The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…
- The “Boras Four” lingering in free agency (1:00)
- A short-term deal for Cody Bellinger? Are the Cubs the best fit? (2:20)
- What about the Royals or some other unexpected suitor? (4:45)
- Are the Rangers essentially done, as Chris Young said? (9:10)
- Are the Giants essentially done, as Farhan Zaidi said? (11:05)
- Are the Blue Jays essentially done, as Ross Atkins said? (14:05)
- Angels owner Arte Moreno says they will have a lower budget (17:40)
- The Nationals are no longer for sale and also claim to be done adding to the roster (23:05)
- Commissioner Rob Manfred not planning to stick around (32:05)
Check out our past episodes!
- Jorge Soler, Veteran Catcher Signings and the Padres’ Payroll Crunch – listen here
- The Sale of the Orioles, Corbin Burnes Traded and Bobby Witt Jr. Extended – listen here
- The Jorge Polanco Trade, Rhys Hoskins and the Blue Jays’ Plans – listen here
The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!
Twins still need a solid starting pitcher to replace Grey. Monty, or even Clevinger or Lorenzen would make us legit contenders I think
Twins revenue stream was also affected by the Diamond Sports Group bankruptcy. Its a shame when a division champ can’t spend the money to build on that success.
@geofft
it does suck that teams are handcuffed because of diamond sports, then again teams should of seen the death of cable before they re-upped there contracts. generally billionaires aren’t billionaires because there idiot, then again there was blockbuster and laughing the netflix guys out of the room because they thought mail rentals and streaming was the dumbest thing they ever heard.
@brodie-bruce: …teams should HAVE seen…
Generally billionaires aren’t billionaires because THEY’RE IDIOTS…
#literacymatters
Scientists have found that people who constantly get bothered by grammatical errors online have “less agreeable” personalities than those who just let them slide.
That means they are jerks. And if the boot fits…
Which scientists?
And when your opinion matters to me, I will advise you.
brodie – It’s hard to feel sorry for teams that benefited from ridiculously large contracts given by dumb corporations such as Diamond.
Dumb corporations that overspend tend to get into financial trouble. If Time Warner starts going down the toilet, and the Dodgers eventually lose that $8.35B contract, guess what will happen.
AM – I think it depends on the situation.
If someone is continuously making the same error, it’s okay to correct them as long as it’s done politely with good intentions. Doing it in a mean way is not cool.
There are plenty of companies that will take losses on contracts in the hope that either the competition will drop out, allowing them to raise prices, or to buy into a growing businesses.
Think about Amazon offering free shipping.
In this case, the quasi-monopoly they were hoping for was dismantled by streaming.
sorry i didn’t catch the mistakes until after i posted
#idontgiveaf#%*
Or weren’t aware of it.
#obviously
In world where typos and spellchecker exist, assuming they typed it that way on purpose is a great way to make yourself the ass part of the assume equation.
If you’re too lazy to check, that’s on you.
@fpg
i don’t either especially since everyone and there brother could see cable dying, add in the older generations are either passing on or also cutting the cord with aid of there kids or grandkids
@joebrady
i see that all the time in construction, i’ve seen the big contractors take a loss on a job just to stave the little guys out, or the big guys cut each other because one owner is mad at the other.
Please don’t.
They’re fine. Projection systems like where they’re at and there is no pitcher left that is likely to produce results better than the guys they already have.
I think Clevibger would be a cool option
I don’t for one second believe that this will be Manfred’s last term. Remember Bud Selig?
Why would he stick around and work to fruitlessly get the owners out of their own stupidly?
I thought the owners were doing quite well?
eddie – You mean the creepy looking guy with greasy hair?
No, I don’t remember him.
throughthefencebaseball.com/open-letter-baseball-c…
I still don’t get the near $300M prediction for Bellinger that MLBTR predicted. I mean he hasn’t had a 5 WAR season in 5 years.
