If in 5 years, he's playing on a team of AAA-caliber players because Loria won't spend money on any free agents or has another firesale, he'll be waiving that NTC to go to a contender.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
2015 MLB Hot Stove?
- Thread starter 63dot
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
If in 5 years, he's playing on a team of AAA-caliber players because Loria won't spend money on any free agents or has another firesale, he'll be waiving that NTC to go to a contender.
The Jays are also rumored to be going after Lester. Another rebuild or another mid season collapse?
Oh definitely. And he's going to give them 1 or 2 teams he wants to go to, and their hands will be tied.
Apparently the Marlins have no interest in learning from history. That team should have been done away with years ago.
Sandoval, please sign with Giants!
http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2...L/story.html?comments=all&sort=HIGHEST_RATING
http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2...L/story.html?comments=all&sort=HIGHEST_RATING
Red Sox with Pablo Sandoval (.294, 946 hits) for $20 million a year for five years and Hanley Ramirez (.300, 1,403 hits) for $18 million a year for five years should make them very competitive in 2015.
It's sad for me to see the Panda go but I am sure a lot of NL West fans of teams other than the Giants will profit from this one. We barely made postseason in 2014 so it doesn't look good for the Giants in 2015.
I don't how LAD losing Ramirez will change the picture but it could have a big impact on them, too. Let's see how the Diamondbacks, Rockies, and Padres all end up after hot stove as the NL West should be very interesting next year.
It's sad for me to see the Panda go but I am sure a lot of NL West fans of teams other than the Giants will profit from this one. We barely made postseason in 2014 so it doesn't look good for the Giants in 2015.
I don't how LAD losing Ramirez will change the picture but it could have a big impact on them, too. Let's see how the Diamondbacks, Rockies, and Padres all end up after hot stove as the NL West should be very interesting next year.
Last edited:
I think the Hanley deal is a good one, the dollars are more than fair for his offensive value. Especially when you consider Russell Martin just got $82 million. Moving him to LF in Fenway and out of the pitcher's park in LA will be good for him as well.
I am less sure about Pablo Sandoval, primarily because I'm not super familiar with him outside of his postseason heroics. He seems to struggle with his weight a bit and that worries, but snagging the top 2 offensive free agents is always a good thing.
Now flip some of this depth for pitching, sign Lester and I'll be a happy Sox fan.
Ironically, the Giants may take the money they aren't going to give to the Panda anymore and make a serious pursuit of Lester. At least make a move on Yasmany Tomas.
I really hate to see Sandoval go. He was an integral part of the Giants' homegrown identity in the post-Bonds era. He did a lot of good for us, but always still kind of left you wanting a bit more, 2012 and 2014 postseasons aside. I don't see Red Sox fans being as forgiving of his regular season inconsistency.
I really hate to see Sandoval go. He was an integral part of the Giants' homegrown identity in the post-Bonds era. He did a lot of good for us, but always still kind of left you wanting a bit more, 2012 and 2014 postseasons aside. I don't see Red Sox fans being as forgiving of his regular season inconsistency.
Lester to Giants would be amazing and worth every penny.
True?
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/jon-lester
With Tim Lincecum simply not the same anymore and no guarantee with a healthier, yet older Cain, things are scary. Lester has to be at least as good as those two if not better.
Hudson and Peavy did well for us but they are probably spent as well as Vogelsong. Peavy came to us from the Red Sox when we were down and left for dead and helped us win another ring and having another former Red Sox 2013 world champ would certainly help our cause without Panda. We got to where we did with pitching and patching together small ball hitting.
If Cain isn't healed fully we could do with Bumgarner, Lester (cross fingers), Hudson, Peavy, and Lincecum and keep the overall ERA low. Peavy, when on, is great, as we saw in NLDS against Washington, and maybe the addition of Lester could help him up his game. If Cain recovers into what he was in 2012 and Vogelsong can be consistent, then we should be OK in the pitching department.
The Giants lost a great farm product (along with Posey, Lincecum, Cain, and Bumgarner) but we can do well with former stars of other teams (A's Zito, Red Sox/Rockies Scutaro, aforementioned Red Sox Peavy, and hopefully former Red Sox/A's Lester). If we get Lester, those fans in Boston will really hate us but anyway, thanks for Scutaro and Peavy so far! But if we get Lester here in SF, Boston still has cash to get Cole Hamels. Hmm, let's see, Hamels, Sandoval, (Hanley) Ramirez in Red Sox uniforms?...I smell recent 4th World Series ring for that eastern dynasty.
Last edited:
Didn't seem to bother the Royals last season.
I'm optimistic about Cain. They did the surgery early enough to give him plenty of rehab time. The funny thing is, he pitched with the bone chips in his elbow for years. Maybe getting his mechanics straight with his newly discomfort-free elbow could be an issue, but I expect he'll be back and better than ever.
It would be worth bringing Peavy back if the price is right. I think Vogelsong's time is up. Wouldn't mind seeing another prodigal son, Francisco Liriano, come back, but his injury history is pretty worrisome. Still could be a good addition to the staff if we can't get a Lester or Scherzer.
