Tim

Keegan went 3IP, 0H, 4K, 1BB, 0R Not a bad start to getting stretched.

He's going to enjoy Yankee Stadium He's certainly enjoying Marlin Park :D

Myrtle Beach: Herz with a really solid start: 5IP, 9K, 0BB, 1HRA, 2H, 1R Made with a double and a triple (and no k's) Nwogu and Howard with ugly 3K games, tho Tenn: Davis has walked & gotten plunked; no k's Morel with a hit & walk; no k's

He's going to enjoy Yankee Stadium

I did. My main critiques would be a couple guys have the likely competition for their market undersold(Gray, Thor, Semien), I’m not a fan of Marte as a target, and Buxton being 1 year from FA is an additional problem to solve, plus Im not sure how beneficial it is to trade Heyward just to get 3-5 mil free. Oh, and the money situation after all the dust has settled is probably a bit dicey, but I didn’t do detailed math. I like the general thinking though and i think it serves as a good template where someone can fill in with their own moves they have fewer quibbles with. I’ll see if I can do a first pass of my own with some specifics, since criticism without alternatives is not terribly sporting. No worries about the quibbles - you picked many spots where the master plan vX.X.X is likely to be highly variable. Here were my thoughts on those particular choices - Gray is just an example of a SP who won't be on the top tier. Could be one of a few other guys, too. - Thor is very optional to the plan and doesn't even show up down below his initial mention - Semien had to settle for a one year contract this year and will be competing with younger and more highly perceived competition. It may take more to sign him than what I suggested, but it shouldn't take that much more - I'm not huge on Marte and dithered about which OF I wanted to add. I'm definitely not hung up on him and I think there are several viable alternatives - Buxton is really only a target if his performance drops when he comes back this year. I wanted to add someone by trade instead of FA since it is hard to sign too many guys in a single offseason. He stood out as being a guy that's a single year away from FA that is likely to be available.

I did. My main critiques would be a couple guys have the likely competition for their market undersold(Gray, Thor, Semien), I’m not a fan of Marte as a target, and Buxton being 1 year from FA is an additional problem to solve, plus Im not sure how beneficial it is to trade Heyward just to get 3-5 mil free. Oh, and the money situation after all the dust has settled is probably a bit dicey, but I didn’t do detailed math. I like the general thinking though and i think it serves as a good template where someone can fill in with their own moves they have fewer quibbles with. I’ll see if I can do a first pass of my own with some specifics, since criticism without alternatives is not terribly sporting. i'd have them pay heywards full salary and have him off the roster if i could Yeah, it's more about freeing up the roster spot & at bats

I don't think anyone read my master plan v1.0.0

Not to mention their examples of Boston coming back and winning immediately after a sell-off during a down year.

okay pick apart my terminology but you knew exactly what I meant. it means we are probably going to attempt to be competitive faster than some thought. teams dont typically trade away their best asset for 2 major leaguers when they're doing total and complete rebuilds. not to mention they did keep hendricks and willson. I honestly have no idea why you think that. They traded away everybody and will stink next year. They got what they could get to field a team. How does one witness this trading deadline and think it’s just a retooling? They gutted the roster and have garbage left. We don't need to stink next year. Jed has implied in his comments that they want to be competitive again as quickly as possible. Hence the "reload" phrasing as opposed to "rebuild" that the team has been very specific about.

Looking at the projected remaining standings at Fangraphs: The best we could hope for at this point would be fifth. There's a whole cluster of teams in the 69-74 win range, with the Cubs currently projected at 74 wins and a tie for 10th. I'm not sure we'll be bad enough to pass some other bad teams, though. Key will be losing at every opportunity to DET, KC, WAS, MIN, FLA, COL; but I'm not sure how many of those teams we actually play. Let's hope that DET, KC & MIN all play .500 ball against one another. The realistic range is 5th-11th.

