In comment 13999708 section125 said:
This game is proving we still need Warren or Kahnle or both to get their shit together. Can’t alwats keep relying on only DRob, Betances, Chapman for 3+ innings
Warren is back and pitching well.
Yup you’re right about Warren, and he pitched over an inning yesterday.
In the end, just dealing with emptying the bullpen in yesterday’s gut shot loss. Can’t really question Boone too much tonight.
Need Sevy to deliver another 8 strong tomorrow night
Was as predicable as Shreve getting tagged last night.
Seriously, who here didn't see that coming? Now Chapman has to get an out and sit between innings.
Thankfully it was only one pitch but it's the getting warm, and sitting that bugs me. Nether of these guys is near their best when asked to do that.
I walked out of the room when I saw Shreve getting up yesterday....knew what would happen.
Chapman is not adversely affected coming back out. He is usually fine with 4 or 5 outs.
Yes, Chapman can do it, and way more effectively than Betances for sure. It's just to me he's at his best like Betances when only needing to go one inning.
what else he really could have done tonight. Green was used two days in a row, Shreve sucks and used two days in a row. What should he have done differently? A little odd to call a guy a moron when they didn't give up a run. Holder got 7 outs yesterday so it's like he and Green were both unavailable today. What direction should he have gone for the 8th in a 4-1 game?
Left Robertson in for one more out. Pretty simple.
And if Robertson shits the bed? Maybe not your argument but, there are people who then say, “Boone left DRob in too long.”
hasn't pitched back to back days since April 8th. And you want him to pitch the 8th in a 4-1 game in an NL park where saving a pitcher is more important than it is in an AL Park? Coming off of a recent injury?
Boone should never have let Betances swing a bat, but he didn't have much other options than to keep him in the game
Yes, Chapman can do it, and way more effectively than Betances for sure. It's just to me he's at his best like Betances when only needing to go one inning.
hasn't pitched back to back days since April 8th. And you want him to pitch the 8th in a 4-1 game in an NL park where saving a pitcher is more important than it is in an AL Park? Coming off of a recent injury?
Boone should never have let Betances swing a bat, but he didn't have much other options than to keep him in the game
Nobody said anything about Warren pitching tonight. What we said is that Robertson should have finished the 7th and Betances start the 8th. We all know Betances is almost always ineffective coming out for a 2nd inning. He just loses it between innings.
Yeah, Sevy has not been sharp last two outings. But I was not impressed with what I saw from the Phillies tonight. Thought the Rays were a better hitting team, FWIW.
Yeah, Sevy has not been sharp last two outings. But I was not impressed with what I saw from the Phillies tonight. Thought the Rays were a better hitting team, FWIW.
Rays crushed the Nationals 11-0 tonight so we may have just caught them at a bad time (for us).
- hates his pitchers batting and “I like this DH thing,” but wasn’t going to criticize his “violent” swings- he’s an athlete and there were men on base.
hasn't pitched back to back days since April 8th. And you want him to pitch the 8th in a 4-1 game in an NL park where saving a pitcher is more important than it is in an AL Park? Coming off of a recent injury?
Boone should never have let Betances swing a bat, but he didn't have much other options than to keep him in the game
Nobody said anything about Warren pitching tonight. What we said is that Robertson should have finished the 7th and Betances start the 8th. We all know Betances is almost always ineffective coming out for a 2nd inning. He just loses it between innings.
Robertson was on his 2nd inning and shaky in that 2nd inning. And there was no margin for error after he gave up the first run, zero issues going to Betances there in a 1 run game
Loaisaga was released by SF because he was so frequently injured- he signs with the Yanks in Feb 2016, pitches just one game for Charleston and needs TJ surgery- and the Yanks put him on the 40-man after that season rather than expose him to Rule 5. I remember the surprise on BBI over that move- but someone knew what they were doing.
still on the roster and Clint is sent down again? A lefty who is that bad doesn't belong on this team. Additionally, Walker is doing nothing and Drury is raking in Scranton. Who the hell is making these decisions? Sheeeesh
Yes...that was an interesting set of decisions. I wonder if analytics on his pitches ( spin rate, etc.) revealed an outlier worth betting on? Because it sure wasn't based on the track record on traditional metrics or some magical scout with blind faith. It was a lower level of the organization player whose predictive indicators showed a risk reward profile.
