Giants beat Royals 3-2. Win 3rd World Series in 5 years.

The 10 most intriguing questions for spring training.

Full camps will star soon, nice. Anxious to see how Tanaka and Pineda look in spring training.

All I know is my Cubbies are not gonna have a very exciting year, again :(

Why did you make/sticky a second thread? Why not just sticky your old one located here?

Actually looking forward to watching the Mariners this year. I've refused to really support them the last few years because they were simply coasting. I'll support a team even if they are bad, so long as they are making an attempt to get better. The Mariners were making no such effort. But spending big on Robinson Cano makes me believe they finally care about winning.

That is the offseason thread. You of all people should know that.

Can't wait to watch the ATL boys again this year.

Preseason college baseball poll for those that give a damn http://www.sportswriters.net/ncbwa/poll/

Oh Captain, my Captain. Lets go out with a bang by winning #28!

The original title of this thread was offseason. Hence the confusion.

you didnt think brining up all of their prospects was an effort? they were just trying to do what tampa did and play small market ball. that move for over paying cano was just to keep ticket sales up. by the time seattle is good again, cano would be over the hill

I really hope Grady Sizemore proves to have something left in the tank, he was one of my favorite players to watch back just a few years ago. Mostly looking forward to seeing Bogaerts and Bradley Jr's first full seasons in the majors though, things go well and letting go of Ellsbury and Drew (most likely) looks like a brilliant move.

I was already tired of the Rivera retirement tour last year and I have a feeling this one's gonna be 10x worse. It's already starting.

From MLB.com's Richard Justice:

"In fact, it could be argued that Jeter is the greatest player who ever lived. Wrap your mind around that idea. Think of all the ways we assess a player's career and tell me another player who ranks ahead of Jeter."

Uuuuuuuuuuuugh

Not really. That expansive Seattle Times article detailing the shit show that was their front office summed up why I refused to support them. We all knew it, then that guy did all the investigative work and published it. But that tool bag president retired, and I don't think it's a coincidence that the first personnel move we made after his retirement was the Cano signing.

@monkeytoes61: I think the Mariners have made some really bad investments this offseason. I don't see Cano thriving in Safeco, and the Fernando Rodney signing makes me think there's children running the front office. Whenever a pitcher suddenly gets dominant in his late 30's, it's almost always for less than three years. Just look at R.A. Dickey in Toronto. I see Fernando Rodney tanking hard. I also don't think Cano's going to make a big enough impact to compete in the AL West.

The Mariners basically lost a Robinson Cano offensively in Kendrys Morales. Of course, Cano's a much more appealing player, but I don't think replacing a 20+ homer DH with a 20+ homer second basemen is going to thrust Seattle into contention.

@IMAHAPYHIPPO: I don't think they are contenders yet either. And I fully expect the Cano signing to start looking worse in five or six years. But we desperately needed the Cano signing. This fanbase needed something to get excited about. Five years of basically sitting around and watching the young talent not pan out has taken its toll. But the Cano signing has rejuvenated fans, it seems.

@monkeytoes61: I'm from STL, so naturally I'm a Cardinals fan, but I've always liked the Mariners (more so when I found out they were owned by Nintendo), but those guys in the front office need to go. They don't seem to have a solid idea of what direction they want their team to go. With all those last place finishes, there should be a wealth of young talent dominating the AL West... Somehow, they're not.

Cano would be an awesome signing if they had been drafting well for the last half decade. I think it's the front office people who don't seem to understand how modern baseball statistics work. I hope they find someone who can turn it around. And for the love of God, I hope they don't sign Nelson Cruz.

@IMAHAPYHIPPO: Yeah, the first wave of young players definitely have been busts so far (Ackley, Smoak, Guti, Montero). Hoping the second wave (Miller, Zunino, Franklin, Paxton, Walker). If those guys do, with Robbie, Seager and Felix, they could contend.

@monkeytoes61: I don't like to hold my own organization up on some kind of pedestal (I mean, come on, of course I do), but the Cardinals consistently draft about 20 picks lower than the Mariners, and they have one of the best farm systems in baseball. If I'm the head of the Mariners, I'm figuring out why they're passing up on the Wacha's of the world, and putting more effort into scouting and drafting.

On the other end, I think buying low on Corey Hart was a great move, but not one that's going to give them the proper edge. The problem is they need one more big bat and at least one more stellar starting pitcher. Unfortunately, the market has none, and I think the Mariners are showing some unwarranted desperation in the Rodney signing that I'm afraid's going to lead to a bad investment in Nelson Cruz. Don't get me wrong, he's got a great bat, but Safeco's going to knock off about 10 home runs, and paying 15 million a year for a 20 home run, 33 year old outfielder is a bad move.

Am looking forward to seeing the Tigers kick some more ass this year!

He/She should of waited until March.

So the Braves have extended Freeman, J-Hey, Teheran, and now Kimbrel. Decent off season!

Honestly I'm not quite sure what to make of the Kimbrel extension. He's a smaller power pitcher who's not a free agent until 2017 and could very well likely be at the peak of his value. Feels like thay were bidding against themselves prematurely, it's not like his value could possible get that much better between now and free agency.

