OFFICIAL: 2023-2024 Offseason & Free Agency Thread

[Seattle or Bust]

LO Mariners released their off season plan:

They suggest the M's trade a rando prospect for A's 1B Seth Brown (don't really see how he's any different than Mike Ford).

They suggest the M's trade Gabriel Gonzales, Jonatan Clase, Jose Cabbalero to the Padres for Util Jake Cronenworth. Cronenworth was terrible last year for the Padres producing just 1.0 fWAR with a .690 OPS. MLBTV gives him a negative trade value of -$32.6 million... he's already 30 years old and is signed through his age 36 season... MLBTV would call this trade highway robbery. The LO guys believe he's a good rebound candidate... seems like a stupid risk to take cause if he's bad you're stuck w. him until he's 36.

They suggest the M's trade Bryce Miller, Walter Ford, and Aiden Smith to the Rays for OF Randy Arozarena, DH Harold Ramirez, INF Austin Shenton. While I like Arozarena, he's basically just Teo with slightly better walk rates, better defense, but a tick less power. He strikes out 160 times a year which I'm not sure fits the M's vision of upgrading in that department. Harold Ramirez had by far his best year in the majors in '23 but has been a free-swinging .730ish OPS hitter otherwise in limited play. He doesn't walk at all. Shenton was formerly in the M's farm and they're obsessed with him. I suppose I wouldn't hate the trade too much... but this is their major splash and Arozarena isn't good enough for me to have this be the major splash the M's make.

They suggest the M's sign reliever Robert Stephenson to a 2-year $16 million deal. I like the pitcher but do not believe the M's will sign a reliever to that sort of money.

They suggest the M's sign Tom Murphy back on a 1-year $5 million deal but attest that they came up with this plan before the trade for the backup catcher they got from the Rays.

They suggest the M's sign Shoto Imanaga to replace Miller on a 3-year $45 million deal. He's been pretty darn good in Japan and boasts some silly K/BB ratios... all about how that translates to the majors. Wouldn't hate it, just would rather add Snell instead.

[harmony]

LO Mariners released their off season plan:

They suggest the M's trade a rando prospect for A's 1B Seth Brown (don't really see how he's any different than Mike Ford).

They suggest the M's trade Gabriel Gonzales, Jonatan Clase, Jose Cabbalero to the Padres for Util Jake Cronenworth. Cronenworth was terrible last year for the Padres producing just 1.0 fWAR with a .690 OPS. MLBTV gives him a negative trade value of -$32.6 million... he's already 30 years old and is signed through his age 36 season... MLBTV would call this trade highway robbery. The LO guys believe he's a good rebound candidate... seems like a stupid risk to take cause if he's bad you're stuck w. him until he's 36.

They suggest the M's trade Bryce Miller, Walter Ford, and Aiden Smith to the Rays for OF Randy Arozarena, DH Harold Ramirez, INF Austin Shenton. While I like Arozarena, he's basically just Teo with slightly better walk rates, better defense, but a tick less power. He strikes out 160 times a year which I'm not sure fits the M's vision of upgrading in that department. Harold Ramirez had by far his best year in the majors in '23 but has been a free-swinging .730ish OPS hitter otherwise in limited play. He doesn't walk at all. Shenton was formerly in the M's farm and they're obsessed with him. I suppose I wouldn't hate the trade too much... but this is their major splash and Arozarena isn't good enough for me to have this be the major splash the M's make.

They suggest the M's sign reliever Robert Stephenson to a 2-year $16 million deal. I like the pitcher but do not believe the M's will sign a reliever to that sort of money.

They suggest the M's sign Tom Murphy back on a 1-year $5 million deal but attest that they came up with this plan before the trade for the backup catcher they got from the Rays.

They suggest the M's sign Shoto Imanaga to replace Miller on a 3-year $45 million deal. He's been pretty darn good in Japan and boasts some silly K/BB ratios... all about how that translates to the majors. Wouldn't hate it, just would rather add Snell instead.

