Brownie19

Man - Pete's going to need a lot more booze to manage the stress of making chicken salad out of chicken s*** this spring. Better line him up an Uber.

Being a quality bench player is a skill. If Lukes and Lopez are going to play in the majors - it's very likely to be as bench players, so they could use the real life training.

No offense, but I find this hilarious. There is a f***ton of 'character' in baseball right now. So much so that most old school types hate it and wish players would show more respect. Now I think that's because the 'character' is displayed in what they would consider to be a showboat fashion (although I don't recall people hating Rickey Henderson or Reggie Jackson - even though he pimped the f*** out of home runs). You want Mark Fidrych? Nestor Cortes, Johnny Cueto, Stroman You want Randy Johnson? Alek Manoah is pretty large and intimating - leading the league in hit batters. Or how about Amir Garrett who literally tried to fight an entire team on his own? You want Bill Lee? Brian Wilson (yes he's retired) Trevor Bauer JD Stroman Gold chains and 1 f***ing cell phone upsets you? Tim Raines used to carry cocaine in his back pocket during games - is that more your style? Don't run out ground balls? That isn't exactly new and personally, the risk of injury typically isn't worth the potential for 1 or 2 extra times on base per year when someone bizarre happens. As for umpires and managers and on-field antics. I have always hated that nonsense, so I'm happy that's changed considerably. Most of those managers looked like morons. You kind of sound like the old man who yells at clouds man. Sorry.

Merrifield/Biggio cloud those 400-500 PA's though...

Yeah I think that would be ideal given the options at the bottom of the standings. Original 6 team that is really starting to accumulate some talent. If they trade Toews and Kane for haul this season, the rebuild could happen pretty quickly with Bedard in the fold.

The reality that KK and Springer are injury prone may help a FA see a path to 400-500 PA's. Will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

I think that's fair - however, if Vlad meets his projections and posts another 160 wRC+, 5.5+ WAR year, he probably pushes into a level/class above Devers....maybe it goes up to $385M over 11 years or something.

How quickly we all forget that Zimmer was a 1.5 WAR player in just 350 PA's in 2021 - with a 89 wRC+ bat. I think you'll find that most players struggle to hit when they get 3 at bats per month. I'm not in the clubhouse, but it seemed like Zimmer accepted his role as that defensive replacement/pinch runner, kept his mouth shut and was a good team player. Nobody should expect much from our 5th OFer.

I don't get your point. This still happens regularly. Pitchers throw at/near batters and benches clear so everyone can waste time yelling at each other.

This is a good point - we signed the equivalent to Toussaint last year in De Leon. Man he seemed like a can't miss prospect way back when.

Otto certainly looks like he has a chance to nap one of our open bench spots. He's not a real prospect like Barger is, so time for him to develop into a good bench/util guy.

Yeah I saw that and thought the same thing. Checked his stats though and it seems like a long shot he'll ever materialize into anything. Smart of him to get into the Cleveland organization as they seem to turn water into wine with pitchers.

time to lock up this thread?

It certainly was, but man, what a fun game to be at. So much offense with the teams going back and fourth all game. Hell of a game for my sons (7) first Leafs game. One neither of us will soon forget. Just need a f***ing save in the shootout unfortunately.

Pardon my resistance to adding another fast OFer from the Rockies who can't hit...

Fangraphs is suggesting he's a career 122 wRC+ hitter v. LHP (111 wRC+ v. RHP). https://www.fangraphs.com/players/ramon-laureano/17128/splits?position=OF&season=0 I worry that a guy like Pollack will be looking for a starting spot or a clear path to playing time. Could be wrong - maybe he wants to be on a winner. He's definitely my #1 choice. He's kind of like a right handed version of Michael Brantley. Duval is right there with him too. Duval, Grossman, Pham, Mancini, Pinder - there's probably enough of these types of players out there that we can land one on the cheap. Ramon hasn't been the same since he got off PEDs and he may no longer have anymore upside than these guys (you're hoping to find lightning in a bottle), but I doubt he costs much to acquire.

For sure - which increases the importance on having a solid 4th OFer. I think we can get by with a combination of Merrifield/Biggio/Espinal covering 2nd and the 4th OF spot - but 1 more solid LHP masher would really round out the bench nicely.

The only thing better than having 3 CFers on the team is having 4! He's actually be a great fit as our 4th OFer. RHB who hits lefties well and can play all 3 OF positions. Entering his age 29 season and has 2 more years of control. Sign me up at the right price. Varsho/Laureano/KK >>>> Teo/Gurriel/Tapia

Is this true? Is there data to back this up?

Jays re-sign Casey Lawrence to a minor league contract. Eric Hinske also hired as an assistant coach for the Mets.

It turns out that baserunning is a component of offense as well. 2022 Off Rankings Teo - 15.0 Varsho - 7.7 Gurriel - 3.8 KK - 0.7 Tapia - Negative 2.6 We got a combined 1.2 Off between Gurriel and Tapia last year. 2023 Projected Off Ranking Teo - 13.1 Varsho - 9.8 Gurriel - 7.2 KK - Negative 5.5 4th OFer Varsho is projected to replace about 2/3's of Teo's offensive production. Obviously that projection for KK is very pessimistic, while it's very optimistic for Gurriel - and we'll need to see who's used or add as the 4th OFer. However, this team was 2nd in MLB in both wRC+ and Off last year (7.4 Off ahead of #3 and a staggering 25.7 Off ahead of 6th place). Vlad alone is projected to produce 24.5 Off more than he did in 2022. The offensive downgrades of Teo/Gurriel/Tapia to Varsho/KK/4th OF isn't significant enough to tank this offense IMO.

I'd be happy if Francis was simply a solid #6 starter who provided some depth to the rotation.

I read this morning that he doesn't project to be a star... https://www.nbcsportsedge.com/baseball/mlb/player/70218/jung-hoo-lee

Thanks buddy - appreciate the tips!

I'm taking my 7 year old to the Buds game on Tuesday for his first ever game. Any suggestions? Do's and don'ts?