Offseason moves?

[PebbleBall]

the article says that we're committed to LaRoche and aren't considering dealing span.  Sounds like Rizzo doesn't want to fix our primary problem.

1) how can 2 things be a primary problem and 2) no they aren't

[zimm_da_kid]

1) how can 2 things be a primary problem and 2) no they aren't

1)  The offense is the primary problem and Span and LaRoche were big parts of that.
2)  LaRoche is the weakest link in the lineup.

[Vega]

LaRoche is not a young man anymore. He is very likely entering the decline years of his career. We shouldn't count on him bouncing back to 2012 numbers.

[PC]

He wasn't a young man in 2012 either.

[houston-nat]

1)  The offense is the primary problem and Span and LaRoche were big parts of that.
2)  LaRoche is the weakest link in the lineup.

Span is not really an offensive problem. He was our fourth-best hitter. Our offensive problems in 2013 were LaRoche, Espinosa, and pretty much every bench bat from top to bottom (Lombardozzi, Moore, Suzuki, Tracy, Solano, Bernadina).

[CALSGR8]

ROY Clark is going to the Dodgers.

[Slateman]

I don't know why people think Scherzer is a one hit wonder. He's been one of the best in baseball for the past three years. He's made some impressive changes to his delivery that have resulted in success. His stuff isn't going to magically start sucking and, honestly, if he lost 3-4 mph on his fastball he'd still be a very effective pitcher due to his breaking stuff.

[deeznatz]

We don't upgrade CF or 1B in the lineup, we can look fwd to Atl arse sniffin in 2014 and a marginal WC run that probably falls short. Lineup is too streaky, too many Ks to be successful as is.

2013 proced this this.  If we ignore this we are either stupid or cheap, or both.

[houston-nat]

I don't know why people think Scherzer is a one hit wonder. He's been one of the best in baseball for the past three years. He's made some impressive changes to his delivery that have resulted in success. His stuff isn't going to magically start sucking and, honestly, if he lost 3-4 mph on his fastball he'd still be a very effective pitcher due to his breaking stuff.

Wow, are any serious posters saying Scherzer is a one-hit wonder? It's true that everybody gets only one career best year by definition, but we've all known Scherzer could be this good since he was a rookie, and he was just about this good for a while now.

[sph274]

Wow, are any serious posters saying Scherzer is a one-hit wonder? It's true that everybody gets only one career best year by definition, but we've all known Scherzer could be this good since he was a rookie, and he was just about this good for a while now.

my point was that trading for a 30 year old Scherzer so we can sign him to some massive 7 year deal is stupid. Just sign JZImm and Strasburg. I fully expect Strasburg to be having the kinds of seasons Scherzer had last year all the time in like two years. We need a solid bench we shouldnt go off looking for shiny toys. Harper, Zimmerman, Werth, Desmond, and Rendon are our offense, for better or worse. The team is constructed around Harper, I have faith he will keep improving. We need better bench players

[dab222]

What about signing Morse to play first, im not too sold on Laroche and Tyler Moore starting the season

[nfotiu]

1)  The offense is the primary problem and Span and LaRoche were big parts of that.
2)  LaRoche is the weakest link in the lineup.

I don't know how someone can claim offense was our primary problem.  If you look at the teams that made the playoffs, we'd be in the middle of the pack in runs scored.  We allowed significantly more runs than any of the teams that made it.  Our number 4 and 5 pitching spots flat out sucked for the first half of the year, and that's why we didn't make the post season. 

[CALSGR8]

Haren is a huge reason why we didn't make the postseason along with not hitting RISP!

[NationalHeat]

Espinosa.

Honestly I'd figure it out later if I could add yet another ace. Lombo, Espinosa, maybe a free agent. You can find a good second baseman eventually. Pretty darn near impossible to find a true lefty ace.

[HalfSmokes]

You can find a good second baseman eventually. Pretty darn near impossible to find a true lefty ace.

How many pitchers are available every year and how many second basemen? If nothing else good pitchers can be had at the deadline. And why should it matter that he's a lefty unless you plan to use him as a situational reliever?

