agrushcow

What about Cameron Maybin? Former top prospect that might be starting to figure it out. Doesn't help us with the lefty bat issue, but definitely helps team speed and could probably offer plus defense in a corner OF spot.

My thought is Eaton probably has more value than Stro. Additionally, unless the White Sox move Sale or Quintana they're probably pretty set in the rotation. Yellich is another guy that's worth too much. But those are the type of guys I'd be looking at if we considered moving Stroman. Top of the order, corner OF types.

I wouldn't trade Stroman unless it was for a great return. But it is a discussion board. Genuinely curious what type of a return you could get for him? Or Happ or Estrada for that matter. Everyone's gotta price. You guys telling me dealing Stro for a 6 WAR guy like Adam Eaton wouldn't be an intriguing route to take?

I like Pearce as a fit off the bench and in a platoon. We desperately need a bench bat and not just a bunch of bench gloves. Holliday is intriguing, I can get behind that. Reddick is a guy who's bandwagon I'm pretty firmly on if we don't go the trade route. Adam Eaton was made available in the past, what kind of a package would he take? Assuming it would be centered around Stroman. He would just be such a great fit here.

Hey I've been consistent these last 7 days!

I was paraphrasing what I remembered. Thought it was clear it was a joke. To be fair he said it as a joke, but came across as salty about it.

He was on Tim and Sid and basically said he hopes it comes out of Shi's check basically, and that when it's official and the i's are dotted, they'll let everyone know.

Gibby got jobbed! Also really..Ned Yost?

Yeah I wouldn't bring his name up if it weren't for the Shapiro connection. If he wants to win and he has a good relationship with Shapiro, we wouldn't be the most outlandish of pairings. Lee has been medically cleared and is pitching without issues according to a report from today.

What about Cliff Lee? Alvarez has the former Jays connection (really don't get why Miami didn't tender him aside from being an organization run by monkeys), but Lee has the Shapiro connection. Not sure if Lee would be a typical flier since his top level game is so great. Thoughts on if he makes sense and what he'd cost? Or am I just blowing smoke?

I like those names. And ya picked up on Bastardo lurking around here, but sounded like he didn't want to play in Canada. Blanton/Cahill/Oh + Sipp and Madson would be a fantastic bullpen. If Madson gets 3 years, which I'm not crazy about, could always go O'Day + Thornton or try to get a lefty reliever for Revere. Now that I've done some research, lots of guys worth looking at. Hopefully we're aggressive with relievers and try to land 2 guys in that $4-8M AAV.

At least I got that one right. Soria is off my list now haha.

What's the consensus on Madson? Sipp and Madson would make this bullpen great. Really want Sipp.

It's more out of curiosity. His body of work is solid. True that's ugly...

What about Soria?

So from the sounds of it, we're pretty set in the rotation. Would like a couple more SPs for depth so we're something like 8 deep. But the focus is definitely on the bullpen now. I think we need at least a righty and a lefty. Revere could also be a trade chip for one. In the market our options look like: Righties: - Darren O'Day: Not crazy about the clubhouse fit or the term he'll likely command, but top reliever on the market. - Ryan Madson: Already linked to him. Don't like him at 3 years tho. - Joakim Soria: This is who I want. Closer experience, could make our bullpen special. Fangraphs has him at 7M AAV and moving Revere would cover that salary. - Seung-hwan Oh: The Korean Rivera. Could be a shrewd move to bolster the pen. - Tim Lincecum: Cheap, short term option with lots of experience. - Trevor Cahill: Pitched well in a move to the pen. Cheap option. - Mark Lowe: Good fallback option who is familiar with us. Not my first choice. - Joe Blanton: Could be SP depth and a bullpen piece. - Ross Ohlendorf: Dirt cheap, bullpen depth - Chad Qualls: Cheap, high GB rate. - Carlos Villanueva: Reunion! - Tommy Hunter: Good depth option - Burke Bandenhop: High GB rate, would be decent with our defense. Lefties: - Tony Sipp: Really want him. Need another lefty bad. - Matt Thornton: Need a lefty that isn't Loup. Cheap 1 year guy. - Oliver Perez: Power lefty. Not great but depth. Honestly there's a lot of righties I'd like. I'd want one of Sipp or Soria as the marquee piece. Then add like 2-3 lower level guys to really beef it up. LR: ? MR: Sanchez, Sipp, Delabar SU: Soria, Cecil CP: Osuna Any guys I'm missing? Any guys that are must avoid? That bullpen to me would be incredible. Trade Revere frees up $7M. That covers Soria. Sipp at $4-5M. Then cheap long man and that will be most of our money. Could even move Sanchez to the rotation or AAA. Same with Osuna. Lots of flexibility.

