I don't think you automatically lose the international pool money. I think there's another condition about signing a free agent...have to read the fine print.
Every big business is corrupt...nice way of justifying everything, I guess. Like 'all politicians are corrupt, so who cares if Trump conspired with the Russkies to rig the election?'
Throwing bullpens, reportedly progressing nicely, very unlikely to be ready for Opening Day, but there seems to be optimism he'll be ready to go some time early in the season.
Are you blaming Swihart's setback on them trying him in left field?
Couldn't it be that they've had strong doubts about his defensive abilities at catcher all along and wanted to give him a shot at another position?
Of course it matters. It all matters, years, dollars, performance.
Ben sunk $250 million into Pablo, Hanley and Castillo, in return for virtually net zero WAR.
Of course he's going to be slagged for that.
Unfortunately, not everyone can be a consummate cold-blooded logician like you, notin. Yes, there are far too many fans who tend to view their team's unproven quantities through Pollyanna's rose-colored spectacles.
Very true. And I think we should all stop obsessing about the option (although I know it'll be an ongoing topic).
What Cora said suggests the team is going to 'play it straight', that is, play Hanley as long as he's hitting and forget about the option - which is what you would hope a team with World Series aspirations would do.
I think an argument can be made based on WAR that Moreland's contract was not a large overpay at the time.
fWAR
2015 2.2
2016 0.4
2017 0.9
bWAR
2015 2.3
2016 0.7
2017 1.9
Even if you only project him as a 1 WAR player, that was supposedly worth 7-8 million on the free agent market at the time he was signed.