On Monday, I took a look at some potential trade targets from the American League (find it here). Today, we will take a look at potential targets from the National League.
Firstly, I chose teams that will likely be dealing. Some of these teams are 2,3, hell, maybe a lifetime away from competing again, and some are just teams with trigger-heavy GMs (nods Dipoto). Then, In setting parameters, I kept it quite simple:
- Most players on the list are under controls 2 year or less.
- On teams that are truly awful and have no chance of competing for the next 2 years, I stretched the limit.
Also, I didn’t list any teams in the NL East as I just don’t think it’s realistic to think that the Mets, Phillies, or Nationals are interested in making the Braves better, and the Marlins have very little to give.
Let’s get to it.
Reds
OF: Derek Dietrich
Control: 1 year, through arb
Stats: .790 OPS, 1.1 fWAR
Thoughts: Dietrich is a guy I really wanted to see in a Braves uniform after he was let go by the Marlins. Through the first 2 months of the season, Dietrich was one of the best offensive players in the entire league, producing a 1.082 OPS and 17 HRs in his first 149 PAs. However, on June 2nd, he broke. I blame the sleeveless uniforms. Dietrich, from June 2nd on, was one of the worst players in baseball, posting a .498 OPS with an eye-popping .138 BABIP. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a BABIP that low over the course of 150+ PAs. In fact, for the year, it was .176. That’s bloody remarkable, in a not so great way. Still, Dietrich carries a .761 career OPS and could be a valuable bench player as he has some positional versatility as well.
SP: Anthony DeSclafani
Control: 1 year, through arb
Stats: 166.2 IP, 3.88 ERA, 2.4 fWAR
Thoughts: For those not in the know, the Reds hired Driveline’s founder Kyle Boddy to be the Director of Pitching Initiatives Coordinator and apparently DeSclafani attributes a boost in velo to Boddy’s methods. Averaging 95 on the fastball in 2019, DeSclafani struggled out the gate but was really good down the stretch with 80% of his pitch selection being a plus fastball and plus slider. If Reds are trading, keep an eye on this one.
SP: Trevor Bauer
Control: 1 year, through arb
Stats: 213 IP, 4.48 ERA, 3.3 fWAR
Thoughts: Bauer might be the least liked player in the entire league, and I don’t think he knows it. An odd human being, Bauer has odd interviews. Bauer has odd temper tantrums. Bauer likes to poke the bear. I’ll be honest, he gets on my last nerve and it seems like he’d be difficult in a clubhouse. Still…the dude can pitch and even in a down year, he put up a lot of good starts. Just doesn’t feel like a target for the Braves.
RP: Raisel Iglesias
Control: 2/18.125MM
Stats: 67 IP, 4.16 ERA, 1.1 fWAR
Thoughts: Raisel Iglesias just couldn’t keep the ball on the ground in 2019, and it really damaged his numbers, especially considering his home park is a bandbox. Still he carried a great K-rate and a good BB-rate, and it’s more likely than not that he’ll be better in 2020.
RP: Michael Lorenzen
Control: 2 years, through arb
Stats: 83.1 IP, 2.92 ERA, 1.2 fWAR
Thoughts: Who wouldn’t want a pitcher that can moonlight as a defensive replacement in the OF and has a solid reputation as a good stick (even though it didn’t show up in 2019)? Lorenzen is an outlier of sorts as a reliever as he carries 5 pitches. He also seems to be benefitting from Kyle Boddy’s hire as he’s seen an increase in velo and was the Reds best reliever in 2019.
Pirates
OF: Starling Marte
Control: 2 years (both options)
Stats: .855 OPS, 3.0 fWAR
Thoughts: Marte is a corner OFer parading around like he’s a CFer and that likely comes to a close if he’s traded. If moved to the corner, he’s a really good player that can do a whole lot of good for any team.
SP: Chris Archer
Control: 2 years through options
Stats: 119.2 IP, 5.19 ERA, 0.7 fWAR
Thoughts: Archer hasn’t been a good Pirate. He was a good Ray. The GB-rate dropped significantly in 2019. When his slider is good, he’s stellar. When it’s meh, he’s meh. Unfortunately for Archer, his slider hasn’t been the same since he left the dome. At this point, the Braves need a slam dunk if they’re trading for a pitcher, and he ain’t it.
RP: Keone Kela
Control: 1 year, through arb
Stats: 29.2 IP, 2.12 ERA, 0.4 fWAR
Thoughts: Unfortunately, right shoulder inflammation took over half of Kela’s 2019, and he was putting up his best year since being a rookie. FB/CB guy, and while the FB can sit 97ish, the curve is the out pitch.
