2016 MLB thread. THE CUBS HAVE BROKEN THE CURSE! Chicago Cubs are your 2016 World Series champions

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As the Seattle Mariners have been in discussions with Felix Hernandez about a record-setting extension, concern has developed over the condition of his pitching elbow, a source says.

The team and its franchise player had talked about a framework of a deal that would pay $175 million over the next seven seasons.

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Hernandez

But as of Sunday afternoon, sources say, the Mariners and Hernandez are not close to finishing an extension, because there are issues that the two sides are sorting through.

The elbow issue is perceived by at least one of the parties in the deal as being a possible impediment to the completion of the new contract.

"It's an issue," said one source.

Hernandez has been a workhorse in his career, throwing 1620 1/3 innings already; in fact, since 1969, only three pitchers have thrown more innings before their 27th birthday, according to Elias Sports Bureau -- Bert Blyleven, Fernando Valenzuela and Dwight Gooden.

But as salaries have skyrocketed over the last 15 years, teams have become increasingly wary of medical concerns.

This winter, for example, the Boston Red Sox blew up a proposed three-year, $39 million with Mike Napoli because of a hip condition, and the Cubs killed a deal that would've sent reliever Carlos Marmol to the Angels for Dan Haren, again because of a hip issue.

Hernandez is signed for the next two seasons, so there is time for the two sides to continue to work to a deal; the team wants Hernandez, and Hernandez has said he wants to stay in Seattle.

Some teams and players have negotiated medical exceptions into contracts to protect the team against a catastrophic injury. For example, in the extension that CC Sabathia negotiated with the Yankees 16 months ago, language was added to protect the team against a shoulder injury before the end of the deal.
 
Getting excited for the season...........Sooo excited that i had to pop in Game 6 of the 2011 World Series for a fix.8)8)
 
Getting pumped! Going to pop in game 5 of the 2010 World Series; game 4 of the 2012 World Series, then game 6 of the 2002 World Series to cool me down.
 
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 Wanted him in an M's uniform
 
The funniest part about that is the Indians tried so hard to ruin their offseason from the start by signing Victorino.
 
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Meh, Thanks Indians GM for signing Bourn. I don't want the Mets to lose their pick. :lol Good luck, Bourn.
 
Bourn an upgrade, odd fit in Cleveland.



Michael Bourn doesn't quite fill a need for the Cleveland Indians, but he immediately becomes one of the team's best players, primarily because of the value of his glove in center.

The team already had Drew Stubbs and Michael Brantley, two competent center fielders, under contract for this year, but Bourn is better than either of them and takes over the center field job, pushing them to left field or the trade block. Assuming no one is dealt, this probably pushes Nick Swisher to first base, hurting his value slightly, and Mark Reynolds to DH, which does the same.
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Michael BournDaniel Shirey/US PresswireBourn finished second in the NL in steals in 2012.

Bourn's worth several wins a year above a replacement-level player -- again due to a huge boost from his plus-plus defense -- but in Cleveland's case, he's not actually replacing a replacement-level player, so he's probably not going to deliver more value to the team than they're paying him to provide. It's a reasonable contract (four years, $48 million), a year longer than you'd like for a speed guy entering his 30s, but very fair for the club considering the rate of acceleration of salaries this winter.

What I don't see here is the endgame for Cleveland. The team still isn't good enough to catch the Detroit Tigers without a substantial amount of luck in both directions -- bad for Detroit and good for Cleveland -- because the Indians lack the pitching to challenge for the division.

The club's starters had a 5.25 ERA last year and the only addition is rookie Trevor Bauer, who has great promise but who isn't likely to bring that figure down much by himself. To make their offseason acquisitions of Bourn, Swisher, Reynolds and Stubbs make any sense, they need to deal at least one of their surplus outfielders -- Stubbs or Brantley -- for pitching help.

They're not a .500 team as currently constructed, even with improvements on offense and in their outfield defense, even if you assume that one of Carlos Santana, Jason Kipnis or (least likely) Lonnie Chisenhall takes a step forward. In fact, as good as Bourn is, Brantley actually had the better triple-slash line last year while playing in the better league, although he can't touch Bourn on defense or on the bases.

The only other explanation for their signings this winter is that they're stockpiling assets that they believe will appear underpriced a year from now, and will thus be valuable in the trade market -- and they may be right, as neither Swisher nor Bourn signed for as much money on a per-year basis as we might have expected in a high-inflation market. It's possible that this will all turn out to be very clever on the part of their front office, but it may not prevent an 85-loss season in the meantime. Cleveland also loses the 71st overall pick, a competitive balance lottery pick, because heaven forbid we give the lowest-revenue clubs any sort of advantage in the primary way to acquire talent cheaply in this game.

The losers here are the New York Mets and possibly the Kansas City Royals. The Mets supposedly wanted Bourn but refused to give up their first-round pick -- the 11th overall selection -- which was left unprotected when both sides fell asleep during that portion of the last CBA negotiations. They're now left with an outfield, from left field to right, of Wynken, Blynken and Nod, which may be among the worst in modern major league history, even considering Nod's strong throwing arm and Blynken's tremendous batting eye.

The Royals, on the other hand, are somewhat dependent on the weakness of their division to make a run at a wild-card spot, so every move that Cleveland, Minnesota or the White Sox make to get better hurts the odds of Kansas City getting to the 88-win territory. There's nothing the Royals can do about this, but I imagine the hope of a fairly weak schedule helped them feel confident in trading Wil Myers for James Shields and Wade Davis -- a schedule that has become slightly less weak since that trade.
 
Checking in for the season.

I feel guilty that I haven't posted in this bad nearly as much as I should have, but with Pitchers and Catchers underway, it's about time to get back into it.
 
Gio just checked into camp and is adamantly denying any link to the BioGenisis clinic, hopefully he isn't lying.

Let's go Nats :hat
 
Scott Rolen has decided not to return to the Reds for this season, the club announced Tuesday afternoon.

“Scott made significant contributions to our team’s recent success, and it isn’t a coincidence we made the playoffs in two of his three full seasons here,” Reds GM Walt Jocketty said in a statement. “He made a huge impact in Cincinnati with his work ethic and leadership on the field, in the clubhouse and in our community.”…

Rolen also issued a statement through the team: “Right now I’m simply not ready to make a commitment. I would like to leave my options open, without closing any doors. I am looking forward to all of the challenges, both personally and professionally, I will face in the future.”

See ya, Scotty. nice timing as today is Todd Frazier's bday. :hat
 
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