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Questdog · 04-05-2019, 08:42 PM

Tuesday, November 7, Year 0

Free Agents filed today and we did not have any players leave that we were sad to see go. We were sad that none of them had any compensation attached to them. I scoured the lists for any players that would help us (especially starting pitchers), but there were very few players who I have any desire to sign. The good ones were either too old, too injury prone or had Type A status attached (or all three).

I offered minor league contracts with Major League Options to 3 young starting pitchers who had good seasons in AAA to give us some competition in Spring Training, but that was it for pitchers.

For fielders, we desperately need help up the middle: 2B, SS and CF. I actually like the 2 catchers we have. Both are young and not terrible and, most importantly, can run a little. As anyone who knows me knows, if you cannot outrun my pet three-legged box turtle, I have no use for you. Even if you are a catcher or a first baseman. You do not have to be fast, by any means, and I don't care much about stealing bases, but you have to have SOME mobility. Incumbent second baseman Jeff Austin (28-R) will be moved to first because his glove stinks at second. Incumbent first baseman, Joe Harrison (34-R), will either be traded or paid $1.7 million to man the Gatorade cooler.

We are going to make a ton of trades. This will not be the norm every winter, but I need to get rid of all the players that I do not like who are too good to just cut.

In our first trade, we landed our starting shortstop and a starting pitcher.

Trade #1:
SP Dane Wynne (28-R), RF Steve Thwing (28-L) and 3 minor leaguers: RP Russ Long (19-R), 2B Don Russell (20-R) and RF Mike Griffin (26-R) to Boston for SP Terry Melton (25-R), SS Dave Lesley (25-R) and 3 minor leaguers: SP Will Garcia (23-R), 3B Omar Flores (19-L) and LF Woody Griesbach (23-R).

Wynne has serious stuff, but he only made 2 starts last year because of a tear in his shoulder. In the 15 innings he pitched, he only gave up 8 hits and struck out 13. The year before, however, he was in AAA and gave up 16 HR in 115.1 IP, which is a LOT in AAA, where there are fewer power hitters than in the majors. And Portland signed him as a minor league free agent, so he cannot be all that awesome. At 28, he has only pitched 33.2 innings in the Majors (though they have been a very good 33.2 innings). The fans will miss Steve Thwing. "Thwing! Steve!" I hate trading his name away, and he is a good hitter, except for the fact that Thwing swings at everything. He is a very good right fielder. None of the minor leaguers we dealt will be missed. Long is a non-prospect. Russell projects to have a decent bat for an second baseman, but makes errors by the bushel basket. Griffin has a big bat, hitting .302 with 18 HR in AAA last year, but cannot outrun my tripedal terrapin and is near stationary in the outfield.

Melton was a rookie this past season and as a swingman went 10-6 with a 3.13 ERA in 152.1 IP with 103 SO. He was originally the 2nd overall pick in the draft. His bugaboo is that he seems injury prone, especially in his back. Lesley is the reason for the trade and is a very good fielding shortstop with a decent bat. Those are very hard to find in this league and even harder to get the teams that have them to give them up. He has hit .254 with a .699 OPS in 2 seasons in Boston with 43 doubles in 583 AB. Of course, Fenway Park is the easiest place in the world to get a double, but he did have a .688 OPS last season on the road, his first as an everyday starter. Garcia was the last player extracted from them and the best I could get them to add to the pile. He is a middling prospect with a great curve ball that he can consistently throw for strikes. Flores is rated ridiculously high by Dave Dafoe and his staff of scout Beavers; not so high by the Scouting Combine. But at age 19, he hit .340 in B Ball, which is very impressive. Most 19 year olds are still struggling to hit their weight in the Rookie Leagues. His range at third is not impressive, but his hands are very good and his arm is exceptional. He has also developed a reputation as a very hard worker. Griesbach is that rare player who is solid in every area and has no weaknesses in his game. He is a 5 tool player, though none of the tools are exceptional, merely good. He will begin the season in AAA.

I tried to trade for a second baseman next, but there are very few that I really like and their teams would not give them up. There is a decent one available in the free agent market, however. Gary Long (31-R) hit .266 last season in Minnesota and has a solid, if unspectacular glove. He is a Type B free agent and is asking for a 6 year contract at just over a cool million per season. We cannot go that high or that long, but we will see what his agent has to say about 4 years at $850,000 per annum with the last year a player option.

Some more trades were made to get rid of some of the players I had no use for.

Trade #2:
SP Frank Schindler (24-R) and minor league RF Jim Anderson (24-L) to Baltimore for minor league SS Pete Frey (21-L).

