|
Time for all of us to play amateur GMs and lay out our brilliant plans to get our team over the hump in 2015! St. Louis Cardinals 2014 Record 90-72, won NL Central by 2 games. Lost NLCS to Giants, 4-1. 2014 Pythagorean Record: 83-79 Notable Losses: RP Jason Motte (sucked coming back from TJS last year; might be a good bounceback candidate a la 2013 Brian Wilson) RP Pat Neshek (had one of the best relief seasons ever in 2014; in so doing has priced himself out of the Cardinals' plans) IF Mark Ellis (age finally caught up with him and he wasn't even a useful bench bat. Dude will either hang 'em up or get a MiLB invite from someone) C AJ Pierzynski (did as well as you could reasonably expect a 38-year-old catcher not named Carlton Fisk to do in limited work. His god-tier crotch chops will be missed.) SP Justin Masterson (sucked hard. Will probably get a MiLB invite from someone) PH Ty Wigginton (a terrible signing when he was signed prior to the 2013 season, Wigginton was promptly released last season and received like 2.5 million dollars in 2014 to remain hosed off.) OF Oscar Taveras (  We all know the story here.)As you can see, outside of 1 good bullpen dude, the Cardinals didn't have anything coming off the books in 2015 they'd miss. It is horrible that Oscar Taveras died at age 22. Separately, from an on-field talent perspective, it also sucks. The Cardinals can patch the latter; I'm not even sure how you deal with the former--though Mike Matheny was on the team when Darryl Kile died mid-season. Since I'm in no way qualified to address or quantify how you deal with something as horrible as a co-worker with his whole life ahead of him dying violently, I'm only going to address trying to improve RF production. Eligible for Arbitration: The Cardinals' GM, John Mozeliak, has said the team will offer arbitration to everyone eligible. I don't really understand why they're doing this (or if they'll say one thing and do another), but here's the list: CF Jon Jay: Arb2, likely will make around 5mm IF Dan Descalso: Arb2, likely will make around 2mm. This is 2 million that could be better spent on...well, anything, really. Descalso plays every position on the infield poorly, and he is a bad hitter too. Has a rocket arm, to his credit, and he's not the worst utilityman in baseball by any means--but that's more because there are lots of teams that refuse to promote their AAA guys into utility roles and instead rely on lovely high-paid vets to round out the bench. CF Peter Bourjos: Arb2, likely will make around 2mm. Bourjos was probably going to find himself traded a couple weeks ago, but the team now has an additional slot in the OF that needs filling, and you can do worse than having a speedster on the bench with amazing defense. Look at what the Royals got out of Jarrod Dyson. SP Lance Lynn: Arb1, probably will jump from league minimum up to 6mm (assuming 40/60/80 with arb, I don't think it's unreasonable someone would look at Lynn as a 15mm/year starter). Lynn had an amazing 2014, and his 2012 and 2013 seasons were solid as well. A league average starter with 200 IP/year is nothing to sneeze at, and if he pitches closer to his 2014 form than previously, you're looking at a legit #2 in most rotations. The weird thing is that his 2013 and 2014 seasons, by peripherals, weren't really that far from one another. C Tony Cruz: Arb1, I guess he'll get maybe a little less than 1 million? Tony Cruz is horrible. Can't catch. Can't hit. Waits around for Yadi to suffer catastrophic injury b/c that's what it takes to get him out of the game. Except in 2014, Yadi actually did suffer catastrophic injury and then Cruz was so bad the team went out to get the aforementioned Pierzynski. Literally any scrubby minor league guy would take less money to be the only-use-in-case-of-emergency-but-if-the-emergency-is-bad-still-don't-use guy. OF Shane Robinson: Arb1. See my comments about Tony Cruz. Sugar Shane is bad. He's an all-glove no-hit outfielder, only his glove and bat are both worse than Bourjos, who himself may well be an all-glove no-hit guy. You don't need 2 of these guys, and so you might as well keep the good one around. Anyway the Cards project to have around a 105-108mm budget including renewing all the arb guys, and all the league minimum salaries. Meaning they've probably got around another 5-10 they could spend if they wanted to spend at the rates they have this decade. Strengths: The Cards have a deep starting pitching staff in Adam Wainwright, Shelby Miller, Lance Lynn, John Lackey, and Michael Wacha. Carlos Martinez and Marco Gonzales are viable options as depth--and that's likely going to be necessary because with the exception of Lynn, every single guy there has serious health/effectiveness question marks associated with them. The Cards are also good at reaching base. Unfortunately, that's largely thru a lot of high-average/low-ISO dudes (Jon Jay, Matt Carpenter). The NL Central isn't a very good division. The Pirates may well take a step back in 2015 if they continue to trot out a series of projects in their starting rotation. The Reds seem to've gotten really old really quickly. The Cubs will probably hit a poo poo ton of homers, and be scary as hell by 2016, but I'm not sure they have the pitching to contend in 2015. The Brewers were a credible threat in 2014 but would need repeat performances from guys unlikely to have 'em (an old Aramis Ramirez, Kyle Lohse, Yovani Gallardo, Adam Lind's back). On the other hand, Matt Garza is likely to bounce back, and Carlos Gomez and Ryan Braun have had an entire offseason to heal. Weaknesses: Without Neshek, and with Carlos Martinez possibly moving into the rotation, the bullpen is a huge problem. Trevor Rosenthal looked like Ricky Vaughn at times last year. Kevin Siegrist had an atrocious sophomore campaign. Randy Choate's a perfectly good LOOGY, but is managed by a man who has never heard of platoon splits. Seth Maness has an uncanny ability to get ground balls, but isn't really a shutdown pitcher. There's no power in this lineup. Jhonny Peralta had a career year in 2014. Matts Adams and Holliday have their respective issues (can't hit lefties, is getting old). The bench is awful. Yadier Molina is irreplaceable, and was suddenly fragile in 2014. The manager is really really really really really bad. Needs: As I see it, the Cardinals have 4 primary needs: 1.) Power 2.) Catching depth 3.) Bullpenning 4.) Right Field Thus, here's what I'd do: 1.) Trade OF Randal Grichuk and SP Marco Gonzales to the Atlanta Braves for 1b/LF/C Evan Gattis (I swear I was thinking of this before VEB wrote mostly the same thing today). The Braves are shopping Gattis, and the dude can mash LHP reliably as well as do something that resembles playing catcher. Acquiring Gattis solves several problems: catching depth, power, a righthanded bat to complement Matt Adams in a platoon. Between platooning at 1B, spelling Yadi every week, spelling Matt Holliday in left, and pinch hitting appearances, it's not difficult to envision Gattis getting 400 PAs. The team can use him. As for Grichuk and Gonzales, I'm trying to mirror roughly what the asking price was for Mark Trumbo last season. (Again, I swear I didn't just crib this from VEB!) Backup Plan: Sign Corey Hart (RH power, 1B platoon), trade one of Jon Jay/Peter Bourjos/Randal Grichuk to Oakland for whichever backup C (Vogt or Jaso) they'd be willing to move. 2.) Sign Luke Gregerson to a 3-year/20mm deal. I think this'd be sufficient to get Gregerson. Dude's been consistently very very good for years, and also offers a nice change of pace from most of the dudes in the Cardinals bullpen who are fastball-oriented. Cards gave him up in the Khalil Greene deal as a PTBNL in 2009, and have regretted it ever since. Yes, 7mm is a lot to pay a relief pitcher, but Gregerson is as close to a sure thing as you can get. Separately, sign Mike Adams to a 1year/2.5mm deal (I suspect he wants to rebuild his value and get 1 last payday). Adams, until his injury, was one of the best relievers in the game--but he didn't have SAVES and so was underpriced. I'm hoping the Cards can get him at a slightly higher rate than what Neshek (another rehabilitate-value candidate) got last year, given that peak Adams was better than peak Neshek. Backup Plan: Replace "Luke Gregerson" with "Pat Neshek" and maybe 1mm less annually. Replace "Mike Adams" with "Jason Motte" on a 1mm deal. 3.) Trade Randy Choate to a team with a not-stupid manager in exchange for...well, anything. I have no problem with Choate (he was still murder on lefties last year), but he's making too much money to put up lovely numbers on the Cardinals due to Matheny's insistence on using him against RHBs. Addition by subtraction. This gives the Cardinals a credible bullpen, some legitimate pop off the bench, a backup plan in case Yadi goes down, and doesn't break the bank on payroll either. The glaring hole here: what do you do with right field? My answer in this case is: "Play an outfield of Holliday/Bourjos/Jay," then try and acquire a Marlon Byrd-type at the deadline. Because of how bad Allen Craig and Oscar Taveras were last season, the Cards' RF production has really nowhere to go but up. Might as well have good defense in 2 of your 3 OF spots, and then patch it later. I'm mostly counting on the Cards' improvement in 2014 to come from a not-lovely bullpen, a full year of Kolten Wong and Yadier Molina, and a 1B that can hit LHPs. If Stephen Piscotty or Tommy Pham (2 AAA prospects) are able to take ABs from Bourjos and shift Jay back to CF, so be it. So, uh: your team?
