Official Offseason Thread

[Horsehide Harry]

This is where we start talking ourselves into the "it will be ok" mantra.

If AA signed Smith after trading for Melancon and Greene and then was unable to address the biggest holes on the offense (or does address but has to give away the farm, harming the length of the window) then the offseason was a fail, no spin accepted.

[BeanieAntics]

The improvements we should see from pitching will mitigate some of the lost production from Donaldson. I also think that a healthy Ender should be worth about ~1 win more than he was in 2019. I also think we may see a slight uptick in value from the catcher position from either Flowers or D'arnaud. I'm particularly bullish on D'arnaud's ability to have a good season, since last year was a weirdly bad framing year for him.

Right now, I think we're about ~1-1.5 wins away from replacing Donaldson's production on this team overall. The quality of the team elsewhere is just better. I think we'll be able to make up that difference in value without having to sign Ozuna or Castellanos. But if we want to get better, we'll likely need one of them or a trade acquisition. I'd like to see us pick up one more big bat somehow, and then look for a cheap veteran to really extend our bench and mitigate any platoon deficiencies we have.

If we could get Castellanos, Ozuna, Marte, Haniger, or someone like that while also adding a left handed (or switch hitting) utility man, I think I'd be happy with where our offense was. We have 4 guys at 2nd, SS, and 3rd who currently seem to hit lefties much better than righties at the moment. Brock Holt played every position on the field except for C, CF, and P in 2019. He also produced a 119 wRC+ against right handed pitching. He could be a very nice piece to move around the infield when needed. I'm less confident in Ben Zobrist, but he was terrific in 2018 when he put up a 125 wRC+ and was also very good against LHP when used. There are still some other candidates out there with interesting profiles as well.

If we could add a good right handed outfield bat and an infield bat that hit right handed pitching really well (who can play 3rd), I think the offense would end up being pretty good.

[Carp]

Looking at it, JD is making 23 per for the next 4 years. Either AA is out of money or he has a big plan B up his sleeve. I know 4 years is a big commitment for a 34 year old but I really hope AA didn’t shoot his wad on pitching.

While I haven't seen exact details of the deal, it's likely that the Twins are paying him 21 million as a 38 year old with an 8 millon dollar buyout. So they are essentially paying JD 29 million that last year. That is an extremely unwise move. I'm glad we didn't match that.

[BeanieAntics]

This is where we start talking ourselves into the "it will be ok" mantra.

If AA signed Smith after trading for Melancon and Greene and then was unable to address the biggest holes on the offense (or does address but has to give away the farm, harming the length of the window) then the offseason was a fail, no spin accepted.

If he is unable to add anything else to this team, then yeah the offseason was a fail. If he can add another 3-4 wins to the lineup, then the offseason was a great success in my opinion. If he adds another ~2 wins through going after cheap veterans who fit our lineup dynamic, then I still think it was a minor success. I think that team would be just as good as the 2019 squad.

[msstate7]

If we do try to get marte, get my miss st bulldog, Adam Frazier too. Frazier could be the lh bat to help our infield that all hit lhp better

[Slippyjms]

I think a solid lineup could be constructed with the pieces we already have on the roster if Snit would use them correctly.

Markakis/Swanson
Acuna
Albies
Freeman
d’Arnaud
Swanson/Duvall
Inciarte
Camargo

The lineup could definitely be upgraded but if the players are deployed correctly there is still a lot to like.

Of course we have Snit the twit running things so.....

[Carp]

I think it's probably harder to find a legit clean-up hitter than it is to find a couple solid bullpen arms or a decent back-of-the-rotation starter.

The market for rental sluggers who are likely to be available (i.e. on a non-contending team) is extremely barren as well. If that is the plan, we'd better hope the Red Sox suck it up make Mookie available.

[Carp]

I think a solid lineup could be constructed with the pieces we already have on the roster if Snit would use them correctly.

Markakis/Swanson
Acuna
Albies
Freeman
d’Arnaud
Swanson/Duvall
Inciarte
Camargo

The lineup could definitely be upgraded but if the players are deployed correctly there is still a lot to like.

Of course we have Snit the twit running things so.....

This is true. We several guys with sharp platoons that, if utilized properly, should produce league average or better results as a whole. I'm not super confident in Snit managing that properly though.

[nsacpi]

The Rays have Joey Wendle and Yandy Diaz to play third. They might be willing to part with one at reasonable cost.

[Hudson2]

So which one of Swanson, Ender, Riley, Camargo, Markakis, Duval, Flowers, or TD do you want batting in the top 4? None of them fit that bill imo. They aren’t moving Acuna out of the leadoff spot so that option is out. They have to acquire a big bat that can hit cleanup bc we don’t have an in house option. The bullpen wasn’t an issue but spent over 20 million on it and the biggest hole going into the offseason (3b/cleanup hitter) hasn’t been filled with a month to ST. Hopefully AA is just waiting for the Bryant grievance to be settled.