Wouldn’t it be justice, if some of these guys could somehow file a lawsuit vs Boras for poor representation?
Why would they do that, and why would it please you?
Because IMHO, I see Boras as a type of conman. I don’t consider his style nor his tactics to be good for the fans, nor the long term health of the game.
Dogbone, Boras works for his players, not the fans or the game as a whole.
For comparison, Manfred has the “best interests of baseball” as part of his responsibilities. When has he done something that wasn’t first and foremost for the owners? Similar to Boras, they’re the ones paying his salary.
I don’t care who he works for! My opinion stands on its own merits.
@Dogbone: The only merit I see is an irrational bias against someone who does an excellent and effective job of representing the interests of his player clients.
He is no better or worse for fans or the game than any number of stakeholders on the side of labor or management.
Your comments smack of hostility against players and desire that they not earn too much of the owners’ money, to say nothing of swallowing the negative view of Boras planted by owners in the media hook, line, and sinker.
The anti-Boras indoctrination is so obvious even a child can see it.
And don’t even try the BS that if players weren’t so greedy and accepted a smaller share of the profits they create, then the kindhearted, generous owners would lower ticket and concession prices for fans and the good of the game.
What a crock.
First, I am not fond of Boras because he makes public comments that are insensitive to fans and ordinary working folks.
But I think Boras and his team are highly competent at what they do and his clients have eyes wide open that a few owners prefer to avoid him.
Boras has encouraged some clients to take negotiating postures involving some risk and high reward. Most of his clients seem happy. I see zero basis for his clients to sue unless he fails to communicate offers received to his clients. Too early to say what will happen in the next couple weeks.
Manny – I totally agree. A sports agent is not like a criminal or civil attorney. Athletes have the right to reject or accept any offer, same as a homeowner selling a house through their real estate agent.
No matter the bad decisions Boras may make, it’s his client that is in control of what happens. There would be no basis for bringing a lawsuit against Boras no matter how much money his client may lose.
I see nothing wrong with the way that Boras operates. It wasn’t quite up and up that he worked directly with the Tigers and O’s owners when they were declining mentally, but part of that responsibility also resides with the boards of those organizations.
But that said, I don;t allow good marketing to change my mind about the price of a car, a house, a 1915 Ruth card. And neither should the owners. If you think Snell is worth exactly $140M/5, then that’s your offer.
If the owners allow Boras to gas-pipe them with other imaginary offers, that’s on the owners.
I have found it very odd that almost no sportswriter/insider seems to mention how bad Bellinger was just two seasons ago yet it’s their focus point with Blake Snell. Maybe age and the fact he’s a pitcher are a factor but both players come with a large risk
Gmen777 I really wonder what you’re reading. Bellinger’s poor showing in ’21-’22 has been cited somewhat regularly here on MLBTR and elsewhere. And the questions about whether last year was real or a fluke are brought up all the time.
The thing with Bellinger is, if you add in his ML years and consider his youth, he’s had more years being good at baseball than bad ones. Really could be legitimate injury that produced the bad years.
Its possible, but I don’t think so. As good as last year was, it wasn’t close to what he was doing in his early years. If it was really just the injury, then why didn’t Bellinger’s results return all the way back to the form of 2019?
Other stats like hard hit rate, exit velo, and BABiP all give some reason to suspect that Bellinger could regress some this year.
Juiced balls in 2019.
Other stats declined due to the focus on changing his approach to become more of a contact hitter for average.
Speed & defense don’t slump. I think he can be a good player into his mid thirties. Just my opinion.
It’s possible his healthy game still has some rust on it. Often times when a player is injured it messes with their mechanics and it takes awhile to get all the way back to where you were once you are fully healthy again.
Still not worth the years or money projected, but I would not be afraid of a 7 / 175 deal. Could happen with his shrinking market.
I’ve seen Bellinger’s poor years in just about every thing I’ve read about him. Especially in terms of the rumor articles.
