Even if this wasn’t his draft year, why would you be concerned? He’s played a whopping 13 games in A+ with an OPS of .842, and he has more walks than strike outs.
I agree with this. The only reason I had Madrigal 1 and Robert 2 in my mock lineup is because that’s what they started doing at AAA. But I prefer Madrigal in the 2 spot.
If we sign Grandal and a RF (let’s say Gordon), I go with something like this:
1. Madrigal 2B
2. Robert CF
3. Moncada 3B
4. Eloy LF
5. Grandal C/DH
6. Abreu 1B
7. Anderson SS
8. Gordon RF
9. McCann DH/C
That’s a great question. I’m not really sure. I guess it would depend on examining the results and figuring out the reason (velocity drop?, bad luck in a small sample?, etc.). But I know that’s just my way of skating around your question.
I missed this post before posting a similar thought.
I want Grandal, Wheeler, Betances, Gordon, and any other SP/swing man. With those five additions, along with Robert and Madrigal, I think we make the playoffs next year.
I would overpay Grandal right from the start to try and get him to sign. Would something like 3 for $68 get it done?
With Grandal already on board, the other targets are more likely to join if we hit them with competitive offers.
What are your thoughts on L. Gonzalez? I know you’re low on Rutherford because of his terrible BB and K rates, and although Gonzalez has struggled, hasn’t he maintained similar BB and K rates to what he put up last year? I know his power numbers are down, but for his first year in Birmingham, I don’t think he’s having as bad of a season as people think.
1. Robert CF
2. Moncada 3B
3. Grandal C
4. JDM DH
5. Eloy LF
6. Gordon RF
7. Abreu 1B
8. Anderson SS
9. Madrigal 2B
(Yes, I know JDM is very unlikely, but this lineup would be pretty ridiculous)
The developmental staff did try to change his swing before this year. Didn’t he go something like 1-36 at the start of last year and then resort back to his old swing?
Abreu wants to stay here, even if we don’t sign him to an extension in the next two weeks. I don’t think it’ll take much to sign him to a 1 or 2 year deal in the offseason.
But wasn’t that because all of the lefties they happened to face after he got called up? Seems to me that the plan was to back up McCann while getting some starts at DH in the process. Then a string of lefties happened to be on the bump against us, so he didn’t play much. Then, unexpectedly, a guy they’ve wanted for a while became available, and they decided they’d rather give the DH at bats to him (Reed). Just seems like a series of unfortunate circumstances for Collins.