Finally! Official Hot Stove League Thread

[D-train]

Just had an interesting exchange with Divish but he neglected to answer my final question:

divish.jpg

One thing thats becoming clear is there won't be any more Cano type contracts in Seattle.

My guess is Dipoto's aversion to expensive, long term contracts is a match made in heaven for the tightwad Mariners group.

They want to win with the lowest payroll possible, not by opening their wallets like the other guys do.

Do you think that is what Divish was referring to?

[D-train]

Huge difference between they didn't have a shot and they didn't want a shot imo. Guessing it is the latter....

[bpj]

Just had an interesting exchange with Divish but he neglected to answer my final question:

divish.jpg

One thing thats becoming clear is there won't be any more Cano type contracts in Seattle.

My guess is Dipoto's aversion to expensive, long term contracts is a match made in heaven for the tightwad Mariners group.

They want to win with the lowest payroll possible, not by opening their wallets like the other guys do.

Do you think that is what Divish was referring to?

It almost has to be one or the other- either ownership doesn't want to spend, or Dipoto doesn't- but a marriage of the two makes the most sense.

They love Dipoto specifically because he's a cheapass, and he's put together a team that makes them look good while spending less than they used to.

Basically what we've suspected (accused them of) all along. Wanting to win but not spend.

[harmony]

Trivia: When was the last time the Houston Astros handed out a free agent contract of at least $100 million?

This question excludes the extensions granted Jose Altuve (seven years, $163 million), Alex Bregman (five years, $100 million) and Yordan Alvarez (six years, $115 million).

The Astros have won the AL West in five of the last six seasons, capturing two World Series titles, without one of MLB's 18 (and counting) contracts in excess of $200 million.

[Seattle or Bust]

Trivia: When was the last time the Houston Astros handed out a free agent contract of at least $100 million?

This question excludes the extensions granted Jose Altuve (seven years, $163 million), Alex Bregman (five years, $100 million) and Yordan Alvarez (six years, $115 million).

The Astros have won the AL West in five of the last six seasons, capturing two World Series titles, without one of MLB's 18 (and counting) contracts in excess of $200 million.

Trivia: When was the last time the Mariners went through a 5-year rebuild where they purposefully tanked for top 10 picks and built a self-replenishing farm system as a result?

It's foolish to follow the exact model of what the Astros did because the Mariners don't have the farm system built to sustain trading 30ish prospsects over the course of 4 years for MLB talent.

The M's half-assed the Astros approach which means that they have to augment their team by other means as they have far more holes to fill than the Astros did when they started competing for the World Series. That means that the M's would be wise to fork over some cash to get premium MLB talent or else we're always going to be left with the Abraham Toro's and Luis Torrens's of the world playing meaningful roles which has ultimately kept us from contending in the division over the last 2x years.

Thus far, the M's haven't done enough to fill their holes. They've only replaced holes that were left (albeit with better players) by players who were leaving and vacating positions.

If the M's go the cheapo route filling left field and DH I guarantee you the offense suffers and we're once again fighting for a wildcard with the Astros running away with the division. So ya, the Astros model provides for some insight, but the M's are also not the Astros.

[bpj]

Trivia: When was the last time the Houston Astros handed out a free agent contract of at least $100 million?

This question excludes the extensions granted Jose Altuve (seven years, $163 million), Alex Bregman (five years, $100 million) and Yordan Alvarez (six years, $115 million).

The Astros have won the AL West in five of the last six seasons, capturing two World Series titles, without one of MLB's 18 (and counting) contracts in excess of $200 million.

Trivia: When was the last time the Mariners went through a 5-year rebuild where they purposefully tanked for top 10 picks and built a self-replenishing farm system as a result?

It's foolish to follow the exact model of what the Astros did because the Mariners don't have the farm system built to sustain trading 30ish prospsects over the course of 4 years for MLB talent.

The M's half-assed the Astros approach which means that they have to augment their team by other means as they have far more holes to fill than the Astros did when they started competing for the World Series. That means that the M's would be wise to fork over some cash to get premium MLB talent or else we're always going to be left with the Abraham Toro's and Luis Torrens's of the world playing meaningful roles which has ultimately kept us from contending in the division over the last 2x years.

Thus far, the M's haven't done enough to fill their holes. They've only replaced holes that were left (albeit with better players) by players who were leaving and vacating positions.

If the M's go the cheapo route filling left field and DH I guarantee you the offense suffers and we're once again fighting for a wildcard with the Astros running away with the division. So ya, the Astros model provides for some insight, but the M's are also not the Astros.

Yes, exactly this.

Or, God forbid, they go the in-house route at either position.

It's just selling the team short when they leave the downside that comes with the Toro/Kelenic/Torrens approach.

Not much room left for downside when every team around us is also improving.

[D-train]

Literally only one FO in baseball that talks this gibberish world salad CYA non committal nonsense:

“We definitely want to be opportunistic in the marketplace right now, whether that’s free agency or trade to add more offense to our team if it’s available,” Hollander said. “That is something we’re looking at. The corner outfield is a spot where we feel like we could add another bat having just subtracted from that. It’s definitely something we’re looking at as we get into San Diego. I’m sure we’ll be talking about hundreds of different ways we can add to the position. We have DH days and we have corner outfield days available. So that’s something we’ll continue to look at.”

[D-train]

[D-train]

2022 WAR

Gott -0.4
Wong 3.1
Teo 2.8
Hummell -0.3
Total +5.2

Boyd 0.4
Swanson 1.8
Casali 0.2
Santana 0.5
Frazier 0.9
Toro -0.8
Haniger 1.3
Lewis -0.1
Winker -0.3
Total 3.9

Net change +1.3

[rockycola]

2022 WAR

Gott -0.4
Wong 3.1
Teo 2.8
Hummell -0.3
Total +5.2

Boyd 0.4
Swanson 1.8
Casali 0.2
Santana 0.5
Frazier 0.9
Toro -0.8
Haniger 1.3
Lewis -0.1
Winker -0.3
Total 3.9

Net change +1.3

Yup. I see the light. That +1.3 leap frogs right on up and over the Astros.

I saw a cow jump over the moon once, too.