Author Topic: 2017-2018 Off-season Discussion Thread  (Read 106144 times)

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Offline Baseball is Life

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Re: 2017-2018 Off-season Discussion Thread
« Reply #1200: February 02, 2018, 02:35:24 PM »
Is the insurance/depth worth the baggage? Apparently he was so much of a problem in Chicago that Maddon had to kick him off the team.

Having a big mouth and no talent is not a recipe for success at the MLB level.

Offline dcpatti

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Re: 2017-2018 Off-season Discussion Thread
« Reply #1201: February 02, 2018, 03:31:37 PM »
Is the insurance/depth worth the baggage? Apparently he was so much of a problem in Chicago that Maddon had to kick him off the team.

Having a big mouth and no talent is not a recipe for success at the MLB level.

I think baseball teams value team harmony differently than fans do. Remember how long Papelbon was allowed to stick around.  Plus, if the Realmuto deal ends up going through, you don't lose much by cutting Montero.

Offline imref

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Re: 2017-2018 Off-season Discussion Thread
« Reply #1202: February 02, 2018, 04:28:19 PM »
Realmuto loses his arbitration case and gets $2.9 million.  He asked for $3.5 million

Offline hotshot

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Re: 2017-2018 Off-season Discussion Thread
« Reply #1203: February 03, 2018, 08:52:39 AM »
From Saturday Miami Herald:

"Six weeks after multiple media outlets including The Miami Herald reported Marlins catcher J.T. Realmuto’s preference to go to another team, his agent confirmed for the first time on Friday evening that the catcher would like to be traded - and that losing his arbitration hearing earlier in the day has nothing to do with that.

“No matter how his arbitration hearing turned out, J.T.’s preference remains the same,” agent Jeff Berry, co-head of CAA baseball, said in his first public comments on Realmuto this offseason. “He would like to be traded to another organization before spring training so he has an opportunity to compete for a championship.

MLB.com reported 12 teams have called about Realmuto, with Washington reportedly among the most serious suitors."


Offline Ray D

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Re: 2017-2018 Off-season Discussion Thread
« Reply #1204: February 03, 2018, 09:44:05 AM »
Remember how long Papelbon was allowed to stick around.
"Stick around" is the key phrase - he was already here.  Lerners don't like paying a guy not to play.  I think Rizzo would have dumped him if he hadn't been prohibited to do so.  Montero isn't here, he's a known troublemaker, and I don't think Rizzo thought this through very carefully. 

Offline Baseball is Life

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Re: 2017-2018 Off-season Discussion Thread
« Reply #1205: February 03, 2018, 09:46:38 AM »
"Stick around" is the key phrase - he was already here.  Lerners don't like paying a guy not to play.  I think Rizzo would have dumped him if he hadn't been prohibited to do so.  Montero isn't here, he's a known troublemaker, and I don't think Rizzo thought this through very carefully. 

If you're a marginal player, having an attitude doesn't help. Teams will tolerate more crap from a guy who produces. That's why they eventually ran Papelbon out of town and out of baseball. Guys like Nook Logan, Lastings Milledge, etc., were the same.

Offline bluestreak

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Re: 2017-2018 Off-season Discussion Thread
« Reply #1206: February 03, 2018, 02:14:20 PM »
Rizzo just said that AJ Cole will be the fifth starter.

Offline bluestreak

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Re: 2017-2018 Off-season Discussion Thread
« Reply #1207: February 03, 2018, 02:17:52 PM »
FP just asked Rizzo “are you looking to add any pieces to the team and do any of them use initials as their first name”

Usual dodge.

Offline aspenbubba

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Re: 2017-2018 Off-season Discussion Thread
« Reply #1208: February 03, 2018, 03:05:51 PM »
Rizzo just said that AJ Cole will be the fifth starter.
Somebody set up a poll and see how long that lasts. My guess is mid-May.

Could also guess the average length of his starts. My guess again is 4 .2 innings

Put him in the pen as the long reliever where he belongs

Offline imref

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Re: 2017-2018 Off-season Discussion Thread
« Reply #1209: February 03, 2018, 03:57:31 PM »
Somebody set up a poll and see how long that lasts. My guess is mid-May.

