Now that some team from the Northeast has captured the WS and winter approaches, it’s time to turn our attention to an offseason that once promised excitement but has cooled off significantly. The current free-agent class was supposed to be one of the deepest ever, but injuries and age have lessened the star appeal. So what does your team need? What will they do? What do you hope they’ll do?
(I copied this next bit from an old thread by Asimovian.)
This thread is your place for the entire offseason to discuss:
[ul]
[li]2018 individual awards[/li][li]managerial openings[/li][li]free agents[/li][li]big trades, and[/li][li]predictions for the season to come.[/li][/ul]
We all like Gardy, but I thought they would cut ties at this point. He’ll make a decent fourth outfielder and it will keep the fans happy. With Judge, Hicks, Stanton, Ellsbury and Frazier on the roster, that should pretty much rule out Bryce Harper, but you never know.
Although, to keep in the spirit of the thread, if the Cubs can shore up the back of the bullpen and either acquire or develop a leadoff hitter, I would expect them to run deeper into the postseason.
They have the starting pitching. A decent leadoff hitter (and the rest of the offense returning to full health and typical stats) would help take a lot of the pressure off the starting rotation to have to be extraordinary every start.
Is anyone betting against the Yankees signing Machado? *Somebody *has to play SS with Gregorius out, so why not one of the biggest a-holes in the game?
No, it wouldn’t surprise me, especially considering that they went after Machado at the trade deadline. Everyone understands that he’s insanely talented, but if he wasn’t sufficiently motivated in an actual World Series, what’s he going to be like after scoring a guaranteed, set-for-life payday? Don’t want, but I didn’t want Clemens or ARod either.
I’m really torn. Setting aside World Series performances, I feel like Kershaw has properly settled into his new, lower-velocity role. But is his health stable? Is he going to physically deteriorate quickly after another season pitching as deep into the season as possible? Somewhere in between? I really don’t know.
So, practically speaking, I’d like to see that dollar figure come down some if we’re going to give him six years. But my heart wants him to retire as a Dodger, as he’s easily this generation’s best chance at going into the Hall of Fame with an “LA” on the cap, so I don’t want to risk insulting him. Plus, it sounds like his work ethic is infectious with the folks around him. So yeah, if it were my money, I’d probably cave and give him $30m/year for six years.
The Red Sox are talking who could be the new closer for 2019, so it looks pretty likely that Kimbrel will sign elsewhere. Although the bullpen was solid in the postseason, that was not the case for most of 2018. I’m afraid guys like Joe Kelly and Nathan Eovaldi are going to command big money based on a couple weeks of greatness.
Other than strengthening the bullpen, maybe the Sox look for a catcher who can hit. But again, Vazquez was actually a pretty solid bat in the playoffs, despite being slightly above the Mendoza line during the regular season. Anyway, Grendal and McCann don’t stir up much excitement for me.