Quake Griffin wrote:Price is a no go in QG's world. Here's why with a few things you got wrong in sizing him up***
1) he has another year with Detroit
2) he's struggled in the playoffs. Thank God he played in Tampa or he would have never heard the end of it.
3) He was only a reliever for the 08 team.
Shields, Kazmir, Garza, Sonnanstine handled the starts for that 08 team.
Now, i'm all about another ace....which is why I'm looking at Shields, Lester....asking about Sale...because I'm willing to try almost anything to bring in another ace.
I'm completely with you. It has to be another ace. If it's another serviceable pitcher who does well for us, he'll be pitching Kershaw again on 3 days rest in the NLDS....this is why it has to be an ace....someone with enough respect from Mattingly and a mandate from the public to where he can't justify sitting him in Game 4 of the NLDS.
it's truly protecting donnie from himself.
CC.
I meant Howie Kendrick. I'm a proponent of him taking over the duties at 2B. He's just a better player than Dee Gordon imo and has pop in his bat.
but I'm with you too....I want EA to start at SS. His glove is good enough to put up a 2 WAR imo even if he doesnt hit at all at the major league level.
Jeez, i didn't think Price had another year left! just checked the baseball reference and what do you know, he isn't a FA eligible until 2016. wtf. i guess my memories are failing me in my middle age already.
the issue at hand with Kendrick is then what do we do with Dee? I say sell him high while we can along with some toxic contracts to some sucka GM who thinks Dee's 60+ SB means gold.
Dee ranked above the average in terms of OPS+ for the first time in his career at whopping 101. that is exactly 1 point higher than the average major leaguer.
Kendrick on the other hand posted 115 OPS+ while posting his career worst SLG%. I think he can bounce back a bit on his slg% while keeping his OBP which was around .350.
which is more important?
i honestly the value between them isn't very large, but Kendrick still edges out dee despite all the flashes of his speed. Dee is younger by about 5 years, which is an asset but 2nd baseman with a decent pop with high OBP can play into his mid 30s easy. that gives us 4-6 years of serviceable years out of Howie and I like it. with his OBP he can be our leadoff, or bat in the 6th, or 7th, or if we have a good hitting catcher even the 8th hole. IF dee cannot leadoff, the only other spot for him is the 8th hole in NL.
one can make an argument that Dee is young and his OBP as well as SLG can improve in time while keeping his speed at its top notch shape. it can be a solid argument too. but however the main key that i see from all this is...
1) dumping bad contracts. put Dee in a package with say, Ethier or Crawford. no or little money going their way.
2) improving the infield defense. Erisbel and Kendrick would be rock solid up the middle of the infield.
3) covering Erisbel's offensive shortcomings. with Erisbel and Dee, it's hard to cover the weak bats but Kendrick can cover for Erisbel's plastic toy bat.
4)although it's a long shot, Kendrick's presence can time the arrival of Darnell Sweeney(the long shot guy). still at AA at age 23, he will be around 25 when he is ready for the majors. if Kendrick doesn't stay after 2015 season, 2016 would be the year Darnell arrives if all goes well as planned along with Seager.
