Who Do The Nats Trade For?

[SRQCub]

Because they can't keep "protecting" Harper with Zimmerman. I'm afraid that's the takeaway from this weekend.

[Banedon]

Because they can't keep "protecting" Harper with Zimmerman. I'm afraid that's the takeaway from this weekend.

 

They should bat Murphy 4th to start with.

[Tim]

Fangraphs suggests they should trade for the re-juiced version of Braun.

[SRQCub]

Fangraphs suggests they should trade for the re-juiced version of Braun.

 

Watch them deal for CarGo.

[SRQCub]

I do think Braun ends up in the NL East, though I don't know if it's Washington or New York that is the most likely landing spot.

[Cubswin11]

I do think Braun ends up in the NL East, though I don't know if it's Washington or New York that is the most likely landing spot.

The Mets have Conforto-Cespedes-Granderson in the OF, why would they trade for Braun? Plus their owners are cheap and/or broke, they wouldn't take on his contract.

[SRQCub]

I do think Braun ends up in the NL East, though I don't know if it's Washington or New York that is the most likely landing spot.

The Mets have Conforto-Cespedes-Granderson in the OF, why would they trade for Braun? Plus their owners are cheap and/or broke, they wouldn't take on his contract.

 

Lol, Granderson is OPS'ing .722 and is 35 years old. Maybe that's why?

[Sammy Sofa]

I do think Braun ends up in the NL East, though I don't know if it's Washington or New York that is the most likely landing spot.

The Mets have Conforto-Cespedes-Granderson in the OF, why would they trade for Braun? Plus their owners are cheap and/or broke, they wouldn't take on his contract.

 

Lol, Granderson is OPS'ing .722 and is 35 years old. Maybe that's why?

 

I don't see the Brewers (or anyone) likely taking Granderson unless money's coming with him since he's signed through next year.

[SRQCub]

The Mets have Conforto-Cespedes-Granderson in the OF, why would they trade for Braun? Plus their owners are cheap and/or broke, they wouldn't take on his contract.

 

Lol, Granderson is OPS'ing .722 and is 35 years old. Maybe that's why?

 

I don't see the Brewers (or anyone) likely taking Granderson unless money's coming with him since he's signed through next year.

 

I'm not suggesting Granderson for Braun. I think an arm and a prospect would do it, and New York benefits from that. If you're thinking about potentially using a DH in the World Series, does that 6th rotation arm help you more than Braun?

[David]

I do think Braun ends up in the NL East, though I don't know if it's Washington or New York that is the most likely landing spot.

The Mets have Conforto-Cespedes-Granderson in the OF, why would they trade for Braun? Plus their owners are cheap and/or broke, they wouldn't take on his contract.

 

Lol, Granderson is OPS'ing .722 and is 35 years old. Maybe that's why?

 

Is that supposed to be really bad or something? and he's doing that on a .226 babip btw

[SRQCub]

The Mets have Conforto-Cespedes-Granderson in the OF, why would they trade for Braun? Plus their owners are cheap and/or broke, they wouldn't take on his contract.

 

Lol, Granderson is OPS'ing .722 and is 35 years old. Maybe that's why?

 

Is that supposed to be really bad or something? and he's doing that on a .226 babip btw

 

It's worse than 1.044, isn't it?

[SRQCub]

Mets are tied for 15th in Runs Scored in the Majors. It's obviously their deficiency, and Braun makes them better in that regard.

 

Obviously, I don't claim to be clairvoyant or think it a foregone conclusion, but I can see why it would happen.

[Sammy Sofa]

 

Lol, Granderson is OPS'ing .722 and is 35 years old. Maybe that's why?

 

I don't see the Brewers (or anyone) likely taking Granderson unless money's coming with him since he's signed through next year.

 

I'm not suggesting Granderson for Braun. I think an arm and a prospect would do it, and New York benefits from that. If you're thinking about potentially using a DH in the World Series, does that 6th rotation arm help you more than Braun?

 

But again, the Mets are broke and cheap.

[SRQCub]

 

I don't see the Brewers (or anyone) likely taking Granderson unless money's coming with him since he's signed through next year.

 

I'm not suggesting Granderson for Braun. I think an arm and a prospect would do it, and New York benefits from that. If you're thinking about potentially using a DH in the World Series, does that 6th rotation arm help you more than Braun?

 

But again, the Mets are broke and cheap.

 

That's true, and it's good for us. Does a World Series run offset the roughly $10 million in salary you'd owe Braun for 2016? Obviously, it creates issues in 2017 when you still have Granderson under contract.

[Cubswin11]

 

I'm not suggesting Granderson for Braun. I think an arm and a prospect would do it, and New York benefits from that. If you're thinking about potentially using a DH in the World Series, does that 6th rotation arm help you more than Braun?

