Your Realistic 2014 Lineup

[fathom]

MLBTR says Rangers, Boston, and Yankees are early McCann frontrunners. If he were to sign with Texas, would anyone be opposed to a one year deal for Pierzynski? It would give Phlowers a chance to develop.

 

I believe J. Heyman polled 5 baseball writers, and all 5 of them said McCann to Texas.

 

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/writer/jon-he...ent-predictions

Edited November 5, 2013 by fathom

[Balta1701]

MLBTR says Rangers, Boston, and Yankees are early McCann frontrunners. If he were to sign with Texas, would anyone be opposed to a one year deal for Pierzynski? It would give Phlowers a chance to develop.

Would AJ be willing to only play 20-30 games and take a minimum salary as a backup? Otherwise...you're not developing those guys, you're replacing them with a veteran and admitting you have zero obvious catchers for beyond 2014.

[Balta1701]

I believe J. Heyman polled 5 baseball writers, and all 5 of them said McCann to Texas.

Doesn't Boston have a catching prospect a year or two away?

[Lemon_44]

Gordon Beckham is right now barely adequate any more at 2b. He's not moving to SS. You may as well pencil in Viciedo there.

Is this better:

 

LF: Khris Davis

CF: Jon Jay

RF: Garcia

3B: Sandoval

SS: Viciedo

2B: Semien

1B: Abreu

C: Saltamacchia

DH: Dunn

 

[fathom]

Doesn't Boston have a catching prospect a year or two away?

 

I don't believe so

[Chicago White Sox]

The downside is that he puts up numbers close to his career numbers of a low-.700's OPS without great defense he's put up every year of his career before last year and you're paying $10 million for a guy who gives 1 WAR next year and declines from there.

 

I have no idea how you look at his career and say te risk of a market value contract is minimal when he's been barely above replacement until last year. The risk is you're paying a fortune for the guy the Rangers let walk. Maybe it's the right move, but the downside is quite plain.

Lol...I'm so sick and tired of this new assumption that players automatically regress at age 30. He was a 1.6 & 1.9 WAR player in 2011 & 2012 before his 3.6 WAR season last year. He's been a very solid catcher for three straight seasons, so I'm not sure where this "barely above replacement" comment is coming from. Also, in the AL Central, he'd be able to face RHP even more frequently, yet somehow with us at age 29 he'd become a 1 WAR player and then be even worse in 2015 at age 30. I forgot that all players follow a bell curve and peak exactly at 30 years of age before rapidly declining.

 

And why do I care that the Rangers let Salty go? Why in god's name does that matter at all? I guess the Red Sox shouldn't have picked up David Ortiz way back when because the Twins let him go. Or are you saying the Rangers don't ever make mistakes on player evaluations? Just a very strange point.

[Balta1701]

I don't believe so

Googled to find the name...Swihart, started this season in high A ball?

 

If they think he's a candidate for the future then AJ could make a lot of sense for them as a 1 year player on a competitive roster.

[Balta1701]

<!--quoteo(post=2886845:date=Nov 4, 2013 -> 07:00 PM:name=Balta1701)-->

<!--quotec-->The downside is that he puts up numbers close to his career numbers of a low-.700's OPS without great defense he's put up every year of his career before last year and you're paying $10 million for a guy who gives 1 WAR next year and declines from there.

 

I have no idea how you look at his career and say te risk of a market value contract is minimal when he's been barely above replacement until last year. The risk is you're paying a fortune for the guy the Rangers let walk. Maybe it's the right move, but the downside is quite plain.

Lol...I'm so sick and tired of this new assumption that players automatically regress at age 30. He was a 1.6 & 1.9 WAR player in 2011 & 2012 before his 3.6 WAR season last year. He's been a very solid catcher for three straight seasons, so I'm not sure where this "barely above replacement" comment is coming from. Also, in the AL Central, he'd be able to face RHP even more frequently, yet somehow with us at age 29 he'd become a 1 WAR player and then be even worse in 2015 at age 30. I forgot that all players follow a bell curve and peak exactly at 30 years of age before rapidly declining.

 

And why do I care that the Rangers let Salty go? Why in god's name does that matter at all? I guess the Red Sox shouldn't have picked up David Ortiz way back when because the Twins let him go. Or are you saying the Rangers don't ever make mistakes on player evaluations? Just a very strange point.

He has been a tolerable Cather for 2 of 3 seasons and had a great career year right before hitting Fa, and his numbers in those tolerable seasons weren't muh better than the numbers that made Texas let him go.

 

[Chicago White Sox]

How can his floor be a 2 WAR player when 2013 was the only year he was at least a 2 WAR player?

Well he was a 1.9 WAR in 2012, but I guess that's pretty far off from 2. And he was a 1.6 WAR player in 2011 when he got about 20% less plate appearances than last year, but let's not factor playing time into the equation.

 

Seems like a pretty safe bet to be a 2ish WAR player with 460ish plate appearances based on his last 3 years of performance. But you're right, technically he's only been a 2 WAR player once in his career.

[Vance Law]

Salty's got a career .795 OPS against right handed pitchers. Platoon him with Phegley. That's a huge upgrade over last year. I think Hahn will make a serious effort to get it done.

[Chicago White Sox]

He has been a tolerable Cather for 2 of 3 seasons and had a great career year right before hitting Fa, and his numbers in those tolerable seasons weren't muh better than the numbers that made Texas let him go.

Unless I'm missing something, he was replacement level up until 2011 when he joined the Red Sox. Since then, he's put up WARs of 1.6, 1.9, & 3.6. He's been much better than he was with Texas, not really much of an argument there.

