jay87shot

I feel like I keep forgetting about Ashby, any news on him this offseason. Starter or reliever path?

I think Cooper would be more an everyday player. He hits righties better than Bauers. Bauers doesn't really have any positive splits. To me Cooper would be a solid upgrade, I liken him similar to Santana. Maybe a little less power but better contact. Still solid defense. At any rate it would be disappointing if this is our big bat addition this year. Way to similar to last year we're we added all bats coming off poor years hoping for a resurgence to slightly above average players.

I wouldn't mind that scenario however I don't know if adding 30 or so million to the payroll would really work (I would like it to). Maybe you create a 3 team trade where Burnes goes somewhere and we get Arraez. We get Arraez, Edward Cabrera, and lotto type prospect from both Phillies and Marlins, the Phillies get Burnes and Payamps, the Marlins get Mick Abel, Aiden Miller, Christopher Sanchez, Willy Adames (maybe Adames somewhere else) Sign Hoskins (I would prefer Justin Turner) Trade Weimer for Alex Manoah or Emerson Hancock or Gavin Stone 1)DH Yelich 2)C Contreras 3) 2B Arraez 4) 1B Hoskins/Turner 5)RF Mitchell 6) CF Chourio 7)LF Frelick 8) 3B Black 8) SS Turang 1)Peralta 2) Cabrera 3)Manoah 4)Miley 5) Rae/Gasser Not to bad

Clarke is probably a safe bet to at least be a productive platoon/bench player. If we want to keep Quero and Contreras, Clarke is a perfect 3rd catcher who can play elsewhere. Martinez probably has more upside with his athleticism and defense upside. However he is way lower floor and more subsequent risk not making the bigs. Maybe if things go really well for both they could combine to make a nice 1B platoon in a few years. Black maybe to 2B, Wilken to 3B, Turang/EBJ SS. 2026? Unlikely but maybe. My vote is that Clarke is better but I could see Matinez making a big jump.

I would really hate to lose Vieira, it really shows how deep our pen is maybe our 10-12th best reliever at this point. I know it is unlikely but would it be possible to trade relievers for some AA OF depth?

I was making a list today and got confused with some guys who could be on the AAA team, also our IF and relief depth at AAA is crazy. Current stock Mlb roster (no additions): Contreras, Bauers, Turang, Adames, Black Frelick, Chourio, Wiemer, Mitchell, Yelich, Haase, Montesario, Miller? Pitchers= Burnes, Peralta, Miley, Rae, Gasser, Ross, Wilson, Williams, Payamps, Uribe, Milner, Megill, Peguaro (For this I am not really worried if you flip Perkins for Weimer, Clarke for Peguaro, Dunn for Miller etc., I just put in the most tenured with big league team) That puts my AAA roster some thing like this C)Quero, Nola, Naverreto 1B)Clarke, Warren 2B)Dunn, J Jones, Campbell, Y Hernandez, Valerio SS)Murray, Zamora 3B)Dorrian, Capra OF)Perkins, Roller, Hicklen, Sparks, C Rodriguez, I Collins(if), D Garcia (not sure who this is) Rotation) C Rodriguez, Junk, McKendry, McGee, Semenaris? Pen=Clarke, Viera, Small, Andrews, Hudson, Bukauskas, Patrick, Myers, Meeker, Thompson, Paredes, Carlson, Yeager, L Contreras, P Fernandez, Chirino, Middendorf, Bennett, Zastryzny Is there any one on this list that we have already cut/lost? Is there any one I forgot? I didn't really take options into account so there is likely a flip threre as well. I know some are non-roster guys who won't make it to the season and some will like go to AA. Basically what does our AAA team look? To me we have a crazy amount of pen depth to trade from and some AAA IF to sort out.

Since all 4 young guys can play center I think you let give Chourio some time in LF and CF. Long term we could have 3/4 potential gold glove caliber players maybe even this year depending on how well Chourio plays.

It's all about the stuff, he gets ground balls and has the heater to strikeout guys. As a reliever I would guess he gets 3/30+ so an extra year to be a starter isn't to crazy. I read a report that they might piggyback him with another guy or maybe move him to the bullpen when Robbie Ray comes back. Essential they are going to limit his workload as much as possible. They could have a crazy good rotation at the end of the year with Webb, Ray, Hicks, Harrison, among others and prospects or everyone could be hurt or hit an innings limit.

Can anyone speculate why the offseason is going so slow? We are half way through January and it seems like only 1/2 the free agents have signed and there have only been a handful of meaningful trades. Is everyone being cheap or are the players just holding out for more.

I am fine with Paxton, my guess is he gets 10-12 million for a year. I would rather get a 1 year bat like Belt for a few million more (or Turner/Martinez/Hoskins for 5-10 more). If we bring in a starter at this point my guess is it would be someone like Spencer Turnbull on a cheaper deal. If we trade Burnes/Adames I could see us using that money on a FA pitcher.

We should move Yelich to 1B or trade him and have a 4 man OF of Frelick, Chourio, Weimer, and Mitchell. However since we aren't going to move Yeli, we should really trade one for a mlb ready 3B/SP.

