MLBTR early predictions...

[Revad]

1 hour ago, WicketMaiden said:

Is Semien good, sure. Would he improve us in 2022, undoubtedly. Will the back end of his six year contract be another millstone, yes it absolutely will be.

I agree.  I really think a glove first SS and a good catcher enough to platoon with Stassi could be effective.  One of them should be at least league average offensively.  Simba like would be fine.

[totdprods]

I think signing Semien would be a huge mistake...especially at the rate being thrown around. He's had two good years with 2020 being really subpar in-between. Maybe it was because 2020 was weird, but still a little worrisome. AL East is a bandbox too, and they played a lot of games in little league fields almost. 

[Hubs]

On 11/10/2021 at 3:53 AM, WicketMaiden said:

Is English your second language? I'm wondering why you think I don't understand a 6 year contract will run from 22 - 27 inclusive when I clearly stated he would tie up the position UNTIL 2028. 

And in addition to the prospects mentioned, we also have Rengifo, Stefanovic and one or two others on the fringes that escape me just at this moment. Whichever way you cut it, our pipeline at SS is stacked for several years, we just don't have a Major League ready piece right now unless Rengifo suddenly clicks at the plate. Even if two thirds of the nine or so prospects and former prospects fail, we still have three viable options for 2025/26/27, possibly earlier.

Nothing you have said has changed my mind in the slightest that a six year deal for a short-stop would be a waste of resources 4, 5 and 6 years down the line, if not earlier.

Is Semien good, sure. Would he improve us in 2022, undoubtedly. Will the back end of his six year contract be another millstone, yes it absolutely will be. 

Until is used correctly in your post, however it is also frequently used incorrectly and I was clarifying. I would have phrased it as through 2027.. 

In short… Don’t be an ass. We can disagree.  I never called you dumb, I just thought I wasn’t making a good enough case.

Rengifo had a 51 OPS+ in 2021. Stefanic’s defense is terrible. Davis May factor in but he has just 30 something games at AAA. 

I’d be happier to sign a SS for a 3 or 4 years deal because we do have prospects that might be good. But I’m not gonna suffer four seasons of sub replacement player at Both minf positions

 

[WicketMaiden]

On 11/11/2021 at 5:30 PM, Hubs said:

Until is used correctly in your post, however it is also frequently used incorrectly and I was clarifying. I would have phrased it as through 2027.. 

In short… Don’t be an ass. We can disagree.  I never called you dumb, I just thought I wasn’t making a good enough case.

Rengifo had a 51 OPS+ in 2021. Stefanic’s defense is terrible. Davis May factor in but he has just 30 something games at AAA. 

I’d be happier to sign a SS for a 3 or 4 years deal because we do have prospects that might be good. But I’m not gonna suffer four seasons of sub replacement player at Both minf positions

 

Ha ha ha, was I being an arse? Possibly, my apologies if so @Hubs, I got the impression you were being a little that way too with what I perceived to be a condescending tone. 

And actually it looks like we pretty much agree on the main points - we agree we need a bit of help or a miracle turnaround for the next couple of years at SS, we just have a different risk profile for how we would achieve that. We would both ideally want Semien for three to four years, I wouldn't want to risk an extra two years of a bad contract to achieve that, it seems you maybe would. But we're really splitting hairs here hey? (I still have a sneaking suspicion/hope that Rengifo will turn it around if he gets to play everyday at SS and at least be league average with solid D.)

Re the "through 27" thing - we don't really say 'through' over here when referencing dates, it's American phraseology, here we say until such and such or up to such and such a date. Two nations, separated by a common language. For future reference though, if I've used a word you can assume I've used it correctly 99.99% of the time, I'm too much of a pedant and a linguaphile to do otherwise. 

EDIT: If I sound peed off it's because I'm sick of the Angels constantly having $20m plus dead weight contracts for ageing vets hanging around: GMJ, Wells, Hamilton, Pujols, Upton and Trout and Rendon are likely to be expensive and unproductive at the very back end of theirs. Semien for 6 years just looks like another one to add to the list.

[eligrba]

5 hours ago, WicketMaiden said:

EDIT: If I sound peed off it's because I'm sick of the Angels constantly having $20m plus dead weight contracts for ageing vets hanging around: GMJ, Wells, Hamilton, Pujols, Upton and Trout and Rendon are likely to be expensive and unproductive at the very back end of theirs. Semien for 6 years just looks like another one to add to the list.

The only explanation is that dead weight contracts are part of the business plan.  I think just about every team who consistently sign free agents have some dead weight.  Don't these things happen in UK sports?  Who is the Albert Pujols of cricket?

[WicketMaiden]

1 hour ago, eligrba said:

The only explanation is that dead weight contracts are part of the business plan.  I think just about every team who consistently sign free agents have some dead weight.  Don't these things happen in UK sports?  Who is the Albert Pujols of cricket?

No, there is total freedom of movement over here, no club control, no restrictions outside personal contractual ones. Any player can sign with anyone at any age at the end of whatever contract they previously signed, so players tend to make the most money during their peak years, then get shorter contracts once they're in their 30's. Average contracts for elite players are for 2 - 4 years across most sports, 6 year deals are rare. Cricket contracts tend to be even shorter (just one or two years usually, sometimes only a few weeks to cover a particular tournament), but the best players are also contracted to their national teams annually too, so that's a difficult comparison to make.

There is the odd footballer who signs a ridiculous deal that makes everyone go wow, and then spends the next three or four years being completely over-paid to just train because they never should have gotten the deal and can't make the team, but those are pretty rare. Cristiano Ronaldo is perceived to be a generational talent and has just signed for one of the biggest clubs in world sports on a two year contract at $36m per year, with a club option for a third year that raised eyebrows, he is 36 years old. 

