moonslav59

Devers brings so much more to the team, that his defense is far outweighed. Maybe, someday we move him to 1B, but Casas deserves a longer look at 1B, before we think to make him a DH. The Yoshida to DH idea makes too much sense, as to make a big corner IF shuffle for 2024 a non issue.

Agreed, and with Abreu looking like a promising OF'er, and Duran as an emergency back-up. I'd roll the dice in CF. If we can flip RF to a RHB with some power, at no added cost, I'm thinking maybe 2B is the area to upgrade, and the rest of our resources goes to the rotation.

His glove is fine. His reflexes seem plau. His arm accuracy is the issue.

Rafaela is good on D, in CF, right?

I wouldn't.

They did seem to be interested in Rafaela at SS.

That trade would be mostly about Burnes and an extension.

Here is an article that supports what you said. Not everything is known. https://www.latimes.com/sports/dodgers/story/2023-10-25/trevor-bauer-chances-of-mlb-return-suspension-lawsuits

I don't disagree with a single point made, here, but none of us know the full story. (I'm not taking her side by saying that.) I do believe we should assume innocence, when we don't know, and certainly the recent evidence that came out points to Bauer being the true victim. It would not upset me, if we signed Bauer.

Appearances can be deceiving, but yes, there is evidence that shows that could be true.

It's hard to know what to do in cases like his. I'm not sure Mookie's approval carries much weight.

1519 Lester 1348 Wake 1240 Beckett 1168 Buchholz 964 Porcello 857 ERod 702 Lackey 675 Schilling 671 Sale 668 Dice-K 588 Price 487 Pivetta 462 Nate

Clue: It's Pedey.

Agreed. 3 open slots, plus all these guys would not be missed: 4. Logan Gillaspie 5. Zack Weiss 6. Mauricio Llovera 7. Joe Jacques 8. Bobby Dalbec Plus borderlines (trade?): Wyatt Mills Luis Urias Reese McGuire Bryan Mata D Hamilton Talk of trading... Dugo or Duran (Refsnyder?) Maybe EValdez or Zack Kelly Nope. No crunch.

You guys are no fun!

BTV accepted: Dugo, Yorke & Drohan for Donovan & Woodford

Adames might be one of the few to be good enough to push Story back to 2B. What a nice middle IF defense we'd have! I'd want B urnes extended to do this deal.

I think we protect the 6 you mention. Penrod might be the odd man out. Maybe they can add a 3rd catcher on a minor league deal, perhaps with an opt out like Alfaro had, last year, and let Scott go unprotected. Is Hagenman a possibility? I don't see a major roster crunch, unless we add a bunch of players via trade & free agency.

Something was obviously messed up with Houck and Whitlock in 2023. Was it injury, rehabbing from injury, or are they just not as good as they looked earlier in their careers? Many blame moving Whitlock to the rotation as the reason for his sharp decline. I'm not certain that was the issue, but it does make sense. Here are some numbers for the 4 pitchers who seem to be better as RP'er than SP'ers. Note the PAs beyond 50 pitches and 18 batters as compared to those before. With some pitchers the amount over is way more than others. Some have said this is true for almost all pitchers, and I don't disagree, but do most pitchers have such wide disparities? Career breakdown by Pitches in games SP & RP combined. PAs/OPS 1-25 pitches PAs/OPS 26-50 PAs/OPS 51-75 PAs/OPS 76-100 Houck 407/.519 310/.656 245/.844 91/.836 Whitlock 549/.685 205/.600 112/.823 44/.969 Crawford 307/.671 271/.742 221/.747 75/.845 Pivetta 1072/.809 1033/.685 967/.778 654/.811 (60 PAs over 100 at .685) By batters faced 1st, 2nd and 3rd time.... AS SP ONLY! 1-9 PAs/OPS 10-18/OPS 19-27/OPS 28+/OPS Houck 368/.575 351/.709 115/.957 1 PA/.000 Whitlock 165/.760 151/.692 60/ 1.122 1PA/.000 Crawford 324/.656 302/.770 92/1.069 n/a and n/a Pivetta 1365/.756 1325/.741 702/.854 22/1.093

Many does not mean most. The guy is awesome 1 through 18, then falls off a cliff. My emphasis was meant to be more about the quality of those 18 batters than doing it more often than most going 18 or beyond 18 batters. IMO, he should be yanked after 18, unless maybe he has a no hitter going. His numbers scream for him to be a 9-18 batter pitcher. Career: .575 first 9 batters faced .709 second 9 .957 third 9 That can still be a decent SP'er, if the others in the rotation are eating innings, and your pen is deep and good, especially with a few long RP'ers available. Sometimes that 19th batter comes up in the 4th or early 5th inning

But no mention of him starting off "stretched out." BTW, Houck started in every game he played in, last year, including the last 8 to end the season. Isn't he already "stretched," too?

Done.

Houck has shown he can go 18 batters. That's more than many starters. Whitlock should not be "stretched out," IMO. I'd stretch out Crawford before him.

I can see how my statement about being "almost ready to start a fire Brez thread" seems brash. My frustration of the lack of addressing the rotation for so long is getting the better of me. There have been more statements made about the rotation being the focus of this winter, so I should not have let one story get me to go to that extreme. I support Brez, just as I did Dan D, Theo, Ben, DD and Bloom. He seems like a real smart guy, who knows pitching very well. I'm trying to temper my optimism, perhaps due to all the letdowns, when talking rotation building. I went too far on the "fire Brez thread" threat.

I hope this is all it is. The paraphrase in MLBTR seems a bit more scary than the quote Bell just gave. Houck and Whitlock will still be stretched out, per Alex Speier of the Boston Globe, but they could be pivoted back to the bullpen later.