Kjerstad Joining Team

[Flash- bd]

20 minutes ago, Sydnor said:

Coby Mayo is 22 years old, started the year in AAA, and currently is running a 1.043 OPS.

At the same age, Cowser started the season in Aberdeen, where he had a .795 OPS.

At the same age, Kjerstad wasn’t playing because of the myocarditis, so it’s not really fair to compare on that basis. However this year, Kjerstad’s OPS is 1.176, which is higher, but you have to remember that Kjerstad is 3 years older. In my opinion, having seen them both in Norfolk numerous times, Mayo is also better at third than Kjerstad is at RF.

With respect to rankings, as SG said, everyone has Mayo in the top 30. That is not true for Kjerstad, and was not true for Cowser.

I hope they all succeed, but Mayo is different. IMO, he’s the type of player you make room for.

Agree with you that Mayo is special, and that if I were going to be on one of our players being an impact, middle of the order bat, it's him (though if Cowser and Westburg continue to hit anything like this we'll have a few of them! And I'm a big believer in Kjerstad's bat too).

I don't think it's really that complicated, though, no? Santander will leave next season and Kjerstad takes that place. Trade Mountcastle and that's Mayo's spot. Basallo is still a ways off and things will probably work themselves out with injury or what not by then. Norby, Stowers, and Ortiz were always going to be the three that it was going to really be a struggle to find a spot for, and the Ortiz trade solved the Ortiz issue, and now I think you're in a situation where, barring injury, Stowers probably ought to be trade bait and Norby could become a really valuable 12th hitter off the bench next season. 

[Tony-OH]

21 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Yea, I agree that OHearn is the issue here. To be fair, he should play vs righties until he shows otherwise.

That may mean Mounty sits a little more.  It may mean that they make sure HK plays vs lefties, since he has hit them well in the minors.

If he hits, I think they simply find a way to make sure he gets enough at bats.

Certainly hard to sit O'Hearn with the way he's been hitting against righties. But Kjerstad doesn't have major split issues so he may be able to take some of those lefty PAs.

[Sports Guy]

I think most people’s minds are conditioned that a player has to play everyday. We don’t see teams playing a lot of guys some. We see teams that normally put out the same lineups everyday and play the same players most of the time.

But the reality is that shouldn’t be the case. 
 

We also don’t need young guys to come up and play every single day to justify them being here.  They can play 2-4 times a week and get PH appearances.  When the player is “old enough” and has nothing left to prove in the minors, you get them up here even if it’s just on a part time basis for a while until things get figured out.

[Bemorewins]

3 minutes ago, Flash- bd said:

Agree with you that Mayo is special, and that if I were going to be on one of our players being an impact, middle of the order bat, it's him (though if Cowser and Westburg continue to hit anything like this we'll have a few of them! And I'm a big believer in Kjerstad's bat too).

I don't think it's really that complicated, though, no? Santander will leave next season and Kjerstad takes that place. Trade Mountcastle and that's Mayo's spot. Basallo is still a ways off and things will probably work themselves out with injury or what not by then. Norby, Stowers, and Ortiz were always going to be the three that it was going to really be a struggle to find a spot for, and the Ortiz trade solved the Ortiz issue, and now I think you're in a situation where, barring injury, Stowers probably ought to be trade bait and Norby could become a really valuable 12th hitter off the bench next season. 

Do you think that Mountcastle could land us a frontline starting pitcher? Otherwise, there's really no use in trading him. He has been one of the best hitters on the team and is still relatively young.

Also, it might take trading Norby AND Stowers to get back a difference making starting pitcher. Would you be comfortable with that? Or do you think it would be better for him to be the 10th - 12th hitter on the team next year.

I ask because with so many top level talents/potential star players, the need or use for 10- 12 bench players is not that high (think ATL Braves). However, we are one more top notch starter (especially once Bradish returns) from being the best team in baseball bar none. Plus, if we are not going to resign Burnes, we will need someone up at or near the top of the rotation next season (even if Bradish is there and healthy) if we want to put ourselves in the best position possible to win it all.

[deward]

4 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

I think most people’s minds are conditioned that a player has to play everyday. We don’t see teams playing a lot of guys some. We see teams that normally put out the same lineups everyday and play the same players most of the time.

But the reality is that shouldn’t be the case. 
 

We also don’t need young guys to come up and play every single day to justify them being here.  They can play 2-4 times a week and get PH appearances.  When the player is “old enough” and has nothing left to prove in the minors, you get them up here even if it’s just on a part time basis for a while until things get figured out.

Ideally, sure, but in a situation where you assume that you're only getting 5-6 years from that player before he leaves, I can understand trying to manage their time so that you get the maximum impact out of it.

[CaptainRedbeard]

4 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

Certainly hard to sit O'Hearn with the way he's been hitting against righties. But Kjerstad doesn't have major split issues so he may be able to take some of those lefty PAs.

Maybe, but not if they DH Adley vs LHP, which they’ve continued to do a lot this year. If so, he’s not going to take the LH ABs from Cowser or Mullins because that means putting Kjerstad in the field somewhere and massively downgrading the defense. Otherwise Kjerstad is just replacing Mountcastle or Santander vs LHP, so not really a different consideration for playing time than when facing RHP.

