Bench Mountcastle, start O’Hearn

[Aristotelian]

35 minutes ago, Yardball85 said:

The hope that Mountcastle can turn it around in a new environment and start matching his minor league numbers, plus his team control versus Goldschmidt only being under control for 1.5 more years. This trade is conditioned on the Cardinals continuing their losing ways and according to mlbtravevalues.com, it actually kind of favored the Cardinals.  Here is the link to my story for you all to hate on https://birdswatcher.com/posts/impact-bats-that-could-intrigue-the-baltimore-orioles-on-the-trade-market-01h276zfa8be

Mercy reminder:  I do this on the side and am not a professional baseball writer. Be kind

I definitely think Goldy is a guy we should go after if the Cards fall out and decide to retool/rebuild. I doubt Mountcastle is a guy they would want but you never know. There will be enough demand for Goldschmidt that they aren't going to do a volume deal where a bunch of 2nd tier prospects add up to his value. I would bet they would demand Cowser as the centerpiece. Would we do that? 

[Can_of_corn]

7 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

I definitely think Goldy is a guy we should go after if the Cards fall out and decide to retool/rebuild. I doubt Mountcastle is a guy they would want but you never know. There will be enough demand for Goldschmidt that they aren't going to do a volume deal where a bunch of 2nd tier prospects add up to his value. I would bet they would demand Cowser as the centerpiece. Would we do that? 

I think that if it comes to that point for the Cardinals where he ends up has a lot more to do with where he allows himself to be traded than anything else.

If he says "I'll only accept a trade to the Astros" well, the Cards probably aren't going to get a lot for him.

[Aristotelian]

5 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

I think that if it comes to that point for the Cardinals where he ends up has a lot more to do with where he allows himself to be traded than anything else.

If he says "I'll only accept a trade to the Astros" well, the Cards probably aren't going to get a lot for him.

Good point. Of course a guy like him has a no trade.

[turtlebowl]

On 6/7/2023 at 8:35 PM, e16bball said:

I’m at the end of my rope with Mountcastle, but I’m not sure he has “zero” trade value. 

He still has huge EV and expected stats. I don’t know if anyone but Kevin Brown is still buying the “bad luck” concept, but he still clearly retains the natural ability to barrel the ball and hit it really hard. If I’m betting on “bounce back” or “breakout” candidates, I’d start there. 

Beyond that, and most of this is speculation, I think a team could easily talk themselves into The Wall being a major factor in his decline. There’s the literal sense, where it’s actually robbing HRs from him — he would have had 48 homers with the Angels since the start of 2022, compared to just 33 with us. But there’s also the less obvious sense, where it seems to be changing his overall approach, in a way that isn’t working. Back in 2021, he pulled the ball almost 39% of the time — that’s steeply down to 30.8% this year, and his FB rate is also down. He’s made reference to trying to drive the ball to right-center, but that clearly is not working well for him.

Long way of saying that I think it’s entirely possible that a team could convince themselves that they’re buying low on a legit power bat with Mountcastle. In a different situation, where he can just get back to turning it loose and pulling the ball with authority, I think a serious resurgence is somewhere between “possible” and “likely.” He’s not going to be the centerpiece of any deal for an impact player — but I think there are a number of teams (CHC, CIN, aforementioned LAA, etc) for whom he’d make a lot of sense.

I kind of agree with this.  Mounty is never going to be a high on base guy or a .300 hitter.  Saying that if the attempts are being made to help him in both those categories it could be affecting his only true asset which is his power.  I also remember him during his rookie year crushing inside fastballs and thinking, wow this guy is so quick on the inner 1/2.  Now he doesn't get to those pitches and still hasn't improved on covering the outside breaking pitches.  

If I am the hitting coaches, at this point I'd tell him to stop thinking, hunt fastballs and see how far he can hit them to left field.  It may be his only strength as a hitter but if he does that well then at least he has something to offer.  

[Aristotelian]

46 minutes ago, turtlebowl said:

I kind of agree with this.  Mounty is never going to be a high on base guy or a .300 hitter.  Saying that if the attempts are being made to help him in both those categories it could be affecting his only true asset which is his power.  I also remember him during his rookie year crushing inside fastballs and thinking, wow this guy is so quick on the inner 1/2.  Now he doesn't get to those pitches and still hasn't improved on covering the outside breaking pitches.  

