the 2014 OffSeason Thread.

[Neddy]

yea, the reports are out there.

he's going to be 34. good glove. but doesnt get on base for ****.
smfh.


hopefully there aren't too many cooks in the kitchen (in our front office).

well to be honest, I think this is a brilliant move. Alexi is 34 but after reading up on this, it looks like we are trading for his last 2 years of the contract, not signing him to some long term free agent deal. if the sox want Guerrero or Erisbel, we get to wash our hands on their deals and acquire a proven defensive short stop who may not have OBP but has better than average SLG for a SS to compensate on overall OPS. I think he makes a pretty decent 6 or 7th hole batsman. he isn't Hanley in terms of offense but he will definitely strengthen up the middle defense.

if true, we are trying to cut the hanley's money in half for another proven commodity so if we can dump one of the other two young Cuban SSs, we save around 15 mil? not a bad move. I like it.

on top of it all, having him expire the year after Uribe allows us to tinker with Seager at 3rd base and see if he can stick there. not all SSs can convert to 3B. if it turns out Seager is not going to cut it at 3rd, then we can move him back to his natural SS when Alexi is done, or make room else where. if by the start of 2017, Gonzo can't play everyday first base anymore, we can even contemplate trading Gonzo out to AL for him to be a DH and move Seager to 1B.

[Quake Griffin]

I'm trusting Lord Friedman and Co. My measly thoughts about his OBP don't mean much.

You see that we're talking to Russ Mart?
You see the report on ESPN about how Friedman has analytics on pitch framing and Martin is much better at it than Ellis?


We either don't care about the 1st round pick or we expect to get a compensatory pick for Hanley.

I'd like to pick up Kendrick at 2nd for losing Hanley but it's whatever.
looks like these guys have the moves up their sleeves.


wonder if they'll go after scherzer.

[Neddy]

I'm trusting Lord Friedman and Co. My measly thoughts about his OBP don't mean much.

You see that we're talking to Russ Mart?
You see the report on ESPN about how Friedman has analytics on pitch framing and Martin is much better at it than Ellis?


We either don't care about the 1st round pick or we expect to get a compensatory pick for Hanley.

I'd like to pick up Kendrick at 2nd for losing Hanley but it's whatever.
looks like these guys have the moves up their sleeves.


wonder if they'll go after scherzer.

looking at the teams listed, we are the team that will probably offer him the most. I am hesitant to bring in Russ with a long term deal, but maybe this means that we aren't looking to dip down the lux tax?

with no regard for the cap or taxes, Russ is better than AJ and there is no argument in that. that includes what you mentioned.

as far as mr Heterochromia Iridius, we better get his guy. his wWAR as i said, is not even comparable to any other free agent out there. and frankly, if Scherzer joins us, he is the #2 man. it will be Kershaw - Max - Greinke - Ryu - Haren. now that's a rotation even Donnie Saltyballs can't deny in playoffs.

[Quake Griffin]

Greinke's gonna opt out for sure if we bump him to #3

[Neddy]

Greinke's gonna opt out for sure if we bump him to #3

in that case announce him to be our season opening starter.


but he will probably opt out anyway, anyhow

[Quake Griffin]

check this out

http://www.dodgersnation.com/andrew-fri ... 2014/11/08

[Quake Griffin]

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/mlb/stor ... sco-giants

and didn't we have a GM who did this already?

meh...calling it studying is being generous for what Ned did.
We had a GM who just took their players when they got old n overpaid them.


just bring me in a damn championship.
i don't want an NL West title. I want a ring.....and I want a dominant ring. Not this bull sneak in the playoffs win stuff.

[Neddy]

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/mlb/story/_/id/11838260/dodgers-general-manager-farhan-zaidi-plans-study-san-francisco-giants

and didn't we have a GM who did this already?

meh...calling it studying is being generous for what Ned did.
We had a GM who just took their players when they got old n overpaid them.


just bring me in a damn championship.
i don't want an NL West title. I want a ring.....and I want a dominant ring. Not this bull sneak in the playoffs win stuff.

that would be a fair assessment of Ned Colletti.

I remember Ned justifying signing a washed up Andruw Jones by saying that he made a ballpark dimensions comparison and his long flies in Atlanta would have been home runs in dodger stadium... without any understanding of the physics of baseball traveling in a thin air... the Dodger Stadium is one of the closer to the sea level ballparks in the league at 267 feet. the Atlanta played the highest altitude ball park in the entire majors, until the Colorado Rockies was created, at well over a thousand feet. there is a reason why the Braves' stadium was called a "launching pad" for decades.

I wonder if this "study" means we are gonna start juicing our players. all I will say to that is... don't get caught.

