The forum's poll for 2022 and why?

[Pharmabro]

I picked the last 3 but really could have pivoted off of the trade path and went Conforto, and Schwarber, or Suzuki, or,0r.

I do think we are counting on Ifs a bit too much if we are going into win mode. If JK, JRod, hit the ground running. If JP hits for more power, OBP, Average. If Ray repeats a career year, If Flex repeats, If Frazier repeats his career year. If Gilbert and Brash and or Kirby is as good as we think.

[Pharmabro]

Oh and I probably could have clicked cheap detached ownership group. Or attributed that to Jerry.

[TraderGary]

I think Jerry had every intention of signing multiple free agent bats. Unfortunately I think convincing a right handed power hitter to come play at T-Mobile may be one of the hardest sells in sports. It's easy to say "The M's could have afforded to sign all of these guys for the number they ended up getting but that doesnt mean any of them would have been willing to come here. I think that Jerry ran into road blocks on every hitter he tried to deal with and that's why they went the trade route.

I think that's entirely possible. When they moved the fences in a while back, I would argue that they didn't bring them in far enough to make it an equally fair park for both pitchers and hitters.


Personally I would have rather had a diferent roster than the one we ended up with but I dont necessarily dislike what we ended up with. They added 3 All stars and another former all star that you can basically pencil in for 30+ homeruns. I think they are good enough to make the playoffs as is and they are well positioned to supplement things at the deadline.

Supplementing at the deadline is going to be the key as long as we can remain in the hunt till then. The money will certainly be there to make it happen. They just have to be willing to open the purse strings. I'm just a bit skeptical about their willingness to do that enough to bring in a difference maker and not just some support piece. It's hard to trust these guys after they've lied to us so many times, and continue to do so.

Here would be my 3x targets:

Ketel Marte: No clue why the Diamondbacks haven't moved him already. They're going to be awful, so what are on earth are they doing by wasting his value as he nears the end of his deal? He would slot right in at 2B.

Jose Ramirez: If the Indians make Ramirez available, it would be worth it to explore Suarez in more of a DH platoon role against lefties. Ramirez is one of the best 3B's in baseball. The Indians aren't going to contend with the White Sox (and maybe not the Twins) and with 1.5 years left they're basically going to be forced to get rid of him. Thankfully, the prospect haul should be less the closer he comes to the end of his contract - think a Mookie Betts like trade.

Xander Bogaerts: I'd be pretty happy picking up that Bogaerts contract. $20 million a year for him seems like a steal. He also has an opt out in his contract following 2022, trading for him as a rental might not be the worst idea and then we can see about re-signing him to a new deal. He seems pretty unhappy playing in Boston and is pissed that the media is asking him if he's going to move off short stop with the Story addition.

The thought of prying JRam away from the Indians gives me wood, and at my age, that's a good thing. I think he would be the one missing piece we so desperately need. He's the one player I was really hoping JD would find a way to get. I wouldn't give up Julio, but anyone else is on the table including Marte who would be really painful to lose. But as JD said, you have to give something of value to get value in return.