I hope Connor can give me some insight on the chance that Josh Donaldson signs with one of the Nationals or the Braves. I believe there is better than a 99% chance JD signs with one of those 2 teams. I really want to hear his perspective.
As a Phillies fan, I don’t want Bryant. He’s gonna cost a ton and yeah, I know he has two years left (we think…), but if I’m gonna unload what little prospect capital I have, I’m only doing it for Arenado. Bryant’s two years doesn’t move the needle enough for me, and the Philes could easily find themselves back in the same situation they might be with Realmuto–trade away talent for two years of a stud player (fair enough), and then don’t compete in those two years, and then have that player go off to FA while you are only left with a comp pick. I feel like the Rockies have a bit more of a desperate need to re-shuffle their players, too, than the Cubs do. As the Cubs roster stands, they are going to be in the thick of things in the NL central. The Rockies, though, despite a solid lineup, will never catch the Dodgers if they don’t build some kind of reliable rotation.
I think you are forgetting the fact that Arenado can opt out in 2 years. If he is good, he will be a two year rental just like Bryant. The only difference is that if Arenado sucks outside of Colorado, he is guaranteed to be 7 year albatross bad contract. 2 year rental or 7 year bad contract. Those are the only options available with Arenado.
I’d suggest the Phillies are in a lot of trouble – all going back to not having much of a rebuild, where they should have a core of 5-7 young, cheap players to build around. Because of that they have to pay retail – in free agency and via salary dumps by other teams.
For those looking beyond 2020, I’d suggest that there is a slim chance they sign Realmuto to a long-term contract. I’ve been reading since 2 weeks after they traded for him that the Phils were negotiating to extend him. Read it hare again 3 weeks or so ago. Nothing.
Realmuto is the best all around Catcher in MLB, and just played at 29 years-old. There’s a massive shortage of quality Catchers in MLB – more so then any other position. After seeing the money top free agents got this year, I see no way Realmuto doesn’t play out his option in 2020. Money teams will lust after him, many that already have deep competitive rosters – Nationals, Braves, Red Sox, Giants, Angels, Astros. If he wants to play near his Oklahoma home, the Rangers will pony up. And the Mets will try to work something out to have the owner-in-waiting somehow finance a competitive bid……
All of which is going to create a major hole in the Phillies roster if this theory comes to pass.
@StandUP–yea, good point in Arenado’s opt-out in 2 years, but I think you’re a bit quick to automatically call his contract an “albatross bad contract.” You say this because it is easy to point a finger at Pujols and Cabrera and their long-term bad contracts? You are not taking into account the fact that Arenado will only be 34 years old (the same age as Donaldson is NOW) when this contract ends, so you really can’t compare this to the other “albatross” contracts out there.
Most right-on thing he said: with the pace of the hooah, HOT STOVE!, this off-season, a strike no longer looks at all probable, let alone likely as it did in October. The owners are colluding in a good way this year. Winter Meetings!
Indians won 10 of 19 games against the Twins in 2019.
How did the Twins “blow their doors off”?
Twins are down 2 starting pitchers at this point. Indians have a group of young players that overall should do better in 2020.
–
Not that I’m so much an Indians fan. But I admire their FO and think they have the best manager in MLB. They’re pitching-oriented, and pitching is the name of the game. Tired of them being slighted some in the articles, lots here in the comment section. Unless they have major injuries again, they will be contenders in the ALC in 2020.
You’re going to cite one game over .500 against the Twins as evidence that they didn’t blow the Indians doors off? The Twins won 101 games with the Indians 8 games back. The Twins scored 170 more runs than the Indians, and had a better RS/RA differential than the Indians; 170 to 112. Maybe the term “blowing their doors off” was overstating it a bit, but really, it was not close.
Hey Connor, you really need to brush up on your White Sox history. They don’t have a great one of firing managers. As bad as he was, Robin Ventura wasn’t fired. Ozzie Guillen wasn’t fired despite having his share of head butts with Kenny Williams who instead traded him to the Marlins. Rick Renteria won’t be fired either, at least anytime soon. He has a better chance of becoming the AL manager of the year than being the first manager fired in 2020.
Why base your opinion of the DH on one guy? For Felipe Alou, I’ll offer Tony LaRussa, who completely changed his mind about the DH when he went from Oakland to St. Louis. People who like the DH are like the people that think baseball is all about hitting. The DH is just dumbing down the game.