Could also guess the average length of his starts. My guess again is 4 .2 innings

Put him in the pen as the long reliever where he belongs

The issue is options.  Cole is out of options, as is grace.  Moving Cole to the bullpen would require us to release Grace, Kelley, or another reliever who is out of options.  If Cole doesn't win the fifth starter job in ST he's gone.

Offline awbb

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Re: 2017-2018 Off-season Discussion Thread
« Reply #1210: February 03, 2018, 04:04:21 PM »
The issue is options.  Cole is out of options, as is grace.  Moving Cole to the bullpen would require us to release Grace, Kelley, or another reliever who is out of options.  If Cole doesn't win the fifth starter job in ST he's gone.

If he gets the nod and pitches like crud he’d probably clear waivers. Everybody loses!

Offline Mattionals

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Re: 2017-2018 Off-season Discussion Thread
« Reply #1211: February 03, 2018, 04:04:25 PM »
The issue is options.  Cole is out of options, as is grace.  Moving Cole to the bullpen would require us to release Grace, Kelley, or another reliever who is out of options.  If Cole doesn't win the fifth starter job in ST he's gone.

Cole could easily pass through waivers and be outrighted to Syracuse. He isn't very good, so unless a team really thinks he is worth taking a flier on, he is essentially going to be the 2018 version of Jacob Turner. Intriguing arm, but not worth a flier on another team.

Offline imref

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Re: 2017-2018 Off-season Discussion Thread
« Reply #1212: February 03, 2018, 04:06:48 PM »
Cole could easily pass through waivers and be outrighted to Syracuse. He isn't very good, so unless a team really thinks he is worth taking a flier on, he is essentially going to be the 2018 version of Jacob Turner. Intriguing arm, but not worth a flier on another team.

He makes the league minimum and he's 26. I'd bet there are teams out there that would take a flyer on him.

Offline JCA-CrystalCity

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Re: 2017-2018 Off-season Discussion Thread
« Reply #1213: February 03, 2018, 05:04:13 PM »
The plan that makes sense is, more or less, unless he's on the DL, Cole starts as Aspenbubba says for 4 - 6 weeks at the start of the season.  Next man up is Fedde.  That doesn't pan out, maybe there's Ross. Edwin  Jackson is in the mix, too.  More important than the 5th starter is keeping Scherzer and Strasburg healthy and getting Gio and Roark right.  If the front 4 are fine, then we can see what shakes out at #5, and scrounge at the deadline for our upgrade for the playoffs.

Offline Slateman

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Re: 2017-2018 Off-season Discussion Thread
« Reply #1214: February 03, 2018, 08:25:01 PM »
We won't need a #5 to get to the playoffs

Offline aspenbubba

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Re: 2017-2018 Off-season Discussion Thread
« Reply #1215: February 03, 2018, 09:13:12 PM »
The plan that makes sense is, more or less, unless he's on the DL, Cole starts as Aspenbubba says for 4 - 6 weeks at the start of the season.  Next man up is Fedde.  That doesn't pan out, maybe there's Ross. Edwin  Jackson is in the mix, too.  More important than the 5th starter is keeping Scherzer and Strasburg healthy and getting Gio and Roark right.  If the front 4 are fine, then we can see what shakes out at #5, and scrounge at the deadline for our upgrade for the playoffs.
i think the key is the SP's staying healthy as JCA says. None of then can miss more than a start or two. We have absolutely no one I would trust as a # 5. We could go to the trade deadline but I would rather Rizzo pick up a number three long term to replace Gio who I would bet will not be in a Nats uni next year.

Offline bluestreak

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Re: 2017-2018 Off-season Discussion Thread
« Reply #1216: February 04, 2018, 01:43:13 AM »
One interesting thing Rizzo said at session today  was how the trade with the A’s went last year. Rizzo was targeting Madson, but thought that Beane’s Asking price was too high. They were at an impasse, but Rizzo said, “if you throw in Doolittle we have a deal.” 
If it’s true, that was a really good move by Rizzo.

