moonslav59

I'm fine with it not matching my opinion, and I've said I'm fine with the Houck choice. I've given my reasons why I prefer Whitlock, and I respect the argument of GS'd experience working in Houck's favor. Will you be terribly upset, if Cora chooses Whitlock over Houck? It may ultimately come down to who looks better in ST'ing and most ready by the time a 5th starter is needed. Hell, someone else might get hurt and both start.

Houck had 4 starts in 2020. Does that make him a clearer choice than Whitlock? Yes, Houck has 13 GS'd in the bigs. That's a big plus in his favor, but Whitlock has some things in his favor, too- like a decent and proven 3rd pitch. It's a close call, right? Career numbers Houck 86 IP (less than 13 IP more than Whitlock) 163 ERA+ 2.71 FIP (slightly better than Whitlock) 1.08 WHIP .580 OPS against (Better than Whitlock) Worse minor league numbers (4.17 ERA/1.39 WHIP) Whitlock 73.1 IP 241 ERA+ (almost 80 points better than Houck) 2.84 FIP 1.05 WHIP (slightly better than Houck) .631 OPS against Better minor league numbers (2.41 ERA/1.16 WHIP) Do you at least think it's a close call, and if not why not?

But Pivetta is our #2 or 3, now.

I thought they were super high. Adding Eovaldi & Pearce helped a lot, though.

Apparently, the Rays are offering the world on a 1 year deal. I'd prefer we not outbid them for a 1Bman.

I've answered I'd take all these teams rotations over ours. My point was that very few have more than just one sure-fire & solid SP'er with no of very few question marks.

I thought they did away with 7 inning Doubleheaders.

I'm not making a judgement: I'm making an educated guess based on what I have seen and know. Houck has not started all that many games, and you, yourself, have stated how inconsistent he has been. I've said it's a close call. Do you think it's an obvious choice: Houck over Whitlock as a starter? How can "you" make that judgement? We are all just giving our opinions. Nobody is acting like a know-it-all.

Who has said he's a lock to be even good, let alone as good as 2021? He showed nasty stuff and self confidence. He's very promising. Nobody know what might happen, if he has a tough streak. I'm just glad we have him and am hoping he continues to do well. Nobody is a lock on doing well in 2022. Eovaldi is the closest we have, but even he has significant questions.

But "interest & rumors" said he wanted AZ ST'ing sites.

Don't think so. Early on, he seemed open to the Sox. Other signees at doable numbers (assuming no JBJ)- not saying I wished we signed any of these guys to $1M more: OF $19.8M x 4 Schwarber $19.5M x 4 S Marte $15M x 4 Chris Taylor $13.3M x 4 Avisail Garcia $13.3M x 2 M Canha SS $25M x 7 Semien $23.3M x 6 Baez (maybe the closest I'd come to taking this deal) $5.5M x 3 L Garcia $5M x 1 Iggy (2B) 2B $10M x 2 E Escobar $5.5M x 1 Josh Harrison SP $23.6M x 3 Stroman $23M x 5 R Ray $22M x 5 Gausman $22M x 2 Rodon $21M x 1 Syndergaard $20M x 1 Morton (just 1 yr) $15.4M x 5 ERod (maybe?) $14M x 4 Jon Gray (maybe?) $12.5M x 2 A Wood RP $14.5M x 4 R Iglesias $10M x 1 Knebel $8M x 3 Graveman $8.5M x 2 Neris, Kelly & Loup $7M x 2 Melancon $6.5M x 2 Chafin $5.5M x 2 Y Garcia $5M x 2 McHugh (yes) & Raley $12M x 3 Kikuchi $12M x 3 DeSciafani $10M x 2 A Cobb $11M x 4 S Matz $9M x 2 E Rosario

What do the Yanks give for Montas and or Murphy? BTV has this... 65.2 Murphy 39.6 Montas for 59.8 Volpe 27.6 Loasiga 22.9 Dominguez or Volpe, Loasiga, Pereira & Higashoka

No. I have not seen him as a starter, but I've seen his nast stuff vs some top hitters in MLB. Look, I've said from day one, I want Houck and Whitlock to stay in the pen, where they have some success, already. With Sale hurt and Bloom locked into save the prospects mode, I'm reaching for POSSIBLR alternatives. Have you seen Seabold, Winckowski and Crawford start? Are they better options? I'm fine with choosing Houck over Whitlock, but I like Houck as a closer better, too, and right now, the pen scares me as much as Sale going on the IL.

