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MLB Off-season Thread 2015-2016 IOTI Back to the Future was a lie

C

chicagocubsfan

Member
Carpe Libertatem said:
Not sure the Cubs are any better than, like, the 2011 Phillies and we know how that turned out

But the answer is yes (and Boston fans are still unbearable)
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I don't think they are that much better on paper than the Cards or Pirates that it's going to be a boring season.

I do think a 97 win team got better and a lot deeper in case they don't get extremely lucky with injuries again.

I also think this might be a season where Theo might cash in some chips to get a big name pitcher at the deadline as well, so it beats getting Dan Haren lol.
 
C

Carpe Libertatem

Member
chicagocubsfan said:
I don't think they are that much better on paper than the Cards or Pirates that it's going to be a boring season.

I do think a 97 win team got better and a lot deeper in case they don't get extremely lucky with injuries again.

I also think this might be a season where Theo might cash in some chips to get a big name pitcher at the deadline as well, so it beats getting Dan Haren lol.
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I'd agree. I think the Cubs are probably somewhere between 7-8 games better than the Cardinals and Pirates on paper right now, but injuries/devil magic/whatever the Pirates have could easily make the division competitive.

Cubs are obviously the clear favorite, though.

Although my point was more that the Cubs could win 120 games and run away with the division and still lose to the wild card team in the NLDS, just like the Phillies 2011 superteam.
 
P

Parch

Member
Parch said:
Top Ten Blue Jay questions this spring.

1. Can Donaldson repeat his MVP season?
2. Who's the closer? Storen or Osuna?
3. Should Aaron Sanchez be a reliever or starter?
4. Can Dalton Pompey hit good enough to be a regular outfielder?
5. Can Martin Stroman become an ace?
6. How much playing time should Chris Colabello get?
7. Was Marco Estrada's decent season a fluke?
8. Drew Hutchison can't possibly be as bad as he was last year, right?
9. Are there any prospects left to pull off another Price type deal?
10. Is RA Dickey ever going to get old?
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Just to comment on my own questions...

1. Really no reason Donaldson cant repeat. Same lineup. Same ballpark. Just stay healthy.
2. I was really impressed with Osuna's composure. Adding Storen is just adding quality bullpen depth. By committee wouldn't surprise me based on who's hot and rested.
3. I'd like to see Sanchez get another shot at starting based on team need. If he can be a quality stater then that's much more valuable than another reliever.
4. Pompey was given a starting job at the beginning of last year and blew it. Now he's getting the same opportunity in hopes to replace Revere. Unfortunately I think it's going to be a major downgrade.
5. Not convinced Stroman has ace stuff, but a solid #2 would be nice.
6. Colabello might end up getting more playing time than you think. I don't have a lot of faith in Smoak and if Pompey struggles, he could get a fair amount of time in the outfield, although I cringe at the thought of his outfield defense.
7. Seriously concerned about Estrada, but he did seem to figure out how to keep the ball in the ballpark.
8. Last chance for Hutch. I can see him getting the 5th starter spot and having a decent rebound. Although decent improvement might still be pretty bad.
9. Pretty obvious answer there. The prospect cupboard is bare and the Jays will be using the June draft just to restock the minor league pitching depth. Jays really blew the wad going for it last year.
10. Dickey can probably go as many years as he wants. Just the chance that he could be "on" and go 8 makes him a valuable player in a starter hungry league.
 
P

Parch

Member
My bad. Not like there's a whole bunch of Stromans to get confused about.

Jays rotation has a Marco and a Marcus, a RA and a JA, plus a 5th TBA.
 
C

Corran Horn

May the Schwartz be with you
HarryDemeanor said:
Bold prediction: Puig wins the batting title.
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RSFWhKL.gif
 
M

matthewwhatever

Member
1. Can Donaldson repeat his MVP season?

Sure, though this year he won't have the narrative of leading the Jays to the playoffs for the first time in 20 years.

2. Who's the closer? Storen or Osuna?
3. Should Aaron Sanchez be a reliever or starter?

I'd like to see Osuna starting again with Sanchez staying in the pen. Osuna is way, way better. The only downside is that he pitched more innings last year than he ever had before, so I suspect they'd end up hitting his innings limit pretty quickly.

4. Can Dalton Pompey hit good enough to be a regular outfielder?

Maybe eventually, though I wish they would stop just handing him the job without having any backup plans in place.

5. Can Martin Stroman become an ace?

He's already almost there, so sure.

6. How much playing time should Chris Colabello get?

Less than last year, and hopefully none of it in the outfield.

7. Was Marco Estrada's decent season a fluke?

His ERA was almost two runs lower than his xFIP. His regression is going to be terrifying to see.

