moonslav59

It seems Cora realizes this. Another feather in Cora's war bonnet.

I think a better solution would be to identify an OF'er to play 1B v RHPs. We solve the OF logjam, keep Cora happy by playing Yoshida at DH and try to find pitching without trading from the ML roster. (I still prefer trading Duran or Abreu w prospects for someone like Joe Ryan.) 1B: Duran v R/ Romy v L LF: Anthony v R/Duran v L CF: Rafaela FT (Duran when resting) RF: Abreu v R/Anthony v L (Ref DH v L) No deserving player gets shorted PAs.

Would Mitch Keller be like bringing back Pivetta?

Bello has great numbers with Wong. Just start Wong every 5 games and live with the sub .400 OPS. (I'm thinking he might hit .550 the rest of the way. LOL) .618 OPS Against when Wong is the catcher .790 with Narvaez (slightly better ERA w CN) Career: .599 w Jansen (39 IP) 3.23 ERA .721 w Wong (268 IP) 3.83 .780 McGuire (116) 4.89 .790 Narvaez (29) 3.07 1.027 Vazquez (16) 8.82 If we can upgrade Wong without losing much, okay, but it's far down on my priority list.

That's a steep price. I'm more worried about Tolle than KC.

...add with team control beyond 2025. Agree!

Bednar has an OPS Against or .621, this year. (It was over .900 in April, so he's been real good since then.) That's with a .342 BAbip, too! Keller will be overpaid, but he's still just 29. I'd probably give KC and Kelly for Keller & Bednar, but I think we could get both for Arias, Clarke, Early & Bleis. (Imagine if anyone had said this in mid April.)

Good points. Maybe some team with less of a 40 man roster crunch going into 2026 might take Perales, but they won't give a lot to get him- maybe a Luis Garcia/Lucas Sims type pitcher. As for closer to ML ready prospects, it does seem like teams no longer demand far away, high ceiling prospects. Arias, Clarke & Valera might be exceptions, as they may move to AA, soon, but even they may not bring back what we think they are worth. Our top prospects in AAA & AA are... Campbell (graduated) 3. Tolle (will be #1 when Anthony & Mayer graduate) 5. Perales (on 60 Day IL) 6. Jh Garcia (We are logjammed in the OF) 7. Tibbs (Checking him out at 1B, I hear) 10. Early, 11. Sandlin, 12. Romero (might be traded in a package) 19. Jordan (Rule 5, but 1B is a weak area.) 28. Ehrhard (OF blocked) Easy throw-ins: 21. Uberstine, 23. Mullins, 24. Castro, 26. Wehunt, 31. Monegro (injured), 37. Drohan, 40. Alcantara, Rodgers, Dean, Hoppe 40 Man Borderlines (some on IL): I Campbell, Winckowski, Kelly, Guerrero, Burdi, Bernardino, Alcala Grissom, Sogard, Eaton, Toro Criswell or Murphy? Casas? Hendriks, Hicks & Buehler?

Not even if Ryan had just 2 months control.

These college kids will fill many slots, most likely in '26. Some starters will be pen bound.

Indeed. Our roster depth is looking very nice, and when you count all the guys on the IL and the farm, WOW! 7 players on the 60 Day IL: Sandoval, Crawford, Slaten, Casas, Winckowski, Hendriks & Burdi 4 players on shorter ILs or rehabs: Dobbins (to 60) Houck, Guerrero & Kelly Maybe one or two of these guys might not bounce someone from the 26, when they get healthy, 7 or 8 probably would. I gotta think, if healthy, Sandoval, Crawford, Dobbins, Slaten, Houck & Casas would, for sure. Casas for Toro Sandoval for Fitts Crawford for Buehler (trade/DFA?) Dobbins for Murphy Slaten for Alcala Houck for Bernardino That would really make our 26 look tough, while improving our AAA depth, a lot, too.

We have needs, now. We can plan for an OF injury, instead? Besides, we'd likely be okay with Campbell, Garcia or Refsnyder/Yoshida as fill-ins anyway. This logjam will not go away after 2025, either. Duran has the shortest team control, and he's got 3 years left.

