2023 Rosterbation

[Mays-Fan]

Fortunately, it looks like Melancon's deferred salary does not count toward our competitive Balance Tax Total.

 

[Mays-Fan]

It has been Mays-Fan. I haven't really delved into the relief market to see who is worth signing. Its a pretty shallow depth, from a cursory glance. Of course, deep markets netted us Melancon and we all know how that worked out.

Yeah, I like Chafin, I think, but I'm not dying on that hill. It would depend on what deal we could make with him.

I believe we should spend some fair money to get a quality bullpen arm. Bullpen depth may be our weakness right now, along with depth at catcher.

If we could get Casali and Chafin for no more than $10mm combined, that would be a good thing. That would still leave us with about $17mm, perhaps for a mid-season acquisition.

 

[Mays-Fan]

Cubs Sign Dansby Swanson

December 21: The Cubs have officially announced the signing. Robert Murray of FanSided provides a detailed breakdown of Swanson's salaries. …

www.mlbtraderumors.com

7/177

 

[LHG]

Cubs Sign Dansby Swanson

December 21: The Cubs have officially announced the signing. Robert Murray of FanSided provides a detailed breakdown of Swanson's salaries. …

www.mlbtraderumors.com

7/177

It will be interesting to watch these four mega shortstops over the life of their contracts to see which team gets the best value.

 

[Mays-Fan]

Interesting article about ten FA's that might be worth a look (not all of them for us) for a one-year, lower-dollar contract. Some data and injury history are presented that makes the case for these players. Maybe we should look at:

This off-headline group includes:

Will Smith
Brandon Belt
Michael Brantley
Michael Conforto

Don't forget about these 9 free agents

While most of the top free agents have come off the board, the cupboard isn’t bare just yet. Nathan Eovaldi, Jean Segura and Elvis Andrus are among the biggest names who remain unsigned. Going beyond those stars, teams can find a number of free agents who haven’t received much attention

www.mlb.com

 

[LHG]

Interesting article about ten FA's that might be worth a look (not all of them for us) for a one-year, lower-dollar contract. Some data and injury history are presented that makes the case for these players. Maybe we should look at:

This off-headline group includes:

Will Smith
Brandon Belt
Michael Brantley
Michael Conforto

Don't forget about these 9 free agents

While most of the top free agents have come off the board, the cupboard isn’t bare just yet. Nathan Eovaldi, Jean Segura and Elvis Andrus are among the biggest names who remain unsigned. Going beyond those stars, teams can find a number of free agents who haven’t received much attention

www.mlb.com

I think the only two I'm interested in are Will Smith and, maybe, Brandon Belt. Brantley is an injury prone DH and Conforto is just too much of an unknown. Even Belt may not be worth bring back. Smith, however, could be worth a low cost one year deal to help the bullpen.

 

[Mays-Fan]

I think the only two I'm interested in are Will Smith and, maybe, Brandon Belt. Brantley is an injury prone DH and Conforto is just too much of an unknown. Even Belt may not be worth bring back. Smith, however, could be worth a low cost one year deal to help the bullpen.

Astros just gave Brantley 1/12

It's hard to ignore Belt's 2020-21 OPS of 1.105 and .975, driving OPS+ of 177 and 160, respectively. If the knee operation was successful, a 1/7 might be in order.

 

[calsnowskier]

Astros just gave Brantley 1/12

It's hard to ignore Belt's 2020-21 OPS of 1.105 and .975, driving OPS+ of 177 and 160, respectively. If the knee operation was successful, a 1/7 might be in order.

Everything that was reported at the time of his operation said that it was a game-ender operation. Iirc, he had shit removed that just doesn’t allow for the level of stress that is required for a pro athlete to do what he needs to do. If the Gs decide he is worth a risk, fine. I will trust that there is enough chance for something that it is worth a risk. But with the info I think I have, he isn’t worth the time spent in camp, let alone the $$ or the roster spot.

 

[Mays-Fan]

Everything that was reported at the time of his operation said that it was a game-ender operation. Iirc, he had shit removed that just doesn’t allow for the level of stress that is required for a pro athlete to do what he needs to do. If the Gs decide he is worth a risk, fine. I will trust that there is enough chance for something that it is worth a risk. But with the info I think I have, he isn’t worth the time spent in camp, let alone the $$ or the roster spot.

That's too bad for him. He seemed like a good guy who just couldn't stay on the field. I'm glad he still made a king's ransom, got some WCs, and created some great memories.

 

[tzill]

Plus, we acquired Manaea and Haniger with a total WAR here of 0.4.

It's fair to think there's 2-3 WAR extra here, at least.

We're a 90-72 team as a floor here. It only goes up from there. But we still need another quality reliever.

And another legit OF bat. Conforto is still out there.

 

[LHG]

And another legit OF bat. Conforto is still out there.

I was with you on getting Conforto but I've changed my mind. A year layoff and questionable defensive abilities makes me think its not a good idea.

 

[Mays-Fan]

And another legit OF bat. Conforto is still out there.

