MLB 2018-19 Offseason Thread

TIFWIW, but I figure if Harper really wanted to play for the Phillies, he'd have already signed:

 

The dumbest reason possible.

He shouldn’t want to play on Philly, because it’s Philly.

 

The sooner the Jays move on from these clowns the better. Everybody knows they were going to send Vlad Jr. down, don't insult our intelligence by saying, "I just don't see him as a major-league player." But by the end of April you will, right?

 

Is Greinke this generation's Kevin Brown, a guy remembered more for his exorbitant contract than his pitching prowess?

 

He pretty much said that he could not even DH right now.

 

The only logical reaction by Blue Jays fans is "we'll pay to watch your games just as soon as Vlad Jr.'s on the team and not before." A nice Opening Day crowd of 14,000 or so might get the message across.

 

Exactly and while opening day will probably be its usual sellout or very close to it, the next night the fans will probably vote with their wallets and show what they think of the Jays dormant offseason, and idiotic comments like this, with a crowd of maybe 15,000. The Jays will be back to J.P. Ricciardi-era crowds until Vlad gets called up.

 

Don’t hate the player, hate the game. You can’t expect teams not to play the service time game when they have all the incentive to play it.

 

I don't think Jays fans have an issue with that, we have seen other clubs do it. It's the idea that he's not ready to play at the MLB level that is driving this demotion, rather than the truth.

 

The keep the hot prospect in the minors so we can keep him from free agency strategy has some serious drawbacks. 1. Convinces fans their team doesn't care that much about winning. Worse, convinces fans their team has little interest in retaining its star players if it costs market value. 2. Convinces player of the same thing, meaning he's more likely to want to go free agent and if he produces, will try to screw team out of every last dollar in arbitration. It's putting a cost saving that can be added to a balance sheet while creating costs that are just as real, but not in conventional accounting terms. There should be an entry for "ill will."

 

Can you provide an example of a player going this route?

 

Looks like the Red Sox mystery has been solved:

Cora: Red Sox member has 'family emergency'