AL EAST 2017 Thread

[VikingFan2k2]

No, the on the field antics like the shadow boxing bullshit the Cubs do when they get on base is beneath the Yankees, their front office has been a hotbed for controversy and loudmouth antics since George bought the team in 1973.

I hear you. But I can't say I ever remember the team and any active player of their's being in a public war of words while that player was still with the team.

I remember Don Zimmer taking to the media to defend Torre against Steinbrenner once and the Post put his head on a rat's body. But that's about as close as I can remember.

 

[$500 Million]

I hear you. But I can't say I ever remember the team and any active player of their's being in a public war of words while that player was still with the team.

I remember Don Zimmer taking to the media to defend Torre against Steinbrenner once and the Post put his head on a rat's body. But that's about as close as I can remember.

The Jeter contract negotiation back in 2010 got ugly.

Yankees’ Negotiations With Derek Jeter Take Ugly Turn

 

[obxyankeefan]

Dave Winfield

 

[VikingFan2k2]

The Jeter contract negotiation back in 2010 got ugly.

Yankees’ Negotiations With Derek Jeter Take Ugly Turn

I completely forgot about that. That's crazy that they were able to get past that public mess.

 

[VikingFan2k2]

Dave Winfield

I stand corrected.

 

[$500 Million]

I completely forgot about that. That's crazy that they were able to get past that public mess.

Yeah, and I think they will with Betances too, it's just unfortunate.

 

[bksballer89]

Off season AL East Grades from Heyman.

Boston Red Sox
The Red Sox said they were content with their rotation, but made the big deal of the winter, landing superstar pitcher Chris Sale, one of the best pitchers in the game and quite a cut-up. The hunch is, David Price will do better his second go-round in Boston, giving them quite a top three (with also Cy Young winner Rick Porcello). Tyler Thornburg was a very key pickup, especially considering the re-figured value for late-inning relievers. They liked Mitch Moreland for his ability to hit to left-center (though Pedro Alvarez might have been a bigger threat), though no one can replace Big Papi. Grade: A

Baltimore Orioles:
They wound up bringing back Mark Trumbo on a seemingly reasonable $37.5-million, three-year deal in a tough market for power hitters, replacing mainstay Mark Wieters with Welington Castillo and making some depth moves. There are some real injury concerns (Chris Tillman, and to a lesser extent J.J. Hardy) but this group has made a habit of surprising folks. Grade: A-minus.

New York Yankees:
They loved Aroldis Chapman, so his return surprised no one and gave the Yankees a great bullpen again. After adding him and stud veteran hitter Matt Holliday, there was said to be $4 million left for GM Brian Cashman to utilize, and their late pickups on the cheap for Chris Carter and Jon Niese could pay off. Their modified rebuild may be way ahead of schedule judging by the performance of Gary Sanchez late last year and Gleyber Torres in the Arizona Fall League (Torres was MVP). They may be better than folks think, and could regret failing to add a veteran pitcher to give them some rotation depth that’s lacking. Of course, they have plenty of prospects to trade for that later, if needed. Grade: B.

Tampa Bay Rays:
They seemed to have loosened up a bit. But they appear to have clung to the unrealistic belief they can contend (at least that’s what they say, publicly). In the long run, the guess here is they would have been better off trading star starter Chris Archer, who’s been inconsistent but maintained a high valuation, or even closer Colome. You have to love LoMo, who’s a great personality. But $2.5 million looks like an overpay at this point. Getting pitching prospect Jose De Leon for decent second baseman Forsythe is the thing they needed to do more of. Grade: C-plus.


Toronto Blue Jays:
This would have gone a lot better had Edwin Encarnacion just accepted their early $80-million, four-year bid, though it’s hard to blame him for waiting and looking around, with the new CBA not yet done and rumors swirling that the Red Sox, Yankees, Astros and Rangers were poised to go big for EE. As it turned out, rather than revisit Encarnacion, the player they loved, once the CBA was finalized, they wound up going back to retain Jose Bautista, the star they seemed to have soured on but suddenly had to have. While they got Bautista for $18 million (about 10 percent what he originally sought) it seemed almost like a desperation move partly done in response to disappointed fans (though they clearly needed outfield help). The early signing of Kendrys Morales guarded against the Encarnacion loss but looks like a bit of an overpay now. J.P. Howell and Joe Smith are pluses, but Brett Cecil is a big loss, too. Grade: D.

