2020-21 Baseball Offseason Thread

There was a time when a lot of journos saw the local/regional sports cable outlets as a life raft while newspapers were imploding, whether writing for a website or being a talking head on-air - I think those days are done. I also think COVID-19 might permanently alter the day to day sports viewing habits in our country.

 

I'm sure the Pirates will make great use of the bucket of baseballs they will get in return.

 

He doesn’t have that much value — two Tommy Johns and hasn’t pitched in a year and a half. It’s a salary dump more than anything

 

It is always a salary dump with the Pirates.

Taillon is set to make $2.25 million in 2021. Why would a team have to dump a salary that small? This is a former first-round pick who had a 3.20 ERA and 1.18 WHIP in 32 starts in 2018. He has ability and salary-wise, he's cheap. He's also got one more season before he is eligible for free agency. The smart thing would be to hold and if he bounces back, sell at the deadline when he has rebuilt some value. The cheap thing would be to sell low so they can save $2 million, which is pocket change for an MLB franchise. This is why the Pirates are a joke.

 

Or a mob front.

 

They got more than I thought they would — but the Yankees had to clear up some 40-man spots so I guess it make sense

 

Maybe I’m wrong but in the last 10 years or so, it seems that when the Yankees trade prospects, they rarely live up to their ratings.

 

Yankees land RHP Taillon in trade with Pirates

I just saw that the deal is done. The Pirates got four prospects, but are any of them good prospects? Taillon is extremely talented, cheap, and under team control until 2023. The Pirates sold low so they could save $2 million. Pathetic.

I did a quick look. None of the prospects the Yankees put in the deal were among their top 10. Miguel Yajure is probably the best of the bunch. He doesn't have great stuff, but has a good command of his pitches and made three appearances in the majors in 2020, so he at least might contribute a little in 2021. The rest haven't played above Class A ball and none seems to have any great upside from what I've read.

 

I’m sure the Pirates knew they were drafting 2/5ths of the Yankees rotation when they picked Cole and Tallion

 

When teams trade prospects.

 

It actually isn't all that surprising. That was supposed to be the foundation of the team. Then the time came to spend some money to lock up Cole, so he had to go.

 

Joe Posanski wrote every team has prospects
You never see a team with only seven prospects on a top 10 list
The White Sox got Eloy Jimenez for Jose Quintana and Yoan Moncada for Chris Sale
They got four prospects in both deals
They did good to get those two and Lucas Giolitto for Adam Eaton
Most prospect deals don’t work out as well