- This topic has 105 replies, 20 voices, and was last updated 2 years, 6 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
Fermin may not be the answer but he may be the answer.
Somebody call Motter and see what he’s doing, lol.
jj-cf-stl
Participant
Pads,
TB traded for an outfielder, not a weak hitting 1B/DH in Burly. We will put anyone in the outfield.It’s quite a glaring difference in roster construction, by two different orgs.
15 minutes before the Rays/Cardinals trade, the Rays traded Luke Raley, a LH outfielder, away to the Mariners for Caballero, to be their starting SS. They also have traded away Manuel Margot. Palacios was acquired to backfill the outfield, replacing Raley on the cheap. They obtained DeLuca from the Dodgers in the Margot trade, also on the cheap to be Palacios’ RH counterpart.
It’s also funny you say that since Harold Ramirez has been moonlighting in their outfield the last couple years (along with the aforementioned Raley)
Burleson never played 1B in the minors for us, but he did split time between 1B/RF in college.
He played some this year, but I doubt it will continue.
Pads, stl values LF, RF and DH all the same, like defense doesn’t matter. They never sign a DH, trade for one, or name anyone as the DH. They go out of their way to avoid using the DH role to hide bad outfield D, like Walker.
I have to pass on joining that roster construction ideology (and calling Burly OF5). I’d have DFA’d Burly before Palacios, if it had came to that.
Naming Palacios as the OF6, is agreeing that LF, RF and DH are all inter-changable, and I can’t. Outfield D still matters to me.
Palacios may be just a flash in the pan, at best. I’d take that from Burly too, if he gets there. TB saw that flash didn’t they 🙂
You make good points, but if the team was depending on getting a lot from their 5th/6th outfielder, that says something that probably isn’t good. Based on the roster, one of them seemed destined to open the year with Memphis. That they instead turned one into a filling an immediate need, a potentially very useful veteran reliever, is a good thing, IMO. That TB wanted the guy that would best fill their roster need, a guy who has both offensive and defensive value, is not surprising, either. Right now, Burly’s value is down and Palacios’ was up.
Overall I agree Brian, but I think you are undervaluing Burlys’ (or Palacios) expected playing time for 2024.
To date, the FO has cleared a path for Burleson to increase his 347 PA’s from last season (9th highest on the club), with the subtractions of O’Neill, Palacios and Mercado.
Burly has Carlson blocking him from OF4 PA’s, and an outfield can be ballparked as 2,000 PA’s a season.
Burly had a lot of PAs last year, but was generally ineffective. His -0.9 fWAR was lowest of any hitter on the team in 2023, whether gone or returning for 2024. He is not an asset on the bases or in the field. And with the bat, his 39 PA/HR was among the worst on the team. Like Carlson, he has to earn more time. Carlson is the stated no. 4 and the clear alternative in CF, but as you said, Burly should see some time in the corners. But even there, he could be competing with Donovan, especially if Contreras sees a lot of DH time, as was speculated in another thread.
Burley at Memphis in 2022 –
.331/.372/.532/.905
PAs – 470
Hrs – 20
RBI – 872nd round draft pick.
They like his bat – contact rate, barrel rate, low K rate, etc.
Someone in the FO must love him, and his contract rate and exit velo numbers are probably why. Triple-A results helped him get to the bigs, but to stay there, he has to produce. He hasn’t done it yet and as the fifth OF, he is going to have to make due with limited opportunity.
Do I need to post the Triple-A numbers from Juan Yepez and Moises Gomez? How about Luken Baker?
jj-cf-stl
Pads, stl values LF, RF and DH all the same, like defense doesn’t matter. They never sign a DH, trade for one, or name anyone as the DH. They go out of their way to avoid using the DH role to hide bad outfield D, like Walker.
I’m really not following. In 2021, we had some of the best defenders in baseball at LF and RF.
We’ve had the DH for 2 years and one of those years they had a guy signed and parked specifically in that the role in Albert Pujols.
Walker is a completely different situation. He’s 20 years old and learning. He can’t improve his defense at DH. Same with Gorman.
I forgot Pujols, my bad.
I’m not understanding how we had the best D in LF and RF, with Walkers presence, but opinions vary. Thanks for your input, I value it.Barring injuries, I’m not sure there’s a path to Burly playing much at all other than as a late game pinch hitter for Winn or Edman. He will probably DH 10% of the time. But I believe Carlson and Donovan both should and will be in front of him in the OF. Of course, if he hits really well, then he can play more.
Did you think the same last season J?
I did, yet 9th in PA’s last season stands, among a deeper OF roster than todays?Last year, the OF was decimated by injuries and even Donovan was out. That is a big reason why Palacios played at all and Burly played so much. Now, O’Neill is gone and Carlson isn’t going to be depended upon daily. It all depends on how durable the three OF starters turn out to be. It can’t be worse than 2023, can it? 😉
I get hope. I hope Winn makes the all-star team, but non-present SS starter depth on the roster is a concern too. Is that Edman? Burly likes to think so!
Pads wrote:
In 2021, we had some of the best defenders in baseball at LF and RF.JJ wrote:
I’m not understanding how we had the best D in LF and RF, with Walkers presence, but opinions vary.The 2021 OF was O’Neill, Bader, and Carlson. That was good defense.
JJ – To my discredit, I thought Burleson’s bat was going to be better last year. I also thought his defense was going to be at least playable. He might have met the latter bar but obviously not the first. But Ollie has a year of data under his belt to make decisions with Burleson on now that he didn’t have last year so I suspect that barring injuries, Burleson will only be a part time DH and a pinch hitter. Injuries or Burly hitting well change that calculus.
Two of the three mentioned are gone, and so is Palacios. I’m disconnected with how the 2021 OF matters with todays roster?
J, Burly was my pick to click in the 2nd half. I hoped, and still do.
It’s hard for a micro-managing type ol’ fart, to endorse unprepared 🙂
I don’t think we’ve seen the best of Burleson’s bat yet. He was drafted in 2020, sat out 2021 because of the lockdown, then went from Peoria all the way to Memphis in 2021, then he made 470 PA for Memphis in 2022 before finishing up the season with 53 AB for St. Louis. So it took Burleson less than two full seasons in the minors to get from college ball to the big leagues. Let’s back off and see what this kid can do in the next couple of years.
It is hard to see a scenario where Burly is a regular in the lineup. I don’t know how well he can acclimate to MLB sitting on the bench.
He has to get a chance to hit though. Playing once a week it may not happen. Some guys have to play everyday.
I’m disconnected with how the 2021 OF matters with todays roster?
I don’t know. Pads would have to answer that.
I was just clarifying who was in the 2021 OF.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.