PickleJ

Sorry if this becomes a double post. I thought I submitted a reply but it vanished into the ether. Short for of that… Helps to deal with teams facing external pressures. If I’m the Pirates, then I’d be searching for line up help a level up from the buffalo boys., especially for Keller. It sure the Jays can provide that. Too bad Martinez wasn’t on a heater in AAA. We did trade Martin and Woods-Richardson for Berrios. I like Nimmala and yes save better, but that could be recency bias

You are probably right. It would be reasonable for the Pirates to ask for Nimmala and they have the advantage of holding on to them both (I’m sure why they wouldn’t, actually). It probably will come down to how many buyers they are, how many other options the Jays have, and how funky the Pirates decision making process is (they can deal both these guys for good returns, but do they really need Yesevage or Nimmala; they already have starting pitching depth and I would think they would want players closer to the majors than Nimmala to help Skenes.)

I like Keller. Not many true aces out there. And Keller can replace Bassitt’s mid rotation spot next season and for a lower dollar figure. But I’m not a big fan of including either Yesevage or Nimmala. He’s not David Cone. 😊

Any way to do that deal without Yesevage or Nimmala? Those are the only two prospects I don’t want dealt. I think you can get either one individually without Yesevage or Nimmala. On a Pirates related note, are they obligated to sign every lefty that the Jays let go? I see they’ve trotted out Mayza, Borucki, and Cabrera so far this year.

Maybe some jitters or too jacked up.

I did catch the recap this afternoon. And yes, his fastball did not look good.

Haha I wasn’t able to catch the game last night, but by scanning this thread, I take Pina mania will not become a thing. Was his stuff DFA bad? Or was that just game thread hyperbole in your opinion? He does have all his options Not saying you were suggesting DFAing him. Tossing the question your way, because I found your postgame bullpen take to be the most balanced.

Definitely, Now titan Loperfido is back, I am reminded that he also provides positional flexibility. It’s kind of strange, but we haven’t carried a back up middle infielder all year, except during times of injury to Giminez or Bichette. Our back up middle infielder is also our starting 3B. We also have a number of players that can be pinch hit for, run for, or subbed out defensively late in games. Schneider (the manager, not the moustache) will be busy this year. So positional flexibility is helpful right now.

And one finally thing, because responding to your post sparked this thought, and it might be sneaky consideration moving forward. A lot of the our bench guys and minor league guys, both in the OF and IF, appear to be brining contributing in complimentary ways. Barger is more useful because he can play third, which enables the Jays to move Clement to 2B or SS on some nights, or to bump him from the line up against some righties.. Clement plays a top notch 3B, which means the Jays can move Barger out to RF and give George “Roy Hobbs” Springer some time off his feet in the DH spot. Straw bats right and Lukes left for a CF platoon, but Straw also brings defence and base running of the bench, Lukes brings an okay bat against righties off the bench, and both provide OF positional flexibility. Lukes can also platoon with Schneider in left, while Schneider has the ability to shift to second when things start moving around late in the game. And Lukes and Clement are demonstrating they can combine to fill the lead off roll. So I wonder if bumping any one of them from the roster for a bigger bat has the risk of decreasing the utility of the group.

True,. And if Santador was healthy and performing., then there might not be any chatter about picking up a bat. Of course, if he was healthy and performing, then he would have soaked up a lot of at bats, and we might not of seen Barger break our, or Schneider bounce back, or Lukes contribute in quiet but real ways And I do like all the guys you lost e. but I’m not sure Clase or Roden are MLB ready, especially playoff run/post season ready. I think Roden will get there, not sure Clase will. But the real issue with Clase is that he will be out of options next year, so I think he is getting extended time on the big club this year to see if he has chance to,stick long term. Schneider and Loperfido are major league ready,-ish, but also tend to be erratic performance wise. Schneider has shown more than Loperfido performance wise., but Loperfido shows flashes and has sneaky positional flexibility. I like giving them some runway, but I’m also good if one or both get bumped for a more mature bat. Straw is what he is, but he has also been surprisingly helpful this year. Great fill in for Varsho and likely stays on the roster through the year because he provides CF defence and base running. It’s definitely a good problem to have, especially with Varsho and Santadoe out for so long.

I think the metrics support Lukes being a sustainable 4th/5th outfielder. He doesn’t provide anything that pops out at you (maybe some on base and bat to ball skills against righties). But there is also not much there that tanks his value. I think his base running and defence (especially in LF) metrics related to overall WAR are slightly depressed due to small sample size variance. But he will never be on the roster for his base running or defence alone. He’s not a one big skill bench guy. He’ll be on there because he is decent at most things and has a bit of positional flexibility in the outfield. From my glance at his profile, that seem sustainable for the near term.

