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By Mark Polishuk | at
Email a copy of '3 Remaining Needs: American League East' to a friend
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Antdrew
I love this so much. I can’t wait to read the rest of the three needs articles!
Philliesfan4life
If the rays had money to add offense to go with that pitching staff, they could make a lot of noise
patborders92
The Rays rotation is probably the 3rd best in the division though, they would need to add a lot of offense to make some noise
Philliesfan4life
I still think they got the best rotation in the al east, Archer and Cobb is a big 1-2 punch, they are not afraid of anyone and have a lot of depth. If they did have an offense could be a sleeper for a division crown
patborders92
Aaron Sanchez and Chris Sale are the best starters in the East and both the jays and Red Sox have better quality depth filling out their rotations. You can argue both teams got better too with Sale in Boston and RA D. gone in Toronto
pinstripeman
That 19 loss pitcher should surely strike fear into opponents.
kylelohse
Yes, because wins and losses are the only way to evaluate a pitcher.
pgmitchell
@angelsfan4life412 do not forget Odor and Snell!!
chesteraarthur
“they are not afraid of anyone” what the hell does that even mean?
davidcoonce74
Here’s two pitchers in 2016:
Pitcher 1: 201 IP, 183 H, 67 BB, 233K, 4.02 ERA
Pitcher 2: 178 IP, 209 H, 51 BB, 103 K, 5.06 ERA
Pitcher 2 had more wins, but there’s no way you’d want him on your team over pitcher 1.. Pitcher wins are a meaningless stat.
ducksnort69
I’m a Rays fan and I don’t agree. Cobb is post surgery and Archer can be very inconsistent. Snell and Odor are a good 2 and 3, but not groundbreaking. Still think there could be some big improvements from last year in performance, just don’t think it will be enough to say best rotation in ALE.
l3ade12
I always thought a nice fit would be Jose Bautista on a one-year deal $18 million contract seemed reasonable.
joew
Would the yanks be interested in someone like Pirates John Jaso for first? Maybe bundle in a Bastardo to fill in the lefty reliever as well?
Just throwing it out there.
MB923
Doubt it. I think they’re likely stay with Bird and Austin.
floridapinstripes
It’s not necessary even if bird isn’t ready. Headley would be a great defensive first baseman. There’s no need to waste prospects on Jaso and a lefty they can get on the market or use someone like Emma or JoMo.
floridapinstripes
Enns not Emma lol
66TheNumberOfTheBest
I think the only hope for getting rid of Jaso is if someone like Adam Lind signs with them cheap enough to eat the $2 million to DFA Jaso.
Kirby34
This is great stuff. Thanks, MLBTR, especially during the slow holiday. Sure wish the Rays would do something about that lineup. With all those arms, you’d think they could get Longoria some serious help. They just don’t seem serious about competing at all, even in his peak window.
pgmitchell
Chris carter would be a nice addition to their left handed hitters!
oaklandathletics116
Oakland A’s needs in Center Field are in need horribly. I’m still seeing Ramsus signing with Oakland for 2 years (2nd yr option) 15 million. If not trading Jed to the Royals for Jarrod Dyson to free up some money.
jmi1950
When they get around to the A’s:
#1 should be a new ball park.
#2 Josh Donaldson.
#3 Drew Pomerantz
MB923
3 – Addison Russell
24TheKid
You do know that this is AL east not West?
oaklandathletics116
Yup, just bringing in possibilities.
angelsinthetroutfield
Seems like Rasmus could be the solution to all three of the O’s needs.
oaklandathletics116
I only say Oakland because MLB is pushing for us to spend money, and Rasmus has great potential for a breakout year. His dWAR and oWAR were outstanding for price his career. O’s are needing Saunders in my opinion.
jmi1950
MLB was demanding indoor plumbing that works.
youngcy24
Melky Cabrera would be a decent fit for BAL. He can DH and play OF and he’s a switch hitter. Checks most of the boxes.
jakethesnizake
Re: New York, apparently you’ve forgotten about Austin Romine who is more than capable of spending time at 1B in a backup capacity.
Really no need whatsoever to add add’l options at 1B.
Nice effort though.
stymeedone
Seems like Trevor Plouffe would be a good fit on Baltimore, spelling Chris Davis and Kim, while also getting some DH time early. While Hardy does his annual DL stint, he could cover 3B while Machado moves over. Seems like a much better fit than Boston.
cgallant
What the hell is a LOOGY?
comebacktrail28
The guy under my bed
comebacktrail28
A LH reliever usually used just to face LH hitters
TBaggins
Lefty One Out GuY
MB923
Left Handed One Out Guy
GR13
Lefty One Out GuY.
jmi1950
Actually the Red Sox cut him because he wasn’t getting left handed hitters out.
