SoxBlanco

We always say that players will sign with whichever team pays him the most. Do most players just want the most guaranteed dollar amount? For example, if all other things are equal, would Wheeler prefer a 5 year $100M contract or a 6 year $108M contract?

Yeah, we're on the same page. The good news is that there are a lot of options. Like we've said before, all of the options have flaws, but we will be able to upgrade the RF position one way or another. That's what makes landing Wheeler so important. If we miss on him, I'm not going to feel good about our rotation.

Yeah, you might be right. I would be completely find with either guy.

You make some good points, and I agree with most of it. But if you were a betting man, who would you say has a higher wRC+ next year between the two guys?

Haha, gotcha.

Exactly. I was on your side when I made that post. My question was for the people who say he sucks defensively.

Have people actually watched Castellanos play defense? Or do they just look at the defensive stats and say, "He sucks!"

With my breakdown, I have Collins and McCann both getting somewhere between 80 and 100 games. I think if one of them gets hot early (like McCann last year), that guy will start to take at bats away from other one.

I posted this in the Collins thread, but it kind of got lost in the shuffle. What do you guys think about this as a breakdown, assuming we don't sign anybody for DH? Games played at that position are in parenthesis. Catcher: Grandal (90), McCann (50), Collins (22) DH: Collins (60), Abreu (38), Grandal (32), McCann (32) 1B: Abreu (120), Grandal (30), Collins (12)

Did you get the idea for this thread from this tweet?

I certainly wouldn’t mind Castellanos. I liked him more when I thought he could move to DH after a year, but Abreu’s deal makes that difficult. And I actually don’t hate his defense as much as others. He’s only played RF for two years, and he showed improvement in the second year. He just seems like a guy who will continue to improve defensively.

Let’s say each of our five outfield prospects (Micker, Gonzalez, Basabe, Walker, Rutherford) has only a 15% chance to be a solid regular. That means there is a 56% chance that at least one of of them will be a solid regular. If you think each one has a 20% chance of panning out, that means there’s a 74% chance at least one makes it. Point being, I think it’s likely that at least one of them could be our long term solution. I would go after a one year stop gap option and then reevaluate the prospects. We’ll have a better idea next offseason, and if it seems like all five will flop, then we can sign somebody next year.

Yeah, I think the three most likely players are Castellanos, Calhoun, and Peralta.

I wouldn’t either. I really think Vaughn is going to be one of the best hitters in the minors next year. I envision him having a Luis Robert type of year (with fewer strike outs and more walks).

You sure Puig was on the Reds at the end of last season?

Don’t sleep on Luis Gonzalez. He’s my pick for bounce back/breakout next year.

I don’t think it will. Once we sign Wheeler, everybody will forget about this Abreu deal, and we’ll go back to planning playoff viewing parties (for the road games).

Can’t argue with that. I agree. And that’s why I preferred to go year by year with him. But I am excited to see what he can do with some protection in the lineup. And who knows...maybe he can become more patient with Menechino and Grandal on board.

Back when we first entered the rebuild, my dad (an old school guy) was skeptical about having to go through some losing seasons. Him: So if all goes well, when will we finally win another World Series? Me: 2022 I'm sticking to that.

Could a possible benefit of this move be that we look like a very loyal organization, and that might attract other players if they are on the fence about signing with a couple teams? Perhaps a bit of a stretch.

The other thing missing from the comparison is that Grandal has been hitting with protection around him on playoff caliber teams. Abreu has been hitting with dog shit around him and has still managed to put up pretty good numbers. I'd summarize it like this: Grandal: Great signing Abreu: Eh, take it or leave it.

We won't have to spend on a DH in 2022, because Jose will fill that spot. If the argument is that perhaps someone like Collins could have filled that spot for much less money, then that is assuming Collins (or whoever else) takes off and is a productive DH. If that does happen, then that person becomes a great trade piece to help fill another hole, like an extra starting pitcher. I just don't think it makes sense to say, "Well now we have $14M less to spend in 2022." That is looking at things in a vacuum.

This is pretty much how I feel, except that Jose hating the DH should not matter. When Vaughn is ready, he'll be the 1B and Jose will DH. It doesn't matter if he doesn't like it. There's no way that we would let Abreu play 1B when we have a better option in the middle of our championship run just because he hates being the DH.

And one less position to worry about filling. Look, I don't love the move (I preferred to go year by year), but I really don't think it's going to affect our ability to compete for a championship at all.

Yes, but this is only true if Abreu's production falls off a cliff. If that $14M is not there in 2022, then neither is a DH. So we'd have to pay somebody for that position. It's not like the extra $14M is just added in a vacuum. The whole roster configuration changes.