But it really isn’t about the pitcher hitting. There are a lot of peripheral issues that result from it that that affect strategy. Put in the DH and all those strategic issues disappear. Along with La Russa, who changed his mind about the DH when he went from the AL to the NL, you can add John Schuerholz, who also changed his mind when he changed leagues.
I was raised in an AL city rooting for a crummy team. When the DH came in I liked it, as my team could have an old guy that couldn’t play the field bat 4 times a game. Then I moved to an NL city. Wow! Realized what I’d missed. The game was so much more fun.
Far too simplistic to say that it’s boring to watch a pitcher bat, or how complicated can a double-switch be. The challenges that come up for players in the game make it far more fun to watch. Can the pitcher get the #8 hitter batting with 2 outs, so he can start the next inning off with an easy out?…Can the #8 hitter get on base and win the battle – a major accomplishment even if his team doesn’t score a run. Watching a pitcher going all out on the mound in the 5th-6th inning knowing he’s due up to bat next inning and he’ll be pulled for a pinch hitter. Can the pitcher bunt a runner over, or better still, get a hit? And because of double switches, NL players have to play defense as well as offense – often multiple positions, and managers tend to use most of their position players each game. Baserunning becomes more important – the runner trying to take an extra base and the defense trying to stop him from doing so.
Too many teams in the AL swing from the heels for the 3 run homer – believing that it offsets poor baserunning or errors in the field. I enjoy watching baseball, not Home Run Derby. I especially enjoy watching smart players and smart teams, that work to get an edge by playing complete baseball. They’re far more fun to watch. The 3 run homers I can watch on a cable networks replay roundup show. I want to watch games.
Thanks for posting that. I also was initially in favor of the DH. but I realized it is a more interesting game without the it. It is true that the pitcher striking out on a two-strike bunt foul is probably the worst thing in the game. But it isn’t really about the pitcher hitting, or not hitting. It’s all those other things that go with. it. And, as I said already, when you add the DH, you dumb down the game.
I hope Connor can give me some insight on the chance that Josh Donaldson signs with one of the Nationals or the Braves. I believe there is better than a 99% chance JD signs with one of those 2 teams. I really want to hear his perspective.
If both of those teams fail to sign him then my guess somebody trades for Bryant, Which I think phillies will
If the Phillies trade for Bryant it won’t be because the Braves and Nats fail to sign Donaldson. Not sure I see the logic there.
The Phillies have obviously put a limit on ‘stupid money’. It’s all dumpster diving now.
As a Phillies fan, I don’t want Bryant. He’s gonna cost a ton and yeah, I know he has two years left (we think…), but if I’m gonna unload what little prospect capital I have, I’m only doing it for Arenado. Bryant’s two years doesn’t move the needle enough for me, and the Philes could easily find themselves back in the same situation they might be with Realmuto–trade away talent for two years of a stud player (fair enough), and then don’t compete in those two years, and then have that player go off to FA while you are only left with a comp pick. I feel like the Rockies have a bit more of a desperate need to re-shuffle their players, too, than the Cubs do. As the Cubs roster stands, they are going to be in the thick of things in the NL central. The Rockies, though, despite a solid lineup, will never catch the Dodgers if they don’t build some kind of reliable rotation.
I think you are forgetting the fact that Arenado can opt out in 2 years. If he is good, he will be a two year rental just like Bryant. The only difference is that if Arenado sucks outside of Colorado, he is guaranteed to be 7 year albatross bad contract. 2 year rental or 7 year bad contract. Those are the only options available with Arenado.
I’d suggest the Phillies are in a lot of trouble – all going back to not having much of a rebuild, where they should have a core of 5-7 young, cheap players to build around. Because of that they have to pay retail – in free agency and via salary dumps by other teams.
For those looking beyond 2020, I’d suggest that there is a slim chance they sign Realmuto to a long-term contract. I’ve been reading since 2 weeks after they traded for him that the Phils were negotiating to extend him. Read it hare again 3 weeks or so ago. Nothing.
Realmuto is the best all around Catcher in MLB, and just played at 29 years-old. There’s a massive shortage of quality Catchers in MLB – more so then any other position. After seeing the money top free agents got this year, I see no way Realmuto doesn’t play out his option in 2020. Money teams will lust after him, many that already have deep competitive rosters – Nationals, Braves, Red Sox, Giants, Angels, Astros. If he wants to play near his Oklahoma home, the Rangers will pony up. And the Mets will try to work something out to have the owner-in-waiting somehow finance a competitive bid……
All of which is going to create a major hole in the Phillies roster if this theory comes to pass.
