JotCast | MLBTR Live Chat

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Mark P

2:31

Merry Christmas Eve to all! What better way to get into the holiday spirit than baseball questions?!

Jon

2:32

Mark, you are now Carlos Correa. What is the minimum someone has to offer you to accept a four-year deal (no opt outs)?

Mark P

2:34

My first step would probably be to find Dr. Strange or someone who could help me with this body-swap scenario, but sticking to baseball.....

I'd guess it'd have to be $50MM, minimum. He'd have to absolute blow past Scherzer's AAV record to even put such an offer on his radar. But really, I doubt Correa would take such a shorter-term offer at anything less than a truly bonkers price

Sox Dilemma

2:34

How do see Boston handling the Boegarts/Devers dilemma? Xander has an opt out next year and Devers is getting close to free agency. Any way they can pay both of them to stay and still maintain roster flexibility?

Mark P

2:36

Sure, since the team has a ton of money coming off the books after this year. (Eovaldi, JDM, Hernandez, Wacha, Paxton, etc.)

So they CAN afford to extend both, but the question is will they, since the Red Sox were kind of wary about long-term extensions even before Chaim Bloom took over.

Long-term extensions that weren't somewhat team-friendly, that is

Gary

2:37

Assuming continued health, does Juan Soto's free agent contract reach 500 million?

Mark P

2:37

I'd imagine so

General Managers

2:37

Are the GM’s prohibited from talking amongst themselves? If not, there could be a ton of pre agreed upon trades made once the lockout is lifted. Make for a busy day for you guys.

Mark P

2:39

I think they aren't allowed to talk, but let's be real, I'm sure there's plenty of back-channel chatter taking place.

If it does lead to a huge surge of news on that first day after the freeze is over, man, I'm not sure my brain can handle another day like November 30/December 1

Ross

2:39

If you were the A’s GM, would you retool the team or completely rebuild?

Mark P

2:40

Retool. The A's have enough talent that they can still try to thread the needle for at least one more season, before they are "forced" to cut a bunch of payroll.

Actual fan

2:40

Shouldn't the Phillies prioritize bullpen help, defense, and depth over a big bat. Past few seasons show you can't hit their way out of blown saves.

Mark P

2:40

The Phils have added relievers but not many have worked out. I do agree that improving the defense is a must, and is often an underrated aspect in greatly aiding a team's chances of success.

Pedro4eva

2:41

On a scale of 1 to 10 how do you think Bloom is doing in Boston so far?

Mark P

2:42

So far so good. I think it's fair to call 2020 an aberration, and while the 2021 season may have been a slight overachievement, it speaks well to the organization that they were able to make a lot of improvements for next to nothing

Aaron

2:43

Do the Rangers trade IF Isiah Kiner-Falefa or hold off until they’re sure that Josh Jung is ready to take over at third? They do have Andy Ibanez as well.

Mark P

2:44

No rush for Texas to make a move right now, unless another team makes a really nice offer for IKF

Colin

2:44

McNeil for Kimbrell?

Mark P

2:44

Despite McNeil's down year, I don't see the Mets trading him for one year of a closer

Mikeale

2:46

Hassel and Abrams for Ohtani? Who hangs up?

Mark P

2:46

The Angels, laughing

KramSF

2:46

Are the giants looking to upgrade their pitching via trade? If so, which players looks likely?

Mark P

2:47

I'd be surprised if the Giants hadn't had some talks with the Reds or A's about their available starters, for instance. But keep in mind, this is a Giants team that has had great success at rebuilding guys. I could see them signing two lower-tier SPs thinking that at least one of them could have a bounce-back year in store

Scott Boras

2:47

True of false: I’m going to struggle getting Kris Bryant $120 M.

Mark P

2:48

False. I've learned to never underestimate Boras' ability to land a big contract for his clients.

Chuck

2:49

Now with the guardians new co-owner. Do you see them signing an extension to Jose Ramirez? If so what would that look like?

Mark P

2:50

It may take a while before the minority ownership sale is complete, paperwork-wise. So any thoughts of Ramirez being extended before Opening Day could be premature

Big Guy

2:50

what’s your favorite marvel movie?

Mark P

2:51

I loved No Way Home, but that could be both recency bias and longtime Spidey fan bias.

Other than that, my picks are Winter Solider or Endgame

Baseball Parity

2:51

I miss the days when there were 15+ teams who could legitimately contend. Back in the 80’s the Tigers, Twins, Brewers, Pirates, A’s, Yankees, Phillies, Cardinals, etc..all had legit chances of making the World Series. Will we ever see this again or are baseball economics too far gone to get back to that level of competition?

Mark P

2:52

I guess it depends what you mean by "legitimately contend, but 15 teams had winning records last season. The World Series champion was a mid-market team that was maybe a "borderline contender" heading into October since they had only 88 wins.

I’m Perry

2:53

Are there any SS prospects that are blocked that Angels could trade for? Moving Fletcher to SS and getting a 2B like Jeff McNeil seems like a decent idea (Joey Wendle could have also fit the bill). Seems like Angels owner Moreno has a serious lack of imagination and it hampers any creativity his GM may have.

Mark P

2:54

McNeil would indeed be a good fit on the Angels, as he would on several teams. As for shortstops specifically, there was another question in the queue that wondered about Taylor Walls to the Angels, which would also be a canny move on Anaheim's part if they can work out a deal with Tampa

GMEN-Mets

2:54

Yaz for Mcneil make sense for both teams?

Mark P

2:55

I think I like what Yaz brings to the table more than McNeil

Ian

2:55

What do the royals do at RF? Internal or external fix?

Mark P

2:56

Theoretically, Bobby Witt makes his presence felt soon in the middle infield picture, and Merrifield then moves to RF