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2014 21:39
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 18, 2024 17:30 |
|
|
Im not sure why you are advocating for Corey Hart so much, hes loving bad. Its will have been 2 years since he last had a decent season and he actually hit righties better then lefties last year. Hes garbage man. This offseason is going to suck, the cards arent going to do anything and maybe girchuk, wong, and adams show progress but im not holding my breath. Oscar dying and Matheny managing jesus christ.
|
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2014 22:50
|
|
|
FairGame posted:Time for all of us to play amateur GMs and lay out our brilliant plans to get our team over the hump in 2015! Uggghhhh I'm still not over this.
|
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2014 23:00
|
|
|
Scob posted:Im not sure why you are advocating for Corey Hart so much, hes loving bad. Its will have been 2 years since he last had a decent season and he actually hit righties better then lefties last year. Hes garbage man. This offseason is going to suck, the cards arent going to do anything and maybe girchuk, wong, and adams show progress but im not holding my breath. Oscar dying and Matheny managing jesus christ. Corey Hart's a plan B because the other plan Bs have problems worse than Corey Hart's "you're gambling on a bounce back season." Cuddyer has the QO associated with him now. Michael Morse, thanks to the Giants winning the World Series, is probably too expensive. As for Matheny managing: who cares? Cards are talented enough to win the division despite his blunders--as they did each of the last two years. Most of the stuff I'd want done is to Matheny-proof the postseason roster (multiple useful guys in the 'pen, not having Descalso 1st bat off the bench, minimizing platoon problems in the 'pen, etc.)
|
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2014 23:22
|
|
|
I will do a Rangers writeup in the next day or so unless one of the other Rangergoons wants to do it first. Spoiler: it will be lengthy
|
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2014 23:30
|
|
|
Similarly, I'm in the process of writing a Phillies effort post. It will be lengthy-ish.
|
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2014 23:35
|
|
|
TheIncredulousHulk posted:I will do a Rangers writeup in the next day or so unless one of the other Rangergoons wants to do it first. tl;dr: get some pitchers and sacrifice tim bogar to the baseball god to ensure a healthy season
|
|
#
?
Nov 4, 2014 00:00
|
|
|
TheIncredulousHulk posted:I will do a Rangers writeup in the next day or so unless one of the other Rangergoons wants to do it first. do one even if they do, it's fun to see differing solutions
|
|
#
?
Nov 4, 2014 00:08
|
|
|
I volunteer to do a Yankees one; I have no idea what the goon perception is here but I think the last two years are pretty indicative and it's not gonna get better.
|
|
#
?
Nov 4, 2014 00:12
|
|
|
FairGame posted:Backup Plan: Sign Corey Hart (RH power, 1B platoon), trade one of Jon Jay/Peter Bourjos/Randal Grichuk to Oakland for whichever backup C (Vogt or Jaso) they'd be willing to move. Vogt was a total fluke and a Jaso is a DH who shouldn't be catching anymore, so yes please give us a very good offensive outfielder like Jay or a solid outfield prospect like Grichuk for them.
|
|
#
?
Nov 4, 2014 00:27
|
|
|
Carlosologist posted:I volunteer to do a Yankees one; I have no idea what the goon perception is here but I think the last two years are pretty indicative and it's not gonna get better. I've decided to become a perennial optimist but don't really have it in me to write up a whole effortpost about next season, so I'll probably just piggyback some commentary on whatever you say.
|
|
#
?
Nov 4, 2014 00:46
|
|
|
Philadelphia Phillies 2014 Record: 73-89, last place in the NL East 2014 Pythag Record: 73-89 Most of the Phillies offseason plan needs to be taken in the context of the upper management change that occurred a few weeks - months? - back, when David Montgomery, the most vocal member of the Phillies, took an indefinite leave to deal with cancer. In the interim, Pat Gillick took over and the team's philosophy definitely changed recently. Gillick and Amaro are both on record saying that they're likely not going to contend until 2017 or 2018 at the earliest, and that most of the Phillies veterans are available if the offer is good enough. Almost any move the Phillies make, then, has to be analyzed more in the way it impacts the team in four or five years. Notable Losses to Free Agency: AJ Burnett (SP) - Elected Free Agency as of this morning. Could be a big loss, even though he sucked. I promise I'll explain this in a bit. Kyle Kendrick (SP) - Put sound of farting here. Mike Adams (RP) - Pitched OK, got injured (again). Might get a contract, but not from the Phillies. Will Nieves (C) - ... We're clearly not going with a very high standard of notable; the Phillies haven't lost too many players this offseason to free agency. Arbitration: I guessed how much money each of these guys is going to get in arbitration, mostly by multiplying their 2014 salaries by around 1 and a third. Antonio Bastardo (RP) (Arb-3) : Roughly $2.5 mil, maybe closer to $3, if they even offer it. I'm not sure that's worth it, but with Burnett electing to go to FA they will probably give him a one year deal, hope he starts the year off well, and find someone to trade him to. Bastardo's problem is that his control is bad on a good day. Because of that he can't find enough consistency to hold on to a permanent job in the Phillies suddenly competent bullpen. The Phillies FO should've traded him during the season, but, well, Rube. Ben Revere (CF) (Arb-2) : Roughly $2.5 to $3 million. Definitely worth it at this point, because he's still showing signs of improvement, and anyone they can get out of free agency would cost more for similar production. Dominic Brown (OF) (Arb-1) : A million, I guess. There's no way they don't keep Downtown Dom Brown around, because despite a horrendous season the Phillies a) don't have anyone better, and b) can afford to give him more playing time and see if he shows any signs of improvement. At one point he was the #4 prospect in all of baseball.Rather than doing strengths and weaknesses I'm going to break down the team as it is now by position, starting with the hitters. Then I'll go into what I think the Phillies should do this offseason. Catcher The obvious starter here is Carlos Ruiz, and I really doubt the Phillies will think about trading him for a couple reasons. First, none of the catchers in the system are ready to start at the major league level; second, Ruiz is only being paid $8.5 mil for two more years, which given both his defensive skills and his plate patience really is worth it. If the front office gets a good offer, they probably should trade him, but I doubt they'll get an offer they like. Cameron Rupp is a possibly going to be the backup, and I doubt he'll be any better or worse than Wil Nieves was, though he should be about $500k cheaper. First Base Everyone already knows about the terrible Ryan Howard deal, and the Phillies are going to try hard to deal him to a team that needs a 1B or a DH. I doubt they'll succeed unless they eat a ton of salary and take almost nothing in return. Given that Howard's only going to play at most two more years with the Phillies, they should take whatever they can get at this point, even if that means paying all $25 million over the next two years and the $10 million buyout. Whatever non-prospecty prospect they get in return and the opportunity to play Ruf or Franco at first will be better for the team in the short term and the long term. If the Phillies do manage to trade Howard (or outright release him, which somebody online mentioned as a possible option; I'm not sure it's a good idea, though) Darin "Babe" Ruf and Maikel Franco are the guys most likely to win the job. I'll talk about Franco in a bit because there's a good chance he can actually stick at third. Ruf, on the other hand, is not the Phillies first baseman of the future, but in a small MLB sample size he's shown he can hit, with a .251/.339/.466 line. At this point I think if Howard gets traded Ruf will be starting. Also, I just want to say that I still love you, Ryan.  Second Base Second base is Chase Utley's job if he's still with the team by Opening Day, which I assume he will be. He has 10-5 rights and the team has nobody worth starting at 2B for a whole season. On the other hand Utley will be making $15 million next season, and possibly each season through 2018. I can't really separate my personal beliefs as a fan on what should happen with Utley - him retiring in a Phillies uniform - and what would be best for the team long term - trading him now - so it's hard for me to say what the Phillies should do here. Freddy Galvis and Cesar Hernandez would be fighting for the job in 2015 if Utley were to be traded, and they're both OK to good with the glove, and terrible with a bat. Shortstop Jimmy Rollins owns. I won't hear anyone besmirch his wonderful, beautiful name. The Phillies could trade him if both he and they wanted, but Freddy Galvis would probably be starting since J.P. Crawford, the shortstop of the future, definitely isn't ready for MLB time. Rollins is only under contract for one more year, though, so barring a short term extension, the Phillies might trade him. Third Base The third base situation is interesting because there are two young, cost-controlled players likely fighting for the third base job this season. Maikel Franco is a top fifty prospect in all of baseball, who had a terrible start in AAA this season. However, about half way through the season he turned it on and made a lot of strides, eventually getting called up for a cup of coffee in September. He has the potential to be significantly better than Asche with both the glove and the bat; Asche is definitely more ready for the major leagues now, though I doubt he has the talent to stick as a starter. Outfield The Phillies have two outfielders under contract for 2015 - Marlon Byrd and Grady Sizemore - and two likely headed for salary arbitration - Ben Revere and Domonic Brown. Byrd is a right fielder who led the Phillies in home runs in 2014 with 25 of them. He ended the season with a .264/.312/.445 line. Byrd is definitely a trade piece this coming season, particularly because he's only being paid $8 million and is possibly a free agent after next season. Sizemore is similarly a free agent after 2015. The Phillies will be hoping for good seasons from both players so they can get something useful in return. Revere and Brown are both pretty much guaranteed starting jobs for the reasons I mentioned above, though Brown is going to have to start off next season well if he wants to continue playing in a Phillies uniform. Starting Pitchers The reason I mentioned that Burnett's departure could be devastating is that he pitched 213.2 innings, which, while not good innings, would definitely be better than the shitshow that the Phillies would put on the mound if he were injured. The Phillies major-league ready pitching depth was so horrendous last season that Sean O'Sullivan, he of the career 5.91 ERA, would be pitching. O'Sullivan got outrighted, because he's terrible, but the remaining options aren't much better. With A.J. Burnett's departure, as well as Kyle Kendrick - hopefully  - the only pitchers guaranteed a spot in the 2015 rotation are David Buchanan and Jerome Williams.  