Yeah… for some reason I thought he’d be better in the field on the bases than he is.

I like that idea.

Yeah, they all seemed to have good vibes around each other during Bassitt’s stint with the Mets. And I enjoy Bassitt. I don’t always love watching him get bogged down with his own pitch calling. But I enjoy his quirkiness. He’s seems like the type of teammate you love, but also one you need a short break from every once in a while. I’m now fully behind Rogers paying DeGroom $40 mil (plus the corresponding tax) for the next couple of years.

He’s buddies with Scherzer, isn’t he? Maybe that will help sway him. On a related note, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how engaging Scherzer appears to be. I thought he was surly.. But with his teammates and the media he seems quite upbeat and positive (realistic about his health, but upbeat about the team). I didn’t know this side of him.

Interesting. Atkins has stated they will be aggressive at the deadline. I interpreted that to mean an willingness to deal prospects, but maybe it can mean a willingness to take on large salaries and a tax bill I have tended to dislike the old man pitching contracts given out to the DeGrooms and Verlanders. But I’ve enjoyed our very brief and injury interrupted experience with Scherzer, so I am more open to taking on another creaky vet that can still deal when healthy.

Are there any sneaky starters going into there first arb contract or in early arb years besides Cabrera that might be dealt? The Pirates seem open to doing some weird things. (I’m not talking about Skenes here.).

Little that is. He throws a lot of 55 footers.

He does throw a lot of 55 foot breaking balls.

I little salary relief is always helpful if we are switching in a better arm for Green. Maybe we could get a Robertson like guy back. Haha

The bat is probably only helpful if Santador is done for the year. Even then, the bat is 3rd on my list of priorities.

If we acquire a second lefty to take the pressure off of Little, then I’d send Sandlin down for now. But if we acquire a lower righty (either alone or in addition to a lefty), then I’d let go of Green. Could Green be dealt rather than released if we ate some of his contract?

I definitely have the same misgivings. But ever so often I wonder if his contract might actually be a bargain if he is able to consistently get to the 2.5-4.5 WAR range as corner outfield bat. After this year, he has 5 years at approximately 15 mil per season (and luxury tax hit of slightly newly that). It runs until he 35, but does have a $20 million club option for his age 36 season. I don’t see his contract as any worse than Santador’s and it is much cheaper than the one we gave to Springer. Of course, being not worse than Santandor and cheaper than Springer doesn’t really add up to a reason to acquire him, but if they give him away, then I’d be tempted. His decline from his 6.0 WAR season is noticeable, but I think we might have to separate this year’s decline from the last three. During the past three, he evolved from a centre fielder to a corner outfield bat (and not a great defensive one), which downgrades his peak WAR potential. But this year’s decline is funkier. His average exit velocity is still 91.6 mph. His max is over 112 mph. And his xWOBA is 0.360. His launch angle collapsed into the bad Vlad range at 6.7 and his pulled FB rate has plummeted, which for some reason means he is underperforming on fastballs compared to the past. All the metrics seem within his typical range, including bat speed. This hints at more of a prolonged slump than a rapid decline I find his performance to be quite curious. (Though he is still not as good as he was in video game a few years ago.)

I’d also like to throw my an over question about Bryan Reynolds out to everyone else as well. How do you all feel about him? His defence and base running surprisingly suck, but if his production actually lines up with his batted ball metrics again, then his contract is reasonable for a corner outfielder. (I do have a video game bias regarding him, however, as he raked for me on The Show a few years ago.).

@max silver I read a few quotes from Kirk this morning in an article about his selection to the all-star team. His current mindset appears to be the complete opposite of what you’d we’re suggesting.. He stated he was too pull/homer focused the past few years and is now focused on hitting the ball to all fields. So I took another look at his batted ball profile and it does seem that much of his increase in fly balls has come from concerning ground balls up the middle into fly balls between the gaps. His home runs also appear to tend towards the big part of the diamond. He has definitely improved his batted ball profile this year by adjusting his approach, which probably contributed to better mechanics, seeing the ball better, and hitting more balls hard (which in turn probably built up his confidence that help stabilize those things), but it also likely contributing to more fly outs in the big part of the field as you suggested. So I won’t expect a massive shift in his approach this year, but perhaps as he feels more confident in his abilities he will gradually zero in on pitches he can pull over the outfielders heads I’d also be curious about your thoughts on Laureano and Bryan Reynolds. I like both as potential acquisitions, but they see to have opposing trends regarding their fly ball profiles. Reynolds appears to have a healthy batted ball metrics except that his launch angle has tanked, while Laureano has had a major shift towards the pull side on fly balls.