Official 2024 Off-Season Thread!

zbhargrove said:
What about Yonny Chirinos? Dallas Keuchel was also about the same type of pitcher when we signed him... AA has a high velocity type he loves, but he signs plenty of soft tossers
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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).
 
Heyward said:
Kimbrel to the O's.
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Good for him. Should be a good opportunity to pad his Save count with about 30-40 saves this year. About 230 behind Rivera all time. Only 35, so a decent shot he could take it. Of course, Jansen is only a few months older with 3 more saves.
 
striker42 said:
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).
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93 is sort of borderline for soft tossers/flame throwers in this era. I wouldn't exactly call Cheerios a flame thrower. Also, you have Odorizzi, Milone, Anibal Sanchez, Cole Hamels, and even King Felix though he opted out when COVID hit.
 
Carp said:
93 is sort of borderline for soft tossers/flame throwers in this era. I wouldn't exactly call Cheerios a flame thrower. Also, you have Odorizzi, Milone, Anibal Sanchez, Cole Hamels, and even King Felix though he opted out when COVID hit.
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Honestly, I was excited when King Felix showed up and shoved in camp. It was a bummer COVID hit because he was making the team.
 
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.
 
Heyward said:
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.
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Honestly it shouldn't be that much. Maybe 10 million?
 
thewupk said:
Honestly it shouldn't be that much. Maybe 10 million?
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Michael King and Thorpe were two names mentioned, not sure what else. King has nasty stuff but he's 29 and about to get expensive, smart for NY to part with him if it means getting Soto. He'd go absolutely crazy in Yankee stadium.
 
striker42 said:
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).
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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.
 
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Carp said:
93 is sort of borderline for soft tossers/flame throwers in this era. I wouldn't exactly call Cheerios a flame thrower. Also, you have Odorizzi, Milone, Anibal Sanchez, Cole Hamels, and even King Felix though he opted out when COVID hit.
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Yes it was a silly take... AA has been on tons of soft tossers
 
Carp said:
93 is sort of borderline for soft tossers/flame throwers in this era. I wouldn't exactly call Cheerios a flame thrower. Also, you have Odorizzi, Milone, Anibal Sanchez, Cole Hamels, and even King Felix though he opted out when COVID hit.
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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.
 
striker42 said:
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.
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Again, you're acting like Gonzales was some sort of significant acquisition... he was straight up filler considering he was never in their plans in the first place.
 
zbhargrove said:
Again, you're acting like Gonzales was some sort of significant acquisition... he was straight up filler considering he was never in their plans in the first place.
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They basically bought Kelenic. Highly doubt AA gave a **** about getting White or Gonzales (they had to be in it since M's wanted their salaries off). If it was Kelenic straight up, we would have had to trade alot more than Phillips and Kowar.
 
zbhargrove said:
Yes it was a silly take... AA has been on tons of soft tossers
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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.
 
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