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Rule 5 Talk 23

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Wow, just realized the Blue Jays left OF Gabriel Martinez off their 40 and exposed him to R5 draft.

He's only 20yo, but crushed A and A+ ball.

Guardians won't have the luxury to select him, but some rebuilding team absolutely should. Jays also left off some decent AAA RP in LHP Brandon Eisert and RHP Adrian Rodriguez
 
Wow, just realized the Blue Jays left OF Gabriel Martinez off their 40 and exposed him to R5 draft.

He's only 20yo, but crushed A and A+ ball.

Guardians won't have the luxury to select him, but some rebuilding team absolutely should. Jays also left off some decent AAA RP in LHP Brandon Eisert and RHP Adrian Rodriguez

Saw that too (thought about mentioning it) but there are other hitters available too, even in AA like Andres Chapparo (.289 24 HR). Also, here is a write-up that mentions Rodriquez ... There will be some good selections this year (especially those hitters). More names I see, the less likely that a Cleveland player is selected.

 
Saw that too (thought about mentioning it) but there are other hitters available too, even in AA like Andres Chapparo (.289 24 HR). Also, here is a write-up that mentions Rodriquez ... There will be some good selections this year (especially those hitters). More names I see, the less likely that a Cleveland player is selected.

Yeah I think the bigger issue is how many guys we won't be able to add, as opposed to how many we'll lose.

Would be a nice luxury to have a few free slots... but as a contending team it's tough to just stash away guys on the active roster.
 
Here is MLB Pipeline possible Rule 5 picks for each team .... ours is Hankins.
 
Here is MLB Pipeline possible Rule 5 picks for each team .... ours is Hankins.
No surprise there. He would still be an odd pick to stash in a bullpen though. Battenfield fits that mold better but just isn't as valuable.
 
No surprise there. He would still be an odd pick to stash in a bullpen though. Battenfield fits that mold better but just isn't as valuable.
I don't get why they would leave Battenfield exposed with all of Pilkington, Curry and Gaddis on the 40 man. I'm actually dumbfounded because Battenfield is better than all 3 of those guys and I don't see it as being close.
 
I don't get why they would leave Battenfield exposed with all of Pilkington, Curry and Gaddis on the 40 man. I'm actually dumbfounded because Battenfield is better than all 3 of those guys and I don't see it as being close.
This move seemed like the logical conclusion to what they did in the end of 2022 bringing up Curry and Gaddis, where they simply had more faith in those 2 between what they were doing now and what they thought of them for the future. I think there's still a good chance Battenfield passes through because he hasn't shown an ability to really miss bats above AA and there's a considerable amount of available talent combined with roster congestion. It's just pretty easy this time around to let guys go through. Once you have Curry/Gaddis added you're probably not going to DFA them so the decision was made at that point when they got the call.

I'm not really going to argue the ranking of Curry/Gaddis/Battenfield but the org has their own ideas and they also just completely dissed Maile which didn't make a whole lot of sense to me (look at how he was used in the playoffs too) but they seem to have their evaluations and they stick with them and they sometimes blatantly telegraph what these evaluations are.

Pilkington already showed enough actual MLB usability, as some kind of 7th starter and lefty depth so he's already a contributor in a sense with more upside than McCarty so they ditched McCarty and kept him. That makes sense.
 
This move seemed like the logical conclusion to what they did in the end of 2022 bringing up Curry and Gaddis, where they simply had more faith in those 2 between what they were doing now and what they thought of them for the future. I think there's still a good chance Battenfield passes through because he hasn't shown an ability to really miss bats above AA and there's a considerable amount of available talent combined with roster congestion. It's just pretty easy this time around to let guys go through. Once you have Curry/Gaddis added you're probably not going to DFA them so the decision was made at that point when they got the call.

I'm not really going to argue the ranking of Curry/Gaddis/Battenfield but the org has their own ideas and they also just completely dissed Maile which didn't make a whole lot of sense to me (look at how he was used in the playoffs too) but they seem to have their evaluations and they stick with them and they sometimes blatantly telegraph what these evaluations are.

Pilkington already showed enough actual MLB usability, as some kind of 7th starter and lefty depth so he's already a contributor in a sense with more upside than McCarty so they ditched McCarty and kept him. That makes sense.
This isn't true and Bimbo has explained it too. His K rate was trending back to where it was previously after his mechanical changes that produced an uptick in his stuff and would be beneficial from a durability standpoint even though he's been durable as hell. His walk rate suffered because of the changes he was incorporating and had never been an issue before. Prior to this season he didn't have a BB9 higher than 1.8 as a professional.

At no point in his history has Pilkington(who I like) been a better SP than Battenfield. I assumed that he, Curry and Gaddis were added precisely because they were more expendable than Battenfield. Something is amiss here and I can't put my finger on it. It just doesn't make sense.
 
This isn't true and Bimbo has explained it too. His K rate was trending back to where it was previously after his mechanical changes that produced an uptick in his stuff and would be beneficial from a durability standpoint even though he's been durable as hell. His walk rate suffered because of the changes he was incorporating and had never been an issue before. Prior to this season he didn't have a BB9 higher than 1.8 as a professional.