Nobody has hurled insults like you on this site in quite a while. Why not take a hike and find a site with real smart guys like you? We'd all be thankful.

Wong's D seemed to get better over 2024. He's one of the least played back-up catchers in MLB, so it's hard to find any sort of groove. Even Casas has more PAs than Connor. I'm not making excuses. His O has been worse than horrific. Some say he was lucky, last year. Out of 46 MLB catchers with 280+ PAs, Wong ranks 18th at .723. (Narvaez is 6th at .789) He's having a bad year on O. Even Sandy Leon was never this bad, but Wong has just 98 PAs spread out over 3.5 months.

What's Wong with Nick?

One solution would be to get an OF'er to play 1B or bench/trade Yoshida and have an OF'er DH. Toro is in a steep decline even against RHPs. Keep the OF'ers and trade some of our second level prospects to upgrade at a few slots. Decide what pitching prospects don't fit with Brez & Bailey and make room for all these college pitchers we just drafted. Pick up a decent SP and or RP, but don't go overboard. Maybe Sandoval comes through. Let's just cross our fingers and hope. NOT!!! The window is open, now. We've spent 6 years building up a solid young core of mostly everyday players and a pretty decent farm, despite all the graduations and upcoming ones. For years we've been saying and hearing that we draft SSs so we can trade for pitching when the time is right. That time is NOW! Could it backfire? Yes. Is trading several young players for a pitcher a huge risk? YES! Is trying to walk the thin line at the deadline really what some here want? I'm not for blowing up the farm for rentals. This window can stay open for many years. Make a couple moderate rental deals with second tier prospects and one big deal from our OF depth and a non top 5-6 prospect for a controlled pitcher. Call it a day, and let's make a serious push for a 2025 ring. We don't have to make 4 big trades. Keep the farm looking good, but let's fix a couple weak areas and stop counting on returning pitchers from the IL.

I listed guys from the top 60 prospect list, and maybe I like many more than you. I think it looks decent- 4 teams deep with a few holes, here and there. The pitching staffs do look better and slightly overloaded, but I see some trades coming, maybe some, this month. (Mullins, Paez, Wehunt and maybe Sandlin, Kelly, Guerrero and otehrs.)

sxoprospects,com has these projected 2026 rotations: MLB: Crochet, Gio (option) Bello, Sandoval, Harrison (Houck, Crawford, Dobbins on IL/inactive) AAA: Tolle, Early, Uberstine, Wehunt, Drohan (Perales/Sandlin swing) AA: Rivera, Clarke, Paez, Valera, Holobetz, Rodgers A+ Witherspoon, Phillips, Eyanson, Aita, Tygart, Neely A- Fajardo, Travieso, Ruiz, Patton, Brown, Mayers FCL: Cason, Delzine, Reyes, Zink, Frias, B Morgan Guys like Mullins, Song, Ingrassia, Dean, Rodgers, Futrell, Cohen, Brooks, J Bello, Gartrell and some draftees are listed in the pen.

We have plenty of slots opening up at the ML level, next year. Some will be filled by returning injured pitchers, but we all know, someone else will be on the IL in '26, '27... Our current AAA rotation is not great. If Harrison and Criswell are not on the ML roster, we'll have those two plus Uberstine. Stock & Coffey can go to make room for Tolle and Early/Sandlin. (Sandlin to the pen?) The AA rotation would still have Mullins, if not traded. Rogers is fungible. Rivera stays. That leaves room for Clarke, Aita and Holobetz to be promoted. Dean is fungible, as is Sprague. Maybe Fajardo or 3-4 college arms fill the rest of the Salem rotation, but we do have Brooks, Ehrlicher, Futrel, Gartell and Cohen there, now. (Some to the pen earlier than we normally do?) You raise some good points. Maybe we start trading away guys like Kelly, Guerrero, Bernardino, Coffey, Mullins, Monegro, Uberstine, Rodgers, Dean and others to make room. Maybe we now see why Brez traded Priester for an everyday prospect and farther away pitching prospect. Maybe see more deals like that.