[Slateman]

my point was that trading for a 30 year old Scherzer so we can sign him to some massive 7 year deal is stupid. Just sign JZImm and Strasburg. I fully expect Strasburg to be having the kinds of seasons Scherzer had last year all the time in like two years. We need a solid bench we shouldnt go off looking for shiny toys. Harper, Zimmerman, Werth, Desmond, and Rendon are our offense, for better or worse. The team is constructed around Harper, I have faith he will keep improving. We need better bench players

Strasburg will command more than Scherzer. Jordan Zimmermann is no where near Scherzer's level. Even at 30, I'd rather have Scherzer for 7 years than JZ for two.

Trade for Scherzer or Price. Then flip JZ, TMO, and another prospect to the Angels for Trumbo and Kenderick. Instant upgrades on offense and pitching.

[PC]

Strasburg will command more than Scherzer. Jordan Zimmermann is no where near Scherzer's level. Even at 30, I'd rather have Scherzer for 7 years than JZ for two.

I'd much rather have Zimmermann.  Scherzer's mechanics are some of the worst in baseball.

[NationalHeat]

Strasburg will command more than Scherzer. Jordan Zimmermann is no where near Scherzer's level. Even at 30, I'd rather have Scherzer for 7 years than JZ for two.

Trade for Scherzer or Price. Then flip JZ, TMO, and another prospect to the Angels for Trumbo and Kenderick. Instant upgrades on offense and pitching.

Total fantasy baseball type moves, but man I love it.

[Slateman]

I'd much rather have Zimmermann.  Scherzer's mechanics are some of the worst in baseball.

lol, right. ....

[PebbleBall]

1)  The offense is the primary problem and Span and LaRoche were big parts of that.
2)  LaRoche is the weakest link in the lineup.

That's pretty broad though.  The biggest problem with the offense was hands down the bench.  Even among regulars I'm not sure LaRoche was more of a wink link than Rendon.  But obviously there's no discussion between the two going forward.

One thing about Rendon (and this thread) - if you don't like the thought of trading Rendon as part of a deal for one of these pitchers, you pretty much don't like trades because that's what they look like.

What about signing Morse to play first, im not too sold on Laroche and Tyler Moore starting the season

Lucky for me my false tooth filled with cyanide doesn't arrive until tomorrow.

[PC]

lol, right. ....

Have you ever watched him pitch?

More importantly, the Tigers aren't going to trade him because they're trying to win NOW.  Trading away Scherzer doesn't help that.

[sph274]

i would not give up anything off value for mark trumbo. Jzimm is an incredibly reliable pitcher who is younger than Scherzer. Would much rather keep the hometown kid than trade Rendon for a year of Scherzer. I highly doubt he is gonna sign an extension before next offseason so it is a moot point anyway. David Price is amazing but is gonna require us to empty the farm and the contract for Price is probably not gonna be that different than Strasburg's. So freak it, sign Zimmermann, sign Stras, keep Giolito, Cole, and Rednon, and trust in our ability to develop talent. Our farm system is very weak. we don't need to empty our farm for "big name guys"

[Slateman]

Have you ever watched him pitch?

More importantly, the Tigers aren't going to trade him because they're trying to win NOW.  Trading away Scherzer doesn't help that.

Yes. His mechanics are fine. Five seasons of 30 or more starts. OTOH, JZ has already undergone Tommy John

[cmdterps44]

I'd take Price or Scherzer instantly. The only way I'd want the move to be made for either one of them is if we upgrade our offense and our bullpen. I don't know how we'd upgrade our offense but having excellent pitching is nothing without batters that can hit with RISP. Granted, last year was some of the worst luck when it comes to timely hitting and I'm sure next year won't be as bad but still... our phenomenal starters can put up those types of numbers and still get an L for only giving up 1-2 runs because our offense sucks.

[Smithian]

I don't feel like trading a massive package for Price/Scherzer. If you can't win 90+ games with Strasburg/Gio/ZNN at the top of the rotation then the problem isn't the #4 and #5 pitchers.