On a sidenote Ryan Dempster has announced that he'll sit out 2014 to spend more time with his family. Have to admit this is pretty good news for the Red Sox, he was a 6th starter/long reliever at best who wasn't going to provide half the value of the 13M+ he was owed this year. Hopefully that money can be reinvested into depth and/or bringing Drew back.

I like the way the deal is structured though, from the Braves standpoint. If I remember reading correctly, Kimbrel was asking for around 9 Million in arbitration this year and the braves were at 6.55. Kimbrel will get 7M this year, 9M next, and then 11 and 13 the following two. Barring a huge collapse, his value will most most likely go up (monetarily at least) and would give the Braves certainty in terms of how much they have to spend on payroll rather than going through arbitration every year

He would get pricey in the last two years, three if the option is picked up, but I think it is a good deal for the best closer in the game. ESPECIALLY if Kimbrel won his arbitration case.

And it's still cheaper than BJ Ryan's deal back in 05.

a 20 hr dh and a 20 hr 2nd baseman makes a BIG difference....dh are supposed to do that, 2b not so much...you get that kind of production out of a defensive oriented position (just like ss and cf and c) its a big plus and its not like cano is dan uggla here....he can actually hit from .280-.300 ish.

@jsmoke03: Don't get me wrong -- and I said that in my post -- a power hitting second basemen is much more appealing and valuable. Clearly, Cano's a much better player than Morales. But I don't think he's going to be quite the impact the Mariners are hoping. They need a much more dynamic team to thrust them into contention.

And I'm worried they're going to get ahead of themselves and make some more bad investments before the season starts. I think it would advisable to commit to another sub-par season in 2014 and work on continuing to build a winning team over the next offseason. The pieces just weren't -- and still aren't -- there on the open market.

Go Nationals.

Since John Wall won the 2014 Dunk Contest, Bryce Harper will win the 2014 Home Run Derby.

Seems legit.

He's certainly already won the "who can bash his own face in" contest -- twice now.

He should concentrate on getting better, that Trout vs. Harper argument isn't looking good right now.

I just want a D.C. team to win a championship. I'm tired of individual accolades.

Alex Ovechkin(whatever his name is) will win MVP.

Ubaldo Jimenez has agreed to a 4-year/$48M deal with the Orioles. I think it's a pretty solid move from the perspective of the Orioles. He's streaky and that's the risk the Orioles will have to deal with, but he's still shown to be about a 3-4 win player since 2008 and proved just last year that at his best he's near Cy Young quality.

@Boston_Boyy: That's pretty much the going rate for an average starter these days (just look at the Edwin Jackson deal), so even if he doesn't perform all that well, the deal will still be fair for the Orioles. If they get Cy Young quality pitching from Ubaldo even a couple of those years, the contract will be a steal.

yea they arent going to get better until their non pitching prospects get better. zunino, smoak, ackley, seeger and montero have to start producing or cano wouldnt matter since there is either no one on base to drive home or no one to protect him. cano should have just stayed with ny but i guess the money was more appealing

the orioles have baffled me for years. they cant produce pitching even though they had a lot of talent in the minors. they had matusz, britton, arietta that didnt work out. tilman is the only one to do decent. is it just me or they just need to let those guys go through their lumps before giving up on them. i think britton could still be special but hes at the bottom of their pitching depth and gausman, bundy are still also waiting in the wings

@jsmoke03: They also need more pitching. This isn't 2001 anymore, you can't win championships with Schilling, Johnson, and schlubs. I'm not sure someone like Ervin Santana's the answer, but if I were the M's, I'd take a risk on Johan for a year and see where he's at, considering they're not expected to win this year. Maybe if he returns to dominance they can try locking him up before hitting the open market.

they have walker and hultzen (well next year when he is all healed). they have iwakuma and king felix...i think they will be fine esp in that park.

@jsmoke03: I hope they work out, I've always been big fan of the M's. That's why it's such a bummer to see upper management so inconsistent.

Braves signed Simmons to a 7 year deal. A few thoughts:

1) I think having the young core signed to multi-year deals is a good sign for the Braves foreseeable future2) Having the core set in deals rather than dealing with arbitration will probably help the Braves, financial stability.
3) This last deal is risky, especially the last year. Simmons is the best defensive shortstop in the game, but if his bat doesn't improve......
4) Where is this money coming from?

Braves taking care of business.

trout is a phenom, but harper actually has a higher ceiling because he has a cannon arm and i think a higher raw power on the 20-80 scale... with that said, he still needs a lot of development time...but jeez hes like 21 or 22...we got to give him some time.

1. Agreed, they really shut down a lot of people's beliefs that they would lose most of those players pretty soon.3. I think his bat will improve; he's still very young. He definitely has the talent.
4. *shrugs* I just wish Liberty Media would sell the team to Arthur Blank. This might not be such a head-scratcher in that case.

for #4, the Braves must think the new stadium will bring in a lot more money than Turner. (or also could be in the process of selling to an owner like Arthur Blank)).

As for Simmons, I do think he'll improve. Though the 15M at the end of the deal might be worth it just for his defense...

Side bar -- My redbirds signed Diaz to a four year deal.

Braves signed Ervin Santana to a 1 year/14M deal.

This definitely means Medlen is gone for the year....:(

Braves management couldn't do 2 year/$14m?

I think they would had if they could.

So, I heard the MLB season started today, or was it yesterday in Australia. And Dodgers won 3-1 over the D-backs. So there is that.