moonslav59

The guy did an amazing job building a juggernaut.

MLBTR... Yuki Matsui To Explore Signing With MLB Teams By Mark Polishuk | October 14, 2023 at 11:13pm CDT Star closer Yuki Matsui looks to be interested in a potential move to Major League Baseball, as a Yahoo Japan report (Japanese language link) indicates that Matsui has exercised his international free agent rights, as well as his rights to freely negotiate with other Nippon Professional Baseball clubs. Matsui doesn’t turn 28 until later this month, but he has already accumulated 10 seasons with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. As a result, the left-hander is a full free agent, and can be signed by MLB teams without an additional posting fee to the Eagles. His age and experience also make him exempt from MLB’s international bonus pool structure. It isn’t necessarily a sure thing that Matsui is headed to North America, as the Eagles are reportedly set to offer him a four-year contract worth $1.6 billion yen (roughly $10.7MM in USD) to remain in the fold. However, Matsui has hired WME’s Bryan Minniti as an agent, which could hint that the southpaw is more interested in seeing what Major League teams have to offer. Minniti has recently moved into the representation arena after a long front office career that included stints as an assistant GM with the Phillies, Diamondbacks, and Nationals. At least nine Major League clubs have already scouted Matsui, including the Padres, Red Sox, Cubs, and Yankees. It isn’t surprising that there is significant interest in a pitcher who is hitting the market at such a relatively young age, and who has already amassed such an impressive resume in Nippon Professional Baseball and on the international stage. Matsui was a member of Japan’s championship team at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, though he only made one appearance during the tournament, throwing a scoreless inning.

MLBTR... Yuki Matsui To Explore Signing With MLB Teams By Mark Polishuk | October 14, 2023 at 11:13pm CDT Star closer Yuki Matsui looks to be interested in a potential move to Major League Baseball, as a Yahoo Japan report (Japanese language link) indicates that Matsui has exercised his international free agent rights, as well as his rights to freely negotiate with other Nippon Professional Baseball clubs. Matsui doesn’t turn 28 until later this month, but he has already accumulated 10 seasons with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. As a result, the left-hander is a full free agent, and can be signed by MLB teams without an additional posting fee to the Eagles. His age and experience also make him exempt from MLB’s international bonus pool structure. It isn’t necessarily a sure thing that Matsui is headed to North America, as the Eagles are reportedly set to offer him a four-year contract worth $1.6 billion yen (roughly $10.7MM in USD) to remain in the fold. However, Matsui has hired WME’s Bryan Minniti as an agent, which could hint that the southpaw is more interested in seeing what Major League teams have to offer. Minniti has recently moved into the representation arena after a long front office career that included stints as an assistant GM with the Phillies, Diamondbacks, and Nationals. At least nine Major League clubs have already scouted Matsui, including the Padres, Red Sox, Cubs, and Yankees. It isn’t surprising that there is significant interest in a pitcher who is hitting the market at such a relatively young age, and who has already amassed such an impressive resume in Nippon Professional Baseball and on the international stage. Matsui was a member of Japan’s championship team at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, though he only made one appearance during the tournament, throwing a scoreless inning.

In another MLBTR report... J.D. Martinez was known to be a Red Sox trade candidate heading into the 2022 deadline, and WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford reports that the Dodgers came “very close” to a deal to land the veteran slugger. However, talks fell through when the Sox asked for Evan Phillips to also be included in the trade package. At the time, Phillips was partway through a breakout 2022 season that saw him post a 1.14 ERA over 63 innings, and he went on to another outstanding year as the Dodgers’ first-choice closer in 2023 (2.05 ERA over 61 1/3 frames, with 24 saves). Since the Dodgers pivoted to adding Joey Gallo at that deadline, it’s easy to wonder if Martinez could’ve or would’ve done more to upgrade the lineup, yet it’s hard to fault the team’s logic in wanting to retain Phillips. As it turned out, L.A. got the best of both worlds in 2023, with Phillips closing games and Martinez delivering a big year at the plate after signing with the Dodgers as a free agent last offseason.

This from MLBTR... Kim Ng Preferred Justin Turner To Jean Segura Last Offseason By Leo Morgenstern | October 18, 2023 at 3:37pm CDT Former Marlins GM Kim Ng remains a popular topic of conversation around baseball, following her surprise departure from the organization earlier this week. This morning, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald provided some insight into one of Ng’s worst errors of judgment during her tenure in Miami: signing Jean Segura to a two-year, $17MM deal last winter. According to Jackson, the executive wanted Justin Turner to play third base for the Marlins in 2023, but she was forced to change gears and pursue Segura after Turner signed with the Red Sox.

I'm pulling for the Rangers to shut these Astros fans up.

I'm hopeful there is a "bump," but it always seems to happen to someone we least expect it from. This year, it was Duran.

Swiharts Ghost has risen and can finally rest in peace.

Indeed. I was actually hoping we signed him.

