moonslav59

Just don't say calling phantom people "Campbell haters" name-calling.

I guess I see it as a mistake, since I've thought Devers should have tried 1B since before Casas was even called up, years ago. I think it was a systemic mistake relying on Toro & Romy as the only 1B reserves.

I kinda like the yellow jerseys. (Did I say that outloud?)

Since I was a preteen, I was always fascinated by trades and signings and what ifs... I still am.

It's unlikely he was the breaking point of the trade from the WS perspective. They probably would have gladly taken DHam, Grissom or many other players or prospects.

No, the farm did not fail, but the system, which included GM choices on corner IF and catcher. They traded Teel, but I love that trade. They traded Meidroth, who none of us were sure would be a ML level corner IF'er, and I love that trade. Up to Brez, Bloom did a damn good job building up the everyday portion of of the system, from top to bottom. Being forced to trade away or let go almost every star did not help with the fans, but he quietly built a solid foundation for Brez. Brez came along and rightfully noticed and quickly addressed the need for balancing the system towards better pitching. His very first moves were Fitts, Weissert & Judice for Dugo and Urias for I Campbell. The stage was set in motion, immediately. Shortly afterwards, he traded for Slaten (and an everyday player named O'Neill.) Of course, the Sale traded ended 2023's moves. I'm very excited about what Brez has done, so far. He's made a few mistakes, some in hindsight, IMO, but his general focus has been to improve the pitching and sometimes by trading away everyday assets. He may have one more big one in mind.

But the jury is in on Valara and Whitherspoon? (Even Perales is a BIG Q)

Agreed, and then trading Meidroth and not getting Devers prepared to play 1B, NOT DH just added to the mistake.

It took 5+ years to build up the everyday portion of our roster and farm system, but it sure looks strong and deep. It is a solid and young core with a healthy splash of vets to keep the kids in line and focused. The OF is the envy of every ML team. 6 yrs of Rafaela, 4 Abreu and 3 Duran (all inexpensive.) Refsnyder offers nice veteran influence and excellent play v lefties. Anthony is the #1 prospect in MLB, and we have Yoshida as an emergency LF'er and Campbell and Gracia in AAA. WOW! We have a pre-arb, ROY candidate at catcher and an improved defensive back-up catcher w 3 arbs left. Jo Garcia is far away, but might be a plus. Our china doll 1Bman has great offensive potential and 3 arbs left, and this is one area we have little to no depth, except a nice platoon guy in Romy w 3 arbs, too. Maybe Tibbs or Justin Gonzalez can play 1B, way down the road. We may finally have found our 2Bman after a 6+ year struggle with pre-arb Mayer- another top prospect in the nation. Back-ups may look sketchy, but there are many, including the option of Story at 2B, someday and Mayer or Arias at SS. Story at SS for 2 years with an option seems to be looking good, right now, and we have some good young depth. Bregman id the leader of the team, but may bolt after this year. Forcing Mayer to 3B until Romero or Arias is ready is not a good idea. This is the area our system failed, along with 1B, but that's kinda on the Devers mess up, too. DH has Yoshida for 2 more years. Not good, but there still is some hope. Ref and Romy can offer a platoon option, or we can move Casas or an OF'er to DH, if we need to or find a solid 1B option. On the other side: pitching, we have added a ton of young arms over the past 2 seasons, via draft, trades, signings and IFA. We may have to trade some pitching prospects or vets just to make room for all the college draft picks, Rule 5 pitchers and IL returning pitchers. We'll need to add some quality arms, until the kids are ready, but that farm outlook is better than it's been in a very long time. Crochet for 6 is sweet! Bello for 5 is very nice. Gio & Sandoval have an option or one more year. Houck has 2 and Crawford 3. Whitlock 1 and Slaten 4. Hicks 2 and Harrison 4. Chapman will be a big loss, but losing Buehler at the same time might give us the money flex to bring him back or add another top closer by signing. Replacing Wilson may be hard, but we have a long list of pitching options for 2026 and beyond. Dobbins & Fitts. Criswell & Bernardino. Weissert & Wink. Murphy, Kelly & Guerrero plus more. I'm pumped up, but I know things can turn south in a minute. 10 days ago, I was thinking we should be sellers, and this is close to the same team on the field.

He's got a hot fastball and nice secondary pitches, already. They have a lot to start with.

There is a report the Yanks are looking at a Keller trade.

He'd have to trade Crochet and Narvaez for them not to be back. I hope Bregman takes the option or extends for 3, maybe 4 years. I'd like to bring Chapman back for a year, and I'd be okay with a second year option with a hefty buyout.

Top Pitchers on the farm: Tolle, Perales, Clarke, Valera Early, Sandlin, Witherspoon Paez, Rivera, Monegro, Phillips Uberstine, Mullins, Wehunt Delzine, Cason, Holobetz, Eyanson Ingrassia, J Bello, D Reyes, Foutch Good job, Brez (not all his guys.)

I think Narvaez has to be considered a big surprise, too. Maybe not quite top 3, but if you seperate Gio and Bello into two cases, maybe he fits into a top 5 surprise list. 1. Giolito 2. Rafaela 3. Narvaez 4. 1B 5. Bello Honorable Mention: Wilson & Dobbins Chapman surprised me, but he's been great in the recent past.

That looks very solid. He has 2 years left on his deal (at ages 36 and 37.) He made 74 starts from 2022-2024. That's not bad, but he does miss starts. He's averaged 25 GS and 140 IP per season.

I'm not saying your wrong, but you seem to value the last 3.5 months way more than the last 3-5 years. Not that Pivetta has been bad over the last 3-5 years- quite the contrary, but so has Keller.

I think the idea would be to keep Duran by trading for Gallen, instead of Keller, but I agree. We've had our share of projects and pitchers coming off big injuries. I realize anyone can get hurt, but I want to get a steady guy as the better dice roll, even if it costs us more. Plus, Keller or Ryan would be for 2025 and beyond. Gallen, Cease a few others would be just rentals.

I agree. While Bello and Gio are pitching like great #2s (and even #1's) right now, I'm not sure we can count on out top 3 to continue like this for 3 more months. Even if they do, adding a Ryan greatly improves our odds for the playoffs and having a 4th starter for a few playoff games and to use from the pen would be a huge asset.

Did not know this. Cancel the thought.

Kinda rough on Tolle.

They gambled. If we tried to extend either, now, they'd both want and get more. The deals are not over yet, but both look nice, now.

I guess I messed up. 491 to 406 IP since 2023 is one thing. They are tied in fWAR since '23. That's about it.

We've been hearing posters wanting Joe Ryan, but what about Pablo Lopez? He's ties with Keller for fWAR since 2024 (4.8: ranked 22nd.) He makes $21.8M for '26 and '27, but his AAV is $18.4- about the same as Keller's. He's just 29 and will be 31, when his contract expires. 2021-2025 3.63 ERA (117 ERA+) 88 ERA- 3.44 FIP 1.16 WHIP 9.7K to 2.3 BB per 9 (His 20.2 K-BB% is 10th best in MLB our of 44 pitchers with 600+ IP since '21. He's 19th out of 144 pitchers with 400+ IP.) He should cost less than Ryan due to the money differential.

Chances are he gets someone nobody has mentioned. He may get 2-3 players, so maybe one will be a guy we discussed.

Brez could be wrong on this, but I'm not pretending to know more than he does.