Major League Ready

Thanks!

That's a good point. Those two would mitigate the argument that keeping Kepler and Gallo is necessary so that we don't have a repeat of last year.

That's unlikely to make things better.

Shouldn't there be some signings reported by now? What's the best source? A simple Google search is not turning up much.

Sonny Gray has career earnings of $62M before taxes so let's call it $35M after taxes. Jordan is reported to be worth $2B. His superstar status allowed for him to make a fortune after he retired. He had a royalty deal in place that to this day pays him $150M+/year. Two completely different scenarios. Part of me wonders if Gray is so calculating as to drop that sound bite to encourage a trade so that he does not have a qualified offer attached to him next year.

Spot on! Can you imagine making a firing decision in an actual business without actually observing performance and with little direct knowledge of someone's skillset and the actual body of work. I understand people are frustrated but the need to punish someone seems more vengeful than it is an educated assessment. None of us has the combination of subject matter expertise and direct knowledge to provide an information opinion.

I have no idea if Trevor Plouffe would be a good hitting coach. However, the difference between him and those who have commented here is that he has actually played MLB.

Letting one of Wallner/Larnach reduces our chances of finding a long-term solution. Gallo is gone for sure next year and Kepler's option is not likely to be exercised. It would be very short-sighted to let one of them go now. Letting both Kepler and Gallo go creates a short-term risk but that risk is mitigated by Kirilloff's ability to play the OF. Plus, how much downside is there to the level of play Gallo and Kepler have provided. Letting both Gallo and Kepler go opens roster spots that will facilitate finding solutions.

I have never seen Julien play the OF. However, he is well below average at 2B so you would have to believe he did not show much promise when they tried him in the OF.

I know Stevenson is a stretch but jeez the guy has earned a shot, especially if this level of play continues. From the little I have seen he seems like a good defender. Can be an above average defender? I have not seen enough to comment.

Both. We need the roster spots to audition talent. We need to find some help to actually give us a shot in a playoff series as well as finding some long-term solutions. Start by bringing up Larnach and sending Kirilloff to the OF. Then, give Williams a shot at 1B. Larnach over Wallner because their offensive numbers are very similar and Larnach is clearly the better defender. Bring Wallner up if there is an injury or Buxton is able to play the OF. I would also at some point give Stevenson a shot.

You have to believe they would not trade Gray unless the offer was of substantially more value than the comp pick. Why would they trade for equivalent value when they would much rather have Gray for the rest of the year. Perhaps this is your point.

You and I have run into this before. You are very focused on the right now. Never mind this team has very little chance to be good unless all of our core players turn around their season in which case Gray would very likely not make any difference in us reaching the playoffs. I am focused on building a team. We heard the same we are in first place logic last year. The cost of "going for it" last year is exceptionally evident. We would have a very good young player for the next 5+ years at 3B and an ideal prospect for 1B in CES. Steer might still eventually be traded but we could use him right now and cash in later. Then, Kirilloff could fill one of the outfield spots. Camo (the all-star) would still be in our BP and none of this even considers the potential of all the other prospects. We simply have very different focus in timeframe. No doubt you are correct we would have to rely on someone other than Gray for the next couple months. You see that as a very big deal and I see it as a short-term issue. BTW ... I have consistently said I would not trade Gray unless the return is compelling. He has been mediocre over his last 10 starts and that will likely dissuade potential buyers unless he is quite good in his remaining starts before the deadline. And I simply screwed up by not recognizing you were only talking about this year.

You are definitely right on the historical account. However, they have spent more boldly of late. Perhaps more importantly, they have not had this much young (cheap) talent in a very long time and that facilitates bolder spending on an important piece. In other words, they might be willing to do something they normally would not do. It also does not have to be $180M type talent. The Rays got Eflin for 3/$40M. Keeping in mind Gray's last 10 starts have been pretty pedestrian and his age, I am just not all that confident he is a major difference maker in 24 and beyond.

I am not focused on an immediate fix for a very mediocre team. We heard the same rhetoric last year about our 1st place team. Had we not made a short-sighted decision to trade for Mahle, we would have a very good 3B in Steer (cheap) for the remainder of this year and 5 more years. We could call up CES to play 1st and send Kirilloff to the OF. With 3B filled we could ask Lewis if he wants to play CF or remain in AAA until a spot opens up. Obviously, CES is untested at this level but he has been an absolute elite hitter at all levels. We would also have Cano in our BP had we decided not to buy last year.

