Wednesday Morning Windfalls
Hey, let's just go grab 'em all. ....

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BRAVES POLE-AXED BY MLB

G-Money points out a bizarre development that gives Jerry Dipoto a chance to Band-Aid his minor league system a bit:

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NEWS: Major League Baseball will hammer the Atlanta Braves for significant international and domestic rules violations and declare 12 minor league players free agents, including highly touted 17-year-old Kevin Maitan. Story at Yahoo Sports:

https://sports.yahoo.com/mlb-hammers-atlanta-braves-declaring-12-minor-l...

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Maitan would be THE get, but Abrahan Gutierrez is a good baby-catching-prospect, and there will be others.  The Braves' farm team depth was pretty extreme, so any of these that could be poached should be.  They are free agents now and will cost more than before - but for the right player(s) it could help with the farm restock.

And if the Mariners went all-out for Maitan... well, the lefty shortstop has a ton of talent and happens to be from Venezuela and Felix makes a good selling point. He somehow got fat (like, fat) and his swing has a weird hitch in it now that it didn't used to have, but if you could get Fat A-Rod as a 17 year old and see whether you could made it work, that's basically the hype-level with Maitan.  He'll probably come in a few levels below that, but he won't have roids helping him out either.

Hopefully Dipoto puts some of his wheeling and dealing talents into fishing that pool.  I know he'll just trade those players for some 26 year old farmhand with an injury history, but at least it'll give us more rated prospects to trade.

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First takeaway:  I challenge you guys to come up with a comparable hammer in USA pro sports recently.  The NCAA does stuff like this, but for MLB to do it ... wow.  The Braves' corruption must have been on quite a scale.  The Braves' GM was thrown out of O.B. like Pete Rose, and a bunch of other stuff.

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A fat teenage ALEX RODRIGUEZ.  :: laughs :: Was that a quip G or did you mean it?  ... that image alone makes the story the winter's #2 bombshell right then and there.

We do presume that MLB put these players into a pot outside the international pool?

Above is a picture of what he looks like now, and here is a picture of what he's supposed to look like, which, as G sez:  ARod.  Both pics are slightly superior to Dr. D's current 8x10.

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Here is Fangraphs' scouting report on each player.

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OHTANI IS COMING, OHTANI IS COMING

They reached a deal.  Game on, baby.

Basics of the system:  the NPB player is a pure free agent, and his old team gets 20% of his new contract, sliding down to 15% as the contract becomes more lucrative.  An NPB team will not be able to shut down a posting offer simply because it doesn't like the $$$$ it gets out of the deal; this was a big point for the Players' Association.

This system apparently goes into effect Nov. 1, 2018, so will not apply to Ohtani.  It's $20M to the Ham Fighters and then peanuts for Ohtani, who now is in the position of waiting not even ONE year.  (???)

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STEROID USE

Bob Dutton's outstanding Twitter feed includes a Tweet that asks readers whether they agree with HOF'er Joe Morgan, who was one of my boyhood heroes... Little Joe sent an impassioned plea to voters that they exclude steroid users.

The vote:  precisely 50-50.

Myself, and G-Money if I understand him, I think that steroids are a very helpful medicine, as opposed to Carter Capps jumping two feet in front of the rubber or as opposed to Yogi Berra cutting the ball on his shin guard for Whitey Ford.  Personally I use them myself, a lot - not to be better at sports obviously, of course.  :- )

But yeah, guys who obey the rules are then put at a disadvantage.  Especially they seem at a disadvantage to, oh, Nelson Cruz.  Did you get that stat the other day?  That Cruz hit .314/.402/.644 from Aug 1 to the end of the year?  You ain't taking him out of the lineup for Shohei Ohtani.  One of 'em would play RF, correct?  Could be up to Ohtani to decide which.

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ERIC FILIA

Here is Baseball America's Hot Sheet on the AFL.  One more sizzling report for you if you're still hungry.

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WBC-san

The Mariners have made an offer to Hisashi Iwakuma, which delights Dr. D no end.  Here's to a bounceback to one more glorious season in the sun as a TOR starter, and a look at the smile on his face after one, just one, playoff win.

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RULE 5

One cubicle to the right, we have Jerry Dipoto apparently stuck on a spit and roasted over the River Styx for his use of the 40-man roster.  One thing, though; he's got 4 spots wide open for the Dec. 14th draft -- for which rosters have now been finalized.

Toss a tater on in,

Dr D 

Blog: 

Comments

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...that the braves twelve were going to be considered international free agents and therefore subject to the same pool as Ohtani, but I could be wrong.

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The just released Brave prospects are now considered International free agents, so they are subject to the same things as Ohtani or any other International 16 year olds that can be signed by June 2nd... with the exception that MLB teams can use either their 2018 OR their 2019 International Draft allocations to sign these former Braves. Lastly, MLB has increased ALL teams International draft allocations by $200K for the year that each team chooses to sign these former Brave prospects.

THUS... The Yankees can now sign Ohtani this year AND sign Maitan & Rosario using 2019 International money. I would have said the Mariners could sign both, but since the Yankees now have $3.5 million for 2018 International players versus the M's 1.5 million... more than double the money usually talks. 

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1) Given the questions surrounding Maitan and our own system construct, would Del Rosario not be our #1 Braves target?

2) Is it even possible that Ohtani would not sit out a single season in order to cash in his chips?  Even if he didn't put on a uniform all year he'd be set up for life in 2018.

