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2018-2019 MLB Hot Stove Thread

The two pitchers the Phillies got sound like journeyman middle relievers. At least Pazos has a K/BB ratio of 3.
 
Tanking in baseball is a hit and miss proposition as it takes most prospects years to make the bigs and the MLB draft is the biggest crapshoot in pro sports.
 
Tanking in baseball is a hit and miss proposition as it takes most prospects years to make the bigs and the MLB draft is the biggest crapshoot in pro sports.

Worked pretty well for Astros, Royals, Braves, probably others not coming to mind right now. Tanking in baseball is different, doesn't make it more of a hit and miss proposition.
 
Worked pretty well for Astros, Royals, Braves, probably others not coming to mind right now. Tanking in baseball is different, doesn't make it more of a hit and miss proposition.

Cubs.
 
And 1st Round picks aren't guarantees...and they take longer be impactful...it can work, but it's more of a gamble than other sports.
 
And 1st Round picks aren't guarantees...and they take longer be impactful...it can work, but it's more of a gamble than other sports.

Phillies tanked a few years back. But apparently mostly ended up shedding salaries. Now buying their way into contention.
 
Nats tanked after the Expos moved. Getting Strasburg, Harper and Rendon in consecutive drafts built a team with 2nd best record in baseball (and no post-season series wins) over the last 6 years.

There are variables in sports that aren't controllable, but being among the worst teams in baseball is the easiest way to get young elite cheap talent which you can then add expensive pieces around. Unless you are the Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers and Cubs, hard to stay among the league's elite as once your young players get to the FA eligibility.
 
The Nats spent big bucks on free agents to augment their drafts.
 
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There are variables in sports that aren't controllable, but being among the worst teams in baseball is the easiest way to get young elite cheap talent which you can then add expensive pieces around. Unless you are the Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers and Cubs, hard to stay among the league's elite as once your young players get to the FA eligibility.

RJ is conflating a lot of different things here. I think I'd argue that tanking in baseball is LESS of a crapshoot than other sports, because it relies less on the success of a few amateur talents and more on the overall depth of the organization.

Look at the Royals. They really didn't hit a true home run with ANY of their first round picks. Hochevar, Crow, Zimmer, Starling, Colon. Even Moose and Hosmer underperformed their scouting profile. But the Royals developed enough talent and depth without turning Hosmer or Moose into elite players.
 
The Royals were basically crap nearly twenty years. They missed vastly more of their choices than even became reasonably effective players in the majors.
 
Tanking isn't trading away for draft picks in baseball - this is a weird debate. The idea would be to sell off for assets that are already being developed or close to supplement with your existing depth. Sure, generally means you lose a year or so, unless you are the Yankees, but still. I'm not sure how tanking in the NBA is any easier or the NFL really, the timeframes seem roughly the same.
 
The Nats spent big bucks on free agents to augment their drafts.

Try reading the posts that you respond to.

The post about the Nats which drew your reply stated:

"being among the worst teams in baseball is the easiest way to get young elite cheap talent which you can then add expensive pieces around"


The purpose of tanking is to have:

a) key young cheap pieces that then allows a team to add
b) more expensive players to fill in the gaps

That is what the Nats did with successful top draft picks, and then added Scherzer, Murphy, Werth as free agents.
 
Getting back to not retarded discussion, it seems as though the two relievers also give the Phillies an excuse to dump Neshek or Hunter, or both.
 
More smoke about Goldschmidt to the Cards - not something i hope happens. Gotta think they would be close to the favorites in the Central, even with starting like 7 first basemen.
 
Also see the Phillies have told Patrick Corbin they won't be outbid - we'll see what he is looking for. White Sox still pursuing Bryce Harper pretty hard, no idea why.
 
Getting back to not retarded discussion, it seems as though the two relievers also give the Phillies an excuse to dump Neshek or Hunter, or both.

ESPN is saying the Phils were trying to get Diaz in the Segura deal. It's too bad that didn't happen.
 
RJ is conflating a lot of different things here. I think I'd argue that tanking in baseball is LESS of a crapshoot than other sports, because it relies less on the success of a few amateur talents and more on the overall depth of the organization.

Look at the Royals. They really didn't hit a true home run with ANY of their first round picks. Hochevar, Crow, Zimmer, Starling, Colon. Even Moose and Hosmer underperformed their scouting profile. But the Royals developed enough talent and depth without turning Hosmer or Moose into elite players.

I'd say it's more impactful, potentially, to tank in NBA and NFL vs MLB. The talent gap between two points in any draft tends to decrease rapidly as you move away from the first round. Since the first round is half of the NBA draft, but a smaller fraction of the NFL and MLB drafts, drafting position has the potential to mean more. Additionally, because of baseball's minor league system, the ability to develop talent is a huge variable that can override an advantageous draft position. The international FA market also offsets the impact of draft position.
 
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