To me a very interesting illustration of perhaps how little we may know about how the Yankees rank their minor league prospects?
Notice also some recent promotions of other Yankee pitchers hat upward skip whole league levels? Thats based on some "scorecard of potential" that is not visible to us?
was talking about something the Yankees have that measures spin rates each inning(or constantly) and they can see when a pitcher is starting to tire - if I understood it correctly. Even if the velocity is ok, the spin rates fall off.
Thusly, Lasagna was losing it in the 6th. His velo was down a bit. Interestingly RAB reported it was the 1st time he ever pitched into the 6th inning as a Yankee at any level. He is definitely being monitored on pitch count. I presume they are building his arm strength.
Loaisaga was released by SF because he was so frequently injured- he signs with the Yanks in Feb 2016, pitches just one game for Charleston and needs TJ surgery- and the Yanks put him on the 40-man after that season rather than expose him to Rule 5. I remember the surprise on BBI over that move- but someone knew what they were doing.
He was added at the end of last year, but at the time he had only had a spot start in full-season ball. But yeah, everyone who saw him last year raved about him. I don't know that he has leapfrogged everyone else - Sheff is the consensus best prospect in the system at this point - but the 40-man issue accelerated his timetable.
is impressive--this isn't smoke and mirrors. The fastball and curveball both look plus, and he could potentially throw the latter consistently for strikes. Even his stuff "fading" in the 6th inning still had him averaging 95 mph. While he'll have to build his stamina, if he can even get that changeup to be average, he looks like a good mid-rotation guy and we could use a couple right now.
Yesterday was an important win for the mental well being of the team, and I have no problem pushing the pen to get a W. Coming off a road sweep it's important to get back on track and focused. Especially losing Sanchez for a stretch.
I've seen Loaisiga live twice from good vantage points and he looks every bit the part. Even the Mariners start he was poised. It was an insanely humid night and the ball was exploding off everyone's bat. He's got mid rotation stuff, and I won't be surprised to see him climb up to the 3 spot if his innings stay in tact.
I think - piecing together the public statements of Hal and Cashman -since the 2013 edict by Hal that he was frustrated with a poor minor league system and that he wanted to see a pipeline when older players broke down that he has green lit a very large budget for player development and analytics. I know for a fact that the Yankees use their own algorithms that are not public for their evaluations of pitching offense and defense as well as old fashion scouting.
It's almost the Yankees own money ball approach in that they looked to see where they could use their revenue advantage without being penalized by MLB. It appears to be working quite well. Not to kick the Mets while they're down but if you look at the payrolls of the Yankees and Mets they are not that far apart anymore. But I'd be willing to bet that the Yankees out spend the Mets by multiples of millions of when it comes to player development and analytics.
Yes, the only real question with Loaisiga at this point is health. If he can keep his arm in one piece, he definitely looks to have the talent to succeed, which makes sense when you think about how he made the 40 man despite barely pitching. Cross your fingers for him to suddenly become bionic.
3) Look at this years draft compared to prior years...definitely a strategy that evaluates what they will need in the future (I think Sanchez absorbs a lot of DH in future years even if he does pay attention to "conditioning" (often that's a code word in MLB) as well as gathering in the positions with very high trade chip value (catchers).
I think 2-3 years from now will see the Yankees and the Braves as the organizations who have dynastic models
I know I'll get beat up for these opinions but this is what I believe.
I don't want the Yankees to pay Gary Sanchez. I don't think he's going to age well at at all. I think that also might have had some factor of the catcher heavy draft this year. The young players won't be cheap forever. They're going to have to hand out some big money to some of these guys if they keep producing through their arbitration years.
