# MLB Off Season/Hot Stove **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** baseball-mlb\ **Created:** [March 11, 2020, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-off-season-hot-stove/842799 "2020-03-11T04:00:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2020, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-off-season-hot-stove/842799/122 "2020-04-01T01:25:10Z")
Jacoby Ellsbury released. A Scott Boras Client that signed for 7 years $153MM contract in 2013 has been cut by the Yankees after several years of injuries and lack of production. The Yankees will be paying him $26 MM to sit at home next year. A cautionary tale. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2020, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-off-season-hot-stove/842799/123 "2020-04-01T01:32:20Z")
Ellsbury wasn’t a malingerer by all accounts, so just some bad luck. He had hip surgery in 2018 and is hoping to be into playing shape by spring training. He wants to play in 2020 and perhaps someone will take him on as a fourth outfielder for the league minimum salary. I wish him well. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2020, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-off-season-hot-stove/842799/124 "2020-04-01T01:49:00Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > Ellsbury wasn’t a malingerer by all accounts, so just some bad luck. He had hip surgery in 2018 and is hoping to be into playing shape by spring training. He wants to play in 2020 and perhaps someone will take him on as a fourth outfielder for the league minimum salary. I wish him well. But he was an extreme disappointment and a stupid signing at the time. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2020, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-off-season-hot-stove/842799/125 "2020-04-12T23:33:10Z")
Reds sign Moustakas! ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-off-season-hot-stove/842799/126 "2020-04-13T01:14:09Z")
Probably not a good idea to expect much in the way of Red Sox upgrades this offseason, given their [del]trade[/del] [salary dump](https://www.masslive.com/redsox/2019/12/sandy-leon-trade-why-boston-red-sox-sent-catcher-to-indians-for-minor-league-pitcher.html) of Sandy Leon. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-off-season-hot-stove/842799/127 "2020-04-13T04:30:36Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Reds sign Moustakas! Yeah, this makes Rendon more expensive. Now there is only Rendon and Donaldson left with at least 3 teams in the mix. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-off-season-hot-stove/842799/128 "2020-04-13T04:44:19Z")
The Reds apparently plan to have Moustakas play second. He’s not bad there, but I have my concerns about any 30-year-old player on a big deal who doesn’t get on base a lot. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2020, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-off-season-hot-stove/842799/129 "2020-04-14T05:01:55Z")
[Zack Wheeler to the Phillies for 5 years/$118 million.](https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2019/12/phillies-sign-zack-wheeler.html) I couldn’t decide if I wanted the Yanks to go after him or not. People still talk about him reaching his potential someday, even though he’s entering his age 30 season. Hopefully it will work out because I’m rooting for Girardi a little bit. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2020, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-off-season-hot-stove/842799/130 "2020-04-14T08:15:37Z")
I’m starting to get a little concerned that the Nats won’t get either Rendon or Strasburg back. If they don’t get Rendon, they absolutely need to get Donaldson. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2020, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-off-season-hot-stove/842799/131 "2020-04-14T10:59:25Z")
> [@P-man](#): > > I’m starting to get a little concerned that the Nats won’t get either Rendon or Strasburg back. . . . Patience, grasshopper. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2020, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-off-season-hot-stove/842799/132 "2020-04-14T12:26:37Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > [Zack Wheeler to the Phillies for 5 years/$118 million.](https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2019/12/phillies-sign-zack-wheeler.html) > > I couldn’t decide if I wanted the Yanks to go after him or not. People still talk about him reaching his potential someday, even though he’s entering his age 30 season. Hopefully it will work out because I’m rooting for Girardi a little bit. Wheeler is 30 years old and has a history of injury but no history of greatness. Neither of which could be called great. The deal is nuts. It’s Darren Driefort 2.0. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2020, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-off-season-hot-stove/842799/133 "2020-04-14T12:30:02Z")
