Llewyn Davis

Skaggs' velo looks much improved. Good to see.

Old man Ibanez, and he'll spell the corner outfielders whenever Scioscia wants to give them rest or have them DH. He could even spell a little Pujols at first base. Basically Trumbo's former role with the team. Not only do I think he's better than Cron, but he also gives you a lot more options in terms of where you can play him on the field. Cron may actually be too much of a defensive liability to even play first base. Same goes for Ibanez. Hamilton and Pujols aren't aging well, and we're stuck with them for awhile yet. As they get older, Borenstein would play in the field more and more.

Weaver and Lincecum each have incredible changeups. But we've seen Lincecum decline rapidly the last 2 years because of him also losing velocity. The difference between them is Weaver has impeccable command, and Lincecum does not, so he's not getting away with his mistake pitches anymore. Weaver doesn't make nearly as many mistake pitches and he gets ahead in the count more often than not. He's also much better from the stretch than Lincecum, so he strands more baserunners. I think Weaver will still be the ace of our staff, but he'd probably be a #2 on a lot of other staffs. I don't see him declining into #4-5 territory I think he's the type of pitcher who ages well, even with the drop in velo. The fact that he averaged 86.5 mph in 2013 and was still as effective as he was shows you that he flat out knows how to pitch. If he starts averaging 84-85 mph, then he might be in some trouble. The writing is on the wall that his best years are behind him, but that doesn't mean he's finished. Not by a long shot.

Zach Borenstein gets called up late July and secures a starting job for 2015. Fans experience deja vu because the same thing happened with Kole Calhoun in 2013. Garrett Richards finally puts it all together and has a better season than C.J. Wilson. Josh Hamilton bounces back, but Albert Pujols does not Calhoun has just as good a season as Alex Gordon. Mike Morin makes the team out of Spring Training and never looks back.

Hopefully, we start to see more of our prospects. Scioscia has been really conservative so far. I want to see Lindsey, Yarbrough, Stamets, Borenstein, and Cron. Cowgill, Pena, Navarro, Romine, and McDonald just doesn't do it for me. McDonald and Pena should both be out of baseball.

Richards looks sharp. Should have got that call on Goldschmidt for the K.

Getting your vision corrected or enhanced is no joke. Just ask Freddie Freeman.

Yarbrough with a single to right. Looked comfortable up there. And Bandy just golfed one out to left.

A ridiculous season? Not really. .236/.292/.414 line at home (6 HRs) .274/.318/.529 line on the road (16 HRs) Cron actually had decent numbers at home and struggled on the road. Go figure. .285/.326/.451 line at home (8 HRs) .264/.312/.407 line on the road (6 HRs)

Guess anyone who disagrees with your assessment of him must be his brother.

I've talked about tons of other players in our organization. Not sure what you're talking about.

Hard to say Cowart is part of the next wave of position players headed to Anaheim after a sub-600 OPS season... Borenstein, on the other hand, who you seem to go out of your way to snub, IS on his way.

By virtue of his upside alone, Borenstein has basically already surpassed them on the depth chart. Cowgill is a Quad-A player and has been dreadful in MLB. Long is decent but will turn 27 this year. Heid is 26 and nothing special. Boesch is a league average MLB player. Navarro will turn 28 this year. Pena was finished two years ago. I agree Borenstein is likely to start the year in AA because these guys basically have to play in AAA, but none of these players will stand in his way if he rakes. And like I said in terms of upside, it's not even close.

Brian Hernandez also deserves to be there.

Yeah, why wouldn't he play 1B?

A lot of the good prospects in the system should be on the team next year. Zach Borenstein (although he may go straight to AAA a la Calhoun) Alex Yarbrough Eric Stamets Michael Snyder Mark Sappington Kaleb Cowart R.J. Alvarez

That's awesome. Best courses I took in college were playwriting and one about The Beatles. I'm not big on math, but I've always been good at statistics. I would have been all over that Sabermetrics course.

Hopefully, it's not too serious. But we have enough depth to weather the storm for awhile.

The scouts could not have been more wrong about this bum. And the funny thing is it's not just his makeup that sucks. His ability is nothing to write home about, either. He was juicing, and he still blew.

Read it again, then. Because there are five I mentioned in there. And I said a few organizations had a lot of pitching depth. Just because I'm not naming pitchers doesn't mean they don't exist and aren't attainable.