Rob66
How about Blue Jays take a chance on Jason Heyward? Maybe the Cubs would like to move on and the Jays have been good at getting guys to maximize their offensive potential.
CubsFanForLife
Heyward is working on fixing his swing, so I don’t think the Cubs are giving up on him just yet.
jaysrule1399
Blue Jays need outfield help, bullpen, starting, maybe a real first baseman and possibly a back up catcher. Or just bring back AA and dump the Indian outcasts
patborders92
I agree with everything except the rotation, we lost RA D, so it has to be better
hersch
Love the post about bringing back AA and getting rid of the Cleveland outcasts. If that is all the Toronto organization did the rest of the offseason I’d be happy with out! Jaysrule1399, amen brother!
JaysSK
Sure. Let’s deplete our farm system for half a year of a pitcher and an albatross of a contract at SS (although I do like Tulo lots). I think our rotation would look solid right now with Norris or Boyd as our #5. Jeff Hoffman would be nice too.
Oh and that RA deal turned out nice too, right?
The only good deals he has made was Donaldson one (even though Barreto could be a future AS), ridding us of Wells’ contract and Estrada for Lind.
Oh, and that Cleveland team they helped build looks awful now too, right guys?
filthyrich
Breaking playoff drought was huge. Wouldn’t have happened if Reyes and his albatross contract was still around. Best pitchers down the stretch that season were Price and Dickey. The RA deal was still bad, but had a couple ok moments. The amount of future that AA traded away is disgusting, but I’d still say it was worth it. The drought would still be going with a cautious approach.
Seems the offers that Edwin was actually given time to think about were one year variety. Nothing going on for relief yet. Likely limited to keep payroll close to last year’s starting point.
Unless they’re truly that cocky about finding cheap talent. Been hoarding cheap relievers at least. Got a cheap backup catcher. The potential starting 1B is cheap. The outfield is cheap. C/SS/3B/SP is where all the money goes. Not sure how starting would be considered a need?? It looks better than last year.
2016 40 man: $164 mill was $30 mill higher than ever. Still 14th overall somehow. Opening 25 man was around $135 mill. All according to Cot’s- forgive errors.
Currently at $124 mill for 12 players- one being Gurriel, wild card??- and the other 13-14 should be at least $10 mill. As much as I want to complain about Rogers not spending, the more I look into it, I realize they are quite handcuffed. Adding a decent lefty reliever and/or outfielder puts the opening 25 closer to $150 mill. They can gut it all in 3 years, so it’s not outrageous to see some more spending happen, but I’d bet they try to get away with the cheap options for at least six weeks??
Both AA and Shatkins regimes have done quite well with the hands they were dealt from the regimes before them. AA got to fill, then empty the cupboard while breaking a huge drought. Shatkins gets to fill, and then probably lock up the cupboard to team friendly deals in hopes of building a dynasty around what AA started. No need to be so aggressive anymore,
Mark 20
I love how you even poke holes in the donaldson deal. That was a steal no matter what Barreto turns out to be. Not only that, but youre forgetting the Travis deal in which we sent Gose… Now that was a massive steal. AA was a very solid gm. Sure the Thor/D’arnaud for Dickey deal didnt work out like we hoped, but every gm has a bad trade on their resume. Fact is, AA made WAY more good trades than bad. As you stated, the Donaldson and Estrada deals. Dumping Wells contract, acquiring travis for literally nothing. Acquiring Tulo was needed due to reyes’ defence just not cutting it. Tulo put us over the hump without even being his full self. AA was solid, and im not a Shapiro/Atkins hater either. Im not a fan of them, but I wont judge til the season starts.
tugriverred
Joey Votto would be a great at first for the Yankees . Offer a couple of those great prospects and the Reds would pay a decent chunk of the contract . Yankees just need to sell JV on the idea
Bruin1012
Will never happen Votto isn’t going anywhere he has repeatedly said he isn’t leaving Cinci he like it there and he has a full no trade. Votto would look good on just about any team.
asuchrisc
Really like these articles. Can’t wait until they hit the novel that is the AL West.
torontobluejays
If the blue jays are not getting bautista, the Toronto Blue jays should really get adam Lind as their first baseman, then get saunders to platoon with pearce, then, sell smoak for anybody, to release his 8 million dollar salary, sell him to a dumbass team like Atlanta, then you will have 22 million dollars left to get 2 decent relief pitchers, that fills all your needs. Saunders has good numbers against right handed pitchers and he will be perfect as a platoon partner with pearce, check adam linds numbers, he is so underrated, he has 30 home run power, he is a clutch hitter, he has a good batting average and OBP, you will also have 4 left handed batters in your line up in morales, lind, saunders/pearce, and upton/carrera, saunders is a above average base runner and will give the blue jays some more speed along with upton,carrera, and pillar. This is everything Shapiro and Atkins want, but this is only a second option if you don’t get bautista because he is #1 priority, who agrees with my second option, reply back
66TheNumberOfTheBest
There are only a few teams that would be better for signing Pedro Alvarez.