For that reason I also don't want the Yankees to pay Didi. As much fun as he is to root for I think his defense is already slightly declining and his offense isn't strong enough for the kind of contract he'll command.
These are the kind of very tough calls the Yankees will have to start making. Not easy choices.
I know I'll get beat up for these opinions but this is what I believe.
I don't want the Yankees to pay Gary Sanchez. I don't think he's going to age well at at all. I think that also might have had some factor of the catcher heavy draft this year. The young players won't be cheap forever. They're going to have to hand out some big money to some of these guys if they keep producing through their arbitration years.
For that reason I also don't want the Yankees to pay Didi. As much fun as he is to root for I think his defense is already slightly declining and his offense isn't strong enough for the kind of contract he'll command.
These are the kind of very tough calls the Yankees will have to start making. Not easy choices.
Sanchez is having a rough year- it happens. However, when he is right, his bat is the equal of almost any position player around.
I am of the belief that while he probably sticks at C for a few more years, he will eventually move to DH- kind of the Evan Gattis type of move- except that Sanchez's bat is much better. But it won't happen for a while.
There is a possibility that Sanchez will be upset about the eventual move to DH and seek to go elsewhere where a team will let him be a C in FA. However, there have long been reports that the Yanks rating of Sanchez's defense is much higher than most other teams, so it might be hard for him to find a match in FA.
Something important to remember is that Sanchez is not eligible for FA until after the 2022 season. That is because he did not accumulate a full season for FA purposes in 2016, so 2017 became his first season. He isn't even eligible for arbitration until after the 2019 season.
The Yanks do not have to make any decisions in the near future on Sanchez. Right now, he is a C. He probably will be in 2019 as well.
The only way that likely changes in the near future is if Stanton opts out or gets traded, because Stanton will continue as DH for some time.
I didn't look at his service time before I posted that. 4 more seasons will give them plenty of time to decide what they want to do. Even if the arbitration numbers are record breaking one year contracts aren't any issue. After 2022 they can decide how to go forward.
I'm fine with letting Didi go when the time comes Â
I'm not so sure about that. He's a huge part of the team both on and off the field. He's handled the transition from Jeter and NYC itself about as good if not better than anyone could have imagined.
He's proven he's an All-Star caliber player, and if he keeps playing like he is now, it's going to be tough to just let him go. Yes, he had a horrible May but he carried them in April and now looks like the guy we expect him to be.
I'd rather play it out and see where he is when the time comes than make a move too early concerning him.
I really feel team chemistry is a big deal and like Toe, Didi is loved in that room. We know what Didi can do and can't assume another player could play in NYC or be a good locker room fit. It would be different and worth looking into a change if he was a below average player but that's not the case.
but there will be some tough decisions to make in the coming years, as others have referenced, and I could see him being sacrificed in advance of the monster Judge/Sevy paydays. Didi will be an interesting test case for the analytics/old school factions.
Completely agree. Stanton and Sanchez and percent time at DH are decisions:
3 to 5 years away
Possible to enable ( each would be a lot of money as a DH) only when the majority of the team is before their first FA period.
Hard to figure for Judge also may not had up at his size playing the field as much as he does.
The issue is that we need the DH spot for many players or 2 of the three of them. All three may not fit playing 40% DH, 40% position and 20% down time...within any payroll we can think of unless we continue a pipeline of home grown in several positions and pitching slots.
All speculation and not an issue for at least two years.
We violently agree!
I love rooting for Didi but he is not an all star Â
caliber SS in the AL. It wasn't long ago that he was the only player on the team I liked. But it's very possible the guy playing 2B right now is the better SS.
and like with most FAs I think the cost may not be as big as we think. Outside of absolute stud, star players, I believe more and more teams will hold off on big offers. It only take 1 so maybe it doesn’t matter, but it will be interesting to see what happens when he hits the market.
and like with most FAs I think the cost may not be as big as we think. Outside of absolute stud, star players, I believe more and more teams will hold off on big offers. It only take 1 so maybe it doesn’t matter, but it will be interesting to see what happens when he hits the market.