[Balta1701]

Salty's got a career .795 OPS against right handed pitchers. Platoon him with Phegley. That's a huge upgrade over last year. I think Hahn will make a serious effort to get it done.

For $10 million a year, that doesn't hugely impress me.

[Chicago White Sox]

For $10 million a year, that doesn't hugely impress me.

What's your solution for catcher then?

[Vance Law]

For $10 million a year, that doesn't hugely impress me.

 

It's the free agent market. It's like a convenience store, you will overpay. You don't want to field your whole lineup that way, but we've got no catcher in the organization with any hope of successfully hitting right handed pitching. If it's only 4 years, he's got a better chance of earning his contract than McCann.

[Chicago White Sox]

It's the free agent market. It's like a convenience store, you will overpay. You don't want to field your whole lineup that way, but we've got no catcher in the organization with any hope of successfully hitting right handed pitching. If it's only 4 years, he's got a better chance of earning his contract than McCann.

The key with Salty is we can add him without sacrificing a draft pick or any major/minor league talent.

 

What other catching options are currently out there that only cost money that are better than Salty?

[sircaffey]

I think Ruiz ends up being the best value of any of the free agent catchers.

[Bruce_Blixton]

I think Ruiz ends up being the best value of any of the free agent catchers.

 

I was thinking the same thing, I'd like to see the Sox sign Chooch to a 2 yr/$14-15MM deal and then make a big push for Wieters in 2016.

[2nd_city_saint787]

CF - Gerardo Parra (L)

SS - Alexei Ramirez

RF - Avisail Garcia

1B - Jose Abreu

C - Jarrod Saltalamachia (S)

LF - Dayan Viciedo

DH - Adam Dunn (L)

2B - Marcus Semien

3B - Matt Davidson

 

 

AZ is expected to discuss with the Cubs about Samardzija so they're looking for pitching. Q should be considered the better pitcher, not sure if I can say the same about Santiago. ERA wise Santiago put up a better number but everywhere else I'd probably give it to Jeff.

 

I'm actually ok with giving Gillaspie/Kepp another year, he's a LH bat who wasn't THAT BAD. I'd rather try to snag Owings/Parra/Barrett which would then open the door to trading Lexi and Reed.

 

 

 

Edited November 5, 2013 by scs787

[Quin]

AZ is expected to discuss with the Cubs about Samardzija so they're looking for pitching. Q should be considered the better pitcher, not sure if I can say the same about Santiago. ERA wise Santiago put up a better number but everywhere else I'd probably give it to Jeff.

 

I'm actually ok with giving Gillaspie/Kepp another year, he's a LH bat who wasn't THAT BAD. I'd rather try to snag Owings/Parra/Barrett which would then open the door to trading Lexi and Reed.

 

Before his Sept. dead arm period, Santiago was actually right around Samardzjia stat wise

[2nd_city_saint787]

Before his Sept. dead arm period, Santiago was actually right around Samardzjia stat wise

 

I'm giving Samardzija the slight edge just due to his ability to get deeper into the game. Do I think Santiago can get to point where he's going 6+ next year? Sure. Does AZ believe that as well? Ya, they probably should.

 

I really like AZ as a trade partner so I hope Hahn gets in there before the Cubs do. The deal I suggested my last post for Santiago or expand it a bit and try to get Aaron Hill as well. Probably over valuing Q here if I think they could get Parra/Hill/Owings/Barrett, but I can dream right?

[Quin]

I'm giving Samardzija the slight edge just due to his ability to get deeper into the game. Do I think Santiago can get to point where he's going 6+ next year? Sure. Does AZ believe that as well? Ya, they probably should.

 

I really like AZ as a trade partner so I hope Hahn gets in there before the Cubs do. The deal I suggested my last post for Santiago or expand it a bit and try to get Aaron Hill as well. Probably over valuing Q here if I think they could get Parra/Hill/Owings/Barrett, but I can dream right?

 

Depending on how confident the team is in Webb, you could possibly pull off Santiago/Reed/De Aza for Parra, Owings, and Barrett.

 

You basically have to trade Gordon to someone like the Blue Jays in this scenario. Then you can put Owings at 2B and Semien at 3B. With the Abreu signing, I'm inclined to keep Alexei for one more year.

Edited November 5, 2013 by Quinarvy

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

AZ is expected to discuss with the Cubs about Samardzija so they're looking for pitching. Q should be considered the better pitcher, not sure if I can say the same about Santiago. ERA wise Santiago put up a better number but everywhere else I'd probably give it to Jeff.

 

I'm actually ok with giving Gillaspie/Kepp another year, he's a LH bat who wasn't THAT BAD. I'd rather try to snag Owings/Parra/Barrett which would then open the door to trading Lexi and Reed.

 

Q is exactly who I had in mind to trade to AZ with that line-up construction. My proposed trade would be something like Quintana and Carlos Sanchez for Parra, 3B Davidson, and either C Trahan or SS Owings.

Edited November 5, 2013 by Chilihead90

[GGajewski18]

Depending on how confident the team is in Webb, you could possibly pull off Santiago/Reed/De Aza for Parra, Owings, and Barrett.

 

You basically have to trade Gordon to someone like the Blue Jays in this scenario. Then you can put Owings at 2B and Semien at 3B. With the Abreu signing, I'm inclined to keep Alexei for one more year.

 

Sox would be offering waaaayyyyyy to much for Parra, Davidson and Barrett....

[ranger2004]

3B solution...David Freese!! Include him in any trade package with the Cards because it looks like he may become available this winter.

[Balta1701]

3B solution...David Freese!! Include him in any trade package with the Cards because it looks like he may become available this winter.

Was he hurt this year? Because his numbers were way down from 2012 and darn near Gillaspie-like.