Jammer7

I went with .800-.850, and I think that is somewhat conservative. He is more balanced and athletic in the box. He isn’t pulling off as much, and he is getting to the balls on the outer half with the barrel. Watching his step in 2022, the way he stepped out, drove me nuts. He fixed that. He is staying inside the ball more on the outside pitch, so far, and he is often driving the outside pitch to RF. I hope that he stays with that approach, and not try to do too much. I still see him get around the ball and get pull happy sometimes, but it’s better. Can he stay healthy? That is the bigger concern for me. He looks like he has gotten stronger, so hopefully he doesn’t wear down like he has done in the past. His stolen bases may not be as high as some might expect at the end of the season, due to the desire to keep him healthier. He hasn’t run as much lately, and I know the hip was an issue. Getting a premium athletic talent consistent MLB at bats with a good coaching environment, and playing a position he is comfortable in, he’s almost a baseball fairy tale right now.

These are my thoughts, exactly. Mateo looks like he has developed some things and made adjustments that are meaningful and sustainable. We might see Urias moved, sooner or later, for the purpose of Ortiz and/or Westburg coming up and breaking in. They might even need to send Henderson down for a while, just to get his head straight. He looks like he’s too much in his own head right now. I would give him a bit longer, and see if he can recover, but he looks bewildered right now.

Agree with both points, but we are assuming he is that guy in this scenario. Having one in hand, it’s hard to part with that type of rare SS. Holliday should be great, but still so far to go. Nothing is automatically going to work out just as it should. He’s as sure a thing mentally as there is, but what if he fills out like dad? A lot can happen in two years. Aberdeen has humbled many, but he should be fine. Good problems to have. As I said before, they just have to be decisive and deliberate in their processes. The changes Mateo has made just might be sustainable. The league is adjusting, and it will be interesting to see where he is at the end of 2023. He still gets pull happy for me too often, but the light seems switched on every time I see him not swing at the slider down and away.

Seems a decent case to hold onto him.

You could go in any direction, honestly. You have to be deliberate as an organization when the time comes, either way. On one hand, not one prospect is a sure thing at SS. Mateo, if he is the .800 OPS 5+WAR guy, might be the guy you can build around in the infield. He might have 5-7 good years left. That would give you the C, SS and CF you want on your championship run. You can plug in pieces and parts around that to make that deep long run. Those contracts won’t escalate the payroll beyond our reach. The scary thing is there is more untapped potential with Mateo, offensively. He has legitimate pop if he can stay gap to gap. On the other hand, you trade him and hope the pieces you pick up stay healthy and maybe one of them has the impact Mateo has right now, but in a few years…maybe. You hope Gunnar and/or Jackson Holliday do not outgrow the MIF positions. A lot can happen along the way to becoming the SS we already have. It comes down to when are they going to plant their flag firmly in the ground and say they are ready to go to war with the guys they have. Or are we going to keep stockpiling prospects on top 100 lists that take 2-3 years to season into MLB players. We don’t need to make the decision yet, but it is coming. And it’s a great question. For me, time to stand up and take the Yankees and Astros lunch money. I run with Mateo for now, and explore what he wants for an extension at season’s end. If it makes sense, maybe you do it. Depends on a lot of things we do not know, and likely won’t. Either way, be decisive and deliberate.

I don’t think we see Westburg for a while yet. It could happen, but I doubt it. I could see JW becoming an OF, though, at some point soon if they decide to keep him in Baltimore. As far as replacing Vavra, McKenna and O’Hearn, there is a valid reason those players are in Baltimore and not the more highly thought of prospects. They are decent bench/role/part-time players. Bench guys do not get consistent play or at bats and that makes it tough to stay in a rhythm at the plate. McKenna, Vavra and O’Hearn are the type of hitters that have simple swings and seem to be decent in part-time roles. The prospects that so many keep clamoring for are better served staying in AAA and playing everyday. Their time will come. They should not come up and sit, like what happened to Stowers.

