moonslav59

I'm not sure we can know how well Mayer will do from April to May, and just as importantly, how well will any other player we choose do or would have done? If Mayer hits .625, maybe DHam would have hit .600. Poster will complain, no matter what we choose to do, unless the choice works great from day one.

He may have won a slot, even if he does not do well in Mexico. Cora has been gushing over him.

Hendriks says Chapman deserves the closer role. He "earned it."

He has looked good, but maybe they are choosing to keep him as depth, without having to add him to the 40 (and 26,) so we can add someone else. If Fulmer keeps pitching well, he can easily replace someone else, later, of be added when we put someone on the 60 Day IL. No hurry on any of this.

The thing is, even if Devers misses a lot of time, this year, we could probably get good offense from Refsnyder and others being squeezed by Mayer, Campbell and Anthony. Yes, he's not a bad hitter, but we can do better, IMO. We could pay every penny of Yoshida's deal and add Bernardino, and it would not be enough for O'Hoppe. Adding Abreu gets us close, but good catchers are hard to find and highly valued by teams that have them. One factor could be how much LAA likes or wants Abreu and/or if they like/want Wong or Narvaez. Maybe Yoshida + $10-12M a year, DHam & Wong could get the deal done. They might demand Abreu & Wong.

Maybe JD Martinez?

A weak arm is one thing, but throwing the ball away is worse. I still think Story is a plus on D. I'm not sure Mayer is better, but if he is, I'm for the swap.

I don't disagree. I just don't know how good Mayer is on D at SS, just yet. When you read scouting reports that talk of positional; changes, I woner.

Mayer is a better defensive SS than Bogey, and Story played 2B for him. I know this is different, but let's do what is best for the team. (Note: I'm not sure what alignment is best, and if it's close, I'd keep Story at SS and have Mayer at 2B.)

Just what we need. LOL

If he's good enough, the closing job can be his, so yes. He fits the criteria you suggested.

It is concerning to watch Story's arm issues. I'm not sure moving him to 2B is the right choice. I do think he'll make up for the arm issues by getting to balls most SS don't come close to getting, but he can't have a throwing error every 2 games, or worse. He has not played 2B, this spring, so I do not think that is being considered.

and Criswell.

Yes, there are many factors that go into choices like these. The keeping of as many options in the system for as long as possible may be more important than the extra year of control thing. Anthony, Campbell and Mayer offer great depth to the ML roster without needing to be on the 40. That's like having a 43 man roster. Players who signed minor league deals, and can be stashed in AAA without having to expose the to waivers have real value, too. Teams often choose lesser players to be on the 26, because they have no options or because choosing a non 40 man player to make the team would involve moving someone off the 40 and taking away an option. Now, we have about 3 pitchers who can be added to the 60 Day IL. That could give us a 2 month benefit of adding someone we need, but we probably will only do this for players we want on the 26 or who we might lose, due to an opt out clause, or who may need to pass through waivers. These are not always the best non roster players, but they are good enough to not want to remove from the chocies Cora & Brez have. The level of ML readiness is always up for debate, and some seem to think they know who is ready and who is not, better than Brez & Co. There are also various levels of ML readiness- like ready on D but not on O, or this kid might need a lot of time to adjust, but he looks ready, and on a team looking to compete, "time to adjust" could mean losing a game or two. Waiting to promote may or may not work out, but there are always questions. How good the player(s) you have already matters, too. We see a lot of various opinions on how good a DHam-Romy platoon is at 2B. Some just plain do not like platoons. Some think 2024 was a fluke for both DHam & Romy, despite the fact that they brought a stability to a position that has really sucked for 2 seasons, and not been very good for over 5 seasons. Is the step up, if it turns out to be that, worth adding Mayer or Campbell to the 40 & 26, instead of someone else, or instead of holding off, in case a key injury forces another need for a different player addition. The situation with Anthony has several factors at work, too. A Duran-Rafaela-Abreu OF looks to be one of the best defensive OF's in a long time. Ref vs LHPs is one of baseball's best split batters, and offers relief to Abreu, who has struggled mightily vs lefties out of the gate. Yoshida may not be capable of playing OF, but in Fenway, LF is often used to hide a DH-only type player at that position. He is depth, whether we like the idea or not. Romy and DHam can play OF, for a short time. Adding Anthony looks like an almost sure upgrade, but the word almost is key, and losing other options to add him, might comeback to bite us. Do we bench a GG OF'er who kills RHPs (Abreu?) Do we bench a kid like Rafaela who seems to have immense potential? We are not benching Duran. (I keep repeating that Ref needs to start every game vs LHPs, but not everyone agrees.) How sure are we that Anthony will be much better than Rafaela or an Abreu-Ref platoon in 2025? It's a risk-reward choice.

MLBTR has a poll on who should start at 2B. The results: 35.5% DHam 33.5% Mayer 31.0% Campbell They asked "Who should..." not "Who do you think will...)

That should have been something scouts knew. Had Yoshida been signed to $7M x 5, we'd not be so critical, and he might be gone by now.

What makes Ceddanne's high K rate stick out is the low BB rate. 2023-2024: K%-BB% 34-11 O'Neal 31-6 Duvall 28-6 Wong (23-6 in '24) 27-13 Casas (32-12 in '24) 27-3 Rafaela (26-3 in '24) 25-8 DHam (25-7 in '24)

I think DHam has the lead, right now. Mayer is second. Campbell starts the season in AAA. Romy is DHam's platoon partner. If Mayer is not the 2Bman, he will start in AAA, too and not be added to the 40, until he's penciled in to start at the big level. If it was my choice, I think I'd go with Mayer.

No, but we have 3 pitchers we can add to the 60 Day IL to open a slot.

DHam is a decent player. Plus D at 2B. .729 vs RHPs Can steal 50+ bases.

without Rafaela, too!

Priester. Fitts seems like he's earned a slot.

It's a nice part of what DHam brings to the table.

I'm thinking Newcomb is the 5th starter.

That was a nice throw. DHam got the nod at 2B, tonight. Big decisions loom.