I hope they sign Arroyo too.
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MLB Offseason '13-'14 |OT| Where the best fans live
- Thread starter Corran Horn
- Start date
and Wily Mo Pena.
Dmncnby2k9
Banned
Wouldn't mind him at 2B. What you thinking?
Think his post in the Reddit thread got interpreted as thread whining. That's what I thought, anyway.
Interesting about Flores. Wonder how he's holding up at second. Makes a potential Murphy trade look a lot more likely, assuming he shows he can hold his own there.
The Cardinals have signed Mark Ellis to a one-year deal pending physical, according to Ken Rosenthal.
Also Gavin Floyd to the Bravos should go through tomorrow.
Also Gavin Floyd to the Bravos should go through tomorrow.
Carpe Libertatem
Member
Very happy with the Ellis signing and the Cardinals offseason in general. Only thing I would like to see is someone better than Tony Cruz as backup catcher, but it's fine how it is. Matheny probably wouldn't even use whoever we signed anyway
It's happening. We're in the infant stages of it though.
The Frankman
Banned
Reality, he's too big for 2nd. I think he's playing there just to improve his agility/give the Mets options as he's the 1st baseman of the future IMHO.
Dominic Smith is the 1B of the future. Assuming he doesn't flop.
Blackace
if you see me in a fight with a bear, don't help me fool, help the bear!
How big is he?
The Frankman
Banned
6'3 and 190. The big thing is his range isn't great and Mets are trying desperately to fix the up-the-middle D. They're willing to sacrifice things but not range, Daniel Murphy has surprising range but not great fielding skills. I'm not sure Flores' skills are any better, I hardly ever saw him play 2nd. He's lost weight this off-season though, wonder how he'll look in Spring.
Dmncnby2k9
Banned
Flores is slower than Duda, which is pretty bad. I rather have Dan Murphy just wondering how the team gets his bat in the lineup.
Blackace
if you see me in a fight with a bear, don't help me fool, help the bear!
Well his size is idea for 2nd..
But if he can't field the position that's the real issue
The Frankman
Banned
I hate tall 2nd baseman. I like them no bigger than 6 feet tall.
Biggio, Alfonzo, Baerga, Alomar, Roberts, etc.
If the Braves sign Floyd and Garcia to minor league deals, all they need is a bench bat and they're good to go I guess.
I would prefer Ubaldo and I could be persuaded on Samardjiza but they aren't necessary. They won 96 with BJ and Uggla being terrible, Heyward missing two months, and 5 different season ending injuries so I'm not too worried about next year.
I would prefer Ubaldo and I could be persuaded on Samardjiza but they aren't necessary. They won 96 with BJ and Uggla being terrible, Heyward missing two months, and 5 different season ending injuries so I'm not too worried about next year.
Dominican Power
Member
The Nats will be better.
Crazier things have happened.
HarryDemeanor
Member
Just read about Matt Kemp dating Khloe Kardashian. I'm not sure how true those rumors are but if they are it's a good time for a trade!
And goddammit Ned, you don't give Juan Uribe two years. Now he's going to phone it in this year and actually play good the year after.
And goddammit Ned, you don't give Juan Uribe two years. Now he's going to phone it in this year and actually play good the year after.
Blackace
if you see me in a fight with a bear, don't help me fool, help the bear!
Alomar 6 flat
Kent 6' 1"
Ryno 6' 1"
5'11" does seem to be the sweet spot among the greats.. but 6'3" isn't some freak of nature 2nd baseman..
sf2fanatic
Member
It's a good deal Harry. He needs to keep Puig in check...Great leader
Velcro Fly
Member
Cubs are going to be awful I suppose. I'm not sure how I feel about Rick Renteria. It feels like another guy they can fire in two years when the team is still sitting below .500. If he can keep Starlin Castro interested in playing baseball I guess it's a decent hire.
HarryDemeanor
Member
Yeah but give him a one year deal so he actually plays well!
Gavin Floyd and the Braves are official now. It's a one year deal with $4mm guaranteed and another $4.5mm in incentives. Not feeling the money, but they probably weren't getting anything better if that was their budget so whatever.
The key to this deal will be how long it takes Gavin to get back on the field. If he's healthy in May, it should be fine. If it's July or later (or never) then it was a bad deal.
The key to this deal will be how long it takes Gavin to get back on the field. If he's healthy in May, it should be fine. If it's July or later (or never) then it was a bad deal.
BFIB
Member
Crazy that Floyd's deal almost looks like a steal compared to the pricing of pitching on the market this year.
Mark Ellis signing for the Cardinals was about as ideal as could be hoped. I have absolutely no idea what else the Cardinals could even plausibly do this offseason. What else can they improve on? They have positive value at every position. They have too many starters vying for starting roles in spring, a closer coming back from injury and a closer who ended the season dominantly along with a plethora of other strong relief options, prospects still moving through the system to patch any potential holes that might occur, and now a strong, flexible bench providing plus backup in the outfield and in the infield.
I don't mean that the Cardinals could not possibly improve; obviously if the Marlins want to give us Jose Fernandez in exchange for Daniel Descalso I'd take them up on the offer. But I don't think there is any plausible way to improve. At this point they have plus players at every position and plus backups for those plus players. If the Cardinals want to get backups for their backups for their backups, that would be okay, I guess.
I mention all this for a reason: I suspect the next four months will be very boring for Cardinals fans. There is no reason to think they'll make any more moves this offseason.
I don't mean that the Cardinals could not possibly improve; obviously if the Marlins want to give us Jose Fernandez in exchange for Daniel Descalso I'd take them up on the offer. But I don't think there is any plausible way to improve. At this point they have plus players at every position and plus backups for those plus players. If the Cardinals want to get backups for their backups for their backups, that would be okay, I guess.
