dew1679666265
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Everything posted by dew1679666265
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I agree that, given their actions this past offseason and the inherent risk pitchers carry, that management probably isn't going to throw money around too much this offseason. I do think Anibal is a guy they may go after, though. He's pre-30 and wouldn't get a mega-deal.
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Yeah, that issue puts a damper on some really good peripherals by Greinke. My hope is that the Yankees and Red Sox get into a bidding war over Greinke (and maybe Hamels as well) and the Cubs, in the meantime, stealthily become the leaders for Anibal. If the Yankees/Red Sox bidding war lasts long enough, maybe Anibal would go ahead and take a really good (aka high) offer from the Cubs. Longshot I know, but I'm trying to find a way to avoid locking in 5-6 years for a FA pitcher who's turning 30.
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Especially if Hamels doesn't hit the market. I still think Anibal's contract will be less than Greinke/Hamels' and I'm not sure he's that much worse.
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It seems there's been a lot of interest here in Marcum the past few years and I've never gotten why, especially now. He'll be 32 next year and has been a 1.4-3.6 fWAR pitcher throughout his career. His ERA and xFIP numbers have been pretty good the past couple of years, but he seems to carry a ton of risk and very little upside. At just the right price, I'd have some interest, but I just don't see a lot to get excited about. If we're avoiding the high-end pitchers who may come available this offseason (Hamels and Greinke), I'd much prefer to look at a guy like Anibal Sanchez. He'll be 29 next season, so we still get some of his prime years, he'd likely run a bit under the radar because he's been in Florida and his name isn't Hamels/Greinke, and he's posted WARs of 4.4 and 3.8 the past couple of years. His K/BB has improved each of the past 3 years and his K/9 made a big jump up last year (7.25 to 9.26) while his BB/9 went down. If the Marlins don't lock him up long term, I think I might have more interest in him than the potentially massive contracts Hamels/Greinke would net.
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Risk. People were complaining about the risk involved with a Pujols, Cespedes, Darvish, and Prince, but there's far, far more risk involved in signing a 30 year old pitcher with a bunch of mileage than any of the players who got big contracts this offseason. I wouldn't necessarily be opposed to signing a couple of high-end FA starters, but I'd be much more wary about that than I was this past offseason about signing offensive stars. Especially since there's not a glut of FA starters available like people thought there would be a few months ago - now it looks like there might be, at most, 3 top end starters available (Hamels/Greinke/Anibal) and I still think Hamels will end up getting a new contract with Philly before FA. With just 2-3 on the market and the possibility/likelihood that the Yankees, Tigers, and Red Sox will all be in the market for starting pitching, we could easily be looking at ridiculous contracts for them.
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That is Zook. Can't win but can recruit and develop athletes. A team would do very well to hire Zook in some kind of a head recruiter/developer role. He did the same thing at Florida that he did at Illinois - had some of the most talented teams I've seen in Florida, but just couldn't win games.
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Ok, makes more sense now. If you think he's skinny now, you should have seen him when he came in as a freshman. People were legitimately worried to play him because they were afraid of him getting hit. He's really added some weight and hopefully will put on some more. His fragile looks will hurt him this time next year if he declares and hasn't added weight/muscle. That's part of why I kind of like Murray more - even though he's shorter, he's much more thick and could more easily take the beating of an NFL season. When it comes to just their ability to throw the ball, though, I agree he's the best QB in the draft. Really impressive arm strength, touch on throws, and ability to fit the ball into tight spots. He is a bit of a gunslinger and has made some really questionable throws as well, though.
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Out of curiosity, why do you think he's made of glass? He's clearly pretty skinny, but I don't know that there's enough evidence to say he's that fragile yet. He was fine at the end of the 2010 season and then injured himself when his throwing thumb connected with a UGA player's helmet. He was hurt there, but returned a little sooner than expected and looked ok (health-wise) when he returned. If he gets hurt much at all this year, I could understand that tag, but it seems premature right now. I do agree that he's an extremely talented pure passer. He makes every throw and seems to do it with ease.
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Forgot about those two - this could really be a terrific QB draft. Good point on Murray's size - I don't think he'll ultimately be drafted over Barkley or even Bray, but I might like him more than either. He's really athletic and from the times I've watched him (quite a bit), there's no question he's got the arm strength. Obviously the Redskins won't take him, but an offense similar to Shanahan's bootleg offense would be perfect for Murray.
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This has the potential to be a great top-end QB draft. Barkley, Bray, Wilson, Murray all could be really good NFL quarterbacks. I might actually like Murray more than any of them.
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They actually went against their normal tendency of taking high value picks. Trading up for Jones was a reach (how big depends on how much you believe in him) and Wilson was a reach. Dennard was a great value but carried a huge amount of risk and Hightower was right at value. I was really surprised by the Patriots because of how aggressive they were throughout the draft. And I'm not convinced, right now, that it helped them to change strategies.