3) Is there ANY chance that sometime in 2017 our 1B platoon would be Healy and Filia?  Or does Filia need to prove things at Tacoma for a full season?

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The Other Billy Zoom's picture

Didirotweiler, some people have a non-western mentality of values more important than how much money you make.

Oh Oh BabeRuth-san has expressed this in a number of ways, but mostly in his monk-like existence.

He wants to change baseball a notch, much more important to him than how thick his pockets have to be to hold.

There are more ways than money to set yourself up for life.

I still see no resolve or second sourcing to reports he will receive a 3 year contract, instead of the 6 tear provided for players under 25 who come directly to MLB.  Plenty of suggestions to that, but no documentation.

MLB obviously slapped the Braves with a samuri ruler so that teams would not be thinking of playing games with the contract offered Oh Oh just prior to a decision being reached between the Holy Trinity, MLB, MLBPA, and Nippon League ... trying to keep it more "transparent" ... but, then, I remember seeing cloudy Saran Wrap.

I've already seen three conflicting reports on the gimme pot that the Braves will be putting up ... but all seem to agree this will carry over into the Braves next two international drafts as well as what they're already being stripped of.

And I can find no definitive relationship with Oh Oh money and how and if it will be applied to the Braves forced fire sale.

So, clean your bird thoroughly of all edibility, as eligibility in baseball has yet to be fully cooked.

There seemss to be consensus that by Dec 9 will see creative bidding techniques for a certain Japanese fish.

Our get together tomorrow will feature king salmon, as well as turkey.

And Oh Oh says he really likes salmon.

Plese4 note there is no story yet on the "Japanese Baseball" site (10 AM Wed, Pac Stan Time) about resolving any of the above, other than the Players Association is basically in agreement that he will be allowed to come over, the Ham Fighters have agreed to take $20 mil for the posting fee, and Oh Oh has thanked the Nippon Leaague for allowing him to do so.

zoom

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Hey Doc,

Any chance you've come across the newest blog site in the M's sphere? "Dome and Bedlam" - great name, btw. Run by three former LL folks. They do a podcast as well, but it's about 50% baseball 50% beer talk. Heh. In any case, Nathan just wrote up his 3rd and final installment of his offseason plan series. Thought it might be ripe for some kibitzing.

https://domeandbedlam.com/2017/11/22/an-offseason-plan-the-road-goes-eve...

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  • The Mariners have engaged with free agent outfielder Jon Jay, according to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand . It “seems as though there’s some momentum there,” he adds, while also cautioning that there isn’t a deal in place at present. Jay checked in just inside the top forty players on MLBTR’s ranking of the top fifty free agents, with a predicted contract of two years and $14MM. Last year, he slashed .296/.374/.375 in 433 plate appearances with the Cubs while seeing time across the outfield. It seems unlikely that the left-handed hitter would command everyday time in Seattle, but might effectively step into the place in the rotation vacated by fellow free agent Jarrod Dyson..  

Jay started 43 games in CF and 43 in the corners last season.  -0.7 dWAR, take that with a grain of salt.  He's a reverse split kind of guy, but handles RHP decently enough.

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Hey all: Happy Thanksgiving!!!!! Hope you all enjoy family, food, friends and a libation or two.

Among other things, I am indeed thankful for SSI, Doc and all of you, friends I have never met!

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and your contributions to my life, distant and disconnected as they are.  In many ways, this community is my favorite of all the various groups I interact with either physically or virtually.

Happy Turkey Day!

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The Dodgers have released Jose Miguel Fernandez, the Cuban ex-pat they signed last year. He was a lifetime .319-.403-.423 hitter in the CSN, but basically hadn’t played since ‘14.  As a 29-yr old AA-er, he was decently impressive at .306-.366-.498, with a 24/33 Eye and 16 homers in 369 PA.  He’s a lefty bat and mostly played 2B, but also 3B, 1B and one AAA game in LF.

Nobody we had in AA hit as well, playing in the same league. .  It is worth noting that his HR total was Tulsa-infused, with 13 of his 16 HRs coming at home, but his road BA/OBP were as sharp as his home numbers.  His .317-.367-.534 vRHP was impressive, as well.

He would be a cheap get, and a decent roll at the UT dice.  Have a look:  https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=fernan018jos

Addenda:  Here is a video of Fernandez homering in AA last season.  Notice the leg kick, which you will find in all of his AA highlights.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3zWp9Sf4d7M

And another: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OpbQfKIk-4w

Here is some video from the WBC, when he was still playing in Cuba:  No leg kick, just sort of a toe tap and much more of an inside-out sort of swing.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ds9JSvEbIlc

He only hit 37 HR in a bunch of CSN seasons, but the AA homer surge seems to be legit, if you consider his tweaked approach.

The Dodgers had to figure they were good at 2B and at 29 he was blocking younger guys.  I would certainly be interested in seeing him get the opportunity to show himself for us.  

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SonicBOOM!'s picture

Stereo-typical Xdurienek draft pick, big basher, not necessarily what the new regime is building for nor what the Mariners' varsity need, with Cruz installed and Otani (fingers crossed) on the way!

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SonicBOOM!'s picture

This site seems like very much a gift to those of us starved for intelligent Seattle sports talk. Thank you all for your significant, thoughtful contributions, and particularly for your gentle fondness for one another. (I try to chip in with something minor, when I can think of someting that hasn't already been pointed out by others!) 

Happy Thanksgiving- Advent- Christmas Season- to all who share that spirit. 

-BOOM!

 

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