Ya your Pawtucket team couldn't definitely take on the Bisons.

JA Happ Pit stats: 63.1 IP 7-2 1.85 ERA / 209 ERA+ / 2.19 FIP 9.8 K/9 1.8 BB/9 That's studly. Lets hope he can carry some of that over. I really wouldn't mind freeing up some salary and moving Dickey and Revere now and re-invest in the starting rotation. Could probably get a couple bullpen arms for those two, and have an additional $14M or so available.

I'm fine with that AAV. But would hope it would only be 4 years. 4/64 I'd be more than happy with.

We could definitely do worse.

The Brewers are currently all righty. If the Dodgers signed Price they'd be all lefty. Padres potentially could be all righty. Orioles are currently all righty without Chen. White Sox have Erik Johnson penciled in as their only righty. Indians are a good example, Kluber, Carrasco, Salazar, Bauer, Tomlin. Twins are borderline, with just Millone as their 5th starter. A's before Rich Hill. I just looked at current depth charts, obviously subject to change. But now that I've done some background, not overly unusual. So ya focus would definitely be on the best #2. So that comes down to Zimmerman or Shark for me. Maybe Cueto, but don't like him as much as the other 2. Tyson Ross via trade I'd like, or Trevor Bauer. Gallardo would probably be my fallback.

Not really. Actually not sure if it's important at all. How many all righty rotations are out there? Can't say I've dug into it. If we run into a team that mashes lefties it factors in. Just a general thought more than anything for a bit of balance. If it isn't much of a factor, which I'm not saying it is, more out of curiosity, then I'd want Shark ideally. Honestly if Chen is our #2, I'd probably prefer to get someone via trade. Only guys like Shark, Cueto or Zimmerman are guys who I think move the needle as #2s.

I mean often part of the issue in projecting these guys is they play in a different league, but a guy like Chen takes that out of the equation. Plus I want a lefty to round out the rotation. I think if we're looking for a Beurhle replacement he fits. Obviously Chen on a 4 year deal looks much better...but he doesn't have a history of injuries, and he doesn't rely on his velocity to be effective. Think he'd age well. 5 years might be too rich for me. I'd rather give Greinke 6/180 anyway...but I doubt he's interested in playing here.

If Chen is our consolation prize...it could be worse.

Going forward I think we're short one SP, 2 RPs, backup catcher and maybe a lefty bench bat. I'd move Revere for salary relief in exchange for a reliever. If he's a lefty re-sign Lowe. If he's a righty sign Tony Sipp (4-5M AAV). So let's call it $1M better with Revere gone. That leaves us with roughly $18M or so we assume. Sign Shark/Gallardo/Chen/Kuma (14-16AAV). SP: Stroman, Shark, Estrada, Dickey, Chavez/Hutch/Sanchez RP: Schultz, TRADE(Revere), Sipp, Sanchez, Cecil, Osuna Think that's solid. Would rather a lefty in the rotation, would also want an upgrade at catcher. Just hard to fix the backup C with the Dickman and not sure what trade would work for a guy like Carrasco or Ross. Fine with Pompey/Saunders in left field, but could definitely use another bench piece for depth.