Been thinking about this. If the reports are accurate that he's more amenable to a short-term deal, do you have to offer 8/500 with an opt out after 5? Is that ludicrous?
It never felt like he was gonna win, I honestly thought it would be Strider. If Steele had not imploded over those last 2 starts, and, say, had allowed 5-6 runs instead, he probably places 4th ahead of Webb but I don't think he would have gotten the votes over Gallen. I agree though that Snell is a dubious choice. Way too many walks and absurd LOB fortune. Worst CY winner in quite a while IMO.
It can easily be argued that they are setting up a big move with those depth moves. FWIW Mikolas could be helpful in helping him make the transition as well, no?
/Devils Advocate
I may have over-compensated to avoid the "keep dreaming" type of comments but I also think there's a good shot that Bichette bounces back to the 5 war player he was the previous 2 seasons.
Yes, that'll give us the 1 and 3. The Panthers aren't winning horsefeathers. The Patriots probably get the 2. I love the idea of adding MHJ and Fashanu around Fields.
I wanted to lose and shut down Monty. But as long as we keep the #1 pick I guess I should just be happy with good Fields play and the defense showing out. Check and check.
I understand that Hoskins on a Bellinger-like pillow contract is attractive and I won't complain much if that's the route they decide to take, but it feels like JD and Turner would be slightly cheaper because of age and I would love to add either of them. I hope we court all 3.
The Rodriguez dude is really intriguing. I could see a team like the Rays or Astros grabbing him and starting him out in the rotation, just hoping for 4-5 solid innings.
Sox just traded Bummer, coming off of a horrible season, to the Braves, for Soroka, Shuster, Nicky Lopez, Shewmake, and Riley Gowens. That feels like a big win for the Sox even if Bummer bounces back. That's a pretty good package.
Not to mention you replace those guys with Horton, Shaw, etc.
The Cubs are going whale fishing in FA over the next couple of years. They should mostly avoid patching their holes with mid-tier FA and let the kids play!
Definitely knock him hard for inability to stay healthy, but here's the list of LHH that have been better than Belt since 2020 at the plate.
Yordan
Soto
Freeman
Harper
Shohei
Seager
He edges out Olson and JRam
You can get him for like 10m. Hell, get JD for another 10M and you have a significant improvement to your lineup with major flyball hitters who do serious damage.
Stay out of the FA SP market unless you land Yamamoto, which appears unlikely in my eyes. Trade Morel for the SP, sweeten the pot to bring back a RP.
Blow your load on Ohtani.
If he "balls out" then you draft MHJ and Fashanu and run roughshod on the league next year. If he's merely 80 rating, 200 ypg, then you probably get a 3rd, maybe conditional 2nd IMO. This was literally discussed the page before I believe.
Speaking of C defense, it sure would be great if they squeezed more juice out of Gomes, or Amaya, who mirrored him in a lot of ways - average pop, average or below framing, below average arm - I think that would be a boon to the run prevention. Hoping Amaya has a little more in the tank another year removed from TJS. Probably wishful thinking. But I feel like his reputation was stronger than what he demonstrated, at least.
i love Mo's swing. It's pretty easy to see why he makes such exceptional contact.