TheFutureIsNear

Then don’t be a fan? If you’re just going to hold a grudge for every past mistake what’s the point? Encarnacion is a damn good hitter and it makes sense to have a stop gap until Vaughn is ready.

There’s nothing to b**** about if Encarnacion is signed. People are just b****ing to b**** at this point

Last season it was a cyst on his wrist he had surgery to remove. I don’t think there’s any reason to think his arm is shot/compromised in any way. But obviously you can’t completely ignore the total time missed in the past few years either

Even more entertaining than the rumors themselves are the wild conclusions people jump to based on very vague info.

I don’t see why they wouldn’t face 90% positive matchups throughout the year...especially with the new 3 batter rule for pitchers. Whether or not Engel keeps up his very small sample size split vs LH is fair. Leury on the other hand, does have good career splits vs LH

I guess that came off more harsh than intended. I didn’t mean it to come off as “the front office is clueless.” I just find it really hard to connect the dots to a huge signing like Rendon because we got a RF that didn’t cost a lot. That just seems like a pretty big reach/pipe dream. But you’re right, who knows is the real answer. Anything other than 1 of Keuchel/Ryu/Bum is going to shock me at this point. Hopefully they really do have something up their sleeve that shocks me in a good way.

Not criticizing the overall plan...but I think the much more likely plan our FO had behind the Mazara trade was “cheap, LH, hits HR’s, and is young enough to sell his potential”. I highly doubt there was an in-depth master plan behind it.

I can see checking the price on Mazara as a buy low candidate if he’s being actively shopped, but no one should ever have to “work hard” to get Mazara. I’d do a failed prospect for failed prospect trade tho...Fulmer and Rutherford for Mazara? Maybe even still too much to give up?

Phillies are building 1 hell of a weird team that I don’t think is ever going to get them anywhere. Some interesting pieces to fit into the puzzle + still have starters (even after wheeler) and a bull pen that needs a lot of help.

Why would the A’s want Semien as SS when we knew he couldn’t play there? Not every scouting department sees things exactly the same way, and ours sure isn’t infallible. Not saying whether Collins is or isn’t a capable catcher because I haven’t watched him enough, but it’s certainly not crazy that another team would be willing to take that chance. Especially since Collins would have a near elite bat if he can stay behind the plate

Yeah I just think people are going a little overboard with the Red Sox stuff thinking we can take their players off their hands for free. Im sure their ownership doesn’t want to pay senseless millions because of the luxury tax, but at the same time I’m pretty positive they aren’t anywhere near broke and desperate either. I don’t think they’d have to add much $ to Price’s 2021/2022 years to get legit prospects back for him and Benintendi

Obviously the $64 owed to Price in 2021 and 2022 is the main issue...but with that said, is there really that much excess $ involved between Price and Beni that we could get them for virtually free as many seem to be suggesting? Both are projected at 2.6 WAR for 2020 and will make a combined $38M next year. Even at a fair $8M per WAR you are looking at $41M+ in value for those 2, which in theory doesn’t make them negative assets. Just playing devil’s advocate here...it will come down to Price’s medicals for sure. But I believe his issue last year was due to a cyst on his wrist that was removed? Not a structural arm issue? If Bumgarner is worth 5/100...3/96 for Price all of sudden doesn’t look THAT bad considering the lack of potential impact arms available.

Might not be the most popular choice but I can see Marte/Archer being an option too

Not that it means it’s set in stone or anything, but Rockies reportedly aren’t interested in moving Gray. https://www.mlb.com/news/rockies-plans-taking-shape

He seems to be getting a decent amount of traction now and haven’t seen us as a rumor but Lindblom makes a lot of sense to me. Will be extremely cheap (relatively speaking) and always had legit big league stuff. Not a ton of other options out there that haven’t been mentioned yet...Wacha the name is interesting but don’t think he has much left. Suppose we could kick the tires on Yamaguchi from Japan....

There’s no doubt the Sox should keep playing the system and leave all 3 in the minors to gain an extra year of control. Now whether the system is completely fair for the players or not is a whole different discussion...but then again, that’s the players’ responsibility to fight for their best interest in the CBA. Im sure there will be a fight over this subject in the next negotiations coming up soon

Lol there’s nothing personal. I’m watching college football, drinking a beer, and discussing baseball. What could be better? We’re just having a discussion as far as I’m concerned. I’m from the north east, and NJ more specifically, that makes me argumentative by nature I guess. And if you would have lead with some stats or more substance from the beginning we probably wouldn’t have gotten this far. You have to admit your “I saw a highlight” argument was a little lame. I havent seen the stats you posted, thanks. I’ll now have to look into the advanced advanced defensive stats for Ozuna.

But you are selling something...that Ozuna is “well below average” on defense when the data doesn’t support that at all. And your reasoning is hearsay and cherry picked highlights to make Ozuna look bad. I’m sure you are smart enough to realize that it wouldn’t be difficult to also cherry pick Ozuna’s 10 best plays that make him look like a great defender. And again, id bet you didn’t actually see 10 plays. You probably saw 5 and it’s now “about 10” to make your argument sound better. Absolutely no idea what you’re trying to get at with the Soriano reference. Ozuna has played OF his entire career and has positive stats the entire time. If you would have responded with your reasoning being “I watched 50 cardinals games last year” I’d be all ears to your opinions. But I’ll gladly believe what the stats tell me.

Ahh so because that 1 time you saw a compilation of his “about” 10-12 worst plays over the whole year (I’ll take the under on your about considering he made 4 errors) I’m supposed to throw out the collection of stats that is widely accepted for every other player? Except the players you have a negative bias against apparently Sorry, I’ll take a hard pass on what you’re selling as brutal.

What are you basing brutal off of? Because the #’s don’t back you up. Now I’m honestly not the biggest fan of defensive stats so I’m open to evidence. Did you watch him play extensively? I just feel like he had a very public blunder in the playoffs and now has a bad reputation. OR defensive stats aren’t reliable and shouldn’t be used in further discussions. I truly don’t care either way, but there needs to be a line drawn to have an honest discussion.

The post said anything Under 60...so yeah I still probably left a vague 6/7 mil gap, didn’t put that much thought into it obviously. 3/51 as the max I’m perfectly fine with is a more coherent way to put it.

Just want to say this: Either Ozuna is a solid defender, or no one should be referencing advanced defensive stats again. Because you can’t support things like DRS and UZR and then also call Ozuna a bad defender. I’m not going to pretend to have watched Ozuna enough to have a valid opinion on his D either way, but there seems to be some hypocrisy going on.

I don’t mind Ozuna...but will depend on the $ and years obviously. Anything under 3/60 is perfectly fine with me. 4 years I wouldn’t be a fan of. And anything over 18 per year would be kind of crazy. But as far as Ozuna as a fit...he’s a legit above average MLB hitter. We should be thankful if we get another 1 of those in the lineup. Playing RF isn’t ideal, but I don’t think he’ll hurt the team there either. Probably a 0-+5 DRS kind of guy. I can see why someone wouldn’t be excited about Ozuna, but your expectations are probably set way too high if you’re flat out upset by an Ozuna signing.

Mechanics are horrible and he looks off balance on almost every pitch...but damn is that arm motion smooth and natural for a guy throwing 100+. I can see why pitching coaches would salivate over him. Needs a complete overhaul of his mechanics. Just start him in the stretch and pick his leg up and throw, simple as possible. Of course still a long shot tho

Gotta have some risk for the reward....Personally I’m not willing to forfeit potential for the perceived safeness of Bum/Keuchle. Those guys are going to come to the AL and be 3rd stater inning eater type. I’ll take the risk of Ryu being a 1/2.