Rockies
SS: Trevor Story
Control: 2 years, through arb
Stats: .917 OPS, 5.8 fWAR
Special entry Thoughts: Story is a really good player and their should be more…well, stories about him. But we hardly ever hear about anyone on the Rockies outside of Charlie Blackmon and that 3B that every female wants to see naked. Story has large home/road splits and I think it’s fair to say he wouldn’t be a .900+ OPS player away from Coors, but he’d still run it above .800 and his 17 defensive runs saved was 2nd only to Nick Ahmed among all shortstops.
SP: Jon Gray
Control: 2 years through arb
Stats: 150 IP, 3.84 ERA, 2.9 fWAR
Thoughts: Gray was having a serious bounceback year until a stress fracture knocked him out for the rest of the season in late August. He’s always had velo, but Gray makes his living off of a nasty slider and it was back in 2019. I’ve fake traded for him about as much as I’ve fake traded away Ender and I’d love for Anthopoulos to snag him.
RP: Wade Davis
Control: 1 year/17MM + option
Stats: 42.2 IP, 8.65 ERA (seriously), -0.2 fWAR
Thoughts: Wade Davis is not having a good time in Denver. In fact, On July 23rd, Davis was carrying a 0.79 ERA on the road and a 9.00 ERA at home. The stats on both sides got worse and Davis had one of the worst years I’ve ever seen from a guy that was brilliant for so long. FB/CT is his calling card and both royally sucked in 2019.
RP: Jake McGee
Control: 1 year+option
Stats: 41 IP, 4.35 ERA, -0.3 fWAR
Thoughts: Fangraphs…come the heck on. Wade Davis, 8.65 ERA and -0.2 fWAR in 42.2 IP and Jake McGee -0.3 fWAR in 41 IP? McGee was good when he could pump his FB to near triple digits. Now that he’s sitting 93-94, he’s not as good. 2.91 ERA on the road let’s us know there could still be potential in the arm.
RP: Scott Oberg
Control: 2 years, through arb
Stats: 56 IP, 2.25 ERA, 1.1 fWAR
Thoughts: FB/SL guy that put up video game numbers when in the MiLB, and while it took a few years in MLB to figure it out, he’s been a good reliever for 3 straight years for the Rockies.
Padres
SP: Garrett Richards
Control: 1 yr/8.5MM
Stats: 8.2 IP, 8.31 ERA, 0.0 fWAR
Thoughts: Richards was picked up on a 2-year deal by the Pads knowing that he’d be out for most of the 2019 season with Tommy John. He got into 3 games at the end of the season, and was noticeably rusty. He’s not been healthy in a long time and I think Braves are past these type moves.
RP: Kirby Yates
Control: 1 year, through arb
Stats: 60.2 IP, 1.19 ERA, 3.4 fWAR
Thoughts: The Padres were unwise to keep Yates at the deadline, but there were rumors of an extension. It hasn’t happened yet and now he enters his last arb-year. Yates is a FB/Split guy and both were darn near unhittable this season, proven by his 15K/9.
Any on the list that you fancy? Did I leave anyone off? Let’s hear your thoughts.
Thanks for reading!
Kris Bryant and Kyle Schwarber both seem like guys that could fit the bill. Buster Posey is the Giants blow it up. Archie Bradley.
@blazon – Here is a possible solution for your dislike of the current flood of posts (I am sort of in agreement with you on the frequency but mostly because I fear we will run out of content before the off season is half over). If you are interested in continuing a conversation from the previous post just do like we usually do and @## the post number from the previous thread. Odds are it will be early in the new post and late in the previous post so there will be no confusion about which post is being referenced. And then the other part of the solution is heavy usage of JC’d. I think most folks will know, because Ryan has said so, that the new post is coming in the morning so try to resist posting early in the morning on the previous thread but if you can’t resist and then the new post comes up before you think people have had a chance to read your post, just JC’d it to the new thread. Side note: for the longest time I thought JC’d was “Just Copied” and did not know it’s origin was from the poster named JC.
@Caleb
Good to see you on here! I do agree that those guys could also be targets, but the parameters that I set for the exercise wouldn’t allow me to dip too much into the Cubs as I think they’re still going to try to squeeze another year or 2 out before they start selling
@Hap
Thanks for the aid in keeping peace. For those that follow me on Twitter, they know that the offseason is my strong suit. Between trade talk, signings, prospect lists, and the rest of the player reviews, I think we will have plenty of content to keep all entertained…or in blazon’s opinion, downright hacked off because there’s too much.