The YouTube details:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUU_EAE4tO

[bpj]

I'd rather stick with what we have than most of those moves.

I'm sure they put a lot of hard work into their plan, but this isn't an under the radar moves type of offseason imo.

If they're aiming that low, we'll end up losing out again.

[ddraig]

An ongoing problem for years with the M's offense has been that with no outs, or only one out, and a man on 3rd base, the man out there may as well pull out a recliner, start a fire, reach over and open the cooler, and pull out a beer because NOBODY IS GOING TO HIT HIM IN!

Could you imagine Rick Rizzs doing this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsWEstvXq4g

For out #1. To be followed by a walk and then a double play!

[harmony]

LO Mariners released their off season plan:

They suggest the M's trade Gabriel Gonzales, Jonatan Clase, Jose Cabbalero to the Padres for Util Jake Cronenworth. Cronenworth was terrible last year for the Padres producing just 1.0 fWAR with a .690 OPS. MLBTV gives him a negative trade value of -$32.6 million... he's already 30 years old and is signed through his age 36 season... MLBTV would call this trade highway robbery. The LO guys believe he's a good rebound candidate... seems like a stupid risk to take cause if he's bad you're stuck w. him until he's 36.

Baseball Trade Values accepts a trade of Marco Gonzales for Juan Soto and Jake Cronenworth.

We're in business!

[Sexymarinersfan]

Biggest multi-player trade so far this offseason. Michael Soroka headed to Chicago.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/11/ ... -deal.html

[D-train]

LO Mariners released their off season plan:

They suggest the M's trade a rando prospect for A's 1B Seth Brown (don't really see how he's any different than Mike Ford).

They suggest the M's trade Gabriel Gonzales, Jonatan Clase, Jose Cabbalero to the Padres for Util Jake Cronenworth. Cronenworth was terrible last year for the Padres producing just 1.0 fWAR with a .690 OPS. MLBTV gives him a negative trade value of -$32.6 million... he's already 30 years old and is signed through his age 36 season... MLBTV would call this trade highway robbery. The LO guys believe he's a good rebound candidate... seems like a stupid risk to take cause if he's bad you're stuck w. him until he's 36.

They suggest the M's trade Bryce Miller, Walter Ford, and Aiden Smith to the Rays for OF Randy Arozarena, DH Harold Ramirez, INF Austin Shenton. While I like Arozarena, he's basically just Teo with slightly better walk rates, better defense, but a tick less power. He strikes out 160 times a year which I'm not sure fits the M's vision of upgrading in that department. Harold Ramirez had by far his best year in the majors in '23 but has been a free-swinging .730ish OPS hitter otherwise in limited play. He doesn't walk at all. Shenton was formerly in the M's farm and they're obsessed with him. I suppose I wouldn't hate the trade too much... but this is their major splash and Arozarena isn't good enough for me to have this be the major splash the M's make.

They suggest the M's sign reliever Robert Stephenson to a 2-year $16 million deal. I like the pitcher but do not believe the M's will sign a reliever to that sort of money.

They suggest the M's sign Tom Murphy back on a 1-year $5 million deal but attest that they came up with this plan before the trade for the backup catcher they got from the Rays.

They suggest the M's sign Shoto Imanaga to replace Miller on a 3-year $45 million deal. He's been pretty darn good in Japan and boasts some silly K/BB ratios... all about how that translates to the majors. Wouldn't hate it, just would rather add Snell instead.

Brown is quite different from Ford. 96 OPS+ vs. 123 OPS+ No wonder they love him.

[D-train]

LO Mariners released their off season plan:

They suggest the M's trade a rando prospect for A's 1B Seth Brown (don't really see how he's any different than Mike Ford).

They suggest the M's trade Gabriel Gonzales, Jonatan Clase, Jose Cabbalero to the Padres for Util Jake Cronenworth. Cronenworth was terrible last year for the Padres producing just 1.0 fWAR with a .690 OPS. MLBTV gives him a negative trade value of -$32.6 million... he's already 30 years old and is signed through his age 36 season... MLBTV would call this trade highway robbery. The LO guys believe he's a good rebound candidate... seems like a stupid risk to take cause if he's bad you're stuck w. him until he's 36.