Beginning to winder if the ever bold and tactical Boras is already plotting to have one or more of these FAs wait to sign after mid-season, when the draft compensation is no longer needed for the QO guys. This doesn’t however, explain Montgomery.
The only thing that explains Monty, in my head, is that he is targeting only a couple teams. Those to be near his wife’s residency, and those fish ain’t biting.
oldgfan it sure seems that way. Unless Boras is asking some crazy amount of money like he has for Snell, Monty should have been signed by now.
He is definitely asking more than what any team wants to pay. That’s for sure.
Very true about some of these guys targeting a preferred team. I mean after awhile, doesn’t money start becoming less important, then where you call home.
I could see that being completely oblivious to someone like Boras – who seemingly struggles to value anything except the bottom line. Of course, his salary is likely based on what his cut is, of the bottom line.
@Dogbone: You seem to struggle to value anything except ripping Boras even though he has caused you no damage.
I’m only guessing here. But Boras’ strategy is to let the top guy sign first because the #2 guy then becomes the best (and maybe only) one available n that tier and can command more money. Its not working, in this case, and it might even present a conflict of interest.
@geofft: Where is the conflict of interest?
Montgomery wants “Nola money” / $172M, from what was rumored early in the offseason.
If only he had Nola talent
The Boras 4. Like the Gang of Four Chinese group or the English punk band? Poor Scott. Can’t manipulate teams to bid against themselves since they decided to not spend their money. Which is their right to do. Players and agents going back years have said if the owners didn’t want to spend the money they wouldn’t give it. Now they don’t especially with starting pitching.
Most overpriced stuff in the market. Barely get 30 starts out of the best of them. 175-180 innings. I get the we got to protect arms. You’re better off developing as many of your own starters and use them for their 6 years with you for the 150-180 inning range. Then let someone else pay big for them in FA.
If the owners collectively decide not to spend, that’s collusion.
If they’re not going to pay FA, the next CBA will be fought to get a lot more money to younger, pre-FA players.
Owners of their business without consulting each other decide not to overpay for a product without telling each other they are not going to do that is not collusion.
Great. Tell the players we will give you FA after 5 years but they eliminate any and all Arbitration.
If they don’t want that then arb after 4 full years. No super 2 BS either.
It the players ask for arb for all after 2 years then counter with 7 years before you get FA.
Owners screwed this all up back in 1976 when Miller offered 10 year service for FA and O’Malley and Stoneham I think it was, 2 of the owners that the rest fell in line with said never. No FA. And they took it out of their hands into an arbitration that made it 6.
@gbs
This is not collusion.
Quite simply, it’s Boras trying to TELL the owners how much they should expect to pay his clients. Basically it is just Boras’ opinion.
Boras is losing his ability to get owners to bid against themselves. – maybe planting false rumors and threats. Ownership is catching on. More GMs are also waking up about not wanting to pay players big money into the years when their production is likely to decline.
It’s taken awhile but some of the owners finally aren’t falling for it. It’s one thing representing the best interests of your client, it’s another biting off the hand…
@gbs
This is not collusion.
=========================
I’m not a lawyer, but I’d bet real money that it is collusion. If all the major auto companies got together and agreed on a price for steel, how is that not collusion?
There would have to be evidence that they actually all met together and made that choice rather than each club coming to that decision on their own. Given the problems a lot of clubs are having with their cable deals it is likely the latter.
who said anything about them getting/deciding together?
@1984 That is what collusion is. When they all decide amongst themselves to lowball free agents. It is not collusion if they made those choices on their own without collaboration.
@JoeBrady: It’s not collusion because Dogbone doesn’t want it to be, lol.
He thinks the owners can do whatever they want, especially when Boras is involved.
At what point do teams start to get concerned about the pitchers not going thru their usual spring training routines? I know he was getting older anyway, but Stephen Drew never seemed like the same player after he took the 3-4 months off.
