WTF? You get a job offer and than you do your own homework...sheesh. I read that memo and it screams prima donna.
What baffles me is the hype over a kid whose only averaged 80.6 games over 5 yrs. Only one year did he come to the plate 323 times; next highest AB's in a season 212. With a high K rate, a low Era, and high B'avg, or HR's to AB's, he's still never played in more than 107 gms. Otani's only has 296 Hits in 1,035 AB's, with 316 Strike Outs as a hitter; with a lifetime .286 avg, and yet the press over hypes him imo. Any mention of Ruth is flat out bullshit Otani underwent ankle surgery this October, for an injury from the previous year, ie running the bases; in Oct 016, of the PS japan series. He missed the 017 WBC, plays this last yr, with 5 GS as a SP; has but 202 AB's in only 65 gms. No details that I can find on what exactly he had repaired. with his meager numbers in an avg of 80 gms played a year, he's wtf hyped to be the next Ruth. We already have the next Ruth, ie Aaron Judge....
Wonder if Yanks with Braves fuck up and letting all their intl signings (13) be named free agents turn their attention to this stud shortstop that is suddenly available from them and let someone else babysit ohtani. This kid is only 17 now but very highly rated
who would that SS be....? The Braves have had some good SS's in years past, and allowed both Furcal and Andrelton Simmons go; not acquiring shit in return.... Swanson's got to bring his b'avg up, or maybe not. It would be like the braves to release talent they no longer seem capable of identifying, or keeping. Almost seems like the Braves are have had cash flow probs??? Tho' I don't know such, it just seems that way....
When the Braves signed Kevin Maitan out of Venezuela, he was the top prospect on the international scene. Before the start of the 2017 season, he was already considered a top-100 prospect in baseball with MLB.com ranking him no. 32 overall. Despite his age, Maitan went right into rookie ball and hit .241/.290/.340 with two homers in 176 plate appearances between the Gulf Coast and advanced rookie. His strikeout to walk ratio needs a lot of work, but at 17, it was just good to see he wasn’t totally outmatched. Now that talent is suddenly on the free agent market, and the Yankees have the money to sign him. As an international free agent, Maitan is subject to international bonus pool money, so things could get tricky here. The Yankees are one of the few teams with a bonus pool in excess of $3 million, allowing them the upper hand in signing new talent. The problem is that Maitan is available in the same offseason that Ohtani is likely to be posted.
...^^^^ thank you Sir with Torres and Andujar and Wade down the road, would it behoove the Yanx to add another SS....??
To the OP, Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto talked about the "homework" aspect last week... I'd imagine that most teams have known there's a chance he was going to post as early as this year for about a year now...I wouldn't be surprised if most of the "favorites" to get him (and I'm counting you guys on that list, obviously) have already put together a pitch. Maybe not as detailed as Seattle's, but probably more than "27 rings. NYC. What are your questions, Shohei?"
What's missing here is, Ohtani's own charter or wtf does he want to do, pitch and DH? Or is he looking to exclude those teams, that either want him to: 1- only Pitch 2- Pitch and play OF He's not really expressed his own desire as to what he wants or expects; yet has put his ball in the other court without his own intent being known.... As for Seattle, (bless their 3rd world souls), Cruz, Cano, King Felix et al, cannot fix their woes or win a PS birth....Not unless they bring back Sweet Lou; which would result in an exodus of prima donna's...... Actually I'd rather see the M's even the Bosox get Ohtani, and keep him out of the Yanx hair. The Yanx have their own Micky Mantle, Babe Ruth, and his name is Aaron Judge. Ntm- plenty of prospects in need of a serious look, and playing time. Ohtani is not the answer for the Yanx imho.... Plus- the Yanx don't need a player who's going to be asking to break the bank in 2 yrs to come....
I don't think the Yanx have any interest in either, or at least there's been no talk of inquiring about both. The Yanx are trying to trim payroll, (don't hold yer breath), and need SP's more than anything, evolve their pitching prospects, and toss in a couple of to be acquired proven SP Vets I hope.... Yanx imo, stand a decent chance of the Mike Trout sweepstakes in 2021, and I'd not be surprised to see the "evolve the farm system" theory/practice go flying out the window, with a 40 Mil $$$ player. Hopefully by then, the prospects, Judge, Bird? Sanchez, C. Frazier and others (hopefully) will eliminate the need to even look at top FA's. It would be sweet to see Judge & Co eliminate the need for Trout, et al. Tho' it's the Yanx forte to have a Vet DH, and one can't trust the long term decisions/moves of Hal or Trashman; just when it seems the ship is upright, a dumb decision is too often made from the devils wearing gucci....
Haven't heard andujar play anything but third. wade from what I saw this year struggles with the bat, and I think they have already conceded short to didi with torres getting hopefully 2nd and if not third. Another top shortstop protects against injury and if the kid is the goods a big trade chip down the line.
Yanks are loaded at the 3rd base and have a 10 year plus stud already in right in the name of judge so no harper or machado. As for the tax the yanks will be below the 197 mill mark this year which resets their luxury tax number back to zero and in 2018 going forward will have no worries on the tax as it starts from the bottom. As for trout I sill have a feeling the Yanks can put together a package from their farm that will satisfy the angels who have holes everywhere and are going nowhere before trout hits free agency and bring the hometown boy back home. In this package they can also put in Hicks who would be ably replaced by trout. They can do a lot of things if cashman doesn't fuck it up with a bad move. As for Ohtani, I believe it is a minor league contract he signs and if that is so he would have to go thru years of arbitration meaning the yanks would have a young controllable player.
...yeah, after I asked the question I did some checking and found that because he's not 25 yet he falls into a whole different category and set of rules...he'd essentially be making the league minimum but would also still be eligible for signing bonuses and arbitration settlements moving forward. ...I really don't see him as a true 2 way player and figure whoever gets him will eventually settle on him being either a hitter or a pitcher...but I could also see him coming out of the pen.
Didn't think of the relief angle but thats very interesting. Imagine he is the dh, then comes in in relief. Ordinarily you lose the dh and pitcher has to hit but you would have a dh masquerading as a pitcher already in that slot. Very interesting.
. ...yeah, that scenario could certainly be an advantage ... and just going from memory, I seem to recall reading that Ohtani has not played in the OF since 2014...and has had some bouts with the injury bug.
