Finally! Official Hot Stove League Thread

[Pharmabro]

Is anyone interested in 38 year old in 2023 Justin Turner 3B/2B who has a 126 OPS+ career coming off a 116 OPS+ 2022? He also plays 1B and a lil SS in his career but I imagine he could probably play 2B/3B. He is on the downside at 38 but might be a cheap upgrade over Frazier.

I know there are sexy names out there but if he was our 4th best upgrade I would not hurl.

[Big_Maple]

Not sure if you all saw this (or if this is a repost) - but JRod got some new bling - a silver slugger award.

https://www.mlb.com/mariners/news/silve ... nners-2022

Nest stop - Rookie of the Year award.

We HAVE to go big this offseason and build a team around him. We can't piss away this talent like the Angels did with Mike Trout.

[Pharmabro]

None of the big names have been claimed which is kinda sexy.

[Pharmabro]

Not sure if you all saw this (or if this is a repost) - but JRod got some new bling - a silver slugger award.

https://www.mlb.com/mariners/news/silve ... nners-2022

We HAVE to go big this offseason and build a team around him. We can't piss away this talent like the Angels did with Mike Trout.

I think we are and he is projected to bring back pick #29 1st Rd. for claiming the ROY award in the coming draft.

[ice99]

Haniger is projected to have a 117 wRC+ and a .770 OPS by Fangraphs. He could be worth a flyer, depending on the cost.

[Sexymarinersfan]

https://prospectinsider.com/mariners-tr ... -reynolds/

Prospect Insider just posted 5 potential outfield trade targets.

[harmony]

The joy that Julio Rodriguez brings to the game could be a drawing card for free agents.

Or not.

[bpj]

What is the trade value of Seattle righthander Chris Flexen? Baseball Trade Values is not generous in its valuation:

https://www.baseballtradevalues.com/players/44181/

But FanGraphs projects free agent righthander Taijuan Walker with a three-year contract between $39 million and $42 million:

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/2023-top-50-free-agents/

Columnist Tim Britton at The Athletic projects Walker with a four-year, $56 million contract:

https://theathletic.com/3764820/2022/11 ... -pitchers/

Compare the statistics over the past two seasons for Walker and Flexen (who is two years younger than Walker):

TW 316.1 IP, 59 G, 58 GS, 3.98 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 99 ERA+, 3.2 bWAR, 3.9 fWAR
CF 317.1 IP, 64 G, 53 GS, 3.66 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 108 ERA+, 4.7 bWAR, 3.7 fWAR

Despite those numbers the modest projections for Walker and Flexen are kinder to Walker:

https://www.fangraphs.com/players/taiju ... position=P

https://www.fangraphs.com/players/chris ... position=P

Flexen's unusual contract calls for a vested 2023 salary of $8 million in his third year of MLB service. That's an unusually high salary for a player who otherwise would be a Super Two. If in fact Flexen remains under team control through 2026, Flexen's final three arbitration seasons become costly working off that $8 million salary.

Still, a trade for Flexen could be an attractive alternative to a multiyear contract to Walker.

Definitely, there are moves out there that make a lot of sense for another team to get Flexen.

[GL_Storm]

Just saw this. Not sure how credible. Dude gets injured a lot but he's signed to a pretty friendly contract for quite a few years. For this guy, they'd be asking for our best prospects: Hancock, Ford, G2, maybe Montes. No idea why they might be shopping him. Doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

[GL_Storm]

Regarding the above, if they're talking to Toronto, then they're more than likely talking about Moreno, which makes me think that any talks with the Mariners will be about Harry Ford, who is from the Atlanta area. With Baltimore, I could see them sending one of their MI prospects back to Atlanta along with either Hays or Santander. Grayson Rodriguez could be involved as well.

Also, I just realized, a trade with Toronto could include both Moreno and Teoscar Hernandez. That would actually make a lot of sense.