G-Snarls

You know what? Those two names are hard to type on a phone. Glad they're gone. . . Kidding

Ouch @ seeing D'Arnaud and Syndergaard

Will be 2 games vs Mets according to Rogers radio

Now if we end up sharing a ST facility with Houston, I could go for a couple games being played in Texas where it's also nice and warm in March.

Philadelphia made no sense. Don't do that again.

Cool! I'll plan to be there!

Far more desirable? By your own suggestion, it might be worth 1 WAR to replace Izturis with, say, Marco Scutaro. But Replacing Arencibia with McCann is 4-5 wins Replacing Josh Johnson with Matt Garza is probably another 5 (I acknowledge that JJ himself might be 3-4 WAR better in 2014 than he was in 2013 but it's more fun this way) Would I like to do all 3? Yes. If I have to pick 2, I pick catcher and starting pitching. AA should see what's available at 2B, yes, but there just might not be any good trade options, and I can live with what we have if upgrades elsewhere are big.

Only saves 5M net, yes. But 2M on the books for this year and saves 7M off total payroll for next year. GM accounting trick.

Agree. But mostly Melky. In order to afford upgrades at catcher and SP we need some savings AND more cash from Rogers. Buying Lind out this October saves 7M for next year. Letting Rajai walk saves another maybe 3-4M. Melky has bad range and the supposed plus arm was never seen this year. He may be best suited to spending 80-90% of his time at DH. That's not good value for a guy at 8M but we're stuck paying that. And a year with less field time might help his back and legs a lot. That might help his hitting too actually.

Well that's a valid point. And we have time to make that decision later. Two decisions need to be made: 1. Do we acquire another 2B this off season? This decision needs to be made soon obviously. Goins playing time is helpful in this regard. Most of us on the positive side of this thread probably think it's not going to be easy to find a SIGNIFICANTLY better player than Izturis Goins or Kawasaki for 2B this off season, and that money/prospects are better spent at catcher and SP. 2. Who is the regular starting second baseman for 2014? Well, the Goins evaluation helps, but the team will have spring training to re evaluate Goins, Izturis, Kawasaki and anyone we might acquire in the off season. Most of us on the "pro" Goins side simply think he has a chance to win the job next spring, but Izturis could as well, with Goins remaining as your AAA backup. Izturis is a better player than we've seen this year according to most. I think defense should be prioritized in this decision. And once a decision is made, less flip flopping next year. The inconsistent playing time and positioning of Bonifacio, Izturis and Kawasaki sure didn't help this year. That needs to be avoided in 2014. Thank God that Bonifacio is gone. I stand on the side of prioritizing catcher and SP, with 2B as the third priority IF someone becomes available this off season.

Off track, but, anyone think the Phillies would want Kyle Drabek back??

So few guys get to FA status and are worth, at that time, a 1 year 13-14M deal. Not many of the qualifying offers actually get made. Most guys get extended in advance of free agency or walk without a QO. Ruiz is good but he ain't worth 14M a year. Phillies won't qualify him. Edit: They may very well try to extend him though before the free agency deadline.

Well put.

He's going to get a fat raise in arbitration this off season and I don't think AA has ever let that happen. I'm suggesting extending him for 3-4 years at an annual average value less than he projects to get on 1 year arb deal. And I think Colby would take it. Guys like him (year to year contract, every season feels make or break) probably value the job security.

Exactly. We can't. And I don't want to trade prospects for a 2 WAR 2B. I'd rather spend $ on a catcher (McCann or Ruiz) and prospects or more cash on a starter (Tanaka, Garza, Price, etc...) The added payroll obviously means AA has to get smarter/more frugal after next season and will have to move some contracts or get savings from emerging young cheap starters.

I wish this wasn't so plausible

I can't believe how divisive this thread has become After watching "TOP PROSPECTS, TOP PROSPECTS HERE!!!" like Arencibia and Snider suck and become essentially non-major leaugers, is it somehow wrong to hope that Goins outperforms previous expectations? I see a guy who plays excellent defense at a position where that is what matters most, and hold out some hope that he could be a league average bat or at least close to it. I want him to succeed and I have enjoyed watching him play. If he keeps this up the rest of this year and in to spring training, I can see him having a shot at every day playing time. Add-on post rant: I recognize that there is a difference between HOPING this guy becomes good enough to play every day and EXPECTING him to.

Giants decided to wait until the 4th quarter to show up. What else is new? Would love to see Eli pull this off

Agree. I don't watch wresting ever, but I recognize it should be an Olympic sport.

Again, I can live with one of them playing second if we pick up a catcher and a 1/2 level starter. You don't need an all star at every position and has been said 100 times, the market for 2B outside of the unaffordable Cano is terrible.

I fully expect a Rasmus extension this off season and it's the right thing to do.

We can pick from Goins, Izturis and Kawasaki in spring training. Could be worse.

Yep. Santos, Delabar and Cecil have got the late innings thing covered. Dammit

Yet another no home run day