moonslav59

Shaw is a way better fielder than HanRam at 1B and Pablo/Moncada at 3B, so I don't see Shaw at DH. I'm not sure why so many people are so dead set against using Moncada at DH (or Swihart). I get that it's not ideal, but they can still get work in at their position. IMO, if we need their bat, and we have nobody better, they'll be at DH whenever it makes us better.

I think they both have value. Maybe holding onto them longer may increase it.

Yes, there are, but there are also teams that don't have much. Plus, it's not all about your last year's stats, especially with prospects.

It's hard to value a DH. Papi did not get maid more than $16M and many of his deals were relatively short term. His age and fear of quick decline were probably factors, but I'm not sure what some GM will give EE. I'm guessing $110-110M/5- maybe $110M/6. I guess he might get "just" $80M/5 at worst.

Probably "absurd" is a alittle rash, I admit.

They still have value, but I'm done with both of them.

If we sign Beltran, when we play at NL parks, he can play LF, and Beni can sit or play CF as JBJ rests. If we sign EE, either EE or HanRam sist in NL parks. Not a big concern, but it is a factor to think about.

Yeah, well I thought what we gave the Padres for Kimbrel & Pomeranz was ridiculous, absurd and astronomical. Oops, I promised I wouldn't bring that up again. My bad!

That too!

Yeah, but winning can cure that.

I'd love to have him on our team, but he's like a 100 in catcher years, and his intangibles have not helped the cards get anywhere very special in quite some time (WS loss in 2013 and WS win in 2011). What's it going to take to get the Cards to trade him to us?

No, but I do think Tito had something to do with us losing. Had price let up 5 runs and we won, we wouldn't be talking about this. My point was that nobody should ever be surprised about anything in a one game sample size. Tito had nothing to do with how P & P pitched.

That was the part that was designed to get us Frazier. JBJ, Pom and Moncada would, in theory, bring us Q and Robertson.

There were several rumors about trading sale at the deadline.

JBJ is one of the most sought after players in MLB. Pomeranz shows a lot of promise. Moncada is MLB's number one prospect. I'd hardly call that a "grab bag". I agree on the idea of Q maybe not even being available, and I doubt I'd want to give the same package for one year less of Sale (if he's even available).

How about 4-0 2.98 over the second half of 2016? That's saying a little more, isn't it? I was surprised at Porcello after he was consistently good all year. I wasn't a bit surrpised that Price spit the bit. It's what he does, when there's a some pressure involved. It was one game. It shouldn't be all that surprising that a couple pitchers had off days facing a very tough line-up and manager. If Buch's option is picked up, he'd be my fill in option next fall, if they make the playoffs again. I think they will take his option and the 4-5 slots will come down to a battle between Buch, Wright and Pomeranz, where the "loser" ends up in the pen as an important player.

Actually, he wasn't the "worst offensive 3Bman who played FT." He was 22nd out of 24 who "qualified". Headley and Garcia were worse in OPS. The team had the worst 3B OPS (.685) thanks mostly to Hill and other. The issue was more about how Shaw looked to end the season. I know one could argue that the Shaw that ended the 2015 season and started the 2016 season could be the "real" Shaw, or that he's somewhere in between that Shaw and the one that ended the season, which wouldn't be "the worst", but clea4rly it would be pretty bad. I am close to losing faith with Shaw, because I see his unimpressive numbers at AA and AAA, which when combined are double the sample sizes of his career MLB .754 OPS, and I think that while .754 is not even near the worst, .745 might be a dream. I doubt we look for an outside long term solution at 3B, unless we are looking at trading Moncada or Devers or someone else at another position we plan to move somebody to. We might try for a 1 year option like trading for Todd Frazier, but with all these guys on the roster, I think we'll let them sort themselves out and revisit during the season. T Shaw Sandoval Moncada Holt Hernandez Rutledge (Devers farther away)

That's true, but normally the best way to improve your team is to start with the weakest positions and seek to make them much better. With Moncada, Devers and a guy making over $19M a year fighting for the job with Shaw, I can see the merit in not spending big to improve 3B, especially with a long term solution, unless we plan on trading Moncada or Devers.

Maybe by adding Devers and Kopech.

Note: I'm not saying I want to do this, but could it happen? Trade:JBJ, Pomeranz, Moncada, Shaw, Owens & Johnson For: Quintana, Robertson & Frazier Sign:Carlos Beltran & Uehara Take Buch's option & let Hanigan go Here's what we'd be looking at: 1) Bogaerts SS 2) Pedroia 2B 3) Betts RF 4) Beltran DH/LF 5) Ramirez 1B 6) Frazier 3B 7) Benintendi CF 8) Young LF /Swihart DH 9) Leon/Vazquez C SP: Quintana, Price, Porcello, ERod, Wright RP: Kimbrel, Robertson, Uehara, Buchholz, Kelly, Ross, Smith/Barnes/Hembree

I'd rather have Tito or Madden. I'm not blaming our ending on JF (I try to avoid the blame game), but I don't think he helped much.

While they certainly look well set up for years to come, nobody "dominates" anymore.

I have us at about $185M after all arbs and Buch's option- leaving us about $5M. The LT will go up this year, most think by a lot.

Sign someone not named Encarnacion for the DH (unless EE can be had for a reasonable price, which I see as unlikely). We can't replace Papi but we can get some power help for the linup, which is always a good thing. Maybe "EE lite" a/k/a Bautista? He'll probably be cheaper and for fewer years. We came within inches of getting Beltran at the deadline. He's old, so a short term deal is what we want anyways. He plays the wrong position, but if we just want a DH, he's a true switch hitter- equally good from both sides. Maybe Young would then platoon with Beni or give JBJ some time off vs LHPs as well. A one year great hitting 3Bman would be ideal, but where is that coming from? By all means sign Koji. He's Plan B in case Kimbrel continues to pitch like he has no control over where the ball is going once he lets go of it. If we end up needing a Plan C, at least we had a Plan B. Agreed Ideally that power hitting DH I mentioned above should be capable of playing 3B. (And I know, that eliminates Bautista. But I said this was ideally). Maybe a converted 3Bman. This guy could be our Plan E if things don't work out with The Fat Man and Plans B, C, & D. Or he could be the bridge between a failing Fat Man and Moncada with a DH by committee during that time. Then if Moncada doesn't work out and we have to go shopping again we'll have the option of looking for either a DH or a 3Bman. We could sign Turner at 3B and use Moncada to get that young pitcher.