I thought your main point was about how weak Salem and I'm assuming GRE, too, next year. The worry is about 4-6 years away, not the next 2-4 years, except corner IF and back-up C. If we were an aging vet team, I'd be more worried than you are, but look at the years of control of our young everyday players in the bigs, plus the ones that just arrived and are pre arbs. I agree that only Arias & Garcia look like solid bets, but I am certain that at least 3-4 from the long list I provided will jump up. Most of the positions I listed went 4 deep. Maybe the A- and A+ teams might be weaker than we would like, but having extra pitchers to rise or trade can help keep the balance, years from now.

What do we need more to make the playoffs? Anthony on the bench or a solid SP'er, who would bump the 5th starter to the pen, thereby improving it, too? If it's not Anthony on the bench, it's Duran. Rafaela or Abreu v R and Ref v L. I'm okay with benching Yoshida, but we know Cora will play him too much, at a top MLB OF'er expense.

I clearly value Duran over Campbell/Garcia/Yoshida in LF, but I see Anthony as our LF'er, if we trade Duran. I see the step down from Duran as way smaller than the step up we get with a solid #2 SP'er. That's it in a nutshell. I love Duran. For all we know, Anthony could be a step up over Duran, but likely not for 2025, so I see your worry about messing with out 2025 chances, but again, that huge addition at #2 SP'er is worth it, to me. Now, one could argue about how much better Ryan is than Bello or Gio, right now, and that is a valid point. In the playoffs, Bello or Gio would be the 3rd starter and the other in the pen, which does need help and depth, too. Campbell and Garcia become the #4 and #5 OF'ers you were worrying about, so much. Right now, it's Anthony, Ref and Yoshida/Campbell.

I think you missed my point. I want to trade away depth from 5 years away for Skenes or Ryan, so we can win in 2025 AND be better in 2026 until Ryan's control ends and 4 years, if Skenes. I was responding to MVPs concern about losing everyday player value on the farm and being overwhelmed by too many pitching prospects as Brez has shifted farm focus towards pitching. My top priority in 2020 was the farm and 40 man roster depth. After 21, I wanted more of the "now," but at the '22 and '23 deadlines I was for selling. Last year I wanted to buy, but not by trading a big 3 prospect. I think I have a balanced approach, but see a window open wide, right now. I'm not for trading top prospects for rentals. I want the here and now, but also a 2-3 year window enhanced. I'm okay with a big trade for a controlled #2, but also a couple rental deals that upgrade us where needed for just 2025. We have some logjams and roster crunches coming up, so we can afford some 3 for one rental deals, and hopefully they work out better than the Luis Garcia and Hosmer deals.

Tell the Astros, who just keep winning despite having 3-4 of their top 6-7 SP'ers on the IL every minute for the last 3-4 years.

You make some great points, and I don't disagree with anything, here. While adding a #2 SP'er's affect on rotation depth maybe be less valuable than 5th OF'er depth, I do think these two points override your concerns (and mine.) 1. I think our 5th OF'er will still be better than most teams (after Anthony, Rafaela, Abreu and Refsnyder, we still have Campbell, Yoshida and Garcia- maybe even Romy.) 2. Adding a solid #2 starter is a huge boost for playoff chances and way outweighs 5th OF'er depth. It also pushes Bello to 3 and Gio to 4 or the pen for the playoffs- another big boost. It also offers insurance against an injury by a top 3 SP'er. This trade helps for the playoffs and in getting us to the playoffs plus beyond 2025. I guess I just love looking at a 26 man roster starting from the top 3 in the rotation. Crochet Skenes (Ryan) Bello (Gio for 2025 maybe '26) That is WS winning quality. We have a great closer that will need to be extended or replaced. We have a super young core of everyday players and awesome depth, everywhere but C and corner IF, and I'm not for trading any of that depth. I'm also super high on Garcia as an OF'er and think Campbell is better suited for LF than 1B or 2B, once he gets used to it over CF. Even if Ref retires after 2025, Garcia and Campbell should be fine. Trading or signing OF depth is not expensive, if we need to later on. (Tibbs & Bleis are not far away, either and maybe Cespedes moves to the OF, soon.)