2024 Game Thread

[Nick]

Puk to Arizona

to Miami: Deyvision De Los Santos and Andrew Pintar

seems like a nice return for Puk.

[Nick]

Also hoping we can now pick up Night Vision De Los Santos.

[fish16]

Nice deal, puk isn’t anything special and clearly couldn’t start. We desperately need some power

[fish16]

The BA guy said they would have ranked 8th and 21st in the diamondbacks system ahead of their next rankings that were going to come out soon

[sports24/7]

You never know, but it’s probably a good sign for what the market looks like, if this is the return for Puk. It’s also encouraging that they got a AAA guy, and not some 18 year old.

[fish16]

You never know, but it’s probably a good sign for what the market looks like, if this is the return for Puk. It’s also encouraging that they got a AAA guy, and not some 18 year old.

He’s only 21 so he’s not super old. He’s also playing in a really good offensive environment so I don’t think he’s super close to major league ready. But he’s not in a ball so that’s a welcome change

[fish16]

The dude has raw power but really bad plate discipline so it’s not the typical rays 1b/dh type

[sports24/7]

He’s only 21 so he’s not super old. He’s also playing in a really good offensive environment so I don’t think he’s super close to major league ready. But he’s not in a ball so that’s a welcome change

He’s not super old, but we thought they were going to be bringing back guys in A ball. He’s in AAA, and I bet he’ll be on the Marlins next year. I believe Arizona had to expose him to the rule 5 draft and he was claimed, but not kept because he didn’t make the big club, so he went back to them. Then he has turned up a monster year. I remember them talking about it at the Futures Game.

[lou]

Nice deal, puk isn’t anything special and clearly couldn’t start. We desperately need some power

Huh? Puk is one of the best left handed relievers in baseball, easily top 10. He's 7th in WAR of all lefty reliever since the start of 2023. xFIP 3.01. He's a stud and the analytics back it. Yes that is subbing out the SP stats, but that's who he is. A RP. Likely a multi inning reliever. He's easily a top 25-50 overall RP in baseball, meaning a high leverage 8th inning guy on nearly every team. Dbacks should give him a 4 year deal on arrival immediately.

The Marlins needed to trade him for a FV45+ and FV40+ or two FV45s with the 2 more years of control. Preseason value wise, they clearly missed on that (FV40+ and FV40). But.... DLS is really really hitting the shit out of ball at multiple levels and all the reports say some of the highest EVs in the minors. Even if the whiffs creep up for him, the power will hopefully play. He is not as impressive as his slash looks at a glance at the PCL level though. Old friend Jerar Encarnacion is doing the same damage, but also Outman (i.e. a real MLB player) was demoted to AAA and doing something similar slash wise so there is that. He's hyper inflated by the league, but that's fine as he is doing it. Pintar had a really nice slash in A+. I checked their splits and Pintar was the best hitter in the northwest league, which translated to 2nd best vs RHP and 3rd best vs LHP so no splits differentiation. That is something to be tops of all of your peers with a good BB rate and BABIP. I agree with your other post too, it's nice one of these guys is in AAA so pencil him in for 2025 and Pintar will be progressed through AA by next summer if he cuts it.

So the Marlins think these guys are both FV45s as no way as a DH type and lower defensive 2B/OF type they could be FV45+s. This is similar to how they have to think D. Head is a FV50 or that Arraez trade makes no sense. Bendix clearly likes his guys versus the services. Hard to say where they grade out, but they each took steps forward this year so maybe they are ascending quickly. Otherwise, this feels a little light for me for a really fabulous RP for a super volatile DH type who may whiff a ton, and a maybe, a backup OF profile. I'd have liked more of a sure thing here. They effectively, are swinging for the fences with DLS literally. Agree with your other posts also this is not a Rays type player with DLS which is interesting, but Pintar certainly is. This will be fun to see how Bendix is taking more risks here for higher ceilings than floors.

The other observation here is, they now have "5" 1B/DH types long term to maybe pencil in - Burger (enters arbitration), DLC (enters arbitration, shouldn't be in the OF), De Los Santos (AAA), Martorella (AA), and Berry (AA). Goes without saying but Burger's and DLC's days are numbered. And if we're wondering why Berry is starting to get mentioned by me, .306/.380/.485 (.370 BABIP though) since May 25th and keeping pace after ASB. Fingers crossed something has clicked there as it's starting to become a good sample size even if that BABIP is pretty high with the cherry picked date he started hitting.

I am a little underwhelmed here as Puk is good, but not enough to be angry. I'll trust Bendix they think they are FV45s and one becomes a solid platoon contributor or better which is all that needs to happen.

[sports24/7]

Huh? Puk is one of the best left handed relievers in baseball, easily top 10. He's 7th in WAR of all lefty reliever since the start of 2023. xFIP 3.01. He's a stud and the analytics back it. Yes that is subbing out the SP stats, but that's who he is. A RP. Likely a multi inning reliever. He's easily a top 25-50 overall RP in baseball, meaning a high leverage 8th inning guy on nearly every team. Dbacks should give him a 4 year deal on arrival immediately.

