Hanley Ramirez to Boston; Cruz to Seattle or Baltimore? (Panda a BoSox too)

[DrungoHazewood]

Chris Davis, Kevin Gausman. Some other 2 WAR guy. De Aza would not be zero as a Nick Replacement. I'm not that concerned, it is a good process that they have going for us. Heck, Hassan could go all Pearce for us.

I'm a little concerned with the faith being place in De Aza. His last three years have been worth 2.7, 2.2, and 1.4 fWAR and he's 30. Hopefully he'll respond well to a platoon, and that the platoon will stick. Davis is a total wildcard. Could be 4 wins, could be -1. There's probably a 99.5% chance Hassan is less productive than Pearce was last year. On a per at bat basis Pearce was more valuable than Trout or, well, anyone last year. That's so bizarre I almost expect him to completely disappear when the devil comes for his soul in March.

[DrungoHazewood]

I guess they are figuring that he'll hit better in Fenway than in San Francisco. Even so, I agree it seems pretty crazy.

I would assume a team that employs Bill James has a basic understanding of park effects and the idea that everyone hits better in Fenway so it's irrelevant. Unless they think he is particularly well-suited for Fenway's quirks.

[LAOSfan]

Maybe they're going to go all Dodgers on us and have a $200M+ payroll that involves a bunch of new stars. But I'm just not all that concerned with like $200M spent on post-peak guys with red flags. Tons of money for a past-30 shortstop with tons of injury history, and $100M for a third baseman with Prince Fielder's body and 16 homers/39 walks in the NL? And now they're almost forced to trade Bogaerts, who I would certainly rather have than Ramirez' contract.

Some saying Hanley will play left and they will keep Bogaerts, which would mean they are trading Cespedes. Still, I would think they would need to include Bogaerts or Betts (or both) to trade for someone like Hamels.

[DrungoHazewood]

Some saying Hanley will play left and they will keep Bogaerts, which would mean they are trading Cespedes. Still, I would think they would need to include Bogaerts or Betts (or both) to trade for someone like Hamels.

I guess they could adopt the EPL model and go two-deep in good starters at multiple positions, and just bench whomever isn't playing well at the moment. I always feared the Yanks would try this. English soccer teams really do have minor stars making $millions who (for example) start for the Brazilian national team sitting the bench because they have even better starters. Yes, I'm mostly kidding about the Sox and Yanks doing this, I think.

[webbrick2010]

The Red Sox pattern continues?

Worst to first to worst to first?

and the following year?, another dump of bad contracts and plummet to worst?

[Mayor McCheese]

The Red Sox pattern continues?

Worst to first to worst to first?

and the following year?, another dump of bad contracts and plummet to worst?

You think fans would care if they are in the WS this year?.. N O

[gmelson26]

I think they need to do something. If they lose Nick's 2 wins, Cruz' 4, Pearce backslides from 6 to 2, and the pitching staff/defense isn't quite so wonderful... that's a lot for Manny and Wieters to make up.

I think is the actual reality we need to consider this off-season. No way Pearce brings 6, and Cruz, even if we resign him, probably won't bring 4 again. The pitching staff probably peaked as a whole last season. Gausman will be better, but I doubt on the whole, they repeat quite as well next year. Looks like we probably won't have Miller down the stretch this year either.

I agree with those that say well we're be better with a healthy Wieters, Machado, and Davis. I swallowed that Kool-Aid for a bit, but honestly I'm starting to wonder. They're all three question marks. We know what we have in Manny, but is actually going to be healthy for a year? We have no idea if Wieters will be fit to catch again with his arm.. we just don't know yet. And I love Davis, used to be my favorite Orioles (pre-suspension), but we really have no idea what we're going to get. I'm hoping he adjusts a bit more to the shift and hits like .250/.350/.500 25-30 HR. Furthermore, the 5 starters probably won't have the good luck of being as healthy as they were this year.

