moonslav59

IMO, our pen is still a weak area, and Whitlock could be a key part of improving it, significantly. Right now, Bello and Kutter will be our 5-6 starters, so two guys would have to be out to get to our 7th starter. I'd much rather give the pitcher doing the best from this group, the first shot: Criswell, Fulmer, Fitts, Priester & Dobbins. (Only Fulmer would need to be added to the 40.) Chances are, 2-3 of these guys will be doing well, if and when a need arises. Keep the pen as strong as possible.

I like Bello as the 5th starter and Crawford as the long man/ spot starter in the pen. I'm not sure why I don't view the choice as being all that close, as the reasons for choosing KC are compelling. Maybe it's the HR rate (1.7 KC to 1.1 BB) My guess is both KC and BB should get a chance for 28+ GS, if they pitch well enough, so maybe it doesn't matter much who is the opening season 5th starter. I doubt we add another top SP'er, and if Sandoval returns, this summer, maybe we'll have a nice dilemma facing us.

You must be confusing me with someone else. I was never concerned about losing Pom-pom. I mentioned not replacing Porcello in 2020, but not by bringing him back. No, it wasn't a pretty sight watching our vaunted rotation implode, and I fully realize even the most durable and dependable pitchers can get hurt or have a bad year. My point is that I'd rather have more dependable looking pitchers than the kind we've been adding since 2019. Every pitcher is a question mark, but some are more than others, and to me, we've been adding too many on the wrong side of the spectrum. Martin and Gio were the only two I can think of, who were viewed as "taking the ball every 5 days" types of pitchers. Martin's skill level was not great and Gio was somewhat removed from his better years, although he did look very good for the first half of 2023. The rest were all injury-rehab hopefuls, that we were adding to a staff that already had Sale and Nate on it as our 1-2's. Richards, Kluber, Wacha, Hill, Paxton were the top money signings for the rotation, until Gio. These signings have led me to become biased against more of them, such as Buehler & Sandoval. It's not as bad, this year, because we also added Crochet, but even he had never pitched over 65 IP in any season, going back to college, until 2024. (I love the trade, but in this sense, there is still some doubts about his durability.) Really, I'm fine with people who like or love those two additions. I'm hopeful they both work out, too, but I'd rather pay more for durability, even if it ends up backfiring like Gio did. I get that risk is always going to be there.

I think I'd do that, but I really think we need Casas in the 3 or 5 slot of our line-up. He is one of our few lefties that hit LHPs well. Now, if we added Teoscar to the line-up, I'd be more enthusiastic about this deal. As much as our SS depth is in doubt, I think I'd rather offer Mayer. Maybe PIT would be okay looking further down the road and take a mix from Arias, Cespedes, Bleis, Romero, Sandlin or the Garcia brothers, along with Rafaela or Abreu.

I'm not sure how accurate injury reports are over the winter, as I doubt there is much updating going on. Here is what I found on the ESPN and CBS reports: ESPN & CBS agree on all 8/1 Sandoval (I'm counting on 4/1/26) 6/1 Chris Murphy (not really in our '25 plans, anyway) 5/1 Whitlock (hope it's not June or July) 2/1 Giolito, Hendriks, Yoshida & Perales Only the Whitlock situation seems very concerning. Without a true closer, we could use all the good set-up men we can get.

More arms can't hurt, especially if they hold some promise. I'm actually more than okay with our 9-18 pen arms and okay with our 6-9 rotation depth. We've spent a while building up our roster depth from the bottom and into the farm. I felt like this was the winter to build quality at the top of the rotation and the pen. Moving everyone down a notch would further strengthen the middle and bottom of the depth charts. Crochet was a necessary addition and did just that. Houck is now our #2, and Bello, Gio and Crawford look better in the 3-5 slots than 2-4. Criswell, Fitts, Priester, Fulmer and Dobbins look like better 6-10 starter depth than we've had in a long time. Some have big questions, but 2-3 should be fine, this year. I don't view Chapman or Hendriks as a closer, so we still need that slot filled, this winter, but at least they were not additions to upgrade our 7 & 8 slots, like Wilson was. They should slot in the 2-4 rang,e nicely, along with Slaten and Whitlock. I don't like these 4 as 1-4's, but they are not awful. Maybe one can step up and be a decent closer. My hope is we get a great one. After our top 4, it gets a little dicey, but we do have the numbers. I just hope we don't have to cycle through 10 guys to settle on a working 5-8. Right now, it looks like the 5-8 slots might start with Guerrero, Winckowski, Wilson and maybe Adams or Bernardino. The AAA depth looks decent, to me: Penrod, Kelly, Weissert, I Campbell, Bernardino, Mata, Mills & Shugart Some AA depth (Sandlin, Early, Wehunt, Hoppe, troye) could rise quickly, or a minor league SP'er could fill a pen slot, well. If we added a Scott, Hoffman or Helsley, I'd really like our pen and its depth.

