Hot Stove: 2019-2020 Offseason

[Natsinpwc]

Reds sign Castellanos, are signaling that they are potentially willing to move Senzel. I thought he came up as a 3B but was moved to CF in Cincy because they didn't have an opening at 3B or 2B?

Look at Senzel’s first year stats. What makes you think he is any better than Kieboom?

[Expos]

Look at Senzel’s first year stats. What makes you think he is any better than Kieboom?

Uhhh.

Senzel hit .256 in 414 plate appearances in 2019 before his injury, with 12 home runs and 42 RBIs - with an OPS of .742.

I'd go all in for Senzel. Have him play his natural position at 3B and then Kieboom isn't forced to move positions. As a Nat he is blocked at SS by Turner and 2B by Castro.

Maybe a Senzel for Kieboom trade straight up makes sense.

[Natsinpwc]

Uhhh.

Senzel hit .256 in 414 plate appearances in 2019 before his injury, with 12 home runs and 42 RBIs - with an OPS of .742.

I'd go all in for Senzel. Have him play his natural position at 3B and then Kieboom isn't forced to move positions. As a Nat he is blocked at SS by Turner and 2B by Castro.

Maybe a Senzel for Kieboom trade straight up makes sense.

MLB average OPS was .758 last year. Not so good for a hot prospect.  Kieboom would likely put up those numbers.

[Truconfidence]

Uhhh.

Senzel hit .256 in 414 plate appearances in 2019 before his injury, with 12 home runs and 42 RBIs - with an OPS of .742.

I'd go all in for Senzel. Have him play his natural position at 3B and then Kieboom isn't forced to move positions. As a Nat he is blocked at SS by Turner and 2B by Castro.

Maybe a Senzel for Kieboom trade straight up makes sense.

Not when they just signed Moustakas to that deal.

[Truconfidence]

I'd make a call for Jesse Winker since he has no place to play as a 4th OF.

[Slateman]

Not when they just signed Moustakas to that deal.

I think he means we trade for Senzel and play him at third while the Reds play Kieboom at SS.

I'd make a call for Jesse Winker since he has no place to play as a 4th OF.

I mean .... he'd be blocked here too

[Expos]

I think he means we trade for Senzel and play him at third while the Reds play Kieboom at SS.

Yep. Galvis is Cincinnati's current SS.

The trade makes sense for both teams. Both guys are elite prospects blocked at their best positions by young stars or guys signed to long term deals.

Nats:

1B- Zimmerman / Thames
2B- Castro / Kendrick
3B- Senzel / Cabrera
SS- Turner

Reds:

1B- Votto
2B- Moose
3B- Suarez
SS- Kieboom / Galvis

[Slateman]

Yep. Galvis is Cincinnati's current SS.

The trade makes sense for both teams. Both guys are elite prospects blocked at their best positions by young stars or guys signed to long term deals.

Nats:

1B- Zimmerman / Thames
2B- Castro / Kendrick
3B- Senzel / Cabrera
SS- Turner

Reds:

1B- Votto
2B- Moose
3B- Suarez
SS- Kieboom / Galvis

The trade makes no sense for the Reds. They need starting pitching,  not a prospect at short.

[Natsinpwc]

Yep. Galvis is Cincinnati's current SS.

The trade makes sense for both teams. Both guys are elite prospects blocked at their best positions by young stars or guys signed to long term deals.

Nats:

1B- Zimmerman / Thames
2B- Castro / Kendrick
3B- Senzel / Cabrera
SS- Turner

Reds:

1B- Votto
2B- Moose
3B- Suarez
SS- Kieboom / Galvis

Sorry but Kieboom’s best position is not SS.

[Expos]

The trade makes no sense for the Reds. They need starting pitching,  not a prospect at short.

They have Castillo, Gray, Bauer, DeSclafani and Miley at SP. That's a pretty nice rotation..

[imref]

Nats sign RHP Kevin Quackenbush to a minor league deal

Mlbtr:

Now 31 years old, Quackenbush was a valuable late-game option with the Padres at the outset of his career. Quackenbush amassed 172 1/3 innings of 3.50 ERA/3.63 FIP ball with 8.15 K/9 and 3.13 BB/9 from 2014-16, but it’s been all downhill since then. With the Padres and Reds from 2017-18, Quackenbush combined for an ugly 7.86 ERA/5.82 FIP with 7.86 K/9 and 5.47 BB/9 over 26 1/3 frames.

