Trade partner: Kansas City Royals

[LouisEly]

I'm really starting to like Michael Wacha as a SP target (assuming Skubal doesn't happen).

He's actually been more effective against LHB (.685 OPS-A) than RHB (.752 OPS-A) this season, likely due to his changeup and cutter.  They'll need a pitcher who is effective against LHB to have a chance against PHI (Schwarber, Harper) and LAD (Ohtani, Freeman, Muncy, Tucker).

Not a rental, under contract for 2027 for a reasonable $14M (plus up to $4M in incentives) at age 35.  Team option for 2028 with $1M buyout.  So, won't come cheap.

Also, under reclamation projects, Matt Strahm has been bitten by the HR bug this year but was very effective for PHI the last 3 years.  Maybe the analytics/lab can find a tweak with him to get him back to 2024-2025 form.  Shouldn't cost much with the year he's having plus being a true rental.

[wiguy94]

Not a fan of trading for Wacha. I don't want to be on the hook for his age 35/36 season next year especially at the cost it would probably acquire to get him.

The Royal I would be a fan of acquiring is Steven Cruz. Big flame throwing RHP with big whiff numbers but pretty terrible results. 4 more years of team control and one option remaining after this year. Think he has a lot of potential.

[TURBO]

Think better.  We don't have to settle for Michael Wacha types with our farm system.

That trade would absolutely bum me out.

[LouisEly]

1 minute ago, TURBO said:

Think better.  We don't have to settle for Michael Wacha types with our farm system.

That trade would absolutely bum me out.

You didn't need the first two words.

And if you don't like trading for All-Stars, then that's fine.

[TURBO]

3 minutes ago, LouisEly said:

You didn't need the first two words.

And if you don't like trading for All-Stars, then that's fine.

Think better, as in, think of better players...  That was not a dig at your thinking ability.

Thanks for telling me how to post though.

[LouisEly]

26 minutes ago, TURBO said:

Think better, as in, think of better players...  That was not a dig at your thinking ability.

Thanks for telling me how to post though.

That's fair.

Who's better against LHH not named "Skubal" that's likely to be available?

[LouisEly]

25 minutes ago, wiguy94 said:

Not a fan of trading for Wacha. I don't want to be on the hook for his age 35/36 season next year especially at the cost it would probably acquire to get him.

$14M-$18M for a good FA starting pitcher really isn't much.  He's already at 2.2 bWAR and was a 2.8 and 3.1 bWAR pitcher in 2025 and 2024.  

I believe @sveumrules last calculation of average FA $/WAR is around $9M, so even if he loses half of his WAR value next year, he'd still be average FA value.

[wiguy94]

7 minutes ago, LouisEly said:

$14M-$18M for a good FA starting pitcher really isn't much.  He's already at 2.2 bWAR and was a 2.8 and 3.1 bWAR pitcher in 2025 and 2024.  

I believe @sveumrules last calculation of average FA $/WAR is around $9M, so even if he loses half of his WAR value next year, he'd still be average FA value.

For the Brewers that is a lot money and I don't want to trade what would probably be a pricey haul for a guy who is already 35 years old. The aging curve once you hit 35 is not kind. Look at his teammate Lugo. Put up 4.7 fWAR in his age 34 season and in 250 innings since then has put up 1.5 fWAR