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SonicBOOM had the idea of scoring JeDi's trades. We'll keep a running total here, update every coupla weeks, and see how things develop. You can enter your rating in the comments below and can revise your original any time you want.
It seems, no offense, that the following grades are done "in a vacuum." Which is fine. 75 cents for three quarters, who "won" the trade? No problem doing it that way. If that is wrong, please correct me.
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Dr. D enjoys listening to the GM during in-game broadcasts because he feels it loosens Dipoto's tongue a bit and, if we're lucky, provides a few clues as to the M's plans. These clues might be real or re-imagined but nobody can deny that they're fun. ;- )
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AA ARKANSAS
Asked about Kyle Lewis, Dipoto stated that Lewis is heading for AA Arkansas, along with Jake Fraley, D T-W, and one other youngster "where they'll have a chance to move together." This, to one Denizen anyway, suggested the first substance to any "re-imagination" beyond the use of the word.
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MARC-O
Dunno what it was, Dead Arm Phase or shooter's off night or what-have-you, but this is what it looks like when a finesse starting pitcher goes out against a good lineup and doesn't have a thing. The Cubbies didn't exactly splash the fences on Gonzales, but swing after swing sent low liners whistling into the OF grass. Watching Marco try to pitch himself out of these bases-loaded innings was like watching your 17-year-old beagle wif no teeth, try to gum a chew toy to death. And being scared by the squeaks every time.
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COMMUNITY CONSENSUS
Dr. D is feeling awfully blessed this a.m. to see the hoboes back around the stew pot. He'll take the accumulated thinkage at this site over any other in Seattle; these blokes aren't quite as sabe-literate, or connected, as a few groups 'round town BUT they are much older, wiser, have 100,000's of CF-camera pitches under the belt and they ain't afraid of math either. You got yer Yankees analysts and chessplayers and attorneys and baseball novelists* and sea commanders and ...
EDWIN ENCARNACION
This is a rare spot of disagreement between expert M's denizens so lemme jump in too, spikes sharpened and crusted with dry mud. Dr. D is well aware that he also is targeted for $20M trade termination. All's he's sayin' is that he's hopin' circumstances converge to hold up the trade until (at least) July.
Ron Shandler (Baseball HQ) writes the best post-Jamesian player handbook, available for $10 digital download, and he sez (in essence, not literal quotation):
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A few years ago in Hey Bill:
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Dr. D started out his Mariners-shtickwriting career in 1995 with absolutely nothing, and he still has most of it. You know how many franchises wish they were the LA Rams right now? ... We can think of 42 of them. Forget winning the Serious. We are talking about HALF A CENTURY of never LOSING the Serious.
And yet, the Mariners in Stevie Nicks fashion jiggled their hips, waved a gossomer silk sleeve and hand-topped a top hat .... and Dr. D was right back in again. Siiiiighhhhh.....
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Greg Johns does his consistently nice job, giving you a primer on the M's roster in case you missed it. Similarly, here is a graphical depth chart for 2019.
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Catcher (2): Omar Narváez and David Freitas
What changed? Nothing yet, though this remains an area the club would like to have bolstered to help out Narvaez, who has struggled at the plate so far this spring while trying to learn a whole new staff, as well as working to improve his pitch framing and footwork.
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Dr. D has an inkling for Mallex Smith, always has, which makes this Fangraphs (!) comment gratifying:
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The structure of the rebuild indicates intelligent design, but chaos and entropy will play their role. Mitch Haniger (who looks like a star), Domingo Santana (who has the talent to be one), and the charismatic Mallex Smith (who may sneakily already be one) will be fun to watch while the kids grow up.
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A few threads back, Bat571 opined that the M's should be in the middle of the Bryce Harper scrum. You know, Bat is a wise man and he's right. We should be in.
With all the Padres talk, and that of the White Sox, Cubs, Phillies and just about anybody else, it now appears clear that several "mystery" teams have done more than inquire about Harper. It has also been reported that the Nationals actually offered Harper a 10-year deal for more than the $300M that has been reported.