[bpilktree]

This is very odd IMO. I know they have a lot of money but still they are at 115 million right now and add another 35 million or so puts them at 150 before Arbitration. Granted they won't have to spend much in that but maybe another 5-8 million which puts them at their payroll the last two years. If they get Lester that puts them at 175 million which is the most they spent ever. I can't see them getting two starters now even if they deal Bograts for Hammels they are near 200 million.

[bpilktree]

I think is the actual reality we need to consider this off-season. No way Pearce brings 6, and Cruz, even if we resign him, probably won't bring 4 again. The pitching staff probably peaked as a whole last season. Gausman will be better, but I doubt on the whole, they repeat quite as well next year. Looks like we probably won't have Miller down the stretch this year either.

I agree with those that say well we're be better with a healthy Wieters, Machado, and Davis. I swallowed that Kool-Aid for a bit, but honestly I'm starting to wonder. They're all three question marks. We know what we have in Manny, but is actually going to be healthy for a year? We have no idea if Wieters will be fit to catch again with his arm.. we just don't know yet. And I love Davis, used to be my favorite Orioles (pre-suspension), but we really have no idea what we're going to get. I'm hoping he adjusts a bit more to the shift and hits like .250/.350/.500 25-30 HR. Furthermore, the 5 starters probably won't have the good luck of being as healthy as they were this year.

I don't get the pitching has peaked comment. Tilman is just 26 and has gotten better each year even with the struggles early on he has learned to pitch more without his best stuff which should make him even better next season. Chen has also been better each season and was much more durable health wise and giving us more innings per start. Gonzo continues to do what he does which is keep the team in the game give you 6 innings or so and 2 runs and just 30. Ubaldo really struggled but looked much better in August and September with his windup. Norris is the one guy that pitched better then he has in his career but I am not sure he is back anyway and I believe Gausman can give us numbers similar to Norris if not better. The bullpen is still solid and i would expect the lefty situation to work its way out but with Britton, Hunter, O'day Webb and Brach that is a very solid 5 guys.

[waroriole]

Not only real expensive...but really improved.

Panda is meh.

Hamels = Lester

Hanley is a real improvement, but they lose Bogaerts.

[waroriole]

I guess they are figuring that he'll hit better in Fenway than in San Francisco. Even so, I agree it seems pretty crazy.

If he were a RH, they might have a point. Hanley could hit big in Fenway. He's always been in big parks, now he goes to a great park for RH.

[atomic]

Seattle supposedly was going to get Ramirez or Cruz as it's bat.

If there owner rejected a 7.5 million dollar deal with 9 million club option for a second year last year why would he approve a deal with Cruz this season when it would cost more? I don't see him going to the Mariners.

[DrungoHazewood]

I don't get the pitching has peaked comment. Tilman is just 26 and has gotten better each year even with the struggles early on he has learned to pitch more without his best stuff which should make him even better next season. Chen has also been better each season and was much more durable health wise and giving us more innings per start. Gonzo continues to do what he does which is keep the team in the game give you 6 innings or so and 2 runs and just 30. Ubaldo really struggled but looked much better in August and September with his windup. Norris is the one guy that pitched better then he has in his career but I am not sure he is back anyway and I believe Gausman can give us numbers similar to Norris if not better. The bullpen is still solid and i would expect the lefty situation to work its way out but with Britton, Hunter, O'day Webb and Brach that is a very solid 5 guys.

How many games did the O's staff lose to injury last year? At any moment any of the starters could go down. Something like 40% of starting pitchers are injured in any given year. And the O's had five starters with better-than-average ERAs in '14. Just by bad luck and injuries that could drop significantly.

[AlbionHero]

If there owner rejected a 7.5 million dollar deal with 9 million club option for a second year last year why would he approve a deal with Cruz this season when it would cost more? I don't see him going to the Mariners.

Maybe he realizes he made a mistake last time around? Peoples minds do change sometimes.

[waroriole]

Maybe he realizes he made a mistake last time around? Peoples minds do change sometimes.

Leading MLB in HR will do that.