OhtaniSan

I’d say they’re performing about how i’d expect at this point. Right around .500. Personally im still huffing the hopium. I think there’s another gear in the roster we’ve yet to see. Being around .500 with significant underperformances from guys we thought would contribute leaves the question of: how good can we be when they get into gear too? Its early, we’re still in april.

Rendon is doing his thing. I’m not worried. Every year it’s: He starts excruciatingly slow while still having a decent OBP. Then he gets hot and gives us all hope. Then he gets hurt.

Damn. I remember reading the thread on him a few months back. I thought he was a good sleeper candidate.

He reminds me of Kaleb Cowart, switch-hitting 3B with defense, speed, and some pop. I was a huge fan of Cowart too, so I have decided I will now cling to hope that Fontenelle will be what Cowart wasn't.

I have seen both of them on top 100 lists, generally ranked in the top 90-100 range. But none of them have gotten unanimous recognition from all the different sources yet. Maybe this year they'll break out into the top 50 range, seeing as their reputations are at least somewhat increasing. Kinda like how Quero used to be fringe top 100, had another great year, and became a top 50 guy for a bit.

Shohei is dead to me. And i cant figure out how to change my username. This sucks.

Signs the biggest contract in sports history, and immediately gets married. Hope it's not a gold digger Shohei!

Worst Valentine's Day news ever.

At this point in the off-season, if Chapman can be signed at a reasonable contract I would be prettt okay with it. Something like 5/100-120m or 3/75 maybe? The Boras thing makes me think that’s unlikely though. Still though, Rendon would definitely benefit health-wise moving away from 3B. DHing and maybe even transitioning him away from 3B completely to instead share a couple ABs w Schanuel at 1B instead could give him some longevity for once.

I don’t understand why so many are on the trade Ward bandwagon. If fans of the team he plays for are worried about his performance moving forward, why would any other team be willing to trade a solid SP for him? We’ve seen glimpses of what Ward is capable of - all star level production. I think he’ll have far more value to us seeing if he can sustain that production over a full year than he would have trade value for another team. It’d be the wrong time to trade him at all, unless you want to sell low. And I could be wrong on this, but wasn’t the HBP a cheek bone fracture vs eye socket damage? I think it’ll come down to Ward’s ability to regain confidence and comfort at the plate, which I think he has the work ethic and mentality to do.

Votto is an absolute Chad. I would really love the tenacity he brings to a clubhouse and team, and he would provide great insurance if Schanuel hits a learning curve. It’s not like he’ll cost more than 1yr/5mil, so it’s pretty low stakes. Pair it w getting Merrifield (and more pitching) and the offensive and defensive depth starts to look pretty nice.

I'd prefer signing several guys not attached to draft picks over 1 of Snell/Montgomery/Bellinger. Adding depth and spreading out the money in the likes of Merrifield, Pederson, Robertson, Moore, and Clevinger. I think all could be had on 1-3 year deals too. Granted, that's a lot of guys to sign and the Angels are usually a "make one big splash per offseason" team. So we'll see

Not to say it’s likely, but it also isn’t impossible that Ward has his Josh Donaldson-esq breakout season next season. I really like him and we’ve seen glimpses of what he can be capable of, he has value to our team. With his recent hbp scare, I also imagine he would have a lower trade value to other teams for the same reason many of you here are concerned. I think it’d be the wrong time to even consider trading him

Between Pham and Duvall, I'll take Pham any day of the week. Pham has a stronger clubhouse prescience and is more consistent. Duvall reeks of Renfroe 2.0 (unreliable, streaky)

I read somewhere the Dodgers still take a 45m hit to their AAV or threshold space even despite the deferred payments. That being said, 45m is still a whole lot less than 70m