Finally! Official Hot Stove League thread!

[Donn Beach]

"Teoscar Hernández is going to get a much bigger contract than you expect for a career .261 hitter with a .316 on-base percentage," Abraham said. "He has an .803 OPS the last three seasons with 83 homers and he crushes lefties. For teams such as the Red Sox, who need right-handed power, he’ll be high on the list."

[D-train]

"Teoscar Hernández is going to get a much bigger contract than you expect for a career .261 hitter with a .316 on-base percentage," Abraham said. "He has an .803 OPS the last three seasons with 83 homers and he crushes lefties. For teams such as the Red Sox, who need right-handed power, he’ll be high on the list."

Who is Abraham? Honest Abe Lincoln? I have been saying this for months. Jerry is going to look like a fool when he signs.

[D-train]

I specifically mentioned the Red Sox due to Fenway too.

https://www.si.com/mlb/red-sox/news/mar ... -list-pat3

[Donn Beach]

Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe, the article was more specifically about the Red Sox being interested

[D-train]

I just figured out that Gabe Speier is the nephew of former Expo and Giant Chris Speier.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/play ... ch01.shtml

[D-train]

Jeff Passan, ESPN
Nov 14, 2023, 07:00 AM ET
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In the 12 days since Major League Baseball's free agent season commenced, not one player has signed with a new team. Nobody will mistake the MLB offseason for the NFL or NBA's, when early frenzies turn free agency into events, but even for baseball, this year has been snail-paced.

Football and basketball are capped sports, and both wait weeks to commence free agency instead of starting it the day after a champion is crowned, so attempting to compare is like apples and kumquats. None of that lessens the disappointment for baseball fans ravenous to see their teams improve.

Instead, the hot stove has turned frigid on account of a number of factors: Teams are weighing addressing needs in the trade market. Players aren't eager to sign early, below-market deals. For now, the focus of front offices is on today's deadline to set 40-man rosters and Friday's to tender players a contract -- which are bound to lead to even more players hitting free agency. Some teams are punting on this relatively weak free agent class altogether, looking ahead to next offseason, when a class headlined by Juan Soto, Zack Wheeler, Pete Alonso and Max Fried hits the market.

And, of course, there is a half-billion-dollar question mark obscuring the proceedings.

No, Shohei Ohtani is not going to single-handedly cause every big-spending team with aspirations of signing him to wait instead of going after other top free agents. Executives are well capable of walking and chewing gum simultaneously. Still, the specter Ohtani casts is real.

It's no surprise, then, that he tops our overview of the winter ahead. Ohtani is primed to shatter the North American sports record for guaranteed money in a contract, currently held by his Los Angeles Angels teammate Mike Trout, at $426.5 million. The last time a reigning MVP -- Ohtani is expected to run away with the American League award Thursday -- left his team in free agency was in 1992, when Barry Bonds absconded Pittsburgh for San Francisco.

ESPN +

[D-train]

Nathan's take:

[Donn Beach]

Here's a guy's dream lineup projection, ohtani, Peterson and Anderson...

https://sodomojo.com/posts/dream-marine ... hf1yz45gpe

[D-train]

Here's a guy's dream lineup projection, ohtani, Peterson and Anderson...

https://sodomojo.com/posts/dream-marine ... hf1yz45gpe

Pederson over Soto is quite a dream. I told a guy this morning that Tommy Pham was the last player in all of MLB I would want on the M's. I was wrong. It is Anderson.

[D-train]