MLB OFF-SEASON HOT STOVE THREAD

--11-18-18: www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/madden-some-dumb-owner-will-be-perfectly-happy-throwing-money-at-bryce-harper-or-manny-machado/ar-BBPO6Q1  
Baseball’s hot stove season has officially begun and all signs point to a decidedly more player-friendly free agent environment as opposed to last year’s deep freeze that lasted for many months, all the way into spring training. A few things are certain:

If you’re an accomplished 30 or younger starting pitcher, like Patrick Corbin, Nathan Eovaldi or Dallas Keuchel, you’re going to get your money.

And if you’re Bryce Harper and Manny Machado, there’s at least one dumb owner out there eagerly waiting to dole out what will eventually be an untradeable 10-year contract worth upwards of $300 million.

Why do we say that? Because even though Harper and Machado are only 26 and well below the new over-30 danger zone the analytics-minded GMs established last year, there are red flags aplenty with both of them suggesting, like almost every other 10-year contract over the years, there will be owners’ regret long before they’re over.

At the owners meetings in Atlanta last week, Yankee owner Hal Steinbrenner fired the first salvo in the Manny sweepstakes when, in response to Machado’s “I’m not the type of player that’s going to be Johnny Hustle…that’s not my cup of tea…that’s not who I am” comments to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal in October, he said:

“If it’s a $300 million guy or a $10 million guy, clearly those comments are troubling…Because that ain’t gonna sell where we play baseball.”

By that, we can only assume the Yankees aren’t going to be in on Machado, who, if he’s saying those things before he gets the money, what’s he going to do after he gets it and doesn’t have to listen to anybody?

It must also be assumed that it’s not lost on Steinbrenner that he already has two untradeable contracts on his books – the $47 million more he still owes useless Jacoby Ellsbury for the next two years, and the $270 million he has to pay Giancarlo Stanton through 2027.

Does he really want to lay out another $300 million over ten years on a guy who newly crowned NL MVP and class act Christian Yelich called the dirtiest player in the game?

As for Harper, while his agent Scott Boras will continue to insist he’s the best player in the game and most worthy of becoming the highest paid player in the game, too many elements of his game suggest he’s far from it.

Last year for the second time in his career he had more strikeouts (169) than hits (137), a trend that is almost certainly going to continue in this new age baseball of launch angles and exit velo in which hitters no longer take pride in not striking out.

For the record, Harper’s all-time idol, Mickey Mantle, who led the American League in strikeouts five times, only had more strikeouts than hits one time in 18 seasons (his next-to-last, 1967). In all the others, he never came close.

In addition, scouts rate Harper’s outfield defense average at best and while no one has ever said he was a bad teammate, he’s not a clubhouse leader either.

Nationals people I’ve talked to are privately glad he turned down their offer of 10 years/$300 million because they considered him their third-best player behind Anthony Rendon and Juan Soto and that money saved can now be better spent on starting pitching and a catcher (and possibly an extension for Rendon).

Why would you want to make Harper the game’s highest paid player when he’s only your third best player?

11-19-18: www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/mlb-free-agents-who-will-be-overpaid-this-winter/ss-BBPL7cq#image=1