Buchanan's young and under team control, and he should hopefully pitch 180 innings with around a 4.00 ERA, which is going to be quite useful. Williams can probably pitch about 150 innings with a 4.50 ERA, which again could be useful.Cole Hamels is by far the best pitcher on the team, the best home grown pitcher for the Phillies since Robin Roberts - and there's an argument to be made that Hamels is better - but his future with the Phillies is not certain. He is by far the best trade asset the team has, and the only one who's likely to get a top prospect in return in a trade. He's signed to a partially team-friendly deal through his age 35 season, though, so it's conceivable that the Phillies keep him; they probably should as well, because he's probably still going to be productive when the team is ready to be good again in four or five years. Cliff Lee, on the other hand, will be guaranteed a rotation spot if he's healthy enough to pitch by Opening Day. His 2014 season ended prematurely with elbow soreness, and he wasn't completely effective at any point during the season when he was healthy. If Lee comes back healthy and pitches well - which he certainly has the talent for - he'll almost definitely be traded at the deadline. He's a free agent at the earliest after this season and the latest after 2016, and he's being paid a lot of money. If the Phillies could trade him this offseason they probably would, but I think even fewer teams would take him at this point than Ryan Howard. The only other options to start right now - barring re-signing Kyle Kendrick  - are, uh...Well, there really aren't other options at this point. Jonathan Pettibone might be able to go by Spring Training, and Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez might be able to win a starting job during ST. Aaron Nola and Jesse Biddle won't be starting the season with the Phillies, but there's a good chance that one or both of them will end the season with the major league team, particularly if Cliff Lee is traded. Adam Morgan is another guy to keep an eye on, though he'll definitely be in the minors for most, if not all, of the year. Bullpen Kenny. loving. Giles. Seriously, Kenny Giles owns. The bullpen was one of the few bright spots last season for the Phillies, and Ken Giles was the best reliever in the Phillies bullpen, throwing a 98 MPH fastball and an 87 MPH slider. Go take a look at his stats on Baseball Reference. And he's only 23! The rest of the bullpen is pretty good as well. Former closer of the future, Justin De Fratus was also really good this year and is likely to take over the 7th inning role. Jake Diekman is a lefty who can throw nearly as fast as Giles, and can get righties out at a similar rate to lefties, not limiting him to a LOOGY role. Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez might also get a job in the bullpen if he can't win a job in the rotation; the Phillies FO seems to think he should make it into the rotation, though. Antonio Bastardo, as mentioned above, might have a spot in the bullpen if he doesn't end up traded somewhere else. Guys like Mario Hollands and Ethan Martin have a shot at making the bullpen next season as well. The Phillies also have another reliever, named Jonathan Papelbon. Papelbon has been one of the best relief pitchers in baseball over the past decade, but the Phillies would likely want to trade him because he's owed $13 million per year over the next two years. If they end up keeping him, though, he'll be good. So, now that we've got through what the Phillies have now, what's next? Well, there are obviously a few key things the Phillies can do. 1. Sign Yasmany Tomas. I don't care how much it costs, the Phillies have to sign him, or the offseason will be a failure in my mind. Tomas is a young Cuban slugger, who should be able to stick in the outfield, and he's likely ready for the major leagues now. Tomas is the best chance the Phillies have to inject a source of power into their lineup that's been sorely missing. In addition, since he's only 23 years old, he should be entering his prime just as the Phillies begin to get good. If they end up missing out on Tomas, I will cry. The backup plan, though, should be to sign Colby Rasmus. He'll likely be available on a cheapish deal, around $6 million a year for a couple years, hopefully. Since he's only 28, there's a chance that he could be a useful piece for multiple years. 2. Trade Jonathan Papelbon to the Tigers. Dave Dombrowski loves veteran relievers, and there's no better veteran reliever that's potentially available than Papelbon. There were rumors a while back about a swap of Papelbon for Nick Castellanos, the Tigers young third baseman and left fielder. I have no idea if that deal would work, but the Tigers seem like one of the best trade partners the Phillies would have for Papelbon. 3. Deal with Ryan Howard. They'll likely have to eat a ton of salary, but as I said above, even if they have to eat his entire contract it will likely be better for the Phillies long term if they trade him. Since his glove is not good, he'd likely only be a fit for an AL team in need of a DH. If the Phillies end up trading Howard, that will open up the first base position. If I were in charge and was able to trade Howard, I'd likely give Ruf the 1B job, and give Franco the 3B job. Asche, on the other hand, I would offer as a throw-in 3B to give the Tigers to get Castellanos. 4. Sign a couple starting pitchers. The Phillies badly need rotation depth. Even when they're tanking they need people to throw bad innings, and guys who can do that consistently would probably help keep things in order during the season. Guys like Shields, Lester, and Scherzer are definitely out of the Phillies price range, and aren't young enough to be useful to a team that won't contend for a few years anyway. The guys the Phillies should target will likely take one year deals, and can be traded at the deadline if they do well, similar to what they did in 2014 with Roberto Hernandez. The guys I'm thinking of are: Brandon Morrow - Strikeouts ahoy! Morrow has had a horrendous past couple of years, filled with injuries as well. In 2012 he had a career year, with a 2.96 ERA in 124.2 innings. If the Phillies sign him, they're going to hope that he can regain that form. Colby Lewis - He had three good years with the Rangers, and after missing 2013 with an injury came back this year and did poorly. Probably not worth going after, but as with Morrow, there is a chance he could have a bounce back year. Jake Peavy - The former Cy Young Award winner just won the World Series with the Giants, and he was poo poo during the World Series. He might end up making too much on the open market to be worth it for the Phillies, but he's got the best pedigree of any of the non-ace starters, and might be worth a look. Josh Johnson - Constantly injured, missed all of 2014. He might not even be healthy enough to play again. Brandon McCarthy - Could he recapture that A's magic and earn a huge contract with another team? Maybe, but his time with the Yankees might have pushed his value above what the Phillies can and should pay. Chad Billingsley - Another injury reclamation project, Billingsley missed all of 2014 and most of 2013 because of Tommy John surgery. If he can come back healthy, then he'd definitely be the best pitcher on this list, along with being only 30 next season. Brett Anderson - Anderson is the most injured player in existence, even more than Josh Johnson. Gavin Floyd - Former Phillie, which makes him better in the eyes of the current front office. He battled injuries for a while as well. Of this group the guys I'd be most interested in are McCarthy and Peavy, only because they've spent the least amount of time injured, though the two of them are likely to be the most expensive. No matter what, the Phillies are going to need starting pitchers badly. 5. Trade Marlon Byrd and Antonio Bastardo. They only have a year left before free agency and they're both likely to fetch something possibly useful and much cheaper than they themselves are. So, after all this, what do the Phillies look like? Well, in my dream scenario, the Phillies trade Howard for org depth and maybe a pitcher who might make the team in a year or two. They also trade Papelbon and Asche to the Tigers for Castellanos, who they would move to left field. They sign McCarthy to a one year deal and trade Marlon Byrd and Antonio Bastardo for low-impact prospects. And then, obviously, they open the checkbook for Yasmany Tomas. The team would end up looking something like this: C - Ruiz 1B - Ruf 2B - Utley SS - Rollins 3B - Franco LF - Castellanos and Brown fight for the job CF - Revere RF - Tomas Cesar Hernandez, Cameron Rupp, Freddy Galvis, Grady Sizemore, and whoever loses the LF job would likely make up the bench. It's not a good bench, but it could be worse. e: The other option would be to play Franco at first, Castellanos at third and platoon Ruf and Brown in LF. Franco, Brown, and Castellanos all have more potential than Ruf does, so if the Phillies want to audition players for the future, it's best if the three of them play more than Ruf. The rotation would likely be Hamels-Lee-McCarthy-Williams-Buchanan. Giles would head up the bullpen, closing out games. De Fratus would take over the setup role, and Diekman, Hollands, MAG, and a couple Spring Training invites would round out the bullpen. This Phillies team wouldn't be good, but it would show the clearest sense of direction the Phillies have shown in a long time. mentholmoose fucked around with this message at 01:40 on Nov 4, 2014 |
|
#
?
