[Otters27]

Always suckers willing to give big money to lefties.

You think Lefties are overatted?

[Chi_archie]

I shoulda been a Loogy

[koz-man]

Mike Trout will probably lose the MVP to Mookie Betts, but he will still finish within the top three in voting six times in a span of seven seasons. Only two other players have ever done that, according to Elias — Yogi Berra and Albert Pujols.

[JMobile]

Nah fits with the dodgers

He doesn't want Dodgers.

[ApricotSinner32]

Heard there will be some upsets today in basketball...

[batt33]

He doesn't want Dodgers.

collect money under perform?

[BigSpoon]

Yankees resign CC Sabathia to a 1 year deal worth $8M.

[Cross]

I thought Sabathia was washed up years ago. Solid effort..

[El Nino]

You think Lefties are overatted?

Their market is typically inflated.

[EmpireMaker]

The Nationals made an “aggressive” offer to Bryce Harper prior to the end of the season that he clearly did not accept, Chelsea Janes and Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post report. The deal didn’t contain any opt-outs and was for under $400MM in total value, per Janes, although USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets that the arrangement would’ve promised Harper “about” $30MM annually on a long-term pact. Fancred’s Jon Heyman tweets that the formal offer came on Sept. 26 — the day of the Nationals’ final home game of the season.
Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo had little to say on the matter, as one might expect, but Janes notes that Rizzo did acknowledge the Nationals’ effort to take advantage of the now-expired exclusive negotiating window teams have with their own free agents in the five days that follow the World Series. MLB.com’s Jamal Collier further tweets that Rizzo implied that the team is not yet giving up on retaining Harper. “He’s our guy,” said Rizzo. “So we’re looking forward to seeing what can transpire.” Janes and Svrluga add that the offer made to Harper was not a token offer and that the front office has “genuine interest” in keeping the slugger.
Details on the length of the offer aren’t clear, but given the annual salary referenced by Nightengale, it’s all but assured that the deal would’ve promised Harper well north of $200MM and quite possibly $300MM or more. At present, Giancarlo Stanton’s record-setting 13-year, $325MM contract is not only the largest and longest contract in history — it’s also the only $300MM+ contract ever signed. It’s reasonable to assume that Harper and agent Scott Boras have their sight set on Harper eclipsing that record and establishing a new precedent.
Boras didn’t blatantly say as much today, but he did express on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (Twitter link, with audio) that he plans to pitch Harper as a future Hall of Famer, noting that Harper is only the fourth player to reach free agency at age 25 since 1980 (though technically he turned 26 between season’s end and formally filing for free agency). Boras cited various career-to-date milestones, such as his 180 home runs, that align with the numbers that several Hall of Famers reached at the same point in their own careers. He also told MLB Network Radio’s Casey Stern (Twitter link) that Harper “has the feet, hands and skill to certainly adapt to first base” should a team ever deem it necessary.
Harper’s .249/.393/.496 slash line translated to a 135 wRC+ — that is to say, his overall offensive output was 35 percent better than a league-average bat when weighted for home park and league. That tied Harper for 15th in baseball, and he ranks eighth among MLB hitters (143) since the start of the 2017 season by that same measure. Defensive metrics, meanwhile, were alarmingly bearish on Harper in 2018 despite the fact that he typically rated as a plus defender in prior seasons.
Though Boras has a reputation for finding colorful ways to embellish the value of his clients, there’s also some degree of truth to the fact that Harper (and fellow free agent Manny Machado) is a in rarefied air as a free agent at this stage in the career. The former No. 1 overall pick and NL MVP is reaching free agency at the same age at which Aaron Judge embarked on his sophomore season, for instance. Realistically, there hasn’t been a 26-year-old free agent with the ceiling of Harper or Machado since Alex Rodriguez reached the open market and signed a then-jaw-dropping 10-year, $252MM contract with the Rangers. A-Rod was, incredibly, a year younger than Harper when he hit the open market and was also more accomplished, but the very fact that it’s been nearly two decades since a hitter of this caliber reached free agency at this age is telling when looking at the type of contract Boras and Harper will likely pursue over the next few months.