Enjoyed the posts man. Here are some ideas or things id like to see AA do
So I think our biggest need is power pitching, even with a 3 man playoff rotation you have to be set up where arms #4 and #5 can give depth value in the playoffs ie like Fried did and Julio did not. So the following is my way to fix this issue and other roster issues. After adding up/subtracting our contractual agreements, projected arbs, buyouts, and league minimum players Ive come to a figure of 84.2m and thats with 16 minimum contracts and all the necessary trades and options we shouldnt pick up. Ill be adding and subtracting from that number and project a payroll of 140m in 2020. Critique as you please, here it goes.
Let Teheran, Kakes, Hamilton, and JRM walk, pick up T Flow at 6m/yr, later trade Inciarte, Folty, and some other specs/40man players.
Signings:
Zach Wheeler 4yr/76m – 17m in 2020
Will Smith 3yr/39m – 13m in 2020
Corey Dickerson 2yr/20 – 10m in 2020
Jason Castro 2yr/11m -5.5m in 2020
Hechavarria 1yr/1.5? – 1.5m in 2020
Trades:
O’s get Wright, Jenista, Sobotka, B Davidson
Braves get Mancini and Givens
Rockies get B Wilson, T Davidson, A Jackson, Minter
Braves get Jon Gray
Mariners get Ender Inciarte
Braves get Mallex Smith and Sam Tuavailala
Whoever gets Folty
Braves get prospects
So the breakdown post all this
Rotation:
Soroka
Wheeler
Gray
Fried
Anderson
Bullpen:
Smith
Melancon
Greene
Givens
Tuavailala
Newcomb
Jackson/Drayton/Webb/Burrows
Lineup
CF: RAJ
2B: Albies
1B: Freeman
RF: Mancini
LF: Dickerson/Duvall
3B: Riley
SS: Swanson
sC: Castro/Flowers
Bench:
OF: Dickerson/Duvall
bC: Castro/Flowers
IF: Hechavarria
OF: Mallex Smith
UT: Johan Camargo
UT: Charlie Culberson
I think the Reds might still think they are trying to compete with this roster. We will see.
With new FO at Pittsburgh, they can blame anything on the previous FO and restart everything, unless ownership has mandated “no fire sale.”
Gerrit Cole sounds lovely. He didn’t want to answer questions after the game, saying he was no longer an employee of the Astros, but then acquiesced, and answered questions wearing a Boras Corp hat.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EIL1_w8W4AAhORQ?format=jpg&name=small
Ryan,
Another thing is to look at teams that wouldn’t be typical sellers that might have players to move.
Not sure this is one I would actually do, but Austin Barnes is an example. Dodgers are gearing up for another run. However, with Smith and Keibert Ruiz, they have catcher covered. So, Barnes might be available.
So, maybe there could be a “deep roster teams not selling” piece? Outfielders from the Cardinals might be one of those.
@7
That is coming, for sure!
It’s a dark day in Atlanta sports. Atlanta United has been eliminated from the MLS playoffs and the Washington Nationals are the World Series champions.
It’s really been a dark month in Atlanta sports, come to think of it. Thankfully, it’s almost over.
I think the Cubs may actually trade Bryant and the Braves should be in on him if they don’t offer all the money to JD.
Also, Wheeler would look nice in a Braves uniform.
I’m so done with the ’19 season. Can’t wait for Spring Training.
@9 Where’s Sam?
@11
I don’t plan on writing and posting a full feature on Josef Martinez during the offseason, rest assured, but I did think it appropriate to add to the understanding of all the ways in which this day sucks, for those who were unaware.
Sorry to hear about United. One of those years where all my teams kinda disappoint in the end as well. Go Braves!
I’m thinking along the same line as Cliff in @5. The Reds may not actually be contenders, but they see themselves as such. I think they’re buying aggressively, if anything.
Do we believe Marte commands a premium package? I wouldn’t be opposed to giving Donaldson all of the money, and using Riley to net Marte. I like Marte, but not enough to deal Pache or Anderson for him. I also don’t love the idea of flipping 7 years of Waters for 2 of Marte. Any other prospects though, I think I’m onboard.
Martinez rode his 3 pitchers like a travel ball coach at the KFC Labor Day Clash of the Titans down in Gastonia.
