KeithStone53151

I think a poll for this could be fun at this point, a money pool would be the most fun but not the best idea on a friendly board. I think someone(Darvish) signs on Friday, and I think all 4 are signed by Friday the 9th. I really think it will all happen that fast.

I get that Mejia is a good prospect, but I've pointed out his issues on defense and limited power. What if he winds up being a catcher that hits 280-290 with decent obp, 10-15 hr power, and subpar behind the plate? That outcome is probably more likely than being Posey-lite. And I don't think anybody is opposed to targeting Shaw or saying the value isn't reasonably equal, I just think there are other ways to get a deal done for Mejia if he is indeed a target. I'd prefer to use other resources.

I don't think Forsythe is better than either of Perez or Sogard. Ryu could be an interesting target though. Drake has literally 0 value, he's probably going to get DFA'd for Albers when that move is made official. Ryu is tough to value at his cost and with his injury history. We can afford to take on an injury risk though, considering Burnes and Nelson will probably be ready to fill in after a couple months.

I agree with the sentiment, but I think the bolded is pretty optimistic. He will be sought after if put on the market. Keep in mind our top 10 prospects are better than most top 10s, our system runs deeper than most. Grisham or Supak and a throw in isn't a terrible deal for one year of Herrera off a down year. That said, I think we are done adding relievers until the deadline. We have a number of locked in relievers already, and some young talented guys competing with a few vets for the one or two remaining spots. We don't need to be 100% solid/established at all spots, it's good to have a guy or two with options so we can rotate a fresh arm in if needed.

While they might not "need" a 2B if they deal Kipnis, as part of their plan currently is to use Kipnis around the diamond. If they deal him, Hernan Perez has proven he's adept in that role and he's a RH bat, something they are particularly in need of. Perez is expendable with Sogard in the fold and Dubon waiting in the wings, and you make a good point that he could have value for Cleveland. We also have Villar of course, though I don't think he sticks around unless he's competing for the starting job.

Windows get created when you part with young talent for proven talent. We used a lot of resources on Cain/Yelich. That's less resources we can use down the road on other things. Look at the Cubs, they had next to 0 chance at Yelich as their top prospect is worse than our 15th best prospect. Their payroll is getting stretched thin. They are in a window, it's up for debate when that window will close...but it will close and sooner than later. Maintaining a strong farm and being able to bring up good young players with 6 years of cheap control is critical to consistently competing.

I don’t buy this logic at all. Hader currently can’t throw his secondary pitches for strikes. He’s extremely wild in the zone. If he were starting, he’d be at 100 pitches in the 4th inning. Batters are often more patient early in games, and they won’t jump at all his pitches. I like Hader in the pen so he can learn to attack hitters and refine his mechanics. In the long run, I like him as a starter. But until he can consistently hit targets, he needs to work on short 3-9 batter stretches. How many times do these nonsense comments/myths need to be disproven before they stop getting regurgitated as fact? Hader never hit 100 pitches in the 4th inning in the minors, why would that all of a sudden start happening as he continually improves? Heck he usually pitched 5-6 innings in the minors with an upper 80s pitch limit. And Hader greatly improved his off speed stuff throughout the season and absolutely can throw both off speed pitches for strikes. Many young high end pitchers(kershaw, strasberg, scherzer, verlander, etc) relied heavily on their fastball early in their career with good results before mastering their offspeed stuff...what we are seeing from Hader isn't anything new for a frontline starter, and he definitely isn't a finished product. Do you expect him to consistently be able to backdoor a slider like CC Sabathia(guy with 3,000 career innings under his belt) just learned to do in his mid-late 30s? The reason Stearns/Counsell moved Hader to the bullpen has more to do with putting a known asset into a spot they know he can succeed rather than risk growing pains during a season in which we are building a roster to compete for playoffs. We already have 1 question mark(Woodruff) in the rotation, it wouldn't be wise to have 2 on a competitive roster. I fully believe if we were a 70 win team last year, Hader would be starting. I understand that logic of theirs, I just don't agree with it as Hader is too valuable. We won't see another arm like his come through the system for probably another 10 years.

Interesting idea. But 2017 was likely better than Lowrie going forward if you look at his previous years m. Oakland’s alsonuangnhim as a means to keep Barrett in the minors to start the year I've thought about targeting Manaea, he's not as established as the other guys being targeted but very well could break out. It's also hard to logically analyze what a trade with them would look like, Beane is very unconventional.

Santana, Ortiz, Diplan, one of houser/bickford/williams, low level lottery ticket. Santana helps them win now and for the next handful of years, and that's a lot of pitching potential heading back. This is the dream scenario. There's literally no one there that I'd be sad to see go. That would be my offer as well. I can't imagine Tampa accepting it, but who knows? I'd swap ortiz and peralta if they have a preference. If they wanted Ray or Gatewood or Grisham instead of Diplan that would also be fine with me. I think Santana gets us 4/5 of the way there, Ortiz gets us pretty much the rest of the way...the other players are sweeteners as after all we're getting the best player in the deal.

Santana, Ortiz, Diplan, one of houser/bickford/williams, low level lottery ticket. Santana helps them win now and for the next handful of years, and that's a lot of pitching potential heading back.

