Finally! Official Hot Stove League thread!

[Donn Beach]

Guess having an offensive coordinator is the latest thing. Marlins have one, as do the blue Jays, rangers, angels, probably others. Maybe the rangers started it

[D-train]

The Mariners seem to see themselves more as facilitators. They let the players execute their own game instead of trying to fit everybody into a box that comes along with "coaching".

I like the approach they take. I think players need to do what comes naturally from a young age, not try and fit their swing into whatever their current Little League or Babe Ruth coach thinks they should. The cream always rises to the top. Show them the way then set them loose.

Driveline seems to focus on what's right for the individual player. Seems perfect.

I've criticized the Mariners because the players were seeing success more from their time with orgs like Driveline, or Cal turning it around because of advice from his dad, instead of the coaching staff. But at this point I think its because they just see themselves as the ones who put the players on the field.

I've also criticized them for their sissy attitudes towards players. But what should I expect. The players are all better than the "coaches". They get paid millions of dollars. Pretty much have to just let them go out and play their game these days.

Yet they now have two hitting coaches instead of one and change the names of the titles to try to portray they have come up with some advanced progressive next level philosophy that is superior to anyone else....other than the fact that they had to dump productive players because they struck out too much.

[Donn Beach]

Giants pick up Hummel

. This extremely unsurprising news was only made possible by last month’s extremely surprising news: that the Giants North Seattle Mariners waived Hummel without the Giants picking him up. Instead, they waited until the Mets designated the 29 year old for assignment before swooping in and grabbing him, filling the vacant 40-man spot that was created when the team cashed in a two-for-one deal and traded Mitch Haniger and Anthony DeSclafani to — who else — Seattle for Robbie Ray.

Hummel is almost everything that the Giants crave when churning players at the back-end of the roster, which is to say he’s basically a switch-hitting Blake Sabol with worse Major League numbers

[ice99]

I'd like to see the M's trade for Joel Payamps. He tweaked his slider.

“He’s the type of pitcher who saves his bullets for the game so he wasn’t able to accomplish (the feel of the pitch) from throwing bullpens or throwing programs,” Henderson said. “So we had to go to higher intense live batting practices (and games). That was really helpful for him.”

...

Slight adjustment has led to confidence on the mound for Payamps
Payamps has always thrown a slider but has increased his usage from 29.6% in 2021 to 40.5% this season, making it his favorite pitch. It's also become his most effective, as batters are hitting only .170, slugging .204 and whiffing 34.2% of the time against it.

The slider is also one of the best in the National League with regard to vertical and horizontal movement.

Maybe trade Thornton, plus cash, plus a prospect like Alberto Rodriguez. The Brewers could probably help Thornton on his offseed pitches.

https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/m ... 368398007/

[D-train]

So sad and pathetic that this is the guy M's fans have to pretend to get excited about...

[Donn Beach]

Ha-Seong Kim?

https://sodomojo.com/posts/could-the-ma ... hm613gv9x8

[D-train]

[Big_Maple]

OK - I sense you're throwing this out there to troll us a little! So, I'll bite.

I've been a big fan of signing Snell for a while now. I get that the pundits on this board are panning the idea based on front office stinginess. And I get that - prima facae, I agree with you all. It's a long shot, at best, and the asking price is too high.

But I also think that there is a small chance they might sign him, and I will take any number greater than zero.

Snell makes sense on every level: he is a legit, TOR, lefty. He's a 2 time Cy Young winner, and 31 he's still got gas in the tank. He was worth 6.0 WAR last season and had a dominant 2.25 ERA. Ridiculous stats. And as a Seattle native, he's on record as saying he wants to pitch for the M's.

But, his agent (Boras) is seeking a 9 year deal in the $270MM range. The M's wouldn't do this, and I wouldn't want them to. This is why Snell is still unsigned in mid-January. Teams (not named the Skankees) are waiting for the market to bring down the asking price.

And there are warning signs. Snell has only pitched enough innings to qualify for the Cy Young twice in his career (the 2 years he won the Cy Young). You have to pitch 162 innings to qualify for the ERA title, and apart from those 2 seasons, his next highest total was 129 innings. He has never pitched a complete game. He has never averaged six innings per start in a season. The guy is not an innings eater. He's 31 years old, and his agent wants a 9 year contract?

I think the M's go for a shorter contract with opt outs - say, 5 years at $150MM with a mutual option for year 6.

[D-train]

Wow. Should be fun times from now until ST:

[Big_Maple]

A$$tros agree to a 5 year deal with Josh Hader - $95MM.

Insane.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/01/ ... tract.html