2015 Winter Meetings Thread

[Clem Fandango]

Do people still think Casey Kelly is an important prospect?

 

I hope not.

 

I feel like like every year there's reports or people overvaluing him immensely like he's some sort of heralded talent. Even at his most hyped I still didn't think he was anything special

[Guest]

Maybe it is time to start a "WTF Dave Stewart" thread.

 

With the Rangers reportedly adding reliever Tony Barnette, there’s yet more reason to believe the club could strike a deal involving one of its young pen assets, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News writes. The Diamondbacks have widely been tabbed as one pursuer, and Grant says that Arizona is eyeing late-inning hurlers Shawn Tolleson and Keone Kela. Though the D’Backs are said to be hesitant to part with young righty Archie Bradley, Grant says that exactly who Texas is eyeing in trade talks.

[TruffleShuffle]

Maybe it is time to start a "WTF Dave Stewart" thread.

 

With the Rangers reportedly adding reliever Tony Barnette, there’s yet more reason to believe the club could strike a deal involving one of its young pen assets, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News writes. The Diamondbacks have widely been tabbed as one pursuer, and Grant says that Arizona is eyeing late-inning hurlers Shawn Tolleson and Keone Kela. Though the D’Backs are said to be hesitant to part with young righty Archie Bradley, Grant says that exactly who Texas is eyeing in trade talks.

 

after the last trade that stewart made, i have no doubt that his phone has been ringing red hot from teams asking what it would take to pry away bradley.

[XZero771679666304]

Maybe it is time to start a "WTF Dave Stewart" thread.

 

With the Rangers reportedly adding reliever Tony Barnette, there’s yet more reason to believe the club could strike a deal involving one of its young pen assets, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News writes. The Diamondbacks have widely been tabbed as one pursuer, and Grant says that Arizona is eyeing late-inning hurlers Shawn Tolleson and Keone Kela. Though the D’Backs are said to be hesitant to part with young righty Archie Bradley, Grant says that exactly who Texas is eyeing in trade talks.

 

after the last trade that stewart made, i have no doubt that his phone has been ringing red hot from teams asking what it would take to pry away bradley.

 

I remember back in high school there was a vending machine in the cafeteria that one day, inexplicably, started dispensing five or six sodas at a time instead of one. Word got out, and there was a rush on the thing until it was empty.

 

That's probably something like what is going on with Stewart right now.

[Backtobanks]

So the Padres may or may not be shopping one of Hedges or Norris. How could you not be interested?

 

Trade for Norris would need a taker for Montero to clear enough salary for Heyward.

[seanimal]

So the Padres may or may not be shopping one of Hedges or Norris. How could you not be interested?

 

Trade for Norris would need a taker for Montero to clear enough salary for Heyward.

 

lol no

[ctcf]

Apparently the Mets.com transactions page briefly listed Michael Cuddyer as having retired earlier, but has since changed back. Mets twitter is depressingly excited about this.

[Sammy Sofa]

Maybe it is time to start a "WTF Dave Stewart" thread.

 

With the Rangers reportedly adding reliever Tony Barnette, there’s yet more reason to believe the club could strike a deal involving one of its young pen assets, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News writes. The Diamondbacks have widely been tabbed as one pursuer, and Grant says that Arizona is eyeing late-inning hurlers Shawn Tolleson and Keone Kela. Though the D’Backs are said to be hesitant to part with young righty Archie Bradley, Grant says that exactly who Texas is eyeing in trade talks.

 

after the last trade that stewart made, i have no doubt that his phone has been ringing red hot from teams asking what it would take to pry away bradley.

 

I remember back in high school there was a vending machine in the cafeteria that one day, inexplicably, started dispensing five or six sodas at a time instead of one. Word got out, and there was a rush on the thing until it was empty.

 

That's probably something like what is going on with Stewart right now.

 

This seems a bit more apt:

 

[Little Slide Rooter]

Do people still think Casey Kelly is an important prospect?

 

I hope not.

 

I feel like like every year there's reports or people overvaluing him immensely like he's some sort of heralded talent. Even at his most hyped I still didn't think he was anything special

 

 

Did anybody still think Jake Arrieta was an important prospect 2 years ago?

[Clem Fandango]

Do people still think Casey Kelly is an important prospect?

 

I hope not.

 

I feel like like every year there's reports or people overvaluing him immensely like he's some sort of heralded talent. Even at his most hyped I still didn't think he was anything special

 

 

Did anybody still think Jake Arrieta was an important prospect 2 years ago?

 

No, because Jake Arrieta had thrown 300+ innings and wasn't a prospect.

[Cubswin11]

Astros are sending Appel to the Phillies in the Giles trade

[UMFan83]

Mark Appel now going to Phils in the Giles trade. Remember when he was a thing?

[abuck1220]

Do people still think Casey Kelly is an important prospect?

 

I hope not.

 

I feel like like every year there's reports or people overvaluing him immensely like he's some sort of heralded talent. Even at his most hyped I still didn't think he was anything special

 

 

Did anybody still think Jake Arrieta was an important prospect 2 years ago?

