Warfarin

Yep. Already he has essentially plugged up really difficult to fill spots (SS, C) with his draft picks and trades. I have referenced it before, but the Braves have had a fairly low farm system ranking for years now, but they have likewise aggressively promoted Strider, Harris, etc. Minasian seems to take a similar approach as his former boss - promote players rapidly when you feel they are ready. The byproduct of that is your "system ranking" is poor, but who cares? If you are promoting young talent that is able to stick to the team, then great, that's success. Neto, O'Hoppe, Moniak, Silseth - we are seeing guys drafted/traded for, promoted, and becoming solid contributors already. Joyce and Mederos might soon join that list, given how aggressive the FO has been with their promotions as well. Ohtani's future obviously will have a huge impact on us, but I think Minasian is a really good GM. More than half of his signings/trades seemed to have panned out, and his player development process seems really good.

A lot of international picks, I believe, essentially commit fairly early, considerably before they are actually drafted. I think the 2022 class is probably the first true class in which we can judge Minasian, and that class included Rada. Time will tell now they will fare, but obviously Rada looks rather good so far.

JMO, but I think Perry is far more adept at developing talent than any of his predecessors. Time will tell, but I think even though our farm ranking is "poor," more of these guys will turn into good players than would have under Depot or Eppler. I think Perry has assembled a strong player development team.

Hard to say exactly, but I am guessing that his boss told him to push for it. If Arte is telling him to trade what he can to contend, he has to essentially comply, right? And this was definitely a sellers market. As I said before, I think trading Quero hurts, if anything because I think his value was higher than what we got in return, but I also don't think anyone was traded that will become a star or really good player, either, with the exception of Quero if he ends up being a good defensive catcher.

So - I expect Leone will take Mederos' spot on the roster once he arrives. Not sure whose spot he will take.. maybe Rendon will go to the 60-man IL? We'll see.

A lot of our farm system was dumped during this trade deadline. Most (not all, but most) were from Eppler's regime. I am thinking the current FO and player devo department has a different take on which prospects to keep and which to trade. We'll see how this ultimately turns out, and how good Perry is at determining who to keep and who to trade.

I am guessing the FO didn't see Jackson as a MLB player of any kind. That, to me, is why they would trade him for a decent but unspectacular reliever who will be a FA at year's end.

Mederos is on the club right now. I am guessing he will be optioned when Leone arrives.

At this time of year, I'd say look at the monthly splits to see if the trend is positive: Not great, but it looks like he is showing some improvement and his K/9 jumped up in July - perhaps a sign of improvement?

Agreed. I think he is more likely an MLB player than Adell is, simply because his defense, speed, and plate discipline should be enough to at least make him a 4th OF. I think he has some more potential than that, and I see him as someone who was really hurt by the wiped out COVID season and injuries, as he was very raw and needed a ton of reps to improve. Looking forward to see what he can do.

Yeah, I'm not sure this trade was particularly necessary, but I'm interested to see what Perry saw in Leone. I don't know too much about him, so I'll have to see what some of the reports indicate he can do.

I don't think losing Jackson is a big deal. I think the other prospects we traded had more value than he does.

Looks like he had a fairly solid July. Denno if he figured out anything or improved somehow, as I don't know much about him, but that's the first thing that stands out as I look at his splits.

Absolutely. He had a fantastic July and looks like he is showing good amounts of growth. Should draw walks and play very good CF defense. Worth some starts, IMO.

Adams should fit the current roster needs well. He's a great defensive CF who can pinch run late in games. We are a bit short in OF depth, so having him enables us to switch to a more optimal defensive configuration in the late innings. Stefanic wasn't really doing too much for us and barely played. At least this way, we have someone who can serve a greater function to the team.

I think the morale to the story is most of those big money contracts turn out poorly. Still, every team can take some gambles and calculated risks on that front, depending on their total payroll and where they might be in terms of producing talent. With Trout and Rendon already on the books, and with the hope that they can sign Ohtani to what will likely be a 40-45mil AAV per year contract for an incredibly long time, it never really made sense to pursue a high cost SS. The FO likely intended to push Neto quickly all along and hence were never seriously involved in any of the SS talks.

A valid concern, but we just have to bridge the gap until Trout comes back. I think with Drury's return likely imminent, that frees up Rengifo to move around more. Given how good he has been offensively of late, he could start to see some time in the OF. It ultimately comes down to how long Trout is expected to be out, though.

Given that JV has ties to Los Angeles, and given that the Angels do have baseball's greatest star, I think there's a solid shot he'd waive his no-trade clause to come here. Not a given like it'd be with the Astros or Dodgers, but I think there's a good shot for it.

What is interesting about Neto is I do remember in the offseason, various people insisting we pursue Turner and that we shouldn't consider Neto, as he was several years away and that it was essentially silly to worry about blocking him. Fast-forward months later, and he is one of our most indispensable players, and has been more value than Trea Turner on a per PA basis in terms of fWAR. Go figure, eh?

This is roughly my sentiment as well. I do think if Perry can find a legit backend reliever though, he could pull off a trade. If he does, then that reliever can take the spot of either Silseth or Soriano. Given how Silseth looked in his last two starts here, I'd probably want to keep him stretched out as a SP in AAA, so that he can sub in whenever needed. As you have rightly pointed out, it would be shocking to see everyone return to health, but assuming we somehow do, this is the roster we are looking at offensively: C - O'Hoppe, Thaiss, Wallach IF - Cron, Drury, Rengifo, Neto, Moose, Rendon, Escobar OF - Moniak, Trout, Grichuk, Renfroe DH - Ohtani I left off guys who would be clearly optioned if players start returning (Velazquez, Stefanic, Adell). We'd probably DFA Wallach to create roster space for O'Hoppe, which would be an easy fix. The roster crunch would be in the infield, but all that said, I suspect Rendon is probably out for the year, so that somewhat alleviates that roster crunch. I doubt Trout until at least towards the end of August. But anyway, all that said - I think, as you said, our roster is likely full, with the exception of a reliever.

I think it'd be basically similar to the trade the Rangers just did with the Mets - a prospect will go to the Mets, while they send Verlander and cash. It seems the Mets are willing to buy prospects for including money in a trade, so that is likely what we would do.

Thanks! I missed that part about bullpen sessions - I thought he hadn't thrown yet.

I don't think I'd trade Sandoval for expiring contracts. I would love Snell and Hader, but I'd elect to keep Sandoval over trading him for them. While there are many contracts to fear, I don't think Verlander's is one of them. He is basically only guaranteed one more year. He has a vesting option, but if he gets hurt next year, then that is rendered moot. TBH actually, I'd be pretty happy to get him - in case Ohtani leaves, then Verlander can be your ace for the next year. I think he goes to either the Astros or Dodgers, though. And on that note, with the Mets clearing all sorts of payroll, that is a bit concerning with Ohtani heading into free agency. Knowing how much money Cohen has, he could offer Ohtani such an obscene, ridiculous contract that he'd have no choice but to accept it.

Joyce has a lot of potential because of how hard he throws, but I think he needs to further improve his second pitch before he becomes a weapon for us. No matter how hard you throw, you need an effective second pitch to keep hitters honest, and his second pitch, while improving, still needs work. I expect to see another reliever acquired before the deadline, and whoever that is, I expect our late inning relievers will be Estevez, Moore, Lopez, and "acquired reliever." Soriano, Loup, and Webb will serve more as middle inning relievers, and Barria will remain as the long reliever.