[Neddy]

based on the rumor that Andrew and the company are looking to package Kemp and Crawford, I think we should look to dump their contract in its entirety to the Mariners, as they are looking to gain a right handed power hitting OF. Crawford can still displace one of the corners. I see Crawford - Austin Jackson - Kemp outfield with Ackley being their 4th OF and Michael Saunders on the block for a trade. Michael Saunders i believe is arbitration eligible and as much as mariners wouldn't want to pay an extra dollar on a 4th OF, he still is under team control for a while to be lucrative to another club.

in return, i want their top prospects. Alex Jackson to start with, then DJ peterson. if they won't part with top two prospects of their farm, I want Patrick Kiviehan long with Jackson and a ML relief pitcher.

[Quake Griffin]

u think they'd give us top prospects when theyre taking on Crawford's deal?


btw.
Hiroki Kuroda....not extended a Qualifying Offer by the Yankees.

if no Scherzer....i like the idea of picking him up. stays healthy.

[Neddy]

u think they'd give us top prospects when theyre taking on Crawford's deal?


btw.
Hiroki Kuroda....not extended a Qualifying Offer by the Yankees.

if no Scherzer....i like the idea of picking him up. stays healthy.

well here are some things to think about tho.

they already have a gold glove 3rd baseman who is still very young in Kyle Seager. they don't need not just one, but two top 3rd base prospects. these kids are trade baits at this point, unless something dramatic happens, such as Kyle getting traded out (which i can't see as he is their fan favorite) or an unfortunate career ending injury.

they are in desperate need for a power hitting right handed OFer. their line up is way too left handed and they need someone to protect Cano. Kemp is that man. Mariners have been in rumors of wanting to trade for Kemp when Kemp was in bad shape. now he has proven he can hit again, they would love to have him, even consider giving him the center to please him.

Crawford is the price they have to pay in order to get Kemp.

they have a young promising catcher who is already a major leaguer at age 23 in Mike Zunino. this kid may not have much contact, hitting around .200 back to back years, but he jacked 22 HRs. he is a career .290-sh hitter from the minors, which means at some point he will figure it about to at least finish his career hitting around .240 ish. a catcher hitting .240 ish and hit 20 to 30 HRs a season who is a pretty good defensive catcher? hell if they don't want him, I want him for the dodgers next season.

so it is really do they want to give up a sure thing in Mike Zunino, or a prospect who may reach that level in Alex Jackson. I think they keep Mike and give Alex away for Kemp.

but if not, I will take Mike Zunino and one of the 3rd base prospects. if they truly balk at the prospects we are asking, we can throw in Zack Lee as they are desperate for some starting pitching on cheap.


and YES i agree with the idea that if Max isn't in our cards, Hiroki is the perfect 4th starter. heck at this point of his advanced age, we can use him as our 5th and give him more rest through out the season to save him for the playoffs. Haren is an inning eater and a work horse, but we all know Donnie won't start him comes october.

[Quake Griffin]

http://baseball.realgm.com/src_wiretap_ ... _kendrick/

just can't even imagine why he's not in a uniform right now.

DONT BE SCARED OF HIS AGE
BLACK DONT CRACK.
he's gonna be good until 35....easy.

[Neddy]

http://baseball.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/41212/20141111/angels_remain_open_to_trading_kendrick/

just can't even imagine why he's not in a uniform right now.

DONT BE SCARED OF HIS AGE
BLACK DONT CRACK.
he's gonna be good until 35....easy.

well then if Andrew and Co are trading away Ned's mistakes in Guerrero and Erisbel, are we moving Dee to SS because then we would only have Rojas on the roster and Seager needs another year. one thing that Ned did well was giving Uribe a 2 year deal to time Seagers arrival and as bad dee looked at SS before, now with an all star under his belt and more confident, he would do at least slightly better than Seager at SS.

If we are selling Dee high, then maybe we can dump one of the two salary wasting righty vet bullpen arms. who would love to have a guy who potentially can steal a 100 bases IF he got on base more? I think the D Backs and Tony La Russa comes to mind. how about the Yankees? Dee would inherit the SS from Jeter next season and they surely can absorb an albatross contract such as Wilson or League. it's not like Jeter was actually a defense stalworth. Jeter made routine plays look incredible by his limited range but a great arm. Dee has a decent arm with a great range. he just doesn't have a very good glove. I think the Yanks could take the bait. if this is the scenario, we obviously keep Erisbel.

having said that, if Kendrick joins us for say, Lee, and we give Dee away with Wilson, turn around and trade Kemp and Crawford for Alex Jackson and Michael Saunders. ( i asked as many Mariner fans in last few days about this, and every one of them said they would in a heartbeat.) we now have the room to sign Scherzer.