I mention all this for a reason: I suspect the next four months will be very boring for Cardinals fans. There is no reason to think they'll make any more moves this offseason.
BFIB
Member
I think if a team approached Mo, he'd obviously listen. But the Cards are dealing from a number of strength for each position, so it would have to be an offer that would have to blow Mo away. Just don't see it happening.
Plus, all of these pitchers, some are going to regress. Its just the way baseball is. Plus injuries will play a part, as they always do. I think Mo would be willing to package Jay/Lynn in a deal, and I do think he explored the SS market via trade before opting for Peralta. But the asking price for Hardy was Miller plus another top prospect (my guess is Taveras).
Just way too much demands for return on the trade market, and with the price on the FA market, the system seems messed up right now.
I agree, and would guess that the trade market proved suboptimal because 1) There is currently a shortage of good shortstops and 2) everybody knows how good the Cards' farm system is and they want a piece of it.
I would go so far as to say that second issue is at least partially psychological. Consider James Ramsey, a 23 year old outfielder just promoted to AAA by the Cardinals; he's listed as our 8th or 9th best prospect by a lot of evaluators.
However, if James Ramsey was in the farm system of a team with a much worse farm system, he might be listed as their number 1 or number 2 prospect. I suspect a lot of GMs look at "this is our top prospect" much differently than they look at "this is our ninth best prospect" even if we are describing the same person, just in the context of different farm systems.
I would go so far as to say that second issue is at least partially psychological. Consider James Ramsey, a 23 year old outfielder just promoted to AAA by the Cardinals; he's listed as our 8th or 9th best prospect by a lot of evaluators.
However, if James Ramsey was in the farm system of a team with a much worse farm system, he might be listed as their number 1 or number 2 prospect. I suspect a lot of GMs look at "this is our top prospect" much differently than they look at "this is our ninth best prospect" even if we are describing the same person, just in the context of different farm systems.
Little Green Yoda
Member
Who cares if it's boring for x number of months when the GM did his job at fixing the team's weaknesses early in the offseason? I'll take this type of offseason over signing Ty Wigginton, Ronny Cedeno, and Randy Choate (to 3 years) every time. Especially when 2/3rds of that group was released by midseason.
I don't know how much truth there is in the whole "this prospect would be worth more in a trade if he were in a worse farm system" talk. If you're enamored by a prospect for being a top 1/2/3 in an organization without any context, you're a terrible GM. The guys who make top 10 lists or w/e get the internet hype but the front office types really should be digging deeper, analytically speaking.
Has Ramsey's stock risen that much or am I overestimating the farm systems of the White Sox, Angels, et al? Top 1/2 seems high.
Even if they would have went nuts signing a couple big FAs and trading for Price they still would have been behind the Cards/Pirates (and probably the Reds too) in the division. Just makes more sense to wait until the prospects start hitting the big leagues before making any big moves.
There's still a chance they make things interesting considering the bullpen should be pretty solid and Rizzo/Castro should bounce back. Javier Baez could definitely change things once he comes up (Kris Bryant too, but he's not a lock to make it up this season).
I think there are lots of bad GMs in the world, yes.
Overestimating other farm systems, I think.
Carpe Libertatem
Member
They could possibly improve in terms of backup catchers, but it certainly isn't an immediate need as an improved CF, SS, and 2B were. I just worry about Yadi sometimes - if he gets injured badly long-term, I think that would be really bad for the team as a whole. Tony Cruz is okay, I guess, but the backup catcher position could be improved a lot right now. It's definitely not as necessary as the other 3 positions we improved on, though.
I'm not really sure how i feel about it, but i really don't know how davidson is on defense. If he has great defense it seems like a good trade, if he has just ok defense I am not a fan of the trade. I understand the chances aren't high that the white sox will compete next year, but it's not like Reed was going to free agency any time soon and could compete with the white sox in 2015 or so.
The Frankman
Banned
Kent was a mean man and Ryno beat up cats in his spare time.
Little Green Yoda
Member
I think the overall GM landscape has gotten better in recent years. The only truly terrible ones are Towers, Colletti, Jack Z, Amaro Jr, Dipoto, Moore, and who else? 6/30 isn't too bad but I'm probably forgetting somebody. And there's a bunch of guys who haven't been around long enough to judge.
Cruz is a fine backup. Anybody you find better than him is probably capable of starting for a number of teams. If Molina stays healthy, the expense of a better backup in some 20 odd games isn't going to be worth it. If he goes down for a significant amount of time, the team is probably screwed unless you had another All Star caliber C backing up anyway.
Jocketty and O'Dowd
Blackace
if you see me in a fight with a bear, don't help me fool, help the bear!
2008 age 2 "not allowed to play in reindeer games"
lol
Similar batter section is classic as well
XiaNaphryz
LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
Salty that the WS team doesn't have a slot here? I guess I would probably agree and maybe swap him out for Gonzalez but that's just because the barves are like the anti-big-game team whenever it counts.
And on the STL side of things I love what Mo has done for the team. He deserves a lot of credit for these past seasons of success. Not sure we could have done it all without him making key moves both in the offseason and before the deadline in 2011.
slightconfuse
Banned
Better than nothing i guess . We need to pump our farm system real soon
Not at all. Just laughable list to read.
I mean, wouldn't you rather have Uggla? At least he can stay on the field.
I'M JUST SAYING
Blackace
if you see me in a fight with a bear, don't help me fool, help the bear!
Funny how poorly he aged
darkside31337
Tomodachi wa Mahou
Great list.
Hipster manager > all managers
Clint Hurdle was a shitty manager until he became inspired by Joe Maddon.
(ignore the rest of the list after 1 and 2)