McCann was one of the best rated catchers at framing pitches. Something AJ sucks at.
Yep. Mac was never any sort of Molina, but he's always been an excellent receiving catcher.
McCann was one of the best rated catchers at framing pitches. Something AJ sucks at.
If I'm hired as GM, my first action shall be hiring Anna Kendrick as my assistant GM.
That's the kind of **** that got Frank Wren fired. Running off the respected veteran baseball people and hiring crushy starlets to replace them.
An older lefty power hitter having a resurgence in Yankee stadium with awful road splits. I mean even Tex is having a resurgent year there. You want him back? AJ does all the other things just as well if not better than Mac... And Mac definitely would not hit near as well away from Yankee stadium.
You guys are all fired for sexual harrasment
ajc has an article grading each trade......some harsh grades.
OK, since I've got a few minutes, why not?
1.) Trade Chris Johnson and $10 million to the Mutts for Akeel Morris. They get him for free the rest of 2015 (~$3,000,000) and get $4,000,000 each of the next 2 years to pay roughly half of what he's owed the rest of the way. We get a potential bullpen arm with upside.
2.) Trade Cameron Maybin to the Royals for Greg Holland, and sign Holland to a 3 year $30,000,000 extension through 2018. Losing Cam will hurt, but Greg's another local kid who may very well sign a below-market deal to stay close to home - he's building a house near here and his first kid just turned 1, so he and his wife would love to be close to the Grandparents. Move Peraza to CF in Gwinnett for the rest of the season to be ready for Opening Day next spring - explain the reasoning behind the move to Mallex and send him back down to Mississippi to continue developing. If he keeps progressing as hoped, you can move Peraza next winter if necessary (or he could become the super-utility guy if/when Mallex forces him into that role).
3.) Trade Alex Wood to the Rockies for Ryan McMahon. Moving Alex clears up part of the future rotation glut, and McMahon could easily be the long-term answer at 3B.
4.) Re-sign KJ for 2 years and $5,000,000 to be one of the utility guys and give you pop on the bench.
5.) Re-sign Juan Uribe for 1 year and $7,000,000 to be the stopgap until McMahon (or Ruiz) is ready.
6.) Re-sign A. J. Pierzynski for 1 year and $2,500,000 to back Bethancourt up in 2016 - whether everyone on the board likes him or not, he's obviously been really good in the clubhouse.
7.) Sign a veteran RP for 1 year and $2,500,000 to add stability in the pen (Johnson would be great if he's not traded, but whatever solid veteran you can get for that amount works).
8.) Sign David Price for 7 years and $200 million ($28.571,429 per) to head the rotation and replace the lefty you lose by trading Wood.
9.) Sign Justin Upton for 7 years and $175 million ($25 million per) to be Freeman's protection again.
10.) Re-sign Pedro Ciriaco and Eury Perez for 1 year and $600,000 each to fill out the bench as multi-position options and promote Daniel Castro to be the 25th Man.
2016 Roster
Lineup: 2B- Peterson, CF- Peraza, 1B- Freeman, LF- Upton, RF- Markakis, 3B- Uribe, SS- Simmons, C- Bethancourt
Bench: Pierzynski, KJ, Perez, Ciriaco, Castro
Rotation: Price, Miller, Teheran, Banuelos, Wisler (Folty, Williams Perez, and Tyrell Jenkins in the wings at Gwinnett)
Pen: Holland, Johnson/Veteran, Vizcaino, Simmons, Avilan, Withrow, McKirahan (with Grilli a potential addition when healthy)
Total Roster Cost - $131,899,287 (including Arroyo and Cahill's buyouts and the $4,000,000 payout to the Mutts for taking Johnson)
OK, since I've got a few minutes, why not?
1.) Trade Chris Johnson and $10 million to the Mutts for Akeel Morris. They get him for free the rest of 2015 (~$3,000,000) and get $4,000,000 each of the next 2 years to pay roughly half of what he's owed the rest of the way. We get a potential bullpen arm with upside.
