moonslav59

If we have just one "major signing," I'd prefer it not be Bregman or Bichette. We need more power and higher OPS from the "major." To me, that's Alonso or Schwarber. Signing or adding two from this group would be okay: Bregman, Bichette, Suarez, Polanco, KMarte. Casas coudl end up at DH, if he finds his way back to a starting role and proves he's healthy. IMO, having Casas at a low cost should not be a reason we avoid Alonso. How JH sees it may be as you suggest. I fully understand that point.

I don't see things in black and white so much. There were several reasons to give KC a shot, including the point about trying 11 secondbasemen the year before. I did prefer giving Mayer the first shot, but there were reasons to think he needed some rehab time, as well as wanting to keep him getting SS reps, until we got a clearer idea on Story and his health at SS. In hindsight, we can argue "KC was not ready and it showed," but that is an opinion. It could have just been a long slump that he was about to snap out of. We'll never know. I have no issue with the opinion we were wrong or that he was "rushed," but it's not a certainty. The big question, now is are we ready to hand him another FT slot or even an inside track to one?

I think we will make one major signing, but if it's just Bregman and little else, I'd be pissed. I'm okay with Alonso or Schwarber plus giving Mayer & Anthony FT positions and Campbell the inside opportunity to win a FT slot.

True, but after what KC did at all levels, promoting him made sense. Had we never called him up, we'd be talking "why not?"

There might be more teams, this year. Whoever misses out on Schwarber might go hard after Alonso. I do NOT think the Mets bid as high as it takes to get him. I think they'll set a number and not go higher. There are other 1B options they might like.

Agreed, I'd "settle" on Mitch Keller, if he got us one of these tandem signings: Alonso + Bregman 3B/Suarez 3B /Polanco 2B/Bichette 2B Schwarber + Bregman3B/Suarez3B/Polanco2B Borderline acceptable... Bregman + Suarez (1B) Bichetts + Suarez (1B) KMarte + Suarez (1B)

If we trade 2 OF'ers, I'm assuming we get some very nice talent back to fill a couple positions that include 1B, 2B, 3B and maybe DH. I'd hope will fill another one with a big bat like Alonso or Schwarber with Suarez, Polanco, KMarte or maybe Bichette/Bregman, and then I'd be okay with giving Campbell a good chance to win the LF slot against Garcia.

He'd be a "settling" addition, or an "in the mix" with Casas at 1B addition. If he's our 3Bman, we better have Alonso at 1B and either Polanco at 2B or Suarez at 1B and Schwarber at DH

Too many years of control lost on the GG RF'er with decent power. 2025 HRs/650 PAs 33 Abreu 25 Story & Refsnyder 24 Bregman 21 Narvaez 17 Anthony, Romy & Duran 16 Rafaela

To those who think we have to re-examine our prospect MLB readiness evaluations, how many of these call-ups worked vs not worked? Campbell Narvaez Dobbins Mayer Anthony Early Tolle

I get the feeling that even a monster ST'ing, which was used against him last spring, will not be enough to convince some to "hand the suspect" a FT job on the opening day MLB club.

Great point. He was also shuffled around on positions.... again.

I was one of those "most of us." How many of us though, "Man was I wrong," after 20 games? Now, we look back and say, "See, we were right!" Sorry, I kinda think it rings hollow, now. In hindsight, okay. At the time, it was not a no-brainer. Plus, holding back on promoting Mayer and Anthony had two issues attached: 1. OF and SS were taken. (Yes, Mayer could play 2B, but we wanted him to find his groove at SS.) 2. The added year of control by waiting. (KC was already signed.)

Mayer had missed the end of the '24 season and a lot of time before that. It was reasonable to want to give him some time to find a groove. BTW, I was for Mayer over KC, too, back on day one, but it wasn't a clear choice, to me. I think they saw Mayer as Story's primary back-up and wanted to see how Trevor looked. That may have been part of the discussion.

The minors was a much larger sample size than the ST'ing one you cite.

Agreed. 99% he starts in AAA, unless we intentionally trade 1-2 OF'ers to make room for him to have a shot at beating out Garcia for the LF slot. (Duran & Abreu traded & Anthony in RF or Duran/Abreu + Rafaela traded w Anthony/Duran in CF.)