10-4. My bad.

Why can't the twins get an equivalent or better and younger free agent next year? Why would we assume they would be forced to use Kuechel or Varland?

It could be they want Kepler and Gallo in the lineup most days to hopefully play well enough to promote a trade in the next 10-15 days? That would not be so bad. I can wait a couple weeks. Kepler for sure has value if he plays the way he has the last month. They can DFA Gallo after the deadline if they can't find a buyer.

The only pending free agents that would significantly impact their chances to win the division if traded are Gray and possibly Maeda. MAT and Solano are debatable. Solano is one of the few twins hitting well. It would be risky to give Stevenson a shot but hard to imagine his bat is worse than MAT given he has an OPS in the 900s at AAA. I have only seen 4 Saints games so I don't know how much of a drop-off he would be in CF vs Taylor. Would appreciate insight from anyone with better knowledge of his defense. They could move on from Gallo / Kepler and Pagan with a chance for better production. Farmer is probably expendable too. Gray would have to be a very good offer because of the comp pick if we give him a QA. Maeda is interesting. He might bring a nice package if his next starts up to the deadline are good. Gray has been pretty average in his last 10 starts. I don't know that a big offer is eminent.

We don't see much of what they do. How do you judge actions when you have minimal knowledge of what led to those actions? As sports fans we tend to speak with great certainty about these things when we don't have nearly enough information in most cases to judge things like hiring and firing.

What's your point? Would you prefer they did not acknowledge they are failing and need to do something about it?

I think you are ignoring a few things in coming to the conclusion this is "simple".. First, you have to assume Goldschmidt is available, and available at a price that is not absurd. Then, you have to assume he produces to career norms. I bet Angels fans assumed Albert Pujlos was a safe bet. I am sure the Rays expected far more out of Nelson Cruz. Donaldson did not work out so good and thankfully we got out of the last two years. The last year of most of these deals is far below the player's norm. The fact is that the last 5 weeks Goldschmidt has produced below average. Kepler’s wRC+ is actually 10 percent higher. He is 35 years old. It is quite possible perhaps even likely that he will not produce to his career norms. We also can't assume ownership will approve another $10M. They are already at record spending. Many teams are going to be restricted on the cost of additions. This isan assumption we can make. What about the $26M next year? If he declines to league average at age 36 that money could be spent much wiser elsewhere. It could be used for a longer term solution. I would much rather go after an impact bat free agent under 30. OF or 1B being the best targets. It really simplifies it if you ignore the cost in prospects. Lots of people said the Mahle decision was simple. How much better off would be with Steer for another 5 years and CES has the potential to be dominant bat this lineup is missing for the next 6 years. He would be on the ML roster right now had we played the long game instead of trading for Mahle. If CES hits (even as a DH) to his potential, the Mahle deal is a disaster and here are pondering a similar scenario, granted a pitcher vs a hitter but a 35 y/o hitter. All of these things are valid considerations. So, I would not be inclined to say it’s a simple straight forward no brainer.

You are basing you argument on a relatively meaningless stat. OBP with me more meaningful. OPS would be more meaningful than OBP and wRC+ would be more meaningful than BA, OBP or OPS. One could argue that WPA is more meaningful than all of them and it's certainly more valuable than BA. Then, there is the defensive aspect to consider. Gallo is not only a good defender, he provided a back-up option in the event Kirilloff's wrist remained an issue. You are using this particular stat while ignoring everything else because it suits your argument. The argument to cut Castro because he is the cheapest also ignores a number of other factors. The most obvious being he has two more years of control. His utility covering multiple positions including CF and being a switch hitter provides rather value that we can't readily replace. We have two corner OFers that can easily take Gallo's spot.

No, I don't think they would add Prato to the 40 man right now. I was merely answering the question about other possible OFers. Larnach and Wallner are going to get first crack at an opening. I think you are right they are not cutting Gallo or Kepler until they have a chance to either get a prospect or someone to pick up their salary. I see the situation being resolved in 15-20 days when either Gallo or Kepler gets traded. If Gallo is not traded, I think there is a decent chance he gets cut. His wRC+ is decent for the year but it's 71 for the last 8 weeks.