Prospects and trade discussion

[Neddy]

what do you guys think about Brian Dozier as Utley's replacement? Twins are a gutter rank team and needs young, controllable starting pitchers. we have Stewart and Wood who will never get that chance with us but can bring us a small haul. they are never gonna trade Joe Mauer so they may wanna get rid of one bad contract we can absorb and possibly get rid of. wonder if Stewart and Wood would be good enough to get Dozier AND Blankenhorn.... never hurts to accumulate young hot corners.

Maybe I'm being a homer, but I personally think Alex Wood is more valuable than Brian Dozier even if he's not a starter for us. I just don't like the idea of trading much for a second baseman unless he's the next coming of Roberto Alomar. Yeah, Dozier is fine defensively and addresses our need for a right-handed bat who hits lefties well but I'm wary of buying high on him. He hit 42 HRs this past season and 28 and 23 ,respectively, the seasons prior to that. However, he it a career high of .268 after lingering around .240 in previous seasons. His trade value will be bloated because his contract is so cheap. Plus, he turned it on in the 2nd half of the season for his career year. Is it an awakening or an anomaly?

I feel like 2B prospects are among the easiest prospects to draft given that it is not a premium position, generally speaking, in the proceedings. Likewise, I don't feel the need to pay premium prices for that particular position, especially when we have internal options like Kendrick, Hernandez, and Barnes already on the roster. Of course, none of those players have encouraging recent track records at the major-league level, but I just think the position can be handled ably by internal options. This is not like wasting time with Rollins over Seager. Personally, I'd love to give Barnes a shot at the starting job there even though he looks to be counted on as the team's backup C.

well, Dozier was just an example of a stopgap we can get still in his prime on a relatively short deal until we get our kids grown up to play in the bigs. I don't necessarily think Wood is trash either, and as a setup man who does not need to see the lineup more than once, he probably has more value to us, but he is still an established starter with a recognizable name to throw in. I honestly think the one to eventually succeed at second is ****. but he has to show he can hit much better than what he showed in 2016.

I saw that dodgersnation has already brought up the Royals' potential firesale to rebuild, and a trade for a cheapstake owned Orioles and their award winning closer Zack Britton so I don't think I need to go into a whole lot, but I do think it is very feasible to grab someone like Mike Moustakas who is going into his contract year at more than 8 million and coming off of an injured season, he would be available for one Stewart, or one Wood and possibly plus one low level mediocre prospect. MIke won't be much to add to our lineup as he is another LHB who is at best an average hitter, but his glove is what I am after if we do lose Turner. a cheap way to fortify the defense and start Barnes at 2nd if **** doesn't cut it offensively. Yordano has a good potential but I would rather side step that hot mess.

I would like to pry Joey Gallo off of the Rangers system especially now that he has hit his usual initial wall at every level he moved up to. only going to be 23 next season with massive power potential, but I doubt the Jon Daniels is dumb enough to depart with big Joe when Beltre could be retiring in next couple of seasons. Gallo too however, bats lefty. right handed power hitting has been hard to find for our franchise for some reason, and that is all the more reason why it is hard to just let Puig go when he is still so young and so damn cheap.

[Neddy]

WS is over. it is time to face the facts for this team.

#1. Otani is not coming. he stated in his post JS interview that he doesn't feel he is ready for the majors, and how glad he is that the Fighters gave him the chance to develop both his pitching and hitting. he also stated he wants to raise his fastball velocity before he comes over to America.

#2. only 3 teams since 1977 won back to back WS rings. its an odd year as well. we might as well claim to be the favorite although we are still in a transition.

#3. we need trades. we are not going to go all in on any FAs of any name this year. even Cespedes, the more I think about it, is not a fit for our long term picture. the trade targets should not be anyone in their 30s let alone in very late 20s unless their value is outstanding for long term projection.

[Neddy]

Kershaw, Maeda, Urias are locks.

De Leon is very likely to be given the first look.

McCarthy, Ryu will be looked at.

Wood and Stripling will be converted into relievers

Anderson will be released.

Stewart and Oaks are either kept in AAA for depth, or will be a part of trade packages.

I wish to have Jansen back and trade for Britton, but it will most likely be either or proposition and not both.

[Neddy]

position wise, we will probably end up signing Turner as there are very few 3rd base options. I think we will regret this move anything beyond 3 years or 3 years plus team or mutual option.

[Neddy]

I still think signing Matt Wieters is a good idea. we will have to ovepay him but as long as it is under 3 years, it is very beneficial to both him and Grandal. both switch hitters, with Yaz being a dominant from the left side, and Matt from the right side. Matt ( or Yaz depending on the situation ) can be a very enticing trade center piece.

I still wanna hang on to Puig. I know what Quake or many others would say about it, but I believe he still has an option left. if he becomes the unproductive headcase, back to OKC he goes.

Barnes needs a chance to play, period.

[Ranma]

position wise, we will probably end up signing Turner as there are very few 3rd base options. I think we will regret this move anything beyond 3 years or 3 years plus team or mutual option.

That could be mitigated if he moves over to 1B in 2 years when we hopefully pursue Machado in free agency. However, Bellinger is already the top prospect in our system after the graduation of Urias; he's even ahead of De Leon right now. We'll have to wait and see what Red Beard gets on the open market before we can determine if he's worth keeping.

[Neddy]

position wise, we will probably end up signing Turner as there are very few 3rd base options. I think we will regret this move anything beyond 3 years or 3 years plus team or mutual option.

That could be mitigated if he moves over to 1B in 2 years when we hopefully pursue Machado in free agency. However, Bellinger is already the top prospect in our system after the graduation of Urias; he's even ahead of De Leon right now. We'll have to wait and see what Red Beard gets on the open market before we can determine if he's worth keeping.

