Bertz

Respectfully, where's your evidence that his height is a problem?

We had a Caissie convo as few weeks ago, but I generally think he has been around so long prospect fatigue has set in and he gets credit for less than the sum of his parts in some places. I think the main place that manifests is that I don't think he gets proper credit for his age relative to league. Like if he had a 25% strikeout and a .250 ISO as someone still young for AA is Caissie a consensus top 30 prospect like Shaw? I want Caissie's focus to start the year on defensive versatility. He should be playing 1B, he should be DHing (which will uperficially hurt his offense). The idea should be that he is the callup and direct 1:1 replacement when any of Happ, Tucker, Suzuki, or Busch hit the IL. And at some point mid year Caissie should probably be up and filling in across those spots even if everyone's healthy.

Donovan Solano is a 5'8" 1B/3B, and has 940 innings of +3 DRS / -1 OAA at 1B the last three years. And he didn't start there until his mid 30's, I'd presume that being short at 1B limits your receiving but likely helps with the groundballs you field directly. Doubt it's a catastrophic disadvantage if it's a disadvantage at all. There is certainly a pretty high "tweener" potential with Ballesteros. But even then that just means he's a really fun and unique bench player instead of an everyday player. And part of the benefit of paying out the nose for a really progressive manager is to try and wring as much value as you can out of this type of unicorn.

I would suspect that if Bregman doesn't happen the team will add three more players: - A bench player of substance, someone like Mark Canha or Jose Iglesias - Possibly a lesser bench player, someone like Ty France. This guy would have a tenuous grasp on a roster spot, essentially a placeholder for the first prospect to be ready. They could simply keep Brujan or Canario for this role - A pitcher making some money. I suspect a trade. Someone like Jordan Montgomery or Robert Suarez, where we trade some pitching depth and they kick in some money. It could be a free agent like David Robertson. It could be someone like Kendall Gravemen or Brooks Raley who will open the year on the IL (and thus not contribute to the roster crunch) That probably isn't $20M, but it is likely at least $15M.

I guess to engage with this idea with less snark, if you want a player the caliber of Kyle Tucker to settle for a 3 year deal, you likely have to pay him a humongous salary, in the vicinity of $70M per year. The reason teams offer these 6, 8, 12 year deals is not because they are dumb and don't realize the end of that contract will be ugly. They offer them because they are a huge bargain in the first few years, and the team is willing to sacrifice some pain towards the end to get that bargain now. You offer 6 years at $30M per year, and it's because you expect the player to be actually worth something like this Year 1 - $50M Year 2 - $40M Year 3 - $35M Year 4 - $25M Year 5 - $20M Year 6 - $10M

Yeah just signed Kyle Tucker to a three year extension. Of course. Then trade Alexander Canario for Shohei Ohtani and pick up Bobby Witt Jr. off of waivers and then we'll really be cooking.

Yeah CF seems fairly cleared out after Bader, Grichuk, and Laureano all signed in pretty quick succession a few days ago. There's quite a gap between them and like Manny Margo. Otherwise the bench tier of FA is still sufficiently stocked.

With this seemingly in the 11th hour, I guess this is ultimately my pros/cons list for the Bregman/Hoerner swap Pros: - The offense gets a big jolt - Whatever uncertainty there is around Nico post injury goes away - Bregman probably opts out after year 1, and if so there's plenty of money to re-sign Tucker and make complimentary moves next winter. It also removes one guy from the post '26 cliff - You presumably get back valuable player(s) for Nico Hoerner - The FA market is getting dry. Adding Bregman + the return for Nico is probably the most impactful set of moves left possible barring unless Preller starts playing ball - 3B is kind of ass both organizationally and league-wide right now. If Shaw's at 3B, it's easier to replace him with competence if he fails Cons: - It's debatable if Bregman's better than Hoerner, so is this just a lot of moving parts to get older and more expensive? - The bench gets a lot worse. We probably have to roll internally or with league minimum vet types for the last two bench spots, AND we've traded away our primo backup SS - The team's options at the trade deadline are probably more limited because there'll likely be less cash to carry into July - If Bregman doesn't opt out, next offseason gets messy if you want to keep Tucker I ultimately think those negatives, most especially that last one, outweigh the positives. Though I do think it's close enough that the specific return on Hoerner might ultimately sway me.

I don't want Bregman on a long term deal either, but wailing against that and then not even two sentences later saying the Tucker trade was a mistake because it didn't come with an extension is very funny to me.

It's not the best angle to be able to tell this but he looks significantly slimmer, no?

And conversely if budgets are so widely tapped out league wide you can do a hell of a lot of work with the $20M left in Jed's pocket after hypothetically losing out on Bregman. You can't worry in both directions. Well, you *can* but it's especially silly.

It's 2025. Having ~$20M left over in your baseball budget is hardly some Brewster's Millions style challenge.