Quackenbush didn’t pitch in the majors at all last season, instead working at the Triple-A level with the Dodgers’ top affiliate. He also had his fair share of trouble preventing runs there, evidenced by a bloated 5.06 ERA in 58 2/3 innings. To his credit, though, Quackenbush did strike out 13 batters per nine while walking just 2.5.

[Elvir Ovcina]

Yep. Galvis is Cincinnati's current SS.

The trade makes sense for both teams. Both guys are elite prospects blocked at their best positions by young stars or guys signed to long term deals.

Nats:

1B- Zimmerman / Thames
2B- Castro / Kendrick
3B- Senzel / Cabrera
SS- Turner

Reds:

1B- Votto
2B- Moose
3B- Suarez
SS- Kieboom / Galvis

I don't think that trade makes sense for either team.  That's not what the Reds would want in return, and from the Nats' perspective, you don't trade a 22-year-old who can play SS even passably for a 24-year-old who can't unless you're damn sure the guy you're getting is a better hitter now and down the line. 

[Slateman]

Nats sign RHP Kevin Quackenbush to a minor league deal

Mlbtr:

80 grade name

[KnorrForYourMoney]

MLB average OPS was .758 last year. Not so good for a hot prospect.

???

Not every rookie can be Mike Trout.  Zimm, despite his late game heroics, had fairly pedestrian numbers his first few years in the majors.  Commence the '09 season and suddenly he started raking.

[Natsinpwc]

???

Not every rookie can be Mike Trout.  Zimm, despite his late game heroics, had fairly pedestrian numbers his first few years in the majors.  Commence the '09 season and suddenly he started raking.

Looked back at Zimms stats in 2006-2008 and they were all better than Senzel last year while Zimm was also a top notch 3B.

Senzel doesn’t look special to me.

[bluestreak]

???

Not every rookie can be Mike Trout.  Zimm, despite his late game heroics, had fairly pedestrian numbers his first few years in the majors.  Commence the '09 season and suddenly he started raking.

Hell, check out Mike Trout’s stats during his first call up.

[KnorrForYourMoney]

Looked back at Zimms stats in 2006-2008 and they were all better than Senzel last year while Zimm was also a top notch 3B.

That's really splitting hairs.  Zimm put up marginal numbers at the time and took a big step forward in his fourth full season--not an uncommon trajectory for talented ML hitters.  Good players sometimes just need a bit of time/experience.  Quite frankly, that shouldn't even be debatable.

[hotshot]

I'll pass on Quack. Been very bad for three seasons now.

[metssuck]

Im skeptical about Senzel. Do we really want to throw a guy with a bum shoulder fresh off surgery at 3b? Sounds like a high risk plan. Especially for our top prospect? Seems to risky for my taste.

Definitely doesn’t sound like it would improve our infield defense

[Natsinpwc]

That's really splitting hairs.  Zimm put up marginal numbers at the time and took a big step forward in his fourth full season--not an uncommon trajectory for talented ML hitters.  Good players sometimes just need a bit of time/experience.  Quite frankly, that shouldn't even be debatable.

If Senzel will be good why are the Reds signing outfielders and a 2B? And they locked up their 3B last year. He looks like a bust for a second overall pick.

[Natsinpwc]

Hell, check out Mike Trout’s stats during his first call up.

Small sample size.

[GburgNatsFan]

Did Gio's dad go on a diet that long ago? Seems like just yesterday.

???

Not every rookie can be Mike Trout.  Zimm, despite his late game heroics, had fairly pedestrian numbers his first few years in the majors.  Commence the '09 season and suddenly he started raking.

[Trea Burner]

Quackenbush sucks, but minor league deal so whatever.

[imref]

Mark Zuckerman  @MarkZuckerman

Nationals are signing veteran utilityman Emilio Bonifacio to a minor league deal, source confirms. Will come to big league camp and try to crack the roster, but there's a pretty significant logjam on the bench at this point. (1st reported by @JonHeyman)

Bonifacio hasn't played in the majors since 2017 with the Braves. Spent the last two years bouncing around between a few AAA clubs and independent ball.

[Elvir Ovcina]

Mark Zuckerman  @MarkZuckerman

I remember being pissed off the first time they acquired Bonifacio.  He was an annoying, runty one-tool player who Bowden apparently thought could learn to play a bunch of positions decently despite him having obvious deficiencies at all of them and not being able to hit.   

Needless to say I'm not enamored of signing a 35-year-old version of a guy whose only skill was speed.  The worst thing that could happen would be him succeeding in the minors.  There's no downside here unless he has to actually play baseball.