What are you taking about? Hamels, Gibson, Keuchel, Odorizzi, Roark, Wood, Pineda, Porcello, Miley, & Gonzalez are all better and I’d much rather roll the dice on Wacha, Smyly, & maybe even Chacin than Nova next year.
I’d rather give someone like Wacha who offers some semblance of upside a few million more on a bounce back deal. He could start next year in the rotation and be in the mix for an extended rotation spot with strong performance and/or an injury to another starter.
At the very least we should try to add one of those players before settling on Nova. We couldn’t even get a solid lottery ticket for him two weeks ago, there isn’t going to be a massive market for a guy who doesn’t strike anyone out in the juiced ball era.
While Abreu’s game is definitely starting to slow down, it seems his immediate demise was vastly overstated around here. IMO, he can still be a solid piece for the next season or two if used correctly (DHing more than 1B, resting against tough RHPs, not automatically the 3/4 hole hitter).
He’s 33 years old and should theoretically be getting worse each and every year. We definitely need pitching depth, but let’s aim a bit higher than a scrap heap innings eater.
I just don’t get it, during this “hot streak” since the break he’s struck out a whopping 4.3 batters per nine with a very flukey HR rate leading to an xFIP over 5.00. Given he’ll be 33 in January, we should explore every and all alternatives before even thinking of settling for him.
Any potential names of interest? The only ones that kind of make sense to me off the top of my head that wouldn’t automatically require an untouchable are Nimmo, Polanco, & Mazara.
I just don’t think any of this sustainable. He’s literally striking no one out. That won’t lead to success in the long-run.
And as someone else pointed out, we couldn’t even get a lottery ticket for him two weeks ago. We shouldn’t be buying into the smoke & mirrors driving his success right now.
IMO, bringing back a guy who strikes out less than 6 per 9 innings would be the definition of insanity. We should strive higher, even at the long reliever spot.
Luis Gonzalez has been pretty good the past month or so. While the BB & K rates have been solid all year, he’s finally starting to make some loud contact. He should start 2020 in AAA and it will be interesting to see how he responds to the juiced ball and the bandbox the Knights play in.
Honestly? Probably that he lost some motivation after signing a $300M deal. That wouldn’t be the first time that’s happened. I certainly don’t think a guy being intense or even a dick on the field means he displaying roid rage...that’s simply ridiculous.
And Davis got busted for Adderall, much different than injecting your body with steroids. That’s a serious reach IMO.
Ok, so you’re basing this entire claim on one subpar season? Obviously it couldn’t be a million other things like playing hurt, struggling to adjust to NL pitching in his first full season in the league, playing half his games at Petco, signing a $300M deal in the offseason and losing motivation, etc. By default it has to be steroids wearing off...got it!
So you’ve explained why you think Machado is juicing, what’s your reasoning for believing the rest of the Orioles were juicing?
I’m actually ok with Goins getting some playing time (especially while Yoan is out) as he might be a halfway decent reserve IF next year, which is something we’ll actually need with Yolmer playing & pricing himself out of consideration for that role. That being said, Mendick has a chance to be more of a long-term bench solution and should be getting a look as well. He doesn’t really seem like he has much else to accomplish in AAA and is already on the older side to your point.