This team has at least 3 holes in the lineup. It's ok to have a SS and CF who are defense first and project as the 8th and 9th hitters. It's not OK to have below average production at 1b, LF, and RF. That must be addressed. That's fact, not opinion. 2 ways to do it: 1) spend money 2) Determine where you have a surplus (or as close to a surplus as you do have) and trade from it. Framber needs to go unless Crane decides to open his wallet.
I’m all in on Brown. Blanco’s advanced stats all point to significant regression. I like Garcia but there is risk there with him coming off injury, especially given the fact he didn’t return last year and had to shut it down. I like Arrighetti as well and think his floor next year is a BoR guy with high upside. I just don’t see a clear cut #2 on that staff. And that’s before you factor in injuries always seem to hit us there. Literally every season it seems like we are needing SP at the deadline. We would need a lot of luck for that staff to actually have a chance of winning in the playoffs. Also, I was including the bullpen you have listed. We used Abreu and Hader way too much last year…that can’t happen again. Outside of them, I don’t feel great about the rest of those guys, especially with Pressly gone.
Anytime you use young unproven / semiproven guys there is angst, doubt, and stress. A team can't continue to compete over a period of years without mixing in youngsters. The trick is to do that gradually while maintaining a deep foundation of good veterans. This team did wonderfully at that for several years, but recently, the quality and quantity has both been much less. And now this team is payng for it. The next wave is coming - Melton, Baez, Smith, Matthews, Blubaugh, Gordon, Gusto. But the guys like Dezenzo, Whitcomb, Arrighetti, Blanco, King, Whitley, etc. who came up last year will largely determine how successful this team is in 2025 and 2026.
I don't see this current squad winning 90 either. It's too early to call, but I'd probably put them in the 82-85 range barring some acquisitions. They have 90 win potential, but this feels like a slightly above average team to me at the moment.
I legitimately think 85 wins though is enough to win this division. Maybe I just have no faith in Seattle, Anaheim, Arlington, and Sacramento... then the playoffs is all about grit, luck, and clutch.
And all the other years where the Dodgers wasted the bye... I never seen so much whining in my life on how 'best teams are thrown off rhythm with too many days offs"...
And then a shitload of bad batted ball kick in game 2, and Presley ******** the bed and wasting a great Hunter Brown start.
I was looking at the Yankees payroll and it's crazy. According to Cotscontracts, they are currently just under $284M est. CBT payroll for 2025. That means they only have about $17M until they hit the 4th and final tier of penalties. And are still looking at needing a 1b and 3b. If they sign Bregman, Walker, or Alonzo they will exceed that tier. Furthermore, they only have about $40M coming off the books in 2026, so with arbitration raises they would need to cut payroll to avoid bring over that tier again. It must be nice to have NY revenue streams.
Shoulder injury and a lot of questions about when he can return and when/if his shoulder will ever be 100% again.
Thank goodness, what were the Astros thinking with that? He has been on a decline for a while now and would be a bum here.
Now I really don’t have confidence in DB. He knows Bregs is gone so he goes after the one guy we knew he would go after. I’m so glad it was blocked. Be a little more creative than that, DB. He should know that the fans don’t want Arenado here.
