The Winter Meetings Thread

[Hairyducked Idiot]

There's a Theo quote over the past few days too where he says if you do land one of these big names, it can change your focus a bit to where you may add a little more than you would have otherwise.

 

That quote really tilts me. I really, really hope that if we hadn't landed Lester it wouldn't have been straight to Operation Shutdown Part 4.

 

But it's moot, so woo-hoo!

[davell]

There's a Theo quote over the past few days too where he says if you do land one of these big names, it can change your focus a bit to where you may add a little more than you would have otherwise.

 

That quote really tilts me. I really, really hope that if we hadn't landed Lester it wouldn't have been straight to Operation Shutdown Part 4.

 

But it's moot, so woo-hoo!

 

I'm looking at it going forward. They had said they wanted a "veteran presence" type leader. That very well may wind up Ross and/or Gomes. But the FO knows those guys aren't moving the needle on win projections either. It's not likely another FA SP would either. So it does have me hopeful of one more rather meaningful move this offseason.

 

Granted, we'll be buying at the deadline, so it's definitely plausible to see us holding off on anything big for now. And Im fairly certain if we had been told on November 1st we could skip to April 1st and be given Lester, Hammel, and Montero, the vast majority of us would have jumped at it.

 

That said, it really seems like they're not ready to deal our top prospects yet. Could we get a very good rental guy using some combo of Castillo, Wood, Valbuena, and Vogelbach? Because I think that's honestly the ammo I think we'll be using if we DO find a nice upgrade somewhere.

[Him]

There's a Theo quote over the past few days too where he says if you do land one of these big names, it can change your focus a bit to where you may add a little more than you would have otherwise.

 

That quote really tilts me. I really, really hope that if we hadn't landed Lester it wouldn't have been straight to Operation Shutdown Part 4.

 

But it's moot, so woo-hoo!

 

I'm looking at it going forward. They had said they wanted a "veteran presence" type leader. That very well may wind up Ross and/or Gomes. But the FO knows those guys aren't moving the needle on win projections either. It's not likely another FA SP would either. So it does have me hopeful of one more rather meaningful move this offseason.

 

Granted, we'll be buying at the deadline, so it's definitely plausible to see us holding off on anything big for now. And Im fairly certain if we had been told on November 1st we could skip to April 1st and be given Lester, Hammel, and Montero, the vast majority of us would have jumped at it.

 

That said, it really seems like they're not ready to deal our top prospects yet. Could we get a very good rental guy using some combo of Castillo, Wood, Valbuena, and Vogelbach? Because I think that's honestly the ammo I think we'll be using if we DO find a nice upgrade somewhere.

 

Why don't you think Montero will fill this role?

[Sammy Sofa]

They want a good veteran starting player, not an OK veteran platoon player.

[Him]

They want a good veteran starting player, not an OK veteran platoon player.

 

What? Montero would get more starts over the course of a season than Johnny Gomes or Ross. Plus Miguel is definitely better at baseball at this point.

[Sammy Sofa]

They want a good veteran starting player, not an OK veteran platoon player.

 

What? Montero would get more starts over the course of a season than Johnny Gomes or Ross. Plus Miguel is definitely better at baseball at this point.

 

Ross would just be a pickup for Lester and Gomes would be a bench bat. None of those three fit the bill, and ideally they don't even pick up Ross or Gomes in the first place.

[KingCubsFan]

There's a Theo quote over the past few days too where he says if you do land one of these big names, it can change your focus a bit to where you may add a little more than you would have otherwise.

 

That quote really tilts me. I really, really hope that if we hadn't landed Lester it wouldn't have been straight to Operation Shutdown Part 4.

 

But it's moot, so woo-hoo!

 

I'm looking at it going forward. They had said they wanted a "veteran presence" type leader. That very well may wind up Ross and/or Gomes. But the FO knows those guys aren't moving the needle on win projections either. It's not likely another FA SP would either. So it does have me hopeful of one more rather meaningful move this offseason.

 

Granted, we'll be buying at the deadline, so it's definitely plausible to see us holding off on anything big for now. And Im fairly certain if we had been told on November 1st we could skip to April 1st and be given Lester, Hammel, and Montero, the vast majority of us would have jumped at it.

 

That said, it really seems like they're not ready to deal our top prospects yet. Could we get a very good rental guy using some combo of Castillo, Wood, Valbuena, and Vogelbach? Because I think that's honestly the ammo I think we'll be using if we DO find a nice upgrade somewhere.

Braves should be interested in Valbuena in an Upton trade. They're currently starting Chris Johnson at 3B.

[davell]

Coghlan, Valbuena, Wood for Upton?

