Where do we stand on Kelenic?

[D-train]

How about this split for Kelenic

vs. NL
PA 58
AB 51
H 17
HR 7
AVG .333
OBP .397
SLG .824
OPS 1.220
SO 13
BB 6
TB 42

vs. AL
PA 76
AB 71
H 18
HR 0
AVG .253
OBP .302
SLG .352
OPS .654
SO 25
BB 4
TB 25

He has had quite the power outage lately. Very odd.

Someone sent me this on Twitter. Same problems he had last year now that pitchers are adjusted after the offseason and he's seeing a steady diet of offspeed pitches.

Yep, MLB breaking balls have always been his Kryptonite. Very understandable given his history why pitchers didn't respect him and just threw him a lot of fastballs in April.

[Big_Maple]

So I was reading a summary of Seattle Sport's Brock and Salk's interview with Passan. They were lamenting JRod's struggles and the SO rate of Teo. Nothing new. Passan could have consulted this board to have reached those conclusions.

But they asked him about trade targets. Naturally he mentioned the scuffling Cardinals as early trade partners. I had always thought that it would be cool to bring back Tyler O'Neil, but he's been struggling a little this year. The last thing we need to do is get a decent hitter who is currently struggling because, you know, our hitting coaches could lower their BA to below the Mendoza line.

They mentioned Lars Nootbaar who, besides having the coolest name in baseball, is a young OF with good skills at the dish. As Passan says. "Nootbaar is hitting .289 with a pair of home runs and an impressive .432 OBP. He’s already accumulated a 0.9 fWAR to go with his 137 wRC+. Nootbar is just 25 years old and has several years of club control remaining, which means acquiring him would be expensive."

Look, we went out and spent some prospect capital last year to get (and the lock in) Castillo. It was costly, but look what he has brought the club. In my opinion, we need to get splashy again, but this time we go after a position player. The Teo experiment is not working. He's going to be a FA next year, and I think it was wise of the M's not to immediately lock him into a long term contract.

If we trade for Nootbaar, we get a 25 year old player with team control. He plays good defense, he can play all 3 outfield positions, he's speedy on the basepaths (he already has 4 stolen bases), and he bats left handed. He'd be expensive - baseballtradevalues puts his median value at about 49, so I don't even know who'd we be willing to part with at that price. But it's an intriguing thought as we look ahead to salvaging this season, and find stability in RF down the road.

Oh - and if we got him by, say, the end of May, I guess he platoons RF with Teo, and they switch off DH duties. Just thinking out loud.

[Sibelius Hindemith]

What happened to Cooper Hummel?

[bpj]

What happened to Cooper Hummel?

They counted on an unproven player to save money and they got what they deserved. He never should have made the roster of a contender.

[Pharmabro]

Back to JK

He has been making a lot of loud contact rocket grounders snagged, line drives, etc, etc,etc.
But even in his slump, he is not cratering.
Last week .669 OPS
Last 2 weeks .629 OPS ( During this week the OPS was .589+/-)
Last month .751 OPS ( During these 2 weeks he was .880 +/-)

So JK 2023
ST (51 ABs) .353 .389 .706 1.095
regular season (143 PAs) .290 .343 .550 .892 149 OPS+

[D-train]

If he can pull out of this mini slump he might be on his way. We shall see.

[Coeurd’Alene J]

Fann discusses a new contract for JK. He doesn't seem like he would accept one at this point. He already refused one. Seems he would wait until FA.

They say the need to save to extend the core but why would those guys not just wait for FA like all the SSs did the past two years?

https://sports.mynorthwest.com/1753582/ ... -mariners/

That’s the main question for JK…Do you try and extend and buy out his arb years?

To me I’d let him play we have 4 yrs before free agency and if he refuses to sign you end up with a pick. If we can’t improve to at least a shot at the World Series by the end of 2027 than it’s all for nothing anyways

[ddraig]

Good point, J. If ownership doesn't make a run over the next three-and-a-half years, then what's the point? Why bother? We have the pitching to go toe-to-toe with anyone. It's the offense that sucks. If JK ends the year with 20+ HR's and a .250 average or above, then I'd be OK with him.

Ownership takes the old Soviet Union approach. Another 5-year-plan!

[Coeurd’Alene J]

Good point, J. If ownership doesn't make a run over the next three-and-a-half years, then what's the point? Why bother? We have the pitching to go toe-to-toe with anyone. It's the offense that sucks. If JK ends the year with 20+ HR's and a .250 average or above, then I'd be OK with him.

Ownership takes the old Soviet Union approach. Another 5-year-plan!

I think this is Jerry’s sustainable run. He has convinced Stanton and himself that you can win this way without the big spending. One veteran bat could have gone a long ways to prove Jerry right….We shall see if this plan holds water. If the Rangers get Ohtani we are screwed. Either way I see few reasons to extend JK

[Captain 97]

Fann discusses a new contract for JK. He doesn't seem like he would accept one at this point. He already refused one. Seems he would wait until FA.

They say the need to save to extend the core but why would those guys not just wait for FA like all the SSs did the past two years?

https://sports.mynorthwest.com/1753582/ ... -mariners/

That’s the main question for JK…Do you try and extend and buy out his arb years?

To me I’d let him play we have 4 yrs before free agency and if he refuses to sign you end up with a pick. If we can’t improve to at least a shot at the World Series by the end of 2027 than it’s all for nothing anyways

Heck No!

Have we learned nothing? I don't understand Jerry's fascination with overpaying for young talent without a long track record of success while they still have multiple years of cheap control left. He did it with White, Gonzalez and JP and we haven't gotten value out of any of those deals. You can even put Julio in that camp. He had five years of control left and Jerry gave him a lifetime contract after 4 Good months. Hopefully we aren't regretting that contract down the line as we are these others. I just don't understand this mindset of paying unproven guys before you have to. Especially when they then turn around and say they can't afford any free agents. That's not the model for winning baseball. You win by having young cost controlled guys and supplementing that with quality FA. Instead Jerry prefers paying young guys more than he has to and then he supplements it with dumpster diving.