drewski6

An .800 hitting DH is a AAAA player.

Take your walks if you must, but it shouldnt be your goal. And if you walk, you usually did do something wrong. Doesnt mean its a worse outcome than an out. But it prob means you fouled off something juicy or took the most hittable pitch in the at bat. Doesnt mean that the logic was off, and it happens a lot. But its a hindsight mistake. Like a hittable pitch but not a meatball in a 1-1 count and you take it for 1-2 because you think you'll get something better and you never do and you walk. Thats not an obvious example of why its good to be super passive like that. Meet the ball out in front, pull, commit, be selective but aggressive, look to eat. To be honest: the most important rule about hitting is always approach your at bat with confidence. ANd trying to foul and draw a walk isnt a particularly confident approach. When Im confident vs when Im not. 2 completely different hitters.

Have him also be less passive so he gets to 2-strike counts less. Like Red said, he should be looking to jump on the first thing straight.

100%

This was the outlook in 2005; however, current philosophy is the worst thing you can do is let a juicy fastball go by. I dont need to regurgitate everything I said above but there are very good reasons for why the mindset and approach has changed. If you never swing at a ball, you are waiting for the ball to get too deep. Kind of like how if you never get bluff'd out you are calling too often. At some point, you have to commit to what you see and what you guess. You have to turn on a fastball and meet it in front. If that fastball is a well timed and well "tunneled" slider , and you k, you gotta live with it. If Casas is going up there afraid to swing at a ball, then hes not going to the plate with an aggressive mindset. He should be going up there and looking to eat. Have you ever taken a changeup middle-middle, its a much worse feeling then chasing a slider. Thats going to happen. Like I said above, when Im hot, Im looking to swing....When my confidence is off, Im looking to walk. Be selective, but swing at the pitch that you think is going to be the best pitch of the at-bat. A walk is not something , especially someone like Casas, should be looking to do. Okay if you are a 7,8,9 hitter or a speedster.

So prob not the first to go

They can expose him to waivers, right?

Can we take into account (which nobody mentions) that after winning a cy young, the braves desperately needed sale to be available to pitch for them in the postseason (his first year there), and he wasnt available. Kind of a huge damper on an otherwise great season. And in his second season with the Braves, he didnt make it through (yet again). Of course more than we got out of Grissom. But if Sale stayed and last year couldnt pitch in the postseason and we were out in rd 1 and this year got hurt yet again, its not like we'd be anything but extremely frustrated with him.

Moran and Wink arent going to survive the season

Exactly.

If a guy can throw a splitter, and is throwing it 5-10% of the time, that dude has the potential to turn into Gaussman Maybe not Bassitt tho, as hes old and lost a lot of velocity. But I care if a dude throws a splitter. I want it. Skenes, Ohtani, yamamoto, Gaussman

Or sneak* him through waivers. *might not need very much "sneak"

Not all actual bats are the same, and you cant get an elite bat at 2b,3b for less money than an elite bat DH/1b.

I dont hate Yandy, Bregman, and a pitcher. I would trade Harrison for Yandy. Im not confident we get Bregman though. And my concern is we trade Harrison for Yandy, pay him his 12m. Trade Duran for a #2 P making modest money. And then make another small acquisition and quietly let these guys not replace Devers money or Bregman money.

I need to know why Bregman looked like he was 40 years old when he returned last year through the end of the season (on both sides of the ball) and be comfortable that whatever made him run like Casas through the end of the season is behind him. Before I prioritize overpaying him in lieu of pursuing an elite bat somehow.

Hoskins finished last year, not on the playoff roster. Understand Vaughn was hot, but he didnt even make it as a backup. Since his 2023 injury, hes been a league average hitter. Hes only getting older, you need more. For a first baseman you need more. You are comparing the career averages of a guy (Hoskins) who has not been the guy he was early in his career for the last 3 years. And is now old. This is what we've been doing. Signing guys coming off injury or past their prime to save money and hoping they revert back. And 25% of an offensive players RBAT is a TON. Its the difference between elite players and good players. None of these names are particularly elite, but Alonso is the closest. You can always make the argument that theres better value than the top of the market names. And chasing value is why we keep signing old / hurt guys. End of day, we have very little offense behind RA, and we have no elite or even very good hitters. You have a chance to add one, but youd rather save the money and go after an old guy, who hasnt been the same in 3 years, to save money? Just feels like more of the same.

Good stuff! Fellow Cranston guy?

If the sox liked naylor they would have traded for him at the deadline.

Naylor and Paredes is interesting.

thats prob fair

Then he needs a splitter coach. Nobody is ditching a splitter right now. If you arent working on a splitter right now, its like, what are you doing? All of the best pitchers are throwing splitters more and more.

the even more confusingly never mentioned josh naylor and are we sure Schwarber is worse than Alonso defensively - 2 more options. But theres a big different between Alonso and 75% of Alonso. Just like theres a big difference in a .900 OPS (HOF) and 75% of it (.675) One gets into the hall, one gets sent back to the minors. So yes, there are more firstbaseman. But a .900 OPS bat or close to it is what we after. Not someone who can plug 1b.

Bailey needs to hire a splitter specialist if he isnt one himself. Its become a cheat code.

Bassit threw a splitter rarely last year and came from a team Gaussman was on. Hes old but Im interested. Cant be our only add tho. But he's got some splitter familiarity and pitched alongside the best splitter in the AL (there are better ones in the NL). If Bassit's medicals look good (his age scares me) , and hes not expensive and he's going to throw the splitter more, im very interested The four best splittes are Ohtani, Yamamoto, Skenes, and Guassman. Its hard to throw, but its a tippy top pitch right now. Correction to ealier post: its skenes who throws 2 splitter variations not ohtani (ohtani may have 2 as well but he has at least one, but its skenes who def throws 2 diff splitters)

It doesnt seem likely to me which is why I think we get one of Suarez or Alonso, not both. But I was referring to a post that asked me to assess the team with both. And if you have Suarez and Alonso and Yoshida, I still dont think youd play Suarez at 3b full time for the whole season. You can try, but I think hes getting hurt. 3B isnt easy to play. You bang around out there. Its not for someone north of 35. Justin Turner is a great example.