[Southcack77]

So which one of Swanson, Ender, Riley, Camargo, Markakis, Duval, Flowers, or TD do you want batting in the top 4? None of them fit that bill imo. They aren’t moving Acuna out of the leadoff spot so that option is out. They have to acquire a big bat that can hit cleanup bc we don’t have an in house option. The bullpen wasn’t an issue but spent over 20 million on it and the biggest hole going into the offseason (3b/cleanup hitter) hasn’t been filled with a month to ST. Hopefully AA is just waiting for the Bryant grievance to be settled.

It's not a problem who bats 4th because we're all good at C and CF, I was told.

Not sure how the bullpen wasn't an issue though.

[Super]

This is where we start talking ourselves into the "it will be ok" mantra.

If AA signed Smith after trading for Melancon and Greene and then was unable to address the biggest holes on the offense (or does address but has to give away the farm, harming the length of the window) then the offseason was a fail, no spin accepted.

i don't think Melancon, Smith, and Greene are why AA didn't sign JD.
it seems to be as simple as this: he didn't want to give him 4 years. no matter what, i don't think AA was going to offer 4 years.

[Super]

The Rays have Joey Wendle and Yandy Diaz to play third. They might be willing to part with one at reasonable cost.

Wendle as the other half of a platoon with Camargo could work.

[nsacpi]

i don't think Melancon, Smith, and Greene are why AA didn't sign JD.
it seems to be as simple as this: he didn't want to give him 4 years. no matter what, i don't think AA was going to offer 4 years.

$18M to Hamels. It was at that point that I thought AA might be moving on from Donaldson.

And its the right move. Donaldson and Hamels are both being paid the market rate. But Hamels is on a one-year deal.

[Hudson2]

It's not a problem who bats 4th because we're all good at C and CF, I was told.

Not sure how the bullpen wasn't an issue though.

Yeah you were lied to lol. We just lost 39 homeruns and 100 rbi. That has to be made up somewhere and we can play the well what if this player this player and this player all have good rebound seasons? Bc we can always say well what if this person and this person regress some? Simple answer is we don’t have a replacement in house for what we just lost and it’s gonna cost prospects to replace it.

[nsacpi]

Wendle as the other half of a platoon with Camargo could work.

Yeah. I would guess we can get Wendle for a pitching prospect such as Touki, Weigel or Ynoa.

[nsacpi]

So which one of Swanson, Ender, Riley, Camargo, Markakis, Duval, Flowers, or TD do you want batting in the top 4? None of them fit that bill imo. They aren’t moving Acuna out of the leadoff spot so that option is out. They have to acquire a big bat that can hit cleanup bc we don’t have an in house option. The bullpen wasn’t an issue but spent over 20 million on it and the biggest hole going into the offseason (3b/cleanup hitter) hasn’t been filled with a month to ST. Hopefully AA is just waiting for the Bryant grievance to be settled.

I wouldn't make too much of who bats cleanup. Mix and match based on platoon matchups.

Donaldson is a big loss. But we'll make up for it on the pitching side of the equation.

[Slippyjms]

So which one of Swanson, Ender, Riley, Camargo, Markakis, Duval, Flowers, or TD do you want batting in the top 4? None of them fit that bill imo. They aren’t moving Acuna out of the leadoff spot so that option is out. They have to acquire a big bat that can hit cleanup bc we don’t have an in house option. The bullpen wasn’t an issue but spent over 20 million on it and the biggest hole going into the offseason (3b/cleanup hitter) hasn’t been filled with a month to ST. Hopefully AA is just waiting for the Bryant grievance to be settled.

See this is the problem. Refusing to move Acuna from the 1 spot and Freeman from the 3 spot forces them into sub optimal lineup positions. Neck’s strong OBP combined with overall lack of power would make a lot of sense in the 1 spot on a platoon basis. Swanson performed well at the top of the order last year as well so it would be reasonable to expect good offense from that spot if it was platooned.

[thewupk]

But, to be clear. My comments were not specifically in reference to C or CF.

The Braves had Josh Donaldson in 2019.

They got great years from Camargo and Markakis in 2018. I wouldn't recommend hoping that you can get the same kind of cobbled together production in 2020 out of essentially the same or same class of players as in 2018. It's possible, but not a great bet.

Right. 3B and a cOF are an issue. I don't think anyone would disagree with that.

[tululush]

i don't think Melancon, Smith, and Greene are why AA didn't sign JD.
it seems to be as simple as this: he didn't want to give him 4 years. no matter what, i don't think AA was going to offer 4 years.

This all day long. I wish people would take a moment and use their brain and realize this. We have money to spend. We elected not to invest 4 years on a 34 year old. It’s as simple as that.