Austin Tatious

Apparently, the owners’ proposal included an international draft. I didn’t see an explanation on how it would be arranged. If it is in the same order as the regular amateur draft (rule 4, I think), the high picking teams could essentially draft two highly ranked players, one from the amateur pool, and one from the international pool. That seems like too much of an advantage. They’d need to mix it up somehow, IMO.

I’d love to see Ray pull a Tyrone Taylor and put something together. But Fangraphs just gave him a 20 hit tool. That’s extreme.

The fangraphs write up is really interesting and detailed so I give the author credit. At the same time, he uses his experience to form a ton of assumptions and speculation. This leads to substandard and unreliable analysis. For the lawyers out there, he wouldn’t pass a Daubert challenge. Not even close. So he ends up with some bizarre outcomes. I suspect that he will whiff a lot because of his reliance on assumptions.

Jim Kaat never, ever struck me as a HOF pitcher. Lifetime contribution is a nice fun fact, but he shouldn't be in as a player. If he is that good of a broadcaster (he isn't), he could have gone in that wing. This type of thing dilutes the value of the excellent players who are in.

I bet they go well into spring training at least and I wouldn't rule out the start of the regular season being compromised.

I like taking a flier on Whitley. Well regarded out of high school but those northeast high school kids just don't play at as high of a level as guys in the south. In any event, it's a longshot but there has been upside with him, and maybe the light bulb can come on.

Gosh I hope we are smarter than acquiring Hicks. Stick with Cain and here comes Mitchell in 2023 with Taylor around in case he isn't ready. That Hicks contract is so bad that we would need good assets to take him on. That is much more money than JBJ's deal.

I totally agree that they need to get rid of the idea of losing a pick if you sign any class of player. That’s proven to be punitive and a hindrance. I like the salary floor idea but something should be negotiated back with that. Is the format of the draft being debated? Or is that a separate issue? From a competitive balance idea, I think you need a draft based on record. The rich teams already dominate payroll and free agency. Imagine the Dodgers re-signing their talent, adding an expensive free agent, trading for an expensive contract, winning the World Series, and getting the first pick. It’s absurd. The draft gives a small market team one of the very few opportunities to acquire high end, pedigreed talent. But gaming the draft is a good point although presumably not pertinent to labor relations. You can avoid tanking with two simple fixes. First, you create a lottery for the top five picks, or top three, or a number along those lines. Second, you don’t let a team have a top three (or top five if you prefer) pick twice in any three year period. If that’s how they line up, you shift them down accordingly and shift up the next eligible team.

1. I am not surprised that we acquired a stopgap outfielder to take the Garcia role. Our minors are stacked at OF. Between Wiemer, Mitchell, Frelick, Perez, and Gray, they are coming. While skeptics love to trivialize minor leaguers, I would wager at least 2-3 of them become good big league regulars as these guys profile quite well. We also have Yelich for the long haul. I don't think we want to get bogged down with progress blockers. 2. Bradley, Jr is arguably the worst free agent acquisition in team history. What did he hit, 0.160? That's honestly hard to believe. You then talk about being on the hook for a couple of more years, and you're staring at a massive financial commitment. Yes, his defense was stellar but black hole would have been a compliment to him at the plate. No major league hitter should get in a funk that deep. It was ridiculous and no amount of defense makes that ok. He made Jeffrey Hammonds and Jeff Suppan look like awesome acquisitions by comparison. 3. Having said that, IMO Stearns is brilliant. Brilliant does not mean that you don't ever whiff. He has no way of knowing that Bradley would turn in an unprecedented catastrophe. 4. Someone else said it, but Stearns was smart to get out from that. He cut his losses and took his medicine instead of prolonging the mistake. It takes very smart management to do that as a lot of GM's get mired in a problem. 5. We had to give up Hamilton and Binelas. No one is happy about that, but there was definitely a cost to get out from Bradley. Those are two good prospects but you aren't getting out from Bradley for free. Maybe Binelas will turn into Matt LaPorta. Or maybe he will become Joey Gallo. Same concept with Hamilton, who is talented. No way to know right now. The end game is winning games and our FO did what they had to do and they are comfortable they made a move that will work in terms of having the team covered either way. 6. Let's see what Renfroe can do. He's a journeyman in a sense, but I think he can be comparable to Garcia, with the stick anyway. Maybe we could get a peak season or two out of him. 7. Stearns was in a difficult spot and he got out of it. He paid the price, but he got out of it. Credit him for not being bogged down with how he got in the jam (a bad signing). We are lucky to have him and I hope we keep him here for the long haul.

The Mets are interesting because they have two legit 3b prospects, with Mark Vientos being the other. They can trade from a position of strength. I wouldn’t mind making a move for either one.

That’s truly awesome. Great news.

I do like Levering. He’s a young guy. Like a player, he can get better with experience. He’s been doing college hoops lately. I think he’s talented.

I like the pickup of Brousseau. He’s a guy we have bandied about for years. I suspect Jace will be replaced unless there is an unexpected injury.

Good for Manny. A guy who will be universally praised. Great team player.

I’m not expecting a trade for Hader but if it happens I hope a young 3b who we can count on for years is part of the deal. That is the one position I don’t like where we are for the next few years. I think even first base will work out. Third base for me. Urias, who I like, can still get lots of at bats filling in at 2b, ss, and 3b and getting all the guys in there. That’s a practice that Counsell and Stearns like.