I think this is true for the most part- but maybe not for certain positions.
C and SS who are in the upper tier of players RARELY reach FA. Machado will this winter, but will teams consider him a SS or 3B? He probably is a SS, but it really doesn't matter where he plays- he will be signed to a massive deal.
Didi might be the best pure SS to hit the market in about 5 years. That alone will get him a market- as there are a number of teams who struggle to put a decent two-way SS on the field.
While I have been advocating for signing Machado this off-season, it is getting harder and harder to maintain that position with how good Torres has been. By the time Didi hits FA after the 2019 season, Torres could easily shift to SS and one of the many upper level middle INF prospects could take 2B.
and like with most FAs I think the cost may not be as big as we think. Outside of absolute stud, star players, I believe more and more teams will hold off on big offers. It only take 1 so maybe it doesn’t matter, but it will be interesting to see what happens when he hits the market.
I think this is true for the most part- but maybe not for certain positions.
C and SS who are in the upper tier of players RARELY reach FA. Machado will this winter, but will teams consider him a SS or 3B? He probably is a SS, but it really doesn't matter where he plays- he will be signed to a massive deal.
Didi might be the best pure SS to hit the market in about 5 years. That alone will get him a market- as there are a number of teams who struggle to put a decent two-way SS on the field.
While I have been advocating for signing Machado this off-season, it is getting harder and harder to maintain that position with how good Torres has been. By the time Didi hits FA after the 2019 season, Torres could easily shift to SS and one of the many upper level middle INF prospects could take 2B.
Curious which INF prospects you have in mind. Wade surely hasn't impressed in his time. How do the prospects you have in mind compare to him?
Thairo Estrada was shot in the leg and has dealt w/ injuries all year Â
Abi Avelino has had a bit of an offensive breakout this year, though his K rate has spiked a bit. He could be a major league SS. Tyler Wade can be better than we've seen so far, but I wouldn't forego Didi or Manny Machado for him.
RE: I love rooting for Didi but he is not an all star Â
caliber SS in the AL. It wasn't long ago that he was the only player on the team I liked. But it's very possible the guy playing 2B right now is the better SS.
If the all star team has 5 or 6 shortstops Didi is an all star. If they have 2 or 3 he's not. I like Didi. I like rooting for Didi. His defense this year has been average at best by every defensive measurement available to fans including the eye ball test. His offense is good but not great. There are 5 SS with a higher OPS than Didi in the AL. There are 4 with a higher WAR (which I think is a bogus stat) and Machado is not one of them. Is there anyone that would take Didi over Manny? Didi doesn't deserve to be on the AL all star team. But he's a good player and a valuable player to the Yankees.
If the all star team has 5 or 6 shortstops Didi is an all star. If they have 2 or 3 he's not. I like Didi. I like rooting for Didi. His defense this year has been average at best by every defensive measurement available to fans including the eye ball test. His offense is good but not great. There are 5 SS with a higher OPS than Didi in the AL. There are 4 with a higher WAR (which I think is a bogus stat) and Machado is not one of them. Is there anyone that would take Didi over Manny? Didi doesn't deserve to be on the AL all star team. But he's a good player and a valuable player to the Yankees.
I guess my better than 20/20 vision does not agree with your eye test. Has he flubbed a few, yes. But to say he is not as good as the others is splitting hairs. Not sure he doesn't have the best arm.
If your criteria is who actually on the All Star team, you are right, because he won't be. But he is every bit as good defensively as most of whom will be on the AL team.
OPS - well yes after disappearing in May I have no doubt that the three I listed are ahead of him.
My point is Didi is upper third minimum SS and there is not much difference between #1 and #5 . I actually think Machado needs to go back to 3B.
is he a better defensive shortstop? No. All things being equal you take Manny, but I'd still sooner have him at 3B than at SS. Lindor and Correa sure, Simmons and Segura are debatable, I'd still take him over Bogaerts any day of the week.
