wopphil

They still need one more starter. One more good starter totally changes the complexion of the team, IMO.

I am going to give all you rednecks some really good advice here: When making your own red sauce, you absolutely must use whole, San Marzano tomatoes (which you then blend). Spend the extra money on them. And for God's sake, don't use domestic pasta. Spend the extra $1 per pound and get something imported.

Edit: the Trader Joe's organic tomato basil sauce is very good.

I find the thought of Scioscia eating jarred sauce truly offensive. And I am only half Italian.

Funny, I actually had the exact opposite opinion. I thought he was clearly the wrong guy for the role.

Castellanos. Put him at first/DH/outfield to split time.

I like the trade as well. Andriese seems like a good bet to stay healthy and give near-league average production as a reliever or spot starter. Beasely seems unlikely to ever have a major league career.

I'd like to see one more impact player brought in. Preferably a starter, but that is looking increasingly unlikely. I'd be down with Castellanos signing - might as well make the offense as strong as possible.

I agree.

Sign Castellanos and trade for Boyd. Lineup becomes one of the best in baseball, and the rotation picks up another 2 or 3 wins.

What I find most encouraging about Marsh is how much he improved over the course of the season. His line over his last 31 games was .344/.397/.525/.922. I dont think there is any doubt he is ready for AAA, and he just turned 22. He will be among the youngest players in AAA.

Because, as you correctly conclude, pitcher WAR and future projections are completely useless metrics.

This is exactly what I was thinking. I think that is a big price to pay for Gray, but probably a fair trade. It would be more palatable if we could sign Gray to an extension, but then again the injury concerns are real.

I just looked at Gray's numbers again, and he is much better than I think I had realized. I don't think I would hesitate to move Marsh and others for him.

The outlook of this team would change dramatically with the addition of one more starter. A healthy David Price or Jon Gray would do wonders to improve things, and a trade like that could happen at any moment.