"I never argue with people who say baseball is boring, because baseball is boring. And then, suddenly, it isn't. And that's what makes it great." - Joe Posnanski
Rick, I think the problem with this line of thinking is that baseball is not played in a vaccum.
The Blue Jays can go around and offer FMV contracts, but so will other teams. In the end, the players choose the team to some extent. Who says that Greinke or anyone is going to choose the Jays over another team prices being equal? Look at the list of free agents the Jays sign. It has not been a substantial list of talent. Presumably they are making more offers than they are getting talent back.
Likewise, with the Marlins, this trade does not make them a desination. Free agents are going to look at Miami and be afraid they could be traded to any other team in baseball in a year's time. That risk has now been proven after yesterday's events.
The only way the Marlins get an established talent through free agency is by offering contracts firmly above market rates, and even then, if Greinke has offers for 19M somewhere else, is Miami really the destination he is going to pick for an extra 2M a year?
The Marlins may have just significantly closed their ability to acquire talent through 1 of the 3 main streams of acquiring talent. They may have also significantly hindered their ability to lock up their own young talent like Stanton, knowing that they could be part of the next purge, or could be faced playing on a 16M payroll team at a minutes notice.
Needless to say, none of those are good things. The Jays on the other hand might have just moved up their rebuilding effort 3+ years. Considering how long it took the Reds/Nationals/Athletics to rebuild, or watching teams like the Pirates, Royals, Mariners, Houston, Cubs, etc. continuously struggle to field competitive teams, at some point, there needs to be a large amount of value placed on getting good players under contract, even if it costs prospects, and removes payroll flexibility. There are only so many good players to go around that payroll flexibility is not always something that needs to be kept sacred. Getting quality baseball players is the end all objective, and IMO, the Jays just acquired a ton to compliment a team that had the existing talent required to fit with.
Rick, I've made a similar point previously, but the fact of the matter is, there is no salary cap in baseball, like in hockey, where most teams spend to the cap and even the less desirable desinations can get UFA's to sign with them.
Toronto has to ask themselves how confident they were that they were going to be able to attract some of the premium free agents.
I think they answered that question by making this trade.
Games are won on run differential -- scoring more than your opponent. Runs are runs, scored or prevented they all count the same. Worry about scoring more and allowing fewer, not which positions contribute to which side of the equation or how "consistent" you are at your current level of performance.
http://joefrisaro.mlblogs.com/2012/1...trade-stanton/
MIAMI — Major turnover is taking place with the Marlins, but a player not being shopped is Giancarlo Stanton.
The Marlins have no intention to trade their All-Star right fielder. According to a source, the slugger pretty much remains untouchable, at least for 2013.
Miami has Stanton under club control for one more season before he is eligible for arbitration. And he won’t have the necessary service time to become a free agent until after the 2016 season.
Currently, the Marlins are not in discussions with Stanton’s representatives regarding a long-term contract.
I think the point being made is that (1) if they had the money to spend (and that question has presumably been answered); and (2) they were quite confident they couldn't get a premium SS and two decent starters in FA for $30M, the lost "cap" space in the deal isn't that much of a price to pay.
Currently, Stanton's representatives are not taking the Marlins' calls.Currently, the Marlins are not in discussions with Stanton’s representatives regarding a long-term contract.
I would suggest Ozzie wouldn't have been fired after just one losing season had it not been for some comments relating to the whole Cuba thing, so it is kind of important. Obviously they are not going to trade for all hispanic players though, but Chapman is affordable, dominate, and the Cuban thing would be a nice bonus for Miami. It's all likely a moot point however.
“I don’t care,” Votto said of passing his friend and former teammate. “He’s in the past. Bye-bye, Jay.”
This is awful, Mark Buehrle has a pitbull and they're banned in Ontario.
http://nesn.com/2012/11/mark-buehrle...an-in-ontario/
"Reality tells us there are no guarantees. Except that some day Jon Lester will be on that list of 100-game winners." - Peter Gammons
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