The Astros clinched the #1 pick in next year's draft. Get Appel, I guess?

BigEd76 wrote:Former Pirates owner Kevin McClatchy is gay friendly

more like Former Pirates owner Kevin McClatchy is gay, friendly

Dunno if it's too early for an offseason topic or what, but here's some early stuff:

-- Valverde switched to Bora$
-- The Angels are expected to decline their options on Haren and Santana to free up money for Greinke
-- The Blue Jays are expected to look for starting pitching, a 2B and a LF in free agency. Kelly Johnson is unlikely to return
-- Tony DeFrancesco, Tim Bogar, Dave Martinez and Bo Porter are the four candidates for the Astros managerial job. Brad Ausmus withdrew his name from the list
-- Varitek is expected to take one of those "special assistant" jobs in the Sox front office
-- Berkman says he wants to play for a contender next year, so returning to the Astros as a DH is out
-- Helton says he wants to play out his contract with the Rockies next season but doesn't want to be just a reserve on a rebuilding team

The Marlins want to trim payroll to about $70-80MM next year and they have about $67MM committed already without arbitration #'s considered.

BigEd76 wrote:Kelly Johnson is unlikely to return

He he can play 2B for us right? 102 OPS+ the last three years, dunno about his defense. He would be infinitely better than Galvis with the BATTS though.

Soren wrote:

BigEd76 wrote:Kelly Johnson is unlikely to return

He he can play 2B for us right? 102 OPS+ the last three years, dunno about his defense. He would be infinitely better than Galvis with the BATTS though.

too lefthanded

stevemc wrote:The Marlins want to trim payroll to about $70-80MM next year and they have about $67MM committed already without arbitration #'s considered.

Soren wrote:

BigEd76 wrote:Kelly Johnson is unlikely to return

He he can play 2B for us right? 102 OPS+ the last three years, dunno about his defense. He would be infinitely better than Galvis with the BATTS though.

UZR has him as slightly below average at 2B over his career. I don't remember him being particularly good or bad defensively when he was a Barve.

Well, that'd certainly be an option. Utley-Rollins-Johnson with Galvis as the defensive replacement in late innings. Hopefully they'd get the Arizona Kelly Johnson and not the Toronto Kelly Johnson.

I still don't like moving Utley from second though. Unless they can get a killer bat, I don't see any reason to do it. Frandsen is perfectly mediocre at third. Use him as a stopgap (with Galvis as a defensive sub) until you can find a better option, whether it be through FA, trade, or Cody Asche.

Had no idea that Joe Mauer still has a shot to win the AL batting title.

RichmondPhilsFan wrote:I still don't like moving Utley from second though. Unless they can get a killer bat, I don't see any reason to do it. Frandsen is perfectly mediocre at third. Use him as a stopgap (with Galvis as a defensive sub) until you can find a better option, whether it be through FA, trade, or Cody Asche.

Who are the killer bats available at 2b and 3b? Frandsen is fine but if he goes down, what do you have at third? They need an upgrade from somewhere. No way Asche is ready out of ST, and you put all your eggs in that basket.

Utley and Kelly Johnson with Frandsen and Galvis on the bench is way better than Utley and Galvis/Frandsen at third with god knows who behind them. And it's not like signing Johnson would preclude them from using Asche or making a trade if the time is right.

That said, I'm not sure how thrilled Johnson would be about coming into a non-guaranteed starting job.

Barry Jive wrote:

RichmondPhilsFan wrote:I still don't like moving Utley from second though. Unless they can get a killer bat, I don't see any reason to do it. Frandsen is perfectly mediocre at third. Use him as a stopgap (with Galvis as a defensive sub) until you can find a better option, whether it be through FA, trade, or Cody Asche.

Who are the killer bats available at 2b and 3b? Frandsen is fine but if he goes down, what do you have at third? They need an upgrade from somewhere. No way Asche is ready out of ST, and you put all your eggs in that basket.

Utley and Kelly Johnson with Frandsen and Galvis on the bench is way better than Utley and Galvis/Frandsen at third with god knows who behind them. And it's not like signing Johnson would preclude them from using Asche or making a trade if the time is right.

That said, I'm not sure how thrilled Johnson would be about coming into a non-guaranteed starting job.

I wasn't saying that any killer bats were available. In fact, I was inferring that they weren't out there. My point is that I don't see why it makes sense move Utley unless it's to make room for someone amazing (or unless he doesn't think his knees will hold up at 2B anymore).

Besides, I just don't think Utley is a good candidate at 3B. Unless he really surprises me at 3B, I'd rather not waste him there. And if you look at Kelly Johnson's numbers, he isn't a 102 OPS+ guy. His numbers plummeted after leaving Arizona. Now, maybe he just hates the AL, but who knows.

