drewski6

If the doctors I employ tell me that hes fully recoverd, I offer him 5-6 years. If the age related injury risk is normal for someone his age, and he doesnt have like this super-high chance of reinjury becasue it will never fully heal, fine. But if its something hes going to have to manage and monitor and can creep back in becasue its as healed as its gonna get but not completely and theres a lot of extra risk (beyond just paying someone into their 30s), I pause.

If hes going to break-out, its not going to be prevented by starting him in Worcester. I wouldnt be surprised if he broke out, but Im not going to let him stop me from pursuing external improvements. Also, having him (with positional versatility) in AAA is good depth. If you clear spots for your prospects, you go through your depth, and then you are one injury away from starting players non-playoff teams have waived. I want Campbell in AAA to start , and a lot of the reason is because I like the depth he provides there. How many position players got hurt last year? Depth options you can park in minors are valuable.

Im not sure he wouldnt be a gold glove infielder immediately. Like Betts. im open to Mayer at third, Cedanne at SS, Story at 2b, Suarez at 1b, Scwharber at DH Trade prospects for pitching or sign Michael King like Notin suggested.

Notin (and others), like a convo ive had with moon in the past, it would be one thing if I looked at our lineup and I saw a solid 1,2,3,4 (batting order) in place already and we had 2 non pitching positions to fill. In that situation, I would be more open towards approaching the holes from a standpoint of plugging them defensively and emphasizing fit. But when I see that last year we had Duran and Bregman in our 2,3 spots and Breg isnt here and Duran is likely to be traded (and they prob are not great hitters for the increased expectation that comes with hitting in those prime slots) ... Due to that, I approach from a standpoint of we gotta fill out, at least the top half of the lineup before we start worrying about filling up the positions. Bregman, I get the appeal because he checks both boxes. He may not be as good of a hitter as Schwarber, but hes not a guy who if I hate to see hitting second or third behind Anthony (as long as the other one is a blue-chip bat). So Bregman and Schwarber, sign me up. But only if: We know why he looked like he was 40 yrs old after he came back last year. He was as station to station upon his return as Casas was and it seemed like his power was zapped too. If he was still recovering, and I knew it then, but hes fine now cuz xrays and medical opions, I give Breg 5-6 yrs with no hesitation. But right now , Im scared because he didnt look healthy when last season concluded.

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.