DJ LeMahieu stays with the Yankees, Toronto as a fit for Trevor Bauer, international free agency, and MLB's pursuit of the sticky ball
Rates & Barrels: A show about Baseball
The Athletic
4.7 • 874 Ratings
🗓️ 15 January 2021
⏱️ 60 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Eno, DVR & Britt discuss DJ LeMahieu's new deal with the Yankees, the Blue Jays' struggle to land a top free agent, the potential fit with Trevor Bauer, Theo Epstein as a consultant to Commissioner Manfred, sticky stuff, and more.
Rundown
1:02 DJ LeMahieu Stays in the Bronx with a Six-Year Deal
5:10 The Blue Jays Take Another Silver Medal
9:41 International Free Agency Opens
19:13 Is MLB Relegation a Pipe Dream?
26:05 Theo Epstein Moves Into Consulting Role for Commissioner Manfred
33:56 Considering The Double Hook Idea for the DH Rule
38:46 Learning from the NFL-Nickelodeon Simulcast
43:20 Pine Tar & The Quest for the Sticky Ball
51:04 Does Owner Wealth Matter with Respect to a Team's Payroll?
Follow Eno on Twitter: @enosarris
Follow DVR on Twitter: @DerekVanRiper
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Rates and barrels. It's January 15, 2021. Derek Van Riper, you know, Sarah's Bridgeroli, |
| 0:21.0 | here with you. A loaded episode again on this Friday. DJ LeMayhew, staying put with a pretty |
| 0:26.8 | long-term deal to stay in New York. The international free agent signing window, which was moved, |
| 0:33.3 | is actually open right now, so tons of signings there. Turns out Theo Epstein didn't take long to find a new role in baseball. |
| 0:40.4 | He's going to serve as a consultant to Commissioner Rob Manfreds. |
| 0:43.7 | We'll talk about some things that he might be working on in the upcoming year. |
| 0:48.5 | And I'm sure other stuff's going to happen. |
| 0:50.1 | We've got some possible free agent signings simmering on the back burner, and I've got a few mailbag questions we may get to on this episode. |
| 0:58.6 | We have not been getting to a lot of mailbag questions lately, though, because things are actually happening. |
| 1:04.0 | So let's start with DJ LeMayhew. |
| 1:06.1 | As we talked about him earlier in the offseason, this was the best possible fit. Staying with the |
| 1:12.1 | Yankees, the terms are six years and $90 million, so a long deal with a reasonably low |
| 1:18.9 | AAV. Apparently, the Jays offered four for 78, according to John Heyman, so I'm a little |
| 1:26.5 | surprised that that wasn't enough to pry DJ LeMayhew away from the Yankees. |
| 1:32.0 | But from the start, was I just underestimating how badly he wanted to stay in New York, you know? |
| 1:39.2 | Was it just a foregone conclusion that this was going to happen? |
| 1:42.2 | It was only a matter of time before they get the terms right uh you know four for 78 and uh six for 90 if that's if those are the two |
| 1:52.2 | competing deals um you know to some extent there was some you know scuttle butt that |
| 2:00.7 | 90 million was the number you know um and that he just |
| 2:05.5 | wanted the 90 million for the for the Yankees that means spread it out over to six then the average |
| 2:11.7 | annual value which is what counts against the luxury tax is lower and and he gets his $90 million. |
| 2:18.0 | It's his last probable payday. |
... |
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