I was with you on getting Conforto but I've changed my mind. A year layoff and questionable defensive abilities makes me think its not a good idea.

Worth considering is that if Conforto's defensive issues were caused by his injuries, and he's rehabilitated, maybe he's worth a look. I'm coming around on him. I would have preferred Benintendi, but Conforto would be a plus, if he's healthy and hungry, and very much so if we are thinking of a multi-year deal.

From the previous article:

Michael Conforto, RF​

​

When we last saw Conforto, he recorded 14 homers and a 100 OPS+ over 125 games for the Mets in 2021, and that was before he missed all of last season while recovering from right shoulder surgery. By the time next season begins, it will have been nearly 18 months since he played in an MLB game. All of that makes him a big risk, especially if he requires a multiyear deal. That said, there’s no denying the upside he offers. Conforto was one of the most productive outfielders in the game from 2017-20, posting an OPS+ of 122 or better every year during that span with a collective 134 mark, and he’s still relatively young (he’ll turn 30 in March).​

 

[LHG]

Worth considering is that if Conforto's defensive issues were caused by his injuries, and he's rehabilitated, maybe he's worth a look. I'm coming around on him. I would have preferred Benintendi, but Conforto would be a plus, if he's healthy and hungry, and very much so if we are thinking of a multi-year deal.

From the previous article:

Michael Conforto, RF​

​

When we last saw Conforto, he recorded 14 homers and a 100 OPS+ over 125 games for the Mets in 2021, and that was before he missed all of last season while recovering from right shoulder surgery. By the time next season begins, it will have been nearly 18 months since he played in an MLB game. All of that makes him a big risk, especially if he requires a multiyear deal. That said, there’s no denying the upside he offers. Conforto was one of the most productive outfielders in the game from 2017-20, posting an OPS+ of 122 or better every year during that span with a collective 134 mark, and he’s still relatively young (he’ll turn 30 in March).​

The fact that he missed all of last year because of an injury, hit exactly at league average the year before, isn't known as even league average defensively and is rumored to want a multi year deal is exactly why I've gone the other way on him.

 

[tzill]

I think if he’s relatively healthy he’s a plus bat, an average corner outfielder, and will only require a ‘one and one’ type contract. Low risk, high potential reward. Seems like a no brainer unless he’s hurt

 

[Mays-Fan]

I think if he’s relatively healthy he’s a plus bat, an average corner outfielder, and will only require a ‘one and one’ type contract. Low risk, high potential reward. Seems like a no brainer unless he’s hurt

At a minimum, we're a better team with him than with nothing. If he is healthy, there could be significant upside. He's only 30, so he could bounce back from the surgery.

Slater is really no better than Conforto defensively. I'd prefer that Conforto be a RHH, but maybe he protects Correa better than way. We could alternate L-R in the middle of our lineup. Conforto and Pedo are LHHs, Correa and Haniger are RHHs.

 

[LHG]

How is Conforto so much better an acquisition then Bellinger would have been? Sure, there are differences in their last two seasons (Conforto hit better than Bellinger in 2021 but didn't play at all in 2022 and his 2021 season was a down year. Bellinger is also vastly superior than Conforto defensively) but it, to me, is a very similar gamble.
And I'd argue that he automatically makes the team better (he doesnt'). Slater's offense isn't much different than what Conforto did in 2021.

 

[calsnowskier]

How is Conforto so much better an acquisition then Bellinger would have been? Sure, there are differences in their last two seasons (Conforto hit better than Bellinger in 2021 but didn't play at all in 2022 and his 2021 season was a down year. Bellinger is also vastly superior than Conforto defensively) but it, to me, is a very similar gamble.
And I'd argue that he automatically makes the team better (he doesnt'). Slater's offense isn't much different than what Conforto did in 2021.

Just playing DA…

So Slater’s reach potential is about what Conforto did in a bad year. And Conforto had one “bad” year, vs Bellinger’s 3 bad years in a row.

 

[pachyderm]

And we're STILL paying him, and will be thru 2028:

View attachment 316843

This post and your sig make me sad.

 

[Mays-Fan]

This post and your sig make me sad.

They make me sad, too.

 

[LHG]

Just playing DA…

So Slater’s reach potential is about what Conforto did in a bad year. And Conforto had one “bad” year, vs Bellinger’s 3 bad years in a row.

Bellinger's 2020 season was above average, by OPS+. To be fair, Conforto's 2020 was a career year for him, by OPS+. But, in both cases, do we say SSS because of the truncated season?
For both, I'm trying to look at the last two years. Both are major risks. Bellinger has better defense but his offense has cratered more. Both have had significant injuries that leave big question marks. The difference between the two is that Bellinger has played since the injury and it hasn't looked good. Conforto hasn't played yet. Was his injury prior to 2021? If so, how well do players come back from that type of injury? To me, the long layoff after a year where the numbers weren't that good makes it more questionable that he could come back and post numbers like he did in 2015, 2017 and 2020. Hey, if he could bounce back to 2018 and 2019 numbers, then he would be worth the risk. But I'm concerned that he may not be any better than his last season and that would not be an upgrade for the team.