His career OPS+:
91 (87 G)
116 (147 G)
107 (150 G)
82 (106 G)
127 (154 G)
93 (147 G)
82 (138 G)

RichmondPhilsFan wrote:

Barry Jive wrote:

RichmondPhilsFan wrote:I still don't like moving Utley from second though. Unless they can get a killer bat, I don't see any reason to do it. Frandsen is perfectly mediocre at third. Use him as a stopgap (with Galvis as a defensive sub) until you can find a better option, whether it be through FA, trade, or Cody Asche.

Who are the killer bats available at 2b and 3b? Frandsen is fine but if he goes down, what do you have at third? They need an upgrade from somewhere. No way Asche is ready out of ST, and you put all your eggs in that basket.

Utley and Kelly Johnson with Frandsen and Galvis on the bench is way better than Utley and Galvis/Frandsen at third with god knows who behind them. And it's not like signing Johnson would preclude them from using Asche or making a trade if the time is right.

That said, I'm not sure how thrilled Johnson would be about coming into a non-guaranteed starting job.

I wasn't saying that any killer bats were available. In fact, I was inferring that they weren't out there. My point is that I don't see why it makes sense move Utley unless it's to make room for someone amazing (or unless he doesn't think his knees will hold up at 2B anymore).

Besides, I just don't think Utley is a good candidate at 3B. Unless he really surprises me at 3B, I'd rather not waste him there. And if you look at Kelly Johnson's numbers, he isn't a 102 OPS+ guy. His numbers plummeted after leaving Arizona. Now, maybe he just hates the AL, but who knows.

His career OPS+:
91 (87 G)
116 (147 G)
107 (150 G)
82 (106 G)
127 (154 G)
93 (147 G)
82 (138 G)

I remember when the Braves had the three young outfielders. Francouer, Langerhans and Johnson. I remember liking Johnson the best. I guess I turned out to be right but only because the other two guys suck.

That said, I always kinda liked Johnson, especially since he can play 2B. He isn't great there but maybe not so bad. He did drop that pop up vs. the Phils that time.

He actually kinda sucked his last season in AZ and did well at Toronto when he first got there in 2011 (SSS).

He will take some walks and he has power. If he can hit .260 - .270, he's pretty good. He's only done that three times in his 7 seasons though.

Think of how annoyed philly.com/facebook commentators will get at his walk rate.

RichmondPhilsFan wrote:

Barry Jive wrote:

RichmondPhilsFan wrote:I still don't like moving Utley from second though. Unless they can get a killer bat, I don't see any reason to do it. Frandsen is perfectly mediocre at third. Use him as a stopgap (with Galvis as a defensive sub) until you can find a better option, whether it be through FA, trade, or Cody Asche.

Who are the killer bats available at 2b and 3b? Frandsen is fine but if he goes down, what do you have at third? They need an upgrade from somewhere. No way Asche is ready out of ST, and you put all your eggs in that basket.

Utley and Kelly Johnson with Frandsen and Galvis on the bench is way better than Utley and Galvis/Frandsen at third with god knows who behind them. And it's not like signing Johnson would preclude them from using Asche or making a trade if the time is right.

That said, I'm not sure how thrilled Johnson would be about coming into a non-guaranteed starting job.

I wasn't saying that any killer bats were available. In fact, I was inferring that they weren't out there. My point is that I don't see why it makes sense move Utley unless it's to make room for someone amazing (or unless he doesn't think his knees will hold up at 2B anymore).

Besides, I just don't think Utley is a good candidate at 3B. Unless he really surprises me at 3B, I'd rather not waste him there. And if you look at Kelly Johnson's numbers, he isn't a 102 OPS+ guy. His numbers plummeted after leaving Arizona. Now, maybe he just hates the AL, but who knows.

His career OPS+:
91 (87 G)
116 (147 G)
107 (150 G)
82 (106 G)
127 (154 G)
93 (147 G)
82 (138 G)

His numbers didn't plummet after leaving Arizona, in fact, his 2011 with Toronto was much better than with Arizona. He had the worst year of his career at 30, so it's possible he's going to keep declining, but without looking too much into it, I don't see any reason why he couldn't bounce back to being around 100 OPS+

I should clarify: I'm not saying Johnson is the answer, I'm just saying Utley/Frandsen/Galvis is a much worse one

my opinion on Utley moving to third is that it only makes sense if they can get a better upgrade at 2b than they can at 3b. But if they can't get either, it's arguable that Utley at 3b with Galvis at 2b is an upgrade over Frandsen at 3b and Utley at 2b.

It's been a while since we had an offseason this long. It's going to be brutal. I already can't wait for the winter meetings. What's RAJ going to do?!?!

he will extend Mayberry

Cost certainty!

Monkeyboy wrote:What's RAJ going to do?!?!

stuff

get some middling player in the rule 5 that hogs a roster spot all season while contributing a sub .200 batting average.