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Or 52,000,000,000 nickels...

Angels, Cubs, Braves and possibly the White Sox, although I think they want their impactful spending to be elsewhere. But for Britton, Ottavino and Kimbrel, those are the suitors. If Britton goes to the Yankees, then the Cubs, Angels and Braves and Red Sox are the market for Kimbrel, Ottavino, and probably Cody Allen...

Of course the cost of hoping for 5 wins from Donaldson did cost $22.45 million more than it did to wish upon a Tulowitzki...

Philly just signed Robertson and now has an overcrowded bullpen they might be looking to move parts of. Reportedly they would like to deal Hunter and Neshek...

Well if your starters get in trouble early, burning up the bullpen might be the only option. But a manager does have to be smart. Burning out the bullpen chasing unwinnable games can cost a team the next game or two as well. Even not knowing whose up in the ninth, the idea of saving the best reliever for the last inning “just in case good hitters are up” probably costs teams more wins in the sixth and seventh than are typically lost in the ninth. (I have no data here, but if need be I will get some.) Really one of the big reasons the closer strategy is such a waste of resources is the usage solely as a ninth inning specialist, and one who starts a clean inning the majority of the time. So odds are strongly in his favor regardless of who comes up. As a manager, part of the job is knowing when the game is truly on the line. We are seeing managers around MLB starting to use the “high leverage specialist. Francona used Miller that way in Cleveland. (Remember him brining Miller in in the 5th inning against Boston in the postseason?). Kapler plans to use Robertson. Trevino in Oakland was also the high leverage guy. Ditto Hader in Milwaukee. It’s catching on...

Given how slowly the reliever/closer market is moving, I wouldn’t take anyone off the list, including Kimbrel. One of the things Dombrowski is probably waiting on is to find this year’s Moustakas - that unsigned player who can’t find a home and ultimately has to settle for a one year deal. On a one year deal, the money might matter less if the Sox plan to reset. If not, Cody Allen might be the cheapest option for money and years while not scraping the bottom of the barrel...

Would you consider Oliver Drake for the Suicase Hall of Fame? Drake was acquired by the Rays today. He has already pitched for 6 teams in a four year MLB career. Tampa will make 7. Suitcase Hall of Fame? Or Suitcase Hall of Very Good?

True. These players are free to pursue opportunities in Japan or Mexico if they like. MLB is just their desired employer...

Such an incredibly obvious one, I’m embarrassed to have forgotten him...

Definitely a better chance in the NFL. The NFL has seen their share of college QBs who tried baseball, and after a few years in the minors, went back to football and made it in the NFL, including Cody Brennan, Drew Henson, Todd Hutchinson, Chris Weinke and Russell Wilson. And probably a few more that I can’t think of off the top of my head...

The GMs also count on the name recognition of these star players to put fans in the seats. Sometimes casual fans simply recognize when a player is simply too old to be effective any more. I once worked with a Yankee fan who was all excited after a few big offseason moves and ended with trash-talking “And next they’re gonna get Griffey!!” That was in 2009. When Ken Griffey Jr. was 38 years old. By then, he Griffey was obviously no longer in any conversations about best player in the game. The guy didn’t even realize Griffey had actually spent the previous season in Chicago (where we were). But Griffey did have name recognition...

It’s reportedly how Kapler plans on using Robertson in Philadelphia, while using Seranthony Dominguez or Hector Neris to get the saves...

Unless you never get it over the plate...

He used to be a starter, but his control issues and lack of secondary stuff pushed him into a relief role...

So.... Cashman is a liar?

The Sox have made 27yo career minor leaguer Domingo Tapia a non- roster invitee to spring training. Tapia’s best pitch is mid-90s sinking fastball that Fangraphs Mike Newman once called “ the best pitch I’ve ever scouted.” But that was back in 2012. Tapia has also been known to have serious control issues and no secondary stuff. His K/BB was 1.65 in AAA last year, largely due to a high walk rate and a dwindling strikeout rate, which is not encouraging. But on the bright side, he has managed to keep his ground ball rates in the minors very high...

But the idea of not using your best when you need him is the strategy I don’t like...

I didn’t see these so I duplicated a lot, but these are some good examples...

Kiki also had a good career as a player in the NBA. There are a lot of instances of a father and their child playing different sports. Calvin (football) and Grant (basketball) Hill Mark (football) and Danny (baseball) Schlereth Yannick (tennis) and Joakim (basketball) Noah Ken Sr (boxing) and Ken Jr (football) Norton To name a few. And there are probably as many instances of brothers playing different pro sports, for example Chris (baseball) and Craig (football) James Mark (baseball) and Dan (football) McGwire Nate (football) and Kevin (basketball) Burleson Klay (basketball) and Trayce (baseball) Thompson Matt Tuiasosopo is on both lists. Is he alone there?

Boras doesn’t do anything the players don’t want. His tactics for getting players as much money as possible are so well-known that even we as fans are aware of them. Consequently any player choosing him as their representative is boldly stating to the world he desires that type of service and eventual outcome. Boras works for his clients, not the other way around. He isn’t the problem with baseball. He’s 66 years old, has a net worth of roughly $400milll and may retire any day now. And when he does, some other agent will fill the void he creates. After all, that’s what the players want....

The most common reasons a player refuses an offer is either money or years or both. If the years were the same, that leaves money...

Exactly. I want a guy I can have faith protecting a one run lead in a second and third with one out jam and the 3-4-5 hitters up. Rather than using anyone there and saving my closer for the ninth to face the 6-7-8 hitters...

I was actually (no longer) secretly hoping it would generate some posts about any professional athletes in different sports, ideally seeing if anyone could think of other athletes who played a different sport than a father and brother. But hoping for anything along this line. But if you have a better topic for the General Baseball Forum, have At it...

Up there with Mo see Ta two pooh...

If the Blue Jays even remotely thought Tulowitzki had a 5 win season left in him, he’d still be a Blue Jay. It’s not like he’s blocking Carlos Correa here. I don’t blame the Yankees (or any team) for trying, but my guess is by April, they’ll see what Toronto saw. The big loser in all this is Ronald Torreyes, who is wondering exactly what he did to not get any shot to be Didi’s short term replacement...