Schindler is another pitcher with serious stuff, but he also has serious control issues and is not shy about giving up long bombs. Anderson was the Beavers' 1st round pick 3 years ago and his only asset is his power. He is slow and not a good fielder and strikes out a ton.

Frey was a 4th round pick in that same draft when Anderson was taken in the first, so this is definitely a net loss for us. But if I had been drafting then, Anderson would not have been our first round pick. Frey projects to be a solid fielder who can play literally anywhere, except behind the plate, and his bat projects to be pretty good except that he has no power. He can run and will hopefully make us a good lead off hitter some day.

Trade #3:
5 minor leaguers: 1B Rod Dixon (34-L), 3B Scott Benford (25-R), LF Jeff Raney (29-R), LF Don Cornacchia (28-L) and LF Bob Olsen (20-R) to New York for SP John Alecci (24-R).

What they want Dixon for, I cannot imagine. Benford is a decent prospect, but getting kind of long in the tooth for a prospect. He had a .728 OPS in AA last season. Raney is a disruptive malcontent who hit .197 in AAA and will be 30 before the season begins; why anyone would even want him working in the concession stand is beyond me. Cornacchia is a decent player with a solid bat, but swings at everything. Olsen is a middling prospect that both the Scouting Combine and our own Dave Dafoe and Company rate equally overall, but as two very different types of players.

Alecci has yet to pitch in the Majors. He is nothing special, but might be better than someone we already have. He will get a chance to show that in Spring Training. He is at least for certain worth more than the bundle of bums we sent to New York.

Trade #4:
RP Jesse Adcock (27-L) to San Francisco for SP Frank Martin (25-R), SP Tom Horn (24-L) and RP Dave Ream (24-R).

Adcock had 30 saves for us this past season and 27 the year before when he had a 1.66 ERA. He is pretty awesome. But our Bullpen has 3 lefties in it and I do not want 3 lefties in it. He is the best, by far, but you have to give up something to get something.

Martin and Horn appear to be ready to pitch in the Big Leagues, though neither has actually started a game in the majors yet. They both pitched cups of coffee in relief this past season for the Seals. Horn looks like he has a chance to be special, but there are concerns about his durability. The Scouting Combine does not think a whole lot of Ream, but Dave Dafoe likes him a lot and he had a 1.41 ERA in AAA last year.

