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Early 22 GM Thread! (Trade Ideas here)

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As the Guardians GM, I'm looking for big upgrades, not incremental improvements, and Im high on Lavastida....so I view Bart as closer to incremental than big.

And as I look at San Francisco, I dont see anything reasonably available that I would trade pitching for.

I also don't know why the Pirates would trade Reynolds or the Orioles would trade Mullens, unless the offer was so overwhelming that it could not be turned down. But I look at the number of our prospects that have to be protected this year and next...and the number of young players we already have that are under control for at least four years...and I see that, even if these prospects are really productive, I have no place to play them.

Consider our rotation.

If I extend Bieber, I can't use half the MLB ready pitching I have now. The rotation I presently have is in place for at least the next three years. What do I do with Morris, Moss, Stephan, Scott, Pilkington, Battenfield, Espino, Allen sr, Allen Jr, yada yada yada?

And what do I do with Gimenez, Arias, Freeman, Rocchio, Miller, Tena, yada yada yada. And, if I extend Jose, what do I do with Jones...esp if I add outfield bats?

I trade a bunch of them. I look, and see the type of overwhelming offer it would take to acquire a seemingly untouchable player. And I see that, even if I make such a trade, I still have a nearly set contending club for the next four years, by which time the next wave of prospects will be ready...Martinez, San Quinton, Halpin, Torres, et al.

I look at my situation, and see that its time to pull the trigger on a deal/deals that make us the clear favorite in the division for the next three or four years.
 
@sportscoach
Onto trade # 2:

Next move... Bryan Reynolds!
Indians get OF Bryan Reynolds, OF Lonnie White
Pirates get: C Joey Bart, 3B/OF Nolan Jones, INF Jose Tena, SP Battenfield and SP Adam Scott


This assumes the Joey Bart trade happens...

Bryan Reynolds...is having a great 2021.. not so much in the weirdness that was 2020.. but, very good/better than even 2021 in 2019.. He is clearly a piece to the puzzle.. The switch hitting outfielder will be entering into his Arb I season in 2022 with three more to follow (i.e. 4 years of control after the completion of the 2021 season).. He'll be on the same path as Lindor w/r to payroll.. Over the next four years, assuming there is no work stoppage following the 2021 season's fall classic, he should achieve an AAV of approximately $ 10 MM - $ 12 MM.. IOW.. a pretty good cost/price.. At the end of that time and before the 2026 season, he'll be turning 30.. So, his biography says.. he's our kind of guy.. At the cost of Joey Bart, Nolan Jones, two pitchers and one of second or third tier Indians middle infield prospects.. that's a steep price but, perhaps worth while to the Indians..

What I don't understand is why would the Pirates make this deal?.. The Pirates already have one of theee best backstop prospects in their system, a hit first.. throw first.. baseball IQ first.. leader who has really quick feet, soft hands and an aptitude for being a backstop.. The only other spot that might fit for Henry Davis is 3B.. and that spot is more than ably covered by Ke'Bryan Hayes.. In a long winded way.. I don't see why the pirates would want Joey Bart as the centerpiece for a deal involving their best ML player right now.. What the Pirates lack is bullpen pitching, middle inning pitchers and starting pitching.. Instead of Bart.. how about one of Tyler Freeman or Angel Martinez and Arteaga along with the two pitchers?..

Btw.. w/r to Lonnie White.. IDK why you picked him.. he's a LOT like Wil Benson..perhaps a little better at the same time in their career paths.. other than he's the Pirates best OF prospect?.. Pick someone else?..

Sorry for shitting all over this deal.. but.. it just doesn't make a lot of sense for the Indians to send away a guy who can fill one of the three biggest holes in the club...

Thoughts?..

I wanted Reynolds over Bart to be honest. We have Naylor and Lavastida in the system, but if I said we had someone with Reynolds talent and abilities, I would say we don't at the moment plus we want to compete in 22. Either guys fills a need, I just thought Reynolds was the better of the two.. so if I have to do an overpay for Reynolds, then I would do it! Pirates OF is now lacking, so Jones as an OF was included... also most of their upper prospects are INFs so a guy like Freeman isn't going to be as valuable in a deal as a guy like Bart, but I still added Tena to add depth to their organization in the INF, Pirates need pitching as well so Battenfield and Scott fill in needs... I would personally move the 6'7 Oneill Cruz to the OF (probably RF), so Tena is there as an INF replacement for that move.

