2024 Game Thread

[fish16]

Just to be clear, we’re hitting Bryan de la Cruz second and starting avisail Garcia tonight?

[Namaste]

AJ Puk finally pitches good and our defense shits the bed again

[lou]

Luzardo, Scott, Bell, Anderson is not half ass. It's just not trading the best pure hitter in baseball at age 27 on a team with an already bad lineup. If you add Mayo/Kjerstad/Cowser and Westburg and then Campusano for say Scott, Betancourt and Noble Meyer or some sort of deal where we get Campusano and they get help for this year AND beyond given their future payroll outlay, you can very easily compete next year with just a few relatively minor moves in free agency. OR you just deal scott for cartaya when the Dodgers biggest need is a lefty reliever and you keep Meyer. You dont need to burn the whole thing down when you still have Sandy, Eury, Garrett, Meyer, Weathers, Rogers, Puk, Cabrera. That's more than enough high quality talent to compete with a lineup that is remotely competent and has 2-3 more long term pieces. Sandy and Eury when healthy are 2 of the best pitchers in baseball, they just need a re-tool to get some fresh young high quality talent in this lineup to complement the rotation.

C- Campusano or Cartaya
1b- Burger
2b- Westburg
SS- ?
3b- Mayo
LF- Gordon/cheap corner OF free agent that is always available every year (see Duvall)
CF- Jazz
RF- Sanchez/platoon bat
DH- Arraez

SP- Sandy/Eury/Garrett/Meyer/Cabrera/Weathers

That is a legitimate team that is cheap as shit with high quality cost controlled cornerstone position players, better rotation than most of baseball, and veteran bats like Arraez, Jazz, and Burger combined with the good young refreshed talent with star potential. That is feasible, and you can do it as soon as next year and compete with a re-build on the fly. The key is Luzardo. They need to deal him now and start the process for next year. He is the yelich/JT piece that we need to get right this time.

Frankly if you are workshopping this in your head, I don't think Baltimore trades 2 premium infielders. I think it's Mayo/Bradfield or Kjerstad/Westburg as hypothetical main pieces, and you grab Norby/Stowers/Beavers/Fabian as a good third player. I bet they'd throw in Mateo or Urias also to clear $$$ and room as they don't need them.

I don't disagree Noble may need to be sacrificed for an upgrade, but I'm not sure Campusano or Cartaya is that guy. Cartaya may be just as far away as Noble to the bigs TBH with his bat scuffle last year and some folks discussed Noble turning into top 5 SP prospect in baseball this year with his pure stuff. That is dangerous. I'm a lot more interested in Campusano, but he'll only have 4 years of control after this year + be a super 2. I don't think Scott and Noble is worth Campusano probably. But maybe Campusano really lights the world on fire. I can't see them moving him as a contender though. If you are right though, I'd move Scott for Cartaya right now and pull him out of the dugout. That's a gamble you make all day.

This team you have with Arraez would cost $75m, so the question then moves to what would Bruce do? Is he signing Adames for that spot and going to $100m? Or, is Teoscar getting signed for LF, and they cheap out on a defensive SS somewhere as that team will otherwise hit? Or just a bunch of $2.5m guys like JD Davis? That won't cut it absent the SP becoming top 2 in baseball. What are you doing with how much money?


And this is why moving Arraez makes sense. You get Kyle Teel or Endy Rodriguez for him as the primary piece which I do think is realistic (Story now out for the year! Is Pittsburgh a contender and Endy can't help this year!), that money projection from your team drops to like $62m, now you have more room for Adames so maybe they actually would sign him. As payroll is much lower than $100m even with him, and this Scott trade you're floating turns into sending him to Baltimore as the 2nd piece for everyone

So that team you got above is $75m, Noble Meyer is probably gone, and you control Arraez for 1 season........... or do this for $85m (slight backloading Adames) without Arraez and you still have Noble Meyer. You also can afford Adames as you just nabbed 4 longterm bats for club controlled prices for 3 years. That's how you do it. BTW, Teel has a 2.2 WAR projection for 2025, Endy 2.0, and Adames 3.6. Arraez is 1.8 because he is not a good defender. And yes, that feels low for sure for Arraez and optimistic for the rookie catchers, but Adames is just a higher floor player with the defense and the catchers won't be a waste. It's a net gain overall easily.

