OT: Raise the Jolly Roger: New season of plundering begins

[BusinessGoose]

When is Bart due back?

If my math works, his 10 day IL should be up friday 6/7.....

...the finger injury could be a bear to get over though, especially with dudes throwing 104+ on this team

 

[MrBrightside]

Damn, the Dodgers pitcher went to Wheeling Park? One of the few to make it out of that area

He was a pretty high draft pick by the Dodgers. WVU has actually turned out a surprising number of MLB pitchers under Mazey - Grove, Manoah, Means, Jackson Wolf.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

In terms of trade targets, I think I am pretty much on board with the "do whatever it would take to get Luis Robert" camp. The thing that worries me there is Robert's injury problems, as they seem to be truly chronic and when you factor in that he would be one of the hugest players this measly franchise as ever acquired via trade or free agency, that would put more of a magnifying glass on it.

For a possible pivot, I do really like Taylor Ward. Minasian is apparently seeking "huge overpays" for Ward and Jo Adell, but 1) lol and 2) the Angels are a pretty bad talent assessor, so there's room to dream.

Ward doesn't really give you the huge 5-tool upside that Robert gives you, but he still brings help in multiple categories. Hits at a good clip, doesn't strike out a ton, takes walks, solid 20+ HR pop, seems average enough in left field not to hurt you. I don't have a strong read on the defense, but he's pretty comfortably a 110-115 wRC+ guy, with some ceiling on top of that. It's easy to see why the Angels will want a good return with 2 additional years of control remaining, but he's already 30 years old and the market/other teams start to hate corner OFs at this age, so I don't really think it's going to take some mega package.

Now, the homerism pipe dream idea would be to swindle them with an MLB-ready starting package of Priester and Bae. The way that they operate and refuse to fully rebuild makes me think that they would consider something like this, and that maybe you'd only need to sweeten it with some upside minors guys. It would take their scouts seeing a real leadoff threat in Bae and a legit #3-4 starter in Priester (I know the latter will sound hard to believe, but I sincerely think that old school scout types would be totally fine with that description of him, especially with the improvements in AAA this year).

That said, the more serious "gotta give to get" makes me think that you'd only have to center on one premium prospect as a headliner in a deal for Ward. Maybe a scout is still infatuated with Johnson, or regardless, Chandler or Harrington give them a prospect with front of rotation upside. It's hard to specifically ballpark with certain players, but I do think one or the other might be in play, and specifically I think the Angels are a team where you could send them MLB ready players as well as multiple depth prospects and maybe get something done.

 

[ChaosAgent]

In terms of trade targets, I think I am pretty much on board with the "do whatever it would take to get Luis Robert" camp. The thing that worries me there is Robert's injury problems, as they seem to be truly chronic and when you factor in that he would be one of the hugest players this measly franchise as ever acquired via trade or free agency, that would put more of a magnifying glass on it.

For a possible pivot, I do really like Taylor Ward. Minasian is apparently seeking "huge overpays" for Ward and Jo Adell, but 1) lol and 2) the Angels are a pretty bad talent assessor, so there's room to dream.

Ward doesn't really give you the huge 5-tool upside that Robert gives you, but he still brings help in multiple categories. Hits at a good clip, doesn't strike out a ton, takes walks, solid 20+ HR pop, seems average enough in left field not to hurt you. I don't have a strong read on the defense, but he's pretty comfortably a 110-115 wRC+ guy, with some ceiling on top of that. It's easy to see why the Angels will want a good return with 2 additional years of control remaining, but he's already 30 years old and the market/other teams start to hate corner OFs at this age, so I don't really think it's going to take some mega package.

Now, the homerism pipe dream idea would be to swindle them with an MLB-ready starting package of Priester and Bae. The way that they operate and refuse to fully rebuild makes me think that they would consider something like this, and that maybe you'd only need to sweeten it with some upside minors guys. It would take their scouts seeing a real leadoff threat in Bae and a legit #3-4 starter in Priester (I know the latter will sound hard to believe, but I sincerely think that old school scout types would be totally fine with that description of him, especially with the improvements in AAA this year).