If you look at the one big difference between Bart and Davis, is that Bart plays a solid defense while Davis hasnt shown he can handle the more advanced pitchers. Also if you only have one player in a position in the minors, you normally are setting yourself up for failure, especially at the catching position which you should always have depth in.

When it comes to White... He is an 18 player with a 50 rating and we need prospects that don't need protected anytime soon that we can develop. It's how I run my teams on OOTP, I always try and find a prospect with potential that's super young and get them added to the trade... Doesn't mean it always works out, but the more young talent you have the better chance of success if you have a good development group for the kids.
 
As the Guardians GM, I'm looking for big upgrades, not incremental improvements, and Im high on Lavastida....so I view Bart as closer to incremental than big.

And as I look at San Francisco, I dont see anything reasonably available that I would trade pitching for.

I also don't know why the Pirates would trade Reynolds or the Orioles would trade Mullens, unless the offer was so overwhelming that it could not be turned down. But I look at the number of our prospects that have to be protected this year and next...and the number of young players we already have that are under control for at least four years...and I see that, even if these prospects are really productive, I have no place to play them.

Consider our rotation.

If I extend Bieber, I can't use half the MLB ready pitching I have now. The rotation I presently have is in place for at least the next three years. What do I do with Morris, Moss, Stephan, Scott, Pilkington, Battenfield, Espino, Allen sr, Allen Jr, yada yada yada?

And what do I do with Gimenez, Arias, Freeman, Rocchio, Miller, Tena, yada yada yada. And, if I extend Jose, what do I do with Jones...esp if I add outfield bats?

I trade a bunch of them. I look, and see the type of overwhelming offer it would take to acquire a seemingly untouchable player. And I see that, even if I make such a trade, I still have a nearly set contending club for the next four years, by which time the next wave of prospects will be ready...Martinez, San Quinton, Halpin, Torres, et al.

I look at my situation, and see that its time to pull the trigger on a deal/deals that make us the clear favorite in the division for the next three or four years.

Would you take a trade of Bart, Jones, Tena, Battenfield and Scott for Reynolds + a prospect?

I made the Plesac move to get Bart so I could swap him for Reynolds... Plus like you said we have our next batch of players, but putting Matos, with Valera, Halpin, then adding White and Arteaga etc as well with them then Auerbach is a guy like a Clement, someone who can play a lot of positions (including catcher).

Getting Bart then moving for Reynolds hurt some of the short term depth, but I felt it increased our team now talent wise plus we got some long term depth pieces (Matos is 19, Arteaga and White are 18)
 
If I’m Chris Antonetti and I have to evaluate all these trade ideas, I’m first negotiating a hefty contract extension.
 
Would you accept that return for Jose Ramirez?

It might help to view Reynolds as Jose with more market value.
 
Here is a corner bat that is available - Only 23 (will be 24) in 2022 and his name is - Oscar Gonzalez. He is also a righty.

Oh and though a centerfielder by trade - Steven Kwan in 57 games - 363/434/586/1020 - just turned 24 2 days ago. Though a lefty, career stats say he doesn't have any platoon issues

Oh and uber prospect Valera is in AA, Benson is still around and others as well.
 
If I am GM - I look to lock up extensions with Bieber, JRam and Civale. If successful, FA money should be tight.. If not, maybe I play a little but here, but probably pocket a good chunk while I am at it. I then comb the FA/DFA pile for BP arms and bat first type castoffs.

I then bite the bullet and continue to sort through "our guys" while working the phone to see if we can package up some of our prospects to trade for a controllable big bat, possibly the best value that doesn't play 3rd base as the principle criteria.
 
Would you accept that return for Jose Ramirez?

It might help to view Reynolds as Jose with more market value.
This is true.

In terms of trade value...Reynolds>Jose.

To answer Coach's question, I'd give up more for Reynolds. They need young pitching. Battenfield and Scott, esp since they might think they could pick up Scott in R5, won't get their attention.

Espino to begin. Espino will get their attention.

But I'm trying to clear roster spots in any trade, which Espino doesn't do.

So, Espino and Jones.

But that won't do it.

