Offseason Roster Thread 2025-26

[Olerud363.354]

19 minutes ago, Brownie19 said:

I was just going to say that Mookie Betts has given fans completely unrealistic expectations on players abilities to change positions mid career.  

Mookie Betts is a generational mutant.  He's literally good at everything he tries.  

Just out of curiosity I looked at Bett's savant page.  Last year he was 92 percentile range, 29 percentile arm. 

Take that with a grain of salt but he's close to Clemente and Giminez.  A little less than them in range.   That's just one measure obviously and could be flawed. 

So the counterpoint maybe to Mookie Betts being a freak is that range is more important than traditionally thought and players with good range can play different positions.  

Also interesting Mookie's sprint speed is below average only 36%.   Is that really true?  If so why does he have such good range?  Instincts?  First step?  Agility. 

Clement's range is elite and spring speed very good.  No need to move him to center with Varsho still here. 

What could be interesting is just start giving him time in the outfield once and a while, just as much in preparation for playoffs as for any long term move.   Like start thinking about playoffs with potential longer games and more moves needed, and try to give these guys a little experience at difference things before throwing them into it in the World Series.  Same goes with Starter's relieving.  Give every starter 5 relief appearances, prep for playoffs, and also could be useful once and a while. 

Counterpoint to that philosophy (play around with roles in regular season so it is not new in Playoffs) is that no one really does it... so must be some downsides in terms of player comfort. 

[Olerud363.354]

20 minutes ago, Brownie19 said:

Mookie Betts is a generational mutant.  He's literally good at everything he tries.

My above post is pretty long.  Shorter version is that there is nothing super special about Mookie on stats cast, and actually rates below clement in range, arm and speed.  If there is something 'special' about Mookie it is hard to measure, but whos to say, given what we know about Clement he doesn't also possess the same 'special' qualities?  (Totally agree no need to force a move to Center, still an interesting discussion). 

 

[abola2121]

For all we know, this guy could skyrocket through the minors next season and become DV's successor. (I'd prefer that over experimenting with Ernie in CF)

[Spanky__99]

8 hours ago, jmomcc said:

Correct, he did. Possibly yes. Correct, not a video game. Correct, clement is valuable.

You can stop conversations with people by not replying to them. 

You're a bird, correct.

 

[Orgfiller]

20 minutes ago, abola2121 said:

For all we know, this guy could skyrocket through the minors next season and become DV's successor. (I'd prefer that over experimenting with Ernie in CF)

I don't think Schreck is that good of a CF defender. More likely he bursts onto the scene as the LF/RF of the future - he apparently also has a rocket of an arm - than as Varsho's replacement.

[abola2121]

2 minutes ago, Orgfiller said:

I don't think Schreck is that good of a CF defender. More likely he bursts onto the scene as the LF/RF of the future - he apparently also has a rocket of an arm - than as Varsho's replacement.

That's Jake Cook

[Orgfiller]

5 minutes ago, abola2121 said:

That's Jake Cook

Oh lol, sorry all these white scrappy OFs look the same to me.

[Spanky__99]

6 minutes ago, abola2121 said:

That's Jake Cook

Who just finished a season in A ball, lol?

[abola2121]

Just now, Spanky__99 said:

Who just finished a season in A ball, lol?

We're not talking about some fringe prospect out of high school. 

[Spanky__99]

1 minute ago, abola2121 said:

We're not talking about some fringe prospect out of high school. 

Point being he's years away from being an impact player, if at all.

[jmomcc]

1 hour ago, Brownie19 said:

I was just going to say that Mookie Betts has given fans completely unrealistic expectations on players abilities to change positions mid career.  

Mookie Betts is a generational mutant.  He's literally good at everything he tries.  

I understand your thought process - and I too would love to see us start Clement in a premiere defensive position to optimize his value.  But a move to CF is drastic and highly unlikely to be successful.

Also - as much as I love Ernie Clement (and I REALLY do) - he's already entering his age 30 season and will soon start to decline.  

Just enjoy Ernie for what he is and let him play the super sub role for this team.  We already know he's really good at it - no need to f*ck with that.

I would say that any mlb shortstop (in a literal sense) with top end sprint speed and range is capable of playing cf if they have good instincts for the position. Now,.. obviously they might have already found out on a backfield that the latter is not true, and he's no bueno there. 

CF is down the spectrum. Some really good short stops wouldn't be fast enough but clement is. Otherwise its a lesser defensive position. 

[jmomcc]

40 minutes ago, Spanky__99 said:

You're a bird, correct.

 

I don't know what that means. It could be old person lingo or young person lingo. I'm somewhere in between. 

So, i guess... thanks or how dare you. Choose the appropriate one. 

[Pendleton]

3 minutes ago, jmomcc said:

I don't know what that means. It could be old person lingo or young person lingo. I'm somewhere in between. 

So, i guess... thanks or how dare you. Choose the appropriate one. 

Birds are good, as long as they are blue 

[jmomcc]

7 minutes ago, Pendleton said:

Birds are good, as long as they are blue 

Oh, thanks then!

[Jimcanuck]

46 minutes ago, abola2121 said:

We're not talking about some fringe prospect out of high school. 

Jake Cook was a pitcher.  As a position player, he's the equivalent of "just out of high school".

[DonJays]

1 hour ago, abola2121 said:

We're not talking about some fringe prospect out of high school. 

We have no idea if he can hit AA pitching let alone MLB pitching 

[JaysForever]

Now that we've discussed all the positions that Ernie can play. What about Ketal Marte? He started in MLB at SS, now plays 2B but has also featured at CF for a lot of games.

 

I always assumed he would be a Bo replacement. But in some unlikely scenario where they sign Bo and Trade for Marte, where does Marte play?