Nov 4, 2014 01:29
|
|
|
The A's need to trade Josh Donaldson for a bunch of smaller pieces to cover the loss of Geovany Soto, Jed Lowrie, and Alberto Callaspo. I learned this from Ken Rosenthal. I really don't know what I'd do with the A's. The team was really good and then they just all stopped so now I don't know who's good (besides Donaldson). The most painful free agent loss (aside from obvious Lester rental) is...Luke Gregerson? Otherwise most positions are filled by returning guys. The exception is middle infield, but every available middle infielder is crap. So, IMO, the only reasonable thing for the A's to do this offseason is bring back Mark Ellis.
|
|
#
?
Nov 4, 2014 02:22
|
|
|
New York Yankees 2014 Record – 84-78, did not qualify for the postseason 2014 Pythagorean Record – 77-85 Notable Losses/Free Agents SS Derek Jeter: Though the Captain’s bat had fallen off considerably in his final season, it is no doubt that he is a significant, off-the field loss for the organization. Jeter had been the picture of consistency and was the face of New York and baseball for two decades. His leadership in the clubhouse and marketability will be missed. On the field, Jeter appears to be an easy replacement, given the availability of an impact bat in Hanley Ramirez and secondary players such as Stephen Drew, Asdrubal Cabrera or Jed Lowrie. RHSP Hiroki Kuroda: Kuroda was a lock for about 200 innings and a 3.50 ERA each year during his New York career. However, each year Kuroda flirted with the notion of retirement, going year-to year with the Yanks. New York did not offer him a qualifying offer, which is telling given the quality of production he brought year-to-year in his late 30s. I believe that this is the year Kuroda hangs up his spikes, and if so, he will retire severely underrated in both his tenures with the Dodgers and the Yankees. RHSP/RP Esmil Rogers: Rogers was acquired in a waiver claim from Toronto. He did some starting and some relieving. Notably held the fifth starter spot until Michael Pineda returned. Is projected by MLBTR to earn $1.1M next season, so he’s a definite non-tender. LHRP David Huff: The English Wade LeBlanc; Huff did well in a long relief role, posting a 1.85 ERA in 39 innings after being reacquiring from San Francisco in early June. Given that long relievers are a dime a dozen and Huff projects to earn $700K, Huff is also a likely non-tender. OF Ichiro Suzuki: The greatest Japanese import of all time, Ichiro had a good year in a bench role. However, given his age and desire to keep playing until reaching 3000 MLB hits, it’s likely the Yankees and the international superstar part ways this winter. 3B Chase Headley: Acquired in July for the Solarte Party, Yangervis Solarte, and a minor league arm. Headley stabilized a poor (that’s being generous) infield defense, making highlight reel plays and regular plays with ease. His bat left something to be desired, however. Headley wants to play every day and those at-bats may not be guaranteed given the return of Alex Rodriguez. RHSP Brandon McCarthy: Acquired in July for catching prospect/one-man Home Run Derby Peter O’Brien, McCarthy was a revelation after being allowed to throw his cutter again. He effectively replaced the injured Masahiro Tanaka’s production and kept a mediocre rotation together. Has a fantastic Twitter account. Enjoyed his time in New York and projects to get a sizable contract. Arbitration Eligible Guys RHRP Shawn Kelley: Third year of arbitration. Typical frustrating reliever; could be lights out or Rick Ankiel every time out. He’s a keeper given his low salary projection and good peripheral stats. C Francisco Cervelli: Second year of arbitration. Cervelli has been plagued by injury during his career but is serviceable when playing. Fond of theatrics. Was once mocked by Jose Bautista. Likely on the fence here given the emergence of John Ryan Murphy as an option. RHSP Ivan Nova: Second year of arbitration. Nova was electric in his 2013 season, providing ace-like numbers after he returned from the minor leagues. Had a lot riding on him in 2014, but was lost to Tommy John surgery and is now an unknown. A keeper given his talent. RHSP Michael Pineda: Third year of arbitration as a Super Two. Pineda was famously acquired from the Mariners in early 2012 for one-time wunderkind Jesus Montero, and was famously injured until 2014. Had a dumb pine tar related suspension. Was mesmerizing and performed extremely well when he did pitch in 2014. He’s a no-brainer keep even if he went out and had a drunken soiree with seven prostitutes tomorrow night. RHSP/RP David Phelps: First year of arbitration. Found success in a swingman role this season, had very good numbers despite being limited by injuries for a good portion of 2014. A keeper for depth purposes. Weaknesses Jeez, where to start? I suppose the offense is as good as any place. The Yankees, perhaps unfathomably, had an even poorer offense than they did in 2013. The 2014 team hit .245/.307/.380 despite adding big name bats such as Brian McCann and Carlos Beltran in the offseason. Some of that was due to injury to players, but on the whole the offense gave away too many at-bats and could not do anything when they did get on base. For the second year in a row, the Yankees were struck by the injury bug. Last year, the offense was taken hostage, and this year, the pitching was wrecked by injuries. CC Sabathia was ineffective in eight starts and was shut down for what was once thought to be career ending knee surgery. Ivan Nova was lost to Tommy John surgery. Masahiro Tanaka was almost lost to Tommy John, but effectively had his season ended in July. Michael Pineda missed two months with another shoulder injury. The Yankees’ lack of rotation depth proved to be decisive in another year without the postseason. Guaranteed contracts. The Yankees spent over $500M on free agents only to miss the playoffs for a second straight season. Similarly, the team has over $160M in guaranteed contracts before arbitration players are dealt with, and those contracts belong to players who are no longer the players they were. These deals will eventually end, but right now, the Yanks have no choice but to play players who will likely not be productive and that will hamper any serious playoff runs. Strengths Money. The Yankees’ forte has always been the free agent market. This year’s market is very top heavy, but the players available can add significant value. Similarly, the Yankees have always been a very strong presence in Latin America. The Steinbrenners’ want to field a winning product, and there is no cost they won’t pay to put butts in the seats, for better or for worse. Rebound performances. Brian McCann won’t be a replacement level hitter again in 2015. The pitching staff won’t face tremendous injuries again, at least on a 2014 level. Many of the players the Yankees have are still in or just outside of their prime years, so there is potential for a total rebound from 2014’s dreary days. Youth. The team has a significant amount of prospects motoring through the minor leagues. The closest pieces are 2B Rob Refsnyder, C Gary Sanchez, and LHSP Manny Banuelos. These players could likely make the show in 2015, and would finally represent meaningful results for the minor league system. Other players such as OF Aaron Judge and 3B Eric Jagielo are still a number of years away, but represent a significant improvement over the lack of position prospects over the years. Obviously, young players in MLB take time to develop and mature, so the infusion of young players now will likely coincide with the expiring of many major deals still left on the books. So, what’s the plan? I believe that the Yankees need time to be mediocre and let their deals expire and let the kids come up and learn. If this were Pittsburgh or Tampa Bay, this would be a viable plan. The Yankees plan on contending in 2015, and I think it’s possible if the right moves are made. 1)Re-sign Brandon McCarthy and Chase Headley. McCarthy and Headley were key players in 2014 for the Yankees. I think that another year away from Headley’s back injury will do wonders for his bat. Similarly, I think that McCarthy is a must sign given the high quality pitching he did down the stretch. Bring back McCarthy on something like 3/48M and Headley on 2/20M and the team is already much stronger. 2)Sign SS Hanley Ramirez and RHSP Max Scherzer. If the Yankees plan on making the postseason, they need significant jolts to the roster. Adding an impact bat like Hanley will negate any defensive concerns. Similarly, adding a pitcher like Scherzer would increase the viability of the rotation. Since joining Detroit, Scherzer was the pinnacle of health and also a workhorse. 3)Sign LHRP Andrew Miller and RHRP David Robertson. One of the major strengths for the Yankees was the bullpen. It was led by David Robertson and Dellin Betances, with guest appearances by Adam Warren and Shawn Kelley. Re-signing Robertson, an elite reliever with years of experience, would be a wise move, allowing the Yanks to use Betances as the mythical relief ace. Adding another power arm such as Miller would increase the depth of the bullpen, and allow Betances more days to rest. Miller had a fantastic year with Boston and Baltimore, and has really found a role as a lights-out, late inning reliever. 4)Add another depth starter. Much of the rotation is comprised of injury risks (relative to pitchers) in CC Sabathia, Masahiro Tanaka, and Michael Pineda. Ivan Nova likely won’t return to the rotation until May at the earliest. Signing a Jason Hammel or Ervin Santana would prove wise, as relying on pitchers such as Chris Capuano, like the Bombers did last season, will not cut in a tough and improving division such as the AL East. The Call? I think that if New York does these moves, they have a shot at 93+ wins. The American League and baseball in general is weak across the board, so those are division winning, home field through the playoffs numbers. I think that realistically the Yankees are looking at another middle-of-the pack year in which they flirt with the second wild card. However, I think they have a shot at winning the second one. My call is an 89-73 record with an improved offense and a second wild card showdown with someone like the Twins or Mariners.
|
|
#
?
Nov 4, 2014 03:06
|
|
|
Trade Verlander and Miggy for the Royals bullpen. This is a good idea both long and short term fight me irl 
|
|
#
?