So, Espino, Jones, Noel, and Johnson.

That still won't do it.

So, Espino, Jones, Noel, Pilkington, Tena, and Johnson for Reynolds and a R5 eligible prospect.

If they accept that, and don't see Noel and Tena needing protected, they havent added to their problem.

And, since I view Noel and Tena as needing protected, but not Johnson, we clear one spot for Berto to be resigned.

I dont see why they would, but they could take Chang or Mercado, too.

In this scenario we lose one prospect (Espino) that we are counting on. This trade would make Jones expendable. Tena and Pilkington are excess. While I like them both, they are both part of GROUPS that we are counting on. I like Noel, too, but he is years away.

As GM, I work in three year segments, and don't see a need for production from Noel in the next three years.

From Pittsburgh side, they aren't gonna contend until 2024, by which time Reynolds is beyond their comfort zone in salary. But by then, all four prospects they acquire have seen enough MLB PT to help them contend.

Do Espino and Jones become big time down the road? Maybe, but I dont care. We have a middle of the order bat under control for four years to match up with Jose and Franmil.

I'm dreaming of a lineup of

Straw R. 341 OBP
Reynolds S. 360 OBP...850 OPS
Jose S. 360 OBP...900 OPS
Franmil R. 330 OBP...850 OPS
Bradley L
Canha R. 350 OBP...780 OPS
Gimenez L
Berto R
Amed R. 325 OBP

I'm dreaming of 130 HRs from the middle of our order and 120 stolen bases, and sound defense....for the next three years.
 
As GM I see the time for sorting as over. Its time to stop shuffling the cards...and deal.
 
If I am GM - I look to lock up extensions with Bieber, JRam and Civale. If successful, FA money should be tight.. If not, maybe I play a little but here, but probably pocket a good chunk while I am at it. I then comb the FA/DFA pile for BP arms and bat first type castoffs.

I then bite the bullet and continue to sort through "our guys" while working the phone to see if we can package up some of our prospects to trade for a controllable big bat, possibly the best value that doesn't play 3rd base as the principle criteria.
I would be leery of giving extensions to pitchers. Don't get me wrong, a consistent FOR pitcher is worth their weight in gold. But pitchers these days seem to be pitching less innings and getting more injured.

It's not like the old days where pitchers like the Rocket and Pedro would pitch for a decade without trouble. Organizations are very cautious with them because of the money that's tied up in them.
Plus, when you look at the return we got for Bauer, Kluber, and Clevinger, it sort of makes you cautious.
 
As GM I see the time for sorting as over. Its time to stop shuffling the cards...and deal.

We haven't even really started though. Most of the interesting guys (Morris, Valera, Freeman, Lavistida, Arias, Palacios etc.) weren't options for 2021. They will all be at AA and above in 2022 and unless traded should be looked at for our future.
 
In 2016 I was an assistant to the assistant to the assistant to Mike Chernoff.

It was a learning experience.

I was dead set against trading our top prospect AND Sheffield AND two MLB ready relievers for 2.5 years of an elite reliever.

I was also dead set against trading our best offensive catching prospect AND our next CF AND a power hitting MIF prospect AND a great looking young MLB reliever for 1.5 years of one of the best catchers in baseball.....

Unless we made both trades.

I thought that were two trades away from being a contender for the WS, and one wouldn't do it.

I was vocal about my disdain for the Miller trade....prospects are too valuable.

A bunch of FO interns were ordered to lock me in the basement men's room. I was there for three days, before Chernoff relented.

Now I look back and see how wrong I was. Not one of my precious prospects were worth a hill of beans over the next four years.

I learned my lesson.

It was time to make a move then, and as the GM today, it's time to do it again. Mr Chernoff spent several years trading for assets and overseeing the acquisition and development of exactly what I need to move the team back up to an elite level.
 
five years later we still havent decided what we have in chang. seriously.
 
I'd be shocked to see either Reynolds or Mullins get dealt. Makes no sense for their current clubs right now.

Likelier targets include guys like Ketel Marte, Whit Merrifield, Luke Voit, Trey Mancini, and Mitch Haniger.
 
five years later we still havent decided what we have in chang. seriously.

Chang has been playing pretty well as of late. Last 30 games hes batting .275 and is on a 30HR and 90RBI pace over 162 games.
 

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