[abola2121]

14 minutes ago, DonJays said:

We have no idea if he can hit AA pitching let alone MLB pitching 

His plate discipline is pretty advanced, I don't think it'll be as big of a learning curve for him, but we'll see.

[jmomcc]

3 hours ago, Olerud363.354 said:

Just out of curiosity I looked at Bett's savant page.  Last year he was 92 percentile range, 29 percentile arm. 

Take that with a grain of salt but he's close to Clemente and Giminez.  A little less than them in range.   That's just one measure obviously and could be flawed. 

So the counterpoint maybe to Mookie Betts being a freak is that range is more important than traditionally thought and players with good range can play different positions.  

Also interesting Mookie's sprint speed is below average only 36%.   Is that really true?  If so why does he have such good range?  Instincts?  First step?  Agility. 

Clement's range is elite and spring speed very good.  No need to move him to center with Varsho still here. 

What could be interesting is just start giving him time in the outfield once and a while, just as much in preparation for playoffs as for any long term move.   Like start thinking about playoffs with potential longer games and more moves needed, and try to give these guys a little experience at difference things before throwing them into it in the World Series.  Same goes with Starter's relieving.  Give every starter 5 relief appearances, prep for playoffs, and also could be useful once and a while. 

Counterpoint to that philosophy (play around with roles in regular season so it is not new in Playoffs) is that no one really does it... so must be some downsides in terms of player comfort. 

The idea wasn't to move him to cf next season. It was to try him there in spring, and if he profiles as above average or even average, give him some reps during the season .. and then replace varsho if there aren't other options the year after. 

CFs are quite hard to get. Most players defense degrades by free agency. 

[Jimcanuck]

16 minutes ago, JaysForever said:

Now that we've discussed all the positions that Ernie can play. What about Ketal Marte? He started in MLB at SS, now plays 2B but has also featured at CF for a lot of games.

 

I always assumed he would be a Bo replacement. But in some unlikely scenario where they sign Bo and Trade for Marte, where does Marte play?

2B only, he's older now

He's had a history of back problems which is why he has been generally limited to the less demanding position

[Orgfiller]

12 minutes ago, abola2121 said:

His plate discipline is pretty advanced, I don't think it'll be as big of a learning curve for him, but we'll see.

He's a very raw prospect given the lack of hitting experience. I think if he has an excellent development year it would mean he finishes at AA with good numbers while flashing plus CF defense. I wouldn't be surprised if they move slowly with him.

[jmomcc]

I think take it slow with Cook because he profiles to have power but his current swing can't get to that. Take some time and see if you can tweak it and he could be a 5 tool guy. 

[Laika]

I agree with giving Ernest some CF reps, particularly if they bring in an infielder or sign Bo back. 

Ernie played some CF way back and some OF in the minors, a bit in the majors. He could probably be a decent enough CFer with reps.

If Ernie is cooking in 2026 he is an every day player for me but he can play a different position every day. I don't like all of this 400+ PA talk though. This guy needs 650+ PA. 

[Jays24]

Not sure which list is longer... the list of free agents the Jays are "interested" in every offseason or the list of people Spanky fights on this board lol.  

[Jimcanuck]

33 minutes ago, Laika said:

I agree with giving Ernest some CF reps, particularly if they bring in an infielder or sign Bo back. 

Ernie played some CF way back and some OF in the minors, a bit in the majors. He could probably be a decent enough CFer with reps.

If Ernie is cooking in 2026 he is an every day player for me but he can play a different position every day. I don't like all of this 400+ PA talk though. This guy needs 650+ PA. 

You haven't done your homework.

Against RHP Ernest has a 75 wRC+ for 2025 and 82 for his career.

Moustache against RHP has a 155 wRC+ for 2025 and 112 for his career.

Tough righties on the mound, Ernest is on the bench.

 

[Laika]

12 minutes ago, Jimcanuck said:

You haven't done your homework.

Against RHP Ernest has a 75 wRC+ for 2025 and 82 for his career.

Moustache against RHP has a 155 wRC+ for 2025 and 112 for his career.

Tough righties on the mound, Ernest is on the bench.

 

1. Regress your platoon splits, you f***ing n00b 
2. Defense is a big part of the equation too 

[Jimcanuck]

18 minutes ago, Laika said:

1. Regress your platoon splits, you f***ing n00b 
2. Defense is a big part of the equation too 

Dumdum, the defense is why he is on the bench against tough righties.  Against the tough righties, Schneider and his 30% better bat is in the lineup.

The career numbers are based on 913 PA for Clement, and 502 for Schneider.  The significant difference against RHP is pretty clear.

[Olerud363.354]

23 minutes ago, Laika said:

Regress your platoon splits, you f***ing n00b 

Schneider has 500 PAs against righties.  How do you regress them?  Using the league average against righties?  I understand like if he had 30 at bats against righties and went 12 for 30 with 4 homers... You wouldn't believe it, and you'd just take his career stats.  But if we are already taking his career stats what else is there to average in?

500 PAs against righties, 300 PAs against lefties.  Pretty even.  Slightly above average guy  against both.  I guess maybe not enough at bats and you adjust based on long term general trend and assume his even platoon splits actually would be unbalanced (better against lefties worse against righties) if he had a 12 trillion at bats in a simulation?  

 

[Spanky__99]

40 minutes ago, Jays24 said:

Not sure which list is longer... the list of free agents the Jays are "interested" in every offseason or the list of people Spanky fights on this board lol.  

[Jimcanuck]

No need for any statistical adjustments here.  Even if the true wRC+ values after regression are 90 for Ernie and 110 for Schneider, the difference is significant.  It's a skill thing, Schneider is a much better bat against RHP.

Ernie murdered LHP in 2025, btw.