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winter baseball chat: the epitome of self-aware hobby horsing

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12/24/16

Scout.com just put up a "spotlight" on Andrew Moore, who is not on the 40-man roster, but who WAS on Jerry Dipoto's list of 10 pitchers who could start in Safeco tomorrow. Naturally, that was eight Dipoto pitchers ago, so Moore's chances of a Day 4 start have dwindled.

Moore has a 176:33 control ratio in 202 minor league innings... as did John Halama, Ken Cloude and a bunch of guys. Still, there is something about the shorty Moore's profile that reminds Dr. D of Scott Bankhead ... no sooner had he made this connection, than he proceeded to listen to this ecstatic claim that Moore "just knows how to pitch." Exactly, EXACTLY what they said about Bankhead.

Some guys do. They've got the command and pitchability. Regarding Andrew Moore --- > SSI has no way of knowing. That's why we make the big bucks.

Jeff Sullivan's Fangraphs chat had little to hold Dr. D's interest. This is rare. However, he and a reader did compare Felix Hernandez to Jamie Moyer (!?) which was info-taining. Problemo is, Felix' changeup isn't a changeup whereas Moyer's was. Still.

Felix can no longer work his way through the lineup of the Margarita Island Muchachos -- he put up an Ian Snell-like performance this week -- so Dr. D has downgraded him from "okay #2 starter" to the trendy "soft 3 hard 4" rotation slot. Well, Johns does point out that the last time Felix pitched over the winter, he came to camp razor-sharp. Went 19-5, 2.49 the year after he pitched in the WBC.

Jason Churchill is doin' good work and he opines that the Mariners are four players away. A #1 pitcher, a #3-4 pitcher, a lockdown reliever, and an RBI bat at OF or 1B. The first part, that we're four players away, agreed. But the second part is key: four players away from what? From switching to the NFL and beating RGIII's head in?

No, seriously, Jason brings up some names, like Drew Smyly and Ian Kennedy. 's a good read.

There will be some percentage of SSI readers who haven't yet seen Shohei Otani, who would apparently be worth a $689.1M contract if he were out there right now. (we're kidding, though it's not clear whether Fangraphs is or not.) Otani slugs .588, hits balls literally through domed roofs and happens to be the best pitcher in Japan. Here he is throwing a 102.5 MPH fastball.

Otani is shooting for a 2018 debut in MLB, but you don't need to wait until then to follow him. Dr. D has two favorite teams, the Mariners and Otani. When you want to kill a few minutes, these videos are the way to go. They warn that he "is not a character of animation" and call him the "strongest" baseball player. HEH

Jose Bautista is open to a 1-year contract, but he wants it to have a high average annual value. That headline and post are great on SOOooooo many levels, ain't they? Here's where we really find out what a player is worth, one year, one hundred RBI's. I'll start the roto bidding at $40. I think that's the way Boras would phrase it, too. Forty.

BABVA,

Dr D

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Comments

Oh. My. Goodness.

Here's a vid of all of Otani's 22 HR's last season.

4 fly out of the park just to the right of the CF backdrop. 5 fly out in the RF power alley. The rst leave the park in dead center or to LF. None...ZERO...go out to the RIGHT of the RFer. I think only 1 flies directly over the RFer's head.

He hits balls like Ichiro or Aoki, inside out. Except some of them look like moon shots. Well, they did last year when he found his Inner Ruth. He found his Inner Seaver at age 19.

I want him for Christmas.

And I laughed when you gave us Churchill's great wisdom: The M's are four players away: A #1 pitcher, a #3-4 pitcher, a lockdown reliever, and an RBI bat at OF or 1B.

Heck, the '21 Yankees, '69 O's, the Big Red Machine or the '01 M's were only those 4 players away from being really really really good.

The 'four players' commentary is spot on.

Thanks for that, Moe :-)

Add prime versions of Roger Clemens, Jamie Moyer, Aroldis Chapman and Ryan Braun to *any* mediocre team in baseball and you've got an instant WS favorite--and probable dynasty in the making.

4 away is silly.

I think 2 added and 1 subtracted would work wonders. I know Jerry wants to trade but the trade market for starters is down right silly right now. With Pax as your ace Felix as your opening day starter 2 and Kuma being Kuma 3 your set. If those 3 make 90+ starts the rotation will be a huge asset. Which probably won't happen but if you want a world series you gotta get lucky. I think Tyson Ross is the perfect add to the rotation. He's supposed to be good to go by April. If you could get 25 starts or 150 innings of vintage Ross that's a whale of a bargain if you get him under $20, let alone the ~$10 he should cost. Then you have Miranda, Karns, Heston, Whalen,Posve,Moore AND Yarbrough all ready to take the hill on the fifth day. That's plenty. Now I'd like to trade Smitty for a solid pen arm, or maybe someone's top 15 prospect. Then sign Joey Bats to play everyday in left, giving you a wash or possible slight bump in defense over smith, as an everyday hitter in a different league offensively. Plus I'd like to add a hitter to push seager up to 2 than to just slot in at 2. So the way I see it Ross+Bautista-Smith is roughly +$23 to the books for this year only, and what a difference that would make. Turn this year's team into a juggernaut w/o sacrificing anything for the future.