Some people haven't learned their lesson of trading for struggling players (Gomez) -- stay away from Puig.
props to Luhnow for staying away from Sonny Gray (whether he tried hard for him or not, I have no idea). A lot of people wanted him--I just never thought he was as good as his reputation. But I certainly didn't expect this season from him. After he came off the DL a couple of months ago, he was looking good and I was worried we'd make a move. He's been hit really hard in 4 of his last 10 starts, and today he went down with a forearm muscle injury. Really glad we didn't give up prospects. Clearly Oakland's asking price was high given that he stayed there.
He has exactly 1 year in his last 5 hitting over .235. He's still a 20 HR guy, but he's not the .270-.280 hitter he was in his mid 20s. He's owed 34 million for the next 2 years ($17 MM each), with a $15 MM vesting option for a 3rd year. He's also leading the league in stolen bases allowed.
He does have great career numbers at MMP, and he'd likely only have plus value as a DH... but the Yankees would need to absorb most of his bloated salary to make it work.
these guys should have cleared waivers before the yankees series 10 days ago. mcCann, beltran, lucroy + sipp cost us 4 games. the pre deadline rangers couldn't do squat against our pitching staff. ^ He mad.
Tanaka may be an interesting target this offseason. Whitley, Fisher, and another prospect or two may get it done?
Yasiel Puig was apparently claimed off waivers by some team. His contract is very Gurriel. $8m in 2017, $9 in 2018. Maybe the Fields trade with the Dodgers let Luhnow feel them out for a Puig trade. Puig's OPS at AAA in 18 games is over a thousand. If Puig hits like he did in his first two seasons then that's a solid deal for the Astros with Colby probably not returning. Gurriel might even be able to talk some sense into Puig. That would put Springer in Center, Puig in Right, Gurriel/Bregman in Left.
All players on shortish contracts will be, as will a ton of players on ludicrous contracts, and will a ton of players in-between. It's a smokescreen in most cases. The Dodgers can now only work out a trade with the team that claimed him, or they can revoke his waivers and keep him, or they can do nothing and let the claiming team have him and pay his full contract. Also, the NL/AL are still weirdly separate: If a player is waived, any team may claim him. If more than one team claims the player from waivers, the team with the weakest record in the player's league gets preference. If no team in the player's league claims him, the claiming team with the weakest record in the other league gets preference.
What's the package that brings a ToR SP? For now I've settled on: 1 of Martes, Musgrove 1 of K Tucker, Fisher 1 of Feliz, Devenski, Paulino, Perez, Abreu 2 of P Tucker, Singleton, Moran, White, Kemp, Teoscar, Marisnick
Depends on your definition of a ToR SP, but if we offered that for Chris Sale, I think the White Sox laugh at us. If you want an ace, a legitimate ace, the acquisition cost WILL hurt. It will be a tough pill to swallow, but it might end up working out nicely (it also might not). If you want an ace, every single team will draw the line in the sand at Bregman. They have no reason to settle for anything else. I think the very intriguing decision is who makes our team better. Keeping Bregman and having a ridiculously good 1-4, or acquiring a legitimate ace (Sale or bust), and getting 2 years of him for cheap. But then we'd get one of the top 5 SP's in the game today, and it turns our OK-to-solid starting rotation into a top tier rotation in all of baseball. There isn't an obvious answer, and I see very valid points for both sides. Heck, I don't even know what I would ultimately decide.
why does it have to be sale? dodgers got bizarro rasmus and hill without giving up their top prospects. we could just get hill to sign here in the off season.
Pre-deadline Rangers runs vs. Astros 7, 2, 7, 2, 2, 9, 6, 4, 1, 5 Post-deadline Rangers runs vs. Astros 0, 3, 5 (3 of those in 9 innings)
what i was saying is lucroy, beltan and tony sipp were responsible for the losses in THAT SPECIFIC series where we played them post deadline. As in, their original lineup, PRE-DEADLINE did nothing against us in that SPECIFIC series. As in, we're not that far from beating them. As in, their new additions basically won games 2 and 3. As in, lucroy 2 runs, 2 hits and 2 rbi, while beltran had 3 hits and a can of shoe shine in the second game. Yikes not everyone throws shade at the team. =/
You have to admit that your phrasing of "pre-deadline" Rangers could not do squat against the pitching staff was not clear on that.
Very good point, I will give you that. This is my personal opinion on that question. I've heard of other ideas, like Jake Odorizzi, or even your referenced Rich Hill idea. In my humble opinion, since there is more risk associated with those players, I tend to think that it is possible to receive similar production from our young guys, for free. For example, Odorizzi flashes greatness, but this year has been very inconsistent. Even if the acquisition cost should be much lower to acquire him as opposed to Sale, is it out of the realm of possibility that Francis Martes puts up similar production from next year and beyond as Odorizzi? In that scenario, I think I would just roll the dice on Martes, instead of giving up any talented prospects for Odorizzi. In our most optimistic projection of Martes, I don't think any of us will conclude that he will be nearly as good as Chris Sale. So in my mind, adding Odorizzi would be nice, but I'm not sure it moves the needle much. So my thought process is if I am going after a SP this offseason via trade, I go big. That leaves basically Chris Sale and Chris Archer (as they are both cost-controlled on team-friendly deals, which will surely appeal to our front office).
If any team offered another ToR SP that will be traded this offseason for that package, the Astros would laugh at them. Too many of those guys are on the Astros MLB team or very close to it. Astros love Martes and Tucker, and I have a hard time seeing Astros giving up both in trade for a pitcher. If Astros trade for a ToR pitcher, I see Tucker as the key piece, Paulino (if Astros don't trust his health) or some low level pitcher as the second piece (Whitley, Abreu, Perez,etc.) and 2-4 other guys. Not sure who that would get the Astros, but I expect that would be the most they would be willing to give up for a pitcher. Martes, Musgrove, Devenski, and Feliz are not likely going any where as Astros need pitching unless the Astros are offered a very good deal.
