Offseason Hotstove Thread

RE-SIGN Soto

FIRE CASHMAN and change the philosophy of the team.

I'm iffy on Boone but would take a manager that holds players accountable instead of being a players manager covering mistakes and blunders.

DJ and Rizzo need to go.

Stanton was a beast in the Playoffs and might get a lifetime pass but we really a ballplayer. Stanton mashes the ball when he is hot but he doesn't play baseball which really hurts.

DJ also has a limited no trade clause.

Stanton got a $250k bonus for being named LCS MVP.

Stroman had a 2026 player option kick in with 140 innings pitched.

Cole has the opt out that the yankees can cancel out with an extra year of the contract added.

Verudgo got an extra 500k because he went over 450 PA

Trivino has an option for 5 million. Can't see them taking that as he hans't pitched in over a year.

Rizzo has an option of 17 million. Can't really see them taking that either, but he might be back on a cheaper deal can't really see too many teams wanting him and his bat still looked ok dunno if I would start him though.

Weaver 2.5 mil option that can increase all the way to 6 million, but doubt it gets there the parameters are $3M with 100, $4M with 120, $5M with 140. $6M with 160. Relievers don't usually get to any of those innings. I would take that one. Weaver has been great.

1) Re-sign Soto. Above everything else, this is a MUST.
2) Let Gleyber walk, Jazz over to 2B.
3) Let Rizzo & Verdugo walk.
4) Find an at least replacement-level player at 3B & 1B.
5) I don't know how, but try to get out from under the DJ and Strohman contracts. Strohman was so bad he didn't even get an inning in October after paying him that much. That's horrible. And DJ was a drain on the roster when he was on it.
6) Find a couple of good vet bullpen arms with swing-and-miss stuff. I know relievers are typically a crapshoot, but you gotta try.

Soto is obviously a must. If the worst case scenario happens and we're outbid, need to go all in on another big bat...Bregman? Alonso? Neither of them are in Soto's zip code, but they're both at least productive bats at a position of need. Though adding Alonso's subpar defense to an already shaky defensive team is...concerning.

Should be an interesting December.

      You have to view the Stroman signing as part of the deal to obtain Soto. The Yankees sent the Padres a very good, very inexpensive Michael King and took back Grisham's bad contract for season of Soto. Moving King and the other depth arms left the Yankees short on innings. And so Stroman got signed at a premium price.  

Yeah, 1B was largely a black hole all season. Not a great crop of FA's this year, either:

Christian Walker (34 years old, 6.8 WAR)

Pete Alonso (30, 5.0)

Carlos Santana (39, 4.5)

Paul Goldschmidt (37, 4.4)

Ryan O'Hearn (31, 3.2) -- club option

Justin Turner (40, 2.2)

Wilmer Flores (33, 1.6) -- player option/club option

Joey Gallo (31, 0.6) -- mutual option

Anthony Rizzo (35, 0.5) -- club option

Josh Bell (32, 0.2)

Rhys Hoskins (32, 0.1) -- can opt out

Garrett Cooper (34, 0.0)

Yuli Gurriel (41, -0.5)

Ji Man Choi (34, -0.5)

Rowdy Tellez (30, -1.2)

Walker brings a good glove and power (.800+ OPS the past 3 seasons), but he's gonna be 34. Alonso is a big power bat, but also a low BA/OPB and is a liability in the field...which, yeah. Goldschmidt is washed. The rest are aged journeymen.

Presuming they move on from Gleyber and Jazz goes to 2B, 3B is probably a position of need as well unless they think some kind of platoon of Oswaldo/Berti will suffice...neither of which add much offensively. Alex Bregman is the prize there, but if Soto is back, he's probably out of the price range. Jurickson Profar played some 3B early in his career, but he's really only had one good offensive season in his long career...last season at 31. Maybe given the market, they bring Gleyber back on a reasonable deal and live with his defense there and Jazz's at 3B...though I thought Jazz did surprisingly well at 3B given he was thrown there without a net.