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Not that he wouldn't be a great additional, but more pitching is what they need to get over the post season hump. Losing Ryu set them further back.
I'm okay with the White Sox and the 3-year deal. Prefer it over the Ryu for 4-years. It allows the Sox to hold off on rushing Kopech and Rodon. Combined with the Gio signing for their #5 SP spot and Grandal's framing ability behind the plate, Chicago's pitching is going to be a lot stronger than it was last year. Of course outside of Giolito for most of the season and Nova and Lopez for parts of the season, there wasn't much to highlight.TheIronSheik said:
Ryu will be 33 and while coming off his best season, he has only passed 160 innings once in the past 5 seasons and only twice since he joined LA and never had more then 14 wins. Is he worth $20m/year?
I wouldn't mind him. He was great on the Phils and terrible on the Astros. But I think that's the type of pitcher they'll end up getting if they get one via trade.
Could see the Yankees taking little back in return to get a good chunk of his $ off the books.
I feel like they have as good a chance to be an awesome team as they do to be a team like the Marlins when they opened their new park b
It's always tough to project stats from NPB to MLB but Akiyama has been among the league leaders in OPS the past three years. He'll be 32 in April so his slight decline in 2018 stats may be a yellow flag. A three year deal for $6-7M AAV seems like decent risk/reward especially since there was no posting fee.
Yup. As a Cards fan I'd like to ridicule the Reds. Not gonna do it. They had excellent pitching last year and the emergence of Suarez plus Votto gives them a nice 1-2 punch in the middle. Add in Moustakas and they are beginning to look capable of contending. I do think Akiyama is a bit risky though. The foot injury is one thing. Maybe nothing but with speed guys always a concern. His age another at 31 you never know where the decline will start. And coming from japanese baseball there might be some drop off.
Even if he hits .250 with 25 dingers I'll be happy. He covers a lot of ground as an outfielder and has a cannon for an arm. It would cost $8 to $10 million to get a free agent capable of producing that an offense and provide that kind of defense too. If hits even better than that, then he's a potential all star like Jay Bruce was.
Most recent reports have the White Sox out on Puig, but focusing now on adding 1-2 relief pitchers. If they follow the pattern so far this off-season, I would expect shorter term deals, probably 1-2 types.
Reds are probably the best team in the Central right now. They've made some great moves. And while Shogo isn't a young star, he's durable as all get out. Plus, Yuli Gurriel was not a young kid when the Astros got him and he did fairly well. Same with Ichiro.
I like Cincinnati's off-season so far but they were still a 75 win team last season. Suarez, Aquino and Gray are regression candidates and Votto's ability to stay healthy at age 36 is a question mark. Unlike the White Sox, they don't have much talent down on the farm.
True, but their win total was well below their pythagorean W-L, which suggests they suffered more than their fair share of bad luck loses last year, which as a fan I can confirm.
Anyone that didn't notice how good the Reds pitching was last year wasn't paying attention. They have some really good arms. Especially when you consider they pitch in a band box stadium.
The bats are the issue. Cincinnati was near the bottom of the NL in runs scored and OPS+. Peraza to Moustakas at 2B is a big offensive upgrade. Puig and Dietrich to Akiyama is a big question mark. They have the players to piece together some interesting looking OF platoons but it's harder to project two or three players than one.
Not sure if they are the best team in the division, but they are now a legitimate factor in that division. Outside of Pittsburgh, I think anyone can win that division. Very competitive.
Very similar to the Cards. If the Reds sign Ozuna (who I am not crazy about returning to STL) it does make them look serious. But do they want that commitment to a guy who has been just a little better than average other than one year in his career?
As a fan I hope the Reds don't sign Ozuna. Winker has a .900+ career OPS against RHPs, and Erivn has a .900+ career OPS against LHPs. Let them platoon in LF and they would likely produce a combined .300 BA with 25 to 30 HRs and an .850+ OPS at significantly less salary than what it would cost to get Ozuna.
Yeah it baffles me when teams don't employ the platoon more often. It can be very productive and keeps the bench guy sharper. For some reason team seem to value an every day player higher. I can see not platooning more than one position (only have a 26 man roster) but whatever.
He was one of my favorite players growing up. Back then, you pretty much only knew of pro athletes from what you saw on the field. And I thought he was awesome. I remember defending some of his dumber actions early on, thinking that the guy just made a bad decision. Then it became obvious that he was not a good person. Even though I was in my 20's, it was kind of soul crushing. Although I never met him, it was kind of my first experience with "Don't ever meet your heroes." :(
I met Steve Carlton and it was the only time I was ever star struck. Could barely talk. Normally, celebrities don't impress me. But to this day, my wife cracks up if she thinks about the time I met him. She says it's one of the few times where she saw me not talking.
Steve Carlton wouldn’t give me an autograph when I was a kid.I met Steve Carlton and it was the only time I was ever star struck. Could barely talk. Normally, celebrities don't impress me. But to this day, my wife cracks up if she thinks about the time I met him. She says it's one of the few times where she saw me not talking.
I bet your dad was mad.Pete Rose cut my dad off in traffic and then flipped him the bird.
Your dad is lucky he wasn't blocking the plate.Pete Rose cut my dad off in traffic and then flipped him the bird.
Dykstra was one of mine too. I have a distinct memory of watching on TV when the Mets traded him and McDowell for Juan Samuel back when I was kid, and being pretty bummed about it (I think the trade was announced during a Kiner's Korner after an afternoon game between the Mets and Phillies that I was watching).
