2023 Arizona Fall League

“Well, the other side of the coin is that Winn’s OPS over 500 plate appearances at Triple-A was .833.”

And moreover, that solid .833 OPS in AAA was achieved despite the fact that Masyn (1)just turned 21 during Spring Training, and (2)got off to an absolutely atrocious start in Memphis. Specifically, as of 4/23 he was batting .202/.260/.292 with a rickety 5/22 walk/strikeout tally.

But then, from April 25 to his MLB promotion, Winn fairly crushed the ball to the tune of .309/.385/.520 with a more than acceptable 39/61 BB/K ratio across 403 plate appearances. In other words, after a very brief period of adjustment he was an excellent Triple-A batter over a large sample size. At 21. He’s gonna hit, guys. Probably soon.

And I agree wholeheartedly with those who would like Tommy Edman, our Gold Glove middle infielder, to remain a middle infielder. He doesn’t have the arm for outfield play, and frankly lacks the bat as well — at least from the left side of the plate.

Winn & Edman could be a dynamite defensive middle infield for the next few years. I’d sure love to see it.

Brian, Kiermaier is not illustrative of the point at all. He had four very solid offensive seasons before the downturn which you highlight. The point I made above is that a player like Ozzie would probably not last long enough in MB today to eventually get it together offensively.

K Kliermaier first 4 seasons OPS+: 117, 99, 104, 113.
Ozzie Smith first 4 seasons OPS+: 82, 48, 71, 62.

Again, I don’t think Winn, over a full season, will put up an OPS+ 29 like he did in 2023, but he could double that and the offense would still be dragging an anchor all year. The point is not that the 21 year old Winn will not get better, it is more that he will need to get better enough, fast enough.

Remember Brendan Ryan? Top glove man at short, but never could hit enough. As soon he started making arb money he was offed. These days, I doubt a player would even hang around that long.

I might be coming around to your view, bling, that Gorman could be the least painful trade chip to get a decent pitcher.

I would rather lose Arenado than Gorman. Use that payroll money to get a pitcher. Mo needs to looking out the windshield not in the rearview mirror.

I’d rather talk about things that have more than 1% odds of actually happening.

That will be a pretty depressing discussion, especially given mo’s recent statements.

Leveraging strength to address weakness is the obvious path out of this mess. But I agree it will be the path not taken.

For the record, I’m pro trading Arenado too if it keeps Gorman

Keeps Gorman and pays for nearly any starter you can name.

Here is a clip on Bieber I took note of back when he was on the 60IL. from CBS sports.

“Bieber’s first 19 starts this season saw him pitch to a 3.77 ERA (109 ERA+) and a 2.88 strikeout-to-walk ratio. While those are solid outputs, they’re well below his usual level of performance. Indeed, that’s his worst ERA+ since his rookie season in 2018, and by far the lowest strikeout-to-walk ratio he’s posted in the majors. As well, Bieber since last season has shown diminished velocity, and in 2023 his ability to get swings and misses has notably declined. All of that could be partly due to the underlying elbow issue.”

Or he could struggle with “underlying elbow issues” and go under the knife. Bargains aren’t always bargains.

I guess so. I just don’t want a reverse Brock for Broglio.

It will be interesting to see what happens with the outfield. Noot should and will be out there somewhere. Walker will be out there in RF, with us hoping for the best. All else remains to be seen.