 

But again, the Mets are broke and cheap.

 

That's true, and it's good for us. Does a World Series run offset the roughly $10 million in salary you'd owe Braun for 2016? Obviously, it creates issues in 2017 when you still have Granderson under contract.

You know Braun is owed like $90 million between this year and like 2021, right?

[SRQCub]

 

But again, the Mets are broke and cheap.

 

That's true, and it's good for us. Does a World Series run offset the roughly $10 million in salary you'd owe Braun for 2016? Obviously, it creates issues in 2017 when you still have Granderson under contract.

You know Braun is owed like $90 million between this year and like 2021, right?

 

Which is manageable once Granderson comes off the books. Granted, that's not until after next season.

 

But Neil Walker (expendable) and Bartolo Colon (the most expendable) and Alejandro De Aza come off the books next year. That's 23.55 million.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

The Mets are 9th in the NL in runs but 5th in wOBA and wRC+, so they've probably got some progressing to do yet. They're also in an odd spot where they don't have much money to spend so they're less likely to take on a big contract, especially one that would force an existing contract to the bench. Their clearest spot to upgrade at the moment is catcher, but TdA will probably be a big part of that progressing to the mean. If not, Lucroy might make sense.

[toonsterwu]

Rizzo's in a tough spot. They have to compete now, they have some bad contracts (Ryan Zimmerman and Jayson Werth) that will be tough to move, their aren't many spots to put a guy in, and any big deal likely eats away at some key guys for their long term plans (Victor Robles/Trea Turner would likely top most lists of guys that other teams would want, non-Giolito division, but there's some other pieces in that system). Not that you shy away from big deals, but with some exciting assets in the system, they'll want to be selective. Actually, I might take a hard look at 3rd base. Anthony Rendon just doesn't seem like the guy he was 2 years ago, and at some point, you wonder if that's a more serious indicator than a guy slowly getting back into form.

 

Still, in the short term, you obviously don't do anything (leaving aside the early in the season things). For the Nats, you just wait for now. You wait to see if guys can get going (namely, Rendon, but maybe even Michael Taylor). You wait to see if Giolito is ready, because if Giolito is ready, it opens up a lot of options. With Strasburg resigned now, you could potentially shop one of Gio/Ross/Roark for help. You wait for Trea Turner, and to a lesser extent, Wilmer Difo. If they are ready, you could potentially slide Daniel Murphy to 3rd if Rendon is struggling.

 

If I'm Rizzo, I don't do anything drastic unless it's for a top tier youngster( which is unlikely). The Nationals are well-positioned to contend for the next 4+ years and busting that potential up to make a run now ... you don't do that unless it's for a high impact relatively young guy. You'll need the young talent to balance off the monster deal for Harper that they are hoping to build. I wouldn't want to take on serious long term monetary commitments. If a guy like Josh Reddick is available, it's something to consider, much as they could use a right-handed bat to balance things out. If Ramos cools off, making a run at Jonathon Lucroy makes some sense (this assumes Lucroy keeps hitting as well). They could even consider flipping Ramos as well, if they land Lucroy. Heck, while I don't think it's likely they shop him, say the Yankees keep falling back and decide to blow up the season. Could they shop Starlin Castro and hope to get pieces to retool with? Unlikely, but if they did, it would make some sense for the Nationals as well (could put him at 2nd, Turner at SS, and Murphy at 3rd). A guy like Steve Pearce might really be a solid acquisition, someone with pop that can play OF/1st, but has shown a willingness to slide and move around for his teams (played 2nd for the Orioles as well in 2015).

[Little Slide Rooter]

 

I don't see the Brewers (or anyone) likely taking Granderson unless money's coming with him since he's signed through next year.

 

I'm not suggesting Granderson for Braun. I think an arm and a prospect would do it, and New York benefits from that. If you're thinking about potentially using a DH in the World Series, does that 6th rotation arm help you more than Braun?

 

But again, the Mets are broke and cheap.

 

Don't they have Bobby Bonilla and Bret Saberhagen coming off the books in the next decade or two?

[SRQCub]

The Mets are 9th in the NL in runs but 5th in wOBA and wRC+, so they've probably got some progressing to do yet. They're also in an odd spot where they don't have much money to spend so they're less likely to take on a big contract, especially one that would force an existing contract to the bench. Their clearest spot to upgrade at the moment is catcher, but TdA will probably be a big part of that progressing to the mean. If not, Lucroy might make sense.

 

I don't see d'Arnaud's fragile body being an honest-to-goodness part of their progression, and can see merit in the Lucroy suggestion. But I don't want to see them do anything to that offense. Their pitching across 7 games is scary, and I don't want Jake and Lester to have to be Cy Young each time out to feel good about our chances.

