What’s Next for MLB’s Offseason Now That Shohei Ohtani Has Signed?

Miami got their catcher today, which takes any trades with the Marlins for pitching off the board.

It'll probably depend on what the market offers up.  If they can get a better deal on one over the other they'll follow that rather than cling to youth or awesomeness. My guess is they want someone to slot in over Ryan/Paddack, and the thing they'll end up fussing over is how much it costs to get more or fewer years of control.  I think the price will be high because they want the big arm and the price delta will be around how long they get to keep him.

53 minutes ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

They need a lot of offense in Miami. A LOT. I wouldn’t say at all that the only position of need there is catcher

For sure, Miami still needs to upgrade their offense. I'm not sure the Twins have any players of interest. They are specifically looking for an experienced DH, SS, and 3B. While it might have been 90% of TD against trading Jeffers, it might be 10% added to that to trade Royce Lewis. Perhaps you were thinking that the Marlins would be interested in Brooks Lee? Maybe. That's it though. Their outfield is covered as is second base.  

26 minutes ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

I have a question; what do people think their primary starting pitcher acquisition will look like?

A) Someone more established, with less years of control

or

B) Someone less established, with more years of control?

I kind of lean A, but I’m curious how this offseason will play out

I still like Edward Cabrera, so I guess I'm going with B. Not sure what the price would be for him though. Seemed like he took a slight stepback in 2023 so may help with the pricetag.

2 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

Miami got their catcher today, which takes any trades with the Marlins for pitching off the board.

I was bummed out to hear you said that. MIA was focusing on upgrading at SS & catcher & that's the areas that they were willing to trade for one of their SPs. IMO only the offense from SS & catcher trade will land you one of these players. MIA is looking for an upgrade at catching Betancourt is not much of an upgrade. IMO it's leverage to negogiciate with serious  clubs & IMO they should be open to negociate for a catcher if the right deal comes along. FO is good at waiting for teams come to them but is really very bad when it comes to be proactive when the opportunity is there. I hope they prove me wrong. Maybe MIA'll do the same thing at SS & if don't get the offer they want. They keep all their pitchers. It's not the 1st time that it has happen. IMO MIA won't trade a SP just for a non SS/ Catcher big bat. Unless it's a pretty good deal on a CFer.

3 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

Miami got their catcher today, which takes any trades with the Marlins for pitching off the board.

Let's hope the Twins don't feel the need to send Jeffers that way, no matter the return, will leave them shorthanded behind the plate....

21 minutes ago, Parfigliano said:

Someone with year/years of control.  Cheaper to acquire.  Cheaper to pay.  Allows time for Maki to work his magic.

Why not let Maki work his magic on Ryan, Ober, Paddack, Varland, Canterino, Festa, SWR, Headrick, etc... without giving anything up??

Vent session...sorry.  When will it end?  The absurd multi-multi year contracts for players when they're already in their 30's.  Shohei...okay.  He's the best player to come through the league in possibly ever.  Jersey sales alone will make up his contract...respectively & sarcastically.  But Blake Snell.  Put him on the list of players in their 30's requesting insane contracts.  He's NOT GOING TO FULFILL WHAT THE CONTRACT IS.  Bottom line.  What player that signs this kind of deal ever fulfills?  I'll eat crow on a very select few, but come on.  Aside from a Scherzer or Verlander, there just aren't any.  These contracts are killing "small market" teams even though their owners can afford anything.  I'll digress, because I realize I'm starting to contradict myself.

Yamamoto is 25 years old and he needs to finish his contract details within the next month, so we can expect him to sign within a week or two. From there, the contract limits  will be pretty much set which will direct those teams willing to commit big money to finalize their offers.

The trade market is so unpredictable due to the limits of risks inherent in big trades. It is likely that teams who are willing to trade pitching will wait out the free agent market to see if the demand goes up even more. January and February are months to expect some trades. Because the asking prices will be high for pitching one wonders whether some teams, such as the Twins, will sit this offseason off and go with their current squads. We should continue to see signings of minor players on a daily basis. 

The title of this article make me snicker...implying that the Twins had considered throwing their hat in the ring for Ohtani...well-played.

8 hours ago, Matthew Trueblood said:

Per Heyman's tweet about the move: "Fish *aren't* done looking to upgrade..." So, take that for what it's worth.

Thank you Matthew, for quantifying my gut feeling.

I expect positional players serious negociations will begin, As soon as Yamamoto signs then the SPs will start, it shouldn't be long before Yamamoto signs, It should be a grind but at least it's moving. Funny how the SPing is hinged on Yamamoto & not Snell. I don't disagree but it's weird. After all that then the Twins will start moving.

7 hours ago, mnfireman said:

Let's hope the Twins don't feel the need to send Jeffers that way, no matter the return, will leave them shorthanded behind the plate....

