moonslav59

Some of the Best Offensive OF'er vs RHPs since 2018 (that are or may be available): OPS .902 Alex Dickerson .900 Austin Hays .884 C Blackmon .880 S-S Choo .878 Joc Pederson .867 Ian Happ .866 J Soler .841 Corey Dickerson .837 Yasiel Puig .828 Justin Upton (.810 Beni) .807 J Heyward .804 Ozuna .799 B Gradner .786 AL Pollock .777 JBJ .771 Santander/ A McCutchen .756 Wil Myers

If we sign Pillar, we platoon Beni & Renfore in LF- the position both belong. If we sign JBJ, we get the lefty bat and the LF platoon, but I would think we might trade Beni, if we spend larger on CF.

Do you think getting Ozuna is realistic? I could see, if JD were a FA after 2021, but he's not.

$5M is less than what it costs to sign a similar player as a FA. Beni's upside is pretty high, hence the reason many of us do NOT want to trade him. He is just now entering the normal peak prime years. Many GMs are not locked into valuing players on just most recent numbers, as they should not be. (The sample size since 8/1/20 is not all that large.)

I've already said, if he's going to be a pen arm, then it makes no sense sending him down, since he'll end up with under 120 IP anyway. If they start him, we can limit his innings a few ways: 1) Pitch count and less IP/GS (may tax the pen more than wanted) 2) Limit the amount of GS'd (maybe allowing him to go deeper in games he does start) If we choose #2, then sending him to AAA for 7 weeks would do the trick while adding a year of service.

But if his age 26 season needs to be limited in IP'd, anyway, what's the issue?

Why not? We are not the only team with several holes to fill and several options still out there. (I hope we don't trade him, unless the return looks like a clear win- doubtful.)

We don't know if the league was disinterested. Some teams might be waiting out on Ozuna, JBJ or someone else, and Beni is their fall back choice.

I totally agree, and while I have not been Beni's biggest fan, the guy can hit. He's also not bad on D, in LF ONLY. Now, if he hits well in 2021, and we don't look like we are going anywhere, this year, it may make more sense to trade him at the deadline and get more than just s0-so prospects.

Why not? For pitchers, year 32 is often a very good year, but wouldn't it actually be age 31?

That is true. It should not be puzzling.

I'm all for adding at least 2 more significant players before opening day- preferably a CF'er and a closer, but another SP'er couldn't hurt, either. I do think the main prize is still 2022 and beyond- not 2021, and we should not so anything that hinders our chances or positioning in 2022. I'm not sure how important staying under the tax line is for our longer term outlook. It seems like gaining one more year of lower taxes will allow for more spending down the road, but adding a bunch of one year players and trading them for prospects at the deadline could help much more than tax savings, and who know, maybe a miracle happens and we actually put everything together and make a strong run at 2021, however unlikely those chances look, right now..

Margot came up the same year Beni did. I'd trade Beni for Margot in a flash.

That could happen, too. I think we'll have a pretty good sense of our chance by the deadline and act accordingly.

We are probably going to limit his IP to 120-140, so having him pitch sparsely in AAA for 7 weeks, solves two goals, at once. Yes, if he's in the pen, then keeping him under 120-140 does not need a demotion to AAA.

Since he has only 1 year of team control- trading him at the deadline may be the best idea, even if we are in the race. Same with Richards, ERod, Barnes and maybe Eovaldi, JD and Vaz, too.

The one thing I find puzzling, is how Jacko is so high on Taillon (2 TJs) but so low on Sale (1 TJ). I'm high on both.

I do, too. Trading at a low stock price is bad business. The reasoning for trading him is two-fold: 1) to create budget space 2) We have 2 LF'ers and no real CF'er, unless we take E Hernandez away from 2B, which creates a need there. IF trading Beni allows us to sign Pillar or JBJ, our OF will improve at the same time as our farm, assuming we get good prospects for Beni. Or, we trade Beni for a low cost CF'er/2Bman or RP'er and basically do the same thing. I do not want to see this: LF Beni CF Verdugo RF Renfroe As our budget stands now, we can sign Pillar, which make our OF look fine, as Beni & Renfroe can platoon in LF and act as 4th OF'er, too, but then we are basically saying no to anymore pen additions that cost money.

A team that spends $200M+ does not take 4-5 years to rebuild. Sure, it may end up taking that long, but it is not a sure thing. A team that spends $200M+ and has some high draft picks and a decent young core of players under team control for 3+ years should NOT take more than 1-2 years to rebuild. We also have some contracts coming off the books that do not really open any gaping holes, except if Bogey opts out (and ERod, if he does well in 2021). Lux Tax Numbers Off the Books: after 2021: $14M Pedey $10M Richards (option for 1 more) $9M Ottavino $8M ERod $5M Barnes $5M Perez (option for 1 more) after 2022: $22M JD $22M Bogey opt out $17M Eovaldi $7M E Hernandez $7M Beni $5M Vaz Only a couple guys, here, may be hard to replace for the money they cost. Core Foundation and Years of Team Control: 3 Years Devers 4 Years Verdugo Sale (option for 5th yr) Pivetta Munoz 5+ Years D Hern Dalbec Houck Possible Impact Prospects (age): Casas 21 Downs 22 Mata 22 Duran 24 Jimenez 20 Seabold 25 Song 23 Longer shots: Ward 24, Groome 22, Rosario 21, Potts 22, Murphy 22, Wong 24, Bello 21, Wallace 22, Arauz 22, Bazardo 25, Feltman 23, Whitlock 24 Far Away: Ramirez 19, Yorke 18, Bonaci 18, Jordan 18, Lugo 19

The main thing is, we need to limit his innings anyways, so holding him down in the minors for 6-7 weeks is a no brainer. That 6-7 weeks need not be April and May, and since it looks like Sale & ERod will start the season on the IL, Houck may be sent down once one is called up. Who knows? By then, maybe Eovaldi or Richards is on the IL.

Maybe I need to re-examine my thoughts. LOL!

I actually suggested the Sox sign Ottavino years ago, when he was a FA. I'm not going to let small sample sizes from 2020 or playoffs affect my opinion of him. Does it raise some concerns? Yes, barely, but he can easily do better than Rosenthal, Hand, Yates, Colome and Treinen.

I still don't think it's a slam dunk to say the Yanks improved. You need health from several injury-prone or recently injured players to improve on Tanaka-Paxton-Happ. Sure, the potential is there, but you sure view your potential in a very different light than the Sox recently-injured starters.

I'm not saying they won't be .450 to .500, but they have the potential to make the playoffs, especially since the the AL has gotten worse, except for Toronto.

MLBTR Free-agent righty Masahiro Tanaka could be nearing a return to his native Japan