 

[navamind]

the Orioles grade is stupid. The only thing they did was retain a decent player (Trumbo) and did little to improve their rotation. You're really stretching if the only thing you can say is "they have a habit of surprising folks." O's may certainly grab another Wild Card in 2017, but there's plenty of reason to be critical of their offseason.

Heyman's a good reporter, but he's a terrible analyst.

 

[navamind]

Sickels' sleeper prospects for 2017:

American League Eastern Division sleepers

 

[bksballer89]

the Orioles grade is stupid. The only thing they did was retain a decent player (Trumbo) and did little to improve their rotation. You're really stretching if the only thing you can say is "they have a habit of surprising folks." O's may certainly grab another Wild Card in 2017, but there's plenty of reason to be critical of their offseason.

Heyman's a good reporter, but he's a terrible analyst.

Agree. I think he made a good point about the Yanks. Very surprised they did add a veteran pitcher to be their 4th or 5th starter. That was disappointing.

 

[tducey]

I'd give the Jays higher than a D. They got Morales, Pearce shored up the bullpen. Bautista's back. Sure they dragged their heels on Edwin but other than that it was a good off season for the team.

 

[navamind]

Morales is a pretty big step down from Encarnacion and they resigned a pretty mediocre player in Smoak. Those moves also kinda limit Bautista to the outfield, where his defense is pretty atrocious at this point. But I don't think the loss of Cecil is very big, especially when they got Howell and Smith pretty cheap.

 

[tducey]

Yeah, Smoak is the type of guy I'd want on the bench not starting for the team. And yes Encarnacion should have been brought back not Bautista.

 

[VikingFan2k2]

Yeah, Smoak is the type of guy I'd want on the bench not starting for the team. And yes Encarnacion should have been brought back not Bautista.

Smoak.

Or as I always called him Smo-for-4-with-4-K's or Smoakkkk.

Never got the hype around him and he should be a bench player.

 

[bksballer89]

Good read

Holes that need fixing for all 30 teams

BALTIMORE ORIOLES
Problem projection: Stolen bases (30th)
Stealing bases is just not what the Orioles do under Buck Showalter. This year's roster won't change that and the concern isn't really steals but more general baserunning acumen.
The fix: Veteran Michael Bourn recently signed a minor league deal to return to the Orioles. Last season, at 34, Bourn stole 15 bases in 113 games, so the wheels still work. He would add another dimension to the Baltimore outfield mix. However, assuming he makes the roster, Bourn would bump a Rule 5 pick -- Anthony Santander or Aneury Tavarez -- whom the O's like, or Joey Rickard. Baltimore can't realistically keep both Rule 5 guys, but even if they keep only one, there will be tough decisions to make.

BOSTON RED SOX
Problem projection: Home run percentage (21st)
Believe or not, as good as the Red Sox look on paper, this is not a team with elite long-ball potential, especially now that David Ortiz is chillin' on the beach. According to both the projections from both Baseball Prospectus and Fangraphs, the only Boston hitters likely to hit even 20 homers are Hanley Ramirez and Mookie Betts. Don't misunderstand: Boston projects to score the most runs in the majors, so dismiss this problem if you wish. On a team with few glaring statistical holes, a few more dingers could be the final piece of the puzzle.
The fix: Any one of the Red Sox's young stars could break out in the power department, and that's the most obvious patch here. The third base battle will be the one to watch. If slimmed-down veteran Pablo Sandoval can claim an everyday role, his long-ball potential is better than that of Brock Holt or Josh Rutledge.