That pretty much means Bregman or Burnes, and I agree. Anything less, and it's another winter of bluster. They could maybe come close by signing Teoscar and Hoffman, but I doubt we even do that. By getting Teoscar, we could maybe fill another need by trading Abreu or Rafaela for a catcher or more pitching. I feel like I'm going down another rabbit hole of unrealistic hopes, but hey, it's Christmas, so... Sign Teoscar & Hoffman and trade Abreu, Wink & Sandlin for Helsley. This could get my hopes back up, without a big splash winter signing. (The "splash" was Crochet.) 1. Duran CF 2. Teoscar LF 3. Casas 1B 4. Devers 3B 5. Campbell 2B 6. Anthony RF 7. Story SS 8. Yoshida-Ref DH 9. Wong-Narvaez C Rafaela and DHam or Grissom Utility SP: Crochet, Houck, Buehler, Bello, Giolito RP: Helsley, Hoffman, Chapman, Hendriks, Slaten, Whitlock, Crawford, Wilson

You certainly could be right, but out offer was fair. MLBTR projected $156M/6 and we went $34M/1 over that. We are not sure how close we got to a "Yes," and I'm not so sure JH & Co. were so sure our last offer would be rejected. As much as I've been bitching about all the outbidding, 8 years for Fried is 2 years too much. I'm fine with one extra year, which we offered. In another sense, I think I'd rather have 2 extra years of Fried at $27.25M x 8 than Eight straight years of signings like Buehler at $21M/1. Yes, it's $6M more a year, but he seems like more of a sure bet for 4-6 years than the continuous revolving door of injury projects.

We may just go with Narvaez, who is very good on D and ML ready. He showed some power on the farm and has a decent OBP, but his K rate is scary. Here are the FAs still available: Curt Casali (36) Elias Diaz (34) Yan Gomes (37) Yasmani Grandal (36) Andrew Knizner (30) Luke Maile (34) Martin Maldonado (38) James McCann (35) Reese McGuire (30) Omar Narvaez (33) Tomas Nido (31)

There is no curse unless you think Liverpool is No No Nannette.

This has been the ongoing belief, but there was more to it, than just the 2004 season and playoffs. While 83 IP is a lot, these days for a closer then 14 IP in the playoffs, could easily be viewed as the "sole reason" for his " burning out," he was 31 in 2004 and coming off these IP totals in prior seasons: 105 in '99 (67 games) 88 in '2000 (72 g) + 2 playoff innings. 81 in '01 (72) 78 in '02 (65) 87 in '03 (72) + 5 in the playoffs for OAK. That's a lot of innings for a late inning RP'er. Here is his IP in playoff games in 2004. He actually had some rest between most games: 1.1 IP Oct 6 1.1 IP Oct 8 (1 day off between games) 0.1 IP Oct 12, 0.2 Oct 13 (back-to back, but just 1 IP total) (3 days off) 2.2 Oct 17 and 1.1 on Oct 18 (back-to-back and 4 IP is a hard push), then 1 IP Oct 19 (3 days off) 1.2 Oct 23, 1.1 Oct 24 (back-to-back w more than 1 IP) Day off 1 IP Oct 26, 1 IP Oct 27 (back-to-back)

1. RP, if Scott or Hoffman (or trade for Helsley) 2. 3B (move Devers to 1B/DH and Casas to Dh/1B share) 3. SP 4. Catcher (via trade) I would not sign a 1Bman or 2Bman. I'd be okay with a RHB like Teoscar, assuming we'd trade Abreu or Rafaela for a RP'er of note.

Isn't Moran out until next year? We may add Campbell or Anthony after opening day and the 60 Day IL addition(s.)

Going stealth.

