There was some heavy lifting done in the baseball world yesterday: it was arbitration filing day, as well as the opening of the international signing period. Today is a recovery day. Here’s the latest…
- Before agreeing to terms with the Red Sox, southpaw Martín Pérez had no shortage of suitors. The Astros, Padres, Royals, White Sox, and Rays all showed interest in Pérez, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com (via Twitter). The Padres and White Sox have generally set their sights a touch higher than Pérez, but there’s clearly some trust around the league in Perez’s ability to contribute to a playoff-caliber pitching staff.
- The Oakland A’s have long faced questions about their ability to stay in Oakland because of stadium concerns. The Coliseum sits on land with split ownership between the A’s and the city of Oakland. The organization continues to look for a site to build a new stadium, but the city of Oakland has also received a number of offers for their portion of the Coliseum land. One of those offers comes from former Oakland pitcher Dave Stewart, per Susan Slusser and Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle. Stewart, an Oakland native, submitted a $115MM bid with plans to revitalize the area, whether or not the A’s continue to play there. The city of Oakland is reviewing all offers.
I’m happy Perez is back in Boston, we adored him last yr. But……Bloom needs to sign someone else too, pitching n not another recycled Tamia player.
He will.
Look for either a former high draft pick who bounced between 3-4 teams never panning out, someone who was in TB during his time there, or some journeyman level guy who averages a 4.5x-6.5x career era and will sign for around 5m or less.
Bloom the bungler, bargain bin bloom, bumbling bloom pick your favorite.
I was absolutely elated when Bloom came onboard. With his analytics and the Sox cash, I thought he’d dominate. But the guy is just too small minded for a big market. Constant bargain shopping creates a lackluster fan following. A constant revolving door of guys makes it tough to get emotionally invested.
We have seen him operate in a setting where he was forced to cut costs, and a pandemic season that messed with everyone. This FA class is nothing to go crazy on the checkbook with. I get that they need to fill some holes, but not at the expense of risky multi year commitments. I don’t even think that signing every top FA available(even players that have already signed) gets the Red Sox over the hump this year. Sale/ERod/Nate all have to be performing well and all have serious questions with their health.
Your going to judge him after one year? Come on.
Are the Red Sox actually worried about competing this year? And anyone that thinks Bloom is the one who decides what his budget is needs to think again.
not to criticize this love of Perez, but where does it come from I swear he gets a lot of plaudits from many fans of teams he played on, but the numbers just look…euh to me.
Diversity.
Really, @darkside –
I thought that was addressed in the previous Martin Perez thread.
150+ innings of 4.50 ball is worth 5 million bucks – or whatever – bro.
It’s a “just fine” signing.
In what universe if Perez adored?
Dave Stewart driving up the price to the Coliseum site seems awfully unproductive to what his cause is
if he’s serious with his intentions then why is that an issue.
what his plan is for the site if the A’s move to JLS is virtually the exact same plan the team has for the site if they buy it so it seems pointless to drive up the price instead of just helping the team win the bid.
Maybe he’s acting as a dummy corp. for the team, and in the process gets to direct a redevelopment.
The guy has been heavily involved in community charity work for a long time. I’d rather him win the bid than some faceless corporation flipping the development.
I wonder what the A’s will do.
I hope they stay in Oakland. As crazy as it sounds I think that area has as much viable future as it’s overpriced neighbor across the bay. Oakland has the same things going for it that Brooklyn has. I think it speaks to the next 20-30 years as well as anything. I could be wrong…wouldn’t be a first. I don’t see the future of Vegas the same way others do I suppose. I think they have growth issues there due to natural circumstances…water supply.
Who else is on board with Stewart. Surely that cash isn’t all out if his pocket book.
No. Not for that amount even if he alone had the liquid cash. You borrow cheaply against your assets and aquire talent to help with your investment growth.
Yet, you refuse to believe that the Yankees will not pay a relative pittance of CBT fines.
Ya know?
🙂
Edit; this post needed lots of editing
Gotta admit I’m rooting against Oakland. After moving to Vegas in September, we have an NHL team, NFL team, soon-to-be NBA expansion team (along with Seattle), so we need an MLB team, and if fans and cities won’t take care of their own (A’s or Rays), send them to Vegas and let those cities go without.
Or, help the 2 teams that need it and expand MLB’s brand so all teams benefit instead just the 1 relocating to Vegas.
Not like I have a choice, but if I could choose between a relocated team (like the A’s) and an expansion team, I’d choose the latter in one second.
But if relocation would happen before (or without) expansion, then COME ON A’S!!!
Nashville is next in line to have an expansion team from MLB. Charlotte is also a possibility as that’s the biggest market without a baseball team currently. Portland also wants a team, although the Mariners have regional rights along with one of the biggest TV deals in sports that expands through Oregon. Chances of Vegas getting an expansion team are slim to none. Relocation of the A’s is for sure your biggest chance.
My guess is that the Rays move to Nashville and the A’s move to Las Vegas. That would allow both teams to stay in their divisions – Nashville is in the east and Las Vegas is in the west, and since both markets are bigger than the teams’ current markets, they wouldn’t have to rely on moneyball in order to win.
Rays Orlando if move.
