drewski6

Even about your singing voice?

If these are our only offensive additions, I honestly like it a lot more with Duran in for Rafaela. I know Im in the minority, but I feel like fans love beautiful defense, and it tends to get overrated. If you are getting similar value for Duran and Rafaela, take under consideration thats 2 years of Duran vs 3-4x more for Rafaela, and if teams are offering as much for either, that means that for the next years they think Duran is 3-4x the player that Rafaela is (including defense), and I wouldnt disagree. If Cedanne takes another step forward at the plate, thats a different story. But A+ defense out of Cedanne wiht a .700ish OPS is not winning as many games as B- defense out of Duran with an .800ish OPS. Now if you replace Bregman with Alonso, I may flip and prefer to keep Cedanne over Duran. Im trying to balance offense vs defense. I guess my point is that people put Cedanne off limits, and I dont agree with that. Although I am sympathetic to the argument that we're perennially dead last in defense so why trade our defensive ace. But I can see Cedannes bat taking a step back, like JBJs did, although I did demand that Moon show me Cedannes 1st/2nd half splits (so lazy of me, sorry Moon). And they were way more even than I thought. So maybe , Cedanne .710ish OPS is here to stay but Im not sold. Im also not sold that hes not going to play infield. Which Im more open to than most, as long as its SS not 2b (put your best defender at SS where the most balls are hit, and while i dont have confidence in his bat, I think Cedanne would be the best defensive SS in the AL with 1 weekend of practice) Anthony, Bregman, Okamoto, Abreu, Story....I like it more with Druan .....Okay wait, stop. I just now realized you do have Duran in your lineup and you have a DH rotation and no Yoshida. Well, now Im like shoot I already wrote all that and do I delete or just hit send even though my entire thought is abouthow I dont hate your lineup but I think it needs Duran when you already have Duran in there. Backed myself into a corener on this one.

Hint received, I need to get back to the gym myself.

Yeah......menopause (giggles to self)

The blurb I posted makes him look good, agreed.

Thats just AI auto generated, what I posted, looks good though. I agree Hugh, if someone is coming over with an ugly k rate, thats scary and unlikely to get better facing MLB pitching when he was whiffing vs lesser pitching before. But I dont love chasing low k rates, because I dont want a team of luis arraez's. Just super short , half-swings. Youll make a lot of contact, but youll also be a singles machine. But according to what I posted. Okamoto rotates his hips, has a swing on the longer side (which is in as "new school" as opposed to "shortest swing possible" - which is old shcool), so Im intrigued. Like I always say, its a lot about where the contact is being made. I want a hitter who makes contact with the ball in front of the plate, not someone who lets the ball get super deep and makes contact over the back half of the plate. Im very much a new school hitter. That comes with more strikeouts, because Im committing to my reads, so I will get fooled from time to time on a well tunneled slider (and I do). Ill also get fooled from time to time on a curveball in the dirt because Im commiting to what I think I see, and if the ball makes a late break, then I tip my cap at the pitcher and take my K. But overall, I have better results then dudes who are super hesitant, try to drive counts, try to foul, wait until the last second to start their swing, make contact over the back half of the plate. Theyll strike out less, but they will also have less homeruns and gaps. And they wont punish mistakes at the rate I do. Youll never get a "get me over" pitch past me. Im always hunting. And Im always ready to let the bat fly.

Hitting Profile Power: Okamoto is a slugger who hit at least 30 home runs in six consecutive seasons in NPB (2018-2023), with a career high of 41 in 2023. He is known for having above-average "game power" and the ability to drive the ball to all fields. Contact & Discipline: A key aspect of his hitting profile is his ability to make consistent contact and limit strikeouts, a trait that sets him apart from other NPB power hitters like Munetaka Murakami. He has good bat-to-ball skills, limits "chase" swings outside the strike zone, and remains aggressive on pitches in the zone. His strikeout rates in Japan have generally been well below the MLB average. Approach: He is considered a "polished hitter" with a mature approach at the plate. He does particular damage against fastballs and has shown strong results against off-speed and breaking pitches as well. Batted Ball: Okamoto employs a long, rotational swing with a leg kick that is designed to lift and pull the ball, which helps him maximize his home run potential.

Because Tony would let the ball get deep and wrist it oppo over the third basemans head into the corner for doubles all day.

