12-09-2023, 09:23 PM
After the Ohtani mess, I'm hesitant to believe reporters, let alone bloggers, but the thinking I've read on Belli is that Boris is shopping him at a very high price, and the Cubs are waiting to see if it comes down. Speculation is that the Yankees were a prime target, but they're out now because of the Soto trade.
To Funks' point, you worry too if the desire to be the guy he was last year is lessened by a longer term deal. Then again, he was in his free agent season with the Dodgers the year before and would have had the same motivations then, but struggled. Maybe he really did get right with his swing and health and he's back to close to what he was in the MVP season. There are some metrics that suggest he was a lucky hitter last year, and I do recall it feeling like he had that star player magic where even the bloopers were seemingly getting down. But I also think he took a good 2 strike approach that I don't recall as much with the Dodgers.
All that said, we need another near sure thing addition like Swanson was last season, via trade or free agency. I could see them wanting to give Hoskins a deal like they gave Bellinger last year and I'm not sure I like that. I mean, I'll happily take it if it's that or nothing, but as much as I liked the Bellinger signing, it felt like kicking the can down the road. I don't think the talent level in the minors is good enough that the core will ever be as ready as they were in 15/16 to win, they're going to need to eat a big contract and longer term than they'd like with a guy or two this time around.
To Funks' point, you worry too if the desire to be the guy he was last year is lessened by a longer term deal. Then again, he was in his free agent season with the Dodgers the year before and would have had the same motivations then, but struggled. Maybe he really did get right with his swing and health and he's back to close to what he was in the MVP season. There are some metrics that suggest he was a lucky hitter last year, and I do recall it feeling like he had that star player magic where even the bloopers were seemingly getting down. But I also think he took a good 2 strike approach that I don't recall as much with the Dodgers.
(12-09-2023, 06:55 PM)Butcher Wrote: I sure hope Jed has some tricks up his sleeve because right now the 2024 team is quite a bit worse than the 2023 team. I know -- lots of offseason left.Same. It's hard during this time of year, but I try to remind myself that the way you get really good these days is less through free agency and more through internal development. Jordan Wicks was really good at times last year, maybe he become a solid mid-rotation guy. There's also Ben Brown and Cade Horton-- between the three I think one of them has to pan out. I think of the offensive prospects coming up, it's not clear if PCA is ready to hit at the MLB level, though I assume they want and expect him to break camp with the team to man center. Caissie and Alcantara both are hitting so well, and in theory could come up at some point next season. It's not quite what it was when they had almost sure things with Wood and then Prior coming up, or the eventual 2016 core they assembled during the rebuild, but there's some real talent in the system again.
All that said, we need another near sure thing addition like Swanson was last season, via trade or free agency. I could see them wanting to give Hoskins a deal like they gave Bellinger last year and I'm not sure I like that. I mean, I'll happily take it if it's that or nothing, but as much as I liked the Bellinger signing, it felt like kicking the can down the road. I don't think the talent level in the minors is good enough that the core will ever be as ready as they were in 15/16 to win, they're going to need to eat a big contract and longer term than they'd like with a guy or two this time around.