I think think the league needs to implement a few things. 1)Put in a salary floor and cap. I don't care if you start then at like 50 and 300 million as long as you compress the difference and by like 2028 make it like 110+ and 350. The mlb really needs to curb teams going on like 4/5 year rebuilds. It kind of makes it hard to be a fan and go to games when your team starts a full rebuild, having a respectable salary floor would force teams to keep some vets/fan favorites no matter what. 2)Fix the arbitration and contract length problems. The idea that it takes essentially 4ish years for superstars to make a reasonable salary is ridiculous. Then superstar who hit free agency get 10-12 year deals that pay them 40 million when they can hardly run (end of contract)is worse. A team like the Brewers can't compete in terms of years on free agent contracts with the big market teams. Especially if those deals are paying a guy into their 40's. If the league went to the players association with a way to get younger players paid better in return for a 6-7 year cap on contract length, smaller market teams could stand to keep more than 1 player long term (especially with a salary floor around 100). Essentially small teams can't have more than a couple devent veteran players (15+ million) contacts where as big teams have like 10 or so similar players. 3) Figure out the TV revenue disparaty. The league may be moving toward this but the Dodgers make over $300 million and the Brewers make about $30 (off the top of my head). Some disparity is needed but the gaps again need to be closed better. I agree with the idea that you can't just make everything equal. However there needs to be things in place that don't allow a team to pay 1 player more than multiple teams spend in a year and allow smaller markets to stay competetive without constant rebuilds.

I can't see us giving up our high end prospects, maybe Quero because he is blocked by Contreras. I kind of like Edward Cabrera or Trevor Rogers as low value options. Cabrera just needs some control and he could be an ace and Rogers has injuries that have derailed him since a strong 2021. I thought an Adames trade for one of the pitchers would work but if they are selling that doesn't make sense. Maybe Weimer/Mitchell for Cabrera and they send Jazz back to the IF. Probably a couple mid-lower level prospects for Rogers at best.

What would reasonable expectations for Churio, Weimer, Frelick, Mitchell, Turang, Gasser, Uribe, and other be? Obviously we know those guys ceilings but would hoping each of those guys hits .240-.260 (.280 for Frelick) be reasonable. I am sure with the defense and baserunning of all of those guys that would be like 3 WAR seasons. Maybe one of the group plays at a little higher level. If Gasser can be around a 4 ERA pitcher i would be happy, Uribe basically needs to keep his BB% around 10% and his stuff will be enough to have a good year.

I think we could trade a bunch of guys and still be ok. Late innings=Williams, Payamps, Uribe, Megill?, Peguaro? Middle Relief=Megill, Peguaro, Milner, Clarke, Viera Multi-Inning=Wilson, Ross (not buying the starter stuff), Small Depth=Hudson, Andrews, Junk, Baukauskas, Myers, Thompson, non-roster invitees (i am sure i am missing someone. For me that is 10 mlb relievers, we should probably trade 2-3 people since our org. seems to always have 1-2 back an forth guys. Peguero and Wilson seem like the guys to me if no one will overpay for Devin. I haven't heard any thing but maybe Hoby would be a good sell high candidate. Between Hudson, Small, and Andrews maybe add another lefty we can find a lefty and maybe get a solid piece for Hoby.

I am not high on Peraza, I would much rather get on of Lomabard/Arias instead. I wrote this before but I could see there being a 3 team deal here if the Yanks want to get rid of an OF prospect like Periera. Yanks Burnes, Mariners get Periera, we get Hampton, Lombard/Arias, 3B Locklear, P Berroa It would potentially dilute the top end talent we could get but Hampton will likely be a solid #3 starter, Lombard/Arias have giant ceilings, Locklear is a solid 3B/1B prospect to pair with Wilken/Black (1 DH's or Black to 2B), and Berroa has closer stuff.

Last year would have been the time to get him, his trade value/return is probably higher than past year with a year less control. I wonder if we tried to trade Lauer/Houser + more for him last year or not. Anyway I am sure the asking price would be like Black, Gasser/Rodriguez, and Lara which would be to much for me.

I don't think Imagana will be bad by any means but I doubt he will be Kodai Senga good. He actually reminds me of Justin Steele which will be interesting having similar guys go 1/2, unless they sign someone else.

Great article, is there a way to adjust the spin on modern high end pitching machine to mimic this. My knowledge on top end pitching machines isn't up to date. I would guess some of the way to fix this is going to be approach and the hitting coaches working with batters before a game when we face a pitcher with flat heaters. Anyone who watched a bunch of games that I've talked to all mentioned that the team hit way to many pop-ups. Good to know and be able to explain part of the reason.

I think a big part of it has been identifying quality second tier college pitching and then adding to/improving those pitchers repertoire. I would hate to see the batting end of that because my guess is we are extremely low on the bats we have drafted/developed.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/01/rockies-rumors-outfielder-left-handed.html Would Garrett Mitchell be a decent option for Colorado. I could see him thriving in Col. and we could find some interesting things in there system. Mitchell for 1B/C Hunter Goodman and LHP Joe Rock. Maybe a little light.

Agree, It could also be that a package we like for Burnes or Adames (or others) has a mlb ready 1B or 3B and Black moved to 1B.

Hopefully he plays well enough to be ready to earn big league spot in 2025. I would make sure to get him some 1B reps this year, if Black can handle a switch to 1B would be in line. Only 5 HR in over 200 pa's if a bit disappointing but the overall results were great. Hopefully he can keep the strikeouts done as he climbs the ladder, if so I would love a mid-season AAA promotion with the chance at a September callup (especially if 1B/3B struggle this year).

The Angels could go 1B Schanuel, 2B Rengifo, SS Neto, 3B Rendon and that would make Drury expendable. However all those guys have experience/injury issues and they don't have a DH option (unless Trout plays there a bunch). With how bad the Angles roster is they should trade him but my guess is they won't. I agree that Peguero or Wilson would be a fair trade. I would try Zamora and a second piece but that seems a bit light.

Love the slightly bigger prospects, not that it really matters. If chosing between the better power or contact prospect I will go power. To me looking at the overall athleticism of how smooth and effortless a super young prospect plays is the top trait.