BamaDoc

Everything said should have a reason. If not listen.

Dug on Walker. Best year 2017 fastball 93.9 avg . 2018 TJ. 2019 shoulder issues. Pitched that one inning. Fb 93.3 in obviously sss .

If we are making a list, Ivan Nova generated 2bWAR last year.

I think I like Walker. He did pitch in the last game of the year though I don't know of any reports. Many people bring up Wood who missed most the year with back issues and tried returning only to go out with back issues. Without hearing what has been done for his back giving him anything is probably a waste. I spent thirty years dealing with my back trying to golf. Pitching hurt also.

Very easy then, you say no.

What player is ever brought up and management says "Well we expect him to suck and go back down in a week". You could certainly argue that you wish a prize prospect, coming back after being out over a year, you want to limit innings and limit his exposure to pitching in 30-40 degree weather. Look at my Kopech plan post.

I think this year the market moves differently. Since Boras controls most pitching, I think he will do Cole first to maximize the losers interest in Strasburg. Those still left out after the big two may then drive up Bumgarner, Keuchel, Ryu tier.

and Calhoun doesn't cost a draft pick and money. This is why I advocated so hard for Grandal who can hit 1-6 in a lineup. Because of Grandal, the RF addition could have less offensive pressure and could slot more in the 6-8 lineup range. I also prefer the LH balance addition.

Sorry back to topic. For those that didn't see there were two key points. Everyone heavy in analytics and tend to value players the same. Trades come merely from whether you are in a win now mode or in a rebuild so most are/will be vets for prospects with exceptions of dollar moves like Rays-Pads. Secondly it was surprising to me how much they all hate extra innings and want it curtailed significantly. All say the big extra innings games kill your team for weeks and want to avoid. Exception for playoffs and maybe after rosters expand but sounds like man on second to start inning after maybe 12 they would all favor possibly ties.

Rule number one: Don't trade with people way smarter than you! I know some would say that means we can't trade but that is not my intent.

For those that don't want him, since this is reported someone will swoop in and "steal" him could be your hope.

A wise man said "our best chance to get an ace may be to develop one". Okay this has been talked about in several threads so I was kinda putting my thoughts into one. Hope others in the med fields add to it especially if they have experience. I joked in a thread we should use our recovery blueprint as a selling point to guys like Taijuan Walker due to our rash of TJ injuries but in reality if we do rehab well it really would be a selling point. I know in the past our shoulder program was considered very good. Anyway to begin Hahn has pretty much stated Kopech has recovered well but will still have overall limits on his work load this coming season. First and foremost it would absolutely suck to be in contention late in the year and have to shut down our pitchers when we need them most. Cease is further out from his TJ but has never gone beyond the 141 IP of last year so he will have limits as well. Rodon, Dunning, Lambert will not even be ready at the start of the year and need close monitoring. Burdi who knows. Anyway with specifics for Kopech, not having him start the year with the big club could allow you to regain a year of control while easing/protecting him. I would do it for control but also as a way to potentially have him at the end of the year. I would put him at Birmingham if he is having any issues as Andrews is right there or Charlotte depending on early season travel and expected weather conditions. I would envision a 3-4-5 innings or 60-80-100 pitch max for him. I want to occasionally extend him so he uses his secondary/tertiary pitches more plus in the minors you can do that better without worrying about game outcomes as much. If you are doing pitch counts, you indirectly encourage him to be more efficient and use fewer pitches per inning, a problem young pitchers often have (Lopez). If his average is around 4 innings and about 30 starts you are at 120 innings. I would anticipate his max being 120-150 so you could keep him going later in the year if you are contending or let him pitch longer if his limit allows and you know there aren't going to have playoff starts. It would require a piggy back pitcher which isn't a problem in the minors and with modern pitching theory could be done in the majors. I had paired him with Gio Gonzalez in my previous plan as Gio tends to wear down so Gio would start early in the year and then piggy back after/when Kopech comes up if the staff condition at the time allows. It could benefit each of them. Kopech's heat followed by soft lefty may make an interesting contrast. Protecting our assets by such usage would also show other FA pitchers that we are actively concerned about their recoveries and obviously you would want to modify this if their is a better process. I had considered 10 three inning starts 10 at four and then 10 at five but I want pitch usage and occasional stretching out with a little more recovery time though admittedly I don't have evidence to back it up. If anyone does please add.

