jay87shot

I could see him coming up and taking the Ashby roll of 6th start/long man. Tie him to Ashby and the contrast might work to limit Ashby's overall load and effectively keep hitters off balance. 4 or 5 of Ashby and 2 or 3 of Lindblom gets you to Williams/Hader.

Would David Dahl or Jonathan Davis be the replacement from AAA? I would guess that Cutch could spend some time in the OF and get Keston more AB's as well.

1) Weimer 2)Frelick 3) Small 4)Turang 5)Black 6)Chorio 7)A Kelly 8)Mitchell 9) E Garcia 10)J Quero 11)H Perez 12) H Mendez 13) F Valerio 14)Castendena 15)Feliciano 16)S Cruz 17)C Robinson 18) F Zamora 19) J Gray 20) L Henderson Next 10) 21)Uribe 22)Peters 23)Warren 24) M Bello 25) D Miller 26)R Smith 27) J Vargas 28)B Knarr 29)C Rodriguez 30)T Floyd

This one might be a little out there and the Red Sox are playing well but what if we got JD Martinez and Xander Bogeartz. Then trade Wong say to the Angels for a couple prospects or somewhere else for a bullpen arm. Cain, Frelich, Small for Martinez and Bouggy. Urias shifts to 2nd Bogeartz to 3rd Wong for 2 mid-tier prospects Get a decent experienced bullpen arm or 2 on the cheap. We would have Turang to take over 2nd next year and still have a few good OF prospects to potentially fill CF. Urias, Yeli, JD, Bogeartz, Rowdy, Renfrow, Adames, Narvaez, CF would be an amazing lineup

I'd rather give Weimer or Frelich a chance than get a guy like Laureano, I know both are pretty far away but I think that giving up a couple of prospects for a potentially slight improvement doesn't get us anywhere. The further on the season goes the more I am leaning towards JD Martinez as our trade target, I bet the Red Sox would eat most of his salary if we made up for it in prospect value.

With 1/4 of the year in the books I thought it might be interesting to grade the players. I think it is important to remember that league offensive numbers aren't great. even though our offensive consistency has been an issue we rank 10th obp, 5th ops, 4th hr, 7th runs, and 3rd sb in the majors. C-Narvaez B- Not the great start with the bat he had last year but solid all around Caratini B- For coming over late and getting inconsistent playing time he has been ok, .188/.286/.557 is concerning 1B- Rowdy A He has brought stability to a position that has been an issue for a long time. Huira B+. He has played well considering inconsistent playing time, it might be time for him to get some more DH AB's 2B- Wong C+ Offensively ok, but he has had issues defensively that bring this grade down a bunch for me. SS- Adames B If you take the one huge week out he hasn't been very good offensively, but like Rowdy he has brought stability to an usually weak position. 3B- Urias A. Great start after being injured Peterson A- Batting stats are pedestrian but has been worth 5 runs scored defensively Brosseau A His bat has been extremely impressive and his defensive versatility makes his value to this team very high. OF- Yeli C+ He has quieted some concerns but he still is only on pace for 20 HR's and 160 k's Renfrow A- He has been worth 5 runs saved defensively and leads the team in batting (at least until/if Urias or Brousseau qualify). A few more RBI's and BB's would be nice Cain D Offensively he has been as bad as JBJ was last year, but he does have a 0.0 WAR which is saying something considering .185/.248/.465 Taylor C- Has shown a little life recently but 4 BB's in 98 PA's is concerning. DH- Cutch C He has been about the same player he has been the past 3-4 years, nothing to exciting but passable for now. Burnes A- Solid all around, no issues to me Woodruff C+. 4.76 ERA is worrisome, but his FIP points to a better pitcher running into some bad luck. Peralta B Similar to Woodruff, his FIP is 2.09 more than a run better than Burnes, hopefully only going to miss a start or two. Lauer A 2 years ago I would have never imagined that he would be a legitimate Cy Young calibar pitcher. Houser A- Extremely consistent, he could easily be a top of the rotation arm for 2/3's of the league. Ashby B+ One bad outing and this would be an easy A, still walking a few to many people. Hader A+. Top notch, only 2 hits in 13 2/3. If anything we need to find a way to get him more innings Williams C+ Bumpy, but hopefully he will round into form like the end of last year. Gott/Boxberger A both of these guys have been solid and will seemingly be good 7th inning arms. Suter and the rest of the pen= C- No one has really had a break out year, Milner has been ok but I don't think anyone has a high confidence in him. Overall Grades Offense B- Needs more consistency Starting A- Solid, Woodruff turning a corner would make this one of the better rotations in MLB history potentially (maybe overstepping) Pen B- Not bad but we could use a few arms to solidify a weaker back end of the pen. Coaching A- Our schedule has been relatively weak but 26-15 is solid and a pace for 100 wins. Let me know what you would change