I think Tampa is one of them.
Don’t ask him to field AT ALL and just let him mash. He could give you .250 and 40-45 HR as a DH in the AL East.
cplovespie
Is a Kim/Rickard platoon a sure thing?
Kim brings a high contact/OBP talent to a Oriolesn lineup that seriously lacks it. Rickard had his moments and he’s better against lefties but the pure talent and upside is short. Yes, Kim struggled against lefties but Small Sample Size!! Baltimore should at least have Kim face as many lefties as he can in Spring Training to access his real skill set. Kim will improve
Hank Murphy
Blue Jays need 2 corner OF’ers, relief help AND someone to play 1B. Right now all they have is Smoak, who is absolutely the worst player in the organization, if not the whole AL.
jdgoat
And tellez/Pearce. Smoak isn’t the starter, that’s a guarentee
hittingnull
Yankees need at least two good SP. A real number two starter and at least a solid number four starter. The rest can be field by CC/Severino/Pineda filling up the rest. If we don’t, this team isn’t going anywhere and dare say that this 2017 team will be an 82 win team.
BronxBombers14
The Yankees aren’t going anywhere in 2017, and they know it. There’s no way they can compete with Cleveland, Boston, or Houston at this point. The rebuilding process is going to take some time. This year Arod and CC will come off the books, and they’ll try to deal Gardner, headley, and Ellsbury. With all that $ off the books, the farmhands getting another year to develop, and a stacked 2018 FA class, the yanks are still 2 years away. They’ll be fun to watch, will win some games, and if all goes well might hang around in the wild card.
bearup
The Yankees aren’t going anywhere in 2018 either. They will have no starting pitching. They have a couple of prospects, who even if they are successful, won’t be enough. Free agents for next year? Artists, lackey…..
BronxBombers14
After the 2018 season, guys like Harper, machado, Kershaw, etc will be free agents. I’m sure the Yankees will be major players in that market. I agree with you in that some of these highly touted prospects will not reach their potential, but they don’t have to. They can also be used as currency to trade for other important pieces. The Yankees already have some nice pieces in place, will have the financial capability AND farm system to make moves.
jkim319
How can a 2017 ‘needs’ post about the Red Sox not even mention the loss of Papi’s production (38HR, 48 2B, .401 OBP, .622 slugging)
The Red Sox only need to cover 3B, bench depth and LH reliever?? What am I missing here?
jmi1950
When EE turned down 4/80 the Sox decided they could not replace Papi’s numbers with one player. Instead they looked at the woeful 2016 numbers for LF and 3B and decided Benentendi, Panda and Moreland/Chris Young would be close enough when added to the improved “D”, better base running. without Papi , and better pitching with Sale and Thornberg. DD has said he thinks they will be fine but if not he will make a deadline move.
jkim319
(Your piece should have been part of the article … it at least provides a perspective of the ‘plan.’ I don’t think sale (let’s say he saves 30 runs in 30 starts) combined with panda/Moreland Benentendi (I am thinking they will produce about the same as the positions last year .. even being nice with these 3, the sox are waaay short in terms of run production)
… watch for a Moustakis or a Frazier trade …
ReppinThe401
Rays are, to me, the scariest team in the AL East besides the Red Sox. They put up huge power numbers last year, and have a very good rotation. They won’t win the division but could sneak in as a WC, finishing second in the division.
bearup
Seems like Melky would be a good fit for the Jays. I can also see Frazier being of interest to the Yankees.
GarryHarris
I assumed that the Red Sox traded SP Clay Bucchholz to the Phillies for IF Josh Tobias with the intent for him to play 3B.
dan7162
Chien-Ming Wang held MLB left-handed hitters at 0.23 AVG in 2016 out of bullpen. He was with Blue Jays and had a solid 2013 season with Bisons. A minor league contract with Spring Training invite focusing on pitching in relief would not be a bad idea. He was much better pitching in high-leverage outings in 2016 is also an interesting fact.
BoSoxs4life
Tobias better not b the rSox option 4 3b if so they r nuts.He won’t even make the club, He is nit that good at all.