moonslav59

Gotta think the trade for a 3B/2Bman, and hopefully a big bat with the same get, will involve an OF'er and/or SP'er. We might regret trading someone, especially if we suffer major injuries in those areas, but the hole is too wide to have the luxury of depth and extended depth. OF: Anthony, Duran. Rafaela, Abreu, Campbell and maybe Masa or Romy in a pinch (Eaton) SP: Crochet, Suarez & Gray are here for the year plus, then: Bello, Oviedo, Crawford, Sandoval, Harrison, Tolle/Early We actually have enough depth to trade for two quality players, but I seriously doubt we do that, unless we upgrade on Mayer, Wong or Masa (assuming an OF'er is traded, too.) The other option is to keep the depth and fill the pen from the starter depth (Crawford/Harrison/Oviedo or Sandoval) and use Duran at DH. Trade salary like Hicks, Masa or Sandoval and sign E Suarez. Let's say, we somehow trade Masa, Hicks and Sandoval to save just enough to sign E Suarez to stay under the 3rd line (deferrals, if needed.) This could be the layout: 1. L Anthony LF 2. R Contreras 1B 3. L Duran DH/ R Romy 2B 4. R Suarez 3B 5. L Abreu RF 6. R Story SS 7. L Mayer 2B/L Duran DH 8. R Narvaez C 9. R Rafaela CF Bench: Wong, Romy, DHam, Campbell SP: Crochet, Suarez, Gray, Bello, Sandoval/Oviedo RP: Chapman, Whitlock, Slaten, Weissert, Crawford, Harrison, Oviedo/Sandoval, Watson/Moran/Kelly

Using the money for Bichette or Bellinger?

I think Contreras replaced Bregman's bat- maybe not the 2025 bat fully, but close. We need to replace the power void left by Devers.

Paying attention to actions has not always been all that much fun, until last winter.

Nice breakdown. Merloni is very high on Crawford, saying he was fantastic before the knee injury. He should be over that. He had a 1.75 ERA after 8 starts in 2024. He seemed to imply the injury caused his poor second half to '24.

I still think if we offer what AZ wants for KMarte, he can be obtained. (We should know what they want by now.) That being said, there are several trade options out there for a 3Bman or 2Bman. 3B: Paredes, Shaw, Bohm, Vientos plus FA E Suarez 2B: Donovan, Hoerner, Chisholm, G Torres

It's not like Abreu has been hurt a lot. His lower PAs is more about being platooned, but that is apparently ending, this year. I could be wrong, but I think Duran missed more time due to injuries than Abreu since 2023. Maybe 2025 was a sign he can hit lefties better than Duran: .676 vs .600

Yes, $21M for one and $41M for 2. If they like him at $21M/1 enough to even give up two players, I'm not sure why $41M/2 looks so absurd.

Could Duran then be NYY's next Jake?

I hated '22-'24. Why does it have to be either or?

It's not really Shaw vs Mayer: it would be Shaw AND Mayer.

I'd go with Contreras. .352 career OBP (.358 last 3 years) Duran is .328 career and .339 last 3 years. I like Anthony up first, until he starts hitting for more power, which I'm sure will come before too long. I'm not sure Romy can repeat his .343 OBP, but I'd want him up before Duran v LHPs, for sure: 2026 Splits v L/R .378/.318 Romy .260/.363 Duran Maybe go Duran 1st v R and Romy, Contreras or Anthony up 1st v L.

If they buy him out, they paid him $20M for 2026. If they take the option, they pay him $20M (more) to play in 2027. That's how I see it. I'd gues 50-50 we give him the $30M to play rather than $10M to walk.

Certainly BTV should not be used as a tool to judge GMs, but I was rather shocked by the few amount of high value players on their roster. (Yes, value is measured by performance projection minus salary, and DD pays his players well.) Only 3 players over $28M (C Sanchez, Painter & A Miller, 2 are prospects) Only 6 players between 9 and 28. Their 25th man is valued at 3.2, while the Sox is 8.4. The Phillies have 10 players in the minus zone, but their top 3 have high performance value: 176 T Turner (-219 salary) 43 Wheeler (-84) 99 Schwarber (-135) Also, #6 Nola has 108 value -123 salary.

I'm pretty pumped up about our AA and A+ rotations, as well: AA: Bennet, Holobetz, Rivera, Wehunt, Rogers/Dean A+: Valera, Witherspoon, Phillips, Eyanson, Tygart/Neely (Ingrassia/Ehrlicher/Futrell)

We kinda had a lull in IFA signings for a while... 2017: Bello & Rafaela (DD the "Farm Decimator" LOL) 2018: nada 2019: Monegro 2021: nada (Bleis 2022: Jh Garcia (Masa) 2023: Arias (Cespedes) 2024: J Gonzales & Azocar(Brito, D Reyes) 2025: Soto, Rivas, Delzine, Ramos

Mind boggling. 11 teams have lower budgets that LA's tax, and somehow JH not spending more is the main issue.

Merloni predicts Abreu is going to bust out and become one of MLBs best all around players. (He's going to play vs LHPs, too.)

It's silly. It's like monopoly money. It's like Bregman's contract plus $20M a year and a 4th year! I'm glad LA is in the NL.

We've done okay for two winters in a row. Don't jinx it! LOL! We have a big task at hand. I think we are pretty close to having a very nice off season. Who we get for 3B (or 2B) and how much offense he brings to the table will be the big tell. We could use another pen arm, but I don't really see a great need other than Big BAT & 3B/2B, which could be one guy. Not many teams look one player away from top 3-4 status. That's not done by neglect and apathy. Please don't take that as a pat on JH's back, cause I'd like to kick his backside, but can you try to be optimistic about something? Just try it. Just once.

The Mets really wanted Tucker. I doubt the go for Bichette. If the Yanks lose out on Bellinger, maybe they trade Chisolm and sign Bichette.

and third.

$240M x 4 with 2 opts out. I know you love opt outs.

Ruining the Game! LOL

Yes, and Sale had 3 years of control. DD did have the prospects to trade- just not mostly his. The ones of his he kept worked out well.