moonslav59

I agree, but if the choice comes down to signing one of these 4 FAs, who do you want? Hosmer Duda Alonso Moustakas (30 HRs in 404 PAs this year, but not a big power hitter beforehand) I'm not saying these are our only choices, but go with the question.

I am, if he's all we got.

I remember bitching at some our past 3B coaches who continually ran our runners into outs at home plate. I don't see that anymore. We run when we are supposed to. I don't have any issue with us being slightly aggressive. I do have issues with seemingly endless instances of mental breakdowns (not just with base-running) by this team. I've been blaming JF for most of it, but ultimately, our players have to start being mindfully focused. Would it really surprise any of us, if we got ousted in the playoffs by a blunder? I can here some saying, "That's a fitting way for this team to lose."

Where did I say I wanted to move Devers to 1B? In fact, I said we should look for a 1B, DH or OF'er who can DH. I merely mentioned other top FA options out there this winter and how we could make them fit. Do you really think us signing Moustakas wouldn't solve the 3B issue as well, if maybe not better than keeping Devers there? I have said finding a top hitting 1Bman is easier and cheaper than finding a top 3Bman, so that's where I'm thinking an upgrade to our line-up will come. My second choice would be OF, as we are losing our 4th OF'er (Young) and have no systemic OF depth, with the idea that our newly acquired OF'er would play DH and HRam would be forced to play 1B FT--clearly a second option to finding a 1Bman. One problem though, does Duda, Hosmer or Alonso really give us a strong feeling of confidence that our 1B position will no longer be a negative? Can we afford to trade more top prospects to get a better 1Bman? Can we go into 2018 counting on Chavis to learn the position and win it by midseason? Can we count on Chavis and/or Brentz to be a great DH AND HRam to stay healthy playing 1B all season long? I do think signing Moustakas might work out better than Duda, Alonso or Hosmer. It's not too far-fetched as some scouts see Devers moving to 1B eventually anyways. I like Devers at 3B, and I'm not trying to move him off position, but looking at this winter's options, I'm not thrilled with our FA choices. What's your solution? I'm all ears.

You mean Grady Sizzlenomore, right?

I'm merely showing the "magnitude" of how many prospects were traded away recently. I was 100% on board with the Sale trade, and would be for two more like it. I was against the Kimbrel and Pom trades, but have said many times, the players we got were very good and that the trades look very good so far. Only injuries to Smith and Thornburg and a minor deal that didn't work as planned (A Hill) have appeared negative, so far. Even those trades may be forgotten if Devers makes us not remember Travis Shaw and C Smith can give us something to cheer about, as it's not hard for him to outplay Miley and Aro. I liked the Nunez & A Reed deals, too. I hardly ever like big signings like Price, but at the time I felt it was needed and wrote "a guy like Price doesn't come along that often". When looking at each deal independently, it's hard to fault DD, but when you look at the totality of his moves, it is clear his strategy has been to go for broke on a 3 year window (possibly 4) at the highly probable expense of the extended future. It is what it is, and I'm extremely hopeful we win a ring or 2 in the next 4 playoff cycles. If we don't, DD will be judged harshly by just about everyone, even if "the cliff" turns out to just a hill or a plain. That's the nature of the beast. (Note: "this pile of..." was once a top 3 farm system.)

Has there been a day in the last 2-3 weeks where Chavis, Brentz or Devers hasn't HR'd?

Makes me wonder, if we'd still have Devers, Groome, Mata and/or Chavis had this directive not been made.

And, that is why putting all of your marbles into a 3 year window at the highly probable expense of the following 3 years is what bothers some posters like Kimmi and myself. Even if these bold moves by DD made us the prohibitive favorites over the next 3 years (which they haven't), it's still largely a crap shoot. 3 crap shoots are better than none as we might not have even made the playoffs at all without some of his moves, and maybe "the cliff" is just a mirage, but DD has certainly gone for broke with this window.

I know this thread is about 2017, but with the rain out tonight, I got to thinking about 2018. My guess is we will reset the luxury tax this year and will be able to go over next year by enough to sign one significant FA. Chances are it will be a FA that can hit, and with Moreland and Young hitting free agency, the position most likely to be filled, IMO, would be 1B or DH. The DH could be someone who can play OF or 1B. (* has team option) Here's the list of 1Bmen: Yonder Alonso Lucas Duda Eric Hosmer John Jaso Adam Lind * Mitch Moreland Logan Morrison Mike Napoli Mark Reynolds Carlos Santana OF Dustin Ackley Nori Aoki Jose Bautista * Carlos Beltran Michael Brantley * Jay Bruce Melky Cabrera Lorenzo Cain Josh Collmenter Carl Crawford Coco Crisp Rajai Davis Jarrod Dyson Andre Ethier * Craig Gentry Carlos Gomez Carlos Gonzalez Curtis Granderson Franklin Gutierrez Matt Holliday Austin Jackson Jon Jay Desmond Jennings Hyun-Soo Kim J.D. Martinez Cameron Maybin Andrew McCutchen * Daniel Nava Colby Rasmus Ben Revere Michael Saunders * Seth Smith Ichiro Suzuki Justin Upton * Melvin Upton Jayson Werth Chris B. Young Big Names at Other Positions: IF/OF Eduardo Nunez SS Zach Cozart (move Bogey?) 3B Mike Moustakas (move Devers to 1B?) C Alex Avila C Jon Lucroy (having a bad year) SP Yu Darvish SP Alex Cobb SP Johnny Cueto * SP Lance Lynn SP Michael Pineda Possible in-house solutions: 1B (Moreland): Sam Travis, Michael Chavis (midseason) DH (Moreland>HRam to 1B): Michael Chavis, Bryce Brentz 4th OF (Young): Bryce Brentz UT IF (Nunez): Brock Holt, Marco Hernandez, T-W Lin, Deven Marrero

Well put. Onward...

