davell

Oh Jesus, you just gave him the Billy Madison "oh really fool". :lol:

Both could be all-stars; Baez could be a religion. RT @birenball @ProfessorParks Better big-league career: Baez or Correa

If all those guys get moved I don't see them getting close to 75 wins I was puzzled by that too. Only thing I can think he means is that he thinks Javy and Bryant will be up and going straight beast mode in the second half. I'm figuring we hover remotely close to .500(within 7-9 games) and sell off late in July. I see no dropoff in losing Russell or Villanueva and a gain moving from Barney to Javy and from Schierholtz to KB. Losing Shark and going to Hendricks is a dropoff, but I can see playing within 5-7 games of .500 over the last 2 months. Which puts us at somewhere between 12-16 games under .500 for the year. Buth yeah, I do feel as if Javy and KB both get 60 games in the majors and do very well in their stint.

I'm as frustrated as anyone about the offseason, expect a Hammel, plus maybe a decent non roster type, to be added to the rotation before we head to camp. We're not going to be good, at least it's not likely. But we ARE going to be very interesting. As I've documented in other posts, there are plenty of things to watch individually. In the end, I DO see a selloff again at midseason. My prediction is Shark, Russell, Villanueva, Schierholtz, and Barney get moved. But I do NOT see a 2nd half tank job. I don't think we're a .500 team, but I think 75 wins is realistic. And I think we'll be in solid shape to add major pieces for 2015.

Hey, looked at it wrong, Rizzo is a 3, not a 2.....

Zips comes out tomorrow for the Cubs. WAR graph just posted on Twitter though. Bullpen at 3, Shark-3, Wood and E-Jax at 2, Arrieta and Rusin at 1, Castillo/Kottaras-3, Valbuena/Murphy-3, Castro-3, Barney-2, Rizzo-3, Lake-0, Sweeney/Ruggiano-3, and Schierholtz-1.

We NEED an ace type guy. If I've got another Kris Bryant or Jonathan Gray decision on my hands, I'm taking the pitcher this time.

Olney actually picks the Padres to make the playoffs, if the season started today. No Pirates or Reds.

Rick Hahn confirmed to Levine at SoxFest that they're very likely to take pitching at 2.

Vitters had 2 years where he didn't miss time, 2011 and 2012. The only tool he kind of has is a hit tool, that MAY still have a shot at being above average. And considering his struggle in the majors, I kind of doubt it ever gets there. I rank more on upside myself, unless someone is close and still projects as a possible regular. Which I can see with a guy like Villanueva, but not with Vitters, at this point. It wouldn't shock me if he's a AAAA player by this time next year. The plate discipline advance was a nice development for him this past year, but it was a small sample size and I wonder if its sustainable. The prospect guys don't even consider him a prospect at this point and that helps influence me, same as during his callup, when it wasn't considered necessary to get him full time at bats. Makes me think there's something missing, that we're not privy too. But yeah, I'll rank Jimenez, Torres, Erick Leal, Duane Underwood, even Paniagua, all ahead of him. Because they all still have legit upside, even if some will be lucky to ever get a cup of coffee in the bigs, as Vitters has.

Vitters is in my 30-40 range. To me, he's a short side of the platoon guy with slightly below average power for playing a corner OF spot. Who is now 24, with 6 full minor league seasons under his belt, and is also injury prone.

Do you have Pineyro higher than him? I've got Black ahead of him personally.

I assume you mean Corey Black. I haven't heard one person that buys he's going to be a starter. I have him at 25. Yeah, had wrestling on the brain evidently. He may wind up in the pen, but he's not hit any road blocks yet. Holds his velo late into games and no injury issues yet, after his TJS. Those two things and height are the questions, but until he encounters trouble, I won't write him off as a SP.

To me, here's the next group of guys to add.... Tyler Black-surprised he's not already on it. He's definitely inside my top 20 Gleyber Torres- If Jimenez is on, he should be too, since he was ranked top overall on one of the IFA lists last year as well. Duane Underwood- Upside Dillon Maples-Upside Gioskar Amaya-Scouting circles like him a lot Ivan Pineyro- Upside not as high as some, but a definite top 30 guy for us. Szczur and Vitters do little for me honestly.