I understand your angst mnfireman because of the catching situation that this FO has gotten us into. But trading Jeffers away for a "Lopez type" SP can be easily resolved. There has been a  very good crop of MLB ready  or soon to be catchers that can be had, That with the mentoring of Vazquez anyone of them will become a better catcher than Jeffers. We must not overlook the best opportunity that we have,

Thank you Cody for showing Polanco's worth. His clutching hitting & walk-off hits are truly great that's even playing a good amount of the time unneccessarily hurt that also effected his defense. '24 he'll be 100% & with Paparesta supervision he should stay that way for most of the season. 

Most other teams have a glimpse of Polanco's worth but want to pay for the hurt version of Polanco & sell us a bunch of lottery tickets. We must not overlook his true value & short ourselves. I doubt we can come close to get his true value so we should not be so quick to dump him.

8 hours ago, jrod23 said:

Vent session...sorry.  When will it end?  The absurd multi-multi year contracts for players when they're already in their 30's.  Shohei...okay.  He's the best player to come through the league in possibly ever.  Jersey sales alone will make up his contract...respectively & sarcastically.  But Blake Snell.  Put him on the list of players in their 30's requesting insane contracts.  He's NOT GOING TO FULFILL WHAT THE CONTRACT IS.  Bottom line.  What player that signs this kind of deal ever fulfills?  I'll eat crow on a very select few, but come on.  Aside from a Scherzer or Verlander, there just aren't any.  These contracts are killing "small market" teams even though their owners can afford anything.  I'll digress, because I realize I'm starting to contradict myself.

Yes, absurd is the word. As you noted, once in a rare while, a big contract to a player in their 30s pans out (Nelson Cruz was another exception) but most of the time (80% or higher?) those contracts ended up looking very bad. Either the player is traded or released before the end of the contract, and by that time, he's lucky to even be playing. Hey, I'm an old grumpy baseball fan, but these types of big contracts being handed out to semi-good players just makes me roll my eyes. Then again, I never mastered economics. 

2 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

When will all these 10 - 12 year overpays start to catch up with the teams?  I really am glad the Twins are not in that chase for financial silliness.  Our contract with Correa is enough.  Projected 12 years for Bellinger in the article. He batted over 300 last year and in 2019.  Has anyone looked at the three years in between?  210, 165, 234.  So who are you getting? 

I hope the Twins find a SP with our trade assets but if not push those young arms. 

From my understanding Bellinger got hurt and was never right because of the injury over those 3 seasons. Last year he got right, and his performance got better.

I think he's a really good player hampered by injury, so keeping him healthy could easily make the first half of a 10-12 year contract worth it for the right team.

Not saying I'd want him on a 12 yr contract, but I think barring injury the Bellinger from last season is the Bellinger you'd be getting.

15 hours ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

I have a question; what do people think their primary starting pitcher acquisition will look like?

A) Someone more established, with less years of control

or

B) Someone less established, with more years of control?

I kind of lean A, but I’m curious how this offseason will play out

This is the Sonny Gray trade vs Pablo Lopez trade. The second option you list costs more, higher risk, yet higher reward if successful in terms of the long term. The first option in the end requires lucky drafting., getting a player like Petty vs Cavacao. The problem is that any trade could end up like the Mahle trade where the team will have to invest more to make the trade work

18 hours ago, jrod23 said:

Vent session...sorry.  When will it end?  The absurd multi-multi year contracts for players when they're already in their 30's.  Shohei...okay.  He's the best player to come through the league in possibly ever.  Jersey sales alone will make up his contract...respectively & sarcastically.  But Blake Snell.  Put him on the list of players in their 30's requesting insane contracts.  He's NOT GOING TO FULFILL WHAT THE CONTRACT IS.  Bottom line.  What player that signs this kind of deal ever fulfills?  I'll eat crow on a very select few, but come on.  Aside from a Scherzer or Verlander, there just aren't any.  These contracts are killing "small market" teams even though their owners can afford anything.  I'll digress, because I realize I'm starting to contradict myself.

When will it end you ask?  I still remember how I felt when Kirby was the first 3M per year player.  I loved Kirby, but it blew my mind!  3 MILLION DOLLARS/YEAR?????  To play baseball?   LOL,  those numbers have increased so exponentially,  that I can no longer even comprehend the dollars, just try to use the numbers comparatively.  Personally, I would think 3mil per year should still be  enough to be the highest paid player in MLB!  I worked my entire career and retired at 61 years old and in my whole life I never made  3mil.  I'm not complaining.  I've lived pretty well, but if I can find one of those 700 million dollar contracts to do anything, I think I'm just gonna pass. But, even so, I doubt that it will ever end.