[Tom Verducci lets rip](https://www.si.com/mlb/2019/12/03/three-batter-minimum-rule) on the idiotic ‘three batter minimum rule’ proposed for next season. A final decision hasn’t been made yet, but the move has almost no support among players, managers and coaches. A few data point highlights: > [@](#): > > Relief appearances of one or two batters are going down, not up. They have gone down three of the past four years. In 2019 they fell 16% from just four years ago, reaching an 11-year low. > [@](#): > > Only one of 48 pitching changes in the ( 2019) World Series would have been impacted by the rule. > [@](#): > > The proposed rule would eliminate one mid-inning pitching change every three or four games. That’s it. Total time per game “saved” over a year: 44 seconds. > > > [@](#): > > There just wouldn’t be enough time saved to justify such a radical alteration of baseball strategy. Verducci goes on to point the real pace of play culprit (besides commercial breaks): pitchers and batters futzing around between pitches. Either umpires need to enforce ‘play ball’ or MLB needs a pitch clock. And after that, robo umps. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2020, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-off-season-hot-stove/842799/134 "2020-04-14T14:12:02Z")
Cole Hamels to Atlanta. $18 mil/1 year ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2020, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-off-season-hot-stove/842799/135 "2020-04-14T21:54:20Z")
Big news yesterday that the Mets are being sold to minority shareholder Steve Cohen. He’s a hedge fund billionaire and speculation is that he’ll change the Mets current strategy of penny pinching, though the Wilpons will supposedly remain in management positions for the next 5 years. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2020, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-off-season-hot-stove/842799/136 "2020-04-14T23:31:24Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Big news yesterday that the Mets are being sold to minority shareholder Steve Cohen. He’s a hedge fund billionaire and speculation is that he’ll change the Mets current strategy of penny pinching, though the Wilpons will supposedly remain in management positions for the next 5 years. Wow, amazing. The Mets need this in the worst way. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2020, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-off-season-hot-stove/842799/137 "2020-04-14T23:57:48Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Wow, amazing. The Mets need this in the worst way. Not so good. The Mets are stuck with the Wilpons for another five years, then they’ll be controlled by a guy whose hedge fund got fined $1.8 billion over insider trading (also pleading guilty to fraud charges). One hopes the Mets won’t go from being victimized by Bernie Madoff to being run by Madoff II. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-off-season-hot-stove/842799/138 "2020-04-15T00:27:08Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Wheeler is 30 years old and has a history of injury but no history of greatness. Neither of which could be called great. The deal is nuts. It’s Darren Driefort 2.0. Yeah, I guess he could theoretically be the next Charlie Morton, but Morton was signed on a cheap(ish) two-year deal when he was a guy with intriguing upside but limited demonstrated ability. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-off-season-hot-stove/842799/139 "2020-04-15T02:03:44Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > [Zack Wheeler to the Phillies for 5 years/$118 million.](https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2019/12/phillies-sign-zack-wheeler.html) > > I couldn’t decide if I wanted the Yanks to go after him or not. People still talk about him reaching his potential someday, even though he’s entering his age 30 season. Hopefully it will work out because I’m rooting for Girardi a little bit. And Wheeler apparently turned down more money from the White Sox. The money that was being talked about had me wondering if this was a different Zack Wheeler than the guy I know of from the Mets. If he had signed for half of that it would felt more right to me. Man, what is Gerrit Cole going to get? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-off-season-hot-stove/842799/140 "2020-04-15T03:52:58Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > Verducci goes on to point the real pace of play culprit (besides commercial breaks): pitchers and batters futzing around between pitches. Either umpires need to enforce ‘play ball’ or MLB needs a pitch clock. And after that, robo umps. I agree. You do not have to fix your batting gloves after every pitch. And if you do, you are wearing the wrong size; sorry but your tiny hands need child size gloves. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-off-season-hot-stove/842799/141 "2020-04-15T04:22:56Z")
There’s a guy on the Yankees, Mike Ford, who does batting glove pantomime between every single pitch. Drives me bonkers. Just as bad are the Sunday strollers who think an at-bat is the perfect time for a walking tour of foul territory. The Verducci article mentions the other time-chewing culprits: pitchers. The worst offender is Jose Alvarado of Tampa Bay. He _averages_ 31.9 seconds between pitches. I swear, umps should be equipped with cattle prods. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-off-season-hot-stove/842799.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-off-season-hot-stove/842799.md?page=8)