@4
that’s a lot of moves, that all seem decently likely on their own. I don’t think AA or Snit are comfortable opening the season with Riley starting at 3rd and I don’t see them trading folty for prospects after how well he pitched coming back from his AAA stint. I do like the thought of getting wheeler and I like dickerson as a cheaper OF addition.
@65 Hambone from prior thread. Not that many fans are fair-weather Braves fans. Hmmpf.
@4 I’m not a fan of the idea of letting Donaldson go. They need to give that man ALL of the money, even if they have to search for loose change in Suntrust Park.
If he’s hitting 4th again, I’m happy with the offseason.
Other than that, I do agree that the Braves need more power arms.
I found myself rooting for the Nats last night and it doesn’t even feel that traitorous. They were a fun team to watch. One day we’ll get to see what it feels like to watch your team get clutch hit after clutch hit on the biggest stage … right? right?!!!
I’ve been on the Dickerson and Dietrich trains before and the Braves have never been interested. I can’t understand it on Dickerson as he’s been good and cheap.
@4 We do not want either Mancini or Givens. Mancini is a 1B/DH type and Riley is a much better OF. Givens has got great stuff but can’t fully translate it to excellence. I also seriously doubt your package would be enough for the O’s unless we also took Chris Davis (LOL).
Bryse and Tucker are going to be ML starters and good ones too. I would rather develop them than trade for Gray. Now I might be willing to trade Folty and one of the middle pitching prospects for Gray.
Keeping Acuna in CF is a mistake. It’s not his natural position or his best one. He needs to be in RF. I would rather see a Ender/Pache platoon in CF, Dickerson/Duvall in LF, and Acuna in RF.
Braves will never sign Wheeler with a QO stuck on him and they will never pay $13M for a reliever when they have Melancon on the books. Instead of Givens, I would sign O’Day. He won’t get many offers except for some sort of pillow contract. He’s got one or two more really good years left in him and he can do a lot more than Snit let him do this year. Besides he owes us for paying him $9M for very little.
I could go for the Ender for Mallex/Sam T. trade. A Mallex/Pache platoon in CF is just as good with lower cost.
Hech is redundant with both Culby and Camargo as Util IF. Although, I am still of the mind that we should sign Donaldson and let both Riley and Camargo have some time in AAA to get their sticks going. Under that scenario, Hech makes some sense.
My big FA signs would be Donaldson and Grandal. If you get Gray by trade, then the rotation is OK even if you trade Folty and let Julio go. If you sign Grandal then you can let Flowers walk and use Jackson/Contreras as backup.
Anderson will not be in the rotation next year. Needs more time at AAA.
Based on all this, here’s how I would modify your plan:
Rotation:
Soroka
Fried
Gray
Folty
Wright/Davidson/Wilson
Bullpen:
Melancon
Greene
O’Day
Tuavailala
Newcomb
Jackson
Dayton/Webb/Burrows/Walker/Clouse/Pfeifer (maybe two)
Lineup
RF: RAJ
2B: Albies
1B: Freeman
3B: Donaldson
C: Grandal
LF: Dickerson/Duvall
SS: Swanson
CF: Mallex/Pache
Bench:
OF: Dickerson/Duvall
bC: Jackson/Contreras
IF: Hechavarria
OF: Mallex/Pache
UT: ? Lefty (Joyce?) – eventually Riley or Camargo or both get called back up
UT: Charlie Culberson
Minors: Riley/Camargo
@4 Dickerson’s not going to get 2/20. He was traded by the Pirates for a bucket of balls. He was traded by the Rays for a low level prospect and a guy who ended up helping the Nats win the WS (as opposed to the Rays).
@20 Subtract Folty from the above SP list….. lost track of who I’d trade….
In my perusal of Zack Greinke YouTube videos, I found yet another gem of a Sam Holbrook call:
I don’t like the guy. Are these all judgment calls permissible to be made? Sure, but the guy seems to like making this type of call, which are typically BS calls.
Wong, not Ozzie, wins the Fielding Bible Award for 2B.
I’m not ready to give up on Riley based on such a small sample, unless we include him in a package that nets a really good return on a multiple years controllable player. Having said that I really do hope we re-sign JD. A platoon I’d love to see in LF is Duvall/Joc Pederson. I don’t think a lot of people realize how much we missed Ender in CF, as he can mask the shortcomings of both corner outfielders on top of being maybe the best defensive CF in the game. Acuna definitely needs to be in RF. At catcher I’m fine with a Flowers/Castro platoon. Pitching, that’s where the crapshoot really is, and I have a different preference every couple of days.