[SRQCub]

The Mets are 9th in the NL in runs but 5th in wOBA and wRC+, so they've probably got some progressing to do yet. They're also in an odd spot where they don't have much money to spend so they're less likely to take on a big contract, especially one that would force an existing contract to the bench. Their clearest spot to upgrade at the moment is catcher, but TdA will probably be a big part of that progressing to the mean. If not, Lucroy might make sense.

 

I don't see d'Arnaud's fragile body being an honest-to-goodness part of their progression, and can see merit in the Lucroy suggestion. But I don't want to see them do anything to that offense. Their pitching across 7 games is scary, and I don't want Jake and Lester to have to be Cy Young each time out to feel good about our chances.

 

I hope the Cubs would be glad to take d'Arnaud off their hands.

 

As a reserve? Sure.

[SRQCub]

 

I hope the Cubs would be glad to take d'Arnaud off their hands.

 

As a reserve? Sure.

 

However they wanted to title it would be fine with me in this hypothetical.

 

There's just nothing in his history to suggest that we could expect anything close to full-time AB's from him. He's fragile, and his bat doesn't profile anywhere else helpful. If you could get 120 games out of him, he'd be worth it. But at the 90 games you'd actually get, what would he be worth giving up? He's worth more to the Mets than he is to other teams because they own him, they need offense, and no one is going to pay much for him, imo.

[Cubswin11]

It would suck for us being in the same league but they should go all in and get Trout. Offer Rendon, Giolito, Turner, Cole and Robles.

[SRQCub]

There's just nothing in his history to suggest that we could expect anything close to full-time AB's from him. He's fragile, and his bat doesn't profile anywhere else helpful. If you could get 120 games out of him, he'd be worth it. But at the 90 games you'd actually get, what would he be worth giving up? He's worth more to the Mets than he is to other teams because they own him, they need offense, and no one is going to pay much for him, imo.

 

Well this turned into a completely different conversation arguing against things no one has said. Very few, if any, players are worth more to another team than the one they are currently with. If the Mets actually made d'Arnaud available and picked up a Lucroy there would still be a line around the corner because he's cheap and one of the best all around catchers in the league when on the field. Any franchise worth their salt would somehow find a way to work around his durability issues because of the bat and defense when on it, maybe even try some tricks to keep him healthier. In the context of the Cubs they have a pretty nice setup in 2016 and 2017 for a catcher like d'Arnaud. Seems like a solid buy low guy if the situation arises. There's actually a handful of high pedigree, young or fairly young, struggling catchers out there that I wouldn't mind the Cubs picking up (Zunino, Hedges, Norris, d'Arnaud, Swihart/Vazquez all come to mind).

 

We can agree to disagree.

 

HIs career .719 OPS and his defensive metrics don't play as "one of the best all around catchers in the league."

 

I loved him as a prospect, and he may still live up to his promise, but I don't see it yet. He can't stay healthy enough to become the offensive player scouts thought he would be.

[SRQCub]

HIs career .719 OPSand his defensive metrics don't play as "one of the best all around catchers in the league."

 

The typical catcher over the past 3 years puts up a .680, maybe .690 for the decade. The position has far and away the lowest standards of any position on the field. He was a top 10 pitch framer last year according to StatCorner and top 15 the year before that. d'Arnaud's only macro flaw as a player is durability, and his injury history is more bone chips, backswing contact, foul ball contact, and general soreness than the catastrophic, major surgery, long term type.

 

This isn't someone likely to be available anytime soon anyway, so this seems pretty pointless.

 

It's pointless as far as the Cubs are concerned, certainly. But with Plawecki on the roster and d'Aranud's durability concerns, I could see the Mets moving him for something this summer.

 

As I said, we can agree to disagree on TdA. I've always liked him as a prospect and a young player, but he has not lived up to all that promise, and has given significant reason to question that he ever will. He's good, yes, but I can't see the debate for "one of the best." Basically, if you take his career numbers to this point, he's exactly Jason Castro over the same timeframe. Baseball Reference has an even more unflattering comparison of Michael McKenry. His glove work behind the plate is really good, yes (StatCorner has him as the #10 C in 2015, in terms of +Call rate... one spot ahead of Plawecki), but his arm is not good. He's outside the Top 30 in terms of CS%, and his dWAR was outside the Top 40 in both 2014 and 2015.

 

Again, you're right in that there's probably nothing to be gained by chasing this hypothetical tangent. I only address it as a situation where one of our opponents has room to improve, and I hope they don't (which, in spite of the specific title of the thread, IS the general thought behind it... not wanting to see our biggest obstacles in the NL improving.)

 

Carry on.