Anonymous

I think bringing up Bonifacio/Castillo here is dumb. I don't think he meant Bonifacio would be a similar player to Castillo.

I would like to take a risk on Phil Hughes but not for 8 million. I doubt we sign him for that much. Johan Santana could be a decent signing, even though he is made out of glass.

As is the case with every other FA, do not overpay and I would be fine with the move. Much rather sign him than give up pitching for Trumbo.

Hopefully if it's us it's just a one year deal.

So... This Staunton guy, any word on him? I think he was briefly mentioned in this thread. At this point, we're just waiting on the Front Office. Maybe they want to make a few moves before talking with him to prove that they are interested in winning.

5 for 85..option to make it 6 for 100.

You just disregarded everything I said. I know what you're saying. Those were good moves. But Dombrowski is the reason that roster was put together the way it was. I doubt Beinfest or Loria could have gotten it to the level were a signing like Pudge would result in a championship caliber team. You are basically saying that Beinfest could not have built a championship team without a ton of help from his predecessor and I agree. I did a WAR calculation once and Dombrowski players had the higher total but it wasn't by a huge margin.

You just disregarded everything I said. I know what you're saying. Those were good moves. But Dombrowski is the reason that roster was put together the way it was. I doubt Beinfest or Loria could have gotten it to the level were a signing like Pudge would result in a championship caliber team.

Pudge was a Loria move and we wouldn't have won without him. This FO also added Urbina and Conine. Dumbrowski was a huge part of it but not the only part. I don't think they get to the point of a contending team without Dombrowski, though. I think that answers how they won it in 2003.

I hate how our front office is so uncreative. It's not just that they're cheap, but they're cheap and dumb. Pllenty of teams have shifted to a new approach of risking contracts with players with upside, but this team never does. This team has no clue on what sabermetrics are, it seems. They totally ignore them. It's amazing how we're fielding such a cheap team and don't have a single platoon at any position because this organization doesn't even bother to check out splits. Instead they value slap-hitting, moving runners and intangibles. And they play those guys every day. As long as that continues, they'll be bad for a long time. Other teams are adapting. This team is still stuck on cloning the 2003 team. I don't even think they know how they won in 2003 to be honest. Didn't they win with Dombrowski's players?

I will be a happy man if Mike Redmond does not have to put Solano or Dietrich's name in the starting lineup on Opening Day 2014. He'll have to put one or the other. Why not both at same time!This is why we're signing Yuni B. I swear I knew they would be interested in signing him. It just screamed MARLINS.

The difference between "decent" and "more than decent" power is trivial once you understand that's his only plus attribute and that it's likely to diminish on account of his terrible plate discipline when he faces more major league pitching. As for the walk rate, there is nothing showing improvement outside of the stint in the minors after his demotion this season. His major and minor league track record as a whole shows horrible plate discipline--that easily trumps what he did in a somewhat brief time in AA in 2013. The numbers are rather conclusive on this and there's nothing in the peripheral data indicating that he's likely to improve. If you think that the BB% is going to improve in the majors, you will have to provide more evidence. I would rather end this debate here. I find him a prospect to be excited about. If he has a chance to start this season and improves, we will see what he does with it.

Why do they work just fine? Averages don't give you a full distribution of the league's performance. It gives you a number that can be skewed in one direction. It's more important to judge a player's ability based upon where he ranks with respect to the rest of baseball. I never even look at league averages--those can be inflated by 1 or 2 players with super high walk rates. This is statistics 101 here. I have acknowledged his power, but you and Wild Card are overvaluing it. It's really the only thing he brings to the table. That's the point I'm making. The power is decent, but he's a pretty unexciting player when you realize that his walk rate is bad, his strikeout rate is bad, and his defense (particularly range) is bad. He's basically the Mike Jacobs of second basemen. I've acknowledged his poor K rate and defense. I agreed with you there. I'm taking about his bat, though. That's what has me high on Dietrich. I think you're over reacting on his walk rate and you aren't really taking into account his power. Simply mentioning doesn't mean anything. You called it above average when his ISO ranked third among second baseman with 230 PAs. That's not just above average. Far above it. There's also the fact that he's hit well in every level In the minor leagues and plays a position that really doesn't demand much hitting. I have no idea what this is supposed to mean. The bad walk rate and the bad strikeout rate basically means that he has no plate discipline. He's going to have troubling getting on base because of that and will likely see his power numbers drop when opposing pitchers realize that he will likely swing at anything. I "mention" he has decent power, because he does. I don't know what more you expect me to say. He has above average power for his position but that's kind of the only thing he can do as a player (hence why he's the 2B version of Mike Jacobs), and that could drop too on account of his bad plate discipline. His minor league numbers are respectable but far from stellar. You need to look beyond the HR totals and OPS and consider has complete lack of discipline. The peripherals indicate that he will have trouble surviving in the big leagues. And again, his power is only good for a 2B because he shouldn't be a 2B. It's not difficult to understand what I said. Saying he only has decent power isn't accurate. It's much more than decent. You're not rating that part of his game highly enough. The part that makes me a player some feel we should keep an eye on. Looking at the fact that he has a 6% walk rate and thinking that it can't improve enough to make him a good hitter is my problem here. I think you're overstating that weakness. I see no reason to see why he can't post a respectable BB% to make him a good hitter. He improved in Double A. You can look at it as an anomaly or him improving his plate discipline.

He's at least mildly interesting because middle infielder with power. I'm not going to discard him because he had a poor batting average for 2+ months when he probably shouldn't have been up yet anyway. He's far from a sure thing but he's certainly worth watching. All we can say is at 23 he hadn't shown much plate discipline, this is not an uncommon thing. Uggla didn't show any signs of drawing walks at that age either. It may or may not improve but if the power sticks he only needs marginal BB% improvement. Defense might be another issue but let's let it play out a bit. Apparently he isn't mildly interesting to most posters. At least from what I've seen. More people seem to think he isn't anything to get excited about.

