johnbitzer

2

Think your proposals are realistic? Let’s find out by having a little extra fun with it. Welcome to the BTV Offseason Trade Proposal Competition (for subscribers). The way the competition works: We’ll list the most likely trade candidates this offseason – see below. Of course, we provide the value estimates. Your job is to figure out the destination team and the players involved in each package. If and when the actual trade happens in reality, we’ll see who came the...

Joshua Iversen

3

Editor’s note: For the first time this offseason, welcome back to the Roster Revamp series! In each article, BTV Associate Editor Joshua Iversen will be completing a team’s offseason by compiling different user-submitted proposals from the site’s trade boards into a single plan. Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated. — Much has already been said about the 2023 San Diego Padres and their utter disaster of a season. Somehow a team with superstars Juan Soto, Xander...

joshiversen

7

We have been hard at work on this new version of BTV and we are excited to share all of the improvements, including a streamlined design, improved performance, faster loading times, more frequent player value updates and tons of exciting new features. The BTV website now offers two different subscription tiers, Front Office and General Manager. These tiers come with varying levels of access to the new features, as well as an ad-free experience, discounts on the new BTV merchandise and...

johnbitzer

1

It’s obvious now that the Angels’ unfortunate decision to go for it at the trade deadline backfired. In addition to pulling Shohei Ohtani off the trade market, they doubled down and quickly became buyers in an attempt to make the playoffs. In a dizzying week, they acquired Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez, C.J. Cron, Randal Grichuk, and Dominic Leone, paying premiums (based on our modeling) on every transaction. Then, one month later, they reversed course. Once clearly out of...

Baseball player batting

johnbitzer

1

Now that the deadline has passed, what did we notice? First, let’s check how our model did (note that we’re counting every trade in the true deadline period, starting with Aroldis Chapman to the Rangers): Number of trades: 57 Trades accepted: 52 Acceptance rate: 91.2% Variance: 2.6 Wins: 46 Our model nailed the two biggest trades of the season, Scherzer and Verlander. It also got most of the medium-sized and smaller deals right: Civale, Montgomery, Flaherty, Candelario, Barlow,...

johnbitzer

1

You might have noticed that Nolan Arenado’s value estimate on our site has changed a little recently. That’s normal, due to the variables of performance and time. But there’s another reason it changed: we investigated the details in his contract, and made a correction. This is important, because it affects his overall surplus value – and the amount of money a team that traded for him would owe him. On the surface, Arenado is owed the following – and this is what...

joshiversen

2

Our model currently estimates Shohei Ohtani’s median trade value at $45.0M. Meanwhile, the media and fans alike are going wild, suggesting massive trade packages in exchange for the two-way star. So who’s correct? Is our model too low on Ohtani? We don’t think so. For starters, his $45.0M value is by far the largest we’ve ever seen for a rental. That tracks -- Ohtani is two star players in one, and one could argue there has never been a player of his magnitude in the...

Baseball and glove

joshiversen

1

Please note that values may have changed since the time of proposals. All stats are accurate prior to play on 7/7/23. Steve Cohen’s Mets and Peter Seidler’s Padres have spent the last few years flexing their financial muscles to a historic degree. But to this point, they have not seen anywhere near the return on their investment that they were expecting. Both teams are well below .500 and sitting fourth in their respective divisions. So what’s next? Will they cut some of...

Baseball field

johnbitzer

10

We’re in a pitching crisis, folks. The list of starters who are on the IL could fill an all-star roster, and then some. Heck, the Rays – still one of the best teams in baseball, if not the best – are down to only two who are proven, capable, and healthy (Shane McLanahan and Zack Eflin, and even Eflin is a stretch given his recent knee issues). Among other contending teams, the Astros, Yankees, and Braves are down to three. The Mariners, Mets, Brewers, Cardinals, and...

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