Doesn't change the fact that they cannot pay the players what the pinstripes and carmines can pay. Their championship window is so small it's not even funny.
We can still do it in SF even though the bigger cities with both LA teams, Philly, Detroit, Boston, and NYY have more money than us. To make up for it we use non stars brought up from farm system, smart coaching, and a puzzling ability to ramp up in playoffs. Usually a team is pretty close in playoffs to how they did in regular season but there's something odd about how players get better in SF in October. When NYY are good in October it's because they have the stars and have been usually good all year. They have that cushion and their budget had them steal Tanaka from us.
But we can also do well if we can't get Lester and get Chase Headley of NYY. Between Lester and Headley and having the cash not paid to Sandoval, we are bound to be on top list to get one of those two. If we don't have matching cash, we can still possibly entice one of them, or others like them, with the titles and manager we have and that has to have some weight. I don't know what Boston did that made Pablo run to them but summer camp is near his relatives in Ft. Myers as it's been suggested by ABC News.
UPDATE:
Go big or go home and I say get this guy and I want to say thanks to Boston for gift of Peavey last year who we couldn't do without when Timmy fell apart and Matt's arm was hurt:
http://m.giants.mlb.com/news/article/102840786/jon-lester-reportedly-meeting-with-giants
Last edited:
Signing Lester would be a huge statement of intent by the Giants. I have a feeling the bidding will get too rich for the ownership group's blood, and he'll be heading to the Cubs or back to the Red Sox.
I can think of a lot of potentially attractive second tier starters on the free agent market: Justin Masterson, Ervin Santana, and numerous others. Whereas a Lester or Scherzer would give Bumgarner serious competition for staff ace, those other guys would probably slot behind a (presumably) healthy Cain and ahead of Hudson, Lincecum, or whoever else is around.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the bay, Billy Beane retrenches yet again. This weekend, he traded away Josh Donaldson to the Blue Jays for Brett Lawrie and some prospects. One day the A's will probably get over that first post-season hump, but I don't see any signs of it happening any time soon.
I can think of a lot of potentially attractive second tier starters on the free agent market: Justin Masterson, Ervin Santana, and numerous others. Whereas a Lester or Scherzer would give Bumgarner serious competition for staff ace, those other guys would probably slot behind a (presumably) healthy Cain and ahead of Hudson, Lincecum, or whoever else is around.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the bay, Billy Beane retrenches yet again. This weekend, he traded away Josh Donaldson to the Blue Jays for Brett Lawrie and some prospects. One day the A's will probably get over that first post-season hump, but I don't see any signs of it happening any time soon.
We put up a lot of money for Zito and it didn't pay off for a long time but 2012 shut up all dissenters in his pitching, and hitting. We are paying a lot to our key early dynasty franchise player, Tim Lincecum but his decline has to be met with a strong, long term replacement. I think Lester can be that new franchise type of guy or at least a strong #2 behind Bumgarner. We got a lot of mileage out of #1 Lincecum and #2 Cain, but from now on we need a Bumgarner-Lester type of duo for the future if the Giants are to succeed in postseason again. We can't be too loyal to any one player, and thankfully we haven't and simply let the numbers/ERA/OBP speak for itself and play a small ball numbers game led by a level headed skipper in Boche.
My early wishes were for Tanaka, then Ventura, then Shields, but landing Lester would be equally great for San Francisco. His totally unreadable off speed pitches works well like Madbum. The press goes all googly eyed at the 100 mph fasball pitchers but it's the smart, unreadable pitchers who will win the close ones more often.
But if not Lester, then a middle of the pack pitcher like mentioned in link below and a strong 3rd baseman besides Arias. If either Lincecum or Cain get back to sub-3.5 ERA and new 3rd baseman is solid with hitting, then we may be OK with who we have in our rotation to make at least another 88 win wild card. Losing Sandoval (.294) puts us at a projected 85 wins and that may put us out of the running if we don't shore up one pitching spot and the 3rd baseman but that's not to say Arias (.269) can't hold that position:
http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/103128256/mlb-offseason-teams-trending-upward-and-downward
But we get back up catcher Sanchez and infielder/outfielder Ishikawa for 2015 so that's good news.
http://m.mlb.com/news/article/10318...ckup-catcher-hector-sanchez-avoid-arbitration
Last edited:
Things happen quickly at the Winter Meetings!
Looks like the Yanks are giving up Shane Greene.
Decision by Andrew Miller should come today also. Maybe I'm biased, but I prefer DRob.
Maybe go after both.Things happen quickly at the Winter Meetings!
Looks like the Yanks are giving up Shane Greene.
Decision by Andrew Miller should come today also. Maybe I'm biased, but I prefer DRob.
Still waiting on Lester watch. Cubs, Dodgers, Giants, Yankees, Red Sox.
I'm not sure they need both. They have Betances as the set-up guy who has the ability to close.
I wonder if the Yankees are going to seriously go after Lester, or if they are just driving up the price for everyone else.