Mike Johrendt Articles - Page 18

As is very clearly seen in not just the sport of baseball but in each and every professional sport, money talks very loudly and clearly when it comes to teams determining their best courses of action moving forward. With the recent trade of Mookie Betts from the Boston Red Sox to the Los Angeles Dodgers […]

In 2019, the Chicago White Sox were one of six MLB teams that had a payroll south of $100 million – four of those six teams did not make the postseason, with the Oakland Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays being the two exceptions. For a team that plays in a large market but is overshadowed […]

In 2019, the Cincinnati Reds had first baseman Joey Votto ($25M), left-handed starting pitcher Alex Wood ($9.65M), and right-handed starter Sonny Gray ($7.5M) as their three highest-paid players on the roster. In 2020, the Reds have Votto ($25M), right-handed starter Trevor Bauer ($17.5M), and right fielder Nicholas Castellanos ($16M) as their three-highest paid players. Safe […]

While the MLB season is right around the corner, not everything is sunshine and rainbows for players. Injuries, unfortunate dry stretches, and just bad play can take a player that is looking to put together a solid season and turn them into someone who is sitting on the bench or even worse, out of a […]

This past winter saw droves of MLB players test their value on the open market, and while the previous offseason saw players get frozen out of what they should have been paid, this winter saw players be able to finally recoup some of that lost value from last offseason. According to Spotrac, over $3 billion […]

Every year, there always seems to be a set group of MLB players that chose that season to break out of the expectations placed on them and force that bar even higher than it already was. In the sport of baseball, being a streaky player, even for just one month of the season, can dictate […]

In the 2019 MLB All-Star Game, 37 of the 75 players that made the American and National League rosters were attending this game for the first time as a player, meaning that 49.3% of all players were making their All-Star debuts. A testament to how certain players are able to put their best seasons together […]

March 26, 2020, marks the first day of the MLB season that all 30 MLB teams will suit up and play baseball that counts towards their final record, a sign that everyone made it through the winter. While each and every year seems to be starting sooner and sooner, the sport of baseball truly does […]

A look into how the American League is set up came out recently. For the National League, a good amount of the teams have a ton of strong prospects in their system, but only six of the top 20 prospects are on NL teams. With the San Diego Padres leading the pack in terms of […]

As the American League fell in the 2019 World Series, teams all across the league were already planning ahead for the 2020 season and beyond. Each has developed a minor-league system of players, many of which have been biding their time as off-the-radar prospects just looking for a shot in the big show. On the […]

Another piece looks to have fallen in the ongoing mess of MLB cheating, as the Boston Red Sox and manager Alex Cora have mutually agreed to part ways, according to a post made by the Red Sox on their official Twitter account. After having led the team to win the 2018 World Series, Cora was […]

The Minnesota Twins have continued their quest to repeat as American League Central division champions in 2020, signing Josh Donaldson to a four-year deal worth $92 million. According to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the former Atlanta Braves third baseman looks to have finally been able to cash in on […]

The 2019 MLB regular season produced a ton of high-octane results from teams that were making strong cases for a postseason appearance. And even for the teams that struggled throughout the season, they still all had one thing in common. Rookies that debuted in 2019 or had their status as rookies carry over from the […]

Reflection is a great way for anyone to get a look at what they have done in the past and see how they have changed going forward into the future. Whether for good or for bad, MLB teams have had one full regular season (plus the playoffs for some) to reflect on the moves that […]

The class of free agents that were free to choose their next teams in the offseason between the 2018 and 2019 MLB seasons was far and away one of the best crops of players that we had seen in a very long time. Heavy at the top with a large grouping of superstars looking to […]

Both small and large market teams love to cash in on their players early on in their careers, helping keep the costs low and the player control fruitful. But for MLB teams across the board, the move of extending their best prospects – even before they play a single inning on the MLB level – […]

By extending two core pieces of their youth movement, the Chicago White Sox are betting on the promise and upside of two of the best prospects to have been in the MLB in a long time, in Eloy Jimenez and Luis Robert. And while the team’s determination to field a competitive team this season, their […]

While pitchers become the hottest commodities during the winter months for all MLB franchises, position players become just as important during the off months. And while pitchers can become harder to acquire due to their higher price tags and beefier trade packages, position players seem to be the easier grouping of players to deal with, […]

As the cream of the crop for MLB free agents have pretty much all found their teams for the 2020 regular season and beyond, the focus for teams now shifts towards upgrading through the means of the trade market. While the highest amount of movement in terms of trades occurs at the trade deadline, which […]

With the market of free agents having settled down to only include a select few needle pushers, MLB teams now have to start to look at making trades to upgrade their rosters. As the Atlanta Braves have a lot of pieces in place to continue to keep their window of competition open, they are lacking […]

With all of the reported rumors circulating around the availability of Milwaukee Brewers’ star closer Josh Hader, for a small-market franchise, it is smart for them to at least look into what type of value the All-Star hurler could get this team. Money runs all professional sports, and that is very, very true in the […]