Gauging a Mullins trade is tough, I never like the websites that give players and prospects WAR values to determine value. I try and look at similar past trades and see value that way. Actually our trade for Yelich seems to be the best I can come up with. We gave up a top 30 prospect (Brinson), 2 borderline top 100 (Harrison, Diaz) and a lower ranked organizational prospect (Yamamoto). Part of the Yelich appeal was his team friendly contract which probably added some value. A similar deal would likely be Ashby, Weimer, or Frelich, and two of Black, Small, Turang, Mitchell, Black, Quero, H Perez, Chourio, Valerio, plus a potential throw in. I'd say they would want, Ashby, Turang, and Black which seems like a lot to give up. Unless they take the Indians approach on the Mike Clevinger trade and go for quantity over quality say Huira, Taylor, Small, Turang, and Antione Kelly

Any thoughts on how long it will be until some of our higher performing prospects get a promotion, I know the organization like to get around 200 ab's or around 100 innings but I would make the case Joey Wiemer, Tyler Black, and Cam Robinson are ready for a promotion. Small, Turang (could get a look if Adames goes to DL), and Jackson Reetz are blocked and maybe Fleix Valerio, Victor Castenada, and Antione Kelly (possibly even Frelick) are due for a promotion in a month or or 2 if they continue strong play.

I forgot about Lauerano, he would be ok but I would be looking more for a middle of the order run producer and he doesn't fit the bill. However I would keep him in mind because he could still be a more affordable upgrade if Mullins is to expensive. Benitendi doesn't move the needle a ton, he is having a good year but he isn't a great CF, left field good but I would shift the outfield for him. He is the same boat as Lauerano, he would be a solid upgrade but doesn't fit the bill perfectly. I would say no to Gallo, the offensive problem is that we are to streaky a player like him only makes it worse. What about Eric Hosmer? Say we can offload Cain in a deal and get San Diego to eat a couple million a year in future years. After this year he only make 14 a year and last year they were willing to include Hassell to dump him. He has been tremendous this year. If you look at his career he goes good year, bad year, good year, bad year. Also Hosmer would likely get a power boost going from SD and KC pitcher parks to our hitters park. Maybe trade Cain and Huira for Hosmer (SDP pay 10 million of remaining contract) and a young reliever like Steven Wilson. I would expect in a month or two this would make more sense when Cain will be hitting over .200 and Hosmer will be under .300. KC, Oak, Cubs, Pirates have a bunch of relief arms that we should be interested in Josh Staumont would probably top my list. My wish list on bats would be Mullins, JD Martinez, Bell, Hosmer, Reynolds, Benintendi, Laureano, and maybe Nelson Cruz.

