bmags

This was also my takeaway. Once Escobar was gone, the best 2b remaining were Leury and Hernandez. So if we are getting a better 2b than leury they are coming from trade, or we are shocking everyone and signing Trevor Story.

I think it is Harrison if we are counting out Story. But he definitely has the "I'm about to fall off a cliff" vibe, he was just brutal with the As. But is graded at 2b way higher than I expected. It's not good though. Escobar was the FA play that made the most sense, just like he was the Trade last year that made the most sense. And now there isn't a 2b out there that you can trust to get you more than average offensive production, so we are mostly just measuring defense. Last year there were multiple cheap, great options at 2b in Wong, La Stella, etc. Really confused what they have in mind here.

What do people like about Villar? He may have been one of the worst defensive players in baseball in 2020 for that amount of games, and while it's nice he produces evenly from both sides, it's just a slightly above average wRC+ vs. RHP. Add to that - he Ks a LOT. The right side of the infield with Abreu/Villar is potentially the worst right side of the infield I can imagine.

Thank goodness you are here otherwise delicate eyes might see that headline get sucked into the dark seedy world of owner-supported content until they are just a bunch of tiny manfreds walking around with stop watches timing everyone's movements

There are never easy answers here. Scherzer is built different and may well be right, and had me wonder if Dallas's attempt at preserving himself had the opposite effect.

Sheets and Seby qualify for the pension now, however, which does come with some benefits. But I fully agree.

holy hell he's 6 ft 9 we got a Jon Rauch on our hands

Mack ties up the money, but hopefully he is an attractive trade candidate since the bears eat that. I think you still try to re-sign roquan though.

That's pretty fun. My brother is near there, with a normal schedule I can try and check that kid out.

You think fabian meaningfully improves his contact? And is that illinois oswego hs?

Honestly, I get what you are saying greedy but I still think it's better overall if the MLB runs a minor league system with better treatment and better performing player development and scouting for a smaller number of people than the "put thousands of kids into a shitty summer camp and see what floats to the top" that has been the norm for 75-80 yrs. That there would still be a spill over of more talented kids who would have been in the affiliate system now just in a worse off independent league isn't a wonderful everyone lives happier ever after story, but they at least have more freedom of movement between teams, and can place themselves in the cities and towns they are most comfortable.

But @Squirmin' for Yermin, I want to reiterate that Jeff McNeil is probably the most perfect fit for the white sox right now outside of bryce harper falling in our laps. So, yeah, if I'm the sox I see if i can get the price right more than anyone else on that list. And I would have prioritized pitching in FA because it's not that difficult to shed in trades.

I think he could be traded, but they don't need to, and it seems like trading low. He's also just a much better defender than JD Davis. Why not trade the worse player in Davis?

The problem is the 2023 money. But yes, the keuchel stuff IS fun because we know the mets are looking for a veteran lefthander and that's why they've discussed kikuchi. And since kikuchi sucks, why not go after keuchel whom you at least wouldn't get stuck in a long term deal with. But, Kimbrel + Keuchel for cano to me requires NYM eating half of 2022 money and someone like Khalil Lee, who would fit sox well. Ideally, you see if you can get one of their high priced pitching signings like a ginn/allan, whose recuperating from TJS anyway.

I honest to god think it could work out.

Quinn is having a much better year, so I was hoping it could stand it up more. Especially if he leads league in sacks when this is all said and done.

I also don't think there is a snowballs chance of McNeil being traded. I didn't include my personal pet theory of Robinson Cano, shame on me. The roided version of him was still pretty darn good with the Mets. And you basically swap out the keuchel liabilities and ask for cash for 2022 on him.

I'm not sure I'd be okay with Josh Harrison. I kinda think he is a DFA candidate in June.

Free Agency: Trevor Story - 112 career wRC+ estimated cost: $18M-22M+ Annually Pluses - Defense (while this has been very muted outside a tremendous 2019, lots of signs he should be a great 2b - he is excellent at DP depth), Power (career .251 iso) Walks (9% walk rae) Minuses - Unknown coors effects Below Avg vs. RHP (98 career wRC+, 83 last year, our division has excellent RHP) Contact (23% K rate) Josh Harrison - 103 2021 wRC+ estimated cost ($4-5M+ annually) Pluses - Contact (13% krate) Not bad vs RHP (98 wRC+) Defense (outs above average loves, loves Josh Harrison) Minuses - Inconsistent offense (career 98 wRC+) BABIP dependent no power Age of decline (34 years old) Jose Iglesias - 91 2021 wRC+ estimated cost ($2-3M+ annually) Pluses - Contact (14% krate) Defense (outs above average likes his 2b more than his SS at this age) Minuses - BABIP dependent offense Bad vs RHP (81 wRC+) Doesn't walk Donovan Solano - 105 2021 wRC+ estimated cost ($2-3M+ annually) Pluses - Slightly above average offensively Average power 96 wRC+ (counts as positive with this group) Minuses - Bad defensively unreliable walk rate, higher k rate 34 years old Andrelton Simmons - 56 2021 wRC+ estimated cost ($6-9M+ annually) Pluses - World class defense at shortstop Can backup TA Plus Contact Minuses - Horrendous offense Zero power BABIP driven offense Career 85 wRC+ vs RHP Trades: Jean Segura - 103 2021 wRC+ COST 14M + 1M 2023 buyout Pluses - Great defense at second Contact (13% K rate) Average vs RHP Minuses - Fathom says he is mopey and has bad vibes Lacks power Expensive money wise Tony Kemp - 127 2021 wRC+ COST $2.5M Pluses - Great OBP in 3 of last 4 years (STEAMER predicts .350 OBP) Career 103 wRC+ vs RHP, 130 wRC+ last year Good, versatile defense by OAA Seems like he should be cheap prospect wise Minuses - Not a strong history of reliable performance to trust any of the above aside from defense Jeff McNeil - 93 2021 wRC+ COST PRE-ARB did not see value Pluses - Career 126 wRC+ 3 years of control Career 132 wRC+ vs RHP Contact 14% kRate Walk Rate 13% Walk Rate Great defense at 2b by OAA very likely the most perfect fit possible Minuses - Bad 2021 Expensive by Prospects/talent likely Ryan McMahon - 95 2021 wRC+ COST PRE-ARB did not see value Pluses - Above average vs RHP (106 wRC+) Good power (.195 iso) Good walk rates Minuses - Bad contact (25-30%K) While excellent last year, in 2019-20 was a ground ball machine a la Leury Garcia Amazing at 3rd, but only average to slightly below average at 2b by OAA Likely requires a very strong package of talent Tommy LaStella - 94 2021 wRC+ COST $6M Pluses - Madrigal-level contact Good BB rate Good GB% career 107 wRC+ vs RHP Minuses - Bad 2021 Back injury in 2021 and struggled after Not good defensively, possibly very bad late bloomer Possible platoon bad w/ Leury Easiest way out of this appears to be Kemp trade. Best way out seems to be McNeil, but I have 5% confidence he's traded.

In a situation where I don’t feel that strongly for either side, boy did manfreds email make it clear the owners don’t want any.

Do you all think Quinn could fetch a first or does contract make it unlikely?

Well I would say his versatility let’s us carry more of our big corner bats on the ML roster since he flexed across infield/outfield so well.

This would be wild. I assume if his medical are terrible Astros would at least give him 1/18. I don’t remember if his timing was exact same as syndegaard but felt they chose early to have QO as fall back.

So we probably split the diff and he gets $6M.

“Negative value Kimbrel”