Sports Guy

Again, it doesn’t matter who is on the other side of this equation. The question is, what do you do with Urias? The other part is easy.

He’s aging so badly? What an awful take. He has had a bad 55 at bats this year. What other evidence do you have that he is “aging badly”? He had an OpS over 700 for the second half and it was in the mid 700s in September of last year, with a really strong OBP. So, it’s not like he was garbage for most of last year heading into the offseason and is continuing to struggle. This is just a SSS of awful production.

Yep..which is why I’m very hesitant to trade HK for him. Hell, it wouldn’t shock me if he didn’t even make it through this season. If I were the Os, I would be offering something like Norby, Stowers and solid lower level lottery ticket like Mordan. That’s a solid return for a reliever, regardless of how talented he is. 2 everyday guys with solid upside and a potential long term answer at C.

I had this discussion on twitter yesterday. Forget the Mayo aspect of things for a moment. What do you do with Urias? Urias is a decent defensive player. He’s not a GGer and every year but 2022 saw him have a negative OAA. But he’s also not some well below average guy either. He’s good enough, is how I would put it. He’s not hurting you. Offensively, he has an OPS+ of 103 in his over 1200 PA with the Os. Every year except 2023, he has had an OPS+ over 100 and in 2023, it was 98. This year, he has been awful with the bat but it’s also just 55 PA. Lots of guys look awful for 55 PA. We have people clamoring for Hays and he has been awful for the last 320 PA. He has been worth just over a 4 fWAR for those 1200 PA..so basically, he has been a 2 WAR guy a year over a full season. Now, he is 30 years old and maybe the skills have erode but he did end the year fine last year, so it’s not like there were signs then. So what do you want to do with him? Do you just want to DFa him in hopes you can trade him? Do you want to lose him for free? Do you think that’s the best way to use your resources?

No we don’t. I don’t care what the numbers say, no one is confident in this pen in October in the big moments.

The committee isn’t very good.

Like I said, I welcome Hays back here. I think his upside from the right side is needed. That being said, it’s going to be a really interesting decision if he continues to suck for a while. The Astros sent down Abreu, who has been a far better hitter in his career, because of his suckitude.

Do either of them get claimed?

It was 3-1 when Kimbrel was taken out, right? Akin only needed to get one out before 2 runs scored, correct?

Or are you being over the top because of an ultra SSS, where a back injury occurred and he was thrown off his rhythm?

Hays has a 617 OPS since last July 1. 71 wRC+ and 269 wOBA. Now, it’s hard to compare the 2 because McKenna is a part time player but since the beginning of last year, McKenna has 148 PA. His OpS is over 100 points higher, his wRC+ is 105 and he has 320 wOBA. They both have an OAA of -1 between last year and so far this year. Now, these are different roles and my guess is McKenna would be exposed playing everyday but guess what, Hays is also being exposed for the last half a year. I think he will be ok going forward but there is no definite there. So, I think an argument exists and it’s a pretty obvious one. It’s just not likely a super strong argument because we don’t have any idea about McKenna in an expanded role. There is certainly an argument where the drop off isn’t much right now

Well if you told me that he will be elite level high leverage reliever for the next 5 years, I wouldn’t hesitate to trade Kjerstad for him. That’s extremely valuable in todays game.

He got 2 outs and then the command wasn’t great. Credit to the Nats though, they didn’t swing at multiple close pitches that other players may swing at. Im not even remotely worried about Kimbrel. He has done this the last few years. He has a rough stretch that blow things up but he’s otherwise very good.

Are you trying to say that you’re old?

Btw, it’s possible Miller goes back to starting. That is, I believe, Oakland’s plan for him long term.