My Master Plan - v1.0.0 Remainder of 2021: Sit down with Ross and let him know that his job the rest of this year is not to win baseball games. His job the rest of this year is to evaluate players for 2022. That may mean ruffling some veteran feathers. It may mean living with some heartache as inexperienced relievers blow leads. Get playing time for the potentially interesting position players in MLB / at AAA to see what we see. This means that Duffy, Bote, Heyward will need to sit on a regular basis. I'd probably release Duffy to make room on the 40 man to evaluate guys who may have a future with the team. - Happ (can he be fixed again) - Wisdom - Alcantara - Deichmann - Schwindel - Hermosillo - Rivas - Fargas Evaluate SP to see how many rotation spots we need to fill. Arrieta should have a graceful exit arranged to create space on the 40 man. Limit Alzolay's innings and have him working on his changeup & cutter to lefties at every chance. - Alzolay - Mills - Thompson - Steele Check out options in the bullpen: - Rodriguez - Leeper - Rucker - Nance - Morgan - Megill - Abbott - Mekkes Assets going into offseason 2021: Significant players in bold Position Players: C - Contreras, Higgins 1B - Rivas, Schwindel 2B - Madrigal, Bote 3B - Wisdom SS - Hoerner, Alcantara LF - Hermosillo, Deichmann CF - Happ, Ortega, Fargas RF - Heyward There's two players there that I'd be very happy going into next year with as a starter: Contreras & Madrigal. I'd love to get Hoerner into a Zobrist-type role to spell multiple positions. It would be great if 1-2 positions could be filled through this year's tryouts. Starting Pitchers: Hendricks, Mills, Alzolay, Steele, Thompson We're going to need at least 2, likely 3, reliable starters to compete in '22. Relief Pitchers: Wieck, Wick, Heuer, Brothers, Rodriguez, Rucker, Maples, Adam, Nance, Winkler, Megill, Abbott, etc I'd actually be fine if we didn't add anyone from outside the org to the relief corps in the offseason. Summary of Needs: In varying degrees of need: SP, LF, SP, 1B, CF, SS, 3B, RF, SP 2021-22 Free Agents to Target SS: Could break the bank for Correa or Seager. But I'd probably prefer to offer Semien 4/$80, given that he took a deal for 1/$18 this year LF/CF: Offer Marte 3/$60 SP: Sign a mid-market SP to a reasonable-term deal: Gray, Matz, etc. Spend what it takes to get at least one of these guys. SP: Sign an old guy to a 1-3 year deal: Scherzer, Verlander, Greinke, Morton. If none take it, oh well. SP: Sign a rehab guy: Thor, ? Trades: 1B: Hosmer - Solve this problem for the Padres and target Hassell in return. CF: Buxton - He'll play again this year and his numbers will come back to earth. Put together a package and get him - he'll be traded this offseason. Heyward - Pay all but $3-5m per year for remaining years. Take the hit while payroll can handle it. Free up the roster spot & at bats 2022 MLB Team: 2B - Madrigal SS - Semien CF - Buxton C - Contreras 1B - Hosmer 3B - Wisdom LF - Marte RF - Happ or 2021 tryout guy; maybe Brennan Davis in the second half. Bench - Hoerner, Bote, catcher, best of 2021 tryouts SP: Hendricks SP: Old guy or other SP: Mid-level guy SP: Alzolay SP: Mills / Steele / Thompson RP: cast of millions That team can easily be afforded from a payroll perspective. It's not unrealistic in how many guys we need to acquire. It's not a dominant team, but it can compete and win in the NL Central. Without any long-term commitments, it bridges the gap to when the prospect depth starts bubbling up from the minors.

I went through every single post today. Thanks again bukie for doing this. God I miss when this team was awesome and fun and awesome fun.

Yeah. This was therapeutic tonight.

Did she say that Alcantara was knocked up in the 7th?

4 WAR pace with only a .324 babip this year.

Which may be around the next time we have a lead to protect.

Until Leeper comes up, at least.

Rodriguez looked [expletive] great

Before the season it would have actually been much more exciting.

Boog with a well-timed day off

PCA the prospect. sorry, I figured it out in the other thread, whats wrong with PCA? Out for the year with an injury to his non-throwing shoulder.

Assuming his results continue as-is, I'd say he'd get a mid-season shot next year. He's only got 100 minor league innings.

Callis just said that Kilian is 90-95, up to 98 this year after getting stronger during the shutdown last year That's fairly promising with that kind of command

Fangraphs on Espinoza:

Leave this out of the Rizzo thread.