Daily Archives: December 21, 2015
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – December 21, 2015
Topps
Today’s podcast is a message to Cornelius NC Mayor Chuck Travis and the board of commissioners to honor Hoyt Wilhelm and preserve the baseball diamond where he began his Hall of Fame journey.
It is a call to action episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
Teams That Should Take Advantage Of A Weak Penalty For The Luxury Tax In 2016
In the last year of the current CBA, there is potentially only one more year to take advantage of a feeble penalty as a first time abuser in 2016. With Boston set to join the Dodgers and Yankees as abusers, I took a look at other teams who should consider the 2016 campaign as a rare gamble to dole out some cash in seeking a World Series trophy before the new CBA is authored in prior to the 2017 season.
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer/Part-Owner) Follow @stokes_hunter21
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The Boston Red Sox might just be on to something. They will be penalized for the 1st year of going over the new $189 MIL limit in 2016, but it is also the last year the CBA may have the percentages.
Currently right now, there is a 17.5% penalty for spending dollars over $189 MIL. The Dodgers and Yankees are the only other teams that are budgeted over the mark in addition to Boston.
On the cusp are the Detroit Tigers, sitting at around $177 MIL – while the Giants and Angels are nearly at $170 MIL. The Cubs are also near the $165 MIL area.
Why not spend like crazy in 2016 – and take advantage of the system as it is presented towards you? Read the rest of this entry
St. Louis Cardinals State Of The Union For 2016
St. louis continued their great play in the MLB since the turn of the millennium – with an MLB best 100 wins in 2015. The organization has transitioned to the next core of young nucleus, while still holding on to a couple of capable veterans. Considering they have plenty of depth, and lots of payroll flexibility coming forth, the franchise could orchestrate a blockbuster trade soon. St. Louis could always sign 1 – 2 Starters via Free Agency as well. As it stands right now, the club has a payroll of around $133 MIL listed in 2016. They can afford to add about $15 – $17 more million without batting an eye.
Chuck Booth (Owner/Lead Analyst) Follow @chuckbooth3024
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The Cardinals continue to be the model franchise in the Major Leagues. With 9 NLCS births since 2000, this club has thrived with rolling over the roster, and not making mistakes on the Free Agency watch.
2016 shouldn’t be any different for competing for a playoff spot. St. Louis won 100 games in 2015 – and may top the century mark in 2016 again. Crazily enough though it might not be enough for a Division win.
I think I can safely say the Cards and the Cubs are the two best all around teams in the big leagues right now.
I am still giving the nod to Chicago as the favorite right now, but that may change with some winter alterations.
Word has come down that Matt Holliday has been taking reps at 1B this offseasons. If he were able to convert that to his positional arsenal for the next few years, than that would free up Matt Adams to be traded.
Among the moves the club has made over he last week was trade Jon Jay to the Padres for 2B Jedd Gyorko. This is a classic Cardinals move. Read the rest of this entry
Milwaukee Brewers State Of The Union For 2016
New Milwaukee GM David Stearns has his hands full trying to compete in the NL Central for the next several seasons. Really the club should be starting a full scale rebuild that includes trading Ryan Braun. Jonathan Lucroy and potentially Wily Peralta. With dealing with the Cubs, Cards and Bucs all in the NL Central, expect a 100 loss season coming forth for the club.
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer) Follow @stokes_hunter21
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
The Milwaukee Brewers owner just sent out an open letter to all of the fans explaining to them his gratitude, and promised that the organization is committed to winning long term. I liked his candor, but it will be some time before this team has many victory laps.
The NL Central has turned into a fierce 3 club race, with the Reds and Brewers being left in the dust. Cincinnati has already thrown the white flag this week in trading Todd Frazier and now potentially Brandon Phillips. They would have already traded Aroldis Chapman as well if it weren’t for a domestic dispute.
The time to rebuild for the club is now. I would think the club should also entertain trade talks with Ryan Braun and Jonathon Lucroy over the next 6 – 8 months. Read the rest of this entry
Atlanta Braves State Of The Union For 2016
Before the recent deal for Shelby Miller the Braves had been questioned on whether the rebuild they are currently going through was going to work. Now all of a sudden, the club going through trading of all veterans – starting with Jason Heyward a year ago, looks so much better. The next year or 2 is still going to be painstakingly to endure, but the organization now has a promising future. Atlanta will enter a new park in Sun Trust Park, located in Cobb County, GA for 2017 after playing one more year at Turner Field in 2016.
Chuck Booth (Owner/Lead Analyst) Follow @chuckbooth3024
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
John Hart knows how to build teams in the Majors. He was at the forefront of the Cleveland Indians in the 1990’s when they signed a bunch of young nucleus players to multi year extensions. It was a trend that worked out for nearly a decade.
A pile of organizations copied this template. I must admit I thought he may have been a bit past his prime when the Braves finally hired him on last year, but he seems to carrying out the mission with Atlanta as well.
Of course taking over for Frank Wren – there was not much to go but up. Dan Uggla, Derek Lowe and B.J. Upton ultimately cost the former GM his job, but it should be noted he did orchestrate 3 decent trades in acquiring Justin Upton, Michael Bourn and Javier Vasquez much earlier.
The Braves did the right thing in dismantling the 2013 to 2014 squad. It would have cost too much money to re-sign Brian McCann and Jason Heyward – and Justin Upton may soon reel in a 9 figure sum.
Atlanta also traded away Craig Kimbrel and Andrelton of late. The haul for Kimbrel was nice, while Simmons was set to make $53 MIL over 5 years. Not huge cash, but for a guy more noted for defense, and with a team rebuilding, losing the dollars owed was a more significant move.
I also can’t emphasize enough how awesome it was to rid themselves of the Melvin Upton JR. contract. Read the rest of this entry
Toronto Should Trade For Ryan Braun
Ryan Braun has been the starter in RF for the Brewers for almost a decade. However, he has battled several thumb injuries, and is now 32 Years Old. Since Milwaukee will not likely be contenders for the next 3 – 4 years in a tough NL Division, they should really start to rebuild. Toronto also needs to look past 2016 – when both Encarnacion and Bautista are Free Agents. If they can’t come up with the funds to sign either of them in extensions, they should pursue Braun in the next 6 – 8 months.
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer) Follow @stokes_hunter21
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
The Toronto Blue Jays have played it conservative for 2016, but still have a realistic shot to win in 2016 because of their offense. Going beyond 2016 looks extremely difficult when you factor in they may lose both Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista following next year.
This would be a shame, but both players should be able to command around $20 MIL per year for at least the next 2 – 3 years after this upcoming one. That may be too much for the Canadian club to afford.
Our website has spoken at length of how Toronto must capitalize on this opportunity. As of right now, I don’t think they have enough pitching to get it done in the playoffs either.
Free Agency will be a tough sell for the franchise to bring in any ace pitchers or premiere offensive stars in the coming years. You also may have a tough time to crack those deals when the Canadian dollar is hovering around 70 cents for every American Greenback right now.
I say go after Ryan Braun via a trade in the next 6 – 8 months. Read the rest of this entry
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