[Chi_archie]

Heard there will be some upsets today in basketball...

no way dude

[BigSpoon]

Harper is so injury prone and inconsistent from year to year, would hate to be a fan of the team that signs him.

[koz-man]

Yankees sign CC Sabathia to 1-year, $8 million contract

The New York Yankees have signed CC Sabathia to a one-year deal, as the veteran left-hander will return for his 19th -- and final -- season, he said Wednesday.
The contract is worth $8 million, according to ESPN and multiple reports.
The 38-year-old lefty has played the past 10 seasons of his 18-season career with the Yankees. In his announcement on Twitter, Sabathia said of the deal for the 2019 season: "This'll be it."

[mr. leisure]

Yankees sign CC Sabathia to 1-year, $8 million contract


The New York Yankees have signed CC Sabathia to a one-year deal, as the veteran left-hander will return for his 19th -- and final -- season, he said Wednesday.
The contract is worth $8 million, according to ESPN and multiple reports.
The 38-year-old lefty has played the past 10 seasons of his 18-season career with the Yankees. In his announcement on Twitter, Sabathia said of the deal for the 2019 season: "This'll be it."

19 year career is crazy

[JMobile]

Yankees resign CC Sabathia to a 1 year deal worth $8M.

Yankees gotta get more players to give him run support.

[yisman]

Harper is so injury prone and inconsistent from year to year, would hate to be a fan of the team that signs him.

The teams that sign Harper and Machado will regret it, in my mind.

[Mr KLC]

Sources: Rays are expected to send a minor leaguer along with Mallex Smith in the deal with the Mariners for Mike Zunino and Guillermo Heredia. As said earlier, players in the trade are agreed upon. Just in the I-dotting, T-crossing stage at this point.

[batt33]

The teams that sign Harper and Machado will regret it, in my mind.

totally agree... no value with the risk

[El Nino]

Harper rejects $300 million offer from the Nats.

[cincinnatikid513]

Harper rejects $300 million offer from the Nats.

can't imagine what dumb team will give him more surely nobody would go 10 years 400 million

[Cross]

I’m kind of hoping my Cubs don’t sign Harper or Machado , just scared that a competitor will.

[EmpireMaker]

Bryce Harper’s free agency — or, as agent Scott Boras termed at the GM Meetings today, “Harper’s Bazaar” — will be one of the most fascinating storylines the 2018-19 offseason has to offer. Boras has already made clear that he’ll be marketing Harper as a future Hall of Famer, given that the few players who’ve reached Harper’s level of production prior to the age of 26 are virtually all enshrined in Cooperstown. Boras doubled down on that thinking today when holding court with upwards of 100 reporters (link, with video, via SNY’s Scott Thompson).
Boras tabbed Harper as a “generational” and “iconic” player — citing the Nationals’ stark increase in attendance, television ratings and overall franchise value since Harper joined the team. While Harper’s presence on the Nats is realistically one of the myriad factors that have effected those changes, those types of milestones could very well carry more weight with some franchise owners than with baseball operations leaders.
As we settle in for the beginning of Harper’s Bazaar — which, in case you were wondering, is “fashionable,” “elite,” “historical” and “has inspirations that deal with great shoes and great hair,” according to Boras — here’s the latest chatter on his market…