Nov 4, 2014 03:28
|
|
|
Carlosologist posted:1)Re-sign Brandon McCarthy and Chase Headley. McCarthy and Headley were key players in 2014 for the Yankees. I think that another year away from Headley’s back injury will do wonders for his bat. Similarly, I think that McCarthy is a must sign given the high quality pitching he did down the stretch. Bring back McCarthy on something like 3/48M and Headley on 2/20M and the team is already much stronger. I cannot agree more with this. I think those two guys are almost underrated in how much they kept the Yankees above water this season, and I would love to see them back for a couple more seasons. I'm hoping that McCann and Beltran can turn things around (and with Beltran getting the surgery, I think he has a decent chance given his flashes this year.) That said, I think the multi-year Beltran contract was truly dumb, although that's mainly because I wish the Yankees would have picked up Melky this off-season, which probably wouldn't happen even if the Yankees didn't have a glut of outfielders. That said, I have no faith in CC's ability to pitch anymore. I think the nature of his knee injury means he simply will not be able to throw well enough to beat major league hitters. I do have high hopes for Nova's return, and I think Pineda will actually pitch an entire season (based on nothing but my aforementioned newfound optimism.) If Masahiro's arm falls off I will jump off a building, however. Rolling with a six-man rotation might not the worst idea for all of these guys, and it's practically mandatory if they bring back Kuroda. Kelley's season was thrown all out of whack by a back injury as well, so maybe the off-season rehab time will let him get back on the type of game we got early in the season. Like you said, he's cheap enough to keep around and see. The 2015 Yankees also need to loving win at home. God drat that was incredibly frustrating this year. Carlosologist posted:Youth. The team has a significant amount of prospects motoring through the minor leagues. The closest pieces are 2B Rob Refsnyder, C Gary Sanchez, and LHSP Manny Banuelos. These players could likely make the show in 2015, and would finally represent meaningful results for the minor league system. Other players such as OF Aaron Judge and 3B Eric Jagielo are still a number of years away, but represent a significant improvement over the lack of position prospects over the years. Obviously, young players in MLB take time to develop and mature, so the infusion of young players now will likely coincide with the expiring of many major deals still left on the books. Also this. I'm really excited to see what happens with Ref, and it seems like the Yankees really have a lot of exciting guys at all levels. Part of that is definitely observer bias since I never really paid much attention to the minors before this season, but I feel like even objective folks have started saying the Yankees farm system has turned a corner. Inspector_666 fucked around with this message at 03:39 on Nov 4, 2014 |
|
#
?
Nov 4, 2014 03:31
|
|
|
Twins time! Team: Minnesota Twins 2014 Record: 70-92, 5th in AL Central 2014 Pythag: 75-87, 4th in AL Central 2014 Payroll: $85,776,500 Summary: It was a year of slight improvement for the Twins, who's offense was overlooked due to their horrendous starting pitching (more on those later). They lost 90+ games for the fourth straight year, and though they did manage to win 70 games for the first time in those years, that probably doesn't comfort Ron Gardenhire much, as he was fired at the end of the season. Strengths: Glen Perkins, Joe Mauer, Phil Hughes, Brian Dozier Weaknesses: Starting Pitching, Joe Mauer's body, Starting Pitching, defense in general, no seriously guys the Starting Pitching was terrible Under Contract for 2015 Joe Mauer 1B $23,000,000 Ricky Nolasco SP $12,000,000 Phil Hughes SP $8,000,000 Kurt Suzuki C $6,000,000 Mike Pelfrey SP $5,500,000 Glen Perkins CL $4,650,000 Total committed Payroll - $59,150,000 Arbitration (with projected values) Trevor Plouffe $3,800,000 Jordan Schafer $1,500,000 Anthony Swarzak $1,700,000 Casey Fien $1,500,000 Tommy Milone $1,400,000 Eduardo Escobar $900,000 Eduardo Nunez $1,000,000 Totals $11,800,000 I would dump Duensing, and Milone might have come short of arb. These projections are from August so I'm not sure if he did. Total Payroll with Arbitration - $70,950,000 Pre-arbitration contracts OF Oswaldo Arcia SS/OF Danny Santana 2B Brian Dozier OF Aaron Hicks SP Trevor May SP Kyle Gibson RP Anthony Swarzack RP Caleb Theilbar C/DH Josmil Pinto 1B/DH Kennys Vargas 1B/OF Chris Parmelee C/OF Chris Hermann some other players I can't think of right now We'll call this 9.05 mil to bring our Total Payroll at start of offseason - $80 million The Twins owners are probably willing to spend about 110-120 million on a team they think is a winner. Obviously that isn't happening so let's try and keep this around 100. Current Lineup C: Suzuki 1B: Mauer 2B: Dozier SS: Escobar/Santana 3B: Plouffe LF: Hicks/Hermann/Parmelee? CF: Santana/Hicks RF: Arcia DH: Vargas Current Rotation 1: Phil Hughes  Current Bullpen CL: Perkins MR: Who cares they're all interchangeable and the Twins bullshit out good relievers all the time LR: Swarzack The Offseason The Twins offense was eighth in baseball in runs scored last year, which is pretty good considering Mauer missed a couple months and had less power than some pitchers. With some young prospects entering their first full year and Sano on the horizon, in theory the offense should only get better. Either way, it's so not the problem so let's focus on Starting Pitchers haha yeah right Obviously you want your team to sign a big name. And honestly, considering what they have in the minors, signing an Ace to go with Hughes could do a lot to turn the Twins into contenders by 2016, or 2015 if they get a little lucky. Max Scherzer, Jon Lester, James Shields. Shields is probably the only guy they'd have a chance on but I don't think he's really worth it, especially with the loss of a pick. Unlikely Kenta Maeda is probably going to be posted. Several teams will probably bid the max and I doubt the Twins will take the risk on him with what he'll get in, essentially, an open market. Brandon McCarthy - I like him but I just think he'll sign in a bigger market. Ervin Santana, Fransisco Liriano - See James Shields Actual targets So these are the guys I'd try to sign Jason Hammel - 39% GB rate, 8.1 k/9. Hey, it worked for Phil Hughes. Brett Anderson - The talent is there, and he can compete with Mauer for time on the DL. Worth the risk, I think. MLBTR says 3/30 on Hammel, which seems about right. Anderson can probably be had much cheaper, maybe a one year reclamation deal around 5 mil. That puts the opening day rotation at a much more tolerable 1: Hughes 2: Nolasco 3: Hammel 4: Anderson 5: Gibson I think you can slot May in there if you only get one pitcher/once Anderson breaks. I assume Meyer comes up in June/July. I'm not sure he's the answer, I've heard rumblings that they're worried he won't develop a quality third pitch. Summary The Twins offense doesn't need much of a boost because they have either good players or young players at or close to the majors. Their starting pitching needs to be the focus and, if they can get towards fixing it, they could conceivably be competing in 2016. Prediction: Respectability, finish around .500, best case is they're playing meaningful baseball in September.
|
|
#
?
Nov 4, 2014 04:00
|
|
|
mentholmoose posted:Colby Lewis - He had three good years with the Rangers, and after missing 2013 with an injury came back this year and did poorly. Probably not worth going after, but as with Morrow, there is a chance he could have a bounce back year. Not sure how carefully you looked at his season but he looked to be mostly back to form at years end. Not as good as he was his first couple years back with the Rangers, but definitely solid for a back of the rotation guy. He was complete garbage in the first half, for sure though.
|
|
#
?
Nov 4, 2014 04:36
|
|
|
can i use this thread to not actually play gm at all and just vent my stream-of-consciousness thoughts ok ill take that as a yes here goes THE 2015 TAMPA BAY RAYS OF ST. PETERSBURG 2014 record: 77-85 2014 pythag: 79-83 The Rays go into this offseason as possibly the biggest enigma in baseball, coming off their worst season in 7 years and losing both their much-lauded GM and Manager before any other team had even made a move. From the outside looking in, this looks like a team whose small payroll has caught up with them, with some of their best players creeping up in years, the once very strong farm system nearly barren, and generally looking like a team that should cash out and start up the rebuild (even some Rays fans are feeling this sentiment). But the more I think about it, the less I'm convinced that this team doesn't have a couple more years left in them. I mean, let's break down everything we're looking at, including the season they've just come off of: Management (Andrew Friedman -> Matt Silverman, Joe Maddon -> ???): Let's address the elephant in the room first. What we do know is that Andrew Friedman is a very, very good GM, and his loss will be missed. What we don't know is precisely how much of the decision making was from purely Andrew, and while I'm not naive enough to insinuate that there will be no dip in quality, considering how tightly under wraps the team has always kept everything and how adamantly I've argued them to be the smartest FO in baseball it would be silly for me not to be at least a little cautiously optimistic. Likewise, I still think Maddon is a pretty good Manager for the most part but as we all know a Manager doesn't make or break a team, and I'd prefer to see who the replacement is before judging how it'll effect them too much. The Offense:
The Pitching:
The Season: And here is where I'm going to make my case for them being good again next year. Last offseason the team went about as close to all-in as they're ever going to go, possibly seeing their window closing as they shored up nearly every weakness they had and signed/extended basically everyone through 2016. Unfortunately 2014 was an awful mishmash of bad luck for them, with Cobb, Moore, Zobrist, Escobar, DeJesus, Hanigan, Jennings, Myers, Molina, Hellickson, Colome, Peralta, and I think a couple more that I'm forgetting all missing varying lengths of time. None of those with the exception of Cobb and arguably Moore are team killers in their own right, but the sheer volume of them just crushed them. And the encouraging thing about that? The vast majority of those injuries came in the first 2 months of the season, when they dragged themselves to a 24-42 start, and after that they went 53-43 for the rest of the season. Really I could have just posted this paragraph and called it a day but here we are IN CONCLUSION The Rays will maybe be good for another 1-3 seasons i think. if you actually read all this i thank and pity you Monicro fucked around with this message at 12:49 on Nov 4, 2014 |
|
#
?