I guess the best thing about Olt's status is we'll know very quickly. McLeod said he'll be able to tell the first time he's up against live BP. As for Hendricks, who Craig brought up, I'll have in my top 15, I think he's going to be a guy that plays above the stuff. I've got a feeling we'll be penciling him into our 2015 Opening Day rotation.

If it was brought up elsewhere, I apologize, because I haven't seen it, but damn.....It's a pretty interesting deal between the Rays and Padres. The Rays got Logan Forsythe as the key piece. 2B who's 27, with a lifetime .241/.310/.349 slash in the bigs. Guess he's considered to have a bit of pop, but it's yet to show much. They also got Maxx Tissenbaum, a 22 year old 2B who put up a modest line in A Ball last year. Matt Andriese, a projected back end starter/middle reliever type that fits into the 20-30 range of a decent system's top 30. They also get Brad Boxberger, a very hard throwing reliever, who was thought to have closer potential at one point, but control issues may have tempered that. Still, he's in the majors and a decent pice that still has set up capabilities at least. The last player they get is Matt Lollis, a 6'9 RHP who's 23 and is a reliever in the upper levels. The Padres get Jesse Hahn, a RHP who's injury prone, but electric stuff. He made MLB's top 100 list actually. They also got Alex Torres, a 26 year old LHP, who's been excellent in middle relief so far. Putting up a 1.71 ERA, a 0.90 WHIP, and a K rate of 9.6/9. In an offseason as inactive as ours has been, I'd really welcome a trade like this. I definitely prefer what the Pads received, even with Hahn being a lesser Vizcaino. Because he's healthy currently anyway. Gives me hope that if Barney hits like he did prior to last year, we may very well find a good package somewhere, if there are others involved. I know I would do a deal like this, if it's Barney, Blake Parker, Chris Rusin, Starling Peralta, and Zeke DeVoss for a top 100 pitching prospect and a shutdown set up guy, which is kind of the equivalent I'd get from really looking at the deal.

He was also excellent in the AFL, where he put up a .307/.342/.480 line, while Buxton went .212/.288/.404. Small sample size and Buxton came down with a shoulder issue, but Almora is damn good. His Kane County line at 19 was .329/.376/.466. If he hadn't gotten hurt, he would have gotten promoted to Daytona and based on his contact rates and scouting reports, would have been just fine there.

I went ahead and voted for 3 for the first time. Kind of have the same thought process as Toonster. The 3 I voted for are Villanueva, Candelario, and Olt. In that order. Same thought process for Villanueva vs Candelario, even if I do see Candelario with potentially a better bat, being two levels behind cancels that out for me. Because the power is likely going to be close. To me, the potential gain in hit tool and plate discipline don't outweigh the loss in defense enough to overcome a two level discrepancy. No knock on Candelario, who I kind of suspect will win this vote. Took Olt as my 3rd guy, partly on Sharma's article, partly on North's assessment, but mostly because there is still evidently a bit of concern on Vizcaino's health, who I would have had as my 9th, if not for that. He'll be in my top 15, but I'm unsure as to where at this point.

No. And there's a decent chance that if the Yankees go out and spend 15 mill or so on July 2nd guys, a draft could happen in 2015. Although, I hate it, if that's the case. How many rounds would it be? Do teams get a total spending amount and allocate it however they want?(probably) What do you do with the fact that teams bring in very wide amounts of players each year? Anywhere from around 10 to some teams bringing in 30 and 40. My guess is a 20 round draft where teams are allowed to spend their allocated money in any way they want, followed by minimal level signings that are unlimited. Unsure how young Cuban defectors, without OFAC clearance would be handled. Having them wait a full year after defecting, I guess? No clue on Pac Rim guys, European players, or Aussies. Just seems like if there is a draft, there'd need to be a list of draft-eligible players, and I'm not so sure that is an easy thing to come up with, in this case. Maybe give teams a discretionary budget for pop-up guys they can use? Or trade? Or roll over? Hell, I guess it COULD work. My guess is MLB would screw things up though.

