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Read a quick blurb by a sportswriter who thinks Marlins will trade Yelich instead of Ozuna because Ozuna is very active in the community and extremely popular with the fans.FWIW could be Marlins want to keep a fan favorite to give the fans a bone instead of thinking it’s a total rebuild.
FWIW MLB trade rumors says Miami wants to cut payroll down to around 90 million .That`s a lot smaller cut than was previously mentioned.Earlier figure i read said Marlins wanted to cut payroll down TO a total of 60 million.Heck of a difference.If it stays around 90 million instead of 60 million then Marlins will be tougher to deal with.
Phamfoolery facts
It took Pham his age 29 season to produce a good season.He had 2 previous poor partial seasons including 2016 when he struck out at a 40% rate even worse than the current target of blame(Grichuk).Pham fans say he will get better at age 30 in spite of vision issues and a lengthy injury history.Pham did have a good season but thinking he will duplicate or surpass that is just plain foolish.I think Pham is a decent player and can be useful.Counting on him to be a big impact guy is just taking a chance.As for Ozuna being a costlier upgrade I say go for it.Ozuna has had 4.5 MLB seasoni and has been productive 3.5 of them.He has been a starter since age 23.He should still be trending upward towards his peak and his cost might be 8 million or more in 2018 and more in 2019 and he will be 29 heading into Free agency after 2019.Why not trade for a guy who can give you 2 years production at reasonable cost and has a history of production?I wouldn’t be surprised to see him (Anthony Garcia) end up in Oakland or Miami.Both are looking for young cheap OF help.
I would protect O’Neill,Bomber and maybe Mercado.
Poncedeleon.Arturo Reyes,Pearce,Ellis,A. Morales,Her get,Bray,Derian Gonzalez,Anthony Garcia,Neilsen,McKinney can all take their chances .1.Middle order bat-someone who is a threat the other team takes serious notice of.
2.Innings eater-a solid pitcher to ease the pressure on the younger SPs and can be depended on to keep the team in the game.
3.Middle relief depth-a couple or three guys to pitch reliably good to keep the game from getting out of hand,no point in getting a closer if there is nothing to save.
4.Closer-If the SP and middle guys do their job you have to have a dependable guy or two to finish the job
5.true leadoff hitter-A speedy leadoff guy would put additional pressure on the other team and stop the station-to-station baserunning caused by Carpenter and the useless Fowler.
6.defensive upgrade-I like Kolton Wong and his skills WHEN he is on the field.
7.Top of rotation pitcher-If Nuke LaLoosh Martinez would pull his head out of his butt and pitch like he is being paid to do then the Cards have a top rotation guy.Right now Cards have Carlos talent and Wainwright`s heart.I think MO and FO only get a top rotation guy if included in a package deal with a MOTOB.The Phamfoolery grows by leaps and bounds.Yes he had a very good year but can he repeat?IMO he will not because he still deals with eye issues and the league will figure him out.I think he gets a big dose of reality this coming season.I think
He was a 3/4 season flash.I think he reverts back to a 10-15 Home run guy with 60 RBIs .270 BA 15 stolen bases.
2017 was a aberration and not the norm for Pham.Nothing he has previously done makes me think otherwise.What make anyone think Pham can repeat what he did this season?Sure he surprised a lot of people but will he sustain that level?I see no reason to think he will.He will be 30 years old,has a injury history and has vision issues.Ozuna had a monster year and will get a big raise in arbitration and would be under team control until after 2019 season.Pham has proven nothing other than being a partial ONE year wonder.Pham is older and cheaper I agree but as for being a difference maker I say Ozuna.Yelich’s name is gaining traction with a lot of Cards fans as a trade target because he is young(25),under fairly cheap contract for several years and can play CF/LF and bats LH.He will cost more tradewise,because of reasons mentioned above but if Cards can get rid of Fowler somehow that would help.
Going the trade route is going to likely cost Cards several young arms and with the questions hanging over the rotation why weaken one of your assets?Every team wants more pitching especially young cheap pitching.What good does it do to get a Stanton or Ozuna or Yelich if your rotation consistently fails to keep you in the game and your bullpen is questionable also.Keep the young arms and try and trade some of your OF surplus to bolster the bullpen.It seems all a Free agent signing cost is money and there are upgrades available at several spots. Plenty of options (JD Martinez, Jay Bruce, or Hosmer 1B,Moustakas 3B).
