Will striking out 40% of the time ....

[eddie83]

Elias had every chance to downplay Holliday this off-season and did the opposite. 
 

Then they keep playing him in the spring. 
 

He is making the team. 

[Brooks The Great]

13 hours ago, eddie83 said:

Elias had every chance to downplay Holliday this off-season and did the opposite. 
 

Then they keep playing him in the spring. 
 

He is making the team. 

Mayo and Kjerstad are still playing regularly, but they're most likely not making the team. 

I think Holliday starts the season in AAA. The service time consideration is the #1 factor with him which will keep him from the Opening Day roster in my opinion. He'll be sent down in the final cuts, but he'll make the team if Gunnar, Westburg, or Urias get hurt, or if Urias gets traded. So he'll be playing regularly until the end of spring training.

[interloper]

7 minutes ago, Brooks The Great said:

Mayo and Kjerstad are still playing regularly, but they're most likely not making the team. 

I think Holliday starts the season in AAA. The service time consideration is the #1 factor with him which will keep him from the Opening Day roster in my opinion. He'll be sent down in the final cuts, but he'll make the team if Gunnar, Westburg, or Urias get hurt, or if Urias gets traded. So he'll be playing regularly until the end of spring training.

Elias doesn't care about service time. At least not when the team is good. 

[sevastras]

I saw at least two called 3rd strikes on Holliday that were bad calls, not even boarder line. So that is also most likely taken into account. I didn’t pay attention to who the umps were. I would imagine that they weren’t the best of the crews but couldn’t say for sure since I didn’t pay attention. 

[RZNJ]

13 hours ago, eddie83 said:

Elias had every chance to downplay Holliday this off-season and did the opposite. 
 

Then they keep playing him in the spring. 
 

He is making the team. 

I agree with the first sentence.  Holliday's AB's against LHP and the signing of Wong have me a little worried.

[interloper]

Just now, RZNJ said:

I agree with the first sentence.  Holliday's AB's against LHP and the signing of Wong have me a little worried.

Wong is not going to have a better AB vs a LHP than Holliday, nor is he going to be a better defender, or at least not enough to make a difference. So I'm not sure what the point would be going with Wong. I think he's here as a player-coach for Holliday during the spring. Whether Wong knows it or not lol. 

[RZNJ]

1 minute ago, interloper said:

Wong is not going to have a better AB vs a LHP than Holliday, nor is he going to be a better defender, or at least not enough to make a difference. So I'm not sure what the point would be going with Wong. I think he's here as a player-coach for Holliday during the spring. Whether Wong knows it or not lol. 

Wong would not get bats against LHP, most likely.  He might not even start against RHP.   They could go with Urias and Westburg with Wong on the bench.  They could say they want to see Holliday improve against LHP at Norfolk.

[interloper]

Just now, RZNJ said:

Wong would not get bats against LHP, most likely.  He might not even start against RHP.   They could go with Urias and Westburg with Wong on the bench.  They could say they want to see Holliday improve against LHP at Norfolk.

Maybe. Seems doubtful to me, but anything is possible. 

[RZNJ]

2 minutes ago, interloper said:

Maybe. Seems doubtful to me, but anything is possible. 

I agree that it's doubtful but the possibility is what worries me a little.

[Hank Scorpio]

2 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

I agree that it's doubtful but the possibility is what worries me a little.

If he's down it'll be for 2 weeks, tops. The April schedule is relatively light so they could get away with it pretty easily.

[Brooks The Great]

27 minutes ago, interloper said:

Elias doesn't care about service time. At least not when the team is good. 

Yes he does. An extra year of Holliday is extremely valuable to any organization, especially this one. If Holliday gets sent down, that'll be the reason. I think it's quite possible that I'm wrong and he makes the team (with no injuries or trades), but I think Elias will ultimately feel that using Westburg at 2B and Urias at 3B for 1-2 months will be worth gaining the extra year of Holliday. 

Edited March 14 by Brooks The Great

[Brooks The Great]

2 minutes ago, Hank Scorpio said:

If he's down it'll be for 2 weeks, tops. The April schedule is relatively light so they could get away with it pretty easily.

If they keep him down for 2 weeks, and the team is off to a good start and healthy, I think they would keep him down even longer to surpass the Super 2 deadline.

[Can_of_corn]

6 minutes ago, Brooks The Great said:

Yes he does. An extra year of Holliday is extremely valuable to any organization, especially this one. If Holliday gets sent down, that'll be the reason. I think it's quite possible that I'm wrong and he makes the team (with no injuries or trades), but I think Elias will ultimately feel that using Westburg at 2B and Urias at 3B for 1-2 months will be worth gaining the extra year of Holliday. 

And a lot of teams get that extra year by extending their players.

I also don't think it's "especially" important for this team in particular.  That just sounds like something you tell yourself so you are OK with them messing with the kid's future.

[Hank Scorpio]

6 minutes ago, Brooks The Great said:

If they keep him down for 2 weeks, and the team is off to a good start and healthy, I think they would keep him down even longer to surpass the Super 2 deadline.

How long is that, like June? 

I'm ignorant to such things.

[RZNJ]

10 minutes ago, Hank Scorpio said:

If he's down it'll be for 2 weeks, tops. The April schedule is relatively light so they could get away with it pretty easily.

I never take wins for granted because of a "light schedule".    Two weeks would be pretty transparent that they were just gaming the system.  I think he makes the team but if they have legitimate concerns I don't think he's down for only two weeks.