Looking Ahead - The 2020 Offseason Thread

skillet said:
Meanwhile we continue to do nothing to improve the very weak bench, and the pen could use one more good arm.
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It is a little strange. I thought AA was “holding out” for bargains....it appears that he’s just “holding on” to what money is left. He is a sharp guy and knows more about what he has than we do. He has to be holding onto cash for the chance of a big move. It might very well be him making a big move or not doing anything and going with what we have until the deadline (when things will be twice the cost).
 
The pen is fine. I suppose you can never have too many arms if you want to look at it from that view, but the bench should be the priority.

Maybe AA is trying to find a starting caliber 3b bat that will move Riley into a super sub role for a year. That would certainly be ideal. But, imo, we still need a better back-up SS than what we got. And bringing Flowers back would certainly be preferable to Jackson or Contreras right now, imo.

If not, then hopefully Shoemake and Pache are ready to contribute early this year.
 
Carp said:
The pen is fine. I suppose you can never have too many arms if you want to look at it from that view, but the bench should be the priority.

Maybe AA is trying to find a starting caliber 3b bat that will move Riley into a super sub role for a year. That would certainly be ideal. But, imo, we still need a better back-up SS than what we got. And bringing Flowers back would certainly be preferable to Jackson or Contreras right now, imo.

If not, then hopefully Shoemake and Pache are ready to contribute early this year.
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The pen is absolutely fine - IF they'll just do something I've been begging for for years. PLEASE convert some of these guys to pen-only guys while they're cheap!!!

Touki has everything you look for in a lockdown Closer - give him this year as a last chance to harness things and become a starter, but DO NOT spend $7 million trying to replace Martin next winter if he doesn't. If he can't make the necessary adjustments use him at the back-end of the pen and spend that money elsewhere. Same thing with Newcomb.

I agree 100% with those who believe in giving these guys every chance to start to keep their values as high as you can, but Wilson, Touki, and Newk aren't going to have any options left following 2021, and those are awfully good arms to just give away because a rebuilding team is willing to let them continue to try to start when they've proven they just can't do it.

Going through a rebuild that produced 60% of your rotation marks a huge success - don't let other potentially important pieces go to waste just because you couldn't turn them into starters too.
 
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TheBravos said:
It is a little strange. I thought AA was “holding out” for bargains....it appears that he’s just “holding on” to what money is left. He is a sharp guy and knows more about what he has than we do. He has to be holding onto cash for the chance of a big move. It might very well be him making a big move or not doing anything and going with what we have until the deadline (when things will be twice the cost).
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holding out cash??
AA has signed two pitchers and Ozuna so far this offseason. Ozuna was the bargain he was holding out for.
sure the bench needs to be sured up and i think it will.
i just can't understand the constant impatience.
 
Carp said:
The pen is fine. I suppose you can never have too many arms if you want to look at it from that view, but the bench should be the priority.

Maybe AA is trying to find a starting caliber 3b bat that will move Riley into a super sub role for a year. That would certainly be ideal. But, imo, we still need a better back-up SS than what we got. And bringing Flowers back would certainly be preferable to Jackson or Contreras right now, imo.

If not, then hopefully Shoemake and Pache are ready to contribute early this year.
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Pen currently looks like this:

Lefties: Smith, Matzek, Minter, Newk

Righties: Martin, Jackson, Touki, Tomlin

Other contenders: Dayton, Muller, Pfeifer and Davidson on the lefty side, and Wilson, Wright, Ynoa and Weigel among the righties.

I wouldn't mind bringing back Greene, but it looks like we have enough.
 
i'm quite confident AA knows the current bench is no where near good enough and it has to be addressed.
just like with Ozuna 2.5 weeks ago, why don't we see what actually happens instead of complaining every step of the way?
 
Super said:
holding out cash??
AA has signed two pitchers and Ozuna so far this offseason. Ozuna was the bargain he was holding out for.
sure the bench needs to be sured up and i think it will.
i just can't understand the constant impatience.
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Correct. AA has said many times that he will not spend his whole budget, to save money in case he needs to make a move.
 
Super said:
holding out cash??
AA has signed two pitchers and Ozuna so far this offseason. Ozuna was the bargain he was holding out for.
sure the bench needs to be sured up and i think it will.
i just can't understand the constant impatience.
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I think the impatience relates to the fact that we are seeing some reasonable signings (Miller, Cabrera) that would have helped this team and there's puzzlement as to why that route wasn't taken. There aren't a lot of decent options that truly fit left out there. If they spring the DH on us, Gardner makes sense, but unless they see Camargo as a viable IF option, I'm having a difficult time completely following the logic.
 
nsacpi said:
Pen currently looks like this:

Lefties: Smith, Matzek, Minter, Newk

Righties: Martin, Jackson, Touki, Tomlin

Other contenders: Dayton, Muller, Pfeifer and Davidson on the lefty side, and Wilson, Wright, Ynoa and Weigel among the righties.

