THANOS

Just wondering, does this mean you project the Pompey/Saunders combo to provide 0-1 WAR?

Bob's been bashing Shapiro on air for awhile now, so it will be interesting to say the least. I expect questions about Edwin/Bautista, the Budget, and if there will be any more additions to the BP/SR. I expect Shapiro to give political answers that dance around all of Bob's topics. Personally, I wish he asked Shapiro if there would be a change in pitching development philosophies to produce more peripherally sound pitchers like in the Cleveland system. I would also ask if they plan on reverting Osuna back into a starter and when. Unfortunately, I doubt the average listener wants to hear the answers to my questions

Awesome article, thanks King!

Oh yeah, I wouldn't even consider it this off-season, unless the return was outstanding, which I doubt it would be coming off a down year.

Yep. There's also the possibility that Tulo has one of his elite type seasons in 2016 and raises his trade value substantially. If that happens, maybe we can bring back a Top 50 shortstop prospect in his package.

I agree with you, hopefully you're right. Stroman and Sanchez, doing those crazy, two-per-day, workouts, 5 times a week this off-season, tells me that they could potentially be just as durable as a pitcher who threw 180 IP this past season.

I would love this, and it makes perfect sense. If they want to save money as well, they could go after Carter Capps to take that role. I'm not sure what it would take, but it might not be as crazy an ask as one would expect, given he has never been used as a closer. That said, I have my doubts that Osuna will be used the logical way we hope for, because of "win now" mode.

Yeah, you're right, but that was under Alex, who knows how Shapiro and Atkins feel about it.

It's a reasonable jump, nothing too crazy. He threw 77 innings last season, including the post-season, so a jump of 20-40 innings isn't all that bad.

Uninformed: not having or showing awareness or understanding of the facts. The definition shows that they would need to not have the facts to be uninformed. They get many of them from the sources I listed, only the message behind them is inappropriately twisted to fit the anti-shapiro narrative.

They're not necessarily uninformed, just informed by the worst authority; guys like McCown, Brady and Walker, etc. They are taught by all the hockey fan bandwagoner analysts who aren't used to following baseball too much, since 93.

If they could guarantee him that many innings, I would be game for this. That way he stays in our BP but will be ready to start in 2017.

I'd love that.

f***ing this x 100%. Great post!

This is f***ing awesome!! Storen is a much better get than Randall Delgado.

If the cost is low, and the years are 1-2, do it imo.

That would suck.

His career mark of .303 is only .011 points less playing 1/2 his games in a pitcher's park, so a similar BABIP next year should be very predictable without too much risk, all other things equal, as opposed to Mushroom's crazy rate. Here's an interesting question, how much do you think Mushroom's future projections would change if he manages to repeat another .400 BABIP season in 2016?

Because the rotation is pretty full currently, and he has more room for error in AAA. I would be fine with him as the 5th starter in the majors, but it leaves no room for error, and I wouldn't want a panic to start if he struggles in his initial adjustment, which could mean he would either be bumped back to the BP too early, or demoted after a few starts to AAA to continue starting (which could be potentially bad for his psyche as a young 21 year old pitcher).

Come again? JD is signed for another 3 seasons bro.

I didn't say he would be called up to "start", I said he would be re-called to join the bullpen in time for the stretch run in August. That would be 2 months of guaranteed BP contribution and potentially more if we reach the playoffs. At least this way, though, you could stretch him out as a starter for the first 4 months so his innings will be high enough for him to start all of 2017 without being shutdown half way through. I don't see how that would weaken up that bad in 2016 since we would get him in the BP when the pressure is the highest.

He has good K rates, and his slider is supposed to be elite, have you seen him pitch? I'm interested to know what you think of his swinging strike ability, his composure, and if he's tough to square up.

Because I see Osuna as a much better starter than reliever, and want to see him ready to start and contribute 130-170 IP by 2017 when Dickey and Chavez leave via FA. He can always be re-called in August in time for the stretch run, there's nothing wrong with that. But wasting another year of his development in the BP, with his amazing stuff, and waiting until 2017 for him to start, when you a) don't know what type of results you'll get learning in the majors, and will only get 110-130 IP max, is not the greatest strategy. At least this way you'll get the learning curve and innings in the books in AAA where he's given the opportunity to work through an adjustment period.

There are moves left to be made, just not sure if they'll happen. 1) Ben Revere trade to ARI for Delgado 2) Sign Blanton with Revere savings 3) Sign Seung-hwan Oh with what's left under the budget Those three could afford us to send either Sanchez or Osuna to AAA to start for the 1st 4 1/2 months of the season, before being re-called and thrown into the bullpen in advance of the post-season run. Those would be the moves I would make, all other things equal of course (pending the FA's actually want to come here, and Stewart buys Revere's AVG and Speed as huge selling points). Then you could have a BP like this for the 1st half of the year: CL: Cecil SU: Blanton/Oh 3: Blanton/Oh 4: Delgado 5: Sanchez 6: Loup 7: Biagini And then you add Osuna, and send 1 of Sanchez/Biagini/Loup down in the August. Even if you just trade Revere for Delgado and sign only 1 of Blanton or Oh, you could still allow Osuna to start in AAA and just roll with a 6 man pen (or 7 man with Chavez/Hutch as a 2nd long man), so either way, you'd be sitting pretty.

4.8 k/9 yuk...