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toonsterwu

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Everything posted by toonsterwu

  1. toonsterwu
    He got traded to the Braves today ah sorry missed that, busy day.
  2. toonsterwu
    I'd put a big heck no on Holland/Tillman. Tillman is done, IMO, as a starter. Maybe he can find something in the pen ... maybe.
  3. toonsterwu
    nevermind. missed the Brach trade.
  4. toonsterwu
    Still think there's a ton of similarities between Steele and Zach Britton. The Orioles mistake was giving up on Britton as a starter too early. I don't suspect the Cubs will make that same mistake.
  5. toonsterwu
    The PTBNL piques my interest. It could be nothing, but I seem to recall some trades where PTBNL was put in there to give an opposing team time to assess a group of players to pick from. Admittedly, considering the Rangers ate a huge chunk, giving up Lacy and perhaps a lesser pitching prospect seems like a huge win for the Cubs, so the PTBNL does have my attention. In the end, could very well be nothing.
  6. toonsterwu
    On a separate side note, looks like Rollie Lacy is the headliner of the deal. You have to make this deal every day, considering the Rangers are eating some of the contract. That said, I can't help but be mildly curious to see how Rollie develops. He lacks huge upside, but is polished and has a starter's arsenal. Cubs had too many guys in his range (in terms of level and in terms of potential), so you have to make decisions and move forward, but I'll be curious. I never thought Zack Godley was all that much, and I tend to think Rollie Lacy is a bit more polished than Zack Godley was at the same level. To be fair, Godley's curveball wasn't this good when he was with us, and the chances of any of Lacy's secondaries being that good is debatable.
  7. toonsterwu
    I don't know if that's inside info or just an example of the type of thing they could have in mind. That's interesting. Didn't know this was a discussion point already. My whole thinking, and I certainly haven't followed Hamels all that much, was that if the quality of his arsenal is okay, reducing the cutters could perhaps get him to decrease his walk rate a bit. IIRC, there was an article early in the year about the Rangers trying to get Hamels to cut back on his cutters and go to more groundball oriented pitches and a slider to try and get swings and misses.
  8. toonsterwu
    less than nothing I'm somewhat stunned that JA Happ only got Drury/McKinney. McKinney is squat ... a useful AAA OF, emergency option, I guess, unless he turns it around. Seems like the Blue Jays just fell in love with the idea of Drury. Nice player, but if you are rebuilding a bit, would seem to make more sense to go after some bigger upside, even if it's further away.
  9. toonsterwu
    Sounds like a good deal. I wouldn't want Hamels long term, but he's had a nice bounce back this season, and it seems like the Rangers are eating a lot of the deal and we're not giving up some top level talent, so all in all ... okay. Should add some stability to the back end of the rotation. Fangraphs has him using the cutter a lot more. Wonder if that continues in the NL and in Wrigley.
  10. toonsterwu
    Think this is a good trade for the Red Sox, solid for the Rays. Beeks is intriguing, but it's still hard for me to buy that he's anything more than an overachieving end of the rotation ceiling type. Good secondaries helps overcome some of that, so he's a good asset, but Eovaldi might've been one of the more intriguing arms in this market.
  11. toonsterwu
    Rosenthal already pointed out, too, that the Yankees apparently have so much prospect depth that without some deals like this, they were going to have to expose some guys to the Rule 5 draft that they didn't want to. Yup, Cashman's done a real good job loading up that system. Question is, will he budge on someone like Andujar? Torres is going to be untouchable, and my hunch is that so is Sheffield. Andujar's a good talent, but he's their best bet to land an impact starter, it seems, as Clint Frazier is banged up.
  12. toonsterwu
    Total side note, but Uelman has some intrigue. He has a legitimate power sinker, and there's, by most accounts I've seen, the potential for some decent secondary offerings. He just doesn't have the polish on it yet, but if he can become as polished and consistent as, say, Rollie Lacy, that's a very good starting mid-rotation ceiling (parallel to that, if Lacy could find a couple mph ... that's a very intriguing arm, but at his age and development, I doubt it).
  13. toonsterwu
    Looks like a solid return for the Orioles. A healthy Britton probably nets more, but there's been too much uncertainty on his health. It would've been a high price to pay from our system, in that it would've taken key depth away, but Tate was a 2nd tier guy for the Yankees and they desperately needed help in some fashion, even if it's too elongate the pen, so I get the move for them, as it keeps Britton away from the Red Sox and Astros as well.
  14. toonsterwu
    A great win for the Padres ... an understandable move for the Indians. I think this is a huge win for the Padres. They got an elite positional prospect. Those guys don't get moved much. I think he can stick at catcher, but if not, he'll get a chance somewhere. Brad Hand is nice, but a good pro scouting department should be able to find failed starters to try in the pen. As for the Indians, their window is now. Their pen's regressed badly, and this was a one-stop fix. Cimber looks like a capable pen arm. For a team trying to win now, it makes enough sense.
  15. toonsterwu
    I was actually sorta intrigued by Thomas, but this is a move you make in a heartbeat. At best, Thomas is a pitch-ability left, with a likely ceiling as a 4/5 starter. A good scouting department should be able to find those guys, and we have plenty of guys with similar ceilings to Thomas. This is a really excellent move to add a solid arm without giving up any big assets.
  16. toonsterwu
    I know Lacy's ceiling is limited, but that's a heck of a nice start to A+. I actually expect, with his polish, he should be fine in A+, and the real test will be AA.