2.) Trade Cameron Maybin to the Royals for Greg Holland, and sign Holland to a 3 year $30,000,000 extension through 2018. Losing Cam will hurt, but Greg's another local kid who may very well sign a below-market deal to stay close to home - he's building a house near here and his first kid just turned 1, so he and his wife would love to be close to the Grandparents. Move Peraza to CF in Gwinnett for the rest of the season to be ready for Opening Day next spring - explain the reasoning behind the move to Mallex and send him back down to Mississippi to continue developing. If he keeps progressing as hoped, you can move Peraza next winter if necessary (or he could become the super-utility guy if/when Mallex forces him into that role).
3.) Trade Alex Wood to the Rockies for Ryan McMahon. Moving Alex clears up part of the future rotation glut, and McMahon could easily be the long-term answer at 3B.
4.) Re-sign KJ for 2 years and $5,000,000 to be one of the utility guys and give you pop on the bench.
5.) Re-sign Juan Uribe for 1 year and $7,000,000 to be the stopgap until McMahon (or Ruiz) is ready.
6.) Re-sign A. J. Pierzynski for 1 year and $2,500,000 to back Bethancourt up in 2016 - whether everyone on the board likes him or not, he's obviously been really good in the clubhouse.
7.) Sign a veteran RP for 1 year and $2,500,000 to add stability in the pen (Johnson would be great if he's not traded, but whatever solid veteran you can get for that amount works).
8.) Sign David Price for 7 years and $200 million ($28.571,429 per) to head the rotation and replace the lefty you lose by trading Wood.
9.) Sign Justin Upton for 7 years and $175 million ($25 million per) to be Freeman's protection again.
10.) Re-sign Pedro Ciriaco and Eury Perez for 1 year and $600,000 each to fill out the bench as multi-position options and promote Daniel Castro to be the 25th Man.
2016 Roster
Lineup: 2B- Peterson, CF- Peraza, 1B- Freeman, LF- Upton, RF- Markakis, 3B- Uribe, SS- Simmons, C- Bethancourt
Bench: Pierzynski, KJ, Perez, Ciriaco, Castro
Rotation: Price, Miller, Teheran, Banuelos, Wisler (Folty, Williams Perez, and Tyrell Jenkins in the wings at Gwinnett)
Pen: Holland, Johnson/Veteran, Vizcaino, Simmons, Avilan, Withrow, McKirahan (with Grilli a potential addition when healthy)
Total Roster Cost - $131,899,287 (including Arroyo and Cahill's buyouts and the $4,000,000 payout to the Mutts for taking Johnson)
What I appreciate most about clvclv's proposal is that it illustrates the financial wherewithal to add major pieces, at completely realistic market value, without breaking the bank or ransacking the farm system ... all while moving into contention status in 2016.
My only real quibble would be the Holland trade (believing that one of Folty/Vizcaino slides into that role). Saving that $10MM would still give the Braves ~$30MM additional to play with if you believe the Braves can/will take the payroll to $150MM by 2017.
That's a solid team. To nitpick it a bit:
2) I'd never give up anything of significant value for a closer. Beyond that, speculating about hometown discounts is wishful thinking. These guys' max earning windows are so short—particularly true of relief pitchers—that one could argue that it's irrational for them to do anything other than be 100% mercenary. People do irrational things, sure, but perhaps not when they have a business manager and an agent in their ear.
9) Doubt it unless we vastly overpay.
I like bringing back KJ and Uribe. I doubt very seriously that the Mets take CJ or that Liberty opens the wallet to the tune of $131M. Both would be nice, though.
And for the record I never said AJ was better than Mac... I said besides the offense there's not a whole lot of difference. If you want an aging catcher that has shown substantial evidence of having trouble hitting away from a top 3 hitters ball park, you have fun with that. If we are going to make a play for a big time catcher... Please go for someone other than Mac.