The hard part is that offense is down league wide so getting a team to trade a good offensive bat is tough. Also looking at future finances makes predicting future financial decision really difficult. If Burnes stays at a Cy Young Candidate level he will be set to make at least 30 million in free agency. I actually think it might make more sense to trade one of Houser, Lauer, Ashby, or Small and then trade Burnes in 2 years when he has a year of control left. Looking at what our key guys might make in when they hit free agency is key. Hader $20 mill, Woody $20-30 mill, Burnes $30+ mill, Adames $15-20, Houser/Lauer $10-20 depending on consistency, Rowdy ????. That leaves out Narvaez, Wong, Renfroe, and Suter. Paying Yeli and Peralta around 35 million down the road really only leaves about $50 million in long term expenses flexibility because by that time some of our younger guys will be making better money on arb. If I were in charge I would keep Woody this year and trade Houser for a bat. Then trade Hader this offseason and Burnes or Woody in 2 years. Hence paying Woodruff/Burnes and Adames long term and leaving money for Lauer or Rowdy potentially. I would expect that Stearns is trying to sign some of these guys to more team friendly deals like Peralta but really I can't foresee any deals that help with future clarity.

I agree Bell would be nice, I would actually look at moving Cutch to left and Yeli playing more center if we would get a guy like him. I wouldn't trade Valerio for a rental really, I think value wise that Valerio is about right however I would steer a trade more towards the likes of a AAA starter and a younger prospect say Dylan File and Carlos Rodriguez.

I would think we should look more at CF. Cedric Mullins and Bryan Reynolds haven't been great and neither team would trade either at a discount. Mullins for Ashby (maybe a lower end prospect or 2)? Reynolds for Mitchell, Small, and a PTBNL or 2 lower end prospects? Is there a team that is contending that would do a big league swap of hitting for pitching? Most teams are in the same spot as us, lack of hitting. We have enough depth but really could use a middle of the order bat. I know 3 team trade rarely work but what about these We get Donaldson from Yanks and Reynolds from Pirates, Yanks get Wong and Houser, Pirates get Huira, Mitchell, Gleybar Torres and a higher ranked prospect from the yanks. We get 2 middle of the order bats including extra years of service with Reynolds without throwing in a high end piece. The Yanks upgrade up the middle and the rotation. The Pirates get 2 higher potential play now with pieces and 2 prospects.

The top of our system is playing amazingly right now. Frelich, Wiemer, Mitchell, Turang, Quero, Black, Valerio, and Perez are all hitting above or close to .300. Meanwhile Small, Kelly, and Ashby (who I think lost prospect status) are all looking great. It wouldn't be surprising to see 5 or so prospect sneak into midseason top 100's if this continues. There are a ton of current top prospect who are in the bigs right now so there will be plenty of spots open.

If Yelich could lift the ball more this year I feel like a big improvement isn't crazy (not likely to MVP level). His hard hit rates and exit velo were good if memory serves right. It seemed to me like he was trying pull to many outside pitches last year which often leads to grounder. Keston will get a chance at some point this year. I would expect him to get some run if Tellez, Cutch, or Yeli get hurt. With his great spring I wouldn't be surprised if a few good games early could even win him 1st base over Rowdy. Being able to play 1st, 2nd, LF, and DH should get him chances.

Love the trades, Caratini being a switch hitter allows a platoon with Narvaez and will let the team give Narvaez regular rest when facing a bunch of rightness in a row. Also it will give us a seemingly decent platoon next year with Caratini/Severing or Feliciano if Narvaez has a good year and out prices us from keeping him. Jackson gives enough upside with the power to be the at the ready catcher in the minors. If Jackson could even hit .225+ in the majors and our catching staff works their magic defensively he could be a super interesting piece. Howell and Cantrelle have a little upside as maybe utility guys but are far from the majors and have major flaws. I would say A- on the Caratini deal and B+ for Jackson.

I live in Michigan and saw him a bunch last year. He has a good arm and I think could be a guy who benefits hugely throwing only one or 2 innings. He threw around 93-95 last year if member serves me right, add 2-3 mph on bullpen appearances and stick to 2 pitches and he could be a solid pen arm.

