All very reasonable points which may be answered during Spring Training and adjusted later in the season as needed.
Is this like a teenager courting a date for the prom interest, or like the creepy guy staring through bushes interest?
My guess is this is a Boras ploy to get MIN et al. to up their offers. Correa has shown a willingness to move to 3B in the future but that shouldn’t be now—if anyone moves off SS it should be Lindor, not Correa. Maybe Correa’s market still hasn’t materialized, and he goes to NYM on another MIN-esque opt-out…that would be something. I mentioned it mid season, but NYM has a lot of Puerto Ricans on their team. Maybe that plays some role in Correa considering them. But I think it’s more likely than not that this is just a Boras ploy to get MIN to get into the 300 range.
Just under 27 million AAV. That's more in line with his production. Maybe that'll be a good contract in his late 30s and 40s when by then average free agents will probably be making that much.
2022 marked the 3rd season in a row that baserunners were successful over 74% of the time stealing bases. Prior to this it had only happened once in MLB history ( 2012 - 74.6%). With the reduction in attempts, throwing has become a less important skill and catchers have become less effective. With that and the larger bases, I think 2023 will be a unique opportunity to catch the league before it adjusts and steal more bases. I predict many more steals and a historically low caught stealing rate in 2023. I think giving the CF job to Leon and hitting him 8th would be fun and possibly sneaky effective. He walk enough to have some value even if he Ks a bunch. When he walks or singles, he could steal 2nd and/or Maldy could bunt if there are no outs. Then Altuve gets more runners in scoring position in front of him. The same can be said of Altuve and Pena but without Yordan or Bregman bunting behind them of course. I could see Leon, Pena, and Tucker stealing 30+ bases and Altuve possibly getting close.
I remember people touting Leon as a possible CF option for the Astros last offseason. Problem is he hits .220 - .230 and strikes out a ton. Low average, walks and strikeouts works for Kyle Schwarber but I'm not sure it is a winning formula when you don't have his kind of power.
I am not happy with Leon's K level HOWEVER : 1) He had a big improvement in K rate in 2022. (30.6% to 28.8%) 2) His solid BB rate somewhat makes up for the higher K rate. (14.1%) 3) a more defensive valuable position allows a player to have good value despite lesser offense. Look at Leon vs Pena's AAA season in 2021. Pena K'd 26.3% vs Leon's 28.8% Pena walked 4.5% vs Leon's 14.1% Pena .346 OB% vs Leon's .365 despite Pena having a higher BA. This makes me hopefully but cautious of Leon's potential.
Got my answer. The Mets were the creepy guy in the bushes watching the Giants take Correa out to Prom. I'm sure they didn't think they had to show up in a Rolls Royce and bring the crown jewels, but at least their date is happy
This is why I would rather have a contact hitter in the 8th spot for Maldy to bunt over. Brantley would be great there but of course they'd put McCormick back.
I don't see the reasoning? If a player gets on base he gets on base. Why is it important to have a contact hitter over a guy who strikes out but gets on base more often because he walks? OB% is more important than BA
How many times did our #8 and #9 hitter kill an inning before it started, bringing up Altuve with nobody out? If McCormick goes all or nothing then Maldy is left holding the bag. I'd prefer Maldy be able to bunt someone over from 1st.
I'm not sure if you understand me or not. I'm sure I don't understand you because what I think you are saying is extremely poor way to try and score runs. I am saying I would rather have a guy who strikes out but also walks so he gets on base overall more than an average hitter. You are saying you want a guy who does not strike out so Maldy can bunt him over? But how often he gets on base does not matter as long as he doesn't strike out very often?
When I say contact I mean someone who just gets on base and not swings for the fences and Ks. McCormick is not a contact hitter or a person that draws walks and would rather have someone like Brantley in that spot over someone like McCormick.
That's not Schwarber though. He's 94%ile in walk rate. It's not purely his power that's elite. It's the overall quality of his contact. Yes, 99%ile exit velocity but also 99%ile barrel percentage AND a good chase rate (87%ile). But I agree with your premise that Schwarber is a unicorn.
Do we want the same things just used different examples to express that. FTR I still think a strikeout is no worse than a ground out to short, or flyout to left field in most cases. None or worse than another except for situation. Each could be better or worse than another depending on that.
