Pancake Bear

I think this is what they likely will do. They’ll probably still call it 6 man, though. I don’t think anyone believes they’ll have 6 starters on the roster all the time.

I think they're planning on Ohtani, Heaney, and Canning as being locks for the rotation. Unless they go with 6, they don't have room for anyone else, or you're leaving no room for Canning. If you do go with 6, the last guy will be on and off the rotation. That's probably a role better suited for the rest of the minor league options (Barria, Sandoval, etc.) than Canning, I would think. As far as Grandal, I doubt he would say, "Yeah, we want to make a big upgrade at catcher." Why advertise it? They went after him last offseason. I doubt the interest has disappeared, but I don't think Eppler is all-in on Grandal. I'd see it as a, "Let's monitor it, and if we can make it work, we'll take a shot at it" situation. Everyone thinks Stassi should be gone, but I don't see Eppler dumping him that quick. So if they replace anyone, it'll be Smith. If they see Bumgarner as anything close to Cole, Strasburg, and Wheeler, they're crazy. He's a clear tier below Cole and Strasburg, and there are legitimate reasons to see him below Wheeler also. Bumgarner has this reputation because of his WS history. It's the name. That shouldn't automatically put him in the top tier.

That sounds like the same logic that let Nolan Ryan walk. I’d rather have Cole and Wheeler than Wheeler, Odorizzi, and Teheran. Easily.

Angels C : Bengie 1B: Erstad 2B: Kennedy/Fletcher SS: Simmons/Eckstein 3B: Glaus LF: Salmon CF: Trout RF: Guerrero DH: Ohtani SP: Weaver CL: Percival/K-Rod

If we signed Wheeler early (unlikely he signs real soon), I’d be conflicted. If Cole doesn’t work out, he’d be a solid backup choice. Ideally, it would be amazing if we signed both, but I dunno if Arte spends that much. The other issue is the QO compensation involved for both.

“Madbum, Wheeler or Strasburg” One of these is not like the others.

Pads seem like they’d make sense. No money left?

We’d have to be doing really bad to be out of it by the new trade deadline.

It would undoubtedly make the last two weeks of December interesting. Merry Christmas!

The owners would exploit it. 100%.

I like our current uniforms. I wouldn’t mind adding in some navy, though especially on the third jersey. That’s a pretty sick look imo. More of that would be welcome, even if it came at the expense of the all red (which I also like).

Shaikin says the Dodgers are doubtful to pursue him. Friedman doesn’t go long term on pitchers. They’ll grab Ryu and maybe another cheaper arm. If Strasburg drops back to the Nats, that’ll be another team with deep pockets out. Chicago cheapest out on Machado last year, and the Yanks are trying to lower payroll. Ditto the Red Sox. I don’t know how the Phillies are situated, but they certainly have the money and desire to win.

Technically, the lineup card is Maddon's. That said, I think the question of when Ohtani plays would have to be made in conjunction with the front office due to the limited nature of when he is able to DH. As far as whether Maddon has the authority to say, "Nah, Shohei is good to go. Billy is just coddling him." That's...not happening.

If we signed Cole and he went off like Scherzer, we’d be incredibly lucky. That’s about as good as a long term contract can go. But Verlander, Greinke, Scherzer - they’ve all aged pretty well so far. Not impossible or even necessarily unlikely that Cole will do the same.

We already know why. It isn’t like these things can’t be analyzed.

Ask me again at Spring Training. It will entirely depend on the whole of the offseason. I’ll be disappointed regardless, but the degree will vary depending on who they do acquire.

Re: The Dodgers I’ve been saying this for awhile. Shaikin agrees.

What evidence is there that teams are colluding? That’s what I thought.

Agree. He’s probably the least likely FA to actually change teams.

No to expensive bullpen additions. They tend to be the most likely deals to go bad and waste money (that we can’t spare). Ryu v. Madbum is an interesting discussion, but the reality is that any SP you look at has risks. Each of them have concerns you can point to. That’s why they aren’t making 30+m per year. (Bumgarner’s ERA last year was basically equal to Miley’s, fwiw, albeit with more innings).

Haven’t you seen Moneyball? They show us exactly what it looks like.

I mean, aside from the fact that Calhoun is basically a league average hitter and can really only play RF? Yep, totally. Calhoun is a fringe starter.

Eppler’s office is tight, but what about Castellanos’ side? They’re the ones who’d have reason to leak his market to generate more interest. I’m skeptical, especially since this dude isn’t exactly a big news breaker. Still, he says he’s an insider, so I suppose it’s possible. The fit just doesn’t seem to be there, though.

If this guy isn’t talking out of his hat, I don’t know what to make of this. Apparently he can play 3B? Is he a disaster there? I just don’t get this interest at all.