
Steve Cishek	74	68.1		0	2	3.42		0	4	21		64	41		2
Mike Mayers	70	71.1		5	4	3.53		2	3	17		88	25		11
Jose Quintana	14	18.1		0	0	3.93		0	0	2		22	3		3
Jose Quijada	26	25.2		0	2	4.56		0	0	4		38	15		2
Tony Watson	36	33		3	3	4.64		0	3	12		25	14		3
Andrew Wantz	21	27.1		1	0	4.94		0	1	0		38	11		5
Alex Claudio	41	32.2		1	2	5.51		1	0	2		30	15		6
Junior Guerra	40	64.1		5	2	5.74		0	2	2		59	44		6
Sam Selman	18	17		0	1	6.35		0	0	1		11	8		1
Aaron Slegers	29	31		2	2	6.97		0	2	2		25	15		6

[JMobile]

So Justin Verlander staying with the Astros for one more year?

[Cross]

Baez getting some love in free agency.

[EmpireMaker]

The Baseball Writers Association of America revealed the results of Cy Young award balloting this evening. Robbie Ray of the Blue Jays (now a free agent) and Corbin Burnes of the Brewers were named the American League and National League winners, respectively.
Ray claimed the AL award in resounding fashion, an achievement made all the more remarkable by his 2020 struggles. The southpaw dealt with significant control problems during the shortened campaign, leading the D-Backs to trade him to Toronto for essentially no return. After the end of the year, the Jays jumped the market to bring Ray back, buying low on the talented hurler with a one-year, $8MM pact.

That move will go down as one of the best of general manager Ross Atkins’ tenure in Toronto. Not only did Ray get back to heights that saw him make an All-Star team and garner some Cy Young support in 2017, he posted the best showing of his eight-year career. Ray worked 193 1/3 innings of 2.84 ERA ball, striking out an elite 32.1% of batters faced. That swing-and-miss stuff was nothing new, but the 29-year-old also cut his walk rate by almost two thirds. Just one year after walking 17.9% of opponents, Ray doled out free passes at just a 6.9% clip in 2021.
64 American League pitchers tallied 100+ innings this past season. Among that group, Ray ranked 3rd in ERA, strikeout percentage, strikeout/walk rate differential (25.2 percentage points) and SIERA (3.22). He led all AL hurlers in both innings pitched and swinging strike rate (15.5%). That stellar showing earns Ray his first Cy Young award and positions him as one of the top pitchers on this offseason’s free agent market.
As mentioned, the voting tilted quite strongly in Ray’s favor. He appeared on all 30 ballots, receiving 29 first-place votes and one second-place tally. The Yankees’ Gerrit Cole (who received the lone first-place nod that didn’t go to Ray) was the clear second-place finisher, with Lance Lynn of the White Sox coming in third. Nathan Eovaldi, Carlos Rodón, Frankie Montas, Lance McCullers Jr., Liam Hendriks, José Berríos, Chris Bassitt, Lucas Giolito and Raisel Iglesias also received down ballot support.
Voting in the National League was far more contentious, with very little separation between Burnes and the Phillies’ Zack Wheeler at the top. Both players received twelve first-place votes and appeared on all 30 ballots in some capacity, but Burnes’ 14-9 edge in second-place finishes wound up making the difference. The other six first-place votes went to eventual third-place finisher Max Scherzer, who split the season between the Nationals and Dodgers.
To some extent, the battle between Burnes and Wheeler came down to weighing volume versus rate effectiveness. Wheeler tossed an MLB-best 213 1/3 innings, while Burnes worked 167 frames. That’s a rather significant nod in Wheeler’s favor, but Burnes’ per-inning accomplishments were incredible. The Milwaukee righty ranked second among the 62 NL hurlers with 100+ innings in ERA (2.43) while pacing the league in SIERA (2.61), strikeout percentage (35.6%), strikeout/walk rate differential (30.4 percentage points) and swinging strike rate (16.6%).

That’s not to imply Wheeler was ineffective. The Phils’ righty was among the top ten in the league in most rate categories as well. But voters ultimately gave an ever so slight edge to Burnes’ utter domination of opponents, even if that came with a lighter workload than the one Wheeler shouldered.
Like Ray, Burnes takes home his first Cy Young award. He’d finished sixth in last year’s balloting and now looks like one of the game’s top handful of hurlers moving forward. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the Brewers, who control Burnes via arbitration through the end of 2024, try to open extension talks with his representatives at CAA Sports over this offseason.
In addition to the three finalists, Walker Buehler, Brandon Woodruff, Kevin Gausman, Adam Wainwright, Julio Urías and Jacob deGrom picked up some down ballot support. Buehler was the only non-finalist to garner any second-place votes, with two runner-up nods.

[jrgum3]

A little suprised that Mad Max finished third in the NL Cy young voting but I guess some of that is because he didn't spend the whole season with the Dodgers. He was phenomenal when he came over to the Dodgers as much as I hate to admit it.

[Chi_archie]

Baez getting some love in free agency.

he'll get paid

[Otters27]

Remember when MLB guys used to have to get off season jobs

[JAKEPEAVY21]

Sadly, it looks like Harper is going to get NL MVP today

[stevenash]

Sadly, it looks like Harper is going to get NL MVP today

Yeah, would love to see your guy get it.
I snagged Harper in the second round, Burnes in the third round and still only finished fourth place in the NFBC.
Let me tell you guys, the pro fantasy sports writers/analysts are real tough competition.
Wouldn't want it any other way.

They lockout this spring and I'll be beyond rip shit.

[JMobile]

Marlins and Giants are top teams interested in Castellanos