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That's a good point on the Ganaway/Greene issue. As for Belichick, he gets the benefit of the doubt because the Pats have been really good to dominant his entire tenure. When you win as much as he has, people assume you know what you're doing in pretty much everything.
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I think that trio for the Jets was a really good top end to the draft. There were a few questionable picks after that (Ganaway, for instance, when you have a similar type back in Shonn Greene), but overall I think the Jets had a good draft. And I think the Pats get the benefit of the doubt at this point. I thought trading up for Jones was questionable, but loved the Hightower pick. Wilson was a bit of a reach, but I think people are trusting the scouting eye of Belichick there. The Bequette and Dennard picks were really good, and again the Pats get the benefit of the doubt with Dennard because they've shown they can take troublemakers and get them to fall in line (Moss for most of his tenure). The more I look at their draft, though, the less impressed I'm getting. I think I did overrate them at first look.
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One team I thought really had a confusing/poor draft was Cleveland. You turn a 99% chance you get Richardson into a 100% chance you get him by trading away 3 draft picks, and this is a team that needs an infusion of as much talent as it can get. Then you follow that up by taking a soon-to-be 29 year old QB with your second first rounder. I know the love for Tannehill wasn't anywhere close to universal, but if you're going to go QB in the first, go with the guy with upside and potential. Weeden's best case scenario is probably a decent, steady guy without the chance of becoming really good - and that's exactly what they already had in McCoy. After that I thought the Schwartz pick was a bit of a reach, but I thought they did decently from there with Benjamin, Johnson, Acho, and Winn. When you reach on 2 of your top 3 picks, though, you really have to do well the rest of the draft to make up, and I don't think the Browns did.
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That's true. Eisen and Mayock carried that part of the draft. I'd prefer it if they just had the Eisen/Davis/Mayock trio each day.
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The drafts that really stood out to me were the Panthers, Bengals, and Steelers. With Kuechly, Silatolu, Adams, and Norman, I think the Panthers had a better draft than anybody. The Bengals got some really good players as well with Kirkpatrick in the first, Still in the second, Sanu in the third, and a real steal with Orson Charles. I thought Zeitler was a bit of a reach, but they were solid otherwise. The top of the Steelers' draft was really good with DeCastro (2nd best lineman in the draft behind Kalil) and Adams. And then they rounded it out well with Ta'amu and Rainey. The Patriots (Dennard was a terrific value) and Rams (Brockers and Jenkins picks were really good) also had solid drafts, though I think both reached a bit early (the Pats with Jones and the Rams with Quick).
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I didn't even think about flipping over to ESPN during the draft. The Eisen/Davis/Mayock crew was really good throughout the draft. The cellphone thing you mentioned was pretty funny.
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Yeah, when I first looked him up, I saw him listed as a TE, but assumed it was a mistake since NFL Network labeled him as a DE. Sounds like he does have more upside on the offensive side of the ball, so I'm hoping they go with him there despite the need for an end. Especially since we took Solomon in the 7th. EDIT: It appears the Titans did draft him as a TE and even pulled out Jimmy Graham/Rob Gronkowski comps when talking about him. If he really does play with 4.5 speed, then at 6'6 he could be really good.
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Really intrigued by Taylor Thompson. I wasn't familiar with him at the time of the pick, but reading up on him some he seems like a bit of a physical freak at DE. Something we really need. Hate that we gave up our 7th rounder to get him, but from the looks of it he may be worth it.
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I'm pretty shocked the Titans haven't taken an interior offensive lineman yet. They considered Konz before taking Zack Brown and then followed that up with passing on Ben Jones in the 3rd and Senio Kelemete in the 5th. Pretty happy with most of the picks we've made, but I am curious about ignoring the offensive line.
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Ok, that was really impressive. I'm now fully on board with this pick.
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Strange pick. Titans coaching staff has been bemoaning undersized players in the front 7, so they take 6'1 DT Mike Martin. He is 308 pounds, but I was expecting more height too. I don't mind the pick on the face of it - explosive interior rusher is something we need. Maybe sneaky or another Michigan fan will tell me more about Martin.
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Hardin's a really good special teams player from what I've heard.
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I wasn't the least bit surprised with the Zach Brown pick for the Titans and kind of like the move (though I would have preferred Trumaine Johnson there). Mayock's description was kind of funny, though, when he called Brown "allergic to contact." That's not good for a linebacker. Now let's go get Ben Jones, Malik Jackson, George Iloka, or Orson Charles in the third round and this will be a solid top of the draft.
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Who do the Rams open with? We had them going with Mike Adams in the mock - is that still the direction, or do they go with the value of a Courtney Upshaw or Stephen Hill?