Or other teams have shown interest since the moves last week, causing Stearns to reconsider. Cheap, young power-hitting corner outfielders don't come up on the market very often. Having guys like J.D. Martinez and Carlos Gonzales still out there probably doesn't help. Santana is kind of a "poor man's version" of them. I think both guys are mostly irrelevant to the Santana market. JD Martinez is going to cost at least $100 million, Cleveland can't afford that period...so he's irrelevant in our conversations with them. The Red Sox may prefer Martinez to Santana, but maybe they prefer to pay prospects for Santana instead of the big salary for Martinez. The Blue Jays were in on Cain and Yelich, so they may have interest in Santana. Looking at the free agent list, there aren't a ton of quality options available. There are more guys comparable to what Phillips or Broxton might be than to what Santana is. I don't see anyone besides Martinez capable of hitting 30 HR. Maybe Bautista if you get lucky and want to deal with similarly poor defense and a likely sub 230 avg.

I think a handful of guys are doing that with breaking balls, generally throwing a slider a lot more. Look at swarzak last year. Also look at McCullers in the playoffs. In one outing I think he threw 27 straight curveballs or something ridiculous against the Yankees. As long as this is a low $ deal, I don't mind it. If it's more than like $3 million I'll be a bit annoyed. Interesting... does anyone know where to find pitch type percentages for the last 3 years? Us adding 2 of the guys on that list and stearns pointing out both as rotation guys, smoke or not, is interesting. You can look a guy up on fangraphs and scroll down, it will show their pitch selection per year.

T.R. Sullivan (Rangers beat reporter) of MLB.com saying all signs are pointing to Darvish wanting to return to Texas: I feel like he's enjoying the long dance. All his retweeting and commentary to stir the pot. But him stalling doesn't explain the position player market. When are Hosmer, Martinez, Holland, Walker, etc going to sign? I feel like by this weekend we're going to see at least a small flurry of activity, but next week could be hectic and fun. Pitchers and catchers report in just over 2 weeks.

I didn't imply that strongly enough, but I agree on the team composition. We very recently had a very RH dominant lineup for a long stretch, I like having the power hitting lefties that we currently have. I have to think a move of Shaw would include signing Moustakas or Frazier or making some other move at 3b, even if moving him is unlikely. I tend to agree on McKenzie. I like the idea of targeting him, but I imagine he's pretty much off limits in almost any trade scenario.

You are free to leave, no one is keeping you here. Bye. Bye Felicia.... Seriously you guys..., his trade proposal wasn't all that far off from even value. I think Santana has slightly more value than Salazar due to durability concerns and his issues in 2017, and Shaw has slightly more value than Mejia only because he's in his prime and has had success while Mejia has yet to have MLB success. Mejia has hit well in the minors but not for a ton of power and he's a question mark to stick behind the plate. If he does stick, he'll be a below average receiver. If power develops his bat will play anywhere, but if he's more of a 15-20 hr guy at peak he wouldn't play well at 3b or 1b. I like Mejia, but he isn't quite worth Shaw for me. Aside from value, I'm not sure I like the idea of trading Shaw just yet. I don't think his value goes down a ton after this year, especially as a 27/28 year old currently. I'd be more inclined to trade him next offseason or the following deadline when Erceg is closer to ready, otherwise replacing him can be difficult. I think there are other ways to target the guys noted that are a better fit for the Brewers. And I would avoid mocking someone's trade proposals in general, maybe state why you don't think it's fair or leave it alone, but no need to mock it...Especially considering one of you guys proposed Santana and Williams for Kipnis/Salazar/Mejia and were serious. I don't see people lining up to mock that one and telling you to leave the forums and that's not even close to a realistic proposal.

Maybe the Indians have interest in guys like Taylor Williams, Bubba Derby, Adrian Houser, etc...if the deal gets more complicated than Santana for Salazar+. How much more do you think we'd need to add to Santana to get Clevinger instead of Salazar? Bringing in Clevinger is much cheaper this year and could allow us to target a free agent SP or 2b.

This would seem to be locked in. So what happens if Guerra (as an example, not a prediction) looks unhittable in the spring? 80% of the time they have 8 relievers in the pen, but not to start the season. There are also guys like Taylor Williams and Adrian Houser that factor into the bullpen mix at some point in 2018. For that matter, Bubby Derby Nick Ramirez and even Luis Ortiz and Freddy Peralta could end up pitching meaningful innings. Nice to have some depth there. The only 4 guys 100% locked in are Knebel, Hader, Albers, Logan. Barnes and Jeffress are probably at least 95% locked in, but a poor spring(or an awesome one by williams or houser) could find them either optioned(barnes) or cut(jeffress). The 7th spot is probably for long relief(gallardo/guerra/suter), but keep in mind we may carry 8 relievers. Especially with guys like Perez and Sogard that are extremely flexible.

I'm kinda wondering if we had a deal lined up for Santana as HH19 had noted, but the other team tried reducing their offer after our 2 moves on Friday. Will probably have to wait until tomorrow to figure out what's going on with him, I doubt anything is announced today.

Well, here's hoping it's not an every other type thing. LOB number will inevitably be high when you're rocking a .85 WHIP.

Albers also has incentives of $1m/year, so could be worth 7 total. I think Albers is likely the better pitcher in 2018, I'm glad we went with him over Hughes.

I think Drake was likely to be gone before we made a single move for a reliever.

Age, he had a terrible 2016, his stuff isn't incredibly overpower...fangraphs had him at 93.5 mph fastball and 87.1 mph slider last year...doesn't throw much else. Almost makes it shocking that a guy with that stuff posted such incredible numbers last year.

Hard not to like this signing at 2/5. If he sucks, very easy to cut bait and eat the cost. More likely he gives us some very good innings. That bullpen is really starting to fill out, we're going to have some serious competition for the last couple spots.

He specifically noted it was a trade. I'm excited for that guy to get back, I enjoyed dreaming on those insider tid bits.

I like the signing. My guess is 2/$5 million type deal.