Hubs

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/11/cubs-to-hire-craig-counsell.html I'm a little worried about the Cubs getting Ohtani.

He also can't play multiple defensive positions, or really any position well.

His .293 career SLG is certainly a good asset for our bench.

Would you be happy with Ohtani, Yamamoto, Hicks and say Reynaldo Lopez, and let’s add Amed Rosario and Jung Ho Lee ? The Athletic has these guys at 43.3 AAV, 29 AAV, 9 AAV, (not listed but let’s say 6.5 AAV, 9.5 AAV, and 14 AAV. That’s a huge free agent spending spree I know and a lot of foreign talent, but I don’t think Rosario or Lee get that much… but Ohtani gets a bit more… and it would be $$$ of close to a billion dollars… but over a lot of years. It’s $111 in AAV but in real salary dollars would likely be close to $95 for the next three years before moving to $125 since they are paying Rendon for three more seasons.

If they don’t resign Ohtani and keep payroll at a similar level to opening day last year they’d have the budget.

The Athletic has the Ohtani projected contract at $520 million over 12. Belinger’s projection is 6/162 Yamamoto is 7/203. Montgomery is 5/105 and Snell is 5/135. Hicks was at 3/27. Obviously a dream off-season gets us Ohtani back and another position player plus two starters and a premier reliever or two… but if Yamamoto is really going for that much; well he’s out of the budget if they resign Ohtani. they’re at 117 plus arbitration and club control guys but if they spend 43-44 on Ohtani, another 29 on Yamamoto means it’s going to go over the Lux tax when all is said and done. because they need more than those two guys. Snell and Montgomery at $48 Combined or Yamamoto and say Flaherty at $44 Is a good step in the right direction. Adding two pen arms and a solid bench bat for $25 means an AAV investment of like $115-120 million which puts them firmly over the tax for the next three seasons. So it’s probably not happening at least at the athletics numbers

Bellinger def had a good year but in 22 he was borderline unplayable so I’m wary. As for my pitching selections, I think they need to add two if they don’t resign Ohtani. Yep two high end 1/2 starters. Yamamoto and another one. If by some miracle they do resign Ohtani they probably won’t be able to afford both. I’d still sign two SP though, even if they do resign Ohtani. One would be a top guy and one would be a filler 4th / 5th starter guy or a rebound guy like Flaherty.

For me it’s two SP, two or three relievers, and a bench inf bat / OF bat. and Ohtani or Soler as the DH. i look to trade Rengifo and Sandoval. Maybe Thaiss as well. And I wouldn’t be opposed to trading Estevez. Sign Yamamoto and Montgomery for instance. Moore, Hicks and one more low $$$ guy. I’d consider Bauer as the second now that the allegations have been proven false. But he’s a weird cat anyway. Moustakas and Urshela did well For the team but Moose struggled down the stretch after two good months and Gio didn’t have enough power.

With Torey Lovullo and Bruce Bochy being the managers in the World Series, and Rob Thompson and Dusty Baker being the managers in the Championship series, you'd have to think they are looking at older "old school" managers.. But maybe not. I just hope they don't hire Ray Montgomery.

If they cut down on days off in the series then it’s fine to have a few days off in between series. Assuming they start the wildcard series the first week of October…. They have 28-30 days to get a maximum of 22 games in. It’s doable without the days off in series. Neutral sites help for the wildcard games and travel. Fixed playoff brackets as well. Give the #1 seed the choice of who they play. Then you have 3 games in 3 days then a Day Off. 5 games in 6 Days. Day off. 7 games in 9 a day off then 7 games in 9 for the World Series and that’s 30 Days.

There is zero chance Nevin gets another gig this offseason. And Kapler isn't taking a front office job.

The Braves were 72-90 in 2017. They were 90-72 in 2018, Weiss's first season as bench coach. Snitker has been the manager since 2016 season. I know they had Acuna in 2018, for the first time as well, so I'm not giving Weiss all the credit, but he's just as likable for Atlanta's success as Ron Washington, and a good baseball mind.

I would say right now, with virtually nothing of substance being reported, my preferences are 1) Craig Counsell -- Is he retiring? Is he leaving the Brewers? Is he going to the Mets? If the answers are No, Yes, and No, he's my first choice. 2) Skip Schumacher. -- If the Marlins let him walk after letting Ng walk, then bringing in a manager of his caliber is worth every penny. 3) Walt Weiss -- Deserves another shot. Atlanta's Bench Coach since 2018 and a 14 year major league career... his 4 year stint with the Rockies was a rebuilding time and he repeatedly clashed with GM Bridich, still, he's a smart baseball mind, and young enough to be the manager for the next 10 years. 4) Darin Erstad -- Almost got the Dodgers job when they hired Roberts, so he is well thought of. And a World Series hero. 5) Mike Scioscia -- If he wants the job back, I'd give it to him. And all of you haters can just kiss my ass.