Something worth noting: teams don't make formal offers until a deal is almost done. So now we know the Cubs and Astros have done so. I'd be shocked if this isn't resolved in the next 48 hours.

Interestingly, I see several teams in the not green here that feel like plausible Nico Hoerner destinations: Seattle, Boston, and Cleveland. Maybe the Bregman path and the depth consolidation path can overlap? Nico Hoerner, an Iowa SP, and an Iowa RP for Matt Brash and Harry Ford for instance.

I wonder what the plan is with the bench if they add Bregman. Presumably it's Bregman in, Hoerner out, and the team is ~$10M short of the LT like we've presumed they'd end up for months. However, there's only two locked in spots on the bench currently: Kelly and Berti, and no money to address it further without eating into mid-season cash. - Do you just roll internally regardless of fit? Two of Canario/Brujan/Workman, and dump those guys as hitters at Iowa pop? - Does essentially trading Bregman for Hoerner impact the makeup of the bench? Since Bregman's not hurt like Hoerner, does Berti feel like adequate infield depth now? - Are there any league minimum types that feel worthwhile? Ty France at 1B? Michael Taylor in CF?

It doesn't change things a ton, but that $112 does not include Shota (since he technically has an option for next year). However arb commitments should be way lower with Tucker no longer under arb. It mostly washes out, and I've been using $185 as a placeholder, but that Shota thing tripped me up a few weeks ago so wanted to call it out.

This is good news, that said I dislike the cast of characters behind JD far more than the ones behind Boog. So I'd love some consolidation there. Keep it to Dempster with the occasional Elise Menaker and lock Sutcliffe in a cellar somewhere?

This is how I see the bullpen as well, with maybe some minor quibbling on roles. That said, in the Athletic this AM they mentioned that Assad is probably going to be the 5th starter. That pushes Rea into the bullpen, and one of these guys above off the team. The guy that would get pushed out would seemingly be Merryweather. I'm curious what the org's thoughts are on him, and why they kept him in November if they were just going to acquire so many arms he would get pushed off the roster. - Have they gotten some not so great information around his health in the past 3 months? - Did they view his nominal arb salary as a worthwhile gamble to see if he looks like his '23 self in the spring? If not oh well he's easily DFA-able - Am I reading too much into simple depth? They still really like Merryweather, and it's just inevitable one of the other 8 relievers or other 5 starters can't answer the bell come Opening day?

The math part of my brain doesn't like going down this path. That said this lineup is really perty Happ Suzuki Bregman Tucker Swanson Busch Shaw PCA Amaya So I'll likely get over it quickly if Jed sticks the landing and gets a good deal for Hoerner.

Nightengale has not had a high profile gaffe yet this offseason. Curious if this is that gaffe. Even at his best though, he certainly doesn't get benefit of the doubt over mounds of local reporting.

This is really good. I've mostly been focusing on Wicks' velo for this season. There seems to be a sweet spot around 92.5 where he starts missing a lot more bats and feeling viable. But I like this look at his secondaries. And honestly any pitcher who's not a finished product (and maybe even some who are) you have to wonder what Zombro has planned for them. If the team does up the sinker usage and teach Jordan a death ball, it feels like they'll have basically reverse engineered Jordan Montgomery? Hopefully it's that easy.

You're certainly not wrong, and it's a big part of why I'm not thrilled about Bregman. But I also don't want to throw good money after bad. Swapping Bregman/Nico does two things - Shifts the talent on the team to be more offense-oriented (and I gotta admit, the lineup looks way sweeter with Bregman) - Makes the team's financial situation potentially worse in 26/27/28 I'm fairly comfortable with the team's talent level right now (also part of the reason I'm pumping the brakes on this whole thing), so I'd want some player talent to offset that potential financial cost in 2026+. To borrow a phrase if there's a way to thread the needle, something like Hoerner + a young SP for Tanner Houck, that's great! But I'm also cool bolstering the farm, going to war with this team, and worrying about the rotation again in July. What I don't want to do is get laser focused on Nico for a SP and end up regretting it because the options available at this 11th hour weren't the best.

If Bregman/Tucker leave you still have that money you earmarked for them to spend elsewhere. Plus the aforementioned prospects for Nico. I'd of course want Tucker to get retained (and I'd want Bregman to walk) but it's hardly going to ruin the team if both guys walk.

I'll say on the Nico piece, one of the benefits to backfilling him with Bregman is I don't think you *need* some stud MLBer back. Like when the Cubs and Mariners talks around Nico were hot and heavy the talk was the Mariners wanted to make a deal with prospects and the Cubs needed MLB talent back. With a Nico deal looking contingent on adding Bregman, the MLB team is not left lacking by a trade. I'm fine if the Mariners want to send us prospects, as long as it's a deal where we get strong value.

Dylan Moore is ideally a high quality utility guy, so I think if the Mariners have the desire Nico is still a fit I'll throw out the Red Sox and Guardians as possible fits too.