They suggest the M's trade Bryce Miller, Walter Ford, and Aiden Smith to the Rays for OF Randy Arozarena, DH Harold Ramirez, INF Austin Shenton. While I like Arozarena, he's basically just Teo with slightly better walk rates, better defense, but a tick less power. He strikes out 160 times a year which I'm not sure fits the M's vision of upgrading in that department. Harold Ramirez had by far his best year in the majors in '23 but has been a free-swinging .730ish OPS hitter otherwise in limited play. He doesn't walk at all. Shenton was formerly in the M's farm and they're obsessed with him. I suppose I wouldn't hate the trade too much... but this is their major splash and Arozarena isn't good enough for me to have this be the major splash the M's make.

They suggest the M's sign reliever Robert Stephenson to a 2-year $16 million deal. I like the pitcher but do not believe the M's will sign a reliever to that sort of money.

They suggest the M's sign Tom Murphy back on a 1-year $5 million deal but attest that they came up with this plan before the trade for the backup catcher they got from the Rays.

They suggest the M's sign Shoto Imanaga to replace Miller on a 3-year $45 million deal. He's been pretty darn good in Japan and boasts some silly K/BB ratios... all about how that translates to the majors. Wouldn't hate it, just would rather add Snell instead.

What is just gross about this is they think they are really smart but thinking how Jerry does instead of just going after good Bats they have to get cute and go with bargains and rebounds and trash no other fanbase would remotely get excited about.

[D-train]

LO Mariners released their off season plan:

They suggest the M's trade a rando prospect for A's 1B Seth Brown (don't really see how he's any different than Mike Ford).

They suggest the M's trade Gabriel Gonzales, Jonatan Clase, Jose Cabbalero to the Padres for Util Jake Cronenworth. Cronenworth was terrible last year for the Padres producing just 1.0 fWAR with a .690 OPS. MLBTV gives him a negative trade value of -$32.6 million... he's already 30 years old and is signed through his age 36 season... MLBTV would call this trade highway robbery. The LO guys believe he's a good rebound candidate... seems like a stupid risk to take cause if he's bad you're stuck w. him until he's 36.

They suggest the M's trade Bryce Miller, Walter Ford, and Aiden Smith to the Rays for OF Randy Arozarena, DH Harold Ramirez, INF Austin Shenton. While I like Arozarena, he's basically just Teo with slightly better walk rates, better defense, but a tick less power. He strikes out 160 times a year which I'm not sure fits the M's vision of upgrading in that department. Harold Ramirez had by far his best year in the majors in '23 but has been a free-swinging .730ish OPS hitter otherwise in limited play. He doesn't walk at all. Shenton was formerly in the M's farm and they're obsessed with him. I suppose I wouldn't hate the trade too much... but this is their major splash and Arozarena isn't good enough for me to have this be the major splash the M's make.

They suggest the M's sign reliever Robert Stephenson to a 2-year $16 million deal. I like the pitcher but do not believe the M's will sign a reliever to that sort of money.

They suggest the M's sign Tom Murphy back on a 1-year $5 million deal but attest that they came up with this plan before the trade for the backup catcher they got from the Rays.

They suggest the M's sign Shoto Imanaga to replace Miller on a 3-year $45 million deal. He's been pretty darn good in Japan and boasts some silly K/BB ratios... all about how that translates to the majors. Wouldn't hate it, just would rather add Snell instead.

So instead of just deleting the part about resigning Murphy they just leave it in even though it is highly unlikely to happen now. They are spending more on Relievers in one off season than Jerry has spent since Nicasio signed his bloated deal almost 6 years ago.

[D-train]

Good piece on Bellinger. Imagine rooting for a team that had interest in top FAs.

https://nypost.com/2023/11/16/sports/ex ... h-yankees/