Play ball!

11 mil this coming year. Geez the guy's ERA in 2023 was almost 6. I guess I'm OK with the Cardinals taking a flyer on him but not at 11mil.

More Cardinal dumpster diving.

https://www.mlb.com/cardinals/news/kyle-gibson-cardinals-deal

Digging hard through the scrap heap, aren't they?

Yep and "Cardinal Nation" isn't happy about it either. Mozeliak had to issue a public statement promising this is just the beginning. If he doesn't reel in a Blake Snell or a Sonny Gray or somebody like that fans will be in an uproar. I wanted Aaron Nola but obviously that didn't happen.

I just ordered Ken Burns' "Baseball" on DVD during Amazon's Black Friday sale. 11 discs, about $40 including shipping. It's on MLB Network all day today and I just started watching it this morning and got hooked. This is about the 5th Ken Burns documentary series I've bought. I already have his ones on WW II, Viet Nam, Prohibition and National Parks. They're all fascinating, educational and most of all entertaining but for some reason I'd never gotten around to getting this one even though it might be his most famous one.

Hot Stove is reporting that the Cardinals are expected to announce the signing of Sonny Gray today.

EDIT: They just gave the terms; 3 yrs / 75 mil. Why wasn't I born a pitcher?

Well, I guess you can have nice things after all. Too bad about a couple of the other guys on the rotation. But, depth. Maybe they'll pick up another guy as well.

The Cards will probably trade for another starter and/or a bullpen piece. We have a ton of excess outfielders some of whom (like Tyler O'neill or Dylan Carlson) probably could use a fresh start elsewhere anyway.

I'm hoping the Jays don't get rid of Manoah over the winter. I'd like to see him bounce back next year

This morning Hot Stove was talking about the Jays possibly trading Guerrero. One trade brought up was to the Mets for Pete Alonso.

What a stupid trade that would be. There must be a need to create news.

This morning Hot Stove is talking about a Jays/Cardinals trade where the Jays send Alek Manoah to the Cards for one of our excess left-handed bats. Tyler Oneill is Canadian you know.

I'll take a hard pass on that. Manoah had a bad season but he's got way more value than a sub-.250 hitter with a history of injuries. I don't care if he's my neighbour (he's not).

O'neill might be an offensive force if he could ever stay healthy. 2021 he hit 286 with 34 HR and 80 RBI. But he had 482 AB that year too. All the rest of his time he's only 300 AB or less

They have to make up some things to talk about, I guess.

Pretty much. One of the other MLB Network shows during the offseason actually does a segment called "Let's Fake A Deal" so at least that one admits it's just making things up. They do try to at least justify the trades and make them seem feasible.

There are going to be all sorts of rumours this week. Some might even come true!

This morning Hot Stove had the Jays shopping at Tiffany's. Supposedly they are one of the 5 serious teams remaining in the Ohtahni bidding war. They also talked about the Jays seriously going after Juan Soto.

I've heard those rumours as well. As far as Soto, I don't want to give up a whole bunch of prospects or roster players for one year of the guy. He's a free agent after the season, and since he's a Boris client, he will almost certainly go to free agency. I'd much rather have Ohtani. He definitely suits a need, being a left-handed power hitter. Sure, he'll be expensive, but the Jays are owned by a telecommunications and media giant that has the money. Plus, it's not my money.

Yankees got Juan Soto.

They gave up a lot for a 1-year rental. I'm glad the Jays didn't. Still, the Jays really need to do something big to boost their offence.

Yeah Hot Stove is speculating that the Yankees must be pretty sure they can sign him long term if they agreed to give up that much

I think you'd really want to be. They will need more than Soto to fix their issues. I'm fine if they don't.

Personally I think Soto is somewhat overrated. I thought that even when he was with Washington.

Hot Stove is saying Ohtani's decision is "imminent", whatever that means. Do you want him to come to Toronto? I'm not sure how I'd feel about my team investing that much money in one player. And if it's a long-term contract then it's even more problematic.

I think someone like that is more of a business decision. The Jays are owned by a communications company that does cable, internet, cellular, and TV. They own the network that broadcasts the Jays. How much is the Japanese market worth when you own all the broadcast rights?

I read this:

"We hear a LOT say ' how can Blue Jays afford Ohtani?' Blue Jays are owned by Rogers . Rogers had 15.3 BILLION in revenue in past year. They are worth 55 BILLION DOLLARS. The shares sell at 58 dollars a share THEY ARE THE RICHEST TEAM IN PRO SPORTS."

I heard the Cards traded O'Neil to the Red Sox.

Yep. Got back two nothing pitchers. But Oneill wasn't going to play anyway even if he stayed healthy AND he's a free agent after this season (which I didn't know). So we weren't going to get much for him anyway. Both of the pitchers we got back are young so I guess you never know.

That could be a win for them, then.

Do they have someone else already for his position?