Ender was a below average defensive CFer last year according to most metrics and none of them have him being more than average defensively in 2019. It could have been injury related, but are you really comfortable running Ender out there for another year with his contract? He’s owed 24MM over the next 3 years and if his legs leave him, that contract becomes bad really quick.
I’d like to see Ender traded and Acuna in CF to start 2020. When Pache is deemed ready, it’s an easy transition for Acuna to move to RF where he truly belongs, but it wouldn’t be an easy thing to trade Ender in the middle of the season if his performance is subpar.
You have a point. Acuna is serviceable in CF if we can move Ender for something of value. Maybe a package of Ender, Riley, and a young arm could net something. We still need an upgrade in RF. Dickerson, Marte, Puig?
For Ender, it’s as simple as “is your sprint speed still there?” Ender’s physical skills are undoubtedly degrading, so it’s simply a matter of whether or not he’s physically fast enough to play CF. My concern is that he’s not, but you can know pretty easily in Spring Training. I would think the Braves could very quietly see where he’s at and decide if they want to run him out there.
He’s also only making $6M per year. He’s a lot better 4th OF at $6M than Kakes at $4M per year. Do you look at him the way you look at Riley, Pache, and Waters and just wait and see what you have? You could have less than $15M committed to your OF with Acuna, Ender, Riley, Markakis, Pache, and Waters, and you’re a pretty good bet with all of them to have an above average OF. Now that I would want them to do that, but just the players under team control is a decent bunch.
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2019/10/braves-to-decline-option-on-billy-hamilton.html
Surprise to no one, Hamilton’s option was declined.
@23
Yeah, that’s a pretty amusing overreaction by everyone’s favorite umpire. Tossing the Brewers ace in the first inning for being upset at himself.
It also serves to highlight the leash given to players and managers in a World Series. In a regular season game, Greinke gets ejected for spiking the ball because he’s upset that he didn’t take off for first base in time. In the World Series, Trea Turner repeatedly hassles Holbrook from the dugout during a review (whatever the hell the review was for) and all he gets is a dirty look.
To be clear, I’m not saying Turner should’ve been ejected, but we were talking about the difference between the length of the leash that players and managers get in the regular season and postseason, and that’s as illustrative an example as any.
On Ender,
his value in trade and his worth for the Braves to keep are both tied up in just what is up with his fielding and his body. It is not just sprint speed, as Rob asserts. Whichever stat outfit does “jumps” also had Ender’s jump down significantly last year. Now, if your back is hurting (muscles or discs), some flinch or wince is going to happen. So, Ender doesn’t move unless, as Rob points out, he proves it in Spring Training. So, any move the Braves make based off of “if we can move Ender” are almost meaningless. they have to assume Ender in or out.
It almost seems like every now and again Holbrook just decides, “The rulebook says I can make this call, and I feel like making it right now.”
Cliff’s right; Turner could have just ran inside the line. But I also think that when you’re throwing a guy out for spiking the ball, you’re calling an infield fly in near-medium left field, or you’re calling Turner out on that, I’m starting to wonder if you’re just trying to flex your knowledge of the rulebook. Impossible to know, but I’m starting to get this vibe with Holbrook.
If one looks at trading Ender, it has to be considered that it would be a sell low and he probably wouldn’t bring much in return. But if you think he is going to keep declining then you might still want to trade him before he loses all value.
Bowman says that the Braves don’t think Pache and Waters are ready offensively. Given that they didn’t have many PAs at Triple A it is probably wise to give them another season there.
I’m not saying break camp with Pache or Waters by any means. You could break camp with an outfield of Ender, Acuna, and somebody else, and if Ender looks cooked or Riley, Pache, or Waters prove to be ready at some point in the season, then make a change. I think AA is earning the benefit of the doubt that even if he breaks camp with someone, they may not even make it to May, let alone the trading deadline.
The thing about prospects is that’s all they are, prospects. I could fill the page with ‘can’t miss’ prospects that never panned out. Mike Kelley, George Lombard, Melvin Nieves anyone? That’s just off the top of the head OF prospects. Having said that I’ll bring up the elephant in the room. If Boston actually makes Betts available I’d give them a list of about a dozen untouchables, both currently on the roster and on the farm, then say let’s talk, with the caveat that they fully intend to lock him down for 6-7 years. Yes, that means ownership would have to be willing to open up the wallet, so I’m realistic enough to know it’ll probably never happen.
