LOL, So you are basing all of this on one year? If we used your WAR stat, his best year before last was 0.6. He's a career .247 avg hitter who hit under .150 with 2 strikes (not a full count) 29 hits in 203 ABs. And that was his best year. He's also 31 years old, which means he ain't changing his approach any time soon. He's the type of player the Yankees would buy up in a heartbeat and why the Dodgers also don't do well in the playoffs many times. We don't need Home runs and strikeouts. We need a guy that can get on base and keep the inning going. No way I'd give up Brown for that
Actually, I think Brantley and Yuli 7th and 8th would be better than almost every other teams bottom of the order. Chas can split time in the OF with Brantley and Alverez in LF, no way he's invaluable as an everyday player. He's at best .250 avg, 16 HR guy (perhaps more HRs at the expense of more ks). Not an ideal OB% guy. Nimmo would be a tremendous upgrade over him anyhow. Either case, that's a second scenario and one I could see float out there if we can't get a better 1bman.
Brantley is coming off a major shoulder injury. A return to form is not guaranteed. Id still find a way for Chas to be in that lineup.
I would rather leave Varsho off and keep Leon. Other than that I love the idea of keeping JV and having Walker be our solution at 1B. It actually opens so many doors because Walker is under 10 mil so we can add an OF or C like contreras or Conforto. Or brantley.
As usual fans want teams to trade us good players for minimal return. FWIW Walker was awful in 2021 and had unrepeatably high defensive metrics for a 1B. I would still like to have him of course, but he is a flawed player who Arizona is still gonna as a lot for. He likely won't come close to repeating his WAR last season, he'll be closer to the 2-3 WAR player. Arizona has no reason to value him as a 2-3 WAR player right now in trade discussions.
I think it is possible after last year. Maldy hits occationally, but not consistently. Gurriel was in a 500 PA slump last season. Brantley just had shoulder surgery at age 35 and there is no guarantee he can even return, much less at better than replacement level which is about 1.5 WAR below average. So yes, it could be. I hope all improve and I wish them the best of luck, but it is not an unreasonable possibility.
2022 (min 350 PA) Maldanado WRC+ 70 (21st/24 C) Maldanado WAR 0.5 (16th/24) Maldanado xwOBA .253 (24th/24) Yuli xwOBA .271 (38th/39 1B) Yuli WAR -0.9 (37th/39) Yuli WRC+ 85 (35th/39) (Brantley did not meet min 350 PA; changed to min 250) Brantley xwOBA .371 (3rd/51 LF) Brantley WAR 1.2 (24th/51) Brantley WRC+ 127 (7th/51) Maldy and Yuli were close to dead last in 2022 in production in 2022. Brantley was elite, but is coming off a major shoulder injury. So, yeah, seriously.
And you believe in sanity when it comes to not playing favorites. I understand. I just see no evidence of that.
I’m not sure it’s favorites as much as it is x-factors and gut feel. With Dusty, who is to say what he will believe and feel next year.
I don't think Dusty will ever FEEL like sitting Yuli or Maldonado. And I don't think he EVER FEELS like not STARTING Dubon and hitting him high in the order when he plays.
Yeah, that is where most fans go that don’t want to see Yuli and Maldy on the team. My concern is the opposite direction—why pass up value due to fears of what Dusty might do? If we upgrade Yuli and/or Maldy, they offer a ton of value for cheap off the bench.
Walker K's about as much as Abreu. Plays far better defense. Hits for more power. Is 4 years younger...is that drop in Abreu's power a sign of things to come (kinda like our current 1B)? Seems like all or nothing and and actually is are 2 different things. We lose nothing defensively, going from a GG defender to a GG defender. Gain power at the position we haven't had since...Chris Carter? I like Abreu and would be happy if we signed him. But I think Walker is the better long term solution. All day every day.