$188.9 million has been added to the payroll of the Chicago White Sox for the next four years, on top of their existing financial commitments – this team is ready to compete for a berth in the postseason. Yasmani Grandal – 4 years, $73 million Dallas Keuchel – 3 years, $55.5 million Gio Gonzalez – […]

For the Toronto Blue Jays, their penchant response to talks of what type of team they are going to be in 2020 have been centralized around building up their core, attempting to become a fringe competitor, but realizing that 2021 or even 2022 may be more in the cards. But with Hyun-Jin Ryu having just […]

There currently are 12 new players on the 40-man roster for the Milwaukee Brewers, signaling a major turnover only one year removed from winning a spot in the Wild Card round of the National League playoffs. While President of Baseball Operations David Stearns seems to always be relying on analytics and statistics to build his […]

With the market of top-tier free agents seemingly dwindling down, teams are going to be forced to go the extra mile to sign them, and it seems as though the Los Angeles Angels, among other teams, are finding that out first hand. While they have been included in most starting pitcher rumors the entirety of […]

A major piece in the trade market may finally be on the move. According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the Cleveland Indians have told teams that are interested in superstar shortstop Francisco Lindor to submit their final offers by this weekend so the front office can go through all of the offers on the […]

With the National League North division looking to be boasting a plethora of teams that could all be fighting for a postseason berth, it looks as though the Cincinnati Reds are trying to leapfrog some of their divisional counterparts, and use the trade market to their advantage. According to MLB insider Mark Feinsand, the Reds […]

Ichiro Suzuki. Hideo Nomo. Shohei Ohtani. Daisuke Matsuzaka. Masahiro Tanaka. Yu Darvish. Kwang-Hyun Kim. Jae-Hwan Kim. Yoshitomo Tsutsugo. Shun Yamaguchi. Ryosuke Kikuchi. Wei-Yin Chen. Tzu-Wei Lin. Jen-Ho Tseng. Wei-Chung Wang. These are just a few names of players that were either born in or played in the MLB from the countries of Japan, South Korea, […]

With the Los Angeles Angels having made one major splash in free agency with the signing of Anthony Rendon, their failed pursuit of a second, Gerrit Cole and Madison Bumgarner, has made them look a different direction. According to Jon Morosi, the Angels are highly motivated to make a move to upgrade their starting pitching, […]

Free agency can put players in a weird bind, setting them up to struggle to find the right place for them to continue their MLB careers. But for third baseman Josh Donaldson, he has been on a voyage full of hills and valleys throughout his professional career. Donaldson currently finds himself a free agent after […]

As the free agency period moves along, there are a few big names still available on the market, looking for the right team to make them an offer they cannot refuse. With the winter of 2019-20 looking a lot better financially for most players than the offseason of 2018, starting pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu is seeing […]

With the centerpiece of the franchise re-signing for what seems to be his final contract before retiring, the Los Angeles Angels have to be happy. They made it through countless years of struggling, stinking, and middling performances, and were still able to retain their best player, Mike Trout, for the long haul. But with the […]

In a way to help fill the void that Zack Wheeler left behind when he signed with the Philadelphia Phillies, the New York Mets are bringing in former St. Louis Cardinals starter Michael Wacha on a one-year deal, according to Mets beat writer Tim Healey. The former Redbirds pitcher has $3 million guaranteed on this […]

Helping address their glut of left-handed-hitting outfielders, the Chicago White Sox acquired outfielder Nomar Mazara from the Texas Rangers for minor-league prospect Steele Walker, according to TR Sullivan of MLB.com. This move helps the Rangers clear out some of their lefty power hitters in the outfield, while the White Sox are able to pair Mazara […]

In an effort to help provide incumbent closer Kenley Jansen with some help late in games, the Los Angeles Dodgers scooped up former Oakland Athletics closer Blake Treinen on a one-year agreement, according to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. The one-year agreement guarantees Treinen a payday of $10 million, and he will stay out in the […]

Deciding to go back to the market that netted them with slugging first baseman Eric Thames, the Milwaukee Brewers and starting pitcher Josh Lindblom have agreed to a three-year deal, according to Jon Morosi of MLB.com. The three-year pact, which guarantees Lindblom $9.125 million, can balloon all the way up to $18 million in value, […]

With all of the hubbub at the 2019 MLB Winter Meetings centralized around the starting pitching market, it is fair that Madison Bumgarner wants to be included in that conversation. What remains to be seen, however, is if his reported price tag of nine figures will be a fair market value for the veteran left-hander. […]

Money talks and the New York Yankees are normally the team starting that conversation. With Gerrit Cole on the other end of that phone call, things are looking like they are about to get real serious for the best remaining starting pitcher on the open market. A trio of industry baseball writers, MLB Network insider […]

The National League Central division has had a very busy offseason up to this point so far, as the St. Louis Cardinals, Milwaukee Brewers, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, and Pittsburgh Pirates have all made personnel moves so far this offseason. But out of all five teams, it looks like the Brewers have been the busiest, […]