So hopefully Kjerstad can pick up some ABs vs LHP from O’Hearn at DH when Adley stays at C or gets a full day off, but I don’t expect that too often.

[Bemorewins]

In 4 out of the next 9 we will face a LH starting pitcher. So there should be plenty of playing time to go around for him especially if he is going to start against lefties. Because those will be games that O'Hearn doesn't play and you gotta imagine that Mullins will sit a day or 2 against at least some of the Yanks tough lefties (Rodon and Cortez).

[Flash- bd]

16 minutes ago, Bemorewins said:

Do you think that Mountcastle could land us a frontline starting pitcher? Otherwise, there's really no use in trading him. He has been one of the best hitters on the team and is still relatively young.

Also, it might take trading Norby AND Stowers to get back a difference making starting pitcher. Would you be comfortable with that? Or do you think it would be better for him to be the 10th - 12th hitter on the team next year.

I ask because with so many top level talents/potential star players, the need or use for 10- 12 bench players is not that high (think ATL Braves). However, we are one more top notch starter (especially once Bradish returns) from being the best team in baseball bar none. Plus, if we are not going to resign Burnes, we will need someone up at or near the top of the rotation next season (even if Bradish is there and healthy) if we want to put ourselves in the best position possible to win it all.

Well, I mean, Mayo seems basically ready now and I think we're talking about a pretty special hitter, there. Let's overact and say Mounty is having a breakout season based on this SSS...we're still talking about probably an .850 OPS season tops. Maybe I'm overly optimistic but I think Mayo can likely replicate that in his first full season (if we can find some ABs for him somehow this season, obviously, that'd be great) and the upside is much, much higher. 

Would I package Mountcastle, Norby, and Stowers for a top arm? Yes. Would I package even a few of them for just a top relief arm? Perhaps, too, depending on the arm and the package. Next season we'll be getting into that part of the project where even the smallest upgrades we'll need to be aggressive in pursuing them. 

Edited April 23 by Flash- bd

[Sports Guy]

14 minutes ago, deward said:

Ideally, sure, but in a situation where you assume that you're only getting 5-6 years from that player before he leaves, I can understand trying to manage their time so that you get the maximum impact out of it.

Sure but that doesn’t have to happen immediately.  You don’t say, well I’m keeping Kjerstad in the minors because I can only find 8-10 at bats a week for him.  That’s enough for the moment. Rather that than 25 at bats in AAA right now.

Especially a guy like Kjerstad, who is getting “old” for the minors.  Norby is similar as well.

[deward]

3 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Sure but that doesn’t have to happen immediately.  You don’t say, well I’m keeping Kjerstad in the minors because I can only find 8-10 at bats a week for him.  That’s enough for the moment. Rather that than 25 at bats in AAA right now.

Especially a guy like Kjerstad, who is getting “old” for the minors.  Norby is similar as well.

I think Elias' MO is always going to be to squeeze the max potential value out of every asset. If Kjerstad isn't playing well enough to wrest away more than 10 ABs/week from the other players on the roster, then I don't think he stays up. Especially when he'd be tying up a bench spot with a player who can really only play one position in the field. He's going to have to earn a bigger time share to justify his spot. 

[Bemorewins]

9 minutes ago, Flash- bd said:

Well, I mean, Mayo seems basically ready now and I think we're talking about a pretty special hitter, there. Let's overact and say Mounty is having a breakout season based on this SSS...we're still talking about probably an .850 OPS season tops. Maybe I'm overly optimistic but I think Mayo can likely replicate that in his first full season (if we can find some ABs for him somehow this season, obviously, that'd be great) and the upside is much, much higher. 

Would I package Mountcastle, Norby, and Stowers for a top arm? Yes. Would I package even a few of them for just a top relief arm? Perhaps, too, depending on the arm and the package. Next season we'll be getting into that part of the project where even the smallest upgrades we'll need to be aggressive in pursuing them. 

I'm not saying the bolded is impossible. But what are the odds of that happening for the rest of this season, even if he were to be called up tomorrow?

I'm not sure how much value Moutcastle would have (even if he continues to have a very good season) to a team who is rebuilding/reseting/tanking/whatever you want to call it. Mountcastle would seem to have more value to a team who is trying to win and needs offensive production at 1B/DH. And if they are already trying to win, what pitching are they willing to depart with. The only team I can think of that may fit this mold is SEA.

IMO that's way too much to give up for a relief pitcher, considering that we only need a good middle reliever. We don't need Emmanuel Clase for the rest of this season. It looks like Kimbrel will do. And then next year Felix will be coming back.

[G54377]

I assume Kjerstad basically takes the at bats Hays was getting, even if the LH/RH split isn't directly there. 

[Moose Milligan]

Might get a lineup this week of Gunnar, Adley, Cowser, Westburg, Kjerstad, Holliday.  

 

[Philip]

I think “Silent J” could be one of the all-time great nicknames.

Who originated it? 

[Just Regular]

I think Kjerstad has a fair shot to go 5-for-5 rest of the week while regulars get rest for transcontinental flights and the Yankees series, but with health it'll probably be RF Santander, 1B Mountcastle, DH O'Hearn Monday against Clarke Schmidt.