MLB Hotstove 2016-17

[FGM13]

Corey Seager wins NL ROY unanimously, and Michael Fulmer takes the AL ROY.

[Crabcake]

I did this last year, and I'm going to do it again.  The O's have several holes to fill and not a lot of cash to do it.  Here would be my steps to a successful offseason (in no particular order).

 

Step 1: Don't get sucked into a bidding war for Mark Trumbo.

Probably one of our 3 best position players last year, Trumbo was a massive source of offense.  He hit 47 homers, a career-high, and by many counts had the best season of his career.  Because of that, there is going to be a team that's willing to massively overpay for him.  Before last season, Trumbo had never hit more than 35 homers in a season, not fantastic for a guy whose main strength is the long ball.  If Trumbo is willing to sign a short term deal (2 or 3 years tops) for a reasonable amount per year, they should jump at it.  But let someone else overpay for him.

 

Step 2: Sign/trade for a corner outfielder.

Right now, the O's are looking at Hyun Soo Kim, Dariel Alvarez, and Joey Rickard to fill the two outfield spots either side of Adam Jones.  Kim is good and should have LF locked up, but he desperately needs a platoon partner as he's basically nonexistent vs. LHPs.  Alvarez and Rickard are both young and can be improved upon.  Josh Reddick, Ian Desmond, and others could fill the spot admirably.

 

Step 3: Trade away one of the big albatross SP contracts.

By this, I mean Ubaldo Jimenez, Yovani Gallardo, and Wade Miley.  Obviously this is easier said than done, but I think it's something that can and should be done.  Tillman, Gausman, and Bundy have the top 3 spots in the rotation locked up, so there'll only be room for 2 of Jimenez, Gallardo, and Miley in the rotation.  Trading one of them away for something - anything - would be beneficial.

 

Step 4: Sign a starting pitcher.

The back half of the rotation needs help.  Desperately.  They should only do this if they successfully complete step 3.

 

Step 5: SIgn a DH replacement for Trumbo.

We're going to lose Trumbo.  Find a replacement.

 

Step 6: Sign a catcher to a short term deal.

We're going to lose Wieters, and there should probably be a 1-2 year gap to Chance Sisco, and I'm not sure if Caleb Joseph is good enough to start regularly.  

[tigerslionspistonshabs]

I'm really hoping the rumblings about the Tigers selling off some vets to go with a 'youthful, salary-shedding' plan. Supposedly Al Avila says his plan will get the Tigers back to the playoffs within 2-3 seasons. No, it won't. We couldn't get in this year with a solid starting rotation, decent bat power in Miggy, Martinez x 2, Kinsler, and above average fielding. Fix your holes. The same holes that have been glaring for the past 10 years- the bullpen. Hopefully Mike Ilitch tells him to take one more run with this core while these guys are still solid. Fulmer, Norris and Boyd will be better. Hopefully Zimmermann gets healthy again and hopefully Sanchez returns to his previous form.

 

This is still a solid, well-balanced team.     

 

I miss Dombrowski. 

[ninersdd]

[AnPheitseog]

7 hours ago, Crabcake47 said:

I did this last year, and I'm going to do it again.  The O's have several holes to fill and not a lot of cash to do it.  Here would be my steps to a successful offseason (in no particular order).

 

Step 1: Don't get sucked into a bidding war for Mark Trumbo.

Probably one of our 3 best position players last year, Trumbo was a massive source of offense.  He hit 47 homers, a career-high, and by many counts had the best season of his career.  Because of that, there is going to be a team that's willing to massively overpay for him.  Before last season, Trumbo had never hit more than 35 homers in a season, not fantastic for a guy whose main strength is the long ball.  If Trumbo is willing to sign a short term deal (2 or 3 years tops) for a reasonable amount per year, they should jump at it.  But let someone else overpay for him.

 

Step 2: Sign/trade for a corner outfielder.

Right now, the O's are looking at Hyun Soo Kim, Dariel Alvarez, and Joey Rickard to fill the two outfield spots either side of Adam Jones.  Kim is good and should have LF locked up, but he desperately needs a platoon partner as he's basically nonexistent vs. LHPs.  Alvarez and Rickard are both young and can be improved upon.  Josh Reddick, Ian Desmond, and others could fill the spot admirably.

 

Step 3: Trade away one of the big albatross SP contracts.

By this, I mean Ubaldo Jimenez, Yovani Gallardo, and Wade Miley.  Obviously this is easier said than done, but I think it's something that can and should be done.  Tillman, Gausman, and Bundy have the top 3 spots in the rotation locked up, so there'll only be room for 2 of Jimenez, Gallardo, and Miley in the rotation.  Trading one of them away for something - anything - would be beneficial.