• Fancred’s Jon Heyman spoke with Boras this morning, and while the agent wouldn’t tip his hand much in terms of total asking price, he did suggest that players with Harper’s level of accolades at this age often play until they’re 40. That, Heyman notes, could indicate that Boras is seeking a deal as long as 14 years in length for the 26-year-old Harper. The agent also pointed out that the current record average annual value — Zack Greinke’s $34.4MM — went to “a 32-year-old pitcher.” None of that, of course, offers a clear indication as to what Boras is thinking as a viable goal for Harper, though that’s perhaps largely by design. MLBTR estimated a 14-year contract for Harper in our annual Top 50 Free Agents rankings — albeit at a considerably lower annual value than that of Greinke.
• The Nationals’ reported offer to Harper near the end of the season, said to be valued at around a $300MM guarantee, “wasn’t close” to getting the job done, writes Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Boras spoke today about the immense surplus value the Nats reaped from Harper’s pre-arbitration and arbitration seasons and suggested that comparisons to Giancarlo Stanton’s 13-year, $325MM deal have “nothing to do with Bryce Harper.” While many fans grow weary of Boras’ colorful quotes, it’s also a valid point that an extension signed two years prior to a fellow star-caliber player’s free agency should carry much influence over Harper’s eventual contract. Extensions for Stanton and fellow superstar Jose Altuve ($30MM annual value) were signed without the benefit of open-market bidding, Boras noted, and thus shouldn’t be viewed as comparables when looking at Harper’s earning power.
• Heyman further tweets that the Nats’ ~$300MM is currently “off the table,” though the team has still not ruled out signing Harper and would welcome the opportunity for further negotiations — which Boras will surely oblige.
• Both ESPN’s Buster Olney and SNY’s Andy Martino throw cold water on the notion of Harper landing with the Yankees. Olney tweets that a source has “emphatically” told him that Harper to the Yankees is simply “not happening,” while Martino suggests that the Yankees “are not excited enough about Harper” to force the ensuing outfield logjam that would come with signing him (Twitter link, with video).
• USA Today’s Bob Nightengale writes that many executives and agents throughout the industry feel that Harper will ultimately land with the Phillies, though that opinion appears largely predicated on a belief that the Yankees (and not the Phillies) will ultimately sign Manny Machado — a scenario that is entirely plausible but is by no means a given at this stage of the offseason. It’s always interesting to hear where the popular industry opinion lies at a given time, though it’s often best taken with a grain of salt; there were similar columns written regarding the Yankees and Eric Hosmer this time a year ago, for instance.
• The Giants have been an oft-suggested landing spot for Harper over the past several seasons, but Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area cites multiple sources in calling the interest “overblown.” One Giants exec tells Pavlovic that the team is “shocked” to be so frequently connected to Harper, adding that the Giants would only be in play for the outfielder if he “really, really” wanted to be a Giant and spurned larger offers elsewhere.

[Otters27]

Any chance Harper goes to Cubs?

[cincinnatikid513]

Any chance Harper goes to Cubs?

always a chance, cubs love to spend money

[jrgum3]

I can't believe Harper turned down 300 million dollars. That number just boggles the mind and he turned it down. Of course someone will be willing to pay through the roof for that guy and I just wonder if you really want your team to do that because it will make it hard to sign other players and keep some of your better players around.

[El Nino]

can't imagine what dumb team will give him more surely nobody would go 10 years 400 million

Just boggles my mind. J.D. Martinez didn't get his $$$ but Harper wants $400 million... J.D. Martinez has a higher 162 game average in HR's, RBI's, Batting Average, doubles, OPS is basically the same.

Martinez has one more year of service than Harper. Harper is 5 years younger, but body is arguably more damaged than Martinez. Whoever signs Harper for 10 years has to plan on eating $30-40 million/year for 3-4 years

[Chi_archie]

I can't believe Harper turned down 300 million dollars. That number just boggles the mind and he turned it down. Of course someone will be willing to pay through the roof for that guy and I just wonder if you really want your team to do that because it will make it hard to sign other players and keep some of your better players around.

its crazy

[koz-man]

Rays get catcher Mike Zunino in trade with Mariners

SEATTLE -- Mallex Smith was made a promise by Seattle general manager Jerry Dipoto when he was acquired for a second time by the Mariners after an initial tenure that lasted less than two hours.
"Dipoto didn't guarantee anything, but he said I at least have 78 minutes," Smith joked. "We'll see."
Smith is back with the Mariners as part of a five-player deal between Seattle and Tampa Bay on Thursday that landed the Rays catcher Mike Zunino and outfielder Guillermo Heredia.
The swap continued a lengthy trade history between the teams and came as a surprise to Zunino, who said he had recent conversations with Seattle manager Scott Servais looking ahead to 2019.
"I was shocked. To see your name in trade talks, let alone this early in the offseason, was beyond my expectations," Zunino said.

