moonslav59

I am willing to accept that Frank German may be worth more than "1." Maybe Bloom sees something BTV does not. BTV is my toy, and you can't have it!

German has a value of 1.0 on BTV. BIG WHOOP! Ottavino -5.3 We'd need $4M to break even, assuming we give them nothing.

LOL! Does make me shake my head in wonderment.

Getting Ottavino may feel like the Spanish Inquisition, but I guess there is hope he pitches like 2018-2019 (1.14 WHIP and 12.5 K/9 in 144 IP). He just turned 35.

MLBTR The Yankees have traded right-hander Adam Ottavino to the Red Sox, reports Lindsey Adler of The Athletic (via Twitter). Joel Sherman of the New York Post adds that the Yankees are sending Ottavino and a prospect to Boston. The Red Sox are taking on “most” of Ottavino’s $9MM salary, per Sherman, which will help the Yankees to distance themselves from the $210MM luxury-tax barrier — a threshold they were nearly up against prior to agreeing to this swap. He's owed $8.85M with a lux tax hit of $9M.

Hmmm... I wonder who for.

It looks like we are currently $14.5M under the "tax line." We may decide to keep some in reserve for the deadline, or maybe we are okay with going over by a little, but let's assume we have $14M to spend this winter. How would you spend it? Would you trade Beni for a cheap CF'er, pitcher or prospects to free up another $6M? If yes, you have $20M to spend and maybe one open slot filled. Here are some possible available players at areas we may want to fill and their projected cost by MLBTR: Closer: $7M x 2 Rosenthal $6M x 1 Colome OF: $17M x 4 Ozuna (trade Beni) $8M x 2 JBJ $4M x 1 Pillar or Gardner $2M x 1 Marisnick or RP: $4M x 1 Melancon SP: $13M x 3 Odorizzi $10M x 1 Paxton $8M x 2 Walker $6M x 1 Wainwright $5M x 1 Porcello $4M x 1 C Hamels or C Archer 2B (Kike to CF/Utility): $14M x 1 Semien $8M x 2 K Wong $7M x 2 La Stella $6M x 1 C Hernandez 1B: $2M x 1 Moreland My choices: $14M: $6 Colome, $4M Pillar & $4M Melancon $20M: $10M Paxton, $6M Colome & $4M Pillar

We could sign or add a closer and still not have one. Remember how Koji became our closer? I happen to think we will add a closer- like Colome. That should end this talk.

I'd like to see Henry decide to spend like a maniac every winter, but it's not happening. Periodic resets are part of our plan. If by going over, this year, we will be forced to reset a year earlier down the road, then I'm for not going over. Why go over during a year we have such slim chances? Save it for a year we can win it all. This is all theoretical, as we may have a new agreement and system in place, very soon.

I don't either, but if we fail to add a closer, we will need to find one within the system. Maybe Barnes can step it up. DHern walks way too many batters to be considered. Who else is left? Pivetta or Houck? Bazardo? (I'm not kidding. Our choices are really that slim!)

We also spent over $5M on Renfroe+ Andreise. My guess is we keep $2-5M for dealine deals, if needed, or we trade Beni to add $6M to the spending budget and to use to fill a bigger need than LF- namely, CF and closer.

Verdugo is more than fine in RF. We need a CF'er, and I'm not talking Beni (or Renfroe to RF & Verdugo to CF). I doubt we can afford JBJ, unless we trade Beni for a low cost player(s) or prospect(s). Pillar seems to fit our needs, but if we spend larger on a closer, we may have to settle on a lesser CF, hopefully one with great defense.

I guess the guys who do the actual rankings have never "seen" him play, right?

It makes sense, if we use Renroe FT in LF or platoon (Chavis hits RHPs better) with someone, and we get a cheap CF'er who can actually field well. IMO, it doesn't make sense trading Beni while his stock is low, but I think he's gone. BTW, his $6M would allow for another signing (CF/ RP) or a better signing.

I would have given Casas or Downs, but it looks like they may have taken Ward, Groome, Lugo & Decker.

Not me at all. I'd have preferred others, but my choice of Odorizzi could turn out to be a bad one. I like Kike, Renfroe and Richards, and it seems like the idea that bargain deals were available was just a rumor. I don't think Bloom is done, either. We will like trade Beni and add a closer and or CF'er.

It's only if we ever reach a time period where everyone is healthy (fat chance) and Houck has spent his 2 months in the minors to extend his years of team control. Sale ERod Richards Eovaldi Perez Pivetta Houck (Mata/Seabold/Mazza) If 6 of the top 7 are healthy and pitching well (fat chance), one could be moved to the closer role. (We could also sign someone like Porcello.)

Good point. Maybe by the time Sale (ERod) returns, the choice will be obvious.

I'm not sure how injecting insanity into our clubhouse is something we need.

Bigger "wad" on Richards.

Minor omission, LOL. Best Back-to-back seasons since 2014: W-L ERA/WHIP (ERA+) 29-12 2.56/0.924 (175) C Sale (12.9 bWAR) 32-11 3.81/1.303 (122) E Rod (8.8 bWAR) 28-16 3.18/1.149 (116) Richards (6.4 bWAR) 23-11 4.45/1.387 (94) Eovaldi (3.6 bWAR) 36-13 2.71/0.965 (167) C Kluber (9.8 bWAR) 33-14 3.18/1.092 (137) Severino (9.5 bWAR) 35-10 2.68/0.962 (164) G Cole (8.5 bWAR) 22-17 3.71/1.303 (109) Taillon (6.1 bWAR)

Not a bad pen, either.

Eovaldi might be the best candidate to move from the rotation to the closer slot, once Sale and ERod return.

You know, jacko, for all the crap I give you, I respect you a lot, and I know you know more about medicine and injuries than I do, but I'm not sure where you get your data from. 1) You once claimed Sale's velocity fell off a cliff, and the fangraphs graphs I provided showed a much less drop than you claimed. 2) You ignored Sale's success after his short-lived return, despite the drop in velocity. (His highest K rates of his career were 2017, 2018 and 2019, including a 13.3 K/9 in 2019. 3) Now, you mention that his "control suffered." When? True, his 2019 BB/9 (2.3) rate was higher than his previous few seasons, but his career BB/9 is 2.1, so that seems pretty slight when you factor in he was recovering while pitching. BTW, his last 3 games of 2019 saw him K 29 in 18.1 IP and walk only 2. His last 2 games, he had 25 Ks in 14.2 IP with 2 BB and 7 hits (1.84 ERA) Look, you may end up being right. You may even probably end up being right, but Sale was great as soon as 1.5 years ago. He's not old. Many pitchers have comeback from what he has suffered. You may end up eating your words. I'm not saying he will return to norm, but if he can come back to just 75% of his best, he could still be a great starter and possibly better than anyone on the Yanks, except Cole, assuming they don't "comeback" as well as he does. I realize many Yankee starters have "lesser injuries," but so do Eovaldi and Richards. (ERod is the biggest unknown.)

Bye-bye. I hear the O's are in need of new fans. Ozuna ain't coming here, even if we deal Beni.