 

Step 4: Sign a starting pitcher.

The back half of the rotation needs help.  Desperately.  They should only do this if they successfully complete step 3.

 

Step 5: SIgn a DH replacement for Trumbo.

We're going to lose Trumbo.  Find a replacement.

 

Step 6: Sign a catcher to a short term deal.

We're going to lose Wieters, and there should probably be a 1-2 year gap to Chance Sisco, and I'm not sure if Caleb Joseph is good enough to start regularly.  

I honestly think Caleb Joseph is good enough to start regularly. He played great defensively and, when put into a starter role with Wieters down, batted well enough. 

 

I don't think he can bat well without getting consistent at bats, but he's good enough for a starter. Not going to be wieters level, but not bad as a 8-9 hitter. 

[Unocal]

Of all people, I never would have guessed Kate Upton to detonate hot fire over the Cy Young Award

[FGM13]

Rick Porcello wins the Cy Young? All he had was 22 wins, nothing else impressive. What is this, 1980? Wins are useless stats and awards shouldn't be won based on them.

[Rj0498]

1 hour ago, FGM13 said:

Rick Porcello wins the Cy Young? All he had was 22 wins, nothing else impressive. What is this, 1980? Wins are useless stats and awards shouldn't be won based on them.

Agreed. It is almost like they drooled over his wins and nothing else, forgetting that he had possibly the al's best offense backing him up

[Thomas]

[Wings]

Looks like Lew Wolff is stepping down as the A's managing general partner with John Fisher taking complete control of the team. 

[2001mark]

Britton was the best AL pitcher this season.  I'm okay with the outcome because it didn't matter after the noms list.

[FGM13]

Mike Trout won the AL MVP! Thank God!

[HedleyLamarr]

Trout would be Baseball God if he didn't play on the west coast and for a middling team.

[Unocal]

NL MVP- Right guy won.

 

AL MVP- Wrong guy won.

[SFGiants58]

1 hour ago, FGM13 said:

Mike Trout won the AL MVP! Thank God!

 

Fangraphs.com writers breathed a collective sigh of relief, while they gleefully deleted their "In Defense of Betts/Altuve" articles.

 

4 minutes ago, SabresRule7361 said:

NL MVP- Right guy won.

 

AL MVP- Wrong guy won.

 

 

On a serious note, why don't you think Trout deserved to win? I'm genuinely curious.

[Cujo]

Participation trophy presented to Rajai Davis of the Indians blew a 3-1 lead in the World Series.

 

 

[HedleyLamarr]

37 minutes ago, SFGiants58 said:

On a serious note, why don't you think Trout deserved to win? I'm genuinely curious.

About the only argument that could be made against Trout being MVP is "How valuable is he really when his team didn't make the playoffs and didn't have a winning season?".  And I can't fault a guy for wanting to separate "Most Valuable Player" from "Best Player".

[Unocal]

My issue with Trout winning is a simple one:

 

If you take out RBI/batting average (historically flimsy numbers to correlate), Betts topped him in a lot of stats that I think can't be discounted- hits, total bases, extra base hits, doubles. They were only separated by 1 run in terms of runs scored. And he wasn't exactly a liability in the outfield.

 

The one thing Trout had going for him as usual is WAR. He accumulated great WAR, but that's all that stood out.

 

And where was his signature moment, that MVP moment? Kris Bryant had the 3 HR 2 double game. Max Scherzer had the 20 strikeout game.

 

I just think Betts' total offensive hitting package was discounted too much in favor of Trout's WAR.

[Unocal]

3 hours ago, Cujo said:

Participation trophy presented to Rajai Davis of the Indians blew a 3-1 lead in the World Series.

 

 

 

It IS worth nothing this isn't the first time the Best Posteason Moment award didn't go to a guy whose team didn't win the WS:

 

http://www.mlb.com/mlb/awards/y2012/gibbys/index.jsp?category=postseason_moment

 

 

[2001mark]

25 minutes ago, SabresRule7361 said:

My issue with Trout winning is a simple one:

 

If you take out RBI/batting average (historically flimsy numbers to correlate), Betts topped him in a lot of stats

And where was his signature moment, that MVP moment?

 

Signature moments get orange slices.  Trout was the best player in the AL for 2016.  Betts had help in his lineup & his guy won the Cy Young.  I'm suggesting it was that close & the finer player performance won out.