By the turn to March, very much. Routines are important. Clubs don’t want key starters failing to get into a groove for weeks or a month into the regular season. That has a domino effect on the BP, who for the most part get used a lot as it is in games involving 4th/5th starters.
One of the Giants’ young starters had an elbow soreness scare today. Even before that, I’m nervous about how much they’re relying on pitchers who’ve never thrown 150 innings in a professional season. Their payroll is largely unburdened in a year or two, so I’m hoping they take the risk on Snell or Montgomery. Get some quality, experienced innings behind Webb. That way, they’re not relying on 80% of starts coming from young rookies with small workloads (Harrison, Winn, Beck, etc), a career reliever (Hicks), and aging veterans coming off surgery (Cobb and Ray)
Pretty sure they are still in on both arms.
Problem is Boras knows the need, and is holding his ground on Zaidi. Gotta give Farhan credit for waiting him out though. I don’t think it’s a money thing, probably more about the years.
Giants fans thinkin Zaidi has had even a passable offseason blows my mind.
Check back in April.
Jays made a lot of sense for Bellinger before KK re-signing. at the right price/length. Maybe longer years ,lower AAV. As their OF isnt very good offensively and they have no outfield prospects. They also need future money to sign Bo or Vlad if they dont go full rebuild.
Chapman made a lot of sense for the Jays until they threw money at IKF (????!!!) but most of their prospects are 3B so you can maybe squint and hope one of them pans out and only have to play IKF at 3rd half a year.
But alas, here we are, IKF starting 3B and Varsho/IKF/KK batting 7/8/9 🙁
Don’t forget the Rodriguez and Turner money.
I understand the need for a strong bullpen but did anyone look at the depth chart prior to the Rodriguez signing? I’d consider him a minor miracle if he’s a bonafide SP since he hasn’t been for quite some time.
Biggio/Varsho/IKF/KK your 6 thru 9. Not exactly murderers row.
If Varsho (8th) and KK (9th) are consistently getting on base that can add up to a lot of RBI’s from the top of the order
Late in games teams bring in a lefty, shut them completely down when they need a rally. Where is the RH outfield bench bat they needed last year and now this year?
you’re so kind to offer Boras some help!
It looks like a lot of evidence of owner collusion related to some of the insane salaries given out. The tv deals in my opinion are a convenient excuse.
I think Boris has inflated salaries of good players to figures that make financial sense with less risk to target younger alternatives that can bring comparable results for 1/30th of the price.
Can you share one actual shred of this evidence that is fact and not pure speculation??
I’d like to see this “evidence” as well.
I’m guessing that offers haven’t quite gotten to where Boras Corp projected, but they anticipated it was a strong possibility with the question marks on this year’s FAs. I’m assuming the backup plan has been and is hold out into start of Spring Training til the injuries start and drives up values a bit with teams already heavily invested in 2024 feeling they have to protect investment by investing more.
There is loads of evidence. For example Joe Pohlad of the Twins. Listen to his interview about cutting spending after winning a division and ask yourself would a billionaire who practically prints money after his team won its first postseason game after 18 straight losses and even won a postseason series cut payroll by over 20%? Look at how they spent in prior offseasons as a baseline against those words. It’s a 180. They get the tv deal money this year and will figure out a tv deal for the future. This is one of many examples of evidence. If you listen carefully.
Then you also see the massive overpays and how they crush teams with examples of Miguel Cabrera or Javy Baez of your Tigers.
I think the owners are trying to bring spending down to control the precedents being set with teams doing a 180 on their habits of spending.
The Twins ranked 22nd in profit for 2023 and made $27M. Had they resigned Gray that alone would ve taken a significant chunk of profit. Not to mention they were one of the teams who were caught up in the Bally’s fiasco and not until almost Jan had they reached a one year new TV deal that still leaves a questionable future as far as revenue. So no the Twins are in no way evidence of what are you alleging.
