tmwiese55

Prospects. I trust Stearns to get enough prospect value to improve the team substantially or he won’t do it. Pitchers have TJ, position players not so much. Position players tear their achilles and ACLs. So prospects, you get 4 back. Chances are 1 ends up good, at best 2. And chances are even that good 1 is never as good as Hader currently is. But then what do you do when that person proves he's good? Trade him with 4.5 years of control left for to try and repeat the process again until you're left with nothing?

Greg Holland could be a really cheap one to grab. Was good last year once he got out of STL and has been good again this year. Striking out over 10 per 9. 1.2 WHIP, not great but not brutal. Seems to be getting a bit lucky as he has a high FIP. Not saying he's a Knebel type guy like last year, but sure would be a solid improvement to our current lot and not cost much. Something like him him and Will Smith would reshape things greatly.

Are you being serious with the < 1%? And not even worthy of discussion? I Trust Stearns with his track record of trades to be able to acquire MULTIPLE starters on a championship type club, maybe a prospect that turns into an Ace? Maybe it’s a couple all-stars? Maybe he takes 2 or 3 of the 4 or 5 top prospects and acquire’s a stud pitcher? I haven’t heard much talk(outside of 1 poster) about what happens if Hader regresses or gets injured, then what? There’s been a lot of talk on this site over the years of having a GM able to have the courage to sell high on a popular player at his peak. Hader is the best pen arm in the world, but it’s still a PEN arm, I believe multiple all-star position players are more valuable and so are stud starters. Sorry, no way another team is going to give up that package with multiple all stars or an Ace pitcher. That's why it's less than 1%. I of course agree all star position players and a true ace are more valuable, but that's also why no one is going to give that to you. What happens if injured, yea same goes for every player on the team. So, are we just going to perpetually trade good players as soon as they show they're good (but prior to injury) to get more prospects who we hope become good so we can trade for more prospects. Also, the prospects you trade for can also get hurt BTW. This is a discussion for when he gets to 2 years left and/or the team is not trying to win anymore.

I just do not foresee this as even a discussion right now with so much control left, under 1% this year and it only goes up slightly until he's into his 2nd to last year. I mean, what's the goal? Get 3-4 prospects back where hopefully one is as good as him? And then trade that guy 1.5 years into him being good for more prospects and hope one of them is good?

Yes i'd agree Bumgarner would be an improvement. I did think of him and that's why I used the phrase "drastic improvement", but I also probably could've clarified more to say improvement commensurate with the cost of the trade. As in, yes Bum would improve us but not thaaat much since he's only ok now and would likely cost too much to be worth it. I'm open to a Smith/Bum package of course but think it would be too much to give up. So, I'd think the most cost beneficial area would be to target two BP guys

Really all they can do is bolster the bullpen. The lineup is fairly set and a drastic improvement of a SP probably just isn't available. Unless the Mets sold but still we wouldn't really have the capital trade since no way we're trading Keston. So, it's solidifying the bullpen and trying to recreated the pitching system that worked last year. Will Smith seems like the perfect fit to start with

Good post Lathund, well said. I think in general it would be most applicable to the 2 strike approach and RISP situations being discussed. With the shifts for lefties, a guy like Moose can easily pick up a ton of OPS just by simply putting the ball in play to the opposite field. Others, as you say, its not so much of a factor or clear area to improve.

Also, not sure if bears out in the numbers but it seems Moose is drastically better at going oppo this year than he was in his stint with us last last year. Seemed like last year was all pull for pop ups or HRs. this year my eye test is a clear improvement and probably why he's been a better hitter this year overall, hope it's backed if someone wants to dig it up. To the topic of "better approaches with RISP in general and with less than 2 outs." While of course it can always be better, I think it was posted recently that it's noticeably better than last year and to my eye test I think that's been the case as well. So, to me in general I'd say I see a slight improvement from the hitting coach this year but nothing drastic. to me, seems like better oppo approaches and better ABs with RISP and less than 2 outs. For pitching coach, well as GOB would say "we've made a huge mistake"

Yes Kawhi is the best perimeter defender in the league but no he cannot stop Giannis one on one. They basically triple teamed him, sure Kawhi gets credit as the primary and he deserves it, especially while carrying the offensive burden. But it was a 3 man D on him and we failed to adjust. For this move. While I generally agree with the overall sentiment and that Clips should be the fave I think this is still better for MKE than Kawhi staying in Toronto or joining LBJ/AD. Essentially just that no team has more than 2 true stars now. If Kawhi goes to LAL instead you then have 3 of the top 6ish players on the same team. And of course this makes the East easier for us as it just seems us and Philly this year, though Philly did build themselves a team almost specifically designed to guard Giannis. Long story, this move created the most parity the league has seen basically since LBJ went to Miami as there is no clear 'superteam' type favorite and now a legit 6-10 teams can honestly think they have a real chance this year and they're not delusional.