Start by going after JD Martinez for big RH bat.Then Moustakas 3B LH bat S’s decent defense.Then Jay Bruce RF as a fallback option if others go elsewhere.Hosmer stays in KC I think.He is KCs top priority so I think KC will overpay to keep him.As for Justin Upton who knows if and why he would opt out of a 22 million per year deal?Plus he does have a lot of swing and miss in his game although since he is not named Grichuk its probably okay with the Save crowd.My opinion is the winners of the Stanton sweepstakes will be LADodgers.Dodgers get Stanton and Marlins get Jack Pedersen OF,Toles OF,Avilan RP and Cesar Hernandez 2B.Something like that Marlins get rid of Stanton`s salary and get a solid bullpen arm Avilan, young solid inf Hernandez and 2 OFs Pedersen,Toles.Mostly young and cheap.
nice Sooner.
Moreland is a FA this offseason.What about Bostons other top 3B prospect Michael Chavis who was in Double A ball this season?
Tampa Bay-Logan Morrison is a Free Agent this offseason also,same with Lucas Duda.Keep up the good writing .
From what I have read Donaldson prefers to finish his career in Toronto. Vlad Guerrero JR is Toronto’s top 3B prospect and he is a year or two away from ready.Toronto has a boatload of aging DH/OF/1B types that will be hitting Free agency over the next year or two (Jose Bautista OF this year,Kendry Morales DH/1B ,Justin Smoak 2018* option,Steve Pearce 2018).
So even if Guerrero comes up in 2018 Donaldson would still fill a big role in Toronto.Toronto has stated they want to get more athletic and speed to the team so that sounds like some of the older DH/1B types will not be returning. I just don’t see Toronto dealing Donaldson unless they get a yonger cheaper player/players in return with solid bat.I think it would take Gyorko to hold 3B until Guerrero is ready and a young OF (Grichuk or Bader and a mid-level prospect also.Toronto doesn’t have to deal Donaldson so they can set a high price tag.I think Gyorko/Grichuk/or Bader and mid-level prospect is too high a price for a possible One year rental. If this Cardinal team was only one player away from being a serious World Series contender I could understand paying that kind of price.Since this team is not then I think you have to look longer term when dealing.Sorry about the long-winded post.31.Evan Mendoza 3B
32.Rowan Wick RP
33.Jeremy Martinez C
34.Mike Mayers RP-would be nice if he could bring his AAA success to big leagues
35.Patrick Wisdom 3B power/solid defense/possible bench bat.Since Fowler is used to leading off and Carpenter wants to lead off then Cards have a problem.Somebody has to go.
Fowler in CF fails the eyeball test.He simply wasn’t good this season.Maybe it was injuries and maybe it was just a year older richer a bit of complacency thrown in.Who really knows what’s in Fowler’s head.Maybe he was leery of getting injured worse….I don’t know.Sure he got some timely hits in September but he was not the spark plug he was supposed to be.
Disagree PadsFS,-Carpenter was a huge disappointment this year.I know he had a shoulder injury and hopes to regain his form.Stats be damned he is a average at best fielder and walks be damned he is too passive at the plate too often.Cards need someone at either corner to drive in runs.Not to walk and rely on someone else to drive them in.Too many watched 3rd strikes,too much station to station base running.I like Matt Carpenter but I don’t want him to be my starting 1B or 2B or 3B.Him and Gyorko in Utility roles would be fine with me or either trade Carpenter somewhere else.I sure as hell don’t think Jose Martinez is the answer either I think Cards caught lightning in a bottle with Jose and Pham this year.I would be looking at trade values for both.
Disagree PadsFS,-Carpenter was a huge disappointment this year.I know he had a shoulder injury and hopes to regain his form.Stats be damned he is a average at best fielder and walks be damned he is too passive at the plate too often.Cards need someone at either corner to drive in runs.Not to walk and rely on someone else to drive them in.Too many watched 3rd strikes,too much station to station base running.I like Matt Carpenter but I don’t want him to be my starting 1B or 2B or 3B.Him and Gyorko in Utility roles would be fine with me or either trade Carpenter somewhere else.
Grichuk plays good defense and hits with power .He is streaky good or streaky bad.He also can steal a base.Piscotty was steady Eddie mostly before this season.Nothing special in any department except a above average RF arm.Matheny’s ignorant continued starting Piscotty because Piscotty slapped a few singles and drew some walks was wrong.Piscotty drove in 7 or 8 RBIs in August and September!
Piscotty had 38 or 39 RBIs for the whole season .I know he missed a lot of time but he was not productive when he played.Grichuk with his strikeouts and streaks still was a bigger threat and run producer and yet Matheny kept starting Piscotty who was mostly a non factor.I would trade Piscotty and keep Grichuk even as a 4th OF.