True, but even with a selloff, a midseason callup of Javy, KB, Alcantara, Villanueva, Hendricks, Vizcaino(obviously not all, but some) could keep people coming out. Javy coming up and going 1 for a 100 or so would obviously be disastrous for morale, but short of him being completely pitiful, I think the youngsters would keep people coming out. Even an increase, if some play well.

This team isn't a playoff team no matter what kind of start we get off to. I get the fact that it's not likely, but it's not impossible. Starts with Mike Olt putting up what North mentioned, a .220ish BA, lots of walks, 20-25 HR. Good defense at 3B. Which moves Valbuena into a utility role, strengthening the bench, especially since he's giving Barney plenty of rest. Rizzo and Castro are both All Star candidates at midseason. Castillo puts up the same numbers, with the power expected as well. The OF isn't the WORST in the majors, but around 20th or so. Shark takes a step forward and is also an All Star candidate. Wood plays close to the same level as last season. Edwin pitches to his peripherals and puts up much better numbers than last year. Arrieta proves he's worthy of a rotation spot and whoever we've got at 5, isn't awful. The pen performs as we think it can, becomes a legit strength. That could put us in the .500 range, at the ASB. Javy and KB could come up to play 2B and RF to give a boost in the 2nd half and Alcantara/Vogelbach could bring in an OFer or a SP thru trade and we compete in the 2nd half. That's a whole lot of "what ifs". No [expletive]? Really, I had no idea. But you said no way, in your typical negative way, so I showed you a way, acknowledging it's not likely. The 2012 Orioles were brought up as a great example too. Staying in the hunt until the midway point isn't unheard of. Plenty of teams not expected to contend, get that far. And if we DID, we've certainly got guys that can help in the 2nd half and trade chips to bring in additional help.

Plenty of guys with nice upside in the lower levels. Our top 10 pitching prospects likely come in, in the upper half of all of MLB. It's just the position players we've got are ridiculous. So, while the pitching isn't a strength, it's not a weakness either. The top picks have been position guys in both drafts, but the majority of the 2-10 round picks have been pitching. In IFA, we've gotten some excellent high upside types each year as well. Plus, the selloffs have brought us pitching prospects as the main return in most deals. If the 4th pick of the draft winds up being a pitcher, coupled with a breakout or two, our pitching could easily jump into the "strength" category, even moreso if Shark gets dealt at some point.

I do think the strategy this year will be to target specific trainers and try to buy package deals. Obviously, it's our only shot at winding up with what's considered an elite talent or something close to it. Yeah, I can see us trading away a slot or two. But I can also see us signing 20-25 guys in the 50-250k range as well. Mostly pitching. And I'd be completely fine with that.

This team isn't a playoff team no matter what kind of start we get off to. I get the fact that it's not likely, but it's not impossible. Starts with Mike Olt putting up what North mentioned, a .220ish BA, lots of walks, 20-25 HR. Good defense at 3B. Which moves Valbuena into a utility role, strengthening the bench, especially since he's giving Barney plenty of rest. Rizzo and Castro are both All Star candidates at midseason. Castillo puts up the same numbers, with the power expected as well. The OF isn't the WORST in the majors, but around 20th or so. Shark takes a step forward and is also an All Star candidate. Wood plays close to the same level as last season. Edwin pitches to his peripherals and puts up much better numbers than last year. Arrieta proves he's worthy of a rotation spot and whoever we've got at 5, isn't awful. The pen performs as we think it can, becomes a legit strength. That could put us in the .500 range, at the ASB. Javy and KB could come up to play 2B and RF to give a boost in the 2nd half and Alcantara/Vogelbach could bring in an OFer or a SP thru trade and we compete in the 2nd half.

Johnson had 11.5 in 2012. Even with a down sack year in 2013, he's probably the best bet, if you're looking for sacks. I really like Everson Griffen though, as a situational guy.