 

awful

[Guest]

 

this pleases me...i dont want to have to face him that many times a year

[toonsterwu]

A Kelly now -Arrieta then comparison seems a bit odd. Kelly had TJ a couple years back and some other physical issues, and the stuff, at last check, seemed to have backed up a bit. Arrieta was more experienced and had peripherals that suggested that some tinkering could bring about positive results. It's possible that, with more time away from TJ, Kelly might regain his former stuff. It's a good gamble for the Braves - heck, hard to classify that trade as a loss for them overall considering Bethancourt simply never figured it out offensively.

 

The Giles trade is why I absolutely hate dealing for pen arms. I guess if you feel like you are that close, it makes some sense, but geesh, that's a lot for Giles. Ken Giles wasn't Ken Giles until he became Ken Giles - Giles command was a mess, and his slider didn't develop, and both things basically only took off until he hit the bigs. Point is, every system has guys floundering about that often could thrive with a move to the pen/with some new instruction. I get why he was costly, and I think he'll be good ... but I still feel like that's too much to give up for Giles, particularly after the Appel/Fisher switch (Fisher, while the positional asset, was riskier and Appel's upside is still plenty solid and he's far closer to helping). Appel also pitched fairly well the 2nd half of last year and looked like a potential mid-rotation arm. I'm not convinced you couldn't have found a late inning pen arm in Velasquez or Appel for 2016 that would have been just fine, if you wanted to go that route. I get why the Astros did it, but boy, for an organization that floundered under Amaro for many years, their summer trades and now have really restocked the system fast.

[Guest]

 

this pleases me...i dont want to have to face him that many times a year

 

Davis is the one FA I'd like to see the Cardinals sign the most, tbh. He might have another 7 win season in him but he's a scary guy to give a long term contract to. One tool guys generally don't have the most graceful aging curves, especially if that tool is power.

[Guest]

[Guest]

 

this pleases me...i dont want to have to face him that many times a year

 

Davis is the one FA I'd like to see the Cardinals sign the most, tbh. He might have another 7 win season in him but he's a scary guy to give a long term contract to. One tool guys generally don't have the most graceful aging curves, especially if that tool is power.

 

i knew this would be a reply and i still want nothing to do with him mashing dongs all over us

 

let's keep the cardinals nice and punch and judy

[Guest]

Mark Appel now going to Phils in the Giles trade. Remember when he was a thing?

 

Thank you Houston.

[Cubswin11]

Lol, what

 

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[toonsterwu]

Appel had himself a solid second half. I think his ceiling projection is still what it ... should've been ... when he came out of Stanford, a possible mid-rotation arm, maybe a tick better, a "2/3" type arm if you wanted to use numbers. Never understood the huge fascination with him, although I certainly "got" it as to why he was picked.

 

I still really love the deal for the Phillies. I get why the Astros did it, but even in this day, you can still "find" solid closers (hello, Hector Rondon). Heck, I'm not convinced Appel/Velasquez couldn't have been a solid closer next year for them, but obviously, there's a greater level of risk. For the Phillies, yeah, you hope to get some positional talent mixed in there, but for some reason, Derek Fisher didn't pass his physicals. Appel is "safer" and close to ready, and they really didn't need Giles cheap years during the rebuild, so you grab the best talent, whatever it is, possible. Their two highest ceiling arms in that deal are a bit less risky because they are ready to be in the majors now, or soon, and their two high floor arms could move fast. Sure, you lose a fascinating asset in J. Arauz, but he's so far away and not, as of now, an elite talent, so you live with it. We've seen the skyrocketing cost of pitching, so if a lot of their arms pan out, that's a lot of chips for Klentak to deal from.

 

I like Klentak's aggressiveness here, even if it busts, and I think the Phillies could be a scary looking squad in a couple seasons. The NL East, on the whole (outside of perhaps the Marlins) looks like it could be a nasty division sooner than later, with the Phillies/Braves building strong systems, the Nats strong system of upside talent, and the Mets young talent being up now.

 

_____

 

Still think Rizzo is trying to pull off something big. I really think if they move a pitcher, they may jump in on Cueto. Just a guess, but a pitcher may be the best way to address their holes (lefty bat, bp help, maybe an OF, maybe a 2nd baseman ... obviously not all), and they can use the spare money on the remaining pitchers.

[Guest]

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I'm thinking the first one actually was meant to say "wasn't"

[Guest]

Looks like Iwakuma is getting 3/45.

 

[tweet]https://twitter.com/kazuto_yamazaki/status/677521090579587072[/tweet]

[Guest]

i dont want the dodgers to get fernandez

[Guest]

The Marlins are not trading Fernandez, there's been multiple reports that their asks of multiple teams were basically 'are you a literal insane person? If so let's make a deal'.

 

EDIT: Although it would be a bit fitting for the Dodgers/Friedman to continue to give zero craps about pitcher injury risk in assembling a rotation.