For broadcast, allow streaming / cable networks to bid on the Wild Card and Division games but the ALCS and NLCS need to be on broadcast network, Fox and one other. No more TBS for ALCS.

They just need to tighten the schedule though. All baseball concluded the 2023 season on Oct 1. That has been the case now for a number of years. So this year, the wild cards started on October 3 for the NL and AL. This is okay, but I think they should be playing the next day. They did 3 game series, 10-3, 10-4, and 10-5 and started the ALDS on 10-7. Two days off? Do they really need a day off before and after these series? No. Then the ALDS played October 7, 8, 10, 11. The NLDS played 7, 9, 11, and 12. Two days off in a 5 game series. I assume game 5 in the ALCS would've been the 13th and the NLDS would be 10-14. The ALCS started 10-15 and NLCS started 10-16. Why? The World Series starts 10-27. Why so many extra days off? The 7th game of the 2002 World Series was 10-27. They had the 5 game series and a 7 game Championship, so there is an additional series. But that season ended the same weekend, (9-29) played the 5 game ALDS October 1-5. The ALCS 8-13 and the World Series 10-19 to 10-27. I would structure it for 2024 as follows. 9-29 is the final day of the season. The three game wildcard series should start the next day, 9-30. Then, have a day off for travel. These series should play all three games at the same neutral location. (Well not all four series at the same place, but a neutral location eliminates travel concerns). Maybe one AL and one NL in a neutral local, preferably a domed or good weather place. It allows it to be planned in advance. These don't have to be baseball cites, but to eliminate a potential home field advantage, if they were, they can be AL parks for NL teams and vice versa. The ALDS and NLDS start the same day, all four series starting on the same day. Four days after the season ends, next year is 10-4. Then play them in 6 nights. Whether you do this as a 3-1-1 or 2-2-1, or 1-4, you only get one travel day before this series and one during. The championship series starts 10-11 for both leagues. You play 7 games in 9 nights. Start the World Series on 10-21, and finish it on 10-30.

I understand the World Series having set dates, but the first round and second round series should be fluid.

I listened to Locked On Angels today and they said that the Angels led the league in unearned runs. I knew the defense was bad at times, but I guess I got caught up in all the razzle dazzle plays. I knew the defense needed work, I didn't know it was the worst in the league. How many wins did this cost us? 5? 10? 15?

It is strongly inferred in Maddon's book that they gave him very limited BP choices and pitch counts / inning limits for the starters.

Which relievers should be used and when, not just which ones weren't available. It made zero sense and was a bad use of analytics as evidenced solely by the results. Not all analytics are good. 1) Didn't prevent injury to relievers 2) Didn't protect leads The Angels also had one of the most expensive bullpens in the league. It was an utter failure and Nevin and Tamin paid the price, instead of Minasian as Moreno is cheap with his front office hires.

It’s what Maddon claimed.

Come from ahead losses has a little bit to do with the offense, and a lot to do with our bullpen being overworked and mismanaged. A+ Matrix there, Perry and Alex.

Yes there are exceptions to my rule. I don't know that Darin Erstad will be better, but I think he might.

Right, but he's got decades of managerial and coaching experience. Like Ebel for instance. I'm wary of going first time manager, but also wary of experienced older guys that wont connect, like Ausmus. It's gonna be a hard choice, and I wish someone else was making it.

Adams is a legit prospect, Soto is an excellent defender. Stefanic is not an excellent defender, not by a long shot, and that arguably is the most important improvement to make this offseason. And the .355 SLG is subpar.

They still have 45 men on the 40-man. Ohtani, Moustakas, Grichuk, Urhsela, Cron are free agents and will drop off the roster. That brings them down to 40. 2 players have options that will most certainly be declined. (Escobar, Loup). Down to 38. 11 on the 60-Day IL. (Including Urshela and Loup who are listed above.) 9 of these guys would be re-added to roster. Except...Two of these are injury concerns for 2024, so they may be cut/outrighted as they wont pitch in 2024. (Quijada, Warren). And you have C-Rod, who you have no idea what to expect from. Quijada is eligible for arbitration, so he may be NT, which would remove him, but they outrighted the rest of the group in this situation, so who knows. He'd be put on the 60-day IL in Spring Training again. Stassi is on the reserve list so he doesn't even count here. Guys like Herget, Cabbage, Rosenberg, Stefanic, Suarez, all could be gone as well, we'll see.