NEW YORK YANKEES
Problem projection: Third base WOBA (25th)
Chase Headley is a solid defensive third baseman and is adequate with the bat. He also is 33 and hit only three road homers last season. He never has been a great on-base guy, so as he ages his shortcomings at the plate stand out all the more.
The fix: Again, it's patience. Headley is fine as a stopgap who should remain above replacement. Someday pretty soon, Gleyber Torres will arrive and maybe around that time the Yankees will spend a gazillion dollars on somebody like Manny Machado. For now, just watch to see if Headley shows signs of serious decline.

TAMPA BAY RAYS
Problem projection: On-base percentage (29th)
The Rays hope to jump back into the playoff race on the heels of elite run prevention. So the position players tend to be more proficient with their gloves than their bats. There is a decent amount of power in the group, but with the worst forecasted batting average in baseball and a walks projection that ranks 25th, Tampa Bay needs some of these glove men to get on base.
The fix: Prospect Mallex Smith was traded twice last month, going from Atlanta to Seattle and then to the Rays in the Drew Smyly trade. Smith has a career .382 on-base percentage at the minor league level and stole as many as 88 bases in a season. He got into 72 games for the Braves last season, and while his .316 OBP doesn't make your heart race, it is better than the Rays' current forecast. He's not going to supplant Kevin Kiermaier in center field, but it would be great to see Smith force his way into regular playing time against righties.

TORONTO BLUE JAYS
Problem projection: Left-handed plate appearances (30th)
The Blue Jays have a few switch-hitting options, but Kendrys Morales, Justin Smoak and Jarrod Saltalamacchia weren't very good against righties last season. Meanwhile, only 7 percent of the Jays' plate appearances figure to come from lefty hitters, by far the lowest figure in the league according to our current depth chart. Those lefty hitters as a group project to post the lowest WOBA of any team in the majors.
The fix: Maybe Ezequiel Carrera overachieves. Maybe Dalton Pompey, another switch-hitter, breaks through. He's hasn't shown much of a platoon split in the minors. Or maybe the Jays find they need another lefty bat.

 

[$500 Million]

NEW YORK YANKEES
Problem projection: Third base WOBA (25th)
Chase Headley is a solid defensive third baseman and is adequate with the bat. He also is 33 and hit only three road homers last season. He never has been a great on-base guy, so as he ages his shortcomings at the plate stand out all the more.
The fix: Again, it's patience. Headley is fine as a stopgap who should remain above replacement. Someday pretty soon, Gleyber Torres will arrive and maybe around that time the Yankees will spend a gazillion dollars on somebody like Manny Machado. For now, just watch to see if Headley shows signs of serious decline.

Miguel Andujar is probably already a better option at 3B than Headley.

 

[soxfan1468927]

BOSTON RED SOX
Problem projection: Home run percentage (21st)
Believe or not, as good as the Red Sox look on paper, this is not a team with elite long-ball potential, especially now that David Ortiz is chillin' on the beach. According to both the projections from both Baseball Prospectus and Fangraphs, the only Boston hitters likely to hit even 20 homers are Hanley Ramirez and Mookie Betts. Don't misunderstand: Boston projects to score the most runs in the majors, so dismiss this problem if you wish. On a team with few glaring statistical holes, a few more dingers could be the final piece of the puzzle.
The fix: Any one of the Red Sox's young stars could break out in the power department, and that's the most obvious patch here. The third base battle will be the one to watch. If slimmed-down veteran Pablo Sandoval can claim an everyday role, his long-ball potential is better than that of Brock Holt or Josh Rutledge.

Should be a power increase out of LF, but I also have to assume that Betts/JBJ aren't going to combine for 57 HRs again. The combination of Moreland/Hanley isn't going to get 68 HRs like Ortiz/Hanley did. So they'll also have a dip there. They'll probably be right where they were last year in terms of power, but that's fine as long as they are getting on base and scoring runs.

 

[navamind]

I'd say the Orioles SP depth is a much bigger issue than a lack of stolen bases.

 

[tducey]

I like the Moreland signing for Boston. Again noone's replacing Big Papi but a guy like Moreland's going to provide power and hitting for the team as well.

 

[Pastafazul]

Sox win the east

white sox are not in the east silly goose