moonslav59

On talk radio, down here in the Houston area, there is talk of trying to find a 1Bman, but I don't think we match up with them for a Casas trade. I'm not sure I want to trade Casas, either, but trading Anthony or Campbell worries me more. The guy I'd like to trade the most is Mayer, but with Story's injury issues, my worry level remains high. I think it is time that Brez and Co. make the tough choice, and the choice needs to be made, very soon- like this winter. I realize all four of our prospects are not even Rule 5 eligible, this year, but holding them back is punting. Nobody likes a 6 year punt.

Yes. When we signed him, I thought he'd play 3B. Then, we signed Pablito. Moving from 3B to 1B should not be as hard as OF>middle IF or vice versa. Be honest, what are the chances Devers at 3B and Casas at 1B will do better on D in 2025 than this: 1B: Devers (Casas, when Devers "rests" at DH) 3B: Campbell or Mayer (Meidroth as AAA depth and Romy as utility depth) I'd say the chances are 80-90% Devers is better on D at 1B than Casas and 90-95% anyone mentioned is better at 3B than Devers on D. If Story stays healthy, we need a spot for Mayer and Campbell. The OF is full (Duran, Anthony, Abreu, Rafaela, Refsnyder) I'm beginning to think we should give Anthony, Mayer and Campbell every chance to win a job. I realize Campbell can play 2B or OF, and we can trade someone like Abreu to make room for him out there, but there is also Grissom looking to win the 2B job. We could end up being bottle-necked at middle IF and OF. We could try to improve our catcher defense, since it was worst in MLB by some accounts, but with Teel on the verge of being ML ready, a one year bridge could be added. Where else do we move to improve defense, other than corner IF?

I wouldn't say it will never happen, but I certainly know most of what any of us suggest ever happens. I try to keep what I suggest seperate from what I think will or might happen. This is on the suggestion side. I just see us as looking for a way to improve our defense without spending a lot of money or hurting the offense. Casas to DH does not hurt hitting Devers to 1B improves defense and does not hurt hitting. Campbell or Mayer at 3B improves the defense and should be no worse than Yoshida did on offense, the last 2 years. I'm pretty confident they can do better. What we get for Yoshida is not what trading him is about. Just get someone to take the largest chunk of his salary and call it a done deal. The next option could be to trade Casas for a really good pitcher. Devers to 1B and the same idea at 3B. DH stays the same- maybe with more of Refsnyder v LHPs.

I cannot imagine Campbell, Mayer or Meidroth being worse at 3B or Devers worse than Casas at 1B.

They have a lot to replace... not just a SP

Hard to be worse than the worst, but I suppose it's possible. Devers is actually a good glove guy. His arm issues would be largely hidden at 1B.

Could any of these guys be part of a return package for Yoshida, so some or most of the money part is offset? Gausman 22x 3, Bassitt 21 x1, Berrios 18.7 x 4, Luis Castillo 21.6 x 3 Rodon 27 x4, Stroman 18.5 x 2, Pablo Lopez 18.4 x 3, Sonny Gray 25 x 2, Darvish 18 x 4 (37 y/o) Javier 12.8 x 3, Taillon 17 x 2, Mitch Keller 15.4 x 4, ERod 20 x 3, Freeland 12.9 x 2, R Ray 23 x 2 Mikolis 18.6 x 1, S Matz 11 x 1, T Anderson 13 x 1, Mahle 11 x 1, Nick Martinez 13 x 1 We'd have to still give some cash, in some instances, and or, we'd have to include other pieces or prospects to make it work for the other team, but it would really help our roster construction without Yoshida on the 26 and 40.

It's because they had added rest days when playing the CWS. LOL

You forgot, "I know Devers and Casas suck on D."

True. I totally agree with your position about using our best RP'ers when the game is most on the line, which may not be the 9th inning. I also think greatly improving our 5-8 slot RP'er would make a big difference. It would also push back our current 5-8 to 9-12 or at least 8-11, where I think some could be very helpful. If all our starters are healthy (yea right!) we could see Criswell or Fitts in the pen, but keeping one in AAA as a SP'er might be the best strategy. This pen needs an upgrade: Hendriks - closer Slaten & Fulmer - set up Whitlock- set up/multi innings 5. Wink 6. Criswell/Fitts 7. Guerrero 8. Penrod (Kelly/I Campbell/Weissert/Booser/Shugart) I would not mind seeing Wink as the #8 and the others in AAA trying to win the rights to be the next promoted. I know there is no way in hell, JH & Brez add 3 quality RP'ers, but adding 2 quality pitchers (SP or RP) would push down who we have now, into better roles. It would make Wink #7 not #5. It would give us a choice from 5-7 guys for the #8 slot.

K Campbell has played 5 games at 3B, which isn't much, but it might be just a week or two before he gets better than Devers on 3B D. I think Mayer could play a better 3B, too.

