Jammer7

Kremer is a solid 3, sure. And that is what makes him a solid return for Milwaukee. They’re not going to take our leftovers, you have to give to get. They’re pretty solid as an organization, and they have good prospects of their own. We could sign a fifth starter of the Gibson or whomever ilk and be better off, overall. We still have Wells as well. I’m not certain they do not view Irvin and Davidson as fifth starter candidates as well. And I would not be surprised to see Bruce Zimmermann make a comeback of sorts. His stuff at the end of the year, with less velo and better command and movement, got a lot of weak contact and seemingly more swing and miss. With Kremer, we could afford both Burnes and Williams as far as what capital we send back. It is not likely we are going to “fleece” most GM’s out there. You have to give up something to gain something. Kremer is easy to replace, so we can have Burnes lead our rotation and have him take the ball in game 1 of a postseason series. Kremer’s lone playoff start this year is a bit unfair to judge him in the long term, but I don’t think he has anywhere near the talent that Burnes does. If you really want to win, you have to make moves like this. Just my opinion.

Corbin Burnes to the rotation DOES add despite the subtraction of Kremer. Burnes, Bradish, Rodriguez, Means and an assortment of 5th starter candidates would be a pretty good rotation. An ace for a #3 is a definite add, but only for one season unless we can extend Burnes.

I agree, somewhat. They’ll need innings covered as well if they are without Woodruff and plan on trading Burnes. A cost-controlled #3 starter for three years, along with a few prospects I mentioned in an earlier post, was what I was thinking. Pitchers are also different. Pitching prospects usually take a few years to fully adjust. And besides, Milwaukee is not doing a complete rebuild or anything. They have quite a bit of young talent, with much at the higher levels or debuted last year. I don’t know, maybe I am way off here. I just think there is some logic there for both sides.

What if we include a starter, like Wells, or even Kremer?

I agree. I do not trade Holliday, nor would I part with Kjerstad, Basallo or Mayo. However, would a package like say: Cowser, Norby, Wagner, Haskin, and a lower level prospect like Juan Nunez work? For one year of Burnes and two of Williams, Is that too much?

Well, does this discussion start with Jackson Holliday going back? If so, it’s over before it begins.

Fair enough. There is not any coach that can turn just any pitcher around. All coaches have certain types they work with better than others. I think Holt moving to an off field position is interesting. I am curious most about what the pitching hierarchy becomes.

I voted NO, but not an absolute. I think Cease is a quality pitcher, but it might be that he needs the right environment to be what he should be. Is he a good fit with Holt and staff? IDK. I would need a good thorough look at his medicals first. What does Holt say about him? As far as the prospects, I actually do not mind trading Cowser at all. I am not as high on him as many here. Still think he is a no doubt major league player, I’m just not sure what his production looks like in Baltimore. I worry more about losing Ortiz than Cowser.

I wondered what his home/away splits would show. I expected his numbers at home to be much better, not that they were bad. I think a solid 4/5 starter on a playoff team is fair. The K rate is not bad, but if he were to develop a true debt and miss pitch, like a split, maybe he breaks out to a solid #3. Some strange numbers with a few minor surprises. Half a run higher ERA at home 4.38 vs. 3.73. Higher HR rate at home. Lower BA against .240 at home vs. .274 on road. Higher WHIP on road 1.39 vs. 1.26 at home. A 20% higher ground ball rate at home. The HR rate and half run higher ERA was a little surprising. https://www.mlb.com/player/dean-kremer-665152?stats=splits-r-pitching-mlb&year=2023

He’s 29 yoa, but very athletic. Probably will be DFA’d, but maybe there is a mechanical fix they see ala O’Hearn. It may be something as simple as hand positioning/bat angle at load. I admit I knew nothing about him until today.

Yeah, exactly. Why not make that claim. Davidson must have some traits they like. He’ll probably be waived at some point. He got to us in the waiver order, so he’ll likely get through when teams cut down for the fixed 40 man deadline before the rule 5. It appears he has not been outrighted before. Maybe he is depth at this point, and we’ll see what they can do with him.

I did not say he has “psychological issues.” The pressures of performing on an MLB stage are tremendous. Some can excel, while others wilt under that pressure. It is common practice for pro athletes to have consulted with sports psychologists. My comment was simply to highlight his lack of confidence that is apparent to me. Great stuff, but yet he does not seem to trust it, particularly after he has failure. His body language is quite telling to me. As highly touted as he was his entire adult life, it’s a lot to live up to. Perhaps a professional can help Fuji come to terms with the inherent failures of baseball. Perhaps a more consistent mental approach will allow him to be more consistent with his mechanics and pitch with more conviction in each pitch. His tempo and rhythm differ from pitch to pitch, especially after failure. He’s a real long shot, either way. Like you wrote, his history is what it is. Any guy who throws 102 mph with ease is worth a look, to me anyway.