New with Twins, Cubs, Marlins, and couple others ODowd kinda moderates.

LOL, just posted about same thing in my offseason plan. Great minds.............

Throughout the week MLB network has been showing clips of a GM roundtable that looked pretty good. If anyone interested, the full program comes on MLB network at four central time today. I mean we are all amateur GMs aren't we?

Yeah it is bWAR vs fWar again. I was looking at his last two years in St Louis where bWARs were 2.2 and 2.1. I should have said which numbers I saw. Still would like a deep explanation on the differences of WAR calculations. With modern analytics I bet many teams do their own calculations now.

Avi has very good hard hit and exit velocities. Ozuna's bat just doesn't blow me away and the defense seems questionable. He is about a two WAR player and looks like he is going to cost a lot compared to some alternatives. We could use a lefty for balance and need to improve OBP. He had the second highest OBP of his career last year at .328

Ment to add Taijuan Walker as another guy I would try to add as starting depth. Further back from TJ surgery and should be ready to go. Might sell our medical program/staff as we should have enough experience with TJ recovery to appear impressive. If nothing else the management plan we have for the numerous pitchers coming back could show him he wouldn't be abused or over worked.

And we should.

Ok, we didn't get Wheeler and you know what, the sun still came up and it is beautiful here in Alabama. The Nationals lost Harper and won the World Series, not because Harper is bad but because they took that money and spent it well. So we offered 25 million a year to a pitcher. So lets play with 25 million in pitching. We get to other positions later. Again from my original post, I am not giving up significant prospects in a trade and wanting to avoid qualifying offers as I don't want to go to a contract length that justifies the draft pick lost for this tier of pitchers. Lefty starter, ground balls, I think he would like sticking it to his old club..... Dallas Keuchle. I know not sexy but it is what it is. He could be our 3-4 starter and provide innings. Three years at 13-15 per with some incentives should get it done. Bullpen help. Concerned that the Yankees have interest but Treinen as a bounce back works. Supposedly they messed with him wanting higher heat rather than his sinker and some injury issues. I considered Betances but a big guy with Achilles issues scares me. I think one year 5 million maybe a option or as a last resort a second year works. Early season starter who becomes a piggy back with Kopech when he returns. Again, we need early season health and dependability. This guy fits that and as a lefty would contrast lineup/stuff wise with Kopech. Gio Gonzalez one year think 3 million and incentives works as he had to do a minor league deal last year yet was 1.7 WAR in 19 starts. Look at the tape and if you think you can fix the home run issues which were significant, Yimi Garcia. Whip of .866. Again only if you see something you think is fixable. Should come cheap. Maybe even minor league contract with spring invite? Okay not sexy but that is less than 25 million and answers some of our pitching questions. Allows real major leaguers to be in the 4-5 pitching spots instead of the trash we had last year. Lefties help balance things out.

It may hurt. Mets wanted a centerfielder, I was putting Engel in package and driving him. LOL

I do not want to give up any assets on a one year player. However, I might deal with the Dodgers for Joc if you are allowed to find out what it would take to extend him. Maybe spread some of the Wheeler allocation that direction. Anyone know who his agent is?

Those offers are way too light based on what Wheeler just landed. Oh, I am in no way implying those would be winning bids but it might cause other teams to up offers knowing you are in the ballpark. Make them spend more than they want. Make it hurt. Maybe just maybe it takes one of them out on someone like a RF next year. I'll put something in my "Realistic Offseason Thread" later. This really shouldn't be that unexpected. What is a positive is we showed we would spend 25 million on a pitcher. The Nationals won a world series by reallocating Harpers money into multiple players.

Offer 6/180 for Strasburg. 7/225 for Cole. Make it have a time limit if you want. If nothing else you tried and cause others to up offers and hurt their flexibility.

Burr is 25, threw 95mph , successful in minors and under cheap control until 2025. Is that worth the 50k you get if you lose him?