mvp 78

Even so, I'm not sure Liriano is a more reliable option when he didn't even get 1 WAR in 2016 or 2017.

Rest In Power Tito Francona. (Terry's dad)

Onerous? This is the team that signed Panda and Hanley on the same day for $40M AAV. I'm sure they can foot the bill.

I agree, but really don't know how you'd really factor it in monetarily.

Is the offer fair? https://www.overthemonster.com/2018/2/14/17010840/j-d-martinez-please-sign-with-the-red-sox If you’ve been following the Martinez saga (and let’s be honest, there’s no way you haven’t. This is precisely the 853rd article written about J.D. Martinez since the off-season began), then you probably know that it’s a far cry from the $200 million contract he was reported to have been seeking and even the six year, $150 million contract that MLBTR predicted he would eventually sign. The latest news, that the offer to Martinez is closer to being worth $100 million than $125 million, got me wondering where one should really draw the line with Martinez. How much is he worth, how much will he get, and if he signs elsewhere, do they really have a suitable plan B? J.D. Martinez is a really good hitter. His counting stats indicate he is most like Giancarlo Stanton, but he’s also similar to Jose Abreu and Edwin Encarnacion to a degree (names Boston has been tied to this off-season). His batted ball profiles are close-ish to Mike Trout and Khris Davis! While Khris Davis is not great at generating contact all the time, when he hits it, it does go far. So this is rather encouraging. His plate discipline leaves a little to be desired, as he is very much a free swinger, and compares most favorably to Nelson Cruz. The names across the three lists he has the most overall similarities with appears to be Khris Davis and Nelson Cruz, although Giancarlo Stanton is up there as well. J.D. Martinez, is 30, a mid-point between the two ages. While he is not going to get less than 20 million a year, he is unlikely to eclipse Stanton’s AAV, despite the fact Stanton’s contract did not happen on the open market. Encarnacion, who was coming off a 3.9 fWAR season himself, may be the best comparison we have, given he signed for less than expected, and was a prolific hitter the Red Sox were interested in. Encarnacion put up 2.5 fWAR in his first season in Cleveland. If he continues to do so the next two seasons, the Guardians will have paid 60 million dollars for 7.5 fWAR, a rough valuation of 8 million dollars per fWAR. I would propose given the free agent freeze, that 8 million dollars per fWAR is more likely a valuation than the 11.1 million proposed by Fangraphs last season. Factoring that in, my final guess at Martinez’s “value” (roughly 8 million per fWAR) is set at 115.2 million dollars, over 5 years, adjust if you believe he will be worth a different amount than 14.4 fWAR. It’s all well and good to say J.D. Martinez is “worth” 115.2 million dollars on the current market, but that’s not entirely reality. Value is dependent on exactly what teams are willing to pay you. It’s very possible Martinez is worth closer to the 160 million mentioned above. It’s also possible he’s actually worth more. But if Boston and Arizona do not want to pay him that much money, there are limited options for him to pursue to acquire his true worth. I’m of the belief that Martinez will be signing in the next week or two, and that the contract is going to be seriously underwhelming, making the side that misses out on him wish they upped their offer.

@jcmccaffrey Sale said earlier today he’d throw to Leon or Vazquez this year despite sticking with Leon a majority of starts last year. Just threw a bullpen now to Vazquez.

That's just not true at all. When looking at your 3 year stretch, Lynn has a higher WAR than either Cashner or Liriano. Cashner has a higher career FIP after spending most of his time in pitcher friendly SD. Liriano has been less than a 1 WAR player the past two seasons. Lance Lynn has been far and away the best of the 4 over the past 4 years when accounting for WAR (+4 WAR over the other guys). Cobb iwas out for a long stretch so it's really hard to compare in that small sample. He has been above W WAR in every season he's appeared in 10 games. You certainly can't say that for Liriano.

Get the 5/100 deal, but ask for some big incentives like $10M for MVP, $5M for WS ring, $1M for HR title, etc.

Blake Swihart, erstwhile Red Sox catching prospect, on the spring-training experiment to turn him into a super-utilityman: "I pride myself on being an athlete. I feel like I can play other positions. Catcher is my favorite position to play, but if I need to play somewhere else I can. I feel like if I put in work, I can play anywhere."

It'll be interesting to see how Quiroz does in ST, but he's destined for AAA to start the season. I'm not sure they've been playing Swihart at 2b. He's worked out at 1b, 3b and LF from what I've read.

