davell

TT, is LaHair a wiccan or not?

This team has things happening each game that will wind up meaning more in the longterm, so the wins mean more to me. No, we're not a great team obviously. But tonight saw LaHair and Stewart go back to back, Campana make some plays, Castro come through in the clutch, Russell finish a game out, and Shark take another step towards being a legit part of our future. Everyone I just mentioned has a chance to be in our longterm plans actually. Something is just more satisfying watching these guys succeed individually and especially when it results in a W.

Giving up on the team two weeks into the season is kind of lame so I say [expletive] them. I really feel like .500 is very doable. Depends on how bad we gut the team at the deadline.

Ian could finish this game off right here.

Nice Starlin.

Unless I'm mistaken, Jokisch pitches in the mid to upper 80's. I think most feel as if his stuff won't play up to the higher levels.

Yeah, that DP really helped out actually. He was at 52 and no outs. As for Reed getting hit, if he didn't raise his shoulder, it would have beaned him.

My guess is the only reason Wood was sent down is we want to give Volstad a few more starts before pulling the plug and sending him to the pen.

I understand that's tongue in cheek and all, but I think Justin is there for the long haul, due to all the young pitching they've got on the way. If we make a bigtime trade for an impact guy, I could see Felix or possibly David Price/Evan Longoria in that general time frame.

If you're Theo or Jed, what do you do with this guy, seriously? Trade him RIGHT NOW? Trade him around the break when he may have built up more value/ Keep him and hope he's at least close to being passable in LF and hope his bat more than makes up for it? If you trade him, what are you expecting in return? What's the least you take to make you pull the trigger on a deal? I keep going back and forth on this. Yeah, I'd like to see him dealt, that much I think I've decided. But I'm not trading him for spare parts either. If he looks like a legitimate .850+ OPS guy, I think I'd be wanting a borderline top 100ish guy and another top 10ish prospect from a decent system. If I can't get that, I think I'd rather just try and make it work with him in LF. And figure out whatever is possible in trading Soriano and eating whatever we'd have to. Not ideal, but I think it's probable his bat has too much value for us to trade him for a true flyer type package. But, I think I'd roll the dice and let this thing get to the break, because I honestly think he's going to settle in as a solid power bat with discipline. And I'm saying this fully expecting some sort of inevitable slump. I just think he'll eventually settle in as a very solid hitter after he's gone through it.

Agreed. It's also why for some reason... I have a gut feeling that Theo/Hoyer will shock everyone and trade for an impact player (could be like Justin Upton or King Felix for example) since there's only 2 that could be a FA this offseason. Although I'm not sure how they will get a guy like through a trade, but it's just a funny feeling I got. I don't see the pieces we currently have being nearly enough to get something like that done yet honestly. Especially since I really think we're counting on Brett moving forward and certainly Rizzo. I'm not sure they even know for sure which direction they're taking yet with Garza. If he's dealt, then the people saying we're 2014 or later before we're contending are right, in all likelihood.

I think Fried is topping out at 94 right now himself. I have no idea what kind of weight Kershaw had on him as a high school senior, but he's got to be 215 or 220 now. Fried is at 170 or so, unless I'm mistaken. Yeah, he's much less refined and using a comp of possibly the best pitcher in baseball is probably going a bit overboard, but I can at least see where it's plausible they see more upside than in the big 3 college arms.

Projectability. He can certainly put some weight on. If he amps up his velo a tad, he could turn into a Kershaw type talent.

I'm not basing this on what I think, I based it what I figure they're thinking. This is another way of saying that you're basing this on what you think. He's the best of those guys easily when you're looking at age and projection. They're almost CERTIANLY not targeting Melky Cabrera over him. That's borderline ridicuolous...Recent career year or not...Upton is significantly better over the course of their careers and is way more physically gifted. Wrong. If I can have Upton at 6/100, I'd take him over Cabrera at 3/30. I based that post on the thinking of what could run through Theo's head, with this being his first big FA signing. Yes, BJ is a 4 WAR guy consistently and yes, he's heading into his prime. But, if Cabrera has another solid season(he was a 4 WAR guy last year too) and the price tag is TONS different, I do see Theo erring on the side of caution. 1) Cabrera's reward for his 4 season season at..25(?)...was to be traded. What does that imply to you? Upside? 2) If he repeats last year (off to a great start) then WHY would he only get 3/30? Hell, why would Sabean Let him hit FA to get 3/30 when his team can't hit? 3) Again, this is what you think Theo/Hoyer will do, which is another way of saying this is what you think. 4) Would still trust Upton more than him anyway, and he probably won't get 100 million. 1. It implies KC thought they needed pitching moreso than hitting, in order to possibly contend in 2012. They shouldn't have made the trade. 2. Did I say that's what I thought he'd get? No, I said I'd rather have Upton at 6/100 more than Cabrera at 3/30. Should show you I'd really, really like Upton more than him. But would I definitely feel comfortable giving Upton 100 mill? Hell no. But I don't want Melky on the Cubs unless he comes very cheap and I don't see that happening either. 3. Again, if I like Upton much more than any of the other FA bats, which I do, then you putting words in my mouth just isn't very intelligent on your part. Everyone has a cut off point to what they value a player at. My guess(and that's obviously all it is) is that Theo and Jed won't want to get close to 100 mill for Upton and that Cabrera, even if it's at 4/48 or whatever, becomes a much more attractive target to THEM. NOT to me. 4. No clue on what Upton winds up getting, this year is obviously a huge one for him to help dictate what he gets.

