So it begins, The official Hot Stove League Thread 2024-25 Offseason

[harmony]

Who would prefer five years of Blake Snell at $182 million over three years of Luis Castillo at $74.5 million (with a vesting option for a fourth year)?

FWIW Snell is eight days older than Castillo.

[bpj]

Who would prefer five years of Blake Snell at $182 million over three years of Luis Castillo at $74.5 million (with a vesting option for a fourth year)?

FWIW Snell is eight days older than Castillo.

Pretty easy choice right?

Seems pretty obvious some of the sites undervalue Castillo some.

Although he did have a rough year for him.

[GL_Storm]

If they finally do a top 5 prospect trade and it is the only prospect I care about for Bohm, I will puke.

https://twitter.com/MLBNetwork/status/1 ... 1604158535

I don't understand this trade idea at all but they obviously are a Cardinal fan.

Phillies are giving up:
Bohm: 24.9
Crawford: 18.5
Abel: 2

Phillies are getting:
Helsley: 11.5
Hancock: 1.6
Arenando: -22
Cash considerations

Cardinals are giving up:
Helsley: 11.5
Arenando: -22
Cash considerations

Cardinals are getting:
Montes: 20.4
Crawford: 18.5
Abel: 2

The more I think about this trade the less sense it makes. I'm not a big Alec Bohm fan, but trading him for an older, declining, and much more expensive player in Arenado seems like malpractice. Helsley is nice but he's a reliever (and expensive!) that will be gone in a year, and Emerson Hancock is a throw-in that doesn't matter. So the heart of the trade idea, for the Phillies, is Alec Bohm for Arenado, and that's not a good trade.

[harmony]

Who would prefer five years of Blake Snell at $182 million over three years of Luis Castillo at $74.5 million (with a vesting option for a fourth year)?

FWIW Snell is eight days older than Castillo.

Pretty easy choice right?

Seems pretty obvious some of the sites undervalue Castillo some.

Although he did have a rough year for him.

Blake Snell and Luis Castillo have each made 211 starts in their MLB careers.

Snell has posted 24.5 fWAR and 23.4 bWAR over 1,096.2 innings while Castillo has posted 23.9 fWAR and 24.0 bWAR over 1,230 innings. Over the past four seasons Snell has made 103 starts while Castillo has made 121 starts.

Snell may well have the higher ceiling but Castillo has been more durable and reliable. Each quality provides value.

[D-train]

If they finally do a top 5 prospect trade and it is the only prospect I care about for Bohm, I will puke.

https://twitter.com/MLBNetwork/status/1 ... 1604158535

I don't understand this trade idea at all but they obviously are a Cardinal fan.

Phillies are giving up:
Bohm: 24.9
Crawford: 18.5
Abel: 2

Phillies are getting:
Helsley: 11.5
Hancock: 1.6
Arenando: -22
Cash considerations

Cardinals are giving up:
Helsley: 11.5
Arenando: -22
Cash considerations

Cardinals are getting:
Montes: 20.4
Crawford: 18.5
Abel: 2

The more I think about this trade the less sense it makes. I'm not a big Alec Bohm fan, but trading him for an older, declining, and much more expensive player in Arenado seems like malpractice. Helsley is nice but he's a reliever (and expensive!) that will be gone in a year, and Emerson Hancock is a throw-in that doesn't matter. So the heart of the trade idea, for the Phillies, is Alec Bohm for Arenado, and that's not a good trade.

Made up fake trades often don't make sense.

[D-train]

Dude went out on top with 28 scoreless innings:

Capture.PNG (14.71 KiB) Viewed 165 times

[bpj]

Who would prefer five years of Blake Snell at $182 million over three years of Luis Castillo at $74.5 million (with a vesting option for a fourth year)?

FWIW Snell is eight days older than Castillo.

Pretty easy choice right?

Seems pretty obvious some of the sites undervalue Castillo some.

Although he did have a rough year for him.

Blake Snell and Luis Castillo have each made 211 starts in their MLB careers.

Snell has posted 24.5 fWAR and 23.4 bWAR over 1,096.2 innings while Castillo has posted 23.9 fWAR and 24.0 bWAR over 1,230 innings. Over the past four seasons Snell has made 103 starts while Castillo has made 121 starts.

Snell may well have the higher ceiling but Castillo has been more durable and reliable. Each quality provides value.

Good insight, thank you

[D-train]

I am usually skeptical about changes in philosophy but this make a difference the last 5 weeks of the season and I think it will make a difference next season as well.

Part of the Mariners philosophy on both sides of the ball was optimizing counts. Offensive coordinator and strategist Brant Brown, who was let go in May, took it a step further asking hitters to look for pitches in a specific spot of the zone. Edgar wanted the hitters to think more about themselves than the count up until they had two strikes. Early in the count, the at-bat is for you. Be aggressive, try and win that early count. Get to two strikes, it’s a team at-bat. Find a way to get the job done.

On the “Foul Territory” podcast Tuesday morning, new hitting coach Seitzer, who has been on the job for a short while connecting with hitters and watching video, was asked about his observations and thoughts on the Mariners’ struggles.

“There was a lot of sitting on pitches, taking a percentage of pitches in certain counts and then selling out to that,” he pointed out. “When you are wrong, you are in trouble. It’s a lot of guessing and a lot of in between. Edgar just got them hunting the fastball, staying in the middle of the field the other way and just be aggressive. For me that’s my No. 1 (modus operandi).”

[bpj]

I am usually skeptical about changes in philosophy but this make a difference the last 5 weeks of the season and I think it will make a difference next season as well.

Part of the Mariners philosophy on both sides of the ball was optimizing counts. Offensive coordinator and strategist Brant Brown, who was let go in May, took it a step further asking hitters to look for pitches in a specific spot of the zone. Edgar wanted the hitters to think more about themselves than the count up until they had two strikes. Early in the count, the at-bat is for you. Be aggressive, try and win that early count. Get to two strikes, it’s a team at-bat. Find a way to get the job done.

On the “Foul Territory” podcast Tuesday morning, new hitting coach Seitzer, who has been on the job for a short while connecting with hitters and watching video, was asked about his observations and thoughts on the Mariners’ struggles.

“There was a lot of sitting on pitches, taking a percentage of pitches in certain counts and then selling out to that,” he pointed out. “When you are wrong, you are in trouble. It’s a lot of guessing and a lot of in between. Edgar just got them hunting the fastball, staying in the middle of the field the other way and just be aggressive. For me that’s my No. 1 (modus operandi).”

Perfect. You can't hunt pitches in specific zones when guys are throwing 100mph. It's hard enough to react to any good pitch.

Glad to see them simplify the approach. Was never a fan of them trying to get mediocre batters to try and draw more walks. What pitcher in their right mind was going to pitch around any of these bums? Of course they were going to attack the zone.

[D-train]