2025-2026 offseason thread

There’s no way AA makes this gamble on Kim unless he has significant cash to spend in 2026, or is now completely incompetent.

So I’m going to assume we are correct when we say AA has $100M to spend in 2026. It’s a pretty good gamble to take at a position of extreme need with Allen as a reasonable fallback
 
This is definitely a signal AA will have plenty to spend. If Kim's back is ok and he'll have a full offseason to heal up this could be a big pickup for 1 year. SS might have just been crossed off the to do list. Go get Tucker and Cease in the offseason.
 
I like the Kim move, but we should be open to the possibility that he's toast at this point. His player profile at his peak -- excellent defender at shortstop, solid on base skills, minimal power -- is a pretty fragile build. It doesn't leave a lot of room for a graceful decline. Much like a visitor at Cy's mom's house, the cliff can come hard and fast for a player like that. Add in back and shoulder injuries, and it seems very possible there's just no there there at this point.

But I'd rather bet on Kim than on another season of Nick Allen, especially because we get to keep Allen as a backup option anyway.
 
MadduxFanII said:
I like the Kim move, but we should be open to the possibility that he's toast at this point. His player profile at his peak -- excellent defender at shortstop, solid on base skills, minimal power -- is a pretty fragile build. It doesn't leave a lot of room for a graceful decline. Much like a visitor at Cy's mom's house, the cliff can come hard and fast for a player like that. Add in back and shoulder injuries, and it seems very possible there's just no there there at this point.

But I'd rather bet on Kim than on another season of Nick Allen, especially because we get to keep Allen as a backup option anyway.
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Luckily it's just a 1 year thing if he invokes his player option.
 
No discussion of Brujan at all.

He is not a world class player, but seems to be a solid defender who can play several positions and is a better hitter than Nick. I love Nick’s glove, but I don’t see a lot of dropoff from him to Vidal, and the additional position flexibility is valuable.

I suspect that both will be in ST with an opportunity to fight for the backup IF spot on the bench.

Then there is also Nacho who probably isn’t a starter unless either Riley or Ozzie is not available. What do you do with him?

Lots of good, but not good enough to play every day type guys fighting for a very limited number of roster spots.

Does seem to suggest a stronger bench than this year, especially with Fraley and Eli waiting in the background looking for a spot.
 
MadduxFanII said:
I like the Kim move, but we should be open to the possibility that he's toast at this point. His player profile at his peak -- excellent defender at shortstop, solid on base skills, minimal power -- is a pretty fragile build. It doesn't leave a lot of room for a graceful decline. Much like a visitor at Cy's mom's house, the cliff can come hard and fast for a player like that. Add in back and shoulder injuries, and it seems very possible there's just no there there at this point.

But I'd rather bet on Kim than on another season of Nick Allen, especially because we get to keep Allen as a backup option anyway.
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His power, while it hasn't been great, is .40 points better on the road for his career. That suggests that Petco suppressed his power numbers fairly significantly. He was never likely to be a 25 homer hitter in the majors, but I do think he would have been a 15-20 homer sort of hitter in more of a neutral park.

He doesn't have enough PAs this season to make any firm conclusions, but I do find it interesting that his EVs, bat speed, squared up %, and hard hit rates would all represent career highs if he maintained those for a full season. I am cautiously optimistic here. I am probably more concerned about his defense and overall ability to stay healthy given the shoulder surgery.

With Kim, I do feel more comfortable about Murphy being on the team in 2026 now, assuming Kim exercises his player option. He was our best trading chip to find a SS this off-season. Now that we appear to have that covered, all of the other holes can be filled fairly easy via FA. Murphy now becomes a luxury we can absolutely afford to keep, at least for another season. I would still try to move him personally, but I no longer find it a necessity.
 
Carp said:
Not too strong. With the SS market barren, he would for sure decline his player option if he posted like a .900+ OPS in Sept. That is unless we negotiated an extension.
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I know this is unlikely, but if your scenario happens, I wonder if we would consider a qualifying offer on him. It was worth $21 million last offseason, and if we're already willing to spend $16 million on Kim, would a big September make us willing to spend $5 million more - or at least get another draft pick if he turns that down?

All of that seems really unlikely, just something that crossed my mind.
 
CJ9 said:
I know this is unlikely, but if your scenario happens, I wonder if we would consider a qualifying offer on him. It was worth $21 million last offseason, and if we're already willing to spend $16 million on Kim, would a big September make us willing to spend $5 million more - or at least get another draft pick if he turns that down?

All of that seems really unlikely, just something that crossed my mind.
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Can you make a QO to a player that refuses an option?
 
I think even with a big Sept, he wouldn't turn down the guarantee of 16 million. This is a good pillow deal that would allow him to show he is really healthy and get a bigger contract. If he went out on the FA market with 100 or so PA, he would not get 16 million AAV imo..
 
bravesfanMatt said:
I think even with a big Sept, he wouldn't turn down the guarantee of 16 million. This is a good pillow deal that would allow him to show he is really healthy and get a bigger contract. If he went out on the FA market with 100 or so PA, he would not get 16 million AAV imo..
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If he is healthy and starts the remaining games, he should finish with around 175 PAs. If he hits really well in Sept. I could easily see him declining the offer because the SS market is just so bad. Someone would give him 2/30 or better.

Realistically though, he probably has a .750 OPS or worse in Sept and he exercises the option.
 
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