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Trade Rumors Front Office Chat: 10/29/20
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Steve Adams
2:03
So.
Today has been wild.
2:04
I was ready for the return of some offseason chaos, but 2020 is coming out of the gates FIRING. Let's chat about it!
Tony M
2:04
What do you think Kluber’s salary would be for a one year contract?
Steve Adams
2:05
It's obviously a bit dependent on health, but today's report on him was encouraging. Assuming he is indeed healthy, it's hard to envision a scenario where a two-time Cy Young winner and four-time Top 3 Cy finisher would command under $10MM. I like him at $12MM plus some incentives, perhaps to get back up to the $18MM he'd have earned on the option.
2:06
I will say -- the Brad Hand thing is throwing me for a loop and making me question everything, but I think that is more a case of Cleveland just being uber-cheap than anything else. I mean, we already say Yuli Gurriel get $7MM from Houston.
Old Chief
2:06
Best FA pitcher not named Bauer or Stroman is???
Steve Adams
2:07
I've come around on Stroman getting paid more than Kevin Gausman, but there's an argument in favor of Stroman over him as the better pitcher, I think. He's our No. 2/3 SP on the market this year alongside Bauer and Stro
TR Sullivan
2:07
Rangers need a DH... if the price is equal... who do you want: Choo, Puig, Cespedes or Kemp?
Steve Adams
2:08
If the Rangers are going for a youth movement, as Daniels has said, they won't sign any of the three. I think that's wise. You're not going to trade any of them for much of value, and the Rangers seem extraordinarily unlikely to be contending next year. Give the ABs to someone younger or a younger free agent who is non-tendered but has some team control remaining.
2:09
If I'm forced to choose among the four you listed ... Puig, Choo, Cespedes, Kemp.
In that order.
kevin cash
2:09
will I be the Rays manager in 2021?
Steve Adams
2:10
Of course. It's easy to zero in on the Snell decision, but that overlooks the hundreds of other moves he made to put the team in that position and the manner in which he's gotten so many players to buy into unconventional roles. There's a reason the Rays' coaching staff is practically a farm system for other clubs' dugout staffs around the league.

I didn't like the move to pull Snell, but that doesn't mean that Cash is some kind of idiot.
2:11
The Rays, of all teams, are a process-oriented club rather than one that will focus in on a singular decision (which was probably made after extensive, collaborative talks with the front office while planning out World Series gameplans)
Brian Cashman
2:11
Should I save a few bucks by declining Britton's option and pick up Hand?
Steve Adams
2:12
That assumes Hand will get to the Yankees on waivers, which I do not expect.
2:13
I will say that the Hand decision does make me question what the Yankees will do with Britton and what Britton himself will do if the team declines its portion.

I previously thought the club might decline in hopes of cutting costs -- they lack too many obvious avenues to doing so -- but my expectation then was that Britton would jump at the chance to go to market as one of the top two to three relievers.
2:14
If you're Zack Britton and you see Brad Hand get waived, though -- yikes. You know Scott Boras will be telling him he can get him better than the one year and $13MM Britton could take as a player option, but that would look mighty tempting when one of your most talented and consistent peers gets dumped at 1/10.
I will be very surprised if Hand is not claimed, but time will tell. That move was the first in this young offseason that made me say "Wait what the hell?"
Mariners fan
2:15
Mariners want to improve their 'pen.  Do they look at Hand?  May be a bit pricey for them.
Steve Adams
2:15
It would be really hard for them not to consider it. I think the likeliest teams here are the Red Sox, Mets, Nats and Angels -- all win-now clubs in the top 10 in league-wide waiver priority.
2:16
Mariners are 12th, for what it's worth.
Joe
2:16
Which team do you think will claim Hand and how soon can it happen?
Steve Adams
2:16
Unsurprisingly, lots of Hand questions
I just listed teams there. It can happen at any point in the next 48 hours. It depends when the move was actually made, too. If he was placed on waivers yesterday and the move just didn't leak out until today, it should be resolved within the next 24 hours.
Illini Bill
2:17
Isn’t Tony LaRussa besides being too old (76) as much of a cheater as A.J. Hinch? Surely, he knew what Canseco & McGwire were doing in Oakland and McGwire in St. Louis! Didn’t LaRussa also make some strange decisions in his last World Series for the Cardinals?
Steve Adams
2:21
The La Russa hire is straight up bizarre -- and a bad one, in my mind. Beyond the fact that I think other skippers will manage circles around him from a tactical standpoint, someone pointed out that La Russa is like four years removed from blasting Collin Kapernick and saying he'd never allow a player to silently protest. Meanwhile, one of his best (or arguably his best overall) players, Tim Anderson, is on the advisory board for the Players Alliance -- a group whose mission statement professes it seeks to build "equitable systems in order to change the trajectory of diversity throughout baseball."

It feels like there will be some awkward conversations early on and tough questions from the clubhouse to the manager.
Griffin
2:22
If the Yankees want to get under the threshold do Wong and Eaton make sense as low cost additions
Steve Adams
2:22
I don't think they have the luxury tax in mind so much as just cutting costs in general after a record payroll in 2020.
Wong works there as a lower-cost DJLM replacement, but only if they're convinced Gleyber can really handle SS
2:23
Eaton seems like he'll be a more expensive version of what they already have in Brett Gardner. If you're going to pay Eaton, even on a one-year deal, why not just see if Gardy will come back at 3-4 million bucks?
Old Chief
2:24
What dies Michael Brantley's next contract look like
Steve Adams
2:24
I think it'll look similar to his last one -- two years, $32 million -- although maybe Houston just makes a QO and he accepts.
2:25
It should be two years at $12MM+ annually, in my eyes. As with every contract prediction this winter, though, we'll see how many clubs are actually willing to spend anything.
I think even if teams do want to spend, it's going to be very frosty early on as teams wait to get a better sense of what attendance will look like in 2021.
Pat
2:25
Is this offseason going to be as much of a bloodbath for players as it's looking like so far? I can't imagine a worst scenario as we head into the last year of the CBA.
Steve Adams
2:27
The only move that seems bloodbath-ish to me is the Brad Hand decision. Everything else, contract-wise, has been either expected or at least defensible. (Wong was more borderline, but I figured there was at least a decent chance they declined)

All that said, I do think it will be tough -- especially beyond a certain tier of the market's top names. Once we're past the Top 20 or 25 free agents, I think we'll see a deluge of one-year and minor league deals that make people say, "That's it?!"

I also imagine we'll see some players choose to just sit out. We've already seen guys like Scooter Gennett and Denard Span do that in recent years because they felt slighted by the offers they received.
Travis
2:28
What position in free agency gets hurt the most by the lack of spend this offseason?
Steve Adams
2:28
The second base market has been flooded on an annual basis for years now. I doubt that changes in 2020-21.

Also wonder about a lot of similar offers outside the top few relievers. Again, Hand factors into that concern for me.
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