RE: Thairo Estrada was shot in the leg and has dealt w/ injuries all year Â
Abi Avelino has had a bit of an offensive breakout this year, though his K rate has spiked a bit. He could be a major league SS. Tyler Wade can be better than we've seen so far, but I wouldn't forego Didi or Manny Machado for him.
His shortstop play is above average, he is fast, his bat was the lagging tool and with his power surge it seems to be there.
While this is the first season that he has shown above-average OBP and BA skills, the speed has always been 40+ SB level, with the ability to be a legit defender all over the INF.
IF Avelino continues to make advances with the bat this year and next, there might not be a better potential leadoff hitter in the upper minors- especially with Torres replaces Didi.
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In comment 13999708 section125 said:
This game is proving we still need Warren or Kahnle or both to get their shit together. Can’t alwats keep relying on only DRob, Betances, Chapman for 3+ innings
Warren is back and pitching well.
Yup you’re right about Warren, and he pitched over an inning yesterday.
In the end, just dealing with emptying the bullpen in yesterday’s gut shot loss. Can’t really question Boone too much tonight.
Need Sevy to deliver another 8 strong tomorrow night
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Was as predicable as Shreve getting tagged last night.
Seriously, who here didn't see that coming? Now Chapman has to get an out and sit between innings.
Thankfully it was only one pitch but it's the getting warm, and sitting that bugs me. Nether of these guys is near their best when asked to do that.
I walked out of the room when I saw Shreve getting up yesterday....knew what would happen.
Chapman is not adversely affected coming back out. He is usually fine with 4 or 5 outs.
Yes, Chapman can do it, and way more effectively than Betances for sure. It's just to me he's at his best like Betances when only needing to go one inning.
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what else he really could have done tonight. Green was used two days in a row, Shreve sucks and used two days in a row. What should he have done differently? A little odd to call a guy a moron when they didn't give up a run. Holder got 7 outs yesterday so it's like he and Green were both unavailable today. What direction should he have gone for the 8th in a 4-1 game?
Left Robertson in for one more out. Pretty simple.
And if Robertson shits the bed? Maybe not your argument but, there are people who then say, “Boone left DRob in too long.”
Boone should never have let Betances swing a bat, but he didn't have much other options than to keep him in the game
Yes, Chapman can do it, and way more effectively than Betances for sure. It's just to me he's at his best like Betances when only needing to go one inning.
Oh, no doubt.
Boone should never have let Betances swing a bat, but he didn't have much other options than to keep him in the game
Nobody said anything about Warren pitching tonight. What we said is that Robertson should have finished the 7th and Betances start the 8th. We all know Betances is almost always ineffective coming out for a 2nd inning. He just loses it between innings.
Back to 26 games over.
Good job. One mistake hanging the slider. 19 pitches so not sure he can be used tomorrow.
Yeah, Sevy has not been sharp last two outings. But I was not impressed with what I saw from the Phillies tonight. Thought the Rays were a better hitting team, FWIW.
Good job. One mistake hanging the slider. 19 pitches so not sure he can be used tomorrow.
I agree with that. No way they can catch up to the high heater, but the low one they can just drop the bat on the ball and make contact.
I think Romine calls form the high one much more than Sanchez and is something I noticed early in the year. Hopefully he keeps having him go up there.
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length from Sevy tomorrow.
Yeah, Sevy has not been sharp last two outings. But I was not impressed with what I saw from the Phillies tonight. Thought the Rays were a better hitting team, FWIW.
Rays crushed the Nationals 11-0 tonight so we may have just caught them at a bad time (for us).
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hasn't pitched back to back days since April 8th. And you want him to pitch the 8th in a 4-1 game in an NL park where saving a pitcher is more important than it is in an AL Park? Coming off of a recent injury?
Boone should never have let Betances swing a bat, but he didn't have much other options than to keep him in the game
Nobody said anything about Warren pitching tonight. What we said is that Robertson should have finished the 7th and Betances start the 8th. We all know Betances is almost always ineffective coming out for a 2nd inning. He just loses it between innings.