Im just afraid he is a 50 game suspension away from regression.

[Ranma]

I still think signing Matt Wieters is a good idea. we will have to ovepay him but as long as it is under 3 years, it is very beneficial to both him and Grandal. both switch hitters, with Yaz being a dominant from the left side, and Matt from the right side. Matt ( or Yaz depending on the situation ) can be a very enticing trade center piece.

I still wanna hang on to Puig. I know what Quake or many others would say about it, but I believe he still has an option left. if he becomes the unproductive headcase, back to OKC he goes.

Barnes needs a chance to play, period.

I'm onboard with your outlined plan. I don't see Grandal sticking with us beyond 3 more seasons and have actually been open to trading him away, hence, my pursuit of Lucroy. I've always liked Wieters and if we have both, it just might open the door for him to get regular playing time at 2B.

I'm also with you on Puig. I'm not necessarily opposed to trading him but there doesn't seem to be a deal worth making given his value is at a low point. He's a talented right-handed power hitter who fields RF well. He may opt for arbitration, but should still be relatively inexpensive. He's worth the gamble to wait on a little while longer. We can always trade him later for a similar return to what we'd get for him in the offseason.

[Ranma]

Im just afraid he is a 50 game suspension away from regression.

Wait. Do you think Manny Machado is a PED user or something?

[Neddy]

Im just afraid he is a 50 game suspension away from regression.

Wait. Do you think Manny Machado is a PED user or something?

No Turner is.

remember how he was giving all kinds of credit to Marlon Byrd? how his advises turned Justin's career around by shifting his momentum forward rather than staying back? then Byrd got busted for PED?

[Ranma]

No Turner is.

remember how he was giving all kinds of credit to Marlon Byrd? how his advises turned Justin's career around by shifting his momentum forward rather than staying back? then Byrd got busted for PED?

I see. I hope that's not true with Turner, especially since Friedman supposedly warned Grandal against using PEDs again unless he's just really telling him not to get caught. If Turner is on PEDs, I'd immediately move on from him given the rapid physical deterioration that follows from using such substances, not to mention the moral violation.

I'm giving Turner the benefit of the doubt because I have a soft spot for him but that connection with Byrd does raise suspicion.

[Neddy]

No Turner is.

remember how he was giving all kinds of credit to Marlon Byrd? how his advises turned Justin's career around by shifting his momentum forward rather than staying back? then Byrd got busted for PED?

I see. I hope that's not true with Turner, especially since Friedman supposedly warned Grandal against using PEDs again unless he's just really telling him not to get caught. If Turner is on PEDs, I'd immediately move on from him given the rapid physical deterioration that follows from using such substances, not to mention the moral violation.

I'm giving Turner the benefit of the doubt because I have a soft spot for him but that connection with Byrd does raise suspicion.

the bigger red flag should be his minor league stats along with his major league stats prior to joining us. his sudden stat increase especially in power department. look at his year by year HR total. 2006, 6 HRs. 2007, 10. 2008, 8. 2009, 2. 2010, 12. 2011, 4. 2012, 3. 2013, 2 HRs. 2014, 7. then suddenly he somehow found the power he never got to channel at any age in his 20s, to hit 16 HRs in around 400 ABs in the majors which he never could have done in the minors. this year at age 31, he hit 27. this is not normal. this reeks of Barry Bonds' sudden spike in the long ball department late in his career. you look at the career path of every slugger in the history of MLB since 1880s, you don't find this type of success unless PED was involved.

[Neddy]

shoot, it's already 11 and I start my office at 7. I need to be there by 6:30. good night my friend. we will continue our usual debate over how to improve our beloved dodgers tomorrow.

[Quake Griffin]

especially since Friedman supposedly warned Grandal against using PEDs

??????

[Ranma]

??????

I just remember Friedman (I'm pretty sure it was him) shortly after trading for Grandal saying in an interview that the organization made him aware that a repeat of his PED use was unacceptable or frowned upon. This stood out to me because one of the misgivings I had about Grandal was his violation of the MLB drugs/substance policy along with his purported discord with the Padres' starting pitchers.

[Ranma]

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[Quake Griffin]

Willie is fat

[Neddy]

I honestly feel Willie is built like a third baseman.

I was thinking Uribe, but possibly Panda. hopefully he doesn't grow that large. but still love his swing.

like Bellinger's swing too, pretty quick through the plate. he does have a long swing.
too bad he throws left. would have loved to given him a try at the hot corner as well. it would make signing Turner a much easier decision if we could have transitioned one of the position prospects as the future 3rd baseman, then Turner could be moved to first after Gonzo is done. as of right now, Kyle Farmer is about the only one near the majors who can play third, not counting Barnes who seems to be projected as the next backup catcher, and Kyle is truly your average trade bait. but if we could make Willie a respectable defensive 3rd baseman, not elite, but just average, he could help a ton.

[Quake Griffin]

MLB Prospects rates his arm as a 45. I havent read anything different about his arm. I don't view Turner as having a cannon but it is something I'd like coming from that side of the mound.

Uribe and Panda have incredible arms.

Willie needs to just lose some weight so we can either play him at 2nd or move him around different positions.
He's trade bait to me.

[Neddy]

so, officically Kazmir is staying.

who stays and who goes?

my candidate for untouchables; Kershaw/Urias
possible trade bait if the deal is too good to pass up; De Leon, Maeda
probables on the block ; Kazmir, McCarthy
staying with the team in some capacity on the active roster; Wood, Stripling
probably starting in AAA or on DL; Stewart, Ryu.

what do you guys think?

this is all without consideration of any free agents signing, which I think it is possible we get Hill back. maybe I am completely off with it but what else are we gonna be doing during these 4 months without baseball?