Yea Ersan is still clearly better than Frank too IMO. This role is to do the dirty work and Robin and Ersan are more than willing to do all that while Frank has not proven to be a good defender and rebounder yet. Still youngish and did finish the season ok, but they're looking for D/Rebounding in those spots and Ersan/Robin give you that all day.

It's still up in the air on that PTE. Probably give that a few days to shake itself out buy my best guess right now is they won't have it. Plus, I think it's pretty clear they have the goal of being under the tax so would they even use it unless absolutely needed due to injury? If they had exception it would've been a good time to get involved in that Miami deal for Josh Richardson.

Right, just looking at value of contracts on principle alone. I'd rather pay Brog his deal than Mids. I'd rather pay Brog his than Lopez's. Probably choose Brogdon's over Hills too due to age (though I think its a team option on his 3rd year but could be wrong, if true then IDK). Rather pay Brogdon's than Bledsoe's. Basically, just saying that going into it all I kind of though 4/80 was the expected area for him and the line that you do just match it and keep, and that's pretty much what he got. If it turned into 4/105 or something well then a bit different. To me, the missed opportunity is that Brogdon had such a low cap hold so he was the one you could go over the cap to resign. So, could've freed up some space to add players (well, like they did for Brook/hill but I think they could've swung bigger/younger, and think of the space they'd have if they renounced Mid's cap hold by choosing Brog over him) then kept Brogdon and went over to really have a strong team. Instead they kind of copped out a bit to save the owners money. But hey, at least they were smart enough to get those picks back while doing it.

Overall it could've been worse. Feel like they probably could have negotiated better on the Lopez and Mids contracts to free up more money and lower tax bills for the future. But, it's the NBA and it seems their GMs are the worst negotiators in the world other than maybe NCAA ADs who hand out ridiculous contracts to coaches even when the coach is still under contract for 6 more years. Still, all in all they brought everyone back except Brogdon and at least got something back for him. I'd have preferred to run it back and pay the tax, and to at least keep the asset to trade. But they kind of met in the middle and just traded the asset now instead of risk another injury, which is fine. Presumable Niko was gone no matter what so can't really factor much in there. Once the Hill resigning dropped it all made more sense. But, part of that sense is the team trying avoid the tax. I do think I'd have preferred to use their last bullet on a G instead of the Robin Lopez since they had a lot of bigs already. But, bird in the hand I guess. They got a good player on a very cheap deal. No guarantees the G targets would have taken it. Best fit left is probably Curry but no way he takes league min. They have to get another Wing/G who has some ballhandling skills. Not ideal to go into the year with just Bled/Hill and to trust DDV/Brown that much, especially with ball handling. Seems to me the only route is league min deals (which I'll guess Devin Harris) or looking for a trade. Maybe Ersan and a 1st for a G with a similar contract. One route I'd have been curious on instead. You'd think Al would've been interested in us due to Bud. Don't' sign Brook/Hill but instead sign Horford. totals get close but might've had to free up a bit more somehow. Then sign Brog and go over cap. I think that team is the title favorite if Kawhi doesn't go to Lebron.

Looks like Beverly's cap hold is about 9 mil. I would assume to get two max spots Clips would have to renounce his rights (I did not dig into that). But say they only got Kawhi his best spot would be to just stay in LA imo. If they cleared space another way, like moving Gallinari or if they could fit two big FA contracts in before resigning Beverly then the Clips can go over to keep him. Basically just saying if they get Kawhi they have a legit shot at the title as they have a great supporting cast already assuming Beverly stays. I'd have my guess on him going back to LA. But yea if we didn't have Bledsoe under contract he'd be a great guy to target instead.

In that scenario. You desperately need a reliable backup PG who can respectably shoot. Your Hill, Collison types. Seth Curry could be one too, probably a bit less ball handling from him than preferred but still.

Agree, it's far from ridiculous. And Horst did build a championship level team. Granted, the key was simply the right coaching hire(and role players) as opposed to having to aquire key starters and all that, but he still did build a team that at time of vote was the 2-4th most likely team to win the title. Same spot Tor was in at time of vote. Far from ridiculous. I've laid out my points already just plenty. but add this though, if GSW doesn't get hurt does that then mean Tor shouldn't win the award? No. I was giving the credit to the years of right moves allowing him the ability to reshape the whole team and that the Kawhi/Gasol trades were basically steals. Time to move on. Only two days away from the craziness.