I would order the list Sanchez, Gustave, Mejia, Perdomo, Gott, and don't forget there are still a bunch of decent option on the FA market who we could maybe slip a a minor league deal or very cheap mlb deal. I put Sanchez and Gustave at the top because they were with the team last year but any of the others could jump ahead of them easily with a few impressive outings. Hunter Strickland, Richard Rodriguez, Yesmerio Petit, Jose Alvarez, Blake Parker, Tony Watson, Tyler Clippard, Tommy Hunter, Trevor Rosenthal, Andrew Miller, Chris Archer, Jose Urena, or even a guy dfa'd by another team could be guys we could bring in and make pretty big differences in the right circumstance. I get some of those are old, injured, or don't have electric arms but we have been very good recently at finding a contributors in the pen who aren't in camp.

1 WAR value is around 8.5 but I feel like for a smaller budget team like us we need to adjust and make it more like 1 WAR= 6 million or something. Also an average everyday player is usually considered a 2 WAR player so a guy like Cutch is even below average in WAR consideration. That being said I am ok with the signing, Cutch is a great clubhouse guy and has raked in Milwaukee. With Yeli and Cain injury potential and the DH he can be a good investment. I would have spend the money on a reliever as well but I wouldn't be surprised if he hits .250-.260 with a obp over 350. If you throw in 30 HR he could hit 4th and be a great signing.

I would think the Rays would want a cheap MLB player and a prospect. I like Meadows a lot but I am not sure he fits in to the current team design. If we trade for an OF I think it has to be someone who can play CF unless we are going to try Yeli at 1st. Putting Yeli in the DH spot a bunch this year makes sense however we aren't going to pay Yeli $25 million a year for the next 7 years to be a DH. Eventually he has to be an everyday OF. The more I scurry over options and wait for baseball to be back the more I feel that Matt Olsen is the best option. It would be great if we could find a deal to turn Hader/Houser/Lauer into prospect and then trade for Olsen (and maybe get a reliever as well). A mlbtraderumor article mentioned the JT Reamuto trade as a similar trade value to Olson. That got Sixto Sanchez (top 25 prospect), Jorge Alfaro (former top 100 with 1 decent year in bigs), and 2 throw pieces (Will Stewart and Int. Cash). The Brewers would have a hard time getting a top 25 prospect unless we trade Hader. I doubt we could throw in 2 pieces instead of 1 top 25. I would have to guess Ashby is of limits but would guess the A's would need Ashby and 1 other good prospect (Mitchell) to get a deal done unless we make a separate move. Hader to the Red Sox could work as an avenue to get a top 25 or so prospect, they have Mayer, Cases, and Duran who could fit the build. Hader for Duran and a couple decent other pieces might make some sense. 1) Trade Hader for Duran and Jay Groome 2) Trade Duran, Ethan Small, Garrett Mitchell for Olson and AJ Puk (or maybe Lou Trevino) 3) Houser for Simeon Woods-Richardson, Ben Rortveldt, and John Gant 4)Sign Johnny Cueto 1 year We replace Hader with two high upside lefties and upgrade 1st, massively boosting the lineup. We throw in Mitchell as an upgraded 3rd piece (maybe compared to 1 or 2 ancillary pieces) to get Puk or Trevino. 1)Wong 2)Adames 3)Yeli 4)Olson 5)Renfroe 6)DH (Tellez/Taylor, utility) 7)Urais 8)Narvaez/Severino 9)Cain Burnes, Woody, Peralta, Lauer, Cueto, Ashby Williams, Puk, Groome, Cousins, Suter, Gustave, Sanchez, Mejia (probably missed someone)

No to Rosario and Cruz. I would prefer to add a 1B type that could platoon with Tellez and maybe play the OF here or there. Colin Moran would be the type of player as a buy low option, however he is a left handed bat that probably doesn't fit great with Rowdy (also I would prefer Huira get another chance). Kevin Pillar in the OF wouldn't be bad but with guys like Peterson and Brosseau (maybe even Keston) able to play a little OF paying a 5th OF doesn't make sense even if one of Cain, Yelich, or Renfroe DH's most games. I still think the best way to get an impact bat is a trade.

