2024 MLB Offseason News

Sad Sam Jones

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May 5, 2017
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I'd love it if Cleveland actually helped make Sasaki to Toronto happen. Regardless, getting rid of Straw – who is still guaranteed over $15.5M through next year – feels like a heist. I don't know how much of that Cleveland is still paying, but Straw's gold glove level defense isn't enough to make a major leaguer out of a guy who puts up sub-.300 slugging percentages.
 

LogansDad

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Nov 15, 2006
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Alamogordo
I'd love it if Cleveland actually helped make Sasaki to Toronto happen. Regardless, getting rid of Straw – who is still guaranteed over $15.5M through next year – feels like a heist. I don't know how much of that Cleveland is still paying, but Straw's gold glove level defense isn't enough to make a major leaguer out of a guy who puts up sub-.300 slugging percentages.
You're not wrong, but I might be able to put up a league average ERA pitching for the Blue Jays with both Varsho and Straw in the outfield.
 

Sad Sam Jones

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Straw basically had a historically good defensive year in 2022 which was enough to get him to a 2.7 bWAR. In 2023, he was slightly better offensively, but since he had merely a good year in center, his bWAR crashed to 1.1. Cleveland decided that having Gold Glover Steven Kwan in left meant the trade off of trying better bats in center was worth it... which is telling because they really didn't have a better bat to rely on. Straw was so bad they decided to give light-hitting infielder Tyler Freeman the starting job and then adjust from there.
 

GruberTaggedHim

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Oct 5, 2021
125
You're not wrong, but I might be able to put up a league average ERA pitching for the Blue Jays with both Varsho and Straw in the outfield.
Straw does seem to fit in with the apparent philosophy of the Jays "Let's win every game 0 to minus1". The bonus pool $$$ are quite nice though, Sasaki or not.
 

nattysez

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Sep 30, 2010
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I'm not sure 4 years for a 30 year-old reliever with 2 great seasons under his belt is smart business. We'll see.
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

has fancy plans, and pants to match
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Apr 12, 2001
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Actually the Mets have spent more (not sure if Scott is included).

1. Mets: $939m
2. Dodgers $374m
3. Yanks $235m
4. Dbacks $210m
5. Giants $197m

Sox are 11th with $53m

Per SporTrac.
 

VORP Speed

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Apr 23, 2010
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Ground Zero
It’s hilarious that everyone is complaining now about the Dodgers breaking baseball when for the first few years he was there, the criticism was how cheap he was, wouldn’t sign big FA contracts, Rays west, acting like a small market team, etc etc. He had a long-term plan and stuck to it, although he probably never could have imagined he’d sign a huge Japanese superstar that would generate an extra $100m+ in annual revenue for the team, so things have really kicked into overdrive now. Good for Friedman and LA.
I can’t wait to become a Dodger fan if the Rays bail on Tampa!
 

chawson

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Aug 1, 2006
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Max Power

thai good. you like shirt?
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Jul 20, 2005
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simplicio

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Apr 11, 2012
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That tweet is way over my head. Is he suggesting foreign oil (Saudis?) will get more involved in baseball ownerships?
Yes, but I'm skeptical that things like the Saudi PIF would be interested in dinosaurs with as much future uncertainty as baseball teams. The gambling side definitely, but team ownership? I'm not seeing it.

This seems to be the new thing for Dodgers contracts and I'm not sure I understand it. They give a big signing bonus and then defer about the same amount, so the CBT hit is basically the same as a standard 4 year, $72 million contract. They're just pulling the real cash flow into this year and pushing other years out into the future. There must be a reason they're doing it.
New CBA after 2026.
 

koufax32

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Dec 8, 2006
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Duval
That tweet is way over my head. Is he suggesting foreign oil (Saudis?) will get more involved in baseball ownerships?
Yes. Saudi sports washing on an “on steroids” scale

It may be a good discussion for a separate thread, but I would think long and hard about ceasing to be a fan of one of my favorite teams if it was bought by a sovereign wealth fund. Imagine future Red Sox owners who actively support executing gay people and silencing non-Muslims. That might be my sports nightmare scenario.
 

mikcou

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May 13, 2007
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This seems to be the new thing for Dodgers contracts and I'm not sure I understand it. They give a big signing bonus and then defer about the same amount, so the CBT hit is basically the same as a standard 4 year, $72 million contract. They're just pulling the real cash flow into this year and pushing other years out into the future. There must be a reason they're doing it.
The CBT is lower, but the player present value is roughly equivalent. CBT numbers just average bonus amounts over the life of the deal, theres no increase to the CBT number, while the deferral reduces it.
 