At no point in his history has Pilkington(who I like) been a better SP than Battenfield. I assumed that he, Curry and Gaddis were added precisely because they were more expendable than Battenfield. Something is amiss here and I can't put my finger on it. It just doesn't make sense.
What isn't true? Even in the most cherry picked sample possible to close off the year we have 8.4 K/9 alongside 4.5 BB/9. While things may have been trending right in the K direction that's still just not very good. Compare to someone like Gaddis who actually showed pretty good success in that department. However Gaddis is an extreme fly ball guy and a homer machine so I could see preferring Battenfield at this point.

It's also not Pilkington vs Battenfield. It's DFA [Pilkington/Gaddis/Curry] / add Battenfield, vs keep [Pilkington/Gaddis/Curry] / hope Battenfield goes unclaimed. The logic behind them being added because they're expendable makes no sense and never did due to how easy it can be to not protect players and still hold onto them just by risking a R5 selection.

Bimbo may have said he was a lock or close to it but considerations change and that may have just been his personal take and not the take of higher ups. Or they just changed their mind.

Anyway if we get a 5th starter out of any of these guys I'd be pretty happy.
 
In the past there have been stories about how much Francisco Mejia was rubbing various coaches/ instructors in the organization the wrong way.
During this off-season already there have been items out of other cities about Jesse Winker & Hunter Renfroe.

There is always the possibility that there is something behind the scenes that impacts a player's value to this organization (good or bad). Ultimately the CLE FO decided against adding Battenfield to the 40 man roster and it retained Pilkington/ Gaddis/ Curry. It was their call to make and they made it.

Now (with time) we get to see if it was the correct decision of not.

As with other items, the FO has done enough correct to earn the initial benefit of trust that the correct choice has been made, so we wait and see.
 
In the past there have been stories about how much Francisco Mejia was rubbing various coaches/ instructors in the organization the wrong way.
During this off-season already there have been items out of other cities about Jesse Winker & Hunter Renfroe.

There is always the possibility that there is something behind the scenes that impacts a player's value to this organization (good or bad). Ultimately the CLE FO decided against adding Battenfield to the 40 man roster and it retained Pilkington/ Gaddis/ Curry. It was their call to make and they made it.

Now (with time) we get to see if it was the correct decision of not.

As with other items, the FO has done enough correct to earn the initial benefit of trust that the correct choice has been made, so we wait and see.
Trust... no trust.. agreement.. disagreement..

At the end of the day.. who besides @CDAV45 has his panties in a bunch over any one of these four guys?..... imho.. all four, Pukington, Gaddi-daddi, Curry-in-a-hurry, and Peyton's-Place will be bit players and/or part timers or, most likely AAAA prospects for the ML club.. They offer depth and hold a spot on some roster.. & not much more...

Losing Ethan Hankins and/or Carlos Vargas.. will have a more dramatic effect than all four of these guys, imho..
 
Hankins has pitched one inning in the past 3 years and a total of 64 innings from 2018 to now. That averages out to about 13 innings per season. Not sure how anyone can guesstimate his true value at this point. Strange things can happen in Rule 5 so ya never know.
 
Hankins has pitched one inning in the past 3 years and a total of 64 innings from 2018 to now. That averages out to about 13 innings per season. Not sure how anyone can guesstimate his true value at this point. Strange things can happen in Rule 5 so ya never know.

How healthy is he? I could see a team with open spots out of contention, working with him in 23 while building up his strength from the pen.
 
What isn't true? Even in the most cherry picked sample possible to close off the year we have 8.4 K/9 alongside 4.5 BB/9. While things may have been trending right in the K direction that's still just not very good. Compare to someone like Gaddis who actually showed pretty good success in that department. However Gaddis is an extreme fly ball guy and a homer machine so I could see preferring Battenfield at this point.

It's also not Pilkington vs Battenfield. It's DFA [Pilkington/Gaddis/Curry] / add Battenfield, vs keep [Pilkington/Gaddis/Curry] / hope Battenfield goes unclaimed. The logic behind them being added because they're expendable makes no sense and never did due to how easy it can be to not protect players and still hold onto them just by risking a R5 selection.

Bimbo may have said he was a lock or close to it but considerations change and that may have just been his personal take and not the take of higher ups. Or they just changed their mind.

Anyway if we get a 5th starter out of any of these guys I'd be pretty happy.
The only cherry picked sample is the SSS you're using KS. Battenfield has been very good as a professional and his downturn has cause that has been explained. He still pitched to a 3.63 ERA as a 24 yr old(25 in August) in AAA. Hitters struggle to make good contact. Especially on his heavy FB. Like I said, something is amiss here and that information isn't privy to us. I'll be very surprised if he is not taken. Should that happen my personal opinion is that it will be a mistake to have protected Pilkington, Gaddis and Curry over Battenfield.

I have confidence that a very good 5th starter can come from anyone of Battenfield, Pilkington, Gaddis and maybe even Curry. Although do we need a 5th starter? Morris has to be factored in and he might be the 3rd best SP on the staff. Of course he has to stay healthy and that is yet to be seen, but the "stuff" is certainly there. I could see a Morris/Pilkington piggy back scenario to protect Cody and limit his IP while getting Konnor work as well.

In the end, all of Bibee, Williams, Espino and Allen could force their way in the rotation by midseason. Their upside is undeniable IMO. They'll need to separate the wheat from the chaff when that time comes. This team's competitive peak will be reached within 2 yrs. That's not to say we can't compete now which is obvious by this season's outcome, but we're going to be really f'n good within 2 yrs IMO.
 

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