[KingCubsFan]

Coghlan, Valbuena, Wood for Upton?

I'm not really sure what the Braves are doing, but Valbuena and Wood both have years of relatively cheap team control so it seems like they would be interested in them. Cubs would have to give them a legit prospect as well.

[Cubswin11]

Coghlan, Valbuena, Wood for Upton?

I'm not really sure what the Braves are doing, but Valbuena and Wood both have years of relatively cheap team control so it seems like they would be interested in them. Cubs would have to give them a legit prospect as well.

I think at least Almora would have to be added to that package

[Guest]

Sort of anticlimatic end for the Cubs.

 

No complaints though.

[SouthSideRyan]

Braves should be interested in Valbuena in an Upton trade. They're currently starting Chris Johnson at 3B.

 

Do they really care who they're starting at 3B after trading away 2 of their best players?

[CubInOK]

Coghlan, Valbuena, Wood for Upton?

This is like a B2B trade without a 3rd team.

[Guest]

Braves should be interested in Valbuena in an Upton trade. They're currently starting Chris Johnson at 3B.

 

Do they really care who they're starting at 3B after trading away 2 of their best players?

 

They also signed Markakis and made a half-hearted run at Lester, so it's difficult to tell exactly what they think of themselves at the moment.

[XZero771679666304]

Braves should be interested in Valbuena in an Upton trade. They're currently starting Chris Johnson at 3B.

 

Do they really care who they're starting at 3B after trading away 2 of their best players?

 

They also signed Markakis and made a half-hearted run at Lester, so it's difficult to tell exactly what they think of themselves at the moment.

 

The Markakis move is really puzzling when viewed in the context of everything else they're doing. I don't think the Lester "flirtation" was anything other than a cursory check-in with a local guy. So yeah, trying to assess their full intent is difficult, other than they seem to be otherwise shedding payroll.

 

That said, given what the Marlins have done, it's going to be even harder for them to justify not just seeing this rebuild (that's what it appears that they are doing?) through. But I would think that they would be more interested in prospects than a guy like Valbuena. Probably more even in a guy like Travis Wood, since they seem more interested in pitching.

 

I still think taking on B.J. might help. Would the Braves go for Wood/Alcantara/Blackburn/Coghlan for Upton and Upton deal, provided the Cubs pick up B.J.'s contract? Given the uncertainty of Justin beyond 2015, that's about as far as I would go, except maybe adding another 15-30 type pitching prospect.

 

I think it would work out; you could utilize (hide) B.J. in a platoon with Sweeney in CF, and you have your LF power bat for 2015.

Edited December 12, 2014 by XZero77

[Clem Fandango]

Lefthanded power bat? Or did you mean LF power bat?

[XZero771679666304]

Lefthanded power bat? Or did you mean LF power bat?

 

Yeah, that's what I thought I typed. Oops.

[davell]

Coghlan, Valbuena, Wood for Upton?

This is like a B2B trade without a 3rd team.

 

I'm trying to come up with what spare parts we have. How much value does Valbuena have? I get that he's not Upton obviously. But the extra control with him and Wood? Does it hold value? Do they want major leaguers to begin with? They've said this offseason they're not going to rebuild.

 

They don't need Vogelbach. I personally value Almora more than McKinney, but would understand why some here don't. With the prospects that have been dealt for one year rentals so far this offseason, I honestly doubt we'd include Almora(assuming we value him as high as I think we still do).

 

If they truly think Upton is worth more than Heyward, that offer gets laughed at admittedly. But if they are trying to stay competitive, it could fill holes with relatively solid guys for them. If they'd do it with a McKinney/Vogelbach/PJ type prospect included, I'd be fine with it.

 

But I don't see one year of Upton at 14.5 mill having much excess value myself. And if Law is right that Valbuena can net a decent young pitcher or solid pitching prospect on his own-I could see it being a possibility.

[Derwood]

MLBN was speculating that the Braves are trying to package Johnson with Justin Upton, and BJ with Gattis

[rawaction]

MLBN was speculating that the Braves are trying to package Johnson with Justin Upton, and BJ with Gattis

 

OK. I'd take Johnson to fill in the role Olt played last year, but it would be to a lesser extent because the team is better.

[XZero771679666304]

MLBN was speculating that the Braves are trying to package Johnson with Justin Upton, and BJ with Gattis

 

OK. I'd take Johnson to fill in the role Olt played last year, but it would be to a lesser extent because the team is better.

 

I'd still try for an Upton + Upton trade because it better fits our roster needs, and having B.J. beyond next season couldn't hurt if you try and extend Justin.