moonslav59

I'm 99% sure we wont get one big bat and one moderate one. It's 99.9% no two big bats. That does not change my opinion on what we need and should get. (I also think we still need a #2 SP'er, but I'd be happy filling 2 of my big 3 wishes.)

Good thing there is no weight limit on combined pitchers' weight.

It can be 5+ years, but I said 2-3+ (the plus is key.) Duran & Crawford 3 years Oviedo 2 Chapman & Gray 1-2 Whitlock 1 (Houck 1 in 2027) We do lose Masa and Hicks and their money after 2, so we should be able to replace the good players, in kind, but until we do, I see the window as 2-3, for now.

If JH spent, there was no need, yes, but some of knew he would not become the LAD East. To keep Betts, Bogey and replac4e others who left, he'd have had an enormous budget. Some of us saw that coming and knew he would not do that. We predicted it, and it happened. You can say all the "ifs" in the world, but it happened. We had a cliff.

So, that period was fine for you, and all the beef we've heard for years was unfounded. No cliff. Wow!

I'm fine with your position, but I think we have a 2-3+ year window and need at least 2 more big pieces. If JH wont pay for both, we have to trade for 1 (or 2.) I think trading an OF'er makes the most sense (not big prospects) but if we need to include a decnet prospect or two, I'm okay- for the right return. Brez should sign the second piece, but if JH will not allow it, then I'm for trading prospects for it- an not one year players.

I have predicted Casas in the Brez choice at 1B- it's not "my choice." I see Gray as the #3 and Bello as the #4. I do NOT think we filled the #2 SP need, but if we get two big bats, I'd be okay with no pitcher additions. I'm fine trading an OF'er not Mayer, but if we get KMarte and a 3Bman, then Mayer has no slot. If we get a 2B/3B and a 1Bman, then we need Mayer.

I do think it has to be two. I'm saying KMarte is the best option of the 2B/3B choices. Then, we must add a second bat. My position has not changed. If just do one- it has to be K Marte: Alonso & Schwarber are gone.

Never been against that idea.

I'd be fine with ... Tolle & Rafaela for K Marte Sign Okamoto (3B if trade Mayer or 1B if no trade) (Optional: Trade Mayer for a solid #2 SP, but this puts pressure on 1B being figured out.)

I'd do it. (I like Early more than Tolle, and unless we add a 3Bman, we need Mayer.) I'd put Anthony in CF- not Duran, but I'm okay flipping them. Our O is better with Duran over Rafaela, even if JD declines some.

So, we did great from 2020-2024. LMAO

We aren't signing Tucker and trading 2 OF'er. Bregman and Bichette will cost a ton of money and would be sideways moves- still better than nothing. Suarez might be a shorter term deal, but is 34. K Marte is our best option for the bat and position we need most.

Rafaela, Abreu and Duran are worth more to other teams than to us, or to us as a DH or infielder. We have high needs at 2B or 3B, SP2 and maybe 1B. Other teams need an OF'er and would love one or two of our ptchers and or prospects.

Trading Mayer for KMarte only makes sense, if we also sign Bregman, Bichette or Suarez. The added plus for doing this is that we may then trade an OF'er for a solid #2 SP. This would fill 2 of our major holes and jump us to top 3-5 status.

Now is certainly "THE TIME" to make a move or two with prospects, without ruining the future. We have enough prospects to do that. This does not mean trade 3 top prospects for a 1 year rental, unless we extend him. We have 4 OF'er plus Campbell and Masa. We have 10+ SP'ers at a time when we are seeing gross overpays for starters. We have 2-3 major holes to fill and logjams in areas where other teams have major holes to fill. The time is right. The match-ups with some teams is ripe. Sure, I'd prefer JH just fork over the money to fill all 3 holes with high-priced FAs, but until I see that happen, I'm going on the assumption it won't happen. Hell, we may not even see one hole filled that way, let alone 2-3.

He can be traded to all teams who need an OF'er. I was responding to the post about his contract being to high for some teams.

Not a worry for low budget teams at all.

Too bad both Romy and Campbell are RHBs.

$156-168M/6 would lower the AAV from $150M/5. Not sure he takes it.

I don't see that as an issue. The low budget teams can trade him, when hids contract gets to high for him. He is not overpaid. It's hard to know if he will be worth the money in his last years, but he earned that money in 2025. He makes $11.5M over the next 3 years combined. That's Pittsburgh Pirate money. 26:$2M, 27:$3.5M, 28:$5.5M, 29:$7.5M, 30:$10.5M, 31:$13M, 32:$16M club option ($4M buyout)

DD was damn good at what he did, and he benefited from an owner that allowed a cycle up, when the window opened wide with so many top prospects coming into their own, at around the same time. I once made a list of the highest sp's rankings each of his prospects traded reached and it was over 20 players who were once top 20 in teh system, yet hardly any amounted to squat. The few that did, still fell woefully short of what the return guy did for us. Some call it luck, but he kept all the right prospects. Sure, many were so low in the system, that their value was not that high, but he kept the best of his farm. His farm ended up producing a few key players- so much for "blowing up the farm." YES! He knew how to value FAs and his own soon-to-be FAs. He got the Sale extension wrong, due to injury, but after he was traded to ATL, you'd swear some fans suddenly thought he was worth keeping around. The Porcello trade and extension netted a Cy Young. That was just one of many moves that worked. His FA hit% blows Ben, Bloom & Brez away. Take all those guy's top signings combined, and they cant beat DD's top 5 or 10. The guy did what he was asked to do, and I'm so glad he was our GM. This fact does not contradict the fact that the team was bound to reach that escarpment, and no, expecting JH to buy our way out of it was not a reasonable demand. (Going 4+ years has been a bit extreme, but here we are again at a similar window we saw in 2016-17 and finalized the deal in 2018.)

Casas is one big fat question mark- pun intended, but the guy can hit. Romy might be the next Refsnyder, but at 1B and 2B (3B in a pinch.) He even hit RHPs pretty well in 2025. Campbell might end up sucking at every position and ending up at 1B (or DH.) I'd be okay with rolling the dice with these 3 at 1B, but we need a really nice addition at 2B or 3B. There are question marks with each option, too: Marte looks like the best recent producer, but he is 32 and is signed through age 36. Bregman is a plus on D, but is not an improvement- just a break even, at best. He'll be 32 to start 2026 and was showing decline before his 2025 season, where he just played 2/3rd of it. Bichette is younger but will get more years than JH is open to. Maybe twice the length. His D at 2B is kinda unknown, and he's not a big power guy- nor is Breggie. Suarez brings the power but is 34 and no wonder on D at 3B. (He may be okay at 1B, if Casas stumbles.) He may take a short enough deal for JH to approve. Vientos? Hoskins? Bohm? Donovan? B Lowe? I'm sure I'm forgetting someone(s).

The idea of playing the FA market "halfway" by signing almost all 1 or 2 year deals has largely failed, too, especially the 2 year deals for returning pitchers from injury- expected to give a year plus 2-3 months from year 1. Chapman and a few others worked well, but so many, especially SP'ers have come up short- even the $21M/1 guy. We finally signed a healthy pitcher to 2 years, and he gets hurt and misses all of year one (Gio.) There have been some decent short deals given so far. I'm not crying "missed a great one," but I do wonder if short termers are what JH wants, will we find much better than Polanco at $40M/2 or Merrill Kelly at $40M/2? Kim at $20M/1?

I had that issue on my phone the last couple days. The box to write in would not appear.