DeadlySplitter

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Oct 20, 2015
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This seems to be the new thing for Dodgers contracts and I'm not sure I understand it. They give a big signing bonus and then defer about the same amount, so the CBT hit is basically the same as a standard 4 year, $72 million contract. They're just pulling the real cash flow into this year and pushing other years out into the future. There must be a reason they're doing it.
As explained in the post above, it's a loophole in the current CBA - signing bonuses do not affect the CBT hit at all. The player maintains the present value of the contract with the signing bonus cancelling out the deferrals to an extent, while getting some state tax dodging, and the CBT hit for the team is lower than 18M.

A signing bonus ought to count as an inflated amount on the CBT to counteract deferrals, or just start limiting deferrals
 

EvilEmpire

paying for his sins
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Apr 9, 2007
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Good for the Dodgers. Leveraging favorable geography. Leveraging financial might. Do what you can, when you can to win.

Hopefully the Yankees get another shot at them and don't come up short. Beating a team built like that is an accomplishment.

And thankfully this is baseball and not the NBA. An NBA team built like the Dodgers are today really would be an almost insurmountable challenge. But not in baseball.
 

nattysez

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Sep 30, 2010
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New CBA after 2026.
But is it likely that deferred payments are going to get better treatment under a new CBA? That would surprise me.

That said, unless the Dodgers just think the world is ending in the late 2020s (not out of the realm of possibility), there must be a reason they think these deferrals will serve them well, and the new CBA is as good a guess as any.
 

simplicio

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Apr 11, 2012
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But is it likely that deferred payments are going to get better treatment under a new CBA? That would surprise me.

That said, unless the Dodgers just think the world is ending in the late 2020s (not out of the realm of possibility), there must be a reason they think these deferrals will serve them well, and the new CBA is as good a guess as any.
I meant it more from the point of exploiting the current system while they can.

Also the addition of signing bonuses will make guys more movable in the future as AAVs will be recalculated for the new team at the time of trade. That's a real consideration given that LA currently has the second oldest roster in the game and may need to dump guys aggressively if any fall off in their mid 30s.
 

Sad Sam Jones

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May 5, 2017
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They should have had an advantage there since Shapiro and Atkins were the ones who first signed Santander to a pro contract back in 2011.
 

finnVT

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Jul 12, 2002
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As explained in the post above, it's a loophole in the current CBA - signing bonuses do not affect the CBT hit at all. The player maintains the present value of the contract with the signing bonus cancelling out the deferrals to an extent, while getting some state tax dodging, and the CBT hit for the team is lower than 18M.

A signing bonus ought to count as an inflated amount on the CBT to counteract deferrals, or just start limiting deferrals
It also means when they are in CBT hell in a few years, it'll be easy to unload these contracts, since trades reset the AAV and signing bonuses aren't included. So in two years, they can dump Scott because likely someone will be willing to take on ~10-12m AAV.
 

Sausage in Section 17

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Mar 17, 2004
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Wow, 5 years 90 million? I was expecting more like 2-3 years.
We appear to have reached the point where great players will take deferrals to play in L.A., and teams in less desirable markets, like Toronto, are being forced to overpay for lesser players.

As a Sox fan, what the Dodgers are doing bums me out, but I still feel like if the cards fall right, we could beat them. I think if I was the fan of any of the bottom half payroll teams, I'd be pretty depressed and feel like my team had basically no chance to win in the foreseeable future.
 

simplicio

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I feel like the Jays are going to be regretting that one by the end, especially with Tampa only temporarily living in a replica toilet, but in the near term staying in the division with 3 short porches is probably his best move.