moonslav59

I gave the info to him.

At least might point is accurate.

The Yanks lost, too, so those watching the race for last place will have to wait another day, at least.

We aren't allowed to tank like the O's did. Just semi-tanking stirs up the hornets nest.

He was not young when he signed, and he's still making more than many 1Bmen.

2-3 inning RP'ers with ERAs in the low 2's are very valuable, but we waste them all. Houck Whitlock to some extent Pivetta Crawford was better from the pen

So, we lucked into the 4 rings we won on the backs of pitchers from outside our system. Got it.

If we added 2 solid and durable SP'ers, Bello could be the number 3, and we could afford to yank Houck after 4 or 4.1, every start. Pivetta and Crawford can fight for the 5 slot, assuming Sale is on the IL, all year.

Bare minimum, to be highly competitive, we need 3-4 key players. 2 very solid SP'er considered near aces. We need a big RH'd bat (CF/RF?) We might need a LH'd RP'er, instead of counting on Bernardino & Joely. We could get 2-3 via free agency, but probably need 1-2 via trade, unless JH really decides to open the wallet.

I'm not sure we are "there," yet, either, and I do think your point brings out the reason we haven't pulled the trigger on a big trade under Bloom. I do think we are closer, but am not sure how close or if we are "close enough." I do think adding 2-3 big FAs (Pitcher, picther, pitcher or big RH'd bat,) then we might just be a "trade away."

Casas is about as high up on my list as can be. To me, for the right deal, anyone can and should be traded.

Yes. We all know. I like all our good players, and wish we could keep them all. I wish they could all hit really well and defense real well. I wish we had enough pitchers who could pitch well enough to bring us another ring. Suggesting some trades that might help our staff is not about "dumping" good players or undervaluing them.

The problem is, many here think Casas, Mayer, Anthony and Teel are untouchables. We have some pieces to get it done, but we'll have to trade real value to get real value.

He looks to be an absolute beast at the plate. It's hard to project what his offensive ceiling can or will be. Years ago, we might be able to trade Bleis, Yorke and a couple mid ranked guys for an ace, but now, teams want ML ready guys. To get a true ace, we'd likely have to deal 2 from: Mayer, Bleis, Anthony or Teel, if you want to keep Casas. Plus, we might need to add Rafaela or Abreu plus Perales or Wikelman. I'm not saying we need to or should pull the trigger, but we'll have to give to get.

Article on line-up slots and changing philosophy: Number 2 spot in lineup now the best in baseball WWW.MLB.COM If Babe Ruth were starring for the Yankees today, he might not be wearing his legendary No. 3, famously issued to him when the team first put uniform numbers on their backs in 1929 simply because that’s where he had primarily batted in the lineup: third. Instead, imagine a world

That's a bad defensive OF. Better yet.... DH Yoshida LF Duran/Ref platoon CF Rafaela/Abreu (Duran 3rd) RF Duvall/Abreu (Ref 3rd) or, keep Dugo and trade Duran... DH: Yoshida LF: Abreu/Ref (Yoshida) CF: (Duvall?) Rafaela/Abreu RF: Dugo/Abreu (Duvall)

For one, I don't place total value on a player based on one good year of defense. I also don't value a player with one year as highly as one with 2, 3 or more. Yes, his OPS is .790. You act like 7th best is something we need to cling to. Again, I am not "for" trading Dugo, and I'm 200% against DUMPING him. I think Rafaela is a better defender. I think Duvall and Abreu may not be the downgrade on defense in RF, you seem to envision, and no, I don't use BR's dWAR to measure a player's value on D. I've already discussed how our defense should improve without needing to add anyone from outside the system, but I do see trading Dugo, among several other choices as a possible player we could trade in a package and try to improve our pitching- an area we both agree needs serious fixing. If we have to lose a little ground in RF to gain a lot of ground with teh staff, you'll say "It's not good enough.?".

It sounds good, in theory, but you need to find a GM who values our second tier prospects enough to think a package is equal to parting with a top pitcher, (BTV Values)'If Mayer (60), Casas (47), Anthony (41) and Bello (39) are untouchable, what combination of these players gets us a solid #1 or #2 or young SP'er with strong ace potential? 29 Blies (may be too far away for many GM to value him highly) 27 Houck (but aren't we looking to add to our staff?) 25 Duran 19 Yorke (some might say this is an overvalue number) 10 Verdugo 7 Schreiber 6 Rafaela (some would say he is worth more than this) 6 Wink When you consider the best pitchers with 2+ years of team control might have values of over 50, how do we do it without parting with an untouchable or opening 5 holes to fill one?

You expect good prospects to move up some in the rankings, as others graduate or fall in the rankings. Here is a look at the rankings moves of Bloom's top or notable draft picks from the start of the year to now: 6=6 Yorke 18>22 Jordan NR=NR Wu-Yelland 12>13 Drohan 1>1 Mayer 29>47 McDonough 16>26 E R-C 19=19 Hickey NR> 28 Dobbins 7>18 Romero 23>37 C Coffey 11>2 Anthony 42>36 Rogers 30>16 Meidroth NR>46 I Coffey Teel Zanetello Anderson Duffy' Campbell IFAs 3=3 Bleis 48>10 Cespedes 37>14 Joh Garcia NR>25 Monegro NR>42 Yuten NR>43 Arias Trades 24>12 Abreu 15>21 EValdez 26>23 DHam NR>38 Gambrell NR>44 Rosier Graduated: Robertson (I probably missed some.)

Blind squirrel running up and down a broken clock.

I agree on Abreu and Kavadas. Liu did not need to drop very far to move off the list. I expected a bigger drop (or re-adjustment) to Drohan's ranking. The usually don't drop guys too far from an injury, but I guess Romero'd drop goes beyong one injury.

Gambrell to #38 seems a bit of a short-change.

To me, when I hear "dumping," I'm thinking the person wants to trade or DFA the player for whatever the GM can get, no matter how bad the return is, or no return, if DFA'd. Nobody wants to "dump" Verdugo, Duran, Casas, Mayer and many other players or prospects mentioned, recently. Trading any player with value should return close to equal value, so it would not be a dump. Often, these trades involve getting a player for a position of higher need or trading a player with limited team control (and may not be in the long term plans) for a player with longer control. The concept does not seem hard to grasp, yet so many jump all over anyone who suggests a player or prospect they think might need to be part of a package to get a player we may need more. Other factors involve who we have for depth at the position we want to trade. If the drop off is not much, we can basically stay close to even at the position we trade from and gain more at the position of higher need. For example, if you think Duvall (re-signed) + Abreu is not a big drop from Dugo, but we can get a decent pitcher for Dugo, how is it "dumping him?"

But mostly ML ready or very close to being so. Very few guys like Bleis are traded for top pitchers, anymore.

The Astros, too, have lost some studs over recent years and lost a big chunk of their rotation for most or all of this season: GS 0 Lance McCullers (last year 8 GS 2.27 ERA/ 2021: 28 GS 3.16 ERA) 6 Luis Garcia (last year: 28 GS 3.72 ERA) 9 Urquidy (last year: 28 GS 3.94 ERA) Quality and quantity. We had just one (or neither.)