100% Agree We would likely have to send away a contract to make Bell make sense, to do that it would be Cain or Wong and then you are trading a 3-5 WAR player for a solid DH 1-3 WAR. We can easily make a platoon DH with Brousseau, Peterson, Taylor, Huira, and others (White/Singletary/Dahl/etc) able to give guys regulars breaks that value-wise make ala Moneyball.

I kind of wish that places would rank prospects differently. I know the 80 scale is traditional but I kind of would make like a multi score composite ranking that finds a way to sort out potential/floor/position or versatility. For example, relievers get put way down on prospect list but can be way more important than most guys above them. Take Luke Barker (AAA reliever) a guy who will never appear on a top 30 list going through the minors but will likely have more value to the big league team than someone like Tristen Lutz (at this point in his career) however Lutz is much higher on most every list based on assumed potential. Here is my attempt at this 1st Stageman (I want credit if this takes off) Scouting Score I will use the current top 10 players as example and if this comes out well I may have to expand my idea. So the top 2 numbers will be a floor/potential and I will probably expand this idea as I think on it. Floor- The floor number will be based more on the likelihood that the player is a key contributor to the major league team than if they don't reach potential. So if this based on a 100 point scale someone like Aaron Ashby would get a very high rating because he has shown that he can be a good reliever at least, so he gets maybe a 90. Brice Turang who has been solid and will undoubtedly get to the majors but there is doubt about if he will be more of a utility guy, solid starter, or All-Star SS maybe gets a 75. Someone like Joey Weimer gets like a 50, say Jefferson Quero gets like a 35, and Jackson Chorio gets like a 20. Potential= This would be more traditional so a superstar gets 100, All-Star=85, high end everyday player=70, everyday starter=55, platoon/utility=40, 25= AAAA type player. Mitchell 50/80= Composite Score= 65 Frelich 45/80= Composite Score=63 Turang 75/65= 70 Perez 40/90=65 Small 75/65=70 Quero 35/85=60 Black 40/65= 53 Ashby 90/85= 88 Gray 45/75=60 Kelly. 40/70=55 You could then sort lists based on potential (more traditional) or composite= more modern team value. Maybe I need to add a 3rd component that adds a bit more value to a high potential prospect or 1 with a unique high end rare ability that will value a player more to other teams in a trade. Thoughts?

I would be ok with Taylor starting if we could find someone to eat Cain's contract. I think Taylor could be a sneaky 30 HR guy and really make a difference, especially if given consistant playing time. I would think he would actually get a lot of playing time this year unless we get a full time DH because I can see all 3 of the OF getting a lot of time as DH and Taylor getting near 500 ab's. Actually the more I think of it I like the Taylor for Staumont deal less because of the DH and how valuable it will be to have a top notch 4th OF.

I love your ideas, but your math is way, way off. The Brewers aren't going to get Staumont for Taylor and a throwin. That would almost be a give-away by the Royals. The Brewers' pkg. to the Pirates would be about half of what the Pirates would want for Reynolds, much less Reynolds and Stratton. The Dodger trade is again far off in surplus value. I don't think the Dodgers would ever be that desperate to get Hader. Staumont was worth 1.5 WAR for a full year in the pen, Taylor was worth 1.6 in less than a half year of AB's. They are the same age and Taylor has an extra year of control, and the Royals OF is trash after Benentendi so Taylor would be a big upgrade. 4 near top 100 prospects and a wildcard prospect for Reynolds seems fair. I get that the Pirates would ideally want a top 20 overall prospect and then a couple other good names. We should get 2 top 100 prospects for Hader, maybe Vesia has more trade value than I originally that but we should get in an extra piece. When looking at similar trades from the past 3-4 years I feel like the value is close-ish.

Did I miss something? Sorry, I meant Logan Henderson