That’s the thing, right? Which direction do they go with the prospects? If they trade Santander, Mullins and/or Hays, and replace them with Kjerstad, Cowser and whomever, are they still playoff contenders? Or are they willing to take a step back to take steps forward in developing their young major league talent? Will they supplement with place/holders, or will they go get an impact bat, a legit vet starter and a closer type? If they trade the prospects, is this sustainable? I trust Elias and staff to make those decisions, but to make any predictions is pretty tough.

I would hold onto Holliday, Mayo and Kjerstad, all of the rest can go in the right deal. They could all three be ready with a great Winter of work, but I could see any or all of them back in Norfolk to start 2024. Mayo is soooo young, and the defense at 3B is not great. But you find a place for that bat to play. That said, I’m not in a hurry to move any of them. All of them could fill roles on a winning team. Depends on what else they do. Norby, in particular, may just be a guy that surprises down the road. Bat to ball skills matter, and maybe they find a place for him in 2B/LF. He should begin 2024 in Norfolk, and then we’ll see. I like Westburg a lot. There is much more there in the bat. I like the intensity he brings, his work ethic. He brings “it” every day. Ortiz would be an ideal bench INF for me. Depends on what they do with Mateo and Urias, I guess. Hall and McDermott look like high-leverage pen arms to me. If they want to win a World Series, you need guys who can miss bats in the pen.

Interesting.

Yep. Turning water into dollar bills…

Yeah, I am always in hot water here. Fuji is just so hard on himself. He’s a talent, and I’m curious to see where he ends up.

I don’t disagree, but he needs a sports psychologist and for Chris Holt to rebuild him a bit.

Probably a guy that gets waived sooner or later this winter, but yeah, more or less.

Well, we did get Jorge Lopez and Ryan O’Hearn from them on waivers. Lopez became an all star closer and got us Yennier Cano, Cade Povich and the other two interesting International arms. So, yes, more please!

Sure, there are many players out there that did not click here or there, but went on to do very well elsewhere. Each case is a different reason. With Heim, he obviously has talent, so the draft was good in the 4th round. The development group wears this one to me. It took him a few years, yes. Perhaps that is because he was developed poorly while in the Orioles organization. I believe the current development group would have had Heim performing much better and sooner in his career. And, as far as Christian Walker, he did not take 6 years to become decent. He’s been at least decent for several years. He could always hit.

You’re on point there. In the last six weeks or so of 2023, he was back to driving the ball to RCF more often. It is important to have more of a gap to gap approach, in general, and half of the games are with Mt. Waltimore. The other 81 games matter just as much. So, he would not be able to pull as many home runs. Honestly, I would prefer him to be more of a doubles and line drive gap to gap guy. Let him set the table for Gunnar and Adley.

He has a lot of power to RCF. He has a good approach for Camden Yards.

I was thinking the same thing. Not as big as Kent, but a similar player. I’m not sure he ver plays much at 2B as an Oriole. With Westburg, Gunnar, Mayo, Ortiz and Holliday around, it doesn’t seem likely. But I would like to see his bat stick around. Could Norby platoon with maybe Cowser next year in LF? Should they move Hays? I’m warming up to it. Hays just does not bring enough offense, though his defense in our OF is mostly very good.

I didn’t see any evidence of significant weight gain. Catchers wear down as others have written here. He clearly wore down at times and we were blessed to have McCann. The biggest thing I did not like about his year was that he batted lead off far too much. I get all of the reasons they gave for putting him there. I know his batting eye, OBP, etc…, and I don’t agree with it. This is the loudest thing I disagree with Hyde/Elias on. (Maybe the bigger question is who should have batted lead off?) Adley responded well at the end of the season when he was moved down to #2. He should be in a run-producing situation on a good offensive team. The bottom of the lineup that preceded him after the first inning did not get on base and let his ability to drive in runs work often enough. He is an elite hitter, and the two strike approach he employed was too picky quite often. He struck out looking far too often. IMHO, I want him looking to do damage. I don’t want him to expand the zone often, but there are times he should be more aggressive with runners on base. Watching him in college, he had an uncanny ability to get big hits to drive in runs. That was a long time ago, Yes, but that is the type of hitter he is. The only other negative thing I have to say is I sometimes question his pitch calling. In fairness, I wonder how much of that is dictated by analytics staffers, and how much discretion is he given. In several instances, we got hurt this year when Adley called the same pitch and location four consecutive pitches. He is an outstanding player, and by all accounts, a great teammate and face of the franchise. But for goodness sakes Adley, stop skipping leg day!