Sounds like Mitch is really happy to be back. http://www.weei.com/articles/column/bradford-why-mitch-moreland-didnt-wait-around-jd-martinez-or-any-other-free-agents Listen to how the first baseman's 6-year-old son responded upon his father landing for another spring training at JetBlue Park. "He's fired up," Moreland said in a sit-down interview Tuesday afternoon. "Yesterday, as soon as I got on the phone with him he said, 'Have any of the guys asked about me?' He's excited about it." "I just told my agent that if we get close, I'm ready to do it. It's just nice to have the security of knowing everybody here and not having to learn a new organization. Being somewhere where my family is comfortable and somewhere that is a winning environment. All of those things factor into something like free agency. This is a great place to be, so obviously, it was my first choice." "I knew I had a good time here. Obviously, all of our conversations with staff and front office were good heading out. I guess the way everything has been going the last few years, you never know what's going to happen. This year has been a prime example of that even more. I really didn't know what to think. Just keep an open mind and let them know I had fun playing being part of this organization and playing for the Red Sox. I would love to come back, but I also understand it's a business. That's kind of the way I approached it. Obviously, when the time rolled around and we started talking a little bit, I was happy to come back. I wanted to be here. "I told my agent, 'Listen, man, I want to be somewhere I'm going to be happy and somewhere I'm going to win.' I loved playing here last year. So when the opportunity came about, it checked all the boxes. I've got to take care of my family. I'm not worried about the market part of it. When I saw the opportunity, with something I was happy with, and my family was happy with, I jumped at it." "I go to the field ready to go every day," Moreland said. "That's what I do. I try and be ready to go when my number is called, whether it's in the first inning, fifth inning, whenever. That's what I shoot for. Last year I was supposed to be part-time and I got more at-bats than I have ever had. I don't think you can look at a scheduled set-up of playing time because we're still two months away from the season right now and there is a lot of stuff that can happen. I'm going to be focused on getting ready to play every day and being ready to go when that time comes here." "I got in yesterday and went and hung out with the guys the first night. I told my wife, "Hey, I got invited to hang out with the guys the first night.' Last year it took me a week before I hung out with the guys. It's nice," he said. "Just having familiar faces and knowing the situation. Everyone talks about how it helps having that comfort level in baseball whether you're on the field or off the field. It makes those adjustments easier. We had a blast, so I'm happy to do it a couple of more years."

@PeteAbe Some #RedSox items: Andrew Benintendi has not yet hired a new agent … Marco Hernandez says his surgically repaired shoulder is coming along well but he will need to ease into baseball activities. … Mitch Moreland is very pleased he signed when he did and isn’t a free agent. If Hernandez isn't ready to go on opening day, does that mean we're getting more Brock Holt?

Our good nutmeg friend told us all last year how horrible Sale would be for team chemistry. Seemed that he did just fine to me?

..................................................................Runs HR's Hits 2b's 3b's BB's Fenway Park (Boston, Massachusetts) 1.026 0.824 1.103 1.156 0.750 0.958 Kauffman Stadium (Kansas City, Missouri) 0.926 0.809 0.966 1.078 1.207 0.980 A rate of 1.000+ favors the hitter, below favors the pitcher. To think that Hosmer will come to Boston and start mashing for power seems a little silly to me. It makes more sense that he could wind up hitting for a higher average, but it's a tough sell that he starts hitting 30+ HR's. He's very inconsistent from year to year as he has alternated positive and negative OWAR seasons for his whole career. Plus, his glove is kind of s***** and he's not a consistent performer. That's not a guy I want to sign for 7 years. (My first point turned out kinda ugly with the format, but whatever. Sorry all. -mvp)

But he signed Mitch Moreland!

Yes, he was standing up for his team.

Crazy...

So they should overpay him just for shits and giggles?

Edwin has a higher career OPS. Projected WRC Edwin 127 JDM 130 Projected WOBA Edwin 366 JDM 370 Over the past 4 years: Edwin averaged 38 HRs JDM averaged 32 HRs

https://sports.yahoo.com/mlb-overrated-team-yadier-molina-aroldis-chapman-headline-list-204520263.html Yahoo Sports just came up with a "most overrated baseball players" list and included JBJ. Do you guys think he's overrated? Also winning were Longoria (duh), Odor, Kemp, Hosmer, Addisson Russell, Molina (not sure about this one) and Bautista. Seems like a fair list. The pitchers were Sonny Gray (duh), Bartolo Colon and Matt Harvey.

The only time a player will want to opt out going forward will be 2021 when the new union contract is bargained. Until then, I don't think salaries are going to skyrocket at any point.

Yeah, why pay top dollar if you are the only one bidding? That would be bad business.

If EE is worth 3/60. How is JDM worth more than 5/100? They are basically the same player except that EE is older and has generally been healthier.

If they offer a 1 year contract, can they QO him at year end?

A 5/100 contract is Encarnacion AAV for 2 extra years (JDM was younger as a FA). Makes sense to me. I don't think it's a low ball offer at all, especially when there are no other suitors out there.