Likely September Call-Ups: OF Bryce Brentz (not currently on 40 man roster) 1B Sam Travis C Dan Butler (not on 40 man roster) IF T-W Lin IF Deven Marrero SP Hector Velazquez RP Robby Scott RP Kyle Martin Possible Call-Ups (if healthy): IF Rutledge C Swihart OF Steve Selsky (may be DFA'd to add someone else to 40 man) SP Brian Johnson RP Ben Taylor RP Noe Ramirez RP Edgar Olmos (not on 40 man roster)

Brentz with 2 HRs tonight!

Judge .159 34% K rate since allstar game Would the Yanks take Moreland, Holt and Young for this bum? LOL

I keep writing off the Dodgers despite how they look on paper, but they've won something like 20 out of 23 and 40 out of 47. We barely have one guy over .800. THe Dodgers have 4 over .900. Their numbers are astounding: .992 Turner .959 Bellinger (21 years old) .915 Seager (23) .906 Taylor (26) .823 Pederson (25) .797 Puig (26) .795 Grandal (28 year old catcher) .745 Utley (AGon on 60 day DL) They added Darvish to this... 2.04 Kershaw (on DL) 2.38 Alex Wood (0.986 WHIP) 3.35 Rich Hill (1.179) 3.79 Kenta Maeda (1.147) 3.83 H-J Ryu (1.370) 3.84 B McCarthey (on DL) Their pen: 1.33 Kenley Jenen 0.676 1.41 Pedro Baez 1.119 2.89 Josh Fields 1.018

1 more HR and 10 RBIs in about 100 more PAs for fangraphs. Hmmmm

lol!

Brentz with 2 Hrs tonight! That's 24 this year in just over 330 ABs. (Castillo hit his 12th.) Kelly pitched as hut out inning in AAA rehab. Chavis 1 for 6, and inexplicably had no Hrs!

I think you fell for the mirage just like I did the at first. I was fooled too. It not about thinking I was smarter than anyone else. I was wrong. I fell for it, too. IMO, Nomar often took an necessary extra step while others planted and got the throw off quicker. This is ancient history. I can't even find more than 2-3 defensive highlights on youtube. Let's agree to disagree and move on. I think you're wrong. You think I'm wrong. Neither can ever prove anything at this point. I don't think UZR/150 was even around before 2004.

I would not sit HRam. If Nunez id forced to play 2B for most of the remaining season, then yes, picking up a guy like bruce will not mess with anyone who deserves to play. My biggest hope, when we got Nunez, was that Bogey could get a 10 day DL period to rest and regroup. I also thought Moreland might need some time on the DL, but he's maybe showing signs he's over the toe injury. I'd be fine with platooning Beni and letting Nunez play LF vs LHPs over Young.

Nomar had a plus arm. I agree. We will have to agree to disagree on the plant vs an extra step to twirl and throw while running. I will say that I used to tape all the games, and I went through this argument many times with Sox fans who felt like Nomar was a great defensive SS. More often than not, after showing them the replays, they agreed that the extra step was not needed and that others made the same plays by planting and throwing. Sometimes, he took a quick mini step after gloving the ball, where his foot would come even to his other foot, then he'd take another step before twirling and throwing while on the run or turning in the air in a jump. Other SSs sometime take that quick mini step to get the footing right, so their plant foot is set up for the throw, but to me and many others who watched the replays with me, Nomar took the extra twirling step at the same point where other SSs simply planted and threw. I will say Nomar was better than Jeter, defensively, and I was surprised that ARod agreed to move to 3B for Jeter but not for Nomar when the initial trade was announced with the Red Sox. The 2002-2004 Nomar was not the same as '97-'00 or '01. He had lost a step, and pretty much any observant fan could see it. Maybe ARod saw the same things I did.

I watched the plays over and over. I've always been very keen on SS defense to the point of obsession. He often jumped as he twirled but not every time. Sometimes, he did throw as he was still running, but throwing while running did not "save time". He was amazingly accurate for throwing on the run- something that is a rare skill. Seeing something that was highly skillful distracted the viewer into thinking Nomar was making plays nobody else could make. In that way, it was a "mirage". He made easy or moderately hard plays look more difficult than they were. Other SSs simply planted before taking that next running step or hop/jump to throw. Many SSs made more plays in the hole than Nomar without needing to look flashy. Again, Nomar was not bad on defense at the start of his career, but he soon became average and then below average by around 2001.

How's Brentz done with his high K rate issue?

I've never been a big Brentz fan, but it's hard to argue against him getting a chance. I doubt they move Young to make room for Brentz, so it might be a September call-up chance to get a look and maybe win more playing time.

If Carson Smith can give us anything this year, I'd be happy and surprised. I'm pulling hard for him to succeed.