Nov 4, 2014 05:27
|
|
|
I always looked at the Rays as a little brother (the Sox are always that kid with the dirtstache who thinks his sword collection was so cool), and it makes me sad that their fanbase is so terrible and more people didn't get into them when they were a young dynamic team with Maddon at the helm.
|
|
#
?
Nov 4, 2014 06:09
|
|
|
Let's talk about the Seattle Mariners! 2014 Record: 87-75 2014 Pythag: 91-71 Unlike the fluke year of 2009 where the Mariners won a lot of games despite having a negative run differential, the Mariners were a good team and got unlucky with 1-run games. As most are aware, they came 1 game short of the playoffs after the pitching got gassed in the final month of the season. A lot has improved from last year, however, and all of their good pieces from last year are under contract for this year. I'm not going to talk money since most of the players coming back are under team control and I assume most players will avoid arbitration and sign deals beforehand, which has more or less been the Mariners' M.O. for some time. Management: Jack Z is pretty polarizing. He's more bad than good, but he made some good-process (bad result) deadline trades, notably turning Nick Franklin into Austin Jackson. Unfortunately, AJaxx, Morales, and Chris Denorfia combined for a -.5 bWAR. Only AJaxx remains on contract next season. Lloyd McClendon wasn't a sexy pick last season, but so far he hasn't been too bad, except he's allergic to playing Michael Saunders. Catcher: Held down by Mike Zunino. He's a great defensive catcher and has power. The rest of his batting leaves a lot to be desired. He can't hit breaking pitches, and he swings and misses too much. He was notably rushed through the minors which probably is affecting his ability to hit. He'll probably start next year unless there's an injury between now and spring training. Jesus Sucre will probably be the backup, because despite his awful bat, he's a good defensive catcher, something this organization values. First base: Justin Smoak is gone  After 4 years of showing some potential then sucking, the cord was cut. He's Toronto's problem now. Right now, this position belongs to Logan Morrison. LoMo had a surge at the end of the season, and ended up with an OPS+ of 111, which is close to his career average. I would expect that from him next season. He's not anything fancy, but he's serviceable until the next big thing (DJ Peterson if he succeeds in AAA) arrives. Second base: Robinson Cano. He's pretty good. Short stop: We started the season with Brad Miller. His 2013 showed potential. He started 2014 off hot, then completely fell off a cliff and looked awful. He never got demoted to the minors. In the end they called up Chris Taylor, who is a much better defender than Miller, but lacks the power that Miller has. Brad Miller recovered toward the end of the season, so now there's a dilemma of which person to pick as the starting SS, and what to do with the other one. There's rumors the organization is considering trying Miller in the outfield to make him a super utility player like Mark Mclemore / Ben Zobrist, but who the hell knows if Miller can play outfield. Third base: Kyle Seager. He's also pretty good. Outfield: Here's where it gets ugly. Dustin Ackley manned left field for most of the season, and put up an OPS+ of 99. He'll probably be on the roster again next year, but he's by no means a top contributor. In center, Austin Jackson looked to be a pretty meaningful upgrade from James Jones, but he ended up becoming awful after being traded from Detroit. He could bounce back, but who the hell knows. In right, Michael Saunders got the most playing time, but he's oft-injured. Toward the end of the season, McClendon was hesitant to use him, despite being the best hitting outfielder on the team. Endy Chavez played way too much, Stefen Romero is not a major league player, and James Jones' only good ability is he's speedy on the basepaths - he's a worse version of Juan Pierre. If the Mariners intend on competing, there should be an upgrade here. Designated Hitter: Here's where the wheels got completely unhinged. The DHs combined to .206/.276/.335. This includes a mixture of Corey Hart, Kendrys Morales, as well as mini-spot starts from others. This is a huge black hole, which is why the Mariners are heavily linked to V-Mart. Utility: Willie Bloomquist. Moving on... Starting Pitching Felix Hernandez: Owns and will probably win the Cy Young. Got a little gassed at the end, which sucks but he was still excellent otherwise. Hisashi Iwakuma: Wasn't as good as he was last year (he started the season on the DL), but still a solid starter and a great #2. He's on a very friendly deal and could be used as trade bait. James Paxton: Suffered a lat injury at the beginning of the season. When he came back, he was almost as good as Iwakuma. I expect to see him pitching again. His weird delivery is cause for injury concern, though. Roenis Elias: Was put into the fire and skipped AAA altogether. He struggled a bit, and ended his season on the DL. Will probably be in the starting rotation next year. Taijuan Walker: Seattle's prized pitching prospect got injured, then proceeded to not look very good in several starts, causing his stock to drop. He still shows promise, but who the hell knows what he'll be. Bullpen: Seattle's bullpen was really drat good. Besides the Fernando Rodney experience (a 1.342 WHIP out of your closer is pretty bad), Tom Wilhelmsen found his dominant form. Danny Farquhar became a shutdown reliever, Brandon Maurer went from terrible starter to flamethrowing reliever, and Dominic Leone and Carson Smith made rookie debuts that really impressed. I'm hoping we can fleece Detroit with one of these relievers somehow. OFFSEASON STRATEGY: - Go hard for Victor Martinez: Jack Z has noted the ownership has allowed him to spend more. VMart fills a void at DH. He's limited in play, and is on the wrong side of 35, but I think he's worth the risk. His production will fill a void at DH the organization hasn't been able to replace since Edgar. The AL West is really loving competitive, so to win there's gonna have to be some overpays. If VMart fails, Billy Butler and/or Michael Cuddyer might be FA options. - Get another decent SP: Seattle went a little thin at SP last year, notoriously cutting Randy Wolf (who sucked) and at the last minute signing Chris Young (who wasn't that bad). After Paxton's injury, the team was forced to use Blake Beaven, Brandon Maurer, Erasmo Ramirez and a couple bullpen starts by Tom Wilhelmsen, which cost the team several wins. SP depth is a thing all teams need because pitchers will break. - Get another outfielder: I don't really have much faith in Ackley, AJaxx and Saunders to give consistent production. It would probably be wise to acquire an outfielder in a trade that could be more reliable. Yoenis Cespedes sounds intriguing if the Red Sox are truly interested in trading him. - Keep both Miller and Taylor: It wouldn't be the worst thing to platoon these guys. Both of them can play off short. There is a possibility that Brad Miller can do a bit of starts in outfield (they'll probably work him there). If that's the case, then the team can cut ties with Willie Fuckin' Bloomquist and use his bench spot for someone else. Overall, I don't think last year was a fluke for the Mariners. They were a good team that played heavily into pitching and defense. Now if they could get offensive production out of their offense-only spot, they might be a great team.
|
|
#
?
Nov 4, 2014 07:19
|
|
|
Monicro posted:Management (Andrew Friedman -> Matt Silverman, Joe Maddon -> ???): Let's address the elephant in the room first. What we do know is that Andrew Friedman is a very, very good GM, and his loss will be missed. What we don't know is precisely how much of the decision making was from purely Andrew, and while I'm not naive enough to insinuate that there will be no dip in quality, considering how tightly under wraps the team has always kept everything and how adamantly I've argued them to be the smartest FO in baseball it would be silly for me not to be at least a little cautiously optimistic. Likewise, I still think Maddon is a pretty good Manager for the most part but as we all know a Manager doesn't make or break a team, and I'd prefer to see who the replacement is before judging how it'll effect them too much. Keven Goldstein used to say a lot of good things about the career baseball people in the Rays org around Friedman. In fact, he was really hard on Friedman and believed it was the baseball people who were driving the success of the Rays. I think Friedman had pretty good judgement when it came to talent and negotiating or at least the organization did and that could be missed if it was a product of his leadership. I think there's actually a chance, in the short run, that Maddon is missed more than Friedman because a lot of managers don't know how to use their best players effectively and I think Maddon gets that more than most. Right now, the organizational knowledge is as good as it was under Friedman, the question is how does the new group lead the org so that they can be better off in two years than they are now? tadashi fucked around with this message at 15:08 on Nov 4, 2014 |
|
#
?