BTV has... Duran at 16.8 (down from over 20, last summer) Dalbec at 13.5 Downs at 6.8 (way down from last year) Others: 55.4 Mayer 52.4 Casas 48.8 Houck 37.7 Yorke 16.6 Whitlock 10.3 Bello 7.6 Jordan 6.0 Gonzalez 5 Lugo & Jimenez 4 Bleis, Winckowski, Walter, Mata 3 Hamilton, McDonough, Groome, Bonaci, Crawford, R Hernandez 2 Murphy, Seabold, Decker & Hickey FYI other team's notable BTV values OAK -8.6 Piscotty/ -4.2 Andrus (salary dump offsets) 45.2 Soderstrom C prospect 39.6 Montas (2 years of control) 27.8 Langeliers C prospect 14.1 Manaea SP (1 yr) 7.5 Pache OF (RHB w 6 yrs) 1.1 Trivino RP (3 yrs) CIN -32.5 Moustakas 2B/ -8.3 Akiyama OF & LHB(Salary dump offset) 66.0 Castillo SP (2 yrs) 44.4 Mahle SP (2 yrs) 19.5 Sims RHP (3 yrs) Probably not being offered 15.4 Warren RHP (6 yrs) Probably not being offered MIA 75.3 Alcantara SP prospect (6 yrs) 57.1 Lopes SP (3 yrs) 20.9 Sanchez SP (6 yrs) 10.0 Luzardo SP (5 yrs) 8.8 Stallings C (3 yrs) Just traded for him, so not likely available 6.1 de la Cruz OF (RHB and 6 yrs) 4.4 Bleier RHP (1 yr) If these values are close, and most trades, so far have shown them to be fairly accurate, who do you mix and match with?

I like Whitlock as a starter better, and it's not about the third time through thing. Also, many of today's starters have awful 3rd time through numbers, and they still start. I like Houck as our closer more than Whitlock, so that's what tips the balance for me. Our pen looks so weak, I hate to move either of them, but somehow Cora has worked magic with what little he has had in the pen for years. I'm not sure if that can continue. If Wacha can do well out of the pen, maybe in a role like Whitlock had, last year, our opening day rotation might look like this: 1. Eovaldi 2. Pivetta 3. Houck 4. Whitlock 5. Hill That's a nice starting 5, IMO. When and if Sale and Paxton join the team, we'd have to decide who moves to the pen.

More impressive the Yanks (86-76 Pyth) won 90+ games. We earned the playoffs in the context of Pyth. (BTW, the Jays were 99-63 Pyth, while the 100 win Rays were 101-61.)

You don't think a $72M/5 offer to Suzuki brings him here? Or maybe an $82M/6 offer?

Should not and will not are not the same. My guess is, Henry would be okay with going a little over, if he felt like it greatly increased our odds for a ring. I just think top brass does not think we are at that point. I think last year was the same thing.

Of those teams? All look better, but all have serious questions, too.

Yes, it's apples to oranges, and I admit the 2019 26 man roster looked better than the 2021 26 man roster at the start of the season, but the rest of the 40 man and the farm and finances looked worse. BTW, no Kimbrel (42 saves), Kelly and Nunez was significant. No doubt, DD was not to blame, as his spending was cut off after 2018, too.

I kinda felt like we had some bad luck in the last month or two of 2022. Being swept by the O's is just one incident. To me, had the Jays made the playoffs, it would have been luckier, and the Yanks were the worst of the 3.

I agree, and what can Dalbec + Duran get us? Montas and salary dumps like Piscotty and or Andrus? More likely Manaea & Trivino & a role player.

I meant $16M available. The edit function is still messed up.

Yup. We have $18M available, assuming Bloom is given enough to approach the limit. Add $12M and we might have been able to sign Suzuki and McHugh.

How many starters can the Yanks count on for 2022? The Astros? The Jays? The White Sox? Some may have 2, but nobody looks flush.