The Marlins needed to trade him for a FV45+ and FV40+ or two FV45s with the 2 more years of control. Preseason value wise, they clearly missed on that (FV40+ and FV40). But.... DLS is really really hitting the shit out of ball at multiple levels and all the reports say some of the highest EVs in the minors. Even if the whiffs creep up for him, the power will hopefully play. He is not as impressive as his slash looks at a glance at the PCL level though. Old friend Jerar Encarnacion is doing the same damage, but also Outman (i.e. a real MLB player) was demoted to AAA and doing something similar slash wise so there is that. He's hyper inflated by the league, but that's fine as he is doing it. Pintar had a really nice slash in A+. I checked their splits and Pintar was the best hitter in the northwest league, which translated to 2nd best vs RHP and 3rd best vs LHP so no splits differentiation. That is something to be tops of all of your peers with a good BB rate and BABIP. I agree with your other post too, it's nice one of these guys is in AAA so pencil him in for 2025 and Pintar will be progressed through AA by next summer if he cuts it.

So the Marlins think these guys are both FV45s as no way as a DH type and lower defensive 2B/OF type they could be FV45+s. This is similar to how they have to think D. Head is a FV50 or that Arraez trade makes no sense. Bendix clearly likes his guys versus the services. Hard to say where they grade out, but they each took steps forward this year so maybe they are ascending quickly. Otherwise, this feels a little light for me for a really fabulous RP for a super volatile DH type who may whiff a ton, and a maybe, a backup OF profile. I'd have liked more of a sure thing here. They effectively, are swinging for the fences with DLS literally. Agree with your other posts also this is not a Rays type player with DLS which is interesting, but Pintar certainly is. This will be fun to see how Bendix is taking more risks here for higher ceilings than floors.

The other observation here is, they now have "5" 1B/DH types long term to maybe pencil in - Burger (enters arbitration), DLC (enters arbitration, shouldn't be in the OF), De Los Santos (AAA), Martorella (AA), and Berry (AA). Goes without saying but Burger's and DLC's days are numbered. And if we're wondering why Berry is starting to get mentioned by me, .306/.380/.485 (.370 BABIP though) since May 25th and keeping pace after ASB. Fingers crossed something has clicked there as it's starting to become a good sample size even if that BABIP is pretty high with the cherry picked date he started hitting.

I am a little underwhelmed here as Puk is good, but not enough to be angry. I'll trust Bendix they think they are FV45s and one becomes a solid platoon contributor or better which is all that needs to happen.

I don’t think Puk is as good as his numbers suggest, analytics or not. The Marlins could never truly trust him. Mish talked about how they stopped using him in back to back nights because he wasn’t handling that well. I feel like they did a good job selling high. Who knows what this kid will turn into, but there’s real power potential there. And while you should take this type of thing with a grain of salt, the Marlins are getting pretty heavily praised for this deal.

[sports24/7]

Arozarena goes to the Mariners, which doesn’t necessarily mean they’re out on Jazz, but probably does. And if so, that’s really unfortunate.

[Nick]

Yeah I think lou is higher on Puk than warrants. He's been great for about 50% of his time with the marlins, but he's absolutely sucked the other 50%. Yes, there was the failed starter experiment, but he also could absolutely not be trusted during our 2nd half playoff run last year, as a reliever.

[fish16]

Puk is a thoroughly mediocre untrustworthy super replaceable late inning reliever. To get anything of value for him is a win

[lou]

I don’t think Puk is as good as his numbers suggest, analytics or not. The Marlins could never truly trust him. Mish talked about how they stopped using him in back to back nights because he wasn’t handling that well. I feel like they did a good job selling high. Who knows what this kid will turn into, but there’s real power potential there. And while you should take this type of thing with a grain of salt, the Marlins are getting pretty heavily praised for this deal.

That's fine if you don't like him for intangibles, but it's definitely not a sell high. If you view him as say a .8 WAR reliever the next two years which is a safe floor to me, it's selling even at best if you think DLS has taken a small step forward since preseason. I think Puk is better than that and when you see Ryon Healy as comps for DLS, it makes you worry if the whiffs/free swinging catch up to him. He got a CJ Cron comp also, and he's a 1.4 WAR per 600 PA player for his career, and he has been able to spike over 2 WAR twice. That's probably an ideal outcome as a primary DH/spot 1B. Hopefully that comes with a spike versus lefties and Martorella/DLS is a good 1B platoon and DLS gets a lot of DH time against righties as he can still hit them.

[lou]

Arozarena goes to the Mariners, which doesn’t necessarily mean they’re out on Jazz, but probably does. And if so, that’s really unfortunate.

They can't be out on more bats. Randy has an .881 LHP / .657 RHP OPS split this year, and career .918 LHP / .743 RHP. He's an elite DH vs LHP and an OK one against RHP. He's also expensive. It's just a cheap move for them prospect wise for what they traded. It's not a great fit because they have better hitters for lefties and need guys who hit righties more but why not if you're Seattle. For perspective, Jesus Sanchez is a better hitter (especially with predominant RHP split) and fielder right now, and he's cheaper with more control. Randy has name value, although he is heating up.

Seattle needs someone who can play 2B/3B and hit right handers big time IMO, and a longterm view is they need a 3B or OF, preferably CF. He's perfect. This probably takes them out on Sanchez as a throw in as Randy is certainly a hitter and if Randy is getting that in a trade, Sanchez gets more. Bell might be a good throw-in for them too to eat all his money, and they can just release if he doesn't heat up.

So it's probably Jazz, Scott/Bender/Cronin/Brazoban, and maybe Bell and $$$ and that should get Celesten/Farmelo, Peete, and two FV40s.

Or you just keep Jazz because he is GOOD.