We still have the regrettable contracts where a player looked great for their previous club but then falls apart at the new club for myriad reasons, but I'm completely unaware of any 8, 10, 12 year deals over here. 

[Lou]

3 hours ago, eligrba said:

Who is the Albert Pujols of cricket?

How dare you!

[Revad]

17 minutes ago, Lou said:

How dare you!

No disrespecting Albert, look at his career number!

[eligrba]

1 hour ago, Lou said:

How dare you!

[Hubs]

On 11/14/2021 at 2:13 AM, WicketMaiden said:

Ha ha ha, was I being an arse? Possibly, my apologies if so @Hubs, I got the impression you were being a little that way too with what I perceived to be a condescending tone. 

And actually it looks like we pretty much agree on the main points - we agree we need a bit of help or a miracle turnaround for the next couple of years at SS, we just have a different risk profile for how we would achieve that. We would both ideally want Semien for three to four years, I wouldn't want to risk an extra two years of a bad contract to achieve that, it seems you maybe would. But we're really splitting hairs here hey? (I still have a sneaking suspicion/hope that Rengifo will turn it around if he gets to play everyday at SS and at least be league average with solid D.)

Re the "through 27" thing - we don't really say 'through' over here when referencing dates, it's American phraseology, here we say until such and such or up to such and such a date. Two nations, separated by a common language. For future reference though, if I've used a word you can assume I've used it correctly 99.99% of the time, I'm too much of a pedant and a linguaphile to do otherwise. 

EDIT: If I sound peed off it's because I'm sick of the Angels constantly having $20m plus dead weight contracts for ageing vets hanging around: GMJ, Wells, Hamilton, Pujols, Upton and Trout and Rendon are likely to be expensive and unproductive at the very back end of theirs. Semien for 6 years just looks like another one to add to the list.

I agree with all of this, I am sure I was being condescending, but I apologize for that.

I am also kind of tired of the endless hype for prospects that never come through, especially at the lower levels. I like certain guys, like Walsh, or even higher ranked prospects like Brandon Wood, I was a huge supporter. But in the lower levels, I always see projections that have them moving too fast and succeeding too early.

Rengifo I think is plan #1, but I wouldn't be surprised If they poached Chris Taylor from the Dodgers.

I also don't think the millions in dead weight hurt the team as the payroll has gone up with the big contracts. What's hurt them is bad drafting and a lack of quality international scouting and signings. 

I am also a language nerd. My minor in college was professional writing.

[WicketMaiden]

2 hours ago, Hubs said:

I agree with all of this, I am sure I was being condescending, but I apologize for that.

I am also kind of tired of the endless hype for prospects that never come through, especially at the lower levels. I like certain guys, like Walsh, or even higher ranked prospects like Brandon Wood, I was a huge supporter. But in the lower levels, I always see projections that have them moving too fast and succeeding too early.

Rengifo I think is plan #1, but I wouldn't be surprised If they poached Chris Taylor from the Dodgers.

I also don't think the millions in dead weight hurt the team as the payroll has gone up with the big contracts. What's hurt them is bad drafting and a lack of quality international scouting and signings. 

I am also a language nerd. My minor in college was professional writing.

Totally agree with the long term disappointment of 'top' prospects, but I can't help but think some of them were seriously overhyped because we had so few of them, so they had to really polish up any shiny new thing. I'm not holding out just for Paris at SS, but with 6-9 viable young possibilities I'm more than just hopeful that one of them will nail down the position. Eventually.

Chris Taylor looks a really good fit for us though, I'd be happy with him for 5 years because he can play so many other positions, but if not him I'd be happy to try out Rengifo - he did OK when he was at SS, tiny sample size though, and he needs to cut out the silly errors on D.

I see what you're saying about payroll increasing, it certainly did to accommodate the Pujols deal, so maybe you're right on that, I do wonder how good we could have been if we'd been spending that wasted money on the bullpen though, it has been a mess for a while now.

(Glad we resolved our differences without resorting to ad hominem attacks, enjoy your day Hubs.)

[totdprods]

Just now, WicketMaiden said:

Chris Taylor looks a really good fit for us though, I'd be happy with him for 5 years because he can play so many other positions, but if not him I'd be happy to try out Rengifo - he did OK when he was at SS, tiny sample size though, and he needs to cut out the silly errors on D.

He's about as close to Ben Zobrist as there is, so it wouldn't surprise me if Maddon was chirping about him. Especially since his experiments to create a new Zobrist last year failed.

[WicketMaiden]

On 11/14/2021 at 7:19 PM, Revad said:

No disrespecting Albert, look at his career number!

You mean the 413 GIDP number? That is impressive, it leads all baseball by 63 GIDP's. 

[Revad]

1 hour ago, WicketMaiden said:

You mean the 413 GIDP number? That is impressive, it leads all baseball by 63 GIDP's. 

We will miss him, GIDPs speed up the games.

[Lou]

Prediction:  AW will continue to be obsessed with Albert Pujols.

[Docwaukee]

6 hours ago, Lou said:

Prediction:  AW will continue to be obsessed with Albert Pujols.

we still owe him alimony.  

[Lou]

1 minute ago, Dochalo said:

we still owe him alimony.  

I'm not giving him a dime.

[Docwaukee]

1 minute ago, Lou said:

I'm not giving him a dime.

the royal we.  

[Lou]

2 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

the royal we.  

U L  Washington?

[Docwaukee]

3 minutes ago, Lou said:

U L  Washington?

Maddon would love that guy.  He played like it was 1985.  

[Revad]

7 hours ago, Dochalo said:

we still owe him alimony.  

Could we help Vlad with child support instead?  I’d feel better about that.