And what are Miggy and Baez’s contracts evidence of?? The Tigers are still profitable so not seeing evidence of anything other than not the most prudent front office moves especially in the case of Baez. As for Miggy, his jerseys and memorabilia are and have been everywhere. So although his performance might bot have lived upto his contract the revenue he generated by all means did. That’s ultimately what matters here is revenue not performance when we are speaking of financial matters of a franchise.
Again you say “I think”. Are you going to provide any real factual evidence? You have provided nothing but speculation and an opinion(“I think”)…..
joefleury
cut payroll by over 20%?
=======================
According to COTs, their total payroll for 2023 was $177M, and their 2024 payroll is currently is $154.6M.
That’s a bit under 13%, not 20%, and could easily be accounting for by less TV revenue.
No way Miggy’s jersey and memorabilia sales kept up with his salary in any year. Not a chance.
These broadcast contracts are not limitless. They no longer cover payroll.
I consider most if not all deferrals in contracts circumstantial evidence of risky if not insane management of the future of the game.
It’s not just Boras. It’s a combo of agents, owners and time. If an agent uses Arenado’s contract as a measure for Chapman, we know they are both great defenders, Chapman isn’t the hitter Arenado is, and that extension is a good 4-5 years old. Agent assesses the price in-comparison, whether it’s Boras or not.
I don’t think you know what collusion means.
Yea i wish redsox would give Snell a 7 yr 200 million dollar contract. NOT
If I recall correctly, Dallas Keuchel and Boras played this hold-out game a few years back and he ended up missing spring training completely, missed most of April and was trash for most the season. At some point negotiating for an extra mil or two ends up hurting the player. All of these guys would be signed already if they had different agents.
@Slowcurve, roughly 175 players are represented by Boras Corp. I’d sa
Y by and large they are usually very successful getting the most and doing right by the players they represent.
Sure I get that, it’s just kinda ridiculous to have deals going well into Spring Training. The “offseason” is over. It’s the 2024 season. If I was a player I’d want to get prepared to be with my new team. I mean, the world is going to inevitably be swallowed by the sun and none of this will matter, but Boras just bothers me, that’s all. Play Ball!
I think teams also realized that Keuchel was disgustingly overrated.
Instead of these constant articles of what teams you think could use the “Boras 4” how about someone at MLBTR does an article trying to pin down what a realistic contract would be for each one, because to date no team thinks the asking price any of the 4 have been looking for is reasonable or realistic. So what is at this point? At a minimum I’d think both pitchers need to drop the number of guaranteed years they are asking for since no one is biting on the numbers they want. But at least one article focusing on that side of things would be refreshing.
Does it really make sense for a team like the nats to spend $10m on a starter that’s not actually going to make a difference rather than running out some AAA guys? I think calling what they can get for that $10mish price tag, “quality”, is disingenuous. This is the problem with the writers on this site, they have a really, really easy time spending other people’s money.
Hoping that the Sox extend both Bello and Casas at fair prices and commit to building for the future.
More streaming is a double edged sword. On one hand it makes the game more accessible to a whole group of fans who do not have access now. On the other hand, it pisses off fans who can’t get a game their team is playing because it is on a streaming service they don’t currently subscribe to and do not want yet another streaming service. I personally think those fans are a big bunch of whiners because they still get almost all of their team’s games on their preferred platform. But they do whine and they are very loud about it.
Instead of tuning into the TV station to watch a game and tolerate some mostly entertaining ads, you now have to pay for internet, pray it’s stable in some areas, the also pay for the game and tolerate even more ads and even pop ups.
Not everyone is technically competent and streaming can be limited to IP addresses.
The AL Central is so winnable that it makes the most sense for a team like KC to blow some short-term cash on Snell and/or Bellinger, especially while they’re trying to convince the populace to vote their way on the stadium tax this April 2.