@StandUP–yea, good point in Arenado’s opt-out in 2 years, but I think you’re a bit quick to automatically call his contract an “albatross bad contract.” You say this because it is easy to point a finger at Pujols and Cabrera and their long-term bad contracts? You are not taking into account the fact that Arenado will only be 34 years old (the same age as Donaldson is NOW) when this contract ends, so you really can’t compare this to the other “albatross” contracts out there.
I want to know the status of Charlie Culberson’s GoFundMe
Charlie Culberson has a GoFundMe? For what? He’s already under contract?
I’m a jokemaker
Most right-on thing he said: with the pace of the hooah, HOT STOVE!, this off-season, a strike no longer looks at all probable, let alone likely as it did in October. The owners are colluding in a good way this year. Winter Meetings!
That, followed by the State Farm commercials being awful
Indians won 10 of 19 games against the Twins in 2019.
How did the Twins “blow their doors off”?
Twins are down 2 starting pitchers at this point. Indians have a group of young players that overall should do better in 2020.
–
Not that I’m so much an Indians fan. But I admire their FO and think they have the best manager in MLB. They’re pitching-oriented, and pitching is the name of the game. Tired of them being slighted some in the articles, lots here in the comment section. Unless they have major injuries again, they will be contenders in the ALC in 2020.
You’re going to cite one game over .500 against the Twins as evidence that they didn’t blow the Indians doors off? The Twins won 101 games with the Indians 8 games back. The Twins scored 170 more runs than the Indians, and had a better RS/RA differential than the Indians; 170 to 112. Maybe the term “blowing their doors off” was overstating it a bit, but really, it was not close.
Hey Connor, you really need to brush up on your White Sox history. They don’t have a great one of firing managers. As bad as he was, Robin Ventura wasn’t fired. Ozzie Guillen wasn’t fired despite having his share of head butts with Kenny Williams who instead traded him to the Marlins. Rick Renteria won’t be fired either, at least anytime soon. He has a better chance of becoming the AL manager of the year than being the first manager fired in 2020.
I was admittedly shooting from the hip there. Didn’t have time to run through every team’s managerial situation in my head at that point.
Why base your opinion of the DH on one guy? For Felipe Alou, I’ll offer Tony LaRussa, who completely changed his mind about the DH when he went from Oakland to St. Louis. People who like the DH are like the people that think baseball is all about hitting. The DH is just dumbing down the game.
It’s not based off one guy’s opinion. I was anti-pitchers hitting long before I read Alou’s thoughts on the matter, which can be found here: twitter.com/PeterKerasotis/status/1188184705923014…
But it really isn’t about the pitcher hitting. There are a lot of peripheral issues that result from it that that affect strategy. Put in the DH and all those strategic issues disappear. Along with La Russa, who changed his mind about the DH when he went from the AL to the NL, you can add John Schuerholz, who also changed his mind when he changed leagues.
chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2009-12-16-09121604…
@tad2b13;
I was raised in an AL city rooting for a crummy team. When the DH came in I liked it, as my team could have an old guy that couldn’t play the field bat 4 times a game. Then I moved to an NL city. Wow! Realized what I’d missed. The game was so much more fun.
Far too simplistic to say that it’s boring to watch a pitcher bat, or how complicated can a double-switch be. The challenges that come up for players in the game make it far more fun to watch. Can the pitcher get the #8 hitter batting with 2 outs, so he can start the next inning off with an easy out?…Can the #8 hitter get on base and win the battle – a major accomplishment even if his team doesn’t score a run. Watching a pitcher going all out on the mound in the 5th-6th inning knowing he’s due up to bat next inning and he’ll be pulled for a pinch hitter. Can the pitcher bunt a runner over, or better still, get a hit? And because of double switches, NL players have to play defense as well as offense – often multiple positions, and managers tend to use most of their position players each game. Baserunning becomes more important – the runner trying to take an extra base and the defense trying to stop him from doing so.
Too many teams in the AL swing from the heels for the 3 run homer – believing that it offsets poor baserunning or errors in the field. I enjoy watching baseball, not Home Run Derby. I especially enjoy watching smart players and smart teams, that work to get an edge by playing complete baseball. They’re far more fun to watch. The 3 run homers I can watch on a cable networks replay roundup show. I want to watch games.
Thanks for posting that. I also was initially in favor of the DH. but I realized it is a more interesting game without the it. It is true that the pitcher striking out on a two-strike bunt foul is probably the worst thing in the game. But it isn’t really about the pitcher hitting, or not hitting. It’s all those other things that go with. it. And, as I said already, when you add the DH, you dumb down the game.