Add new comment

1

I still believe Fielder is our best use of funds, because it allows the other kids to get their acts together around a very serious lynchpin.  We have plenty of young TALENT, that isn't really the problem.  Jack has done a really good job, IMO, of talent wrangling.
But now we have to sift through which talents we want to bet on, which we want redundancies for, and which should be moved while they have value.  IMO, the Trayvon Robinson add was really smart, not only because he has talent but also because his first option year was 2010 apparently, which means we can put him in Tacoma while we take Wells around the block and figure out our Guti issue.
But we're gonna have to make lots of those calls.  What do we do with Guti?  Where does Carp play?  How about Seager?  Brendan Ryan was very useful, but also had some serious injury issues and is mercurial enough to cause Wedge headaches.
Personally, I think we have these positions penciled in when ST starts: 
1B - Smoak
2B - Ackley
SS - Ryan
RF - Ichiro
CF - Guti
C - Olivo
That leaves 3 spots, for which we already have several candidates:
- LF could be Wells, or Carp, but Wells could move to CF if Guti sucks again and Carp can DH.  We could add a FA here if we choose.
- 3B has Figgins but he's basically lost his job at this point.  I'd say it's Seager's, but I think they may need him as a sub especially at SS if Ryan's bulging disk problem remains a problem.
- DH could be a FA addition simply because a DH bat would/should be cheaper than a fielding position for a middle-of-the-road bat.  
Solution:
1) I expect to add a Twin, funnily enough.  If we want Cuddyer I think we're gonna have competition, but he's a good veteran voice and a leader, and he's a RH bat that DESTROYS lefties, which we could use since we're very lefty-vulnerable at the moment.  He could also play some 3rd if we needed, in a pinch, but would be our LF.  He'd be a Raul Ibanez style add.  
Kubel is another option if we want Carp or Wells in LF instead.  He shouldn't be very expensive either, which should appeal to the suits.  I've been saying we'll get Kubel for a while now, but I could easily see it being Cuddyer instead.
IMO, that's the major bat addition.  Carp DHs if we get Cuddyer and plays LF if we get Kubel.  Wells in both cases is the 4th OF (aka CF in waiting for a bad start by Guti), and if Ichiro is gone next year there's a very viable RF position for him if he's doing well.
Seager plays 3rd, and if Ryan gets injured again then he can slide over to SS while Liddi comes up and Figgins might get time.  
It's a fairly safe plan that lets most of the kids who survived their first pro experience to get more of it, while those that showed obvious growth needs get to work on those.
Liddi has options, and will join Robinson in the minors where they'll play every day and wait for injury or opportunity to strike the on big club.  They'll be joined as prospects pushing for promotion by F-Mart, Franklin and Catricala.  That gives us two 3B, two OF (one a possible CF too) and a SS all trying to knock loudly on the door still - plenty of blue-chip replacement pieces in the upper minors, with some other intriguing ones like Chiang as well.   
What we don't have is a catcher, so I still expect to trade for one.  As long as we don't add Jeff Mathis, I should be all right with it. :) I still think we talk to the Reds and trade them at least one arm for a catcher to back up and eventually take over for Olivo. 
2) Which means we will likely spend the rest of our payroll (15-20 million available) on an arm or two.  I expect to bring back Bedard, which is fine since Vargas is a stop gap for next year anyway (assuming he's retained, which I do).  It's a LOT to expect Hultzen or Paxton to be ready out of Spring Training.  Doesn't mean they won't be, but if they are then just kick Beavan back to the minors.  
Felix, Pineda, Bedard, and Vargas feels like a repeat, but I do expect it.  I wish it was Fister and not Vargas, but ya can't have everything, I guess. I would be surprised if we didn't add a vet pitcher while settling for a middling improvement with a 2nd-tier bat...but I was surprised they went with Pineda right out of ST this year too.
Putting Furbush back in the pen helps our lefty situation there, but I could see us adding a lefty reliever as well.
Bullpen of League, Wilhelmsen, Furbush, Kelley, Lueke and the new guy?  I can see that too.
I guess I don't expect this offseason to be a crazy-busy time for us.  The YEAR was, but the offseason I don't believe will be.  I'm sure Trader Jack will have ample opportunity to prove me wrong, but a Kubel/Bedard/lefty offseason sounds about right to me.
Is it enough?  If the kids can play, it will be.  Ackley, Smoak and Carp are gonna have to be major, productive cogs though, and Seager, Wells and crew can't bomb out.  The young arms will have to produce, both in the pen and the rotation.  Hultzen needs to hit the ground running in the minors, and Paxton needs to refine his control of his devastating stuff.  I think they can. 
If the minor league hitting talents can come through too (Nick Franklin and Vinnie Catricala, I'm talking to you), we'll be set in a couple years without a major FA add this offseason.
But I think next year is gonna be playing for .500.  Grand schemes are great, but I don't expect large steps and expenditures this year.  I think Fielder + Paxton would reap more rewards than Cuddyer + Bedard, but the latter to me looks like the more likely plan the Ms will follow.
Just get me that young, stud catcher at a reasonable price, Jack, and I can wait a little longer for your labors to finish bearing fruit.
~G

Filtered HTML

  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <blockquote> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd><p><br>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.

Plain text

  • No HTML tags allowed.
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.

shout_filter

  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <blockquote> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.