2014 Offseason Plans Thread Pt2

[ESPN Refugee]

 

[RevSader]

I don't get paying players more as they are more likely to regress, seems like it should be flipped

You really don't get why teams do it or you just disagree with why they do it?

 

[ESPN Refugee]

You really don't get why teams do it or you just disagree with why they do it?

Unless it's something I don't know or never heard I know why they do it. That said I'd like to do it the opposite way if all possible.

 

[WastinSomeTime]

I would say he probably carried our team only 2nd to Beltre myself. You could really count on him to drive in runs too. If he wasn't so injury prone he would be much more well known and last season, it was looking like he was on pace to not really miss that much time. Also, he had an unforgettable ALCS vs. the Tigers… without him would have never seen the Cards in the WS in the first place.

I agree. He was on pace for coming close to a 30 HR 100 RBI season and think he could have had been around those numbers for another 3 seasons.

 

[TheRangerDude]

I think the getting of Rios sealed his fate with us. That PED thing probably led to his undoing here.

I'm not sure if it did or not but that is definitely a possibility. I think it really just came down to Choo being a better fit for what we needed at the the time. Had they been unable to make it work with Choo, I am pretty confident Cruz would have been resigned.

Cruz's PED use was still inexcusable but his reasons for doing it were more understandable than most, given that he got really sick and lost a ton of weight. He wasn't doing it to add power to his swing but rather to just put weight back on. Also, I completely respect that he didn't deny it and just came out and admitted it.

 

[jta4437]

I'd be interested in you explaining this noticeable regression. Out of all of our core players we let go, I am pretty confident that Cruz might be the one that makes us regret not extending him the most.

Decreasing walk rates and increasing strikeout rates, less effective on the basepaths, defensive metrics on the downturn,

Fangraphs, check it out last year was a bit of a bump back up, but I have my doubt that its sustainable

And all of his numbers now seem suspect due to his link to PEDs

 

[jta4437]

You really don't get why teams do it or you just disagree with why they do it?

I don't agree with it

 

[RevSader]

Unless it's something I don't know or never heard I know why they do it. That said I'd like to do it the opposite way if all possible.

It's all about theoretical production, so I would just assume you pay them evenly throughout the contract, because the value will be spread around regardless.

 

[jta4437]

I'm not sure if it did or not but that is definitely a possibility. I think it really just came down to Choo being a better fit for what we needed at the the time. Had they been unable to make it work with Choo, I am pretty confident Cruz would have been resigned.

Cruz's PED use was still inexcusable but his reasons for doing it were more understandable than most, given that he got really sick and lost a ton of weight. He wasn't doing it to add power to his swing but rather to just put weight back on. Also, I completely respect that he didn't deny it and just came out and admitted it.

That might be the sound byte he gave as to why he did it, but I know I have my doubts, excuses is all it sounds like to me

 

[RevSader]

I'm not sure if it did or not but that is definitely a possibility. I think it really just came down to Choo being a better fit for what we needed at the the time. Had they been unable to make it work with Choo, I am pretty confident Cruz would have been resigned.

Cruz's PED use was still inexcusable but his reasons for doing it were more understandable than most, given that he got really sick and lost a ton of weight. He wasn't doing it to add power to his swing but rather to just put weight back on. Also, I completely respect that he didn't deny it and just came out and admitted it.

He broke a dumb fucking rule...

 

[TheRangerDude]

Decreasing walk rates and increasing strikeout rates, less effective on the basepaths, defensive metrics on the downturn,

Fangraphs, check it out last year was a bit of a bump back up, but I have my doubt that its sustainable

And all of his numbers now seem suspect due to his link to PEDs

I'll check on some of those things and get back to you but I know I disagree with the numbers being suspect due to PEDs for sure. The season in which we can confirm he actually did PEDs was a career low season for him pretty much across the board. Also, last season he was on pace for a career high in RBIs and HRs and this was a season in which he was really under a microscope and sure being tested a little more often than others.

 

[ESPN Refugee]

 

[jta4437]

I'll check on some of those things and get back to you but I know I disagree with the numbers being suspect due to PEDs for sure. The season in which we can confirm he actually did PEDs was a career low season for him pretty much across the board. Also, last season he was on pace for a career high in RBIs and HRs and this was a season in which he was really under a microscope and sure being tested a little more often than others.

Truth is, nobody knows anything for sure, and thats Cruz's fault

I'm skeptical and you're not, leave it at that

 

[TheRangerDude]

That might be the sound byte he gave as to why he did it, but I know I have my doubts, excuses is all it sounds like to me

He owned up to it and said it wasn't an excuse to use it. But the fact remains that he was really sick with a stomach virus that off season and lost a ton of weight… he couldn't get help in DR so he flew into Florida to see a Dr there. The PEDs temptation obviously happened there. All of this was well known way before anything about Biogeninsus things came out.

 

[jta4437]

He owned up to it and said it wasn't an excuse to use it. But the fact remains that he was really sick with a stomach virus that off season and lost a ton of weight… he couldn't get help in DR so he flew into Florida to see a Dr there. The PEDs temptation obviously happened there. All of this was well known way before anything about Biogeninsus things came out.

He owned up after his name came out in documents, its not like he was an honest injun here

 

[WastinSomeTime]

Of course we all know by now how much stock to put into what JD has to say but if he s shooting straight this time I can agree with him on that statement. And realistically there s not much out there that you could say is front of the rotation help.

 

[darrylgann]

I'm not sure if it did or not but that is definitely a possibility. I think it really just came down to Choo being a better fit for what we needed at the the time. Had they been unable to make it work with Choo, I am pretty confident Cruz would have been resigned.

Cruz's PED use was still inexcusable but his reasons for doing it were more understandable than most, given that he got really sick and lost a ton of weight. He wasn't doing it to add power to his swing but rather to just put weight back on. Also, I completely respect that he didn't deny it and just came out and admitted it.

Yeah, but I was thinking since he took the suspension and not do what ARod did forced JDs hand and he had to get another outfielder which had another year on his contract. JD would have signed Choo to replace Murphy and Choice would have spelled Cruz if the suspension were this year. Just a thought, Dude.

 

[gregrey972]

Sounds like he is in on Tanaka then...I mean he projects as a #3 or #4 right?!?!? haha

 

[ESPN Refugee]

 

[TheRangerDude]

He broke a dumb fucking rule...

Yeah, I tend to agree with this as well. At the end of the day there is really no preventing PED use in these times. It's really just a matter of who gets caught or not. I also think its stupid how magnified it gets in baseball when if any other professional sports actually enforced their PED policies, you would have scandals way bigger than we have ever seen in the MLB.

I say just let them do it but be honest about it and then to appease all the historians… just create a new area in the hall for "enhanced players"