BTS

Arb projections aren't out yet, but rough math has the 25-man costing about $100M next year if Solarte is bought out. I believe they started 2018 at around $150. They can slash payroll by $25M and still afford a couple of starting pitchers. And Martin and Morales are off the books after 2019.

I guess Harris would make sense to add to the 40 at the expense of someone like Guerrieri.

If you pitch him he's a DH 3-4 days a week. If you don't pitch him, he's a (likely excellent) right fielder 6-7 days a week. And pitching exacerbates the likelihood of him getting hurt seriously enough that he can't play the outfield. Look how things have gone this year. He's going to finish at 3.5-4 fWAR. He's probably at around 5-6 if he doesn't throw a single pitch this season.

I still don't see why they'd have him pitch again. They could have a 6-win superstar in RF.

Some interesting questions to be answered: - Solarte should almost certainly be bought out. He's terrible, and with Vlad looming and quite a few similar infielders on the roster, there's no reason to invest 4.75M in him. - Pompey, Barnes, and Guerrieri will be out of options and haven't yet established themselves in the majors. Will be interesting to see how that is handled. - Will the team carry 3 catchers? Overall, the pitching staff is a tire fire, but the depth of positional players, while lacking star power after Vlad, is actually pretty impressive on the 40-man. There are a lot of players there who look like major league contributors.

C - Jansen (nm) 1B - Smoak (8) 2B - Travis (1.925) 3B/2B/OF - Drury (1.3) SS/2B - Gurriel Jr. (1.5) LF - McKinney (nm) CF - Pillar (5.8) RF - Grichuk (5) DH - Morales (12) C - Maile (nm) SS - Galvis (5) OF - Hernandez (nm) OF - Pompey (nm - out of options) SP - Stroman (7.4) SP - Sanchez (3.9) SP - Shoemaker (3.5) SP - Borucki (nm) SP - Gaviglio (nm) RP - Giles (6.3) RP - Phelps (2.5) RP - Tepera (arb1 - 1.7) RP - Richard (1.5) RP - Biagini (0.9) RP - Mayza (nm) RP - Luciano (nm - Rule V) Payments to former players Tulowitzki (19.45) Martin (16.4) Total Salary Committed for 25-man: 15 guaranteed contracts (68.2M) + 1 arb-eligible (1.7M) + 9 minimum (4.95M) + 2 Former Players (35.9) projected 25-man payroll = 109M Also on 40-man Dwight Smith Jr. Rowdy Tellez Anthony Alford Jonathan Davis Reese McGuire Julian Merryweather Trent Thornton Hector Perez Yennsy Diaz Patrick Murphy Jacob Waguespack Thomas Pannone Sean Reid-Foley David Paulino Richard Urena 40-man roster size: 40 Free Agents after 2019 Morales Smoak

I don’t think most people here believe they had the option of tearing them it down and losing 100 games. And regardless, they would have been crucified by the same casuals. Probably worse so.

Buxton sucks, Jim

It's always nice when your kids start performing in the 2nd half to salvage a lost season and give you hope for next year. Like Byron Buxton last season.

He has an 80 arm and 70 speed. I wouldn't be surprised if he's excellent in RF. Potentially elite player.

It warms my heart to see that Tyler Glasnow still suxxxxxxxxx

TJS surgery recommended for Ohtani. He shouldn’t pitch again.

I see value in having a strong year in 2019 even if they’re not a WS contender. We’re already hearing about friction between Shapiro and ownership. Winning 83 games while really loading up for 2020 and beyond is a lot more attractive to me than another tire fire season as Vlad and Bo are breaking in. The f***ing Twins won the wild card last year and the Rays are going to win close to 90 games this year. There’s absolutely no reason why we should be resigned to a terrible 2019.

They still had Preston Tucker on the bench too.

It doesn't have to be a big splash, but a 2 year $30M contract for Happ and 1-year deal for someone like Richards, Ryu, or Cahill should definitely be in the budget. Literally the only salary committed next year is to Tulo, Martin, and Morales.

Something like 4/70 for Keuchel wouldn't be bad.

Drew Pomeranz is absolutely terrible and I'm pretty bitter about it.

The team’s staff is in an absolute shambles right now, and they have almost no salary committed. A 3-year deal for one or two reliable starters certainly won’t hurt their ability to compete long term, and would help prevent next year from being a complete s*** show. I really think they should and will be active on the SP market.

I wonder if Michael Brantley will be a target. The team only really has Grichuk and Pillar that need to be on the opening day 25-man, and Shatkins and Brantley go back a long way.

J.A. Happ Dallas Keuchel Trevor Cahill Patrick Corbin Nathan Eovaldi Charlie Morton Garrett Richards Hyun-Jin Ryu Ervin Santana

Cleveland seems to have a knack for finding these kinds of arms. Kluber and Clevinger took the same route we're hoping Merryweather takes. If he can even become a useful SP5, that's pretty good.

Another leadoff dinger for Acuna.

Keith Law is objectively a stupid man

f***. It would be really hard to stay interested if Shapiro leaves this offseason.

Toronto should pick up Ben Lively. He was recently DFA'd by the Phillies, and might be a decent 5th starter.