I'm not basing this on what I think, I based it what I figure they're thinking. This is another way of saying that you're basing this on what you think. He's the best of those guys easily when you're looking at age and projection. They're almost CERTIANLY not targeting Melky Cabrera over him. That's borderline ridicuolous...Recent career year or not...Upton is significantly better over the course of their careers and is way more physically gifted. Wrong. If I can have Upton at 6/100, I'd take him over Cabrera at 3/30. I based that post on the thinking of what could run through Theo's head, with this being his first big FA signing. Yes, BJ is a 4 WAR guy consistently and yes, he's heading into his prime. But, if Cabrera has another solid season(he was a 4 WAR guy last year too) and the price tag is TONS different, I do see Theo erring on the side of caution.

I'm not basing this on what I think, I based it what I figure they're thinking. If Upton is going to command 20 mill a year for 6-7 seasons, which I could see happening, because of the lack of bats, is it worth spending THAT much on him? To me, he could fall into the same category as Greinke even. Maybe Theo wouldn't want to take that big of a risk with his first big FA signing. I like Upton a bunch personally, but I'm not even sure I'd feel comfortable giving him over 100 mill.

I think it's notable we've got Brett hitting 5th today.

We have tons of unknowns going into next year obviously. But, if we keep Garza and Shark is a legit 3ish type, I think we'll make moves towards us truly contending, instead of placeholder type moves, as we got this year. LaHair is a HUGE question mark, as to whether he's for real and as to whether he's still on our team. Rizzo and Brett are questions, but we'll almost definitely see them later on and hopefully we'll get an idea as to what they may be for us in the future. I could see us adding either a C, very doubtful, 2B or 3B, fairly likely, or a corner OFer, which I see is very likely. At Catcher, you've got 3 options. Mike Napoli, Miguel Montero, and Russell Martin. First 2 are going to be extremely high priced and doubtful to be considered by us. If we trade Soto and don't feel Castillo is the answer, Martin would be a solid upgrade, while not breaking the bank. At 2B and 3B, you have Kelly Johnson and probably Kevin Youkilis, be it by FA or possibly trade, if Boston picks up his option, which could be risky. Johnson wouldn't cost a ton and certainly would provide some power at a spot where we have none. Youkilis could be a bigtime bat for us and possibly even give us an option to move Stewart to 2B, if we thought he could handle it and his bat proves worth trying to keep. In the OF, you have Upton, who makes sense, especially from an age standpoint. He'll be very highly coveted though and I'm not sure I'd feel safe in giving him 100 mill+ type deal, which may be likely once all is said and done. I've seen 6/120 thrown out on Josh Hamilton, so I'll just flat out pass on anything close to that. Carlos Lee on a one year deal? I doubt he'd be very fun to watch roam LF at this point and probably won't be much better than Soriano, even with the bat, once all's said and done. So he's out. Michael Bourn? I doubt we'll spend money on a "leadoff hitter" with the new regime. Melky Cabrera? He's the right age, probably wouldn't break the bank, and could be a guy we target. Victorino? Doesn't seem to fit and is too risky anyway. Berkman? Doubt he leaves STL. Ichiro? Ain't leaving the Mariners. Quentin? Waaay too injury prone, but I guess could be a guy we'd take a flyer on, if he was cheap enough. Ethier? I've seen reports that LA really wants to keep him and 6/90 looks like where they could wind up. Too expensive anyway, for what you get. Nick Swisher will be very interesting, but I figure the Yanks will try their best to hold onto him. Really solid player, but if he's available, he'd be a great fit with us. Likelihood, in my opinion, who the new regime targets would be as follows..... 1. Youkilis 2. Cabrera 3. Swisher 4. Martin 5. Upton As for pitching, I figure Hamels is going to wind up too pricey. Dodgers, Yankees, and red Sox will all be involved with him and my guess is he'll get over 150 mill. Greinke is too risky, with the social anxiety stuff, for Theo to make him his first big FA acquisition. Sanchez is definitely a possibility, all depends on hiw hard the losers on Hamels go after him. Liriano could be a buy low guy who pays major dividends. He's a guy I definitely think we'd be interested in. McCarthy will get a nice deal from somewhere, but my guess is he's dealt at the deadline and may not make it to the market as it is. Leaves Marcum and Peavy as the last of the fairly solid options. If they came cheap enough, I could see us keeping Dempster and adding one of them as well. Edwin Jackson deserves a mention here, but since we didn't seem to be involved this past offseason, I doubt we'd change our minds on him. My stab at our preference list here would go like this.... 1. Hamels, but only up to a certain point monetarily. 2. Sanchez- same as Hamels 3. Marcum- Probably allows us to keep Dempster on a short term deal 4. Peavy- same as Marcum 5- Greinke- If he somehow saw his price drop. 6- Liriano- If he could be fixed, it's a great move. He'd be cheap at least. 7- McCarthy- I could see the Oakland stigma keeping us away from him, since he'll probably get a very solid deal.

Unless we feel comfortable that adding an Upton and a Hamels can put us squarely in contention, I think you try and bargain hunt on the bat. Sign the big-time pitcher, although I doubt we will. But we could conceivably contend by adding Swisher or Youkilis, along with an arm down to the likes of a Marcum. Leaving plenty of cash available to go and add a bigger name and contract whenever one presents itself.

We're playing the "what if we had done this" game basically.

Kirk is a back end of the rotation upside type. He needs to pitch effectively without tiring towards the end of the season. I doubt we'd bump him up until after midseason personally.

I know Cespedes is a .750ish OPS type guy right now, but having another legit power threat would make a difference for us, in my opinion.

I hate saying this, but if we had signed Cespedes we'd be a legit threat in our division right now.

The value for high school arms comes in the supplemental and 2nd round. Maybe even in the 3rd. There's very little separation between 5 and 25 or so, as far as HS righties go.

I agree with everything, other than calling Jay unathletic. He's the best hitting pitcher in the system, supposedly by a large margin and played an excellent CF in college at Furman.