moonslav59

Here is a look at some 2025 numbers... .596 D Jansen (11 PAs) .605 O'Neill (6 XBHs) .625 Meidroth (80 PAs) .657 E Valdez (102 PAs) .699 Bogey (.691 2024-2025) .781 Betts (1.6 bWAR) _______________________ 6.55 K Jansen (1.46 WHIP) 4.50 Bosser (16 IP) 3.97 Sale in 9 GS (1.406 WHIP) 3.05 Pivetta in 8 GS (1.06 WHIP) 2.12 Schreiber in 17 IP (1.12 WHIP) 1.93 C Martin (0.964 in 19 IP)

I then asked who had a better trade idea. The ideas were about more than just finding a 1Bman. One trade brought us one of MLBs best catchers for 3 years. I was thinking maybe some would say, "Add ____, and I'd say yes."

Could happen. Maybe even a surging Mata (if it happen) could sneak in. Early is probably a longshot.

He'll be cheaper than more proven 1Bmen, and has as much or more upside than many other 1Bmen that may be on the market, next year: FA and via trade.

I said, "NO," too

So negative. He's batted 4th a lot, over the years, including nearly 3 X the amount as the second slot in 2024.

I get that, and have said the same, several times. These two signings were his largest FA deals, but neither was a mega deal. Still, we expect better than this for $40M a year over 5-6 years. I have praised Bloom's work in other areas as much or more than others. He did a pretty good job on farm building and strengthening the depth of the 40 man roster, which was horrific in 2019. He did not draft all of the players we see today, but he also did not trade many good ones, and maybe he had a hand in their development. The Houck, Crawford, Bello, Whitlock foursome has been about as good a 4 homies as we have seen since the Theo days. Not great, but a clear improvement. He also set the table for the Crochet trade by drafting Teel & Meidroth.

Yes, they "really improved" while Cespedes did not by as much. We also saw Teel, Monty and Meidroth traded, so that made room for 3 slots up, which he did not fill. I do think the lack of a clear position hurts. If DH is his only reasonable position, then his value and ranking should drop. Remember, SP's previous ranking was NOV 15th, and Cespedes was 10th. No games were played between then and April 3rd, where he moved to 9th. Essentially, he was passed by 2 players. Yes, this does not mean he got worse, in the eyes of the evaluators, since others may have improved by more, but he did move from 6 to 7 to 10 during the 2024 season. He was 10th at the end of 2023.

I think they may be our only hopes. (Maybe Guerrero. Maybe we add I Campbell or Burdi to the 40 and give one a chance.)

Agreed, but everyone is sucking in that slot. I get the idea that the number 2 slot is where your best batter should be slotted, but maybe that is Bregman, and we could slot Devers 4th, where power is needed most. 1. L Duran 2. R Bregman 3. L Abreu/ R Refsnyder 4. L Devers 5. R Campbell (1B) 6. L Mayer 7. R Story 8. R Narvaez 9. R Rafaela (or call up Anthony and bat him 6th,) Ideally, if Campbell starts hitting again, he could bat 2nd .

My guess is we trade him, but waiting for him to be healthy may (or may not) increase his value. I'm not sure what sort of roster crush we might be under, this winter or by opening day, but we have quite a few deals expiring, this winter.

While Martin was not great in 2024, Jansen got the job done. I'd say replacing Jansen & martin with Chapman, Wilson & Hendriks looked close to a push, BUT the pen was weak, last year, despite some metrics that showed they were not that bad or even good. RP IP Lost from 2024 55 Jansen 3.29 (27 svs) 50 Chase Anderson 4.11 (much in low leverage) 44 Martin 3.45 43 Booser 3.38 25 Keller 5.85 (scrub innings) Horn, Garcia, Sims, Joely & others IP Leaders of '25 (pen only) 22 Whitlock 4.43 (started strongly) 18 Weissert 3.44 17 Slaten 4.76 (struggling) 16 Bernardino 1.65 16 Chapman 2.25 (6 svs) 14 Wilson 2.51 12 Wink 3.86 11 Newcomb 1.64 10 Hendriks 1.80 10 Kelly 9.00 Criswell, Guerrero, Fulmer (gone) & Stock 14 used, so far.

I have more hope for Crawford. He is throwing in the bullpen, so maybe I was rash on him.

$40M for just these 2! Bloom sure missed badly on his largest signings, while also failing to find enough worthy bargain basement specials to make a big difference.

Three words: Paxton, Giolito, Hendriks. (I could have added Sale I, Sale II, Sale III, Sale IV) I'm setting my expectations to zero.

I doubt we make any major trades, and if we do, it will be near the deadline or next winter.

The 1B issue has come up almost every year. I can see why they had faith in Dalbec a pretty nice first couple of seasons (.800+ OPS) and Casas, too, but no depth, at all. This winter we traded Gasper and Meidroth, and never asked Devers to pick up a 1Bman's mitt, as far as I know. The pen was the obvious biggest weakness as winter came to a close. I'm glad they made an effort to bolster the rotation depth, as we've already hit #10 and #11 on the winter depth chart. I'm glad we got Bregman as the RHB and defensive upgrade, but just adding Chapman and Wilson (plus Hendriks return) seemed woefully short-sighted. I guess we could have signed Tanner Scott over Buehler for about the same AAV, but the length of his contract must have scared JH away. Maybe the hope was the excess SP'er depth would be the pen additions, but we have seen very little of that, and when the do pitch from the pen, they have sucked, except for maybe Newcomb, but he wasn't even listed on the early winter depth chart of SP'er. (Criswell has an ERA over 10 from the pen.) Maybe, when Buehler and Fitts return, someone else has better success, otherwise, we'll probably see the 2025 versions of Luis Garcia and Lucas Sims.

Not if you hit .300 and win 80 games and .250 and win 97. Isn't 15 runs plus better than 15 minus kinda the same thing?

I don't see it that way. I still think Casas will end up being a very good MLB hitter- maybe as a DH and maybe somewhere else.

Buehler is rumored to be coming back around May 19th. Fitts will start facing live bats, soon. We may never see Crawford or Sandoval.

Agreed, and while a top catcher with 3 years of control is nice, it's not worth it. Narvaez is looking like a steal, so far, as well.

POR split a doubleheader. Any more rainouts and they may need to start playing tripleheaders. GRE was up 9-2 into the ninth and McShane finally had a bad game, letting up 6 ERs. YRod is 1-2 w 3BB, Zanetello 1-3 w 2BB and Ehrhard is 2-4. Lugo hit a dinger. It's tied 9-9, now. SAL lost 2-1 and the FCL Sox won their first game and are now 1-7.

I've consistently ranked him higher than SPs and others on this site. I just got the sense he was slipping in some people's minds. Not having a defined position hurts.

I'm not for trading a top prospect, but do you trade Mayer or Anthony plus Wong to MIL for Wm Contreras (2 more years of control) & Hoskins ($18M option in '26?) How about Rafaela and Wong for Hoskins, Haase and $10M of the $22M owed Hoskins? Call up Anthony and move Duran to CF. (I'd say no to both.) Any better ideas?

I get that, and he's been hurt. Good points. This is his 4th season on the farm, and he barely has 400 PAs. Other players get hurt and fall in the rankings, and he's only gone from 7th to 9th or 10th. Others have improved, yes, and by more than he has, but Teel and Montgomery were traded and Bleis fell below him. Romero has been hurt, too, and he passed Cespedes. When he has played, he has hit, so maybe my statement was harsh and misplaced. He turns 20 in SEP and is at Salem. Let's see if he can get promoted to GRE, this year or by the start of '26.