He’s been batting higher on occasion, depending on the match ups. He batted 6th two games ago, and 8th on Monday. I don’t know if I would move him much higher, not yet. He has made strides, and I have been among his biggest supporters here since his acquisition. I would let him be for a while, and really cement these adjustments into his game. He made strides, at times, last year as well. He then went out and regressed. I would leave him down in the bottom half and keep some of the pressure off him for maybe the remainder of the year.

@Frobby or anyone else who may know, is there a particular reason this case was filed in the State of NY? Is it because MLB main offices are in NYC? Or was this strategic on the part of the Nats?

Different arm slots was the issue.

Sure, Yount shifted when he was no longer the best option at SS. If, for instance, Joey Ortiz is the best SS, then so be it. Move Mateo then. But for now, I don’t think moving those guys around is wise. Development is one thing, but not at MLB level. Not guys who are at the top of the food chain.

I agree with nearly all of that. Great post! I value flexibility as well, except when it comes to certain positions. The SS needs to be THE SS, especially when he is as good as Mateo. He is different there than anyone else, and it means something to him. I can see it in the way that he plays SS over other places. He feels like he owns it. I also think Catcher is an obvious one, especially when you have Adley. You leave those guys there. You build a strong team up the middle, IMHO. And those two positions, in particular. When it comes to Gunnar, leaving him at 3B for now should help him get more comfortable and stop pressing so much. Take some pressure off him and let him settle down, slow the game down. He is nowhere near the SS that Mateo is, not from what I have seen. The range is the biggest thing, but it also looks like the game is a little fast for him there right now. We can fill in all around those guys, as need be, with those guys with the flexibility you speak of. Anyone else in those two positions make us a weaker team, without question. Those two stay put as much as you can, while giving them rest when you can to keep them as fresh as possible.

Sure it does. But it is much more than that play. It is more like 7-8 plays in the OF, and it is all of them. It may be as simple as having a respectful talk with them, and as harsh as shaking up the culture of things with a demotion or trade. Hyde has the pulse of this team pretty well, normally. These are mental blunders, and simply not tracking the ball well also.

I am not ready to eject McKenna from the island, not yet. These plays he has had were awful, yes. He has not shown this kind of gaffe at the MLB level to this point. If it continues this way, sure, tell him to pack his stuff and go see Hyder with his nameplate in hand. My concern is that all of the OFers look to be ill-prepared to play MLB defense at times. This team looks like it is not ready to compete on a nightly basis against an average team, much less make a playoff run. That lack of preparedness might be that they kept too many guys around in Spring Training for too long, or maybe the roster construction was sketchy to start with. Either way, this is on Elias, Hyde, and the coaching staff. This team is not ready to play from night to night. Mental lapses are not excusable at this level, not if you are a young team and expect to compete for a playoff spot. Hyde needs to clean this stuff up, and quickly.

Can we just leave Mateo at SS, please? Leave Adley at C, Gunnar at 3B, Mateo at SS, Mountcastle at 1B, Hays in LF, and Mullins in CF. Set the everyday line-up and let's build some continuity with a rotation of players that makes sense. I know the organization is all about flexibility, but why in the hell would we take our best SS, also the Fielding Bible winner, and put him anywhere but SS? That is crazy to me, unless it is in a desperation move due to injuries. The reason we are struggling with our defense so far is simple to me. With all of the moving parts deep into the Spring, this team simply is not ready to play. The gaffes we have seen in the OF are not who these guys are when they are locked-in. That is on Hyde and Elias. This team looks ill prepared to go out and beat even a decent team on a nightly basis right now.

In the latest MLB Pipeline pod, they interviewed Jackson Holliday. He said his roommate is Creed. I think that is a great thing for Creed's development. The fact that he has started off hot is very encouraging. He looks trimmer to me, and more athletic than before. He is still a big fella, though. Many young guys need a year to learn about being a pro. It is player development, after all.