He would make for a very Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

As much as I wanted Fried (even more than Burnes,) I think not going 8 years is very understandable. That contract will take him to age 38, and not many pitchers do well up to that age. The guy does have a very nice prior 5 year stretch, despite missing half of 2023. He missed about 20-25 starts, which comes to about 4-5 per season, but these numbers are pretty freaking amazing: 54-25 2.81 (151 ERA+ is mindblowing for a 5 year stretch.) 3.7 K/BB, 1.09 WHIP and 3.11 FIP Burnes is slightly younger and will almost certainly get 8 years, too- maybe 9.He's missed only about 5-10 starts in 5 years (1 to 2 per year.) 52-31 2.88 (142 ERA+) 4.2 K/BB, 1.02 WHIP and 3.01 FIP Both look very close with their 5 year numbers. 3 years ERA+ 149 Fried (3.03 FIP) 128 and 3.33 in 2024 131 Burnes (3.49 FIP) 128 and 3.55 in 2024 (Both nearly identical, this year, but Fried better over last 3 yrs.) I will say, I'd rather have signed Fried than a Buehler every year for 8 years.

As long as they don't take up a 40 man roster slot, I'm fine with signing these guys that overlap, so that every year, one or two get healthy enough to make a run at joining the 40. The good thing is, we don't add the guy to the 40, until we need him on the 26. A guy like Sandoval, Hendriks and Paxton need or needed a 40 man slot. We can't/couldn't add them to the 60 Day IL, until the season starts, so they kind of create a brief, yet significant roster crunch situation. Wow, what a list of TJS pitchers!

They may not be done bidding, but when you keep coming up short on not only the AAV but the years as well, you are never going to win a high-stakes auction. $190/7 is $27.1M x 7. While that is a "fair offer," it came short on both ends. He signed for $227.25 x 8. They guys we win the auctions are: ($10M+) Story, Yoshida, Giolito, Jansen, Martin, Turner, Kike, Richards, Kluber, Paxton, Hendriks. ($5-9M) Diekman, Wacha, Duvall, Perez I, Perez II, Hill (1.5-4.5M) Pillar (re-sign,) Strahm, Marwin, Renfroe, Mondesi, Moreland (re-sign,) Sawamura, Peraza, Andriese, Joely, Lucroy _____________________________________ Extensions: $313/10 Devers $55M/6 Bello $50M/8 Rafaela $24/2 JBJ $18.8/2 Barnes $18.8/4 Whitlock $10/1 Kike $2/1 Refsnyder Notable trades for contracts: $8M/1 Ottavino & $5.9M/1 O'Neill

Excellent post. Lackey is another example of the team signing someone with injury concerns, and they even insisted on an injury clause for the deal that ended up being triggered. Lackey was a good signing, IMO. I think he pitched hurt, that one season, and that made his overall numbers look worse. We ended up getting Joe Kelly for him, along with the dud, Allen Craig.

Both Whitlock and Buehler have shown extended times of greatness. Both have dealt with injuries, and ended their 2024 season pitching very well. Whitlock's season ended in injury, while Buehler's ended in glory. I hope both find their mojo and go nutty in '25. We have a lot of pitchers on our staff that have had some great seasons, some not too long ago- some 5-9 years back. Most have had decent to excellent seasons very recently (1-3 years ago.)

Thanks for the kinds words, everyone. It means a lot. Merry Christmas, everyone, and may Henry...errrr...I mean Santa bring you all nice gifts and peace.

How quickly this team has become Breslow's. In just two years, half of the 40 man roster are players added to the 40, after his arrival, and a big chunk of them were acquired by him. (Many have come and gone, in between day one and now.) Here are his 16 acquired players on the 40: Crochet, Buehler, Giolito, Sandoval, Criswell, Fitts, Priester Slaten, Chapman, Hendriks, Wilson, Penrod, Weissert Grissom, Romy, Narvaez These may be joining the 40, at some point: Campbell, Arias, Cespedes, Cason Sandlin, Early, Wehunt, Tolle, Valera, D Reyes Let's see if he has one major signing in him.

I think Chapman and Hendriks will be given a 50-50 shot, going into ST'ing. If both fail to win the job, of suck after winning it, I think Whitlock might have the same shot as Slaten. People are all gah-gah over 10 innings of Buehler and a great season, two years ago, but Whitlock was lights out for his last 18 IP of 2024 and was great, two to three years ago, too.

I like our depth- now we need quality over quantity.