The Officially Official Off Season Thread (2016)

[saddles]

I don't think JD and the Rangers are even considering that at the moment maybe in a couple of years but why would they gut their offense right now? If anything I think JD is looking to load up right-hand LF bat with some punch to complement Choose, Beltre & Fielder in the batting order

You tend to ignore important parts of the conversation when responding. No one said anything about gutting the offense. The part of what I said that you ignored is when I said, "replace them with better hitters." That is kinda the opposite of gutting the offense.

 

[Bmurph]

It will be very intriguing to see what the club has planned for Choo and Fielder. Both have contracts which keep them here way past their prime. That brings about some interesting choices. Do you wait to part ways with them in a year or two when you can't get much of anything at all for them? Or do you attempt to move one or both this offseason when they still have some value and replace them with better hitters?

Who are these better hitters you speak of and how do we acquire them?

 

[donaldson79]

Like or hate Prince, I think we're never going to able to move him - not sure this is our desire to begin with - unless we're willing to go a Josh Hamilton route. Meaning, we'd have to eat an awful lot of salary.

As for Choo, I honestly believe he'll be a productive player for several more years. The first part of last year was the outlier for him. Not that he's gonna be the player he was in the second half either though. If he were able to duplicate the 2nd half, then he's a HOF type player for the next few years.

 

[scotsman1948]

You tend to ignore important parts of the conversation when responding. No one said anything about gutting the offense. The part of what I said that you ignored is when I said, "replace them with better hitters." That is kinda the opposite of gutting the offense.

Like someone else said who are these better hitters?

 

[saddles]

Who are these better hitters you speak of and how do we acquire them?

It would be hitters from the free agency list that you posted yesterday. My favorites would be Davis and Cespedes.

 

[romeo212000]

It would be hitters from the free agency list that you posted yesterday. My favorites would be Davis and Cespedes.

Again. I'm not sure Davis really helps that much. He's still left handed. Yes he hits a lot of homers. He also is a .250 hitter who strikes out a ton. With guys like Gallo potentially hitting the big league team soon, how much of that do we really want to insert into the lineup, and at a rather high price tag at that?

 

[saddles]

Like or hate Prince, I think we're never going to able to move him - not sure this is our desire to begin with - unless we're willing to go a Josh Hamilton route. Meaning, we'd have to eat an awful lot of salary.

As for Choo, I honestly believe he'll be a productive player for several more years. The first part of last year was the outlier for him. Not that he's gonna be the player he was in the second half either though. If he were able to duplicate the 2nd half, then he's a HOF type player for the next few years.

Even with an out of this world second half he still just hit .276 with 22 HRs though. He is not that great defensively. He doesn't steal bases any longer. I am thinking that I certainly wouldn't mind upgrading at the position. We could do a lot worse for sure, but we could also do better. It is always better to trade a guy after he has done something good it would seem.

That being said I don't see JD upgrading there. I think he stands pat pretty much this offseason. At least I am not getting my hopes up.

 

[romeo212000]

Even with an out of this world second half he still just hit .276 with 22 HRs though. He is not that great defensively. He doesn't steal bases any longer. I am thinking that I certainly wouldn't mind upgrading at the position. We could do a lot worse for sure, but we could also do better. It is always better to trade a guy after he has done something good it would seem.

That being said I don't see JD upgrading there. I think he stands pat pretty much this offseason. At least I am not getting my hopes up.

The fact that he ended up hitting .276 with 22 hrs is nothing short of astounding after hitting .096 in April.

 

[saddles]

Again. I'm not sure Davis really helps that much. He's still left handed. Yes he hits a lot of homers. He also is a .250 hitter who strikes out a ton. With guys like Gallo potentially hitting the big league team soon, how much of that do we really want to insert into the lineup, and at a rather high price tag at that?

I personally don't care how much he strikes out if he has an OPS of .900 plus again like he did this year. At least he isn't grounding into double plays if he is strking out. He grounded into 15 fewer DP than Fielder this year. He doesn't clog up the bases the way Prince does either.

 

[saddles]

The fact that he ended up hitting .276 with 22 hrs is nothing short of astounding after hitting .096 in April.