So, to keep Cordero on our roster, who should not have made the team? Stowers? Vavra? I thought about wanting to keep him too. They made the call, and I'm sure it was a tough one. As soon as he hit those two bombs, each on a mid-thigh center cut pitch, I knew that this was going to come up. I also felt that he was a good fit in NY with the personnel and the short porch there. He might have a great year there, and good for him. But he just was not going to play much here. We may have helped him progress as a hitter in Spring Training, and now the Yankees are benefitting from it. It's like that sometimes. Or maybe he reverts back to his swing and miss tendancies and we did not miss much.

I don’t understand why Stowers has played sparingly either, but there has to be a reason. The upside of him going down is to get everyday at bats, which he needs. Maybe that buys some time to make a deal that may or may not already be in the works. It could be Stowers is going out in a trade, and the AAA at bats help rebuild his value. With Kjerstad and Cowser emerging rapidly, was Stowers going to stay here long term? And unless they start playing Westburg in the OF, I think he is being traded as well. I don’t believe Stowers can come back up in less than 10 days unless there is a player going on the IL, but maybe I’m wrong. If that is true, has to be another player if the nest move is in four days as was speculated. Probably Lester or O’Hearn. I just had one other ominous speculative thought. What if Adley is playing through some injury right now and they kept Bemboom around as insurance? Or it could be that they aren’t sure McCann is not going to aggravate the oblique again, which is a concern with those injuries and his history. It would have made more sense to keep him on a rehab though. I don’t know what to think here.

I want to see how the OFers look in Texas and at home the next few series before I fault the coaching staff in any way just yet. Yes, there was 5-6 balls the OFers should have caught this series. And yes, Boston had to play in the same weather, so no excuses there. These same guys have been outstanding OFers for several years now, so I don’t see a need for any intervention yet. They are the kind of professionals that will hold themselves accountable. They were bad this series, no doubt. As far as the Mateo throw, I’m not worried about his throwing at all. I’m not sure what happened there, but his defense is not a concern for me. The pitching staff will clean it up too. We really need Bradish and T. Wells to show well the next few nights. The pen needs a breather. Let’s flush the Boston series and move on.

McKenna is the obvious goat on this one because of the timing, but Mullins and Hays badly misplayed catchable balls today too. The latter two might have been issues with the sun or whatever. But the OF defense, which is supposed to be a strength, has been absolutely terrible in both games. This is only one game, but the toll on the pen is mounting quickly.

I cannot stop laughing!!!

Something else he did today that was important. His first at bat, he saw 11 pitches, I believe. He struck out on a nasty 2S than ran back over the inside corner. That is a great AB to me, along with his counting stats today. Yeah, it’s one game, but he showed some things that are valuable beyond the stat line.

I was not, and am not, “pro-Frazier signing.” I simply am not ready to throw bricks at Elias for it. I assume there is a big reason they believe in him and his ability to turn things around. Frazier has looked very good defensively, and weak offensively. I was shocked at how much he signed for. We’ll see if he can work through some things and come out the better end of things. How long am I willing to wait and see? It depends on how everything else is going. If others are hitting well, and our record is good, I can see him getting until mid-June to figure it out. A hitter needs time to make changes and have them become a reaction without thought during their process. I would love to see Westburg start on Opening Day. I do not think he is even an average 2B with the new rules, though. I like him much better at 3B.

My first thought was Hays. If it's Frazier or Mateo, the silence here will be deafening. As far as pitchers, Gibson is my pick. It would not surprise me if Kremer and Bradish take big leaps forward this year.

Agreed. In addition, he is seeing some pitchers for the first time. Early, you want to see the ball deep, and see as many pitches as you can. I have no doubt he will make adjustments at the ML level and be an excellent player at some point this season. Watching him work his at bats, he’s patient and has a great approach. I’d love to see him break camp and go North with the club. I think he’s just about ready. I just want to know what Elias has in mind with all of this.

I am as excited to see the walk as I am the 109 mph single. That means he has 12 K’s to 3 walks in 41 plate appearances. SSS and all, but that is a bit of an issue to me.