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2014/15 Off-season Moves


JC

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I've been rummaging through MLB Trade Rumors and its pretty evident Skip Schumacher is not going to be our starting LF (thank god).  I've seen Cespedes mentioned and Upton mentioned as well.  Problem is that those guys would require likely Cueto/Latos and both have only a year left on their contracts and if we get a one year rental for Cueto/Latos, I might just give up.

 

Also saw a report that everyone hates Cespedes in Boston.  No thanks.  

 

I'm not real sure who I want to see man LF, but I hope they take one more shot at the playoffs.  

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Saw they were open to moving Chapman.  If they can get anything of value, I'd do it.  Seems like the guy doesn't want to be a starter or he would have made the transition by now.  Small market teams can't afford to pay top dollar for closers.  Especially when they may not use him much in the next few years..

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If the team is out of it by the trade deadline I'm thinking we see a fire sale.

 

Cueto, Latos, Leake, Simon, Chapman, Phillips, Votto, and Bruce will all be available.

 

This is a pivotal year and probably our last shot for a little bit.

 

 

Which is why I'm thinking we dont make any big moves in the offseason and why I think Jockety has been stocking up on pitching in our minors. REALLY hate that we gave Votto and Homer those contracts.

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Which is why I'm thinking we dont make any big moves in the offseason and why I think Jockety has been stocking up on pitching in our minors. REALLY hate that we gave Votto and Homer those contracts.

 

 

I see the Reds maybe picking up a lower tier LF and maybe a utility player.  Probably about it.

I agree about the Votto and Bailey contracts.  Bailey we possibly could trade.  I'd bet were stuck

with Votto because of his ginormous contract unless the guy becomes a Triple Crown threat.

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Theoretical question here since the Angels are actively shopping Josh Hamilton.

 

Would you trade Votto for Hamilton straight up as a way to get out from under his contract?

 

I know Votto has a no trade clause and it won't happen, but would you?

 

Votto is owed $213M over the next 9 years with a $7M buyout in 2024

 

Hamilton is owed $83M over the next 3

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Theoretical question here since the Angels are actively shopping Josh Hamilton.

 

Would you trade Votto for Hamilton straight up as a way to get out from under his contract?

 

I know Votto has a no trade clause and it won't happen, but would you?

 

Votto is owed $213M over the next 9 years with a $7M buyout in 2024

 

Hamilton is owed $83M over the next 3

 

I would.

Id also trade votto for nothing to get rid of his contract.

 

Not that I dont like Votto and think he can be an all star caliber player, but 213M over 9 years is just way too much unless hes playing at an MVP level which im not sure he can get back to.

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  • 2 weeks later...

 

I would.

Id also trade votto for nothing to get rid of his contract.

 

Not that I dont like Votto

 

 

Shit, I don't like Votto. Pull up a chair and let me tell you why:

 

He whined like a bitch on the radio for months, carries a huge chip on his shoulder about God only knows what & acts like playing first base is only slightly less stressful than being a combat medic in Fallujah.  Dude takes himself way, way too fuckin seriously for a guy who was once, for a brief time, exceptionally good at hitting a ball with a stick. Just a hunch here but he seems like a total wet blanket and it's pretty obvious the team plays looser, if not outright better, with him nowhere near the clubhouse trying to browbeat anyone who dares crack a smile.

 

And of course on top of that, if we just wanted someone to take walks so Bruce (AKA Mr Overrated, Jr.) could keep padding his strikeout totals & further inflate the team's LOB numbers we could've kept Hannigan at a fraction of the cost. Meanwhile Frazier & Mesoraco outperformed the both of them by a long shot but it seems the organization has decided Votto and Bruce are going to be the "Face of The Franchise" regardless of actual production.  At least Bruce seems likeable enough, I guess.

 

Maybe it's not Votto's fault that he's locked into an MVP contract with zero chance of regaining that level, but he doesn't have to act so fucking entitled about it. As for that albatross of a contract, more likely the team could only trade, say 3/4 of it and keep paying him the difference to play for someone else. Which is a deal I'd still take without a 2nd thought.

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Marlon Byrd.  I really like the guy, not sure if its worth giving up Lively, but whats done is done.  I don't know much about Lively, but I know he was a decently promising arm.  

 

Byrd has some good power numbers, which should likely improve at GABP.  Hits R/L near the same.  .275 w/RISP.  Would have liked Aoki more, but sounds like he was looking for at least 3 years/24 million.  I'm not familiar with club/vesting options, but it looks like Byrd has one year left at $8 million.

