Looking Ahead - The 2020 Offseason Thread

truthfully i'm a little confused why the people who would've been happy with Asdrubal Cabrera aren't reasonably happy with Kipnis on a minor league deal. maybe i'm missing something, but are they that different? i prefer the lefty bat as well.
 
Super said:
truthfully i'm a little confused why the people who would've been happy with Asdrubal Cabrera aren't reasonably happy with Kipnis on a minor league deal. maybe i'm missing something, but are they that different? i prefer the lefty bat as well.
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Kipnis hasn't played 3B in over a decade - we have no clue whether he can handle it or not. As of this moment, the only alternative to Riley at 3B (if he struggles) is Camargo. Not sure that thought gives many people the warm and fuzzies.

If Kipnis was brought in as a potential alternative to Camargo, that's great - solid LH pinch-hitter and maybe even a defensive replacement for Ozuna once in a while. He has to show a whole lot defensively during camp if he's going to be an option to spell Riley IMO - I think he's probably athletic enough to play over there, but they don't typically put people at 2B if they have enough arm to play on the other side of the infield...I don't know that he can make the throws.
 
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nsacpi said:
y'all need to accept that Panda is Plan A, Plan B and Plan C

He is large, he contains multitudes.

He speaks the password primeval.

He understands the large hearts of heroes.
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Panda can only be one plan. It's very difficult to get Pandas to reproduce in captivity.

Kipnis is an interesting sign. He'd be a decent LHH off the bench. As Ocala said, if Swanson were to go down, you could slide Albies over to short and put Kipnis at 2B. The problem with Kipnis is he has no positional flexibility. He's a 2B. He's played some OF (25 innings) and one game at 1B, but he would be the bat bench and I think he's a better fit for that role than Panda.
 
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Mets about to get Rosenthal. Damnit. They have dramatically improved while we are content with minor league signing bull****.
 
skillet said:
Mets about to get Rosenthal. Damnit. They have dramatically improved while we are content with minor league signing bull****.
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Depends on the price, for sure, but Rosenthal is no great shakes.

Spending a lot on the bullpen is simply not smart.
 
Rosenthal had a nice 23 innings last year, but that was the first time he was any good since 2017. If the Mets got him for cheap, that's a reasonable deal for them. If they have to guarantee him any real money, it's probably not worth it.
 
50PoundHead said:
Panda can only be one plan. It's very difficult to get Pandas to reproduce in captivity.

Kipnis is an interesting sign. He'd be a decent LHH off the bench. As Ocala said, if Swanson were to go down, you could slide Albies over to short and put Kipnis at 2B. The problem with Kipnis is he has no positional flexibility. He's a 2B. He's played some OF (25 innings) and one game at 1B, but he would be the bat bench and I think he's a better fit for that role than Panda.
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I know there are plenty of folks who disagree - and completely understand why - but these nickel-and-dime signings for the bench just make it seem more and more like they think Waters and Shewmake are going to be ready to contribute sometime in 2021. Guys like Almonte, Demeritte, Panda, Mayfield, and Kipnis just scream "placeholders" to me.
 
50PoundHead said:
Kipnis is an interesting sign. He'd be a decent LHH off the bench. As Ocala said, if Swanson were to go down, you could slide Albies over to short and put Kipnis at 2B. The problem with Kipnis is he has no positional flexibility. He's a 2B. He's played some OF (25 innings) and one game at 1B, but he would be the bat bench and I think he's a better fit for that role than Panda.
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I'd like to see Ozzie given some games at short in spring training.
 
I love the depends on price crowds. We spent 18 million on a pitcher who pitched 4 innings. Sometimes you have to over pay to get guys that are better than minor league contracts guys. Sometimes you lose on those players. Sometimes you get 2019 JD and 2020 Ozuna. Sometimes you get 2020 Hamels.
 
skillet said:
Mets about to get Rosenthal. Damnit. They have dramatically improved while we are content with minor league signing bull****.
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Of course the Mets dramatically improved. They had a lot of holes to begin with. We were 90+ win caliber team in 2020 (the same as prior 2 seasons) and we also got better. The Mets simply closed the gap. We're both 90+ win caliber teams.
 
I am no expert on Kipnis or any of the other options discussed here, but it seems clear that AA has some sort of model that he uses to identify players who are due for big improvements in performance. He seems to come up with guys that we don’t expect to succeed on a regular basis.

He is not always right, but does come up with guys who surprise most every year. His record in that is impressive.

Most of them are signed with very little risk, so missing on a few is not a big deal.
 
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