moonslav59

Every team can always look to upgrade their rotation. With Price on the 60 day DL and ERod still trying to regain form after his injury, I'll take Gray over Fister or Kendrick/Johnson everyday of the week. If we end up with 7 healthy starters next year, I'ms ure we can find a team willing to trade for one of them. Gray is also under team control for one more year than Pom.

My suggested offers were meant as starting points. I might have ended up offering... Groome, Ockimey, Beeks, Lakins and Swihart or Chavis, Dalbec, Beeks, Lakins and Swihart Maybe switch Travis for Dalbec or Ockimey. I'd have avoided offering Mata, but if the A's insisted I might try to find a way. Guys like Gray are not offered that often for no top 40 prospects at all.

MLBTR said DD did not inquire about SP'ing.

The Swami

Scouts won't even scout him.

I never came close to saying Holt and Swihart were centerpieces. I actually implied they could be throw-ins, if the A's were interested. My main point was that DD apparently never even asked about what it might take. Different GMs evaluate players differently than others and us. Maybe Beane really loves Beeks, Lin and Ockimey. Maybe not. I think Chavis would have gotten Beane listening. Groome too.

Maybe I'm undervaluing the Yankee players given due to their injuries, but I'm not so sure my offers are that off. I also think that if we included Chavis, Mata or Groome (just one), the A's would have listened. Maybe adding Houck or Scherff could get them to bite. On a team like the A's, Holt might play close to FT for several years.

He's been about as consistent as anyone else. He's had 3 hot months, but having 7 out of 12 above .800 is better than... Bogey's 5 of 12 Pedey's 6 of 11 HRams' 5 of 11 JBJ has 3 of 12 months below .730. Pedey had 3 of 11 HRam 3 of 11 All I hear about is JBJ's streaks. I'll take his last 3 years over anyone but Betts: .832 .835 .775 (Betts has 8 of 12)

Is JBJ ever going to lose that stereotype? Since his horrible ML start, he's been one of our most consistently good hitters: OPS by month since JBJ's last call-up in 2015 (14 months since AUG 2015) JBJ 1.163 .739 .807 1.175 .805 .839 .651 .731 .596 .808 1.009 .596 Bogey .761 .876 .785 1.017 .815 .830 .599 .750 .731 .949 .763 .452 Betts .857 .998 .757 .927 .792 1.068 1.086 .762 .802 .867 .857 .695 Pedey DL .500 .846 .870 .724 .862 .916 .742 .663 .818 .736 .903 HRam .444 DL .696 .842 .720 .940 .962 1.045 .719 .818 .764 .795 Months below .700/.700-.800/.800-.899/.900+ J.B.J.: 3/2/4/3 Bogey: 2/5/3/2 Betts: 1/3/4/4 Pedey: 2/3/4/2 HRam: 2/4/2/3 JBj has never had a month below .596, while Bogey has a .452 and Pedey has a .500

We could have given Groome, Mata or Chavis, but I'm thinking this might have been enough: Travis, Beeks, Lakins, Dalbec & Shawaryn or Ockimey, Beeks, Lakins, Shawaryn & Brannen Oakland might also be interested in Holt, Marrero, Lin or Swihart Word was, DD didn't even ask.

Fluke.

How about... Travis, Beeks & Lakins? (Maybe add Maddox) or Ockimey, Holt, Beeks & Lakins? (Maybe add Maddox)

Price is on the DL, and ERod has looked shaky. You just don't pass on a chance to get a guy like Gray. Look at the Dodgers: they just acquired Darvish and they were already stacked deep with starters- though some are injured like us. You nver stop looking for cheap ways to bolster your rotation. We can always trade away a starter, if we end up with too many.

Hispanics can also have African roots.

Wow, we're down to making rash decisions based on one game sample sizes now. Holt has sucked all year. The injury can be used as an excuse, but no way do I ever bench Beni for Holt, except maybe vs LHPs, but then I'd still use Young or Nunez instead of Holt. Once Pedey returns, Holt should hardly ever play.

You're right, sorry. 4 of 6 with 140 or more vs 2 of 4 with 140 or less.

Although the modern playoff schedule has less days off than before, there are still more days off than during the season. This shortens the staff to the point where only 3-4 starters are needed, and a team's top 2-3 RP'ers are used at a higher percent than normal. I like how our top 6-7 pitchers stack up against any AL team: SP1 Sale (the best ace this year) SP2 Price (the highest priced #2 in MLB history) SP3 Pom (steady Drew) SP4 Porcello (2.79 ERA in his last 4 starts and last year's cy Young winner) RP1 Kimbrel (MLB's best closer this year) RP2 A Redd (Could be one of the best set-up men in MLB) RP3 C Smith if healthy- Joe Kelly if not The Guardians have a nice top 2 starters: Kluber 2.90 Carrasco 3.58 but get sketchy after that... Tomlin 5.38 Bauer 5.25 (Salazar 4.63/Clevinger 3.68) Their pen is deeper and can allow Tito to yank starters earlier: Cody Miller 2.74 A Miller 1.52 B Shaw 2.90 N Goody 2.29 Z McAllister 2.11 D Otero 3.57 The Astros are battling more injuries than we are. Their staff is highly questionable: Keuchel 1.94 (has only 12 starts) M Fiers 3.71 (leadss the team in IP at 112) McCullers 3.92 (on the DL) C Morton 3.77 (LOL!) Peacock 2.62 (LOL!) K Giles 3.11 Devenski 2.85 Feliz 5.04, Sipp 6.47 or just added Liriano? The Yanks are hard to gauge since adding Gray, Garcia, Robertson & Kahnle to the staff, but they look pretty good: Severino 2.98 Pineda 4.39 (on DL) Tanaka 5.09 Sabathia 3.66/Montgomery 4.15 Chapman 2.97 Warren 2.06 Betances 2.61 Robertson & Kahnle It should be an interesting AL playoffs.

He's been a God send, but we shouldn't keep expecting him to be this great the rest of the year. Hopefully Nunez and Devers have lit a fire under the other players' asses.

I'll believe in Smith when I see him, but I do think we have the makings for a strong pen. Kimbrel is the best closer this year- period. Reed has to adjust to the set-up role, but of he pitches like he did with the Mets, we'll have one of the best 8th inning guys in MLB. To me, the biggest gain is the fact that now we have Kelly (when he returns) and maybe Smith to pitch the 7th and help out in the 8th here and there, AND Barnes and Hembree are now very good 6th/7th inning RP'ers. Abad remains a very good LOOGY. Having Workman, Scott and other available in reserve is also a very good thing/

Pedey's played in over 140 games in 5 of his last 6 seasons. He played in 140 games or more in 2 of 4 before that. It looks to me like he's playing more as he ages.

Also, Moreland has been playing (if you want to call it that) hurt for a long time.

We have 16 guys listed as 6-3 or taller- all pitchers! Moreland, HRam and Young are listed as 6-2. Bogey, Swihart and Marrero as 6-1- everyone else is 6-0 or shorter.

Well, we just traded for 6-4 Addison Reed. Too bad he's not a clean-up hitter.

Gray was well worth the risk of the three guys you gave up. He may not work out, but he's a proven ace who has shown signs he's returning to form. DD should have tried hard to beat the Yankees' offer. If we ended up with a glut of starters next year, we could always trade one for good prospects or trade one as part of a bigger package for a cost-controlled big bat..

Reports are that DD didn't even inquire about SP'ing. How do you not even ask about Sonny Gray? The guy has 3 playoff cycles of team control at a low cost. Criminal negligence.