Nov 4, 2014 15:02
|
|
|
I don’t really want to do the Cubs because it would just be “sign player x, y and z” so I’m going to do the team that plays in my backyard and everybody loves to hate because they are kind of harder to work with. Atlanta Braves 2014: 79-83, 2nd place in NL East GM: John Hart (president). Hired as president of baseball operations on Oct. 23rd. Manager: Fredi Gonzalez 358-290 with the Braves, has not finished worse than 2nd in the division w/ Braves The Overview: $85.5 M comitted for 2014 by way of arbitration and guaranteed contracts. They have about $25M to play with in salary so I don’t think they will bring in another big free agent like BJ and will look to making trades and addressing their depth issues on offense since they have a lot of players with back-loaded deals. The Braves will probably add a starting pitcher but I think the focus needs to be on offense. The Braves have a decent core of youngish players returning that provide excellent run prevention but are not-so good at creating runs on offense. Notable Losses: GM Frank Wren – Wren was fired after the Braves missed the playoffs for the 5th time in 8 years. He allegedly wanted to fire Fredi Gonzalez after the season but was rebuffed by other Braves execs, especially Bobby Cox. SP Ervin Santana – 92 ERA+. Signed in a jam to replace Kris Medlen. Received a QO from the Braves. SP Aaron Harang. Signed to replace Beachy and as a bridge to Gavin Floyd. Ended up posting the best ERA of his career (keep in mind offense sucks now and Harang has been around a while). SP Gavin Floyd – Broken elbow a little over a month after coming off the DL to join the Braves rotation. Everybody below this sentence represents addition by subtraction: Dan Uggla, 2B – Fired into the sun. Will get a ring for playing on the Giants for 3 weeks. Ryan Doumit, bench guy –Acquired from the Twins in a small trade for former first rounder Sean Gilmartin. A third catcher who sucks at catching and can’t do anything else wasn’t the depth the Braves needed last year. Gerald Laird, catcher/fat guy – Fell back to earth in 2014 with a 52 OPS+. Emilio Bonifacio, util – acquired with James Russell from the Cubs at the deadline, Bonifacio was supposed to provide some depth in the outfield and infield but he didn’t. Hit .212/.273/.280 with the Braves after having a decent first half with the Cubs. Jordan Schafer, CF/  - claimed by the Twins off waivers after he was designated to make room for Bonifacio. This was a case of Terry Ryan (the Twins’ GM) saving Fredi Gonzalez from himself as Gonzalez had been over-using Schafer for years.Guaranteed Contracts: $64.2 M for 8 players Freddie Freeman, 1b Justin Upton, lf B.J. Upton, cf Jason Heyward, rf Andrelton Simmons, ss Craig Kimbrel, rp Julio Teheran, sp Chris loving Johnson, 3b Arb eligible: $21.38M Notables: Kris Medlen, sp (arb3, 5.8) – was emerging into a pretty good starting pitcher after spending a lot of time in the bullpen earlier in his career. Will be coming back from TJS, but the exact date is unclear. Mike Minor, sp (arb2, 5.1)– flyball pitcher who makes decent use of Turner’s pitcher friendly dimensions and the Braves (usually) strong defense in the outfield. The Braves love this guy. I think he’s a good #4 pitcher which is to say I don’t see a lot more upside but he’s fine to have. Johnny Venters, rp (arb3, 1.63) – Venters might be non-tendered and re-signed for the 2nd straight season unless the Braves have just given up on him. He was a bad-rear end his first 2 seasons but injuries derailed his career in 2012 and he hasn’t pitched since. Jordan Walden, rp (arb2, 3) – Acquired from the Angels for Tommy Hanson prior to 2013. This was one of Frank Wren’s best trades. Brandon Beachy, sp (arb2, 1.45) – pretty good 4/5 guy the Braves found in a summer league years ago. Missed all of 2013 due to injury. They’ll hold onto him because he’ll be cheap. David Carpenter, rp (arb1, 1.1) – claimed off waivers before the 2013 season from the Red Sox, Carp has a 2.63 ERA as a Brave. His 3.54 ERA last season may have been due to bad luck as his FIP was a much better 2.94. James Russell, rp (arb3, 2.4) – Acquired from the Cubs with Bonifacio to be a token lefty but wasn’t so good at it. Could be a non-tender candidate if the Braves really want to squeeze money. How to improve the Braves: 1. There was a BJ Upton for Edwin Jackson (Cubs) trade rumor at the deadline that the teams will reportedly return to this off-season but I’m not sure it will happen with Wren gone. Jackson can still throw a baseball but BJ is no longer capable of hitting one so I think this would be a win for the Braves. They should do this even if it costs them a minor prospect in the process. They need to get away from BJ and this would save them a little money for this season. 2. Trade Evan Gattis – Christian Bethancourt is ready to take over at catcher, limiting Gattis’ role. In no way shape or form should the Braves consider trading Heyward or J Upton and moving Gattis to the OF (unless they just want to tank the season) but you will probably hear a lot of speculation about this. I have no suggestions other than finding a sucker who overvalues power and thinks Gattis can fake it in the outfield. Too bad the Diamondbacks traded for Mark Trumbo last year and then fired Kevin Towers. I'd suggest looking at Seattle but I don't know who they'd part with that the Braves need. Hart needs a minor miracle here but this is one of the few weapons the Braves have to get ahead. 3. Do not rush Jose Peraza – Some Braves fans are chomping at the bit to promote him to play 2nd base but he’s a swing-first hitter who doesn’t take walks and probably won’t duplicate his insane BABIP at the MLB level. There’s simply no reason to rush him to the MLB team. 4. Fix the outfield with a center-field platoon: OF Chris Young who had a great finish to the season with the Yankees after a rough start. He can play all 3 outfield positions and could be a decent platoon vs. lefties. I would also look at acquiring an outfielder from the Padres like Wil Venable. Venable shouldn’t cost a lot to acquire and may bounce back outside of San Diego. Venable and Young could platoon in center. It’s not great but it’s a lot better than their current options. Heyward is too injury prone to hold down center field. The Braves need to protect him by keeping him in right. 5. Sign Alberto Callaspo to platoon with Chris Johnson and Tommy La Stella – the switch-hitting infield veteran had the worst year of his career last year so I think they could sign him to a 1 year deal to help him regain some value and help the Braves improve over last year. Rotation Candidates: Julio Teheran Kris Medlen Mike Minor Alex Wood Brandon Beachy David Hale Edwin Jackson? Bullpen: Craig Kimbrel Jordan Walden James Russell David Carpenter Shae Simmons David Hale - swingman Johnny Venters?/Luis Avilan Starting Lineup: Christain Bethancourt, C Freddy Freeman, 1B Taylor Pastornicky, 2b Andrelton Simmons, ss Alberto Callaspo, 3b Justin Upton, lf Chris Young/Wil Venable, cf Jason Heyward, rf Bench Veteran Catcher, C Chris Johnson, 3B Chris Young/Wil Venable, of Ramiro Pena, inf Philip Gosselin, inf Closing thoughts: If the Braves cannot add several wins over last season by way of players staying healthy and depth acquisitions, then they need to tear the whole thing down and do everything they can to be competitive when SunTrust/Waffle House/Whatever stadium opens in 2017. Heyward and Justin Upton make excellent trade bait and, personally, I would trade Freeman in a heartbeat but he’s kind of their franchise guy.  A question for fans for AL teams Would your team be improved by Evan Gattis? Can you think of a fair trade for him that would be of mutual benefit to the Braves? The Braves need: CF, 2B, 3B, possibly a little help in the rotation. tadashi fucked around with this message at 17:04 on Nov 4, 2014 |
|
#
?
Nov 4, 2014 16:31
|
|
|
KIM JONG TRILL posted:Not sure how carefully you looked at his season but he looked to be mostly back to form at years end. Not as good as he was his first couple years back with the Rangers, but definitely solid for a back of the rotation guy. He was complete garbage in the first half, for sure though. I only glanced at his full season stats, to be honest. I doubt the Phillies will go after him anyways.
|
|
#
?
Nov 4, 2014 16:47
|
|
|
tadashi posted:
Limiting Gattis suitors to the AL does the Braves a disservice. A guy who can play LF, 1B, and C (albeit badly in all 3 cases) is very valuable to the right team. The Cardinals are an obvious choice, as stated in my writeup, and Bourjos or Grichuk can both play CF. Throw in a SP prospect and I think there's a match there. I could see the Pirates needing him too, actually, given that Ike Davis can't hit lefties and Russ Martin might be heading off for greener pastures.
|
|
#
?
Nov 4, 2014 17:52
|
|
|
I think anyone on the Braves not named Teheran, Wood and Freeman should be in play for trade. Obviously not at once. That wouldn't work. I love Heyward but if he has a big season (for a losing team next year) then he will get a big contract from someone and then the Braves will have gotten nothing in return. Same with J-Up. His September killed his overall numbers, but he could probably snag at least a young outfielder and a prospect from someone. I would even dangle Kimbrel at the Tigers to see what they would offer. I also like to imagine Kyle Wren coming up and being a star if only for the ultimate Thanksgiving Dinner trolling he could do on his own dad. Dingleberry Jones fucked around with this message at 19:39 on Nov 4, 2014 |
|
#
?