04-05-2019, 08:42 PM	#8
Questdog Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: In a dark, damp cave where I'm training slugs to run the bases...... Posts: 16,142	Tuesday, November 7, Year 0 Free Agents filed today and we did not have any players leave that we were sad to see go. We were sad that none of them had any compensation attached to them. I scoured the lists for any players that would help us (especially starting pitchers), but there were very few players who I have any desire to sign. The good ones were either too old, too injury prone or had Type A status attached (or all three). I offered minor league contracts with Major League Options to 3 young starting pitchers who had good seasons in AAA to give us some competition in Spring Training, but that was it for pitchers. For fielders, we desperately need help up the middle: 2B, SS and CF. I actually like the 2 catchers we have. Both are young and not terrible and, most importantly, can run a little. As anyone who knows me knows, if you cannot outrun my pet three-legged box turtle, I have no use for you. Even if you are a catcher or a first baseman. You do not have to be fast, by any means, and I don't care much about stealing bases, but you have to have SOME mobility. Incumbent second baseman Jeff Austin (28-R) will be moved to first because his glove stinks at second. Incumbent first baseman, Joe Harrison (34-R), will either be traded or paid $1.7 million to man the Gatorade cooler. We are going to make a ton of trades. This will not be the norm every winter, but I need to get rid of all the players that I do not like who are too good to just cut. In our first trade, we landed our starting shortstop and a starting pitcher. Trade #1: SP Dane Wynne (28-R), RF Steve Thwing (28-L) and 3 minor leaguers: RP Russ Long (19-R), 2B Don Russell (20-R) and RF Mike Griffin (26-R) to Boston for SP Terry Melton (25-R), SS Dave Lesley (25-R) and 3 minor leaguers: SP Will Garcia (23-R), 3B Omar Flores (19-L) and LF Woody Griesbach (23-R). Wynne has serious stuff, but he only made 2 starts last year because of a tear in his shoulder. In the 15 innings he pitched, he only gave up 8 hits and struck out 13. The year before, however, he was in AAA and gave up 16 HR in 115.1 IP, which is a LOT in AAA, where there are fewer power hitters than in the majors. And Portland signed him as a minor league free agent, so he cannot be all that awesome. At 28, he has only pitched 33.2 innings in the Majors (though they have been a very good 33.2 innings). The fans will miss Steve Thwing. "Thwing! Steve!" I hate trading his name away, and he is a good hitter, except for the fact that Thwing swings at everything. He is a very good right fielder. None of the minor leaguers we dealt will be missed. Long is a non-prospect. Russell projects to have a decent bat for an second baseman, but makes errors by the bushel basket. Griffin has a big bat, hitting .302 with 18 HR in AAA last year, but cannot outrun my tripedal terrapin and is near stationary in the outfield. Melton was a rookie this past season and as a swingman went 10-6 with a 3.13 ERA in 152.1 IP with 103 SO. He was originally the 2nd overall pick in the draft. His bugaboo is that he seems injury prone, especially in his back. Lesley is the reason for the trade and is a very good fielding shortstop with a decent bat. Those are very hard to find in this league and even harder to get the teams that have them to give them up. He has hit .254 with a .699 OPS in 2 seasons in Boston with 43 doubles in 583 AB. Of course, Fenway Park is the easiest place in the world to get a double, but he did have a .688 OPS last season on the road, his first as an everyday starter. Garcia was the last player extracted from them and the best I could get them to add to the pile. He is a middling prospect with a great curve ball that he can consistently throw for strikes. Flores is rated ridiculously high by Dave Dafoe and his staff of scout Beavers; not so high by the Scouting Combine. But at age 19, he hit .340 in B Ball, which is very impressive. Most 19 year olds are still struggling to hit their weight in the Rookie Leagues. His range at third is not impressive, but his hands are very good and his arm is exceptional. He has also developed a reputation as a very hard worker. Griesbach is that rare player who is solid in every area and has no weaknesses in his game. He is a 5 tool player, though none of the tools are exceptional, merely good. He will begin the season in AAA. I tried to trade for a second baseman next, but there are very few that I really like and their teams would not give them up. There is a decent one available in the free agent market, however. Gary Long (31-R) hit .266 last season in Minnesota and has a solid, if unspectacular glove. He is a Type B free agent and is asking for a 6 year contract at just over a cool million per season. We cannot go that high or that long, but we will see what his agent has to say about 4 years at $850,000 per annum with the last year a player option. Some more trades were made to get rid of some of the players I had no use for. Trade #2: SP Frank Schindler (24-R) and minor league RF Jim Anderson (24-L) to Baltimore for minor league SS Pete Frey (21-L). Schindler is another pitcher with serious stuff, but he also has serious control issues and is not shy about giving up long bombs. Anderson was the Beavers' 1st round pick 3 years ago and his only asset is his power. He is slow and not a good fielder and strikes out a ton. Frey was a 4th round pick in that same draft when Anderson was taken in the first, so this is definitely a net loss for us. But if I had been drafting then, Anderson would not have been our first round pick. Frey projects to be a solid fielder who can play literally anywhere, except behind the plate, and his bat projects to be pretty good except that he has no power. He can run and will hopefully make us a good lead off hitter some day. Trade #3: 5 minor leaguers: 1B Rod Dixon (34-L), 3B Scott Benford (25-R), LF Jeff Raney (29-R), LF Don Cornacchia (28-L) and LF Bob Olsen (20-R) to New York for SP John Alecci (24-R). What they want Dixon for, I cannot imagine. Benford is a decent prospect, but getting kind of long in the tooth for a prospect. He had a .728 OPS in AA last season. Raney is a disruptive malcontent who hit .197 in AAA and will be 30 before the season begins; why anyone would even want him working in the concession stand is beyond me. Cornacchia is a decent player with a solid bat, but swings at everything. Olsen is a middling prospect that both the Scouting Combine and our own Dave Dafoe and Company rate equally overall, but as two very different types of players. Alecci has yet to pitch in the Majors. He is nothing special, but might be better than someone we already have. He will get a chance to show that in Spring Training. He is at least for certain worth more than the bundle of bums we sent to New York. Trade #4: RP Jesse Adcock (27-L) to San Francisco for SP Frank Martin (25-R), SP Tom Horn (24-L) and RP Dave Ream (24-R). Adcock had 30 saves for us this past season and 27 the year before when he had a 1.66 ERA. He is pretty awesome. But our Bullpen has 3 lefties in it and I do not want 3 lefties in it. He is the best, by far, but you have to give up something to get something. Martin and Horn appear to be ready to pitch in the Big Leagues, though neither has actually started a game in the majors yet. They both pitched cups of coffee in relief this past season for the Seals. Horn looks like he has a chance to be special, but there are concerns about his durability. The Scouting Combine does not think a whole lot of Ream, but Dave Dafoe likes him a lot and he had a 1.41 ERA in AAA last year.