That said, the more serious "gotta give to get" makes me think that you'd only have to center on one premium prospect as a headliner in a deal for Ward. Maybe a scout is still infatuated with Johnson, or regardless, Chandler or Harrington give them a prospect with front of rotation upside. It's hard to specifically ballpark with certain players, but I do think one or the other might be in play, and specifically I think the Angels are a team where you could send them MLB ready players as well as multiple depth prospects and maybe get something done.

My pipe dream is to get Crochet and Robert. It would make our MILB system an atrocity, but it's a truly all-in move that gives us a big 4 at rotation and a middle-of-the-order thumper. It puts us in a position of going for it and with Jones/Skenes/Crochet/Keller it makes us terrifying in the playoffs. Plus Crochet seals up rotation depth which we badly need. It was a mistake to trade Brubaker if we were going to make Ortiz a reliever and Roansy was bombing.

Looking for guidance in such a trade package for Crochet and Robert, I looked to the Padres trade for Soto.

I would try to land with this: Henry Davis, Termarr Johnson, Bubba Chandler, Thomas Harrington, Ji-Hwan Bae.

Johnson, Chandler and Harrington are good prospect currency with Johnson and Chandler as 50-100 guys and Harrington as a top 10 in most systems.
I think at this point we should just move Davis. Endy is not movable being injured (otherwise he would be the headliner here), and Bart shows more hitting ability in the interim. If CWS values Davis as a 50-100 prospect who has just hit some major unexpected roadblocks with the bat, then there's a path forward here. Every trade like this includes some formerly hyped prospect who sputtered initially. If CWS does not like Davis, there is probably not a path forward here unless we totally reimagine this with Cruz as the headliner and deduct some other pieces.

I would also give them the option of Bae/Peguero/Triolo/Suwinski, but I think Bae would be the most attractive piece as he gives competitive ABs and has speed. If they took on Davis, they'd already have a lot of sputtering player types like Suwinski. I think they would prefer Bae.

 

[sovietsanta87]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1799091053355569428

 

[ImporterExporter]

Our bullpens is ass, our rotation features 2 rookies who won't be allowed to pitch past September unless both are given breaks midseason (Jones/Skenes). Our line up is more than 1 AS away from being a contender.

Those are the realities.

You don't make a trade for a guy like Robert unless you're close or already in the mix.

What assets are we giving up? Termarr? He doesn't swing the bat enough, K's too much, and contact skills are vastly lower than we were led to believe 2 years ago. His stock is not going to win someone over as a centerpiece.

What top prospects are actually performing like top prospects? Chandler? Solometo? Nope and nope.

The bats in the system have to be in the bottom 3rd, if not lower, on a league wide scale.

Robert is going to cost A LOT and again, is adding him going to put us over the top? Will he even put us on the same level as the top 2-3 teams in each league?

The easy answer is no.

I personally don't want that kind of move until we're already a 90-100 win type team with managers who actually know what winning baseball is and how to extract that from the players.

 

[WickedWrister]

Henry Davis DH

 

[BusinessGoose]

Cool to get Davis reps to see if he can hit anything other than AAA level...?

 

[ChaosAgent]

Cool to get Davis reps to see if he can hit anything other than AAA level...?

At some point he is going to have to. Hard to even remember he was supposed to be a .850 OPS guy now.

 

[ImporterExporter]

You know who the best hitter has been below the ML level for the Pirates?

Borderline top 30 prospect Charles McAdoo, a late round flier last year, who's currently crushing A+ ball in Greensboro.

If you want a direction you'll probably see next month from the FO? Bats. Lots of bats.

 

[BusinessGoose]

If my math works, his 10 day IL should be up friday 6/7.....

...the finger injury could be a bear to get over though, especially with dudes throwing 104+ on this team

He's gonna be out another week

C Joey Bart (left thumb injury)
Expected return: TBD
Bart's thumb injury, which occurred after he caught a pitch awkwardly on May 26, has been diagnosed as a grade-one UCL sprain. It was recommended that he do no gripping activities, and he will continue to refrain from doing so for another week. After that time, he will be reassessed. (Last updated: June 7)

 

[Empoleon8771]

Cruz just slaughtered that ball

 

[Empoleon8771]

Nicky G is in a spot to blow this game wide open. Ryan is a really damn good starter and doing some damage here would be great.