I wouldn't mind bringing back Greene, but it looks like we have enough.
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Like others, I would prefer a RHP be added to this group, but the BP is good enough. It can certainly be augmented at the deadline.

The bench is not even close to good enough. Several quality options are still out there, and I expect AA to grab 2-3 of them.

This idea that AA is holding out for some bigger move and/or the addition of the DH is intriguing, but I don’t know what that big move could possibly be. JBJ perhaps? He fits even without the DH.
 
nsacpi said:
Pen currently looks like this:

Lefties: Smith, Matzek, Minter, Newk

Righties: Martin, Jackson, Touki, Tomlin

Other contenders: Dayton, Muller, Pfeifer and Davidson on the lefty side, and Wilson, Wright, Ynoa and Weigel among the righties.

I wouldn't mind bringing back Greene, but it looks like we have enough.
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I'm not liking the RH part of the bullpen equation at this point if those are the guys that go north. I don't trust Toussaint in any type of high leverage situation. Maybe he's a decent piggy-back option. I'm not saying I would have brought back Melancon or would bring back Greene, but I just think there needs to be one more guy out there among the RHs. If Ynoa could develop a solid "out" pitch, he may be something. It seems--and I could be wrong--that most of his wildness comes from not being able to put guys away as opposed to Toussaint's inability to find the strike zone.
 
Super said:
i'm quite confident AA knows the current bench is no where near good enough and it has to be addressed.
just like with Ozuna 2.5 weeks ago, why don't we see what actually happens instead of complaining every step of the way?
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Thats exactly what i am thinking people complained about Nick Markakis but want more old players to take development time from the newcomers. Season is long people get hurt and the budget is not the best.
 
50PoundHead said:
I'm not liking the RH part of the bullpen equation at this point if those are the guys that go north. I don't trust Toussaint in any type of high leverage situation. Maybe he's a decent piggy-back option. I'm not saying I would have brought back Melancon or would bring back Greene, but I just think there needs to be one more guy out there among the RHs. If Ynoa could develop a solid "out" pitch, he may be something. It seems--and I could be wrong--that most of his wildness comes from not being able to put guys away as opposed to Toussaint's inability to find the strike zone.
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We also have Victor Arano, Carl Edwards Jr and Nate Jones, all right handers with prior success vying for a spot.
 
CyYoung31 said:
Yeah, I picked the Mets to win the division last year in a short season. They’re good, but they have to remain healthy. So do the Braves, for that matter. But the Braves have a little more ability to make trades if something goes awry. This race will probably come down to who can stay healthiest.

Not worried about the other teams in the division.
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The Braves are so reluctant to make moves and the Mets seem so determined to make a splash that I'm not sure the Braves will make more moves to improve down the stretch.

I assume the Mets will be less than the sum of their parts and the Braves will be more like every year though.
 
nsacpi said:
Pen currently looks like this:

Lefties: Smith, Matzek, Minter, Newk

Righties: Martin, Jackson, Touki, Tomlin

Other contenders: Dayton, Muller, Pfeifer and Davidson on the lefty side, and Wilson, Wright, Ynoa and Weigel among the righties.

I wouldn't mind bringing back Greene, but it looks like we have enough.
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Need another high leverage righty for me to be comfortable, but I guess that could come any time.
 
Carp said:
Padres are gonna be super tough this year.
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I don't really understand where the Padres are finding the cash to set payroll records and commit to even more beyond this season.

I'm not sure that all their moves have been the wisest, but they are certainly going at it.

If it doesn't work It's going to be interesting to see the damage.
 
50PoundHead said:
I think the impatience relates to the fact that we are seeing some reasonable signings (Miller, Cabrera) that would have helped this team and there's puzzlement as to why that route wasn't taken. There aren't a lot of decent options that truly fit left out there. If they spring the DH on us, Gardner makes sense, but unless they see Camargo as a viable IF option, I'm having a difficult time completely following the logic.
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there are still options tho.
i remember having this exact conversation before Ozuna signed. we ran thru the guys who had signed already and how they would've been a fit, and how AA might've missed out. i don't think AA is dumb enough to leave the bench the way it is, so i'll choose patience.
 
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