Why do they work just fine? Averages don't give you a full distribution of the league's performance. It gives you a number that can be skewed in one direction. It's more important to judge a player's ability based upon where he ranks with respect to the rest of baseball. I never even look at league averages--those can be inflated by 1 or 2 players with super high walk rates. This is statistics 101 here. I have acknowledged his power, but you and Wild Card are overvaluing it. It's really the only thing he brings to the table. That's the point I'm making. The power is decent, but he's a pretty unexciting player when you realize that his walk rate is bad, his strikeout rate is bad, and his defense (particularly range) is bad. He's basically the Mike Jacobs of second basemen. I've acknowledged his poor K rate and defense. I agreed with you there. I'm taking about his bat, though. That's what has me high on Dietrich. I think you're over reacting on his walk rate and you aren't really taking into account his power. Simply mentioning doesn't mean anything. You called it above average when his ISO ranked third among second baseman with 230 PAs. That's not just above average. Far above it. There's also the fact that he's hit well in every level In the minor leagues and plays a position that really doesn't demand much hitting.

Averages don't really tell you much of anything in terms of how a player stacks up against the rest of the league. That's what medians are for. Nobody who knows anything about statistics would tell you that a 7% walk rate is decent for a second baseman. Also, I find it highly improbable that Dietrich is even capable of a 7% walk rate in MLB based upon his minor league numbers. I don't see why the argument is weak. His walk rate is pretty bad and has been over almost all of his career. Averages work just fine. His walk rate is your only argument but you brush over his power. You can't just say he has power like it's nothing. That's a big deal for a second baseman.

He has above average power for a second baseman but very little else. The walk rate in AA this season is likely an anomaly if you consider his career numbers. He didn't walk for shit in his stretch in MLB this past season, either. I don't see much to get excited about. His walk rate in his minor league career was 7%. Take away his year this season, and it's at 6.2 % League average for a second baseman. last season was about 7.3%. He didn't do well this season as a rookie but he can hover around 7% as a player. He'll strike out a lot but his power is a big deal and makes up for that. He ranked third out of 49 second baseman with at least 230 PAs last season in ISO. That's better than above average. There's also the fact that he produced very well in the minor leagues. He's had the time he needed. First of all, a 6.2% walk rate is pretty bad for a MLB second baseman; it's well below the median for qualified 2B in 2013. You also can't count him to even put that up in MLB when he faces higher quality pitching. His plate discipline is one of his weaknesses, not strong points. As I've said already, he's got power for a second baseman but not much else. Not a very exciting player. The average walk rate for a second baseman in 2013 was 7.3. His MILB walk rate is just one percent lower. I see no reason why he can't put up a similar walk rate. You're really just telling me the same thing over again but your argument is weak. He has a high K rate but the power is there. I don't see why he isn't a player to be excited over offensively.

He has above average power for a second baseman but very little else. The walk rate in AA this season is likely an anomaly if you consider his career numbers. He didn't walk for shit in his stretch in MLB this past season, either. I don't see much to get excited about. His walk rate in his minor league career was 7%. Take away his year this season, and it's at 6.2 % League average for a second baseman. last season was about 7.3%. He didn't do well this season as a rookie but he can hover around 7% as a player. He'll strike out a lot but his power is a big deal and makes up for that. He ranked third out of 49 second baseman with at least 230 PAs last season in ISO. That's better than above average. There's also the fact that he produced very well in the minor leagues. He's had the time he needed.

I never understood why people are so high on Dietrich. I think he has good potential. Great power for a second baseman. He had an ISO of .191 which ranks 3rd for 2nd baseman. Produced well in the minor leagues. Actually had a good walk rate in Double A this season which was a major question mark about him. I don't think he plays well on defense, though. That's something he has to over come.

You are acting like there is more of a possibility of the pieces falling together than there really is. I'm curious to know what kinds of OPS numbers you think guys like Ozuna, Dietrich, Navarro, and Hechavarria would be putting up. .750 .780 .730 .620 I could see Navarro and Dietrich hitting at that level but I think it's a little high for Ozuna. It would be hard for him to hit at that level with no time in Double A.

They're not making a deal with the Angels because this front office isn't that intelligent. What's more likely to happen is that they trade Logan Morrison for nothing and sign Juan Uribe for 3 years to play 1B. That would be so us. That's actually a real rumor going on right now too. I wouldn't mind Uribe as a last option at third base on a one year deal. But if they put him at 1st, that would be very stupid.

Trumbo's been smashing, though. But I suppose if he gets 53 pitches to his liking, then sure. I didn't mean smashing as in just home runs. I meant overall as a batter.

I'd take Trumbo but not for Turner and Ramos. He is a plus defender at first and I think he would be a decent stop gap until we can find a long term starter there. Does anyone else think there is the potential for Trumbo to pull a Chris Davis and just start smashing?

Someone from Miami, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, or NY is going to catch fire and finish with 10 wins to win the 6th spot. I don't think it will be NY because really, they aren't good. I actually think it will be Pittsburgh. I don't trust Tannehill to play well enough to lead us to 10 wins. Flacco is just bad this season. And those teams could actually win a game or two in the AFC because it is so weak. Outside of Denver/KC, the division winners aren't head and shoulders above the rest, IMO. Miami already beat two of them.

I have a really hard time seeing Stanton saying no to 90-100 million in guaranteed cash, even if he doesn't like it here. He can get used to it with all of that money.