 

[WickedWrister]

Ooof Gonzales almost got all of that

 

[Empoleon8771]

Sucks to only get 1 but another case of Gonzales being clutch and being great at getting the ball in play with RISP.

 

[Coastal Kev]

I haven't given up on Davis yet, I think it's a confidence and minor adjustment thing. But Suwinski is another story, the have to get an OF and a 1b

 

[WickedWrister]

Doesn't it feel like Reynolds has been great defensively since the rumor about him getting looks at first base lol

 

[Coastal Kev]

2 hits....... offense certainly does dry up often.

 

[ImporterExporter]

The hardest position to build on a winner is SP.

We have it already. With more coming.

How do you fix the hitting?

Fire Shelton, Haines. Whoever is running the offensive department should be shot into the sun. Spend actual money on actual replacements. I'd rather move a few million from anywhere to the managerial staff.

 

[GilbertSeinfeld]

Chapman seems to be coming around and Holderman continues to be Holderman.

Bednar got the save again, and only allowed one single.

 

[WickedWrister]

 

[BusinessGoose]

GOTTEM

Davis sucks
Suwinski sucks

Except for the every 10 game deep hit they find

 

[Rave7215]

Keller with another monster game. Love to see the starting pitching continue to shine.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

Huge game from Keller, as we really needed to take this one and set the tone for the series while taking some pressure off from what might be a wild game tomorrow with the bullpen game.

The Twins are now on a little four game losing streak, so maybe we'll luck out with some momentum/effective relievers and steal another one. But much like yesterday's game, we have Jones in our back pocket for a good chance at a series win on Sunday no matter what.

With respect to any trade stuff, I suspect hopes will tick up if we are at all decent for a little while, but I'd still like to see it. I think the offense can be more competent than we've become accustomed to if everyone can stay healthy. The simple results in terms of runs per game have really not been that bad since the beginning of May, and there's a chance to to be in solid place about one month from now, but I think we can see how the weeks really unfold and go from there.

Robert probably won't be dealt before the last minute, since his ceiling is a 4-win player and he's a true CF, so there will be plenty of suitors. I just don't see the situation working out. As IE points out, the top prospect hype is basically going in the wrong direction. Some guys could tick up between now and the deadline, but it will probably be a tall order with multiple other suitors. That's why I started looking at Ward, because he's immediate help at a big position of need and would still be around, and it's not like much is coming in the OF. But even there, it will make sense for the Angels to wait as long as possible (and suitors for Ward might partially depend on how Robert's market plays out).

 

[Factorial]

Huge game from Keller, as we really needed to take this one and set the tone for the series while taking some pressure off from what might be a wild game tomorrow with the bullpen game.

The Twins are now on a little four game losing streak, so maybe we'll luck out with some momentum/effective relievers and steal another one. But much like yesterday's game, we have Jones in our back pocket for a good chance at a series win on Sunday no matter what.

With respect to any trade stuff, I suspect hopes will tick up if we are at all decent for a little while, but I'd still like to see it. I think the offense can be more competent than we've become accustomed to if everyone can stay healthy. The simple results in terms of runs per game have really not been that bad since the beginning of May, and there's a chance to to be in solid place about one month from now, but I think we can see how the weeks really unfold and go from there.

Robert probably won't be dealt before the last minute, since his ceiling is a 4-win player and he's a true CF, so there will be plenty of suitors. I just don't see the situation working out. As IE points out, the top prospect hype is basically going in the wrong direction. Some guys could tick up between now and the deadline, but it will probably be a tall order with multiple other suitors. That's why I started looking at Ward, because he's immediate help at a big position of need and would still be around, and it's not like much is coming in the OF. But even there, it will make sense for the Angels to wait as long as possible (and suitors for Ward might partially depend on how Robert's market plays out).

Keller getting great movement on his pitches.

That strikeout where it was a "hits batsman" was impressive.