It's Time Again for the Hot Stove League!

Congrats to Phillies Phans.

A Spring Training observation:

Vlad Jr has incredible balance at the plate, great mechanics, and a lot of strength.  Yesterday against the Yankees he was fooled on slider moving down and in towards his shoetops.  He leaned forward and hit a one-handed double off of the left field wall.  One-handed and about 375 feet in the air.  

His Minor League stats are off the charts.  He is the consensus #1 prospect in all of baseball, and for good reason.

But watching him run to second, I wondered if he would make it.  He is 19 years old but looks like George Scott at the end of his career.  I am not sure how long it takes him to pack himself into his uniform each game.  He is listed at 6-1 and 200 pounds, but I bet he is more like 235 or even 250 right now.  How much of that is muscle??????

an interesting point.  The 162 game grind of a baseball season is probably not friendly to heftier guys. If you look back at players like Cecil Fielder or Mo Vaughn, they had great starts to their careers but pretty dismal finishes.  All that means is that I wouldn't sign these guys to 10 year deals when they become FAs.

In his first 8 full seasons from 2006 through 2013, Prince Fielder missed a total of 13 games. That guy was incredible. 

Train_of_Thought said:
In his first 8 full seasons from 2006 through 2013, Prince Fielder missed a total of 13 games. That guy was incredible. 

 You're right, it was Prince Fielder not Cecil. And he was great for his first 8 seasons. And then done by age 32. 

ml1 said:

Train_of_Thought said:
In his first 8 full seasons from 2006 through 2013, Prince Fielder missed a total of 13 games. That guy was incredible. 

 You're right, it was Prince Fielder not Cecil. And he was great for his first 8 seasons. And then done by age 32. 

I was citing him as a big man anomaly. I think you did mean Cecil for your point. Prince finally got hurt and missed most of year 9, but came back to play 158 games in year 10. Career ending injury in year 11. Guy was a marvel. I'd take that career from Vlad Jr., or from anyone for that matter.

Train_of_Thought said:

ml1 said:

Train_of_Thought said:
In his first 8 full seasons from 2006 through 2013, Prince Fielder missed a total of 13 games. That guy was incredible. 

 You're right, it was Prince Fielder not Cecil. And he was great for his first 8 seasons. And then done by age 32. 

I was citing him as a big man anomaly. I think you did mean Cecil for your point. Prince finally got hurt and missed most of year 9, but came back to play 158 games in year 10. Career ending injury in year 11. Guy was a marvel. I'd take that career from Vlad Jr., or from anyone for that matter.

 yes, it's probably more applicable to Cecil. Prince's injuries were not really related to him being a big guy.  Ryan Howard is probably the best example of a big guy whose body gave out at a relatively young age.  His last few years he really couldn't move around at all.

ml1 said:

Ryan Howard is probably the best example of a big guy whose body gave out at a relatively young age.  His last few years he really couldn't move around at all.

Because he ruptured an Achilles tendon on a swing and never fully recovered from that.

more like he ruptured an achilles on a chocodile.

I remember the swing well. There was nothing out-of-condition, or funny, about it.

DaveSchmidt said:

ml1 said:

Ryan Howard is probably the best example of a big guy whose body gave out at a relatively young age.  His last few years he really couldn't move around at all.

Because he ruptured an Achilles tendon on a swing and never fully recovered from that.

 Tendinopathy is correlated with being overweight.  It is not causal, but it is a strong relationship.

(I am not a doctor, but I play one on MOL).

mfpark said:

 Tendinopathy is correlated with being overweight.  It is not causal, but it is a strong relationship.
(I am not a doctor, but I play one on MOL).

 Overweight, or just weight?

whether it's causal or not there is enough anecdotal evidence of big bodied baseball players having difficulty recovering fully from lower body injuries that I'd be wary of giving them long term contracts. 

I think that there is a difference between big for a ballplayer and overweight.  Some of these guys are huge, but very fit.  But I think that size does work against them over time. Tendons and other things (Dammit Jim, I'm a carpenter, not a doctor!) that hold all of that muscle together have to fail sometime.

I certainly don't know anything for sure. But I suspect that baseball is a grind for all the players. And being 250 pounds can't make it any easier. 

FilmCarp said:
I think that there is a difference between big for a ballplayer and overweight.  Some of these guys are huge, but very fit.  But I think that size does work against them over time. Tendons and other things (Dammit Jim, I'm a carpenter, not a doctor!) that hold all of that muscle together have to fail sometime.

 exactly.... Prince Fielder was overweight.  Dave Winfield was fit.  

Michael Trout  -- 12 years $430,000,000.   

More importantly, he's got The Hall in the Elite Eight!!

Guess Trout will not be joining Harper in Philadelphia.

This is indeed a monster contract.  12 years, over $430,000,000 total pay, no early opt out by Trout, no trade by Angels.  Trout has become a significant owner of the Angels, if we define ownership as the ability to divert cash flow from an enterprise into your bank account. 

This deal makes the most sense to me of all the recent mega deals.  Trout has finished first or second in MVP voting in every year except one since his debut in 2012 (when he was Rookie of the Year, as well).  His WAR is already at 64.3 for his 8 year career--the only current players with a higher WAR are Pujols (18 years), Miguel Carbrera (16 years), and Cano (14 years).  For comparison on big contracts to younger players, Harper is at 27.4 (7 years); Machado is at 33.8 (7 years); and Stanton is at 39.2 (9 years).

There is every reason to believe that Trout will continue at this torrid pace for many more years--he is highly consistent.

Disappointed as a Phillies fan but thrilled for Trout and Angels fans.

Michael Fulmer is going to need Tommy John surgery.  What a bummer.  I like to see ex Mets ( or prospects) do well.