I wasn't specifically referring to Spring Training trades. Was just thinking ahead. And Scooter Gennett is nothing special. SSS.

That was my thought as well, but I did some digging and it turns out they have a replacement lined up. For those of you in fantasy leagues, remember the name Tommy La Stella. Big time sleeper, but he's hit at every level. Think Daniel Nava at second base, only with a little more upside.

Agreed, The Orioles could definitely use an upgrade at 2B. Good catch.

You should always plan ahead. Put on your GM hat. I'm just trying to get some discussion going. Some of these scenarios seem viable to me.

These are teams that have a need for a second baseman (something we have a glut of with Kendrick, Lindsey, Yarbrough, and Green) and/or OF/1B/DH (Borenstein/Cron) 1) The Marlins are always re-tooling. They're going to use old man Furcal at 2B this year. Obviously, he's not a long-term option. He may not even be a short-term option with his inability to stay on the field. And at 1B they're trotting out Garrett Jones, who is average to below average. Stanton will leave the first chance he gets. Once Stanton is gone, Yelich will be the only OF who stands out. Not a believer in Marisnick or Ozuna. Borenstein and Cron would be a good fit, and they desperately need a real 2B. 2) The Blue Jays are starting Maicer Izturis at 2B. Let that sink in for a second. Huge hole at 2B for them. Adam Lind is only so-so as well. 3) The Mariners are set at 2B now. However, Smoak is a below average first baseman. Hart is a question mark coming back from an injury. And their OF of Ackley, Morrison, and Saunders might be the worst in all of baseball. 4) The Mets have a lot of holes. Daniel Murphy gets the job done at 2B, but Ike Davis is garbage and their OF is incredibly weak. Borenstein and Cron would fill two needs for them. 5) The Pirates have Neil Walker at 2B, and he's decent. But Gaby Sanchez at 1B is just asking for trouble. They have some nice pitching prospects, too. We probably couldn't pry away Taillon or Glasnow from them. But Nick Kingham is a possibility. 6) The Brewers have some glaring needs. Scooter Gennett is a Craig Counsel type, nothing special. Rickie Weeks sucks. Mark Reynolds is their 1B now. Yeah, good luck with that, Brew Crew. 7) The Yankees come to mind. They just lost Cano and replaced him with... Kelly Johnson, who hasn't had a good season since 2010. They also have Teixeira at first base and Soriano at DH. Teixeira's best years are behind him, and he'll be 34 this season. Soriano is old. Sooner or later, he'll hit a wall. 8) The Padres will probably look to deal Headley before the trade deadline this year, and when that happens Gyorko will move from 2B to 3B, creating a hole for them. Yonder Alonso at 1B has below average power. Carlos Quentin is only good for 80 or so games a year. They would definitely have a need for Borenstein, Cron, and any of our 2B. Plus, they currently have more pitching depth than they know what to do with. Max Wisler is blocked. Would love to get him. Burch Smith is an intriguing option. Wouldn't mind getting their SS prospect Jace Peterson, who is blocked by Everth Cabrera. 9) The White Sox have got to be frustrated with what Beckham has done for them at 2B, considering what their expectations were for him. They have some capable options in Marcus Semien and perhaps Micah Johnson, but who knows what their plans are or where those two will wind up in the field? There is a bit of a logjam with Abreu, Dunn, and Konerko, but Dunn and Konerko will each be gone after this season. Hell, Dunn might even be traded during the season. They've been searching for a power-hitting lefty for a long time. Borenstein would fit the bill, and their OF is pretty weak. Plus, Borenstein is a home town kid. 10) The A's aren't the ideal trading partner, since they're a division rival, but Callaspo at 2B and Jaso at DH spells trouble for them. They also have a lot of pitching depth. We'd probably wind up strengthening their team, but at the same time if the trade went right we'd strengthen our team as well. Could be a push in the long run. 11) I could see the Rockies as a trade partner. DJ LeMahieu has no upside, and Rutledge fell flat on his face last year. Looks like there is a position battle between them right now. Rutledge is intriguing, but the fact that there is even a position battle going on shows you the confidence they have in him. The Rockies are also using Morneau at 1B, and his days of being above average are over. Cron is the type of player who would really benefit from playing at Coors.