jpx7 (12-06-2023)
50PoundHead (12-06-2023), jpx7 (12-06-2023)
Kimbrel to the O's.
50PoundHead (12-06-2023), jpx7 (12-06-2023)
Keuchel is kind of the exception in that he was a pretty major addition. But he had a Cy Young on his mantle at home and was coming off a 3+ WAR season so I can understand making the exeption.
Cheerios wasn't a soft tosser. His fastball averaged 93.1 last year. He just struck batters out at the rate you would expect from a soft tosser.
AA will bring in soft tossers but they tend to be filler pieces. When he's targeting more significant acquisitions, he prioritizes velocity and Ks. Look at his pitcher signings this year. He re-signed Johnson (12.93 K/9, 96.1 MPH fastball), re-signed Jimenez (11.66 K/9, 95.4 MPH fastball), and signed Lopez (11.32 K/9, 98.4 MPH fastball).
Carp (12-06-2023)
I know we were in on Jon Lester multiple times as well. He was the very definition of soft tossing lefty later in his career.
Soto the Yankees is gaining traction, per alot of the people in the media. Wonder what that deal ultimately even looks like, b/c i'm not sure what Soto at 30+ million has in trade value.
Ummm.... he struck out 5.61 per 9 and never struck out more than 7.94 per 9 in his career.... 93 is a soft tosser if he's not missing any bats...
Also, in what universe was Gonzales ever considered more than filler? No one ever considered him a significant acquisition... this is just one of those cases where you argue just to argue for no reason.
Last edited by zbhargrove; 12-06-2023 at 10:44 AM.
I wouldn't call Cheerios a flame thrower by any measure, but 93 isn't a soft tosser either. Kind of middle ground.
As for the others, a couple of them fall into that middle ground as well. Hamels was 91.6 on the fastball the year before we signed him and Odorizzi was at 92.2. Not blazing fast but not Gonzales who has been 88-89 on the fastball the last 5 years.
Felix Hernandez and Anibal Sanchez were signed to a minor league deals.
Milone was a soft tosser but he had K'd 40 in 39 IP when we traded for him. But he's another of those minor filler pieces. We got him for a PTBNL.
AA, like any GM, will acquire soft tossers when they make sense but they're definitely not who he likes to target when he has a choice. I completely agree with his strategy of focusing on stuff and missing bats.
jpx7 (12-06-2023)
Of course he has. I never said he didn't. No GM disqualifies anyone throwing under 90 MPH. My point was AA focuses on pitchers with stuff and who miss bats. That's who he wants to target when he can. I remember reading him saying as much at one point.
My original post was in response to someone thinking that trading Gonzales might mean AA wants an elite starter. My point was to not read too much into it because Gonzales is not the kind of pitcher AA prizes. Trading him was clearing as much of his salary as we could and nothing more.