Nov 4, 2014 18:04
|
|
|
Toronto Blue Jays Record: 83-79 Days in 1st Place: 61 Hey! Wha' happen? The Jays offseason was hoping that their previous offseason was enough. In the end, it turns out AA may have been correct, as starting pitching wasn't the issue this year (tbh, it was a small issue, but not as bad as throwing big money at Jimenez or Santana would have been). However, his other hunches, such as forgetting about 2B, turned out to be wrong. While the Jays were still theoretically in contention for the last WC spot halfway through September, they cobbled together a six game losing streak which put the last nail in the coffin (because their playoff hopes died. Pretty gripping stuff). So, what do you think is the issue? Good question! The Jays have some great, elite talent (yeah, I said elite). Bautista and EE are two of the best hitters in the AL. Melky came back with a great season, and Lind put up great numbers against RHP (I guess I should point out here that only the former two are elite. I realize the error of my ways. It may have taken me less time to just change that sentence than to write out this explanation here, but y'know...). However, as you start to go down the order of the Jays batting order, the results are less than...good. The Jays, because of a lack of talent, gave significant PAs to luminaries such as Juan Fransciso (don't let the OPS+ fool you!), Kawasaki (great guy, but not much more than that), Gose (the guy every Jays fan thinks will be so awesome once he learns to hit, which is an easy skill to learn), and Goins (Mr. .188/.209/.271 in 193 PA). These are a lot of bad hitters that took up the bottom of the order pretty much every night. The pitching was less of an issue this year, as Dickey was fairly consistent (as in consistently average), Buehrle had a great start before turning back into the Buehrle we all know and love, and Stroman defied his critics who said he would never amount to anything because of his small size. Other pitchers were less good, which is a common theme on the Jays. Hutch, who I think will become a serviceable starter with the Jays, hit some rough patches. Happ happed, and put up good second half numbers, but seriously gently caress Happ. Luckily, the Jays starters were healthy for the season, so they didn't have to rely on as many spot starts as they did the previous season. The bullpen was an issue, though. I think it was one of the worst in the league (a stat I am sure I read somewhere, but don't want to look up right now). Sanchez pitched phenomenally, though, and even though it was only in 33 IP, it cast enough hope for Jays fans to have crushed next year. How will this be fixed? Honestly, I don't know. I am not a GM! But, the Jays are going to have to make some tough decisions this offseason. They still have a lot of money put into their team, and they still have a talented, albeit aging, core. They core just needs players around them that aren't terrible. Here are some ideas I have that can be relentlessly mocked: 1. Sign Melky Signing Melky is a risky proposition, because it comes with the risk he turns back into a pumpkin, or that the Jays sign him for too many years or too much money. However, the rewards outweigh the risks. A dependable LF at the top of the order is a nice thing to have, and gives the Jays another good hitter. 2. Do anything necessary to find a CF and 2B As of right now, the Jays are going into the season with a CF platoon of Gose/Pillar, and a 2B platoon of Izturis/Goins. All four of these guys suck, and will continue to suck next year. Going into the season with these four is admitting a number of things, mostly that the Jays are hoping that the top of their line-up, and pitching, will be enough to scrape by into the playoffs. It probably won't. Yes, I understand Ian Kinsler could have become a Jay, but he vetoed it, but dem da brakes, kid. Zobrist is an intriguing option, even though he's kind of old, and will probably be expensive. Hey, maybe Alex Rios wants to become a Jays player again? Sure, the second half of his season was putrid, and he's not a CF, but he's better than what you have now. Maybe don't listen to me, I have my head in the clouds, and I am just spitballin'. 3. See if anyone has interest in Happ Just give a call, send some feelers. He had a pretty good second half. Maybe that could be parlayed into something. Maybe just salary relief, which is a thing that Rogers apparently wants. 4. Pray for the stars to align Hopefully Bautista and EE both have healthy-ish seasons again. Hopefully Dickey and Buehrle (who should probably stay) can have healthy, average seasons again. Hopefully Stroman continues to pitch strongly. Hopefully Sanchez has got "it" and jumps into the rotation with great results. Hopefully Lawrie has a healthy years and figures "it" out. Hopefully this aging core stays the course, rather than starting a downward trend. Hopefully.
|
|
#
?
Nov 4, 2014 18:56
|
|
|
tadashi posted:A question for fans for AL teams I think the Yankees could definitely use a guy like him. While his defense may be bad, a guy who has 20 HR pop and can fill in at C/1B/LF/DH would be useful considering the age of Teixeira and his injury history. However, it couldn't happen because a lion's share of the DH ABs will go to Beltran/Rodriguez and Teixeira is going to play everyday. Definitely have the prospect capital to make a move though.
|
|
#
?
Nov 4, 2014 21:14
|
|
|
Inspector_666 posted:I cannot agree more with this. I think those two guys are almost underrated in how much they kept the Yankees above water this season, and I would love to see them back for a couple more seasons. Agreed If masahiro goes down I will literally cry They are also saying they're not looking at Sandoval Lester Scherzer. What if they get another bullpen guy and throw a backend with Betances Robertson + someone else? If phelps/warren is in the bullpen that is a crazy pen.
|
|
#
?
Nov 4, 2014 23:10
|
|
|
Detroit Tigers Offseason Plans Borrow the government's time machine, travel back in time and prevent the Fister trade. Trade Max Scherzer instead. Don't sign Verlander or Cabrera to extensions.
|
|
#
?
Nov 4, 2014 23:21
|
|
|
ZenVulgarity posted:Agreed I've come to never believe what the FO says. Remember when they said they weren't going to give up a pick to sign Soriano? I think adding Andrew Miller to the pen is a must, go for broke considering the weak offense around the league. Robertson/Betances/Miller/Warren/Kelley/Phelps is a deep pen that's probably top 10 in the league. I just really hope they get infield help. It was such a mess in the early portion of the season.
|
|
#
?
Nov 4, 2014 23:23
|
|
|
Brian Cashman said the Yankees were not going to sign Soriano. Randy Levine signed him and there was a big to-do at the press conference about how Cashman was not for the signing. The reason to not take a FO at face value is that they are a FO and why would they ever tell you their plan, not that incident. leokitty fucked around with this message at 23:32 on Nov 4, 2014 |
|
#
?
Nov 4, 2014 23:28
|
|
|
ZenVulgarity posted:They are also saying they're not looking at Sandoval Lester Scherzer. I think Panda is going to get a They should at least keep an eye on Lester and Scherzer, but again I don't think the need matches how much they will go for. Carlosologist posted:I just really hope they get infield help. It was such a mess in the early portion of the season. If they re-sign Headley, he and Prado shore up the infield defense pretty nicely, especially since Tex's decline has been mainly offense (not that his overall health isn't a problem, too.) Inspector_666 fucked around with this message at 23:36 on Nov 4, 2014 |
|
#
?
Nov 4, 2014 23:31
|
|
|
Nobody on earth is giving Pablo Sandoval anything approaching what Cano got. The Yankees should not sign him for a variety of reasons having nothing to do with that.
|
|
#
?
Nov 4, 2014 23:34
|
|
|
Rand alPaul posted:Detroit Tigers Offseason Plans This but with the angels not trying harder for greinke and giving that money to Hamilton. Angels team is basically unchanged from last year but with Vernon wells/ joe blanton money coming off the books and immediately going into trouts pockets. They could use a lefty in the pen as they were without one the entire year basically and gave up a couple key late inning homers to lefties in the postseason but otherwise did fine without one.
|
|
#
?
Nov 4, 2014 23:34
|
|
|
leokitty posted:Nobody on earth is giving Pablo Sandoval anything approaching what Cano got. The Yankees should not sign him for a variety of reasons having nothing to do with that. Yeah that was a dumb term by me, I just mean too many years and too much money. Inspector_666 fucked around with this message at 23:38 on Nov 4, 2014 |
|
#
?
Nov 4, 2014 23:35
|
|
|
I wonder who realistically is going to sign Scherzer besides the tigers if the yankees arent in on it. I would assume the dodgers arent going to spend that much on another pitcher and the redsox have like a 4 year max on pitchers if im remembering correctly and I would think they would just pay Lester to come back. Maybe the cubs I guess?
|
|
#
?
Nov 5, 2014 00:04
|
|
|
Scob posted:I wonder who realistically is going to sign Scherzer besides the tigers if the yankees arent in on it. I would assume the dodgers arent going to spend that much on another pitcher and the redsox have like a 4 year max on pitchers if im remembering correctly and I would think they would just pay Lester to come back. Maybe the cubs I guess? The Giants and Rangers are both big market destinations that could use a pitcher, then you have teams like the White Sox or the Mariners that have enough elite talent that adding a Scherzer type could be huge.
|
|
#
?
Nov 5, 2014 00:21
|
|
|
I am wondering if the Red Sox will be buyers this offseason since basically their entire farm system except Mookie Betts busted before my eyes last season.
|
|
#
?
Nov 5, 2014 00:35
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 18, 2024 17:30 |
|
|
regfairfield posted:The Giants and Rangers are both big market destinations that could use a pitcher, then you have teams like the White Sox or the Mariners that have enough elite talent that adding a Scherzer type could be huge. The Giants don't want to add a lot of payroll this offseason, they'll try really hard to keep Sandoval and I think they'll only be in on the big-money pitchers if somebody else outbids them.
|
|
#
?
Nov 5, 2014 02:48
|
|
