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2021 Around MLB: Return of the Dead Ball Era

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Franco is gonna play for an average of about $15.4 mil a year. Incentives could push that up quite a bit, but incentives mean plus plus production...which is a good thing.

What will $15.5 mil buy on the open market?

A heck of a lot less than Wander Franco, even if Franco isn't a triple crown candidate every year.

Eric Hosmer
Will Myers
Elvis Andrus
DJ Lemahieu
Brantley
Marcel Ozuna
Moustakas
Charlie Blackmon
Lorenzo Cain
Jean Segura
Didi Gregorius
Brandon Crawford
Evan Longoria

Those are most of the position players with AAVs of around $15-18 mil. IMO its a good bet that Franco will out produce every one of them over the next several years, and then still be in his prime at half his value.
 
A major problem for a lot of entities...free agent players and teams...is that there are gonna be some left out in the cold. Unless this stoppage isn't ended soon, which won't happen, there simply is not gonna be enough time to get things done, no matter how much groundwork has already been done.

Some FAs aren't gonna get signed. Some fringe players will get released really late...too late to find a spot in time to compete for a job in spring training.

Thats just on the player side, and it takes less time to sign a FA than it does to make a major trade.

Some teams are gonna be left holding the bag, too...and Cleveland is more likely than most, because it relies on trades more than on FAs.

Lets assume that the FO has the parameters of a trade already in place...a safe assumption. But those parameters were set without the details of the new agreement, which will force changes. And each change will force lawyers and accountants on both sides to reassess their respective aspects of any trade. That doesn't happen in hours. It takes days or even weeks. And that could put trade negotiations well into spring training, with a domino effect that can't be ascertained immediately.

Lets go a little farther as an example.

We have a four for one trade in the works that would open up three roster spots. We also have a FA catcher, OF, and reliever set to sign with us on MLB contracts. But nothing can be done until the trade is approved by all sides. That could put the kibosh on all three signings. No agent is gonna put his client in that type of situation.

It gets even worse if a team has two trades in the works.
 
A major problem for a lot of entities...free agent players and teams...is that there are gonna be some left out in the cold. Unless this stoppage isn't ended soon, which won't happen, there simply is not gonna be enough time to get things done, no matter how much groundwork has already been done.

Some FAs aren't gonna get signed. Some fringe players will get released really late...too late to find a spot in time to compete for a job in spring training.

Thats just on the player side, and it takes less time to sign a FA than it does to make a major trade.

Some teams are gonna be left holding the bag, too...and Cleveland is more likely than most, because it relies on trades more than on FAs.

Lets assume that the FO has the parameters of a trade already in place...a safe assumption. But those parameters were set without the details of the new agreement, which will force changes. And each change will force lawyers and accountants on both sides to reassess their respective aspects of any trade. That doesn't happen in hours. It takes days or even weeks. And that could put trade negotiations well into spring training, with a domino effect that can't be ascertained immediately.

Lets go a little farther as an example.

We have a four for one trade in the works that would open up three roster spots. We also have a FA catcher, OF, and reliever set to sign with us on MLB contracts. But nothing can be done until the trade is approved by all sides. That could put the kibosh on all three signings. No agent is gonna put his client in that type of situation.

It gets even worse if a team has two trades in the works.

I really do think once the lockout ends, the moves will come pretty fast cause of the fact I doubt the GMs and whatnot weren't talking to each other and planning stuff... I would easily bet majority of the moves will be done within a few days of the lockout...
 
I wonder if January 7th will be similarly remembered, as the day the old Indians franchise gave away a HOF SS for a couple bags of baseballs...
Or the date when Cleveland traded two fading stars for a haul.

The jury will remain out for several years, but early returns favor Cleveland....esp when you add in $341 mil.
 
Kyle Seager looks like he has retired from baseball at 34... I am kind of surprised since I thought he would play a few more seasons...
 
I wonder if January 7th will be similarly remembered, as the day the old Indians franchise gave away a HOF SS for a couple bags of baseballs...
Lindor seems like he will be a flame out. I'd say Jose has a higher chance of becoming a HOFer.

I'm not even basing it off last year stats, just his general attitude seems to have changed.

Now that he has the money, I really just don't think his head will be in the game as much. Just my read on him though.

We weren't going to sign him anyway and with or without him we would've missed the playoffs last year. In retrospect it can't really be a failure unless Carrasco would've helped us in 2022.
 
Lindor becoming a callow, sullen diva is a plot twist I did not see coming 5 years ago.
But here we are.
 
Jose is and has been a better player than Lindor.

I dont see Lindor flaming out. He's an awfully good ball player.

The trade, the high media focus, the contract, a new league, a dysfunctional franchise in the midst of immense change, a frustrating season, and injuries...

Thats enough to knock anybody temporarily off their pins.
 
Jose is and has been a better player than Lindor.

I dont see Lindor flaming out. He's an awfully good ball player.

The trade, the high media focus, the contract, a new league, a dysfunctional franchise in the midst of immense change, a frustrating season, and injuries...

Thats enough to knock anybody temporarily off their pins.
He seemed to be crumbling well in advance of last season's upheaval though.
 
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I dont agree.

Lindor was a 7 WAR player one time, and fans balance that against everything else. But he isn't a 7 WAR player...more like 5 WAR. (4.8 per 600 PAs)

If you look at his peripherals across the board, they havent changed much, if at all. What changed was a BABIP of .248.

K/BB...nearly all his statcast numbers...pull percentage....hard hit rate.....all the same or better than his career numbers.. And when he finally got healthy last year, he tore the cover off the ball.

I'm certainly not gonna discount him going forward, but I also am not gonna compare him to one freak 7.7 WAR year.
 

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