I honestly wonder if Vegas can legitimately support a MLB team the NHL/NBA play half the amount of home games and i wonder how many seats are bought by the casinos. The NFL is only 8 home games and they got a team with a built-in rabid fan base
One thing is for sure: if Vegas gets an MLB team, they will need a stadium with a retractable roof and AC. There’s no way they could have a traditional open air stadium in the desert heat. That drives up the cost of building the stadium by at least $300M if not more. Plenty of deep pockets in Vegas who can afford that though, including casino owners. It would be great if the stadium had a sports book inside of it. Would slot machines be asking for too much on top of that?
They could definitely build a masterpiece in Vegas but would there be enough fans to support the team? Can they really attract 40,000+ fans per night for 81 nights, excluding playoffs? Have to figure at the very least they will pull more fans than Oakland did in the last 8-10 years or so.
Only three teams averaged 40,000+ in 2019 , Yanks, Dodgers and Cards. I don’t think Vegas could do that.
I don’t believe Vegas is viable. There’s clear questions about the area, and plenty of entertainment competition in an environment built on it. I see the same issues in a sense that Miami deals with. I also see a city dealing with dwindling growth coming up due to water supply. Vegas seems like a very recent retrograde city that we haven’t identified as such, yet.
I wish Oakland would stay put and just be Oakland. They’re one of the few freshly marketed teams we’ve had in the last decade. Our stadiums will get smaller in the future. And I believe society is playing the game right into what Oakland does very well.
How much would it cost to keep that place cool and what effect on the atmosphere would that have?
Rays already have a pre move agreement to move slowly into Montreal
I like Montreal for the new Expos. I think that speaks well for the future game. Itd speak even better with a reduced schedule that emphasizes game impact even more. MLB is pushing the playoffs…and it’s going to need to do something to make the regular season more relevant. I know less games SEEMS counter-intuitive. NFL plays once a week…it helps make each game matter more. I could see an MLB schedule that had 4 games a week on it….and seeing that thrive for multiple reasons.
Stewart has a habit of handing organizations setbacks. Toronto, Arizona, now Oakland.
You’re wondering what he did in Toronto. As Assistant GM he spearheaded a trade involving Woody Williams for Joey Hamilton, then convinced ownership to extend him despite having time left on his contract. Then when he was passed over for GM after 2001 he played the race card. Wasn’t pretty when he left.
He won a WS MVP for Oakland, genius.
Weren’t talking about his playing days. He was ALCS MVP with Toronto. Now do you have a point or are you still drowning in anger?
Dave Stewart the Pitcher, in his prime, was outstanding
Dave Stewart, the executive, is terrible
WHAT!? A free agent the Blue Jays weren’t interested in!? Fire Shapiro and Atkins!
(Heck, they’re also paying Grichuk what as of Friday is Aaron Judge money … )
Portland Athletics sounds better and better everyday.
Portland should name the team:
Portland Riots
Portland Rains
Portland Blueberries
Portland Weeds
Portland Potheads has a nice ring to it
Lol
I lived there briefly. It is beautiful country, but too many reasons to leave.
Firestarters, Bandits, Sworm, Flamethrowers, Torchers, all work and embody the beauty of Portland culture.
Portland ChazHeads
Chaz would be the name of their stadium.
Walls or no walls?
Portland Potheads is hilarious.
its likely Vegas unless they want to start a team from scratch.
Good luck paying to get out of the TV and regional rights that the Mariners have. It’s one of the biggest and most expensive TV deals in sports.
Portland Spliffs!
The Rays, Marlins and A’s should move instead of having expansion teams.
The Marlins are fine in Miami. They averaged 37K in home attendance in ’93 when they last won the WS. And 27K in ’12. It’s their former owner Loria who kept lying to his fans and lost their trust. Jeter and Co. just needs to keep rebuilding their brand.
one of the teams needs to move. the Florida market cant support two teams in most sports.
As long as Miami has a competitive team, fans will show up. History has shown us that.
History also shows Montreal isn’t a baseball city. 2nd Toronto team/Hamilton would be a better choice.
It is a shame that the A’s have not been allowed to move south 40 miles to San Jose. SanJo is rife with avid sports fans and families that would support the A’s into being viable financially. (See NHL San Jose Sharks) I don’t get why the 3rd largest city in California (and growing) is being shut out by MLB—just so the Giants can monopolize the Silicon Valley??? By the way, SJ is 55 miles from SF. This arrangement makes no sense whatsoever. Let the As move to San Jose!!!
I hope they stay in Oakland. As crazy as it sounds I think that area has as much viable future as it’s overpriced neighbor across the bay. Oakland has the same things going for it that Brooklyn has. I think it speaks to the next 20-30 years as well as anything. I could be wrong…wouldn’t be a first. I don’t see the future of Vegas the same way others do I suppose. I think they have growth issues there due to natural circumstances…water supply.
Bloom is meant for a small market team like Tampa! No way this guy is going to fit in Boston. The fans are not going to buy into the cheap dumpster diving way of signing “High Upside” players that are really mediocre
Stop hating on Bloom.
The Portland Puffs!
I am not a huge fan of teams just packing up and leaving, but if I owned the A’s, I would leave Oakland. This whole drama over their park has probably cost that team (and the league) hundreds of millions in lost revenue, had they say, gotten their new place built 10 years ago.