I'm not disagreeing, but it does seem like some closers do not do well unless it's the 9th inning, and maybe the metrics would show that, too. Jansen seemed to do okay, but Kimbrel's OPS Against: .524 in 9th (2607 PAs) .663 in 8th (302 PAs) .746 in 7th (84 PAs)

Funny, how that works out, sometimes. I still think a team's odds greatly increase with more good SP'ers. Who we think is good in March may not be in October, and vice versa.

Agreed. I don't think we were perfect on pen management, but how many times did we ask someone who said Cora blew the pen call, "Who else did we have to being in?" His options were often bad to ugly.

I was very high on Lugo and Imanaga. I was fine with Wacha, despite the injury risk. I also liked Monty, so nobody is perfect. Several mid range SP'ers came through, this year. We swung and missed on Gio, while others with lower AAVs did better.

It would have helped, if our 5-8 and even 9-12 RP'ers were better or a lot better. Yes, the 1-4 cannot pitch all important innings. I've said, already, I think our 1-4 look okay for next year. I'd like a bonafide closer, but the 1-4 looks decent. Our 5-8 should be our 8-11. We need to add some better RP'ers to make this happen. Adding a closer pushed our #1 to #2 and so on. Our 4 becomes our 5. Add a couple solid #5/6 types, and we're there. We can and should improve on this, and not by giving more IP to our top 4, but by having better 5-8's: High leverage PAs Against: 63 Weissert, 57 Kelly, 52 Anderson, 43 Booser, 25 Keller, 18 Horn, 14 Joely, 9 Shugart, 15+ by scrubs

How is $44M/3 more expensive than $44M/2? I'm including $10M cash to TOr, and I'd give $10-15M more, if needed.

I agree, but having bad pitchers in situations where a game can be blown is one of our weak areas. IP 63 Weissert, 57 Kelly, 52 Anderson, 43 Booser, 25 Keller 18 Horn, 14 Joely, 9 Shugart, 15+ by scrubs High Leverage PAs Against 79 Bernardino (5th on team) 75 Kelly (7th) 69 Weissert (8th) 60 Wink (11th) 30 Booser, 18 Campbell, 11 Joely & Horn, 8-9 Anderson & Keller, 4 Shugart Blown Saves/Opportunities 2/2 Bernardino and 1/1 Kelly 4/5 Weissert 4/6 Slaten & Martin 2/3 Booser 1/3 Wink 4/27 jansen (87%) 3/3 Anderson

136 GS since 2020 is 5th in MLB. He's 6th in IP at 787. 3rd in fWAR. Last 2 years: 5th in fWAR at 8.0 in 62 GS/ 366 IP (both top 15)

4.13 (102 ERA+) and 4.13 FIP Ages 22-27 4.94 (91) 3.65 Ages 28-29 3.07 (130) 2.71 Ages 30-31 3.49 (119) 3.37 Ages 32-33 It's concerning, but turning 34, soon, is what will help reduce the return package- that and his salary. His drop in K/9 could be a sign of a bigger decline to come, but I'd still rather have him starting than anyone we have not named Houck.

BAL out, too! Yee-Haw!

Our 100% healthy, pre-additions 13 man pitching staff could look like this: SP: Houck, Giolito, Bello, Crawford, Fitts (Criswell) RP: Hendriks, Slaten, Whitlock, Criswell, Wink, Fulmer, Guerrero, Penrod C: Wong & Gasper (I think we add a back-up) 1B: Casas 2B: Grissom & DHam SS: Story & Romy 3B: Devers LF: Duran CF: Rafaela RF: Abreu & Refsnyder (Maybe Anthony & an Abreu or Yoshida trade) DH: Yoshida AAA Depth at or near ML ready: SP: Priester, Dobbins, Gambrell, Wikelman, Drohan, I Coffey RP: Weissert, Kelly, I Campbell, Bernardino, Booser, Shugart, Horn, Mata C: Teel (Hickey) 1B: B Gonzalez, 2B: Campbell, SS: Mayer, 3B: Meidroth, OF: Anthony, Sogard, Rosier, DH: EValdez/Binelas

Loved seeing the Astros lose early, today. That ends their 7 straight years ALCS run. I'm pulling for the Tigers. Love the underdog.

Trading Yoshida, this winter, would probably cost us $10-13M out of the $18M salary, every year. That's $30-4oM out of the $54M still owed him. It could still be worth it, if JH doesn't just pocket the savings, since I think we can match or beat Yoshida's projected numbers (.740-.780) with some sort of mix of our bench and platoon players, like Refsnyder, Abreu (if Anthony makes the 26,) E Valdez, DHam or maybe Campbell or Meidroth. Waiting until Yoshida is healthy might increase the return, but I'm not sure waiting makes more sense. He'll take up a roster slot and keep a possible better hitter on the farm. With the $5-7M "saved," we could sign another RP'er or add it to an offer for a SP'er and get a better one.

I'd like to see us add an ace, but a solid 2/3 type is maybe the best I can even dream of. Yes, then add 3-4 Criswell/Anderson types and hope they end up like Criswell.