I don't know Castellanos' money would get worked out, but he seems like the perfect addition in terms of our lineup. I love the idea of Taylor as our fourth outfielder. And, by that, I mean that Stearns likes to have an extra starter in the OF and an extra starter in the infield. And I applaud it. My point is he would still get a lot of starts and at bats. Ditto the infield. If we have Urias, Adames, Wong and Tellez, I hope we land another infield starter. In terms of money, I could see us signing a free agent of consequence to fill one of those roles and also acquiring a young productive player via trade, i.e., a guy with control even if you end up dealing good prospects (e.g., 1-2 OF, a pitcher, and younger prospects). I am thinking along the lines of our acquisitions of Cain and Yelich together.

The thing about being competitive versus winning it all: I am of the mindset that you take as many cracks at the post season as possible because in one of those years, you can hopefully ascend. Atlanta was a .500 club two and a half months ago and now look like world beaters. On the other hand, even if you look dominant across the board, you may not win (think: 2021 Dodgers but they are hardly the only example). So I like the current philosophy to protect reinforcements in future years. That's not to say we won't trade from a position of depth in our farm system. But we will obviously put a premium on a return of control. I like the philosophy because Stearns says repeatedly he wants consistent competitiveness. I am a big follower of our farm system and minor league activity. I am going to make a prediction and you can call me on it if I end up wrong. A few years ago when we had Brinson and company, we had a highly regarded system. Now, we aren't rated so highly although we are on the upswing. I think these rankings are fool's gold. And we have no way of knowing how the front office views our guys. But my prediction is that our current system will prove to be substantially better than when we were ranked highly. And by that I am talking in terms of quality big leaguers and other contributors that emerge. In the year 2031, we can compare 2017 (or whatever year that was when we were ranked highly) with our 2021 list. If I am wrong, you guys can call me on it. That's fine.

I respect Doug and he did a lot to transition us from a loser’s, defeatist mentality, instituted by Bud, who had an agenda to inculcate the fan base with the notion that we couldn’t truly compete as a small market club. But Stearns has brought total, next level thinking. Stearns’ stated goal is to develop balance in the organization so that we will stay competitive, year in year out. Bud tried to convince us that wasn’t possible, and Doug thought you have bursts for going for it. Stearns has changed the philosophy of the organization. It’s not just player acquisition. It’s the pitching lab, the load management of the pitchers, the type of players he looks for, including analytics, bringing in Tod Johnson for the draft, cleaning up the affiliate relationships, driving a hard bargain in trades, upgrading our Latin scouting, relationships, and acquisitions, etc. Not every move has been perfect, but that’s noise. The bigger picture is an overhaul of the way the organization is being run from soup to nuts. Stearns is a very bright guy, and a high level thinker. We are damn lucky to have him.

Is it an obvious promotion though? Sandy Alderson is still there, and Alderson's son is the current assistant GM. Fair point. I was going off the title of President. But you’re right, Alderson still lingering around is not appealing either.

Multiple stories about what happened, but it is apparent that something is not right with the situation in NY. Cohen has money, which is appealing, but he’s a loose cannon. He might be turning candidates off. Steinbrenner’s way is not necessary. You can make big moves (e.g., Lindor) sans unnecessary drama. The drama sells newspapers, but they don’t need it as a franchise. Plus, you go there, and you don’t know if you get canned at the whim of he owner. This is what happens to your organization’s reputation when candidates feel that job security will be shaky because the owner demonstrates that he is apt to make abrupt moves. When I initially heard of the Mets’ interest, I suspected that Stearns said he’s not interested but recommended that they take a look at Arnold. I doubt the Brewers simply denied permission. Perhaps they wanted leverage for compensation but not letting him go for an obvious promotion seems counter to the way things work in sports organizations. Stearns’ situation was different; he already has the top job in Milwaukee. The Mets might be trying to save face by letting their local media guys get it out that Milwaukee denied permission. But I bet if Arnold wanted that President job, it could have worked out.

I hope we can reel in one of the coaches from SF and bring some of that strategy here.

Wiemer’s arm from right field to 3b is insane.

Did you guys see the Haudricourt analysis of how many grounders he was hitting late in the year? It was absurd. But at the same time, you’d think that could get fixed. He’s a 29 year old major leaguer. He should be able to get back to Marlins Yelich. Forget about the contract, it has been done. We just need him to be a good player and help. He was useless this year and that’s what we can’t have anymore. Hopefully they get him on a good plan.

I agree that it’s a roster crunch but I don’t think it’s as dire as fans think. They can get the critical guys rostered and the bulk of the guys won’t be selected because of the onerous rules for taking somebody in Rule 5. Some of those names might be good names, but it is rare for A ball player to then sit on a MLB roster. It could happen, but it’s not an everyday occurrence. Will they lose a guy? Probably, but it’s not like they’d lose 3-4.

I hope Stearns plays Hader the exact way he always has. Stick to your guns on return or we won’t deal him. Stearns made very clear that he considers Hader the best reliever in baseball and that he’s not inclined to deal him short of an offer that blows him away. That’s all been reported repeatedly and everyone on here is aware of that. What you see is what you get here. Two more seasons of Hader is still significant value. Maybe even more so to us, despite his salary. They can make it work.