  17. toonsterwu
    Supposedly, if Justus Sheffield is included, the Yankees could get him, which would be a surprise to all. That said, Yankees would be foolish to deal Justus Sheffield. Very curious what the package the Yankees offered was. I'm still betting on the D-backs here - their core is built for now, they have two top level starting pitching prospects that they could possibly offer one up in a package.
  18. toonsterwu
    What's the Myrtle Beach rotation now? Lange, Lacy, Uelman, Abbott, Miller? I'm assuming Lacy is sliding into Clark's spot for now, with a decision to be made when Clark returns? Abbott's sort of scuffled since going up, but Uelman's been solid (although he hasn't gotten the ground balls). Curious if Lacy's numbers can hold up - most indications are that he's more polished than Uelman, but lacked the upside with the power 2-seamer.
  19. toonsterwu
    I don't love Bote in the top 5 (if he's eligible), but I guess ... there isn't much there. I'd take him over Lange. The idea of Bote as top 5 is ... ugh. I'm tempted to rank Duncan Robinson far higher, which sort of goes against my own rule on guys like him ... guys with command, but average stuff, for lack of a better way of phrasing it right now. I tend to want these guys to prove it at each level ... but I'm thoroughly impressed that Robinson's K rate has gone up this year. Sounds like the curveball is showing well, he commands the low 90's 2-seamer, and seems to have developed a decent cutter. In a very pedestrian system, I'm tempted to make an argument that he's borderline top 10. I mean, he looks close to ready to get a shot in the majors, and his fastball/breaking ball combination should give him a decent chance to be a MLB reliever. It's not exciting, but it's steady. I guess, thinking about it right now, I'm thinking more 12-15, so it's not a huge jump up from Raisin
  20. toonsterwu
    Is it? I can see arguments either way, for Adbert or for Miguel. Here's the thing ... I'm not so sure either Miguel Amaya and Adbert Alzolay are top tier level guys, guys that have the talent to ever be a, say, top 15 type prospect. They are close, but the reason I lean Amaya is two fold ... a) It's really good performance in a really difficult league, showcasing power that people had some questions. One of the bigger concerns was his approach at the plate, and he's almost doubled his BB rate from the year before (as of now). Tools are there to be profile as an above average regular. b) I like Adbert, but I'm not sure I buy the Cubs contention that he's a TOR starter type. Yes, starters have excelled with 2 pitches before, but the changeup needs time and work, something he's losing right now. If not (that is, if the changeup doesn't develop), I recall Longenhagen compared him to Antonio Senzatela, a nice arm, but an end of the rotation type that might be better suited to late inning pen work. Add in some minor concerns on durability as a starter. ___ I'm obviously making a case for Amaya over Adbert, and there's a case for the other way - Adbert's more advanced, has two pitches that should comfortably project him to a major league role, and enough people suggest hope for the changeup that suggests he could be a mid-rotation type arm.
  21. toonsterwu
    I'd take that report with a grain of salt in that the commentator notes that he's judging arm strength on the back fields in spring. Doesn't mean he's not wrong, but weren't there some reports of ODLC in the 94-95 range this year? Thought there was. As for a list ... ugh ... it ain't pretty. I think my top 4 goes Amaya/Alzolay/Hoerner/Ademan in that order. I guess Lange is 5th, but I really don't love it. I'm not so sure I wouldn't pop a "high floor" arm from our bevy in the top 10. At a certain point, performance matters. Reminds me somewhat of the lists 12-14 years ago, when guys like Sergio Mitre/Jon Leicester and others were coming up.
  22. toonsterwu
    Well, as debated as he was, going to be fun to follow Richan's start to his career.
  23. toonsterwu
    I'm curious how Uelman performs in Myrtle. He wouldn't have been my first choice to go there - he's got a higher ceiling than Lacy with a legit power sinker, but it seemed that the secondary stuff needed more work. Curious how it turns out. Still, asking a college arm to work on secondaries in High A shouldn't be that big a deal ... so let's see how it goes.
  24. toonsterwu
    Sure feels like Weber might be a bit under-slot. His Dad gave an interview with the dailyprogress and said he'll sign. Made some comments about a slow process and all that ... but that he'll sign by the deadline. I'm reading between the lines here, but they have to have advisors that know the system and know college juniors after the 2nd round tend not to be overslots ... Assuming that's the case, and they were anticipating slot, then it feels like the Cubs are coming in under to squeeze him a bit. Interesting. Guess the Cubs felt they could backburner him and try to squeeze in other guys first. Would've liked to see him get in early, as his season finished early, and get some work in, but it is what it is now.
  25. toonsterwu
    I'm with Tim on this one ... if it's some sort of Hatch and a Steele-level arm for Happ, I think you take it and run (btw, that's awfully bad writing for the Athletic to allow Jim Bowden to post a trade and not have an editor look it over to see if there are any glaring issues). Happ might be one of the better arms on the market, and I'm just not all that keen on Hatch as developing into anything more than an end of the rotation arm. I'd take lower ceiling guys like Duncan Robinson, or bigger unknowns, like Matt Swarmer, over him, tbh. All that said, I'd be surprised if that's all it took. I can't figure out that many arms that are far better than Happ that are definitely going to be available. I'm more inclined to think that the Cubs may end up bolstering the bullpen early, perhaps with someone with a different style/look (I keep thinking Darren O'Day, as that last year and 8 million isn't THAT bad), and letting Darvish/Montgomery/Chatwood figure it out. Closer to the deadline, perhaps they peek in to see what's available, but I just have a hard time seeing them jump hard on the SP market.
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