Interesting FAs

[Beef Supreme]

6 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

The idea of a position player that could eat say 30 bullpen innings is appealing.

I expect there will be plenty of opportunities to pitch mop-up innings.

[Beef Supreme]

6 hours ago, Luke-OH said:

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/videos?video_id=2355549983

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/videos?video_id=2212533783

Thanks for the links. That's not the ugliest delivery I have ever seen. And his stuff looked pretty good. I wouldn't want to have drunk a few cocktails before stepping into the box to face him even if he does have a "beer-league delivery." :-)

[Luke-OH]

7 minutes ago, Beef Supreme said:

Thanks for the links. That's not the ugliest delivery I have ever seen. And his stuff looked pretty good. I wouldn't want to have drunk a few cocktails before stepping into the box to face him even if he does have a "beer-league delivery."

It's not ugly, it's just he's not throwing with much intent and there is some low hanging fruit in regards to mechanical improvements. The main thing is the soft lead leg block. I like the arm action though and if he gets his body working with him, I think he's a mid 90s guy. He has two distinct breaking balls, which is pretty cool for a guy who hasn't been pitching. 

[wildbillhiccup]

24 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Bad news for Harper.

Yep. The Dodgers clearly moved on to plan B. I imagine they'll intensify their efforts to trade Pederson now too. I'm amazed he's only 26. It feels like he's been around forever. 

[wildbillhiccup]

...speaking of Joc Pederson is 26 too old for the rebuild? Would you trade Givens to the Dodgers for Pederson if it was on the table? 

[Luke-OH]

19 minutes ago, wildbillhiccup said:

...speaking of Joc Pederson is 26 too old for the rebuild? Would you trade Givens to the Dodgers for Pederson if it was on the table? 

Not too old, but only controllable in 2019-2020. 

But I think he'd be a solid return for Givens in a vacuum. It all depends on whether they can spin Pederson for prospects. 

[wildcard]

Pederson is a platoon player that has had trouble hitting lefties in 3 or the last 4 season.   I don't think that is what Elias will be looking for in return for Givens.   Not to keep or to trade. JMG

[Luke-OH]

2 minutes ago, wildcard said:

Pederson is a platoon player that has had trouble hitting lefties in 3 or the last 4 season.   I don't think that is what Elias will be looking for in return for Givens.   Not to keep or to trade. JMG

He's completely a platoon player, but he's a valuable platoon player. He's provided more value in 2015-2018 in limited ABs than Adam Jones did in a full time role. 

[nate22]

20 minutes ago, Luke-OH said:

Not too old, but only controllable in 2019-2020. 

But I think he'd be a solid return for Givens in a vacuum. It all depends on whether they can spin Pederson for prospects. 

The Reds have a lot of OFs now. What would it take to get a guy like Winker from them?

 

[Luke-OH]

1 minute ago, nate22 said:

The Reds have a lot of OFs now. What would it take to get a guy like Winker from them?

  

I don't know, he's an excellent hitter. I don't think he's an OF, he's slow and doesn't have much of an arm, he should probably play first base, but the Reds have Votto. I don't think Givens gets it done, maybe Bundy. The O's aren't going to trade prospects for anyone at this point. 

[nate22]

5 minutes ago, Luke-OH said:

I don't know, he's an excellent hitter. I don't think he's an OF, he's slow and doesn't have much of an arm, he should probably play first base, but the Reds have Votto. I don't think Givens gets it done, maybe Bundy. The O's aren't going to trade prospects for anyone at this point. 

I wasn't thinking about prospects specifically. I think the Reds are looking to compete anyway. I was just curious about what we had on our major league roster that might convince them to move him. You answered that...Thanks. He's only 25 and is an excellent OBP guy, that intrigued me.

[luismatos4prez]

Cool idea. Looks like he's a serious offensive prospect but if he can't really play defense, then maybe Givens and Mancini does the job.

I prefer to keep Bundy (someone has to pitch this year) and having Trumbo, Mancini, Davis, and this guy Winkler would be a mess.

[wildbillhiccup]

2 hours ago, Luke-OH said:

I don't know, he's an excellent hitter. I don't think he's an OF, he's slow and doesn't have much of an arm, he should probably play first base, but the Reds have Votto. I don't think Givens gets it done, maybe Bundy. The O's aren't going to trade prospects for anyone at this point. 

Wow, I didn't realize Winker was THAT bad defensively. Like you said though love his bat. Probably not the best fit if he can't hold his own in the field, but I don't think it would take Bundy to land Winker. The Reds seem to be going all in this season so I could see them giving someone like him up if the thought it would help them make a run at the division and/or wildcard. 

[Beef Supreme]

2 hours ago, Luke-OH said:

I don't know, he's an excellent hitter. I don't think he's an OF, he's slow and doesn't have much of an arm, he should probably play first base, but the Reds have Votto. I don't think Givens gets it done, maybe Bundy. The O's aren't going to trade prospects for anyone at this point. 

Yeah, pretty much. Likewise, they probably should NOT (edited) be looking to trade for Joc Pederson types who in their arb years. Probably should not even trade for players who have more than two years in since they should not even try to compete in '19 and '20. And it's likely at minimum a 4-year rebuild, not a 2-year rebuild

[nate22]

This question probably doesn't fit here but since we are going to be shedding payroll in the near term, would it be possible to rework Davis' contract in such a way that the bulk gets paid over the next couple years, leaving us with a little more flexiblity in the last few years of the deal? His contract is a sunk cost at this point so we'll have to pay it regardless. I'm just curious if it could be adjusted so that the bulk affects us more now than later.