Robertson was on his 2nd inning and shaky in that 2nd inning. And there was no margin for error after he gave up the first run, zero issues going to Betances there in a 1 run game
To me a very interesting illustration of perhaps how little we may know about how the Yankees rank their minor league prospects?
Notice also some recent promotions of other Yankee pitchers hat upward skip whole league levels? Thats based on some "scorecard of potential" that is not visible to us?
Thusly, Lasagna was losing it in the 6th. His velo was down a bit. Interestingly RAB reported it was the 1st time he ever pitched into the 6th inning as a Yankee at any level. He is definitely being monitored on pitch count. I presume they are building his arm strength.
He was added at the end of last year, but at the time he had only had a spot start in full-season ball. But yeah, everyone who saw him last year raved about him. I don't know that he has leapfrogged everyone else - Sheff is the consensus best prospect in the system at this point - but the 40-man issue accelerated his timetable.
I've seen Loaisiga live twice from good vantage points and he looks every bit the part. Even the Mariners start he was poised. It was an insanely humid night and the ball was exploding off everyone's bat. He's got mid rotation stuff, and I won't be surprised to see him climb up to the 3 spot if his innings stay in tact.
It's almost the Yankees own money ball approach in that they looked to see where they could use their revenue advantage without being penalized by MLB. It appears to be working quite well. Not to kick the Mets while they're down but if you look at the payrolls of the Yankees and Mets they are not that far apart anymore. But I'd be willing to bet that the Yankees out spend the Mets by multiples of millions of when it comes to player development and analytics.
Yes, the only real question with Loaisiga at this point is health. If he can keep his arm in one piece, he definitely looks to have the talent to succeed, which makes sense when you think about how he made the 40 man despite barely pitching. Cross your fingers for him to suddenly become bionic.
2) Agree
3) Look at this years draft compared to prior years...definitely a strategy that evaluates what they will need in the future (I think Sanchez absorbs a lot of DH in future years even if he does pay attention to "conditioning" (often that's a code word in MLB) as well as gathering in the positions with very high trade chip value (catchers).
I think 2-3 years from now will see the Yankees and the Braves as the organizations who have dynastic models
I don't want the Yankees to pay Gary Sanchez. I don't think he's going to age well at at all. I think that also might have had some factor of the catcher heavy draft this year. The young players won't be cheap forever. They're going to have to hand out some big money to some of these guys if they keep producing through their arbitration years.
For that reason I also don't want the Yankees to pay Didi. As much fun as he is to root for I think his defense is already slightly declining and his offense isn't strong enough for the kind of contract he'll command.
These are the kind of very tough calls the Yankees will have to start making. Not easy choices.
I don't want the Yankees to pay Gary Sanchez. I don't think he's going to age well at at all. I think that also might have had some factor of the catcher heavy draft this year. The young players won't be cheap forever. They're going to have to hand out some big money to some of these guys if they keep producing through their arbitration years.
For that reason I also don't want the Yankees to pay Didi. As much fun as he is to root for I think his defense is already slightly declining and his offense isn't strong enough for the kind of contract he'll command.
These are the kind of very tough calls the Yankees will have to start making. Not easy choices.
Sanchez is having a rough year- it happens. However, when he is right, his bat is the equal of almost any position player around.
I am of the belief that while he probably sticks at C for a few more years, he will eventually move to DH- kind of the Evan Gattis type of move- except that Sanchez's bat is much better. But it won't happen for a while.
There is a possibility that Sanchez will be upset about the eventual move to DH and seek to go elsewhere where a team will let him be a C in FA. However, there have long been reports that the Yanks rating of Sanchez's defense is much higher than most other teams, so it might be hard for him to find a match in FA.
Something important to remember is that Sanchez is not eligible for FA until after the 2022 season. That is because he did not accumulate a full season for FA purposes in 2016, so 2017 became his first season. He isn't even eligible for arbitration until after the 2019 season.