If I am the hitting coaches, at this point I'd tell him to stop thinking, hunt fastballs and see how far he can hit them to left field.  It may be his only strength as a hitter but if he does that well then at least he has something to offer.  

As far as I can tell, that has been Mountcastle's strategy his entire career. If the coaches have been telling him anything different he hasn't been listening to them, so I doubt telling him anything one way or the other will make any difference in his approach or his success.

[interloper]

If nothing else, I think this season is confirming that, yes, Mountcastle is an area where the team should feel comfortable making a significant upgrade if they can. It was definitely worth seeing if he could improve this year but it's getting much harder to stick with him.

[oriole]

2 hours ago, Aristotelian said:

I definitely think Goldy is a guy we should go after if the Cards fall out and decide to retool/rebuild. I doubt Mountcastle is a guy they would want but you never know. There will be enough demand for Goldschmidt that they aren't going to do a volume deal where a bunch of 2nd tier prospects add up to his value. I would bet they would demand Cowser as the centerpiece. Would we do that? 

I’d hope not. Goldschmidt is good but he’s a bit old and expensive. I’d say he’s worth maybe something like Norby or another redundant piece or low level guy, but Cowser would be a hard no from me.

[turtlebowl]

2 hours ago, Aristotelian said:

As far as I can tell, that has been Mountcastle's strategy his entire career. If the coaches have been telling him anything different he hasn't been listening to them, so I doubt telling him anything one way or the other will make any difference in his approach or his success.

I think his strategy has changed since his rookie unless his swing has gotten much longer.  I really have a hard time recalling seeing him absolutely turn on a high velocity FB in the last couple of years.  Look at his first couple homers against Toronto and look how quick he was on inside pitches that he just hit lasers to left.  

I know the new thought is Mountcastle is unwilling to make adjustments.  All I am saying is not everyone is capable of making adjustments and possibly by trying he has lost the thing he really did well.

[jabba72]

2 hours ago, oriole said:

I’d hope not. Goldschmidt is but he’s a bit old and expensive. I’d say he’s worth maybe something like Norby or another redundant piece or low level guy, but Cowser would be a hard no from me.

 

5 hours ago, Aristotelian said:

I definitely think Goldy is a guy we should go after if the Cards fall out and decide to retool/rebuild. I doubt Mountcastle is a guy they would want but you never know. There will be enough demand for Goldschmidt that they aren't going to do a volume deal where a bunch of 2nd tier prospects add up to his value. I would bet they would demand Cowser as the centerpiece. Would we do that? 

Good grief, hard no to Cowser in any trade for a 1B. Especially Goldschmidt who is old. O's have Kjerstad probably less then a year away from replacing Mountcastle. 

[86this]

It's a shame Buck Showalter wasn't a fan of Mountcastle.  Pete Alonso is out for at least a month with a bruised hand.

[Billy F-Face3]

6 hours ago, jabba72 said:

 

O's have Kjerstad probably less then a year away from replacing Mountcastle. 

Who is an OUTFIELDER.

[vab]

29 minutes ago, 86this said:

It's a shame Buck Showalter wasn't a fan of Mountcastle.  Pete Alonso is out for at least a month with a bruised hand.

Buck might not be there much longer the way they're playing. 

[Mooreisbetter27]

13 minutes ago, Billy F-Face3 said:

Who is an OUTFIELDER.

He’s been playing a lot of first base in the minors. 

[Rbiggs2525]

The MLB has lost the value of a true first baseman. There are probably only 1-3 left in the league. This has been going on for 15-20 years.

[Billy F-Face3]

2 minutes ago, Mooreisbetter27 said:

He’s been playing a lot of first base in the minors. 

No, he's been playing a little bit of first base in the minors. Major difference. He's mostly been playing Left Field and Right Field. He hasn't played any first base in about a week and that was only for a half inning after a pinch runner made the outfield too crowded.

If Kjerstad is going to be dubbed the future first baseman, that will hold him down in the minors alot longer because a player should actually play / gain experience of the position you're asking to play before he's thrown into it in MLB.