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The chances of Fedde and Matz being on the roster on August 1 are probably 1%. Mikolas might have a 20% chance since he has a NTC. There will be plenty of innings available for the younger guys throughout the season with injuries and trades popping up.
I see, the youth movement is golden, two-thirds of a season from now.
I’d like to make a motion to rename the phrase, “a couple years” 😉
I didn’t see mention that the Dodgers also signed the top free agent reliever this winter, Tanner Scott, to a four-year, $72 million contract yesterday.
Whoever the Dodgers want, they seem to get.
BREAKING: Tanner Scott and the Dodgers have agreed to a four-year, $72 million deal, per source.
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) January 19, 2025
It may seem like the Dodgers do all of the spending but that is not the case. They just get mentioned the most on this board.
Per Cot’s here are the top four 40 man payrolls currently:
1. Dodgers: $309.1M
2. Mets: $293.9M
3. Phillies: $288.8M
4. Yankees: $283.4MNot as big of a gap as you might think and I have a feeling the Mets aren’t done yet this winter either.
The size of the gap is all in the numbers you choose. The CBT totals on the same site have the Dodgers $67 million ahead of number two.
The Dodgers are not done either, reportedly. Kershaw is waiting for his turn.
The Athletic today called them the “Death Star”.
Brian is right as you have to count the CBT total. It is worth noting as well the Dodgers do have to put the deferral money for Ohtani into an account, so they still are “spending” $40 million on him this year. When you count the tax on their CBT number, the Dodgers have a $500 million payroll for this year.
I cannot fault the Dodgers as they are doing whatever they can to win. They have a huge amount of resources and make over $330 million just from their TV deal and have revenues over $550 million and should still be turning profits. It can be frustrating to see so many players sign with the Dodgers, but if you want to win a WS or want to be paid well, they are the top choice.
If anything, be mad at owners that don’t want to spend and instead just coast making huge profits from revenue sharing. The Pirates and A’s are the worst offenders, but there are plenty others. Even the Twins and Mariners have owners that don’t want to spend, despite them being talented teams and some spending could put them into playoff contention each year. I know Dewitt likes to cry poor, but Forbes had the Cards with a $372 million revenue in 2023. Not all expenses were listed, but it is very safe to say that the Cards made a good profit that year. We will see what Forbes shows for 2024 for the Cards.
In this case I agree that the CBT number is relevant because they are over the limit. Usually I refer to the 40 man payroll because that is what reflects actual payroll expense in a given year instead of just AAV’s. In the Dodgers case Cot’s shows the Dodgers with a $309M payroll and expected tax of $122M for a total of $431M in expense.
Yes that is a lot and yes it is out of the Cardinals league. I have acknowledged that the Dodgers spend more than the Cardinals. When I first made the comparison the difference between the two teams was smaller and I still think there was an argument to be made that both teams were draft and develop teams. I was trying to pay the Cardinals a compliment at the time. Since then the Dodgers have spent more and the Cardinals have spent less therefore the similarities in the two organizations are getting smaller all of the time.
I do still maintain that you can’t say that all of the Dodgers success is due to spending. If money is all it took then other big spenders like the Yankees, Mets, Phillies, Red Sox, and Blue Jays would win their division every year. They don’t.
To ATM’s point I agree that salary deferrals are a problem that MLB should address. To me it is a loophole that the Dodgers have exploited and they should be reined in. I expect a salary cap will be on the agenda again in the next CBA negotiations but the MLBPA has always resisted.
How about Jesse Chavez for the pen. Has put up 3 consecutive solid years while collecting only about 3 million total in salary. And you know the Braves would be calling at the deadline. Yeah, he’s old. But that means he’s cheap. Could probably be signed now for a couple million.
Oh boy….
A certain team is not ruining baseball
A lot of other teams are just doing very little— Jack Flaherty (@jflare_) January 21, 2025
If the younger guys show some real promise….. they won’t be blocked. Just like a guy that hits a ton they find a place for him.
If I am the Cards FO, I would look into Nacho Alvarez Jr. His profile screams STL Cardinal in the mold of Edman and Donovan. He can play SS, 3B, and 2B and I would get him some time in the corner OF as well. Excellent on base skills with weak power so not an everyday 3B, but the prime tools for a super utility player.
The Cards need to open a rotation spot and want to unload money, so either now or at the deadline, I would be looking into Fedde for Nacho. The Braves need a 5th starter and Nacho is expendable for them.
Having a guy named Nacho on the roster can’t hurt, but I’ll continue to maintain that we need at least one guy named Manny.
Trading for a UT would be a nice cherry on top of Mo’s last off season.
You have to give up something to get something and you build a roster one player at a time. In the best Nacho also could be a fringe regular with a non typical starting 3B profile. Average case is he can be a valuable top of the lineup high OBP super util type. I imagine they would also get another minor piece in a Fedde for Nacho swap. To sign Bill up, just tell him the concession marketing opportunities for Nacho to sell nachos.
The Card’s roster is filled with utility guys and so many other starters that play multiple positions. What we truly need is another solid starting pitcher…. MLB ready.
It’s a challenge to figure out what this team needs other than a CFer who can hit. That’s an obvious issue. The rest of the team is filled up with 1-3 FWAR players who might break the right way and might not. It’s hard to choose who to abandon and replace. I think that’s why they are just going to play the thing out with what we have and see how it goes.
Gorman is probably a 1.5 WAR player. But he could be a 4 WAR player.
Walker is probably a 2 WAR player. But he could be a 5 WAR player.
Herrera is probably a 2 WAR player. But he could be a 4 WAR player.
The list goes on. The pitching side is getting clearer to me. But the hitting side is a mystery. There is just so much variance due to young ages and guys that may have been pushed to hard or not pushed in the ideal way.
Gorman is probably a 1.5 WAR player.
He wasn’t last year.
Walker is probably a 2 WAR player.
He wasn’t last year.
Herrera is probably a 2 WAR player.
He doesn’t have a position.
There’s the Bling I remember! We’ve missed all the glass is half empty comments for quite some time.
IMO, forget it. With Arenado back and playing like himself again, and with Contreras apparently adapting to 1B just fine, and with the pitching we have looking so promising, this is a competitive team.
I hope you’re right, but I simply can’t detect anything at all concerning the projected rotation that looks close to what I’d term promising. My term would be highly suspect at best.
What we truly need is another solid starting pitcher…. MLB ready.
I think I would disagree here. I think McGreevy is clearly MLB ready and should be SP#5, but we need a spot for him. Mathews isn’t far off from being ready, and not much further back are Hence and Roby. Robberse, Bedell, and Graceffo can be spot starters for depth probably now.
To me, when I look at the roster for the next couple of years, we need more help generally on the offensive side. Some solid producers on pre-arb salaries are needed to help keep costs down.
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