[ApricotSinner32]

Lets see if I can hit a 92 team parlay tonight....

[mr. leisure]

No player is worth 400 million lol

[batt33]

I can't believe Harper turned down 300 million dollars. That number just boggles the mind and he turned it down. Of course someone will be willing to pay through the roof for that guy and I just wonder if you really want your team to do that because it will make it hard to sign other players and keep some of your better players around.

what boggles the mind is teams would pay that much.

[yisman]

Lets see if I can hit a 92 team parlay tonight....

Any of that MLB?

[EmpireMaker]

• Some eyebrows raised this evening when it was observed that the White Sox had unveiled a stage set at Chicago’s United Center featuring Bryce Harper’s name. As Chris Cwik of Yahoo Sports explains, there’s no reason to think this was the beginning of the roll-out of a signing; our readers from the south side can safely inform friends and neighbors that there’s nothing imminent. More likely, it’s part of a recruiting pitch for the popular young free agent, who is in Chicago today. The news shouldn’t be blown out of proportion, clearly, but that doesn’t mean it’s of no consequence. Evidently, the White Sox are serious enough pursuers that they have secured an in-person visit and are putting resources into a pitch. That certainly dovetails with recent reports and public statements from the organization indicating that the club is looking to spend. It also bodes well for Harper’s market that a team such as the White Sox is making a run at him even after he reportedly turned down a $300MM offer to remain in D.C.
• As for the cross-town Cubs, all indications remain that they do not see themselves as a contender for Harper’s services, as ESPNChicago.com’s Jesse Rogers reiterates on Twitter. As Rogers puts it, if the club is “playing possum,” it’s “doing a heck of a job” at selling the act.
• It remains to be seen what stance the Giants will take with regard to Harper, particularly as Farhan Zaidi settles into his new digs atop the club’s baseball operations department. As John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle reports, though, agent Scott Boras certainly seems to see San Francisco as a viable landing spot for his client. Harper, he says, views the organization fondly — and would not only deliver value on the field, but off of it. As for the club’s viewpoint, it’s tough to say whether Harper will be deemed a sensible target. CEO Larry Baer said “there’s no restrictions” for his new top baseball decisionmaker; whether or not to join the bidding on Harper (or other hyper-expensive free agents) is “a judgment [Zaidi] is going to need to make.”
• Of course, as Shea highlights, and Baer himself noted, that sort of outlay did not fit the M.O. of either of Zaidi’s prior two ballclubs — even those pesky division rivals to the south. Speaking of the Dodgers, Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times wrote recently that Harper is a player worthy of breaking the mold (and the bank) to acquire. Beyond his qualities as a ballplayer, Hernandez argues that Harper has the star power — and the right kind of attitude — to thrive in Los Angeles.
• Interestingly, the Cardinals, per Jon Heyman of Fancred, “do not seem interested” in Machado despite seemingly lining up from the perspective of roster need. But there has been quite a lot of discussion in St. Louis circles as to whether Harper might be a target. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch laid out the state of affairs recently. The Cards, he says, are seen as “a factor” in the market for Harper. While some would write the St. Louis organization off due to a lack of monster contracts on their ledger, it’s worth bearing in mind that the club has entered significant bids for players such as Jason Heyward (see here) and David Price (see here) in recent seasons, and also sought to acquire Giancarlo Stanton last winter.
• And what of the Yankees? The situation hasn’t really changed since last we checked in, but Joel Sherman of the New York Post takes a crack at thinking through how things may play out. There’s little indication at present that the New York club has any real intention of going for Harper. But Machado makes for a much more intriguing roster fit, and could prove particularly tantalizing.

[ApricotSinner32]

Empiremaker is empiremake2?

[ApricotSinner32]

Son of a bitch why did I not get a point for that post?