Agreed. He'd also cost way less. As far as I can tell, Bubic has a 12.1 BTV, and when you figure a $6M final arb estimate, they think he's worth $18M/1. Would you do any of these exchanges? 13.5 Casas 12.5 Romy 11.6 Perales 9.5 Harrison + 1.3 Winckowski 5.5 Sandlin + 5.5 Eyanson I'd say no to Romy and depending on who we add at 1B, maybe no to Casas. Probably yes on Perales of the last one. Probably no on Harrison.

I don't want Bohm.

I just assumed it was about Mitch. Brad is a 5/6.

They might have worried that calling him up and seeing him slump might damage his confidence, but I've never been big on that type of thinking. It seems they did not like what they saw of KC at 1B, or they know they are adding a 1Bman, this winter to a long term deal.

I thought Mayer and Anthony were better opening day choices, but KC had been tearing up the minors at every level. To me, they all looked ready- more ready than Narvaez, Early, Tolle and Dobbins- other rookies that ended up doing well. This is not an easy choice to make, and I'm not sure we can easily say out organizational player development assessment protocol is flawed, because one guy slumped badly after his first 20 games or so. The reason all these guys didn't get an immediate show was the vest already in place. Yes, Mayer could have been chosen over KC at 2B, but I think they wanted him to play more games and play at SS, because Story was still a big question mark, if not just on his health questions. Anthony doesn't play 2B, and we can already see how his great start has forced the trade Duran issue to the forefront. Narvaez got his shot, in part because Wong got hurt. Dobbins, Tolle and Early were not really expected to play in the bigs. They made it by injury attrition. I totally agree that the experience gained by these rookies, some just brief stints has enormous value to them and the club. There aren't as many looking to break into the bigs, next season, except maybe Perales or limited roles by Sandlin or Romero. (Romero will not be on the 40.) We still have more to learn about KC, namely his position, and Jh Garcia. We need to see how Mayer can hit lefties, and how strong his arm looks after the wrist injury. We'd like to see if Anthony's power can increase, and how he looks on defense over a full season. We'd like to see if 2025 was a fluke for Narvaez, Some of us want to see Tolle and Early get plenty of starts in the bigs, and maybe some want them on the opening day roster. It was good they got a taste of the bigs without any harm to their egos. If Campbell is to be set up for LF, I'm not sure there is room for Jh Garcia, perhaps even if Duran is traded. I wonder if DH is the best spot for KC, but we have Masa and maybe Casas as the DH, the latter for sure if we sign Alonso or another 1Bman. (Alonso might also be a DH type.)

They may not be considering 1B as an option, because they know they will be adding a 1Bman, this winter. In a vacuum LF seems like the most likely fit for KC, and with all the talk of trading Duran, ir make sense to give the RHB'er a shot there. The problem is we already have Anthony LF, Rafaela CF and Abreu RF and a decent RHB prospect in JH Garcai who looks MLB ready, too. I'm wondering if we trade 2 OF'ers, bring back Ref and plop KC in LF w REF as a reinforcement. Otherwise, he plays LF in AAA until needed FT in the bigs in LF or at DH. Another choice is to trade KC. His $7.5M may not be an overpay, but it would allow for an upgrade on an intended signing. Trading Duran and KC, probably in separate trades to add pitching and/or an infield bat makes some sense.

It's the one year of control on Bubic that turns me off- not his skill level.

It will take more than Gonzales, but he would not say no to something like Gonzales, Clarke and Sandlin, IMO.

This would be ny rankings- not the projected one: 1. Ohio St. 10-0 2. Indiana 11-0 3. Texas A & M 10-0 4. Georgia 9-1 5. Ole Miss 10-1 6. Texas Tech 10-1 7. Oregon 9-1 8. Oklahoma 8-2 9. Alabama 8-2 10. Notre Dame 8-2 11. BYU 11-1 12. Vanderbilt 8-2 (Utah probably is placed here.) _____________ Have a good shot, if they win out: Utah 8-2, MIA 8-2, USC 8-2, VA 9-2, MI 8-2G Tech 9-1,