I'm going to do Luzardo and Scott for Kjerstad, Westburg, Norby, and Urias and Arraez for Endy/Teel and far away guys. Any other trade is far away guys.

C- Teel/Endy (Arraez), Fortes/Banfield
1b- Burger, ________
2b- Norby (Luzardo 3), Edwards
SS- Adames, ________
3b- Westburg (Luzardo 2), Urias (Luzardo 4)
LF- Kjerstad (Luzardo 1)
CF- Jazz
RF- Sanchez, _______

SP- Sandy/Eury/Garrett/Meyer/Cabrera/Weathers/Puk
RP- Nardi, Bender, Soriano, Bendix specials

If you are rocking that mid $80s, you're frankly signing JD Davis and Adam Duvall types in the offseason (as Norby and Edwards can also play LF so you have bodies there), and then throwing money on 1 year arms up the wazoo to bridge to Eury and back of the bullpen. That could be a $5-10m under payroll team than 2023. And if Bruce surprises, they could really do some damage adding a true starting DH with one of those power spot blank lines.


You're too enamored with Arraez here IMO. They have to shed money somewhere and he's going to make the 2nd most of the team in 2025 after Sandy. Luzardo is going to be 4th (after Garcia too sigh). These are the obvious cuts. Sandy is going nowhere unless they are truly insane, but maybe Lee pops back if that happens and Bendix has some real crazy ideas in his head.

[fish16]

The puk experiment should be short lived. Hes earned his demotion back to the pen once Garrett and Cabrera come back

[lou]

Corbin Burnes and Jesus Luzardo and Greyson Rodriguez with the orioles absurd young core of position players would win the world series this year. Just saying. They are going to be the new astros for the next decade.

Don't forget Bradish who may be healthy. But it is a perfect match and the Marlins should do well here.

And Baltimore's payroll is very low so they could resign Burnes and say.... Max Fried in FA and all of a sudden be throwing Burnes, Grayson, Luzardo, Fried, and Bradish.

And here we are wondering if Otto Lopez is going to be a bench bat longterm.

[fish16]

Sixto has not had anywhere close to his opening day or late spring training velocity since. And he’s now faced 21 batters without a single k so far. It’s just an uninteresting profile for a reliever

[fish16]

Another gem from sixto. Probably just unlucky. He did lower his era to 10.38 on a positive note

[Namaste]

Another gem from sixto. Probably just unlucky

Now do Luzardo

[fish16]

Now do Luzardo

Luzardo actually has an xfip of 4.30 and most importantly, he had 3.7 war last year and he didn’t miss 3 full seasons and come back thoroughly unimpressive. Not sure what point youre trying to make and I don’t think you know either

[fish16]

I was wrong, sixto is now at 23 batters faced so far and not a single strikeout out of the bullpen

[fish16]

Tim Anderson should be hitting 2nd. Put the guy in a position to succeed

[fish16]

Jesus Sanchez goes through unbelievably long stretches without showing a lot of power for a guy who swings out of his shoes every time he comes up to bat

[Nick]

Bethancourt making me pine for Jacob Stallings.

[Namaste]

Another gem from sixto. Probably just unlucky. He did lower his era to 10.38 on a positive note

You're doing ERA's on April 9th and you accuse me of not knowing what my point is?

No one is saying Sixto is pitching great. People are saying he missed THREE seasons so maybe give him more than 3 innings before declaring him dead. Sixto pitched against the Yankees last night. Luzardo got fucking rocked by the Yankees.

[fish16]

You're doing ERA's on April 9th and you accuse me of not knowing what my point is?

No one is saying Sixto is pitching great. People are saying he missed THREE seasons so maybe give him more than 3 innings before declaring him dead. Sixto pitched against the Yankees last night. Luzardo got fucking rocked by the Yankees.

That’s rich coming from the guy who took a victory lap over a few spring training outings. It has nothing to do with era. It’s not an impressive skill set out of the bullpen. He doesn’t throw hard anymore and he can’t strike anyone out. He didn’t strike many guys out in spring and he hasnt had a single k in 23 hitters in the regular season. His average velocity is now all the way down to 93.9, down a full 5 mph from pre injury.