Offline lylelgreen

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Re: 2017-2018 Off-season Discussion Thread
« Reply #1217: February 04, 2018, 08:59:42 AM »
i think the key is the SP's staying healthy as JCA says. None of then can miss more than a start or two. We have absolutely no one I would trust as a # 5. We could go to the trade deadline but I would rather Rizzo pick up a number three long term to replace Gio who I would bet will not be in a Nats uni next year.

I agree.  If we don’t have a #5 who can go through the lineup twice and eat up innings, the result will be using up the bullpen long relief arms and putting more pressure on #1-4 to go deep into games.  By the end of the season, #1-4 will be worn out/more injury prone and less effective in the playoffs.

Offline varoadking

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Re: 2017-2018 Off-season Discussion Thread
« Reply #1218: February 04, 2018, 09:38:52 AM »
I agree.  If we don’t have a #5 who can go through the lineup twice and eat up innings, the result will be using up the bullpen long relief arms and putting more pressure on #1-4 to go deep into games.  By the end of the season, #1-4 will be worn out/more injury prone and less effective in the playoffs.

Last year we didn't even have a 3 or a 4 who could go deep in a game, much less a 5.

Offline HalfSmokes

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Re: 2017-2018 Off-season Discussion Thread
« Reply #1219: February 04, 2018, 09:50:36 AM »
I agree.  If we don’t have a #5 who can go through the lineup twice and eat up innings, the result will be using up the bullpen long relief arms and putting more pressure on #1-4 to go deep into games.  By the end of the season, #1-4 will be worn out/more injury prone and less effective in the playoffs.

Think outside the box and just make the number 5 go deeper whether or not he’s still effective

Offline awbb

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Re: 2017-2018 Off-season Discussion Thread
« Reply #1220: February 04, 2018, 12:07:26 PM »
Last year we didn't even have a 3 or a 4 who could go deep in a game, much less a 5.

Gio averaged 6.1 innings per regular season start, roughly, in 2017. Is that not deep enough for a 3?

Seems ok to me, but genuinely don’t know.

Offline HondoKillebrew

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Re: 2017-2018 Off-season Discussion Thread
« Reply #1221: February 04, 2018, 12:10:11 PM »
Gio averaged 6.1 innings per regular season start, roughly, in 2017. Is that not deep enough for a 3?

Seems ok to me, but genuinely don’t know.

I'm worried about a #3 for the postseason. 

Offline Slateman

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Re: 2017-2018 Off-season Discussion Thread
« Reply #1222: February 04, 2018, 07:32:45 PM »
I'm worried about a #3 for the postseason. 
We could start Roark instead if Scherzer

Offline Elvir Ovcina

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Re: 2017-2018 Off-season Discussion Thread
« Reply #1223: February 05, 2018, 10:42:53 AM »
Gio averaged 6.1 innings per regular season start, roughly, in 2017. Is that not deep enough for a 3?

Seems ok to me, but genuinely don’t know.

Depends on your 4 and 5.  You don't want to be running your bullpen out there 4 or 5 innings 3 days in a row unless you can't help it or have two good multi-inning relievers, which basically nobody has these days.  If you're Scherzer/Strasburg/Gio/Roark, that's probably ok assuming Roark stays at the #4 and keeps around 6 innings per start (he was at 5.8ish last year after being well over 6 the prior year). 

The bigger issue is that I highly doubt Gio's going to be remotely as good in '18 as he was in '17 in terms of either quality or innings-eating.  He's 32 and just had his best season since he was 26.  In between was mostly reasonably close to league-average production and well under 6 innings a start.  A composite of his 2013-2016 is a slightly better than league average pitcher who averages 5.8 innings a start.  Useful, but not a consistent 6 innings of sub-3 ERA.    On the converse, Roark should be better than he was last year. 

Offline DPMOmaha

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Re: 2017-2018 Off-season Discussion Thread
« Reply #1224: February 05, 2018, 10:47:42 AM »
I'm expecting Tanner to bounce back nicely.