Of course, the exception is Tony Gwynn. But I dont think these guys are Tony Gwynn. Roman might be though.

You speaking of Murkami, but Im speaking on Okamoto. Murkamis k rates are alarming, but completely irrelevant to that - if we are going to target Okamoto because he doesnt strike out - my first question is why doesnt he strike out. Is it because he chokes up on the bat, lets the ball get deep, super short swing? Is he Luis Arraez? If you are not striking out because you are good at picking up spin, getting the bat to the ball, Im impressed. If you are not striking out because you are choking up, going oppo, letting the ball get deep, Im not impressed. Avoiding Ks isnt what it use to be. I want guys who are confident in their reads and try to hit the ball. Not dudes who are scared of striking out and keep the bat on their shoulders until the last second only to foul off meatballs or best case , slap a ball through the infield. If you make contact on the back half the plate , youll strike out less, but you wont drive anything. Meet the ball out in front. Drive it. If you can do that WHILE minimizing Ks , Im in.

No way hes coming for a 2yr commitment. 4 years at 17m each is my best guess. Whether or not I would, im not sure as I dont know about him, but I dont chase low k rates because there are multiple ways to bring your ks down. If hes shortening up / letting the ball get deep, and making contact that way - huge pass. If hes meeting the ball out front, committing to his reads, pull-approach but still limiting Ks and can defend the position, hes well worth 17m/yr.r Budget getting tight tho.

20m is the going rate for a 2.0 WAR MI, and I think he would resurge here a bit. Not all the way back, obvs, but enough to be a 3 WAR infielder w positional versatility which is a bargain at 12.5M.

Considering Id happily take him at 50%, I think they wont have to eat quite that much. 20% knocks him below the QO I believe, and worse players are getting the QO. But Im not ignorant that regarding the QO, those always include a premium due to only being 1 yr and all the players are chasing years right now, so that premium is steep , so its not apples-for-apples. But 50%, we talking X at 12.5? Thats borderline utility infielder money (sorry) and I have no doubts hed be an above average 3b on both sides of the ball here.

I would imagine it comes down what you mean by sizeable. 50% is a lot to swallow, but theyd prob happily chop 20% off to move him.

Boston gets Ketel Marte, Gabriel Moreno Philadelphia gets Jarren Duran Arizona gets SS Aiden Miller, LHP Kyle Harrison, Dobbins, Valera, Wong Bolded, italicized are my (greedy) additions

Marte, Alonso, Gray, and 2-3 complimentary pieces would have me pleased with the offseason personally.

Abreu is another guy who was supposed to be burried based on soxprospects.com rankings.

Good point on Bregman. Dont forget theo, haha, didnt they add him to the braintrust?

You can hypothesize all you want about trading for guys and keeping them cheap, but most likely, if we trade for a bat or a pitcher who has 1-2 years left under a cheap contract, we'd prob extend them. And there goes the budget. For example, I doubt we trade for Ryan and just let him pitch for the next 2 years then walk because this coming year he may be cheap, but if the budget is 20m above where we are now, even if hes cheap, all we can really do is combined him with a mid-tier bat like Polanco. Because then hes arb3 the year after, due a big raise, and we're back in the same boat. 20m doesnt go very far, especially if you are trying keeping refsnyder and matz. ANd Duran is a good deal for 8m so flipping him to save that 8m doesnt exactly help trying to cram as much talent in with such few resources available.

Its odd that there seems to be so much conflicting evidence on if we're serious about actually competing with the actual big boys I honestly dont know if its a "too many cooks in the kitchen" thing, minds-changing, intentional deception , or just complete open-mindedness (we could sign everybody, but we are just as likely to sign nobody). What they say isnt super important, but if the budget is indeed tight from here, e.g. 20m left to spend, and we're talking about flipping guys to save money so we can get that above 30m to spend, its hard to imagine that we are going to be truly competitive next year.

Tatis being a great example that positions are dead.

What they need are two .850 or better bats. Positions are dead.

Really? Youd let a #9 hitter and a low velo #6 pitcher stop you from getting Tatis and Boegarts at 12.5m, which btw if hes above average at 3b defensively and average hitting, thats a steal.

Let us know what you find, gumshoe

The package is Tatis