Touched a nerve? Again, the difference is, I admitted it. You never can. You claim you gave up watching because the league was watered down, then came enthusiastically rushing back, once we started losing. Baseball suddenly was no longer watered down, when we started losing. Got it. I never went anywhere, last year. I watched every last game and was not happy about being right about the team sucking and how we should have sold off everything not tied down.

You don't? But, you wear the t-shirt, proudly? Mic drop.

Umm, just because I say you point it our everyday, does not mean I disagree. I agree that our FO is in turmoil. We are leaderless, right now. Yes, Bloom, JH, kennedy and others all share in the blame. I'm not disagreeing. I'm just pointing out how this all seems to make you giddy and nobody else.

Good post. I never thought about it, this way. Thanks.

Fine with me, too. I'm hopeful he can do better than a 102 OPS+, but 102 over 600 PAs and GG defense at SS is more than fine.

Are you denying you said you were not a Bloom basher? What's "long ago?" For someone who criticizes me for using the term, you sure don't seem to mind, anymore. It's funny how when we were doing well in July, you went into hiding. You criticized me for saying you seem to get giddy when we lose, from all your self back patting. Now, the team and FO is in turmoil. You point out every day how "nobody wants to work for JH." Your giddiness is leaking out of my laptop, as I type. We lost: you won! Hip-hip hurray for Ole RED!

I do not deny defending Bloom vs overly zealous attacks. Defending does not mean I'm the leader of some legion or that I am okay with most or part of what he did. That's where your reasoning and choice of words go off track. IMO, I had to defend him more than I should have. If most of the board was calling him a great GM, I'd likely be called a Bloom antagonist. I said, before last winter, that offseason would be Bloom's "make or break" winter and likely his "lasting legacy." Somehow that sounds like a big supporter to you and a few others. That was a long time before his firing. You also confuse optimism about the team's chances with thinking a lot of what Bloom did was right. We all knew he neglected the rotation for way too long. I gave reasons to why I think he did, but it's not like I ever agreed with neglecting the rotation. If I am known for anything related to baseball philosophy, it is always about building a rotation from the top. That's been my mantra for decades. If that sounds like a big Bloom supporter to you, I can only laugh. Again, I do deny defending some of Blooms moves or adding context as to why he may have been forced to do so many questionable, half-ass moves. I thought he should have had a fire sale in '22. he did not. I thought he should have been a buyer in '23. he did not, and it probably wouldn't have helped, anyway. I was on the sign Andrus bandwagon and later wondered why Iggy signed with someone else, when we needed a SS badly, mid-season. I hated the Diekman signing day one, and took flack for that. I wasn't thrilled with most of the signings for 2021 and 2022, but pointed out that "for the money" several did better in '22 than in '21, but it didn't seem to help. I can list more. I got many wrong, for sure, and I'm not embarrassed to admit it, and did at the time for most of them.

You can be a bust due to injury. See the Sale last contract example.

LOL. True, I never shied away from calling a Bloom basher a Bloom basher. One denied it for months and months and now says he wears a t-shirt with the slogan on it. (BTW, should I sue for copyright infringements?)

More lies. and "everybody knows it." Nobody would ever name names. I think someone said "Max supports everyone," once.

That's the only thing that changed after the firing. Now, suddenly they feel emboldened to name names.

Am I supposed to care? Why not try to answer a question, just once, instead of deflecting?

It's not sugarcoating it to say maybe it was related to injury or the long time off due to injury. He has been a total bust for 2 years. That does not mean the next 4 will be that bad or even close to that bad. I'm very concerned, but all hope is not lost.

And you say I speak like what I'm saying is fact not opinion. What do I have to be embarrassed about? My optimism was not realized?

I'm not embarrassed by any of my positions, even the many I got wrong. I was far from a Bloom basher. I was never a Bloom "supporter" or part of any "Legion." I was hopeful he did good. I thought many of his moves were good, even in hindsight. I thought many were bad, some at teh time and some in hindsight. I think he did a good job rebuilding the farm, but that remains to be seen. I think he had some very difficult conditions to overcome, and he failed to overcome them. I wear my positions proudly, and they have not changed because he was fired, and more than my beliefs have changed about DD, ben and Theo.

Thanks for finally, after years of asking, giving a name. Why did it take so long? Everybody knows what? The guy was subject to an onslaught of off-base attacks, some totally false and some lacking serious context. Pointing out flaws in someone's attacks does not mean that person supports the person being attacked. He was handed a very difficult situation. Just because you don't care about that does not mean I like what Bloom did. I could give you a long list of Bloom criticism from me, some where people were saying I was going overboard, like saying the JBJ trade was a "head scratcher." The rebuffs went on for weeks. I'm not embarrassed defending what I think is true and pointing out what I think is wrong. Did I take "his side" more than you and Red, yes, and I guess that's all it takes for you to make faulty conclusions- like some of your attacks on Bloom.