The Yanks do not have to make any decisions in the near future on Sanchez. Right now, he is a C. He probably will be in 2019 as well.
The only way that likely changes in the near future is if Stanton opts out or gets traded, because Stanton will continue as DH for some time.
I'm not so sure about that. He's a huge part of the team both on and off the field. He's handled the transition from Jeter and NYC itself about as good if not better than anyone could have imagined.
He's proven he's an All-Star caliber player, and if he keeps playing like he is now, it's going to be tough to just let him go. Yes, he had a horrible May but he carried them in April and now looks like the guy we expect him to be.
I'd rather play it out and see where he is when the time comes than make a move too early concerning him.
I really feel team chemistry is a big deal and like Toe, Didi is loved in that room. We know what Didi can do and can't assume another player could play in NYC or be a good locker room fit. It would be different and worth looking into a change if he was a below average player but that's not the case.
3 to 5 years away
Possible to enable ( each would be a lot of money as a DH) only when the majority of the team is before their first FA period.
Hard to figure for Judge also may not had up at his size playing the field as much as he does.
The issue is that we need the DH spot for many players or 2 of the three of them. All three may not fit playing 40% DH, 40% position and 20% down time...within any payroll we can think of unless we continue a pipeline of home grown in several positions and pitching slots.
All speculation and not an issue for at least two years.
We violently agree!
I think this is true for the most part- but maybe not for certain positions.
C and SS who are in the upper tier of players RARELY reach FA. Machado will this winter, but will teams consider him a SS or 3B? He probably is a SS, but it really doesn't matter where he plays- he will be signed to a massive deal.
Didi might be the best pure SS to hit the market in about 5 years. That alone will get him a market- as there are a number of teams who struggle to put a decent two-way SS on the field.
While I have been advocating for signing Machado this off-season, it is getting harder and harder to maintain that position with how good Torres has been. By the time Didi hits FA after the 2019 season, Torres could easily shift to SS and one of the many upper level middle INF prospects could take 2B.
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and like with most FAs I think the cost may not be as big as we think. Outside of absolute stud, star players, I believe more and more teams will hold off on big offers. It only take 1 so maybe it doesn’t matter, but it will be interesting to see what happens when he hits the market.
I think this is true for the most part- but maybe not for certain positions.
C and SS who are in the upper tier of players RARELY reach FA. Machado will this winter, but will teams consider him a SS or 3B? He probably is a SS, but it really doesn't matter where he plays- he will be signed to a massive deal.
Didi might be the best pure SS to hit the market in about 5 years. That alone will get him a market- as there are a number of teams who struggle to put a decent two-way SS on the field.
While I have been advocating for signing Machado this off-season, it is getting harder and harder to maintain that position with how good Torres has been. By the time Didi hits FA after the 2019 season, Torres could easily shift to SS and one of the many upper level middle INF prospects could take 2B.
Curious which INF prospects you have in mind. Wade surely hasn't impressed in his time. How do the prospects you have in mind compare to him?
No? Based on what?
Of course he is All Star caliber.
Machado, Lindor and Correa are probably the top SS in the AL, true. But Didi is right there too.
I guess my better than 20/20 vision does not agree with your eye test. Has he flubbed a few, yes. But to say he is not as good as the others is splitting hairs. Not sure he doesn't have the best arm.
If your criteria is who actually on the All Star team, you are right, because he won't be. But he is every bit as good defensively as most of whom will be on the AL team.
OPS - well yes after disappearing in May I have no doubt that the three I listed are ahead of him.
My point is Didi is upper third minimum SS and there is not much difference between #1 and #5 . I actually think Machado needs to go back to 3B.
Anyway opinions are like a##holes...
While this is the first season that he has shown above-average OBP and BA skills, the speed has always been 40+ SB level, with the ability to be a legit defender all over the INF.
IF Avelino continues to make advances with the bat this year and next, there might not be a better potential leadoff hitter in the upper minors- especially with Torres replaces Didi.