if we sign Russell Martin on top of that, then

the rotation

Kershaw
Greinke
Scherzer
Ryu
Haren

the Pen

Jensen
Howell
Baez
Frias
Paco
Dominguez
League

the lineup


L CF Joc
R 2B Kendrick
L 1B Gonzo
R RF Puig
L LF Ethier / R LF Van Slyke
R C Martin
R 3B Uribe
R SS Erisbel

the bench

R Turner
R/L of the LF
R C AJ or Butera but not both
L OF Michael Saunders. still relatively young, a decent contact hitter who can really get on base and play all 3 OF.
R SS Rojas. we need more than Turner to play the backup SS minutes.

this will be your classic Pitch and Defense team. four Aces and strong up the middle.

if Dee is kept,

L SS Dee
R RF Puig
L 1B Gonzo
R LF Van Slyke / L Ethier
R C Martin
R 2B Kendrick
L CF Joc
R 3B Uribe

we give up some on defense with Dee in there at SS, but our lineup is lengthened and have threat to hit at all position players other than the pitcher.

if money allows, we could go after a reliever like Robertson to add to our bullpen but four Aces and Jensen to close look pretty damn good to start here.

[Neddy]

San Diego just won the blind bid on Kwang-Hyun Kim of South Korea through posting 2 million dollars.

I am sure this is not Logan White's doing, as he is a terrible pitcher. he did post some good numbers and won their ERA title once, but between injuries and swinging of luck, he has been pretty terrible. just because Ryu succeeded, does not mean every who's who from KBO will do well.

Kim is a lefty for SK Wyverns ( I had to look that up, that is a European style Dragon) and has a career WHIP of 1.364 from KBO which is probably close to AA here in the states. BTW, the lowest WHIP he posted in the last 4 years is 1.474. he seems to be over the hill at age 26. good luck to the Madres.

[Neddy]

Tigers resign VIctor Martinez. this means the Mariners will be going hard at hanley. We need Hanley going elsewhere so we can push the Kemp and Crawford package at them.

Stay tuned.

[Neddy]

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2014/11/w ... haren.html

Righty Dan Haren of the Dodgers has come up in trade chatter, but could retire if he is dealt away from Los Angeles, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports. Haren exercised a $10MM player option to stay on the west coast, and Heyman indicates that he might prefer to hang up his spikes than pitch for any other club but the cross-town Angels.

i think we just found our match.

send Haren plus Red or Fife to the Angels for Howie Kendrick.

then either trade Dee high or move him back to SS. I know Dee's first year as a part timer he posted worse defensive metrics* than Hanley but I doubt we will see that again.

PS- just looked up fangraphs for defensive metrics. neither are impressive but Dee comes out on top by a mile at minus 1.3 while posting 3.1 WAR and Hanley posted minus 6.1 and 3.4 WAR.

compared to that, Howie Kendrick posted plus 8.8 def and 4.6 WAR. he is a definite improvement. hell, for that i might even give them Haren and Lee, but asking some additional prospects in return.

*footnote. in 2012 season he posted negative 10.1 Def as a shortstop. I highly doubt he will ever pull something like that ever again in any position excluding catcher.

[Neddy]

oh and something else here to consider. I would rather keep Miguel Rojas over Erisbel Arruebarruena. I know this sounds crazy but check out their defensive stats. Rojas is a head and neck above Erisbel while both hit like crap.
I think we should find ways to trade both Guerrero and Erisbel and wash our hands clean from Ned's idiocy.

oh and Drew Butera, defensively, is nearly twice the value above AJ and nearly 3 times above Tim Fed.

[Quake Griffin]

not a fan of Dee Gordon being ruled a Super 2 from the team's perspective.

never gon completely hate on a young brotha gettin money though. wish more of us played.


but it could help us in the long run if we get him on a good deal instead of going year to year.
could make him beautiful trade bait.

[Neddy]

not a fan of Dee Gordon being ruled a Super 2 from the team's perspective.

never gon completely hate on a young brotha gettin money though. wish more of us played.


but it could help us in the long run if we get him on a good deal instead of going year to year.
could make him beautiful trade bait.

check out my new 2015 roster thread. I just mentioned about this very possibility there.

[Neddy]

Good god, I knew it was coming and was on board with it for a short while, but glad we didn't get stuck with Russell Martin's monstrous deal. out of that 85 million deal for the next 5 years, the last one or two seasons he will be worthless and i doubt he would live up to that contract at any of the seasons with the Jays.

time to move on, maybe even consider Tim Fed as the replacement or just start Drew Butera. AJ is bad both defensively and as of late, offensively. his best asset from yesteryears was his keen eye and high OBP.

I dunno what's worse, Martin's 17 million per year for a 32 year old inconsistent journeyman catcher, or AJ and his 3.0+ mil per year and being arbitration eligible.