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Shit, I don't like Votto. Pull up a chair and let me tell you why:

 

He whined like a bitch on the radio for months, carries a huge chip on his shoulder about God only knows what & acts like playing first base is only slightly less stressful than being a combat medic in Fallujah.  Dude takes himself way, way too fuckin seriously for a guy who was once, for a brief time, exceptionally good at hitting a ball with a stick. Just a hunch here but he seems like a total wet blanket and it's pretty obvious the team plays looser, if not outright better, with him nowhere near the clubhouse trying to browbeat anyone who dares crack a smile.

 

And of course on top of that, if we just wanted someone to take walks so Bruce (AKA Mr Overrated, Jr.) could keep padding his strikeout totals & further inflate the team's LOB numbers we could've kept Hannigan at a fraction of the cost. Meanwhile Frazier & Mesoraco outperformed the both of them by a long shot but it seems the organization has decided Votto and Bruce are going to be the "Face of The Franchise" regardless of actual production.  At least Bruce seems likeable enough, I guess.

 

Maybe it's not Votto's fault that he's locked into an MVP contract with zero chance of regaining that level, but he doesn't have to act so fucking entitled about it. As for that albatross of a contract, more likely the team could only trade, say 3/4 of it and keep paying him the difference to play for someone else. Which is a deal I'd still take without a 2nd thought.

 

:41:

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Sadly, I agree with most of this:

 

http://insider.espn.go.com/blog/keith-law/post/_/id/3201

 

 

Byrd deal makes sense for Phils, not Reds

 

The Phillies refused to begin a rebuilding process in July when they needed to take advantage of the market for several of their players, but they've committed to it now, having traded Jimmy RollinsAntonio Bastardo and now Marlon Byrd, clearing payroll and adding some much-needed young talent to the top two levels of their farm system. 

The Reds, meanwhile, fill their hole in left field all right, but it's nowhere near enough to change their outlook for 2015, and it might muddle their outfield picture beyond that. 

Philadelphia gets right-hander Ben Lively back from the Reds in the exchange, a fair return for a player of Byrd's age and value. Lively has had huge numbers in the minors so far, but he's a deception guy, not a stuff guy, crushing the low minors because hitters at those levels can't adjust to the difficulty they have seeing the ball out of his hands.

 

Lively will pitch in the low 90s with a slider at 83-84 and a short mid-70s curveball, keeping the ball behind his body well with a short arm stroke and coming at hitters from a higher arm slot than they're used to seeing. Major league hitters do make the adjustments high-A hitters don't -- that's part of how they got to the majors, you know -- and I don't see Lively as more than a back-end starter, given his arsenal and lack of projection. But the Phillies' system is very light on guys even at Lively's level, back-end starters or quality swingman/reliever types who are major-league-ready or less than a year out. The Phillies could start him in Triple-A if they want to be aggressive -- it's not as if we're waiting for Lively's stuff to improve -- and see whether he can help their rotation in the second half of 2015. 

As for the Reds, I don't understand what they're doing at all. They dealt away Mat Latos and Alfredo Simon, more to clear money than anything else, given the return on both players (more for Simon than Latos, which is bizarre), leaving them two starters short of a real rotation without upgrading the 2015 roster in any way. Now they appear to be taking on some of Byrd's remaining contract, which pays him $8 million this year with an $8 million vesting option for 2016, a move that does fill a critical hole (left field) but seems like a patch on a mediocre roster. 

The Reds are, on paper, no better than third in the NL Central, and there's a good argument that they're behind the Cubs, as well. Faced with a good but not great roster full of impending free agents and unmovable contracts, Cincinnati could have gone all-in for 2015 or chosen to begin a rebuild. Instead, it has refused to make either choice. 

Byrd was a 2-WAR player last year, and putting him in left field full time should help mitigate any loss of fielding ability; at 37, he could certainly go over the cliff at any time, especially given that he went over it once before. But the power he has displayed the past two seasons seems real and sustainable enough that he'll still be valuable even with an OBP around .300. He just doesn't make much of a difference to the Reds' fortunes in 2015, and if his option vests, he might do nothing more than block prospect Jesse Winker in 2016. 

If the Reds wanted to contend this year, since they're hosting the All-Star Game and are likely to lose Johnny Cueto after the season, they should have kept Latos and invested more in upgrading left field and the back of their rotation. If they wanted to rebuild, they should have dealt Cueto and Aroldis Chapman and tried to reload the system all at once. This middle way is more likely to lead the Reds to emptiness than to nirvana.

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