8. Drew Hutchison can't possibly be as bad as he was last year, right?

If he could just be an average pitcher on the road, he'd be amazing. Have you looked at his home-road splits? He's an ace pitching at home, but the worst pitcher in baseball on the road.

9. Are there any prospects left to pull off another Price type deal?

The farm is basically Alford and...uh...I don't know. Nay? Jimenez? Things could get really bleak really quickly.

10. Is RA Dickey ever going to get old?

As an innings-eater, hell be fine for another year or two.

11. Can Tulo play a full season?

No, thankfully. He was awful enough last year that hopefully he's not on the field too much to really hurt the team.

CreeperBlocks said:
12.Will Gibby have a job at the end of the season? Because it seems to me that Shapiro is slowly putting his guys in the organization.
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If Eric Wedge isn't managing the team by this time next year, I'll be shocked.
 
Z

zroid

Banned
matthewwhatever said:
When a guy has a below average OPS and a negative WPA, and cost the Jays one of their better pitching prospects, and has an albatross of a contract that runs into the next decade, it's hard to be enthused about him.
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WPA? Oh, okay, I'm convinced.

Let's just ignore his massive defensive upgrade over Jose Reyes (who hit worse than Tulo in 2015, by the way), while being paid more than Tulo, and also being a domestic abuser.

I'd make that trade a million times over. Giving up Jeff Hoffman was as much about getting someone to take Reyes off our hands for the next few years as it was acquiring Tulowitzki.
 
P

Parch

Member
Yeah, I was done with Reyes. Good upgrade with Tulo IMO.
With Travis at 2nd and Goins getting some starts at both short and 2nd, that's a fairly decent middle infield for the Jays.
 
S

Silver Arrows

Banned
zroid said:
WPA? Oh, okay, I'm convinced.

Let's just ignore his massive defensive upgrade over Jose Reyes (who hit worse than Tulo in 2015, by the way), while being paid more than Tulo, and also being a domestic abuser.

I'd make that trade a million times over. Giving up Jeff Hoffman was as much about getting someone to take Reyes off our hands for the next few years as it was acquiring Tulowitzki.
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Agreed. Even at his worst, Tulo's solid defensive output is enough to mitigate a lot of things sans the asinine contract.
 
Z

zulux21

Member
RBH said:
7yd1UqA.jpg
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it's odd seeing the white sox not grossly underestimated.
Dominican Power said:
White Sox winning 90 games? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
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they have a better shot at it than the yankees :p

really the white sox aren't a bad team. They have 2 of the best left handers in the game and possibly a third one (as rodon down the stretch was lights out)
btw sale wasn't the best left hander on the white sox last year it was quintana :p

their farm isn't great but it has just enough to fill the few holes the white sox have as johnson and fulmer will fill out the rest of the rotation brilliantly by the end of the season (with spencer in the wings, for next year if one of them doesn't work out like planned). and anderson ideally practiced defense during the offseason and will be able to take over short sooner rather than later. I mean the 3-4 punch of abreu and Frazier shouldn't be bad at all.

their biggest question is with garcia, who is now a year removed from being hurt and could easily become the player he looked like he would be a few years ago (though could easily just be medicore as well)

that all being said 90 is likely a bit of a stretch but the white sox should be an above .500 team with ease. but i mean they were 76-86 last season with like half the starters having career worst years (yeah not bad years, their worst ever :p). if they had performed to expectations they would have been near .500 last season and they look better this season.

that also being said even if the white sox get 90 wins I imagine both KC and detroit will be at 90 as well.
 
M

matthewwhatever

Member
zroid said:
WPA? Oh, okay, I'm convinced.

Let's just ignore his massive defensive upgrade over Jose Reyes (who hit worse than Tulo in 2015, by the way), while being paid more than Tulo, and also being a domestic abuser.

I'd make that trade a million times over. Giving up Jeff Hoffman was as much about getting someone to take Reyes off our hands for the next few years as it was acquiring Tulowitzki.
Click to expand...

A pylon would've been a defensive upgrade over Reyes, so that's not saying much.

In any case, Reyes would've been gone after next season anyway, so I don't see how the solution was to trade for a guy who's just as injury-prone, and who's got an equally large albatross of a contract, only for several more years. Worst case scenario with Reyes was that he's a drain on the club to the end of 2017, at which point they buy him out. Instead they're stuck with a liability through 2021, and at the cost of a decent pitching prospect besides. Tulo's skills may age slightly better than Reyes', I guess, and he doesn't have the stigma of being a wife-abusing scumbag, but I still think that, in the absolute best-case scenario, the deal turns out to be a wash (and significantly worse if either Hoffman turns out to be a league-average pitcher or if the financial inflexibility caused by Tulo's deal means that Donaldson walks in two years -- when, after all, Reyes' contract would've been coming off the books and the could've used the savings to hang on to one of their best players).
 
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