One of the things we may be missing here is that everyone says Pache is ready as a fielder. The real issue is where he should get his ABs and I’m not sure it matters as long as he gets them. If you assume Ender won’t hit until July 1st then that spot in the order is a black hole anyway and we get an early look at what we might have in Pache.
Pache will for sure be on the 40-man and he will no doubt get a long look in the Spring.
At most, our OF needs a platoon partner/ LH bench bat to combine with Duvall and Culby. That could be filled by Joyce, Markakis, Dickerson or someone else relatively cheap.
Give Donaldson the money and sign Grandal. Those are the two biggest upgrades the Braves could do. Even Peanut said so in that same article. Catcher is our biggest need along with a middle of the order bat.
36 — You don’t want to stunt his development though.
A guy that is a prospect guru on Twitter that raves about Pache, has full on stated that his bat is not near ready and it’ll take big work in the offseason and at least another half season in AAA. I believe him.
I think under Roger’s scenario, you could open the year with Pache as the every day CF. He’s on the 40 man anyway, and he’ll likely be marginally close to Ender’s production, ready or not.
Keeping Donaldson and adding one more stick is the key there though. If they sign Grandal, they’d have enough offense to carry Pache.
I think we need 2 legitimate power bats. Keep Donaldson and bring in a power hitting OF.
I’m a fan of Ender, but they almost have to trade him, right? He’s moderately priced, and there are some CF needy teams. If you sell low, so be it. The money moving in the deal would be a value by itself. As already mentioned though, if he proves incapable as a CF though this season, he becomes a sunk cost. No one is going to want a light hitting COF in a trade.
@40 I agree on the need for another power bat. I’m not sure where they find that for the OF though. Ozuna has been trending downward, and I think is going to leave some team with a case of buyer’s remorse. Marte would be a good fit, as mentioned here. I’d love to get Pederson from LA. I’ve seen speculation he could be had if they clear the decks for Rendon, but I’m not sold on that rumor.
They’re going to bring back Markakis in some fashion so there’s your power bat.
@37 I can’t imagine how that would stunt his development. Giving him some time in the majors knowing that he’s likely to get sent back seems like a great way for him to measure how much more he needs to improve. I think it might spark his development more than stunt it.
Further, in case no one thought about it. Every single player placed on the 40-man roster was called up last year. I believe the only one that did not make an actual appearance was Weigel. Pache will play some; why not at the beginning of the year rather than the middle?
We have way too many cromulent OFs to go pay for another. We need to add at positions of scarcity (AKA catcher).
can’t imagine how that would stunt his development
I’d like to remind you of the Jeff Francoeur experience.
I believe Frenchy ultimately failed because of a lack of physical ability, not development (or the braves development org). After all, a year of TV commentary showed us he was both reasonably intelligent and self aware. His problem was he could either wait long enough to recognize spin or he could start the bat quickly enough to produce power, but never both at the same time.
Pache’s development is different: he has excellent bat speed and good hands but is rebuilding the swing to correct an overly stiff frontside that caused him to chop everything into the ground. That project is now about 14 months old and has produced promising results. He also needs to learn to adjust to better offspeed pitches. Hitting coaches will tell you that these are 2 things that are very hard to word on simultaneously. I assume he is working on the swing part every day this winter. A half year+ of AAA, however, are almost certainly required to get the breaking balls down — ask Riley about that one (and I still believe Riley will be a beast).
Effing Success says hello.
I’m somewhat more confident in Pache’s ability to contribute at the ML level next year than I am in Riley’s. If they can say to Pache you’re hitting 8th, don’t worry so much about the bat, just flash leather; might he be of more value?
It’s not that I don’t want Riley to be good, or given the chance. I’m just not sold he will. There’s a LOT of swing and miss in him where he just looks terrible. He desperately needs more time at AAA.
Hap. Thanks for your comments and suggestions the other day. In the time since, the World Series has been done and dusted which removes the greatest conflict for attention when a new thread is posted.
On reflection there would seem to be one new informal rule which if adopted would take most of the heat away year round. Whoever is posting a new thread take the time to glance at the latest few posts in view – is there anything ongoing, lively, special happening? Most likely not so go ahead.
If we did this from habit everyone would benefit. BTW this has little to do with poems exclusively. It could be anything, by anybody, that has built a ‘life’ to it. Let it be for another hour.
A I
we could give it a try
running the show
my bet, only a matter of time before it says, y’all go.
New thread.