As he's originally from Vegas, west coast teams always made a lot of sense for Hap.

(02-28-2019 12:17 PM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  Kill me. You can keep Harper, I don't want him. Soon to be a very expensive DH

Bob Nightengale's scoops are notoriously error-filled, but this is the only thing that makes sense to me about the Giant's pursuit of Harper:

Quote:The Giants, whose offseason plan was to launch a rebuilding process while still trying to remain competitive, have done a 180 in their thinking. They fired GM Bobby Evans and hired Farhan Zaidi this winter to lead their vision for a team that has won only 137 out of their last 324 games. Now, panic and desperation about season-ticket sales and fan interest has become the overriding factor. This is no longer a baseball decision, but strictly an ownership pursuit.

Harper never made sense as somebody Zaidi would go after when he's trying to rebuild a club that has next to no assets.

Harper going to Phillies....

Nats/Phillies going to be a great rivalry going forward....

April 2 btw is 1st game for Harper @ Washington.

all i have to say as a Nats fan is Eaton better not get injuried and they better resign Rendon.

(02-28-2019 02:53 PM)stever20 Wrote:  Harper going to Phillies....

Nats/Phillies going to be a great rivalry going forward....

13/330, no opt outs and a full no trade clause. Not a huge difference between that deal and Machado's, as the last 3 years at $10 million per year will not be all that onerous. I guess Harper figured it'd be good to have that security when he's likely no longer playing.

The NL East has now become a battlefield

(02-28-2019 03:14 PM)stever20 Wrote:  all i have to say as a Nats fan is Eaton better not get injuried and they better resign Rendon.

Dying to see what Rendon gets. He'll be 29 when he hits free agency and is coming off consecutive 6+ WAR seasons with a wRC+ of at last 140. Over the last two seasons Rendon is 6th in overall fWAR and even going back 3 seasons he's 7th. Calling him a top 10 position player is really not a stretch. Arenado is a comparable player (Rendon is a slightly better hitter), and is one year younger and just signed an enormous deal.

So it WAS about the money; go figure. I'm fine with this - I was worried from the start about how he'll perform and was probably more excited that Dodgers were willing to pony up big bucks.

But we got Brad Miller!

(02-28-2019 03:48 PM)Brookes Owl Wrote:  So it WAS about the money; go figure. I'm fine with this - I was worried from the start about how he'll perform and was probably more excited that Dodgers were willing to pony up big bucks.

The NL is completely insane. I've never seen such a deep league. Nats, Mets, Braves, Phillies, Cards, Cubs, Brewers, Reds, Pirates, Dodgers, Rockies and even the Giants, Dbacks and Padres are not bad teams. The Marlins are the only easy series.

Hi, Mets fans!

The NL East getting the AL central for interleague play may really help the East out this year....

Oh, and brutal joke with Bonilla/Mets.

(02-28-2019 03:03 PM)stever20 Wrote:  April 2 btw is 1st game for Harper @ Washington.

And us Cardinal fans are just getting Pujols at Busch for the first time this year after nearly a decade.

This is so gonna be ARod/Texas all over again.

(02-28-2019 04:48 PM)Wedge Wrote:  Hi, Mets fans!

That whole situation gets funnier every year.

It is damned funny, but I think pictures like this make it even funnier...



No, I'm not making fun of his weight or age - I just think a picture like this makes it so clear how far away from baseball Bonilla already is. To imagine that he gets paid for the next 17 years is incredible.

Harper's offers...
- In a funny coincidence, Nats were offering Bonilla-esque deferment: Until 2053!
- Dodgers offered somewhere between $43 and $45MM AAV. Good gravy - that's absurd money. Apparently they're willing to go over the threshold for the right guy. I'll keep that in mind when Trout's free agency begins after 2020.
- Giants were close (pushed by ownership) but it was always gonna be the Phillies. Sounds like they were going to exceed whatever anybody else offered; was just a matter of Boras getting them there. He wanted the duration, but man that ($45MM/yr) had to be hard to turn down, right? If I was a dick I'd say he's afraid of his performance not being elite after the option year. But I'm not so I won't.

(02-28-2019 05:29 PM)stever20 Wrote:  The NL East getting the AL central for interleague play may really help the East out this year....

Oh, and brutal joke with Bonilla/Mets.

Yup just realized that yesterday. Huge help

(02-28-2019 11:42 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  This is so gonna be ARod/Texas all over again.

A-rod played 3 seasons in Texas and they went like this:
2001: 7.8 fWAR (5th in MLB)
2002: 10 fWAr (2nd in MLB)
2003: 9.2 fwar (3rd in MLB)

And in those 3 seasons he missed only one game! Yeah what a horrible deal for Texas.

(03-01-2019 10:46 AM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  

(02-28-2019 11:42 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  This is so gonna be ARod/Texas all over again.

A-rod played 3 seasons in Texas and they went like this:
2001: 7.8 fWAR (5th in MLB)
2002: 10 fWAr (2nd in MLB)
2003: 9.2 fwar (3rd in MLB)

And in those 3 seasons he missed only one game! Yeah what a horrible deal for Texas.

They certainly got their money's worth out of him but the problem is they were a bad team before and continued bad after signing him. In that sense, it really was a bad deal because they didn't (couldn't?) do anything else to help the team. On the other hand, I don't think there's any way you can say the Phillies haven't been working to improve the entire team. If they don't win the East or gain a wild card spot it'll be because it's just a brutal division - not because they spent too much on Harper.