Yes, he had a fabulous second half of the season. I don't think it would be wise to expect anything like that again though.

 

[Kelleyman]

Even with an out of this world second half he still just hit .276 with 22 HRs though. He is not that great defensively. He doesn't steal bases any longer. I am thinking that I certainly wouldn't mind upgrading at the position. We could do a lot worse for sure, but we could also do better. It is always better to trade a guy after he has done something good it would seem.

That being said I don't see JD upgrading there. I think he stands pat pretty much this offseason. At least I am not getting my hopes up.

So the thought is we need to upgrade at 1B but JD is not going to do it? Sounds like your stuck in between a rock and a hard place.

I don't think we are going to add high dollar contracts in FA and lose draft picks especially if we are subsidizing scary dumps for a marginal upgrade. They being said Prince not showing up in the postseason is concerning.

Will we tweak our roster even with additions. I think so via the trade market. Prince did a good job esp early in year but yes IMO we need more power from a 1B/DH and he does not match well with Mitch. Bad contract for bad contract may be most reasonable route to move Prince.

 

[Kelleyman]

We need another SP assuming Gallardo is gone which I think happens. Rather keep Cheech in AAA but will likely need him to fill in for Yu. Develop a strike out pitch please

 

[saddles]

So the thought is we need to upgrade at 1B but JD is not going to do it? Sounds like your stuck in between a rock and a hard place.

I don't think we are going to add high dollar contracts in FA and lose draft picks especially if we are subsidizing scary dumps for a marginal upgrade. They being said Prince not showing up in the postseason is concerning.

Will we tweak our roster even with additions. I think so via the trade market. Prince did a good job esp early in year but yes IMO we need more power from a 1B/DH and he does not match well with Mitch. Bad contract for bad contract may be most reasonable route to move Prince.

I guess I am saying I think they need to spend, but something won't let me believe they will until they do.

I wouldn't be interested in marginal upgrades. The two upgrades I suggested are substantial.

 

[romeo212000]

I personally don't care how much he strikes out if he has an OPS of .900 plus again like he did this year. At least he isn't grounding into double plays if he is strking out. He grounded into 15 fewer DP than Fielder this year. He doesn't clog up the bases the way Prince does either.

It still doesn't really change the fact that we're already extremely left handed heavy and Davis doesn't help that. Fact is, we need a right handed power bat and I don't see us forking over to money for cespedes.

 

[donaldson79]

Yes, he had a fabulous second half of the season. I don't think it would be wise to expect anything like that again though.

Of course not.....this is what I stated a few posts earlier..............Not that he's gonna be the player he was in the second half either though. If he were able to duplicate the 2nd half, then he's a HOF type player for the next few years.

He's not the 1st or 2nd half player from last season. But I expect a .290, 15+ HR, avg RF for next season.

 

[donaldson79]

Bad contract for bad contract may be most reasonable route to move Prince.

Give us an example please. Think the Angels would send us Pujols for Prince?

Just kidding fellas.

 

[Kelleyman]

We always had an affinity for Kemp but of course SDP is in NL but they need to dump an OF. I think Prince will be playing more 1B for us next year and Mitch gets moved. We need RHBs regardless. It will be hard to move Prince without some dump but JD makes the money to make these sort of moves

 

[romeo212000]

I could see us making a play for upton.

 

[romeo212000]

Of course not.....this is what I stated a few posts earlier..............Not that he's gonna be the player he was in the second half either though. If he were able to duplicate the 2nd half, then he's a HOF type player for the next few years.

He's not the 1st or 2nd half player from last season. But I expect a .290, 15+ HR, avg RF for next season.

I expect 20+ homers from Choo for the next three seasons or so.

 

[Bmurph]

It would be hitters from the free agency list that you posted yesterday. My favorites would be Davis and Cespedes.

Will Davis perform here, he didnt before? Cespedes has been good down the stretch for NYM but he hasn't hit like that in some of his other stops. I see Cruz being an upgrade as a RH power bad that can provide production but he isn't available. Will they expand the budget for better offense? We still need pitching as far as Im concerned as well