Yea for sure he was fast, no doubt. Probably comes a bit from lack of reps but IDK to my memory it was still different than what Mel could do or what I was getting at. And speed in pads is different, obviously Mel was much bigger to handle that, plus being a tall guy had bigger strides. I agree straight pure speed for sure Bennett was faster and Gordon wasn't even that ridiculous on that as he sometimes would get caught from behind. But that initial burst was crazy and that ability to just bounce outside so quickly be up to his top speed is what I was getting at. It messed up the angles of the defenders. ZBTMP: The predictability on offense just has to be improved. It's just not good when guys 6 beers deep in the stands like me can call a huge chunk of the plays based on who's on the field. On that same idea, why do they almost exclusively only pass out of the shotgun 4 wide? The play action foundation play of the program went away and it doesn't take advantage of our biggest strength in the running game when they have 8 guys near the line.

Yes, you can definitely see a trend of current management is to be loyal and give people long leashes. This has been their pattern the whole time, been down this road for a lot of guys where they give them a few more weeks than we all prefer. I thought this month here would've been enough for them to say, "hey we've done right by you but you're still not performing so we have send you down"

There will be better catchers out there than a 33-year-old Manny piña. With multiple suitors and who'll cost way more and no guarantee to get them. If you sign them, well then you can not sign Pina back or keep him as backup, trade others, whatever you want. In NBA terms, think of it as not giving up an asset for nothing.

Jettison Pina, Grandal leaves in FA and all you have for next year is two guys who've never played before. And of course, no one behind them either.

Quite simply because he's proven to be an average MLB starter and the other two haven't done anything above AAA. Don't put so much stock in a small amount of ABs on sporadic playing time and don't forget that Pina is really good at D. Plus, the word depth itself should speak for itself. But if needed to lay it out, say you let Pina go and bring up Freitas and Grandal gets hurt. Now, you're playing two guys in MLB in a playoff chase with no experience and have nothing behind if another injury were to happen. The basic premise is to simply hold onto as many guys as you can as long as you can.

I want to see Freitas be given a shot too, but the problem is how? Piña doesn't have options remaining, and with it being a real possibility that Grandal is gone after the season I'm not sure you'd want to lose Piña as well. The way to do it would be if Aguilar was sent packing, with Freitas and Grandal seeing time at 1st but they don't seem to want to make that move with Aguilar yet. And if you make that move, Hiura should still be the higher priority. I think Freitas gets a shot in case of injuries, but other than that I think they made the move with next year in mind. Or rather they made the move because they saw a player they presumably liked available for next to nothing and took advantage despite the timing not being ideal. Pina's arby eligible next year. If he ends up hitting sub .175, do you really think they'll tender him or that he's a viable candidate to be a starting catcher again? I'll think they'll try hard to re-sign Grandal and if not, then either trade for an established catcher or sign one of the many aging FA out there. Why not find out what they have in Freitas? This is the second straight year he's posted a AAA OPS over .950. Organizational depth right now I think for this one. If injuries happen it's good to still have Pina, since you'd lose him if he was sent down. Plus, there is just more PT available for the younger guys in AAA than sitting behind Grandal. The way they're doing it you keep all the guys if needed and of course a 3rd will be called up in September.

Totally agree Melvin was the best back we've had. It was crazy to see up close. There was a ton of just wide open holes for everyone back then. But where he really stood out (besides jet sweeps) would be a kind of standard off tack type play that kind of bottled up for a normal 3ish yd gain. But he could just bounce and take off and beat everyone to the outside and turn it into a big one. His "0-60" burst was unmatched. Nobody before or since could do that, White being the closest to it.

Well yea the only guy worth clearing the cap to sign. Thought exercise though, what if we had trumped Tor's weak offer for Kawhi?

That's one way to look at it. As Bucks fans, if only it was so easy to not screw it up, haha. I think he did more than you give credit for in getting value in his picks, winning trades throughout, and maneuvering the cap. For example, his first move as GM was ripping off the Knicks in the Barnagni trade, which you guessed it, led to Poetl, who they used in the Kawhi trade. Plus clearing 22 mil in cap space. I know he wasn't the key piece or anything and I'm sure they find a way to do it anyway, but it was another asset gained. Go through the trades, he's done very well. Also consistently hit on later picks and of course FVV UFA. Sure it's fine Horst won the award, easily could go either way imo and after such a statistaclly dominant season it made sense. But I think everyone overlooked what Tor did because they'd kinda been written off as pretenders for years. Plus, I do get that it's a yearly award so it's tough to give credit for all these previous years moves but imo it should be nuanced enough and people smart enough to dig deeper than "whoever improved most games wins it"