Joe Espada is my choice. Do you think Brown worries about putting a rookie Mgr behind the wheel of a Cadillac? Or simply wants to bring in his own guy?
I could see one for a guy who is proven and still prearb so it only covers 4-5 FA years. And of course is below market value. You don't think they would do 10 yrs / $150M for Pena right now?
The average career in MLB is just over 5 years. That gets you through arbitration. Odds are that Pena or any player will be out of baseball well before they play 10 years.
With Pena's skillset and position he will play 10 years, short of injury. His postseason last year gave him a wildcard too He may play for 6 different teams but he will play.
Altuve 2B Pena SS Yordan DH/LF Bregman 3B Tucker RF Abreu 1B Diaz C McCormick LF Meyers CF bench: Dubon, Kessinger, b/u catcher, OF Framber Verlander Javier Brown McCullers France L.Garcia Urquidy Pressly Abreu Graveman Montero Mushinski Martinez Dubin
Lineup: 1. Altuve 2B 2. Pena SS 3. Alvarez LF/DH 4. Bregman 3B 5. Tucker RF 6. Abreu 1B 7. McCormick CF 8. Diaz C/DH 9. LH Bat DH (Brantley, Crawford, Belt, Pederson are the best 1yr options) Bench: 10. Maldonado C (re-signed 1yr deal) 11. Dubon IF 12. Kessinger IF 13. Meyers CF Rotation: 1. Valdez 2. JV 3. Javier 4. Brown 5. Arrighetti Pen: 6. Pressly 7. Abreu 8. Graveman 9. High Leverage reliever (dealt for LMJ or Garcia) 10. Montero 11. Urquidy 12. McCullers or Garcia 13. France
You have the guy who's ERA and ERA+ are the best on the team and is second in quality starts despite having the lowest number of starts in the pen? JP France is the prototypical inning eating back of the rotation guy. A guy that despite his lack of elite stuff, grinds through innings seldomly giving up more than 1 run.
From the current roster do you think Meyers is NOT one of the 9 best position players? Who should replace him? Julks? Dubon? Have you read how many comments I have made during the past month that this team needs a LH OF because neither Meyers nor Julks should be starting vs RHP?
You said 24 roster so I’m sure Dana will try to add a bat in LF since Chas will be in cf and tuck in rf.
You are right and it's fair to expect an off season addition. But I don't see anyone in the organization who could be better than him . Like a backup catcher, anyone who takes his job would need to come from outside.
Altuve 2B Seager SS Yordan DH/LF Arenado 3B Tucker RF Goldy 1B Diaz C McCormick LF Robert CF Am I doing this right?
Not sure he can be anywhere near this productive in the future, but to this point he has earned a spot. Expect they carry a 6 man rotation early on next season working back and limiting the workloads of Garcia & LMJ.
With the trades for JV and Graveman I am inclined to think this team is 90% set for next year. According to Cots, they have 10 players on guaranteed contracts for about $164.7M leaving a little less than $70M under the CBT for the remaining 16 players on the active roster (40 man minor leaguers, taxes, and benefits are already included). Framber, Tucker, Urquidy, Chas, Dubon, Garcia, B.Abreu, and Bielak are arbitration eligible and will take up most of that. Brown, France, S.Martinez, Mushinski, Blanco, Dubin, Gage, Pena, Meyers, Singleton, Julks, Salazar, Kessinger, Hensley, and anyone currently in the minors can just be assigned MLB min to take up those remaining spots (8 if they offer arb. to all eligible players) I think that the pitching staff is set. JV, Framber, and McCullers (once healthy) are rotation mainstays. Brown, France, Javier, Garcia (once healthy), Urquidy and possibly Bielak, Arrighetti and Whitley will spend time in rotation, piggy-back, and long relief throughout the season depending on workload and team needs. Pressly, Abreu, Graveman, Montero, and Mushinski form the foundation of the bullpen. S.Martinez, Gage, Dubin, and Blanco fill in as needed. I think its unlikely they bring in a pitcher from outside unless he's prearb (trade) or on a minor league deal. The 1 thing I expect is bringing in a veteran catcher to back up Diaz, but I do expect Yanier to start 70% at catcher. The other thing I can see, but think is less likely is trading for a player who can play OF/DH and slide into the bottom half of the lineup vs RHP.
I doubt Brown would worry about a rookie manager. I would say Espada's relationship with the players is a double edged sword. He might not be picked solely because Brown wants change.
HOT TAKE Lance makes 25 starts and 150 IP without getting hurt and pitches to his career levels in 2024. AL comeback player of the year.
