drewski6

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.

If the rosters were 30 deep, every team would carry 6 platoons. I dont get why people are so against it.

For this reason, I think Suarez is a fallback to Alonzo and not an alongside. But in a world where we do get both, Yoshida goes to the bench.

Great post, this dude has been making points for months!! The only thing im not 100% with you on is using (as evidence) what has worked historically. I agree with you on how the game has trended and 100% agree all-or-nothing is correct approach right now. But Id like to show you how fast the game chances. The sweeper is a pitch that everyone was chasing in 2023 and 2024. It was the must add darling. Its still a devastating pitch, especially when paired with a sinker and a slider (because how you have 2 horizontal movement pitches at differing speeds). Its still a great pitch. But right now EVERYBODY is racing to add a splitter. It took 1 yr for sweeper madness to turn into splitter madness. Ohtani has TWO splitters (they call one a splinker). Why? Because Gaussman, Yamamoto, Ohtani. Greene is working on his. When you ask me about pitchers the first thing I look at is what they throw. Not even their k/9 Things change so fast, and what I believe is happening is that some people think they are "new school" because they follow bill james and saber metrics and high obp, and put the ball in play, and oppo , and choke up....But what people dont realize is just because the 80 yr olds are screaming at the 60 yr olds (I dont like these new stats like OBP and BABIP, thats too new school) ...I like wins and RBIs! What people arent realizing is that even though the 80 yr olds screaming this at the 60 yr olds, it doesnt mean that the 60 yr olds view is current either. Its just more current. No offense to anyone intended. Change happens fast. And you can win with an old school mentality. But there is a reason why these things change. And its best to not ignore the reasons. Now if you think there is a flaw in the logic fine, but tuning it out is how one gets left behind.

You need to go into an at-bat with confidence. Going up there trying to work a walk isnt exactly "alpha" nor is it aggressive.

I still dont like his approach, but agreed. I guess one thing about having a lousy approach is that its fixable. Id give him 1m in incentives if he hits 35HR, so he looks for pitches he can deposit over the wall Still want him to be selective, but I want his headspace to be 1-0 count, thats a low-outside sinker, Ill take it for a strike because i dont think its the meatiest meatball ill see this at-bat, so ill pass and go after the next pitch Vs I like to draw-out at-bats, foul pitches off until I get 4 walks on me because its 20 years ago and chasing OBP is still current philosophy (its not). Ill even take a strike one. Take your walk if you have to, but he should go up there with the mindset that a walk is disappointing.

Yoshida gets squeezed off this team, as one of suarez/alonso finds their way to dh. Romy ends up platooning with Mayer and your an infielder short. If an infielder emerges to have a good year out of nowhere , very strong team.

I like the team better, but I think I start with the 2 lefties and move Polanco down. It would be a huge upgrade defensively and still not super potent offensively but not terribly impotent either. Looks like a playoff contender.

I dont love it. Hoskins lost his job last year. Our clean up hitter is a guy who couldnt stay in the majors last year? Granted theres good reason to think he'll do better at fenway but still. I very much doubt he gets that money. I think you can get him for like 5M. I like it better if you move Romy to 2b (full time), Mayer to 3b, put hoskins in where romy is (weak side platoon only), move suarez to 1b.

I def appreciated it. The point of baseball is to a viewer is to have fun watching and last season was fun. But right now, im curious to see what they do in the offseason, and I have my opinions on what they should do and one of those things is to move forward without penciling Casas into a starting role. He needs to earn his way back. And unlike many, my top beef with him isnt his d, although it is a beef. Im new school. New school says you jump on fastballs.

The conversation that was already in progress that you are joining are about how we agree that their flaws in his hitting approach and he should look to swing more. I obviously dont care how long it takes him to get to 1b after a bb, but i care about how long it takes him to get to 2b when he is at 1b and the ball is put in play.

I draw walks when im slumping. When Im hot, I dont want a walk. Im disappointed with a walk. I want an extra base hit.

Casas should rarely get to a point where he has 3 balls or 2 strikes on him to draw a walk or k. He should be jumping on the first thing straight. Only time he should take a walk is if none of the pitches are close to the zone. I dont want slowpoke jones standing at first. Extra-base hit or k.