The Offseason Lounge

[wamco]

Reports sound promising. We are at the point now though where swings and misses really hurt.

[pebloemer]

Reports sound promising. We are at the point now though where swings and misses really hurt.

Kim isn't exactly an expensive option compared to others. Swinging and missing on a Bauer or Springer would have much larger financial implications. I get that it is easier to project their success though (hence being more expensive).

I'd be thrilled with any of the big names mind you.

As an aside, baseball off-season is painfully slow. NBA came and went in 3 days. MLB off-season has been open for weeks with practically nothing done yet. I guess markets take much longer to develop in a system without a salary cap.

[wamco]

I concur with all. Kim’s miss could be he can’t hit at all in mlb so way riskier, but the risk is baked into the price. It’s just the number of years he is going to get (due to his age) with that risk that scares me.

And in regards to the off-season , could it be just cut in half at least? 5 months of truckle , trickle. I’m prob missing some reason as to why this can’t be done. Maybe the Union wouldn’t go for it

[mike_noodles]

I concur with all. Kim’s miss could be he can’t hit at all in mlb so way riskier, but the risk is baked into the price. It’s just the number of years he is going to get (due to his age) with that risk that scares me.

And in regards to the off-season , could it be just cut in half at least? 5 months of truckle , trickle. I’m prob missing some reason as to why this can’t be done. Maybe the Union wouldn’t go for it

I agree so much, but it's not like any of the other sports have deadlines to get things done. Baseball seems to traditionally wait for the winter meetings. Some things that MLB has are the tendering of contracts to arb eligible players, qualifying offers for free agents, rule 5 draft, etc. All of those take so much time and have different deadlines.

Saw a rumor today of Austin Martin package for Bryant. I would love to get Bryant, but not for Austin Martin.

[wamco]

I have a feeling at least one of grosh or Martin will be moved. Moreno should prob pack his bags as well IMO along with a manoah/kloff if we were to bet on which prospect is involved in a trade.

Or...Martin feels like found money in a way while Groshans reports weren’t glowing . So maybe they figure grosh is a year behind Martin and a stopgap at 3b would make sense and groom Martin for CF where I would much rather see him end up as we have learned how hard it is to have a stud cf. 3b seems easier to plug someone in or obtain. I mean I still think shaw
Could be a league avg hitter and fielder at 3b next year, esp if platooned

[ChongInc.]

Walker was good his last 2 healthy seasons. It isn't a matter of talent, it is just his durability. He has neva-eva made 30 starts in a season. From 2015 thru 2017 he was reasonably healthy, but then essentially missed all of 2018 and 2019.

I was really surprised by his physique. He's built like a LB. He looks like he spent 2018 and 2019 living in a gym. I'd gamble he could stay healthy for at least 1 year.

He could find success in our 6inning system.

[Chaotic98]

I concur with all. Kim’s miss could be he can’t hit at all in mlb so way riskier, but the risk is baked into the price. It’s just the number of years he is going to get (due to his age) with that risk that scares me.

And in regards to the off-season , could it be just cut in half at least? 5 months of truckle , trickle. I’m prob missing some reason as to why this can’t be done. Maybe the Union wouldn’t go for it

Kim is a good example of risk/reward. At 25 and after having the 2 back to back great O and D stats at SS make him highly coveted. My big concern is the tendency of monster KBO hitting stats not translating to the MLB (recently Choi and Tsutsugo) with the exceptions of Matsui and Ichiro in the past. It all depends on the size of his AAV and term, with posting fee. If its something like 5/25-30 or 7/40-50 with team options on the final years it might be a steal or fair, but wont cripple the team if he flames out.

[R. Johnson#3]

Kim is a good example of risk/reward. At 25 and after having the 2 back to back great O and D stats at SS make him highly coveted. My big concern is the tendency of monster KBO hitting stats not translating to the MLB (recently Choi and Tsutsugo) with the exceptions of Matsui and Ichiro in the past. It all depends on the size of his AAV and term, with posting fee. If its something like 5/25-30 or 7/40-50 with team options on the final years it might be a steal or fair, but wont cripple the team if he flames out.

The majority of the players you listed are Japanese and also played in Japanese leagues. Choi is the only Korean and he never played in the KBO.

Eric Thames is the only real barometer we have between KBO and MLB. He was legendary in Korea but those numbers don’t translate to MLB. He’s managed to have 2 separate 800 OPS seasons though.

[Chaotic98]

The majority of the players you listed are Japanese and also played in Japanese leagues. Choi is the only Korean and he never played in the KBO.

Eric Thames is the only real barometer we have between KBO and MLB. He was legendary in Korea but those numbers don’t translate to MLB. He’s managed to have 2 separate 800 OPS seasons though.

Whoops my bad, had KBO mixed up with the NPB. Still thought Choi played there, was the national team I guess.

Makes me even more worried to sign someone based on their stats from the KBO, (NPB is rated higher historically in terms of talent) but he is young for his posting age if he is posted at 25.

[Raps18-19 Champ]

Ive generally been on board with gambling on Japan/Korean players but our infield is pretty crowded. Rather spend money somewhere else.

[ChongInc.]

Ive generally been on board with gambling on Japan/Korean players but our infield is pretty crowded. Rather spend money somewhere else.

If he ends uo being worth a spot in the infield then it won’t matter that it’s crowded. He will be an asset at the very least (assuming he earns a spot on the diamond).

[ChongInc.]

The majority of the players you listed are Japanese and also played in Japanese leagues. Choi is the only Korean and he never played in the KBO.

Eric Thames is the only real barometer we have between KBO and MLB. He was legendary in Korea but those numbers don’t translate to MLB. He’s managed to have 2 separate 800 OPS seasons though.

Thames did crush it when he first got back here. He was just unable to adjust to keep it rolling when the league started figuring him out.
So his talent did translate, but the KBO was not a good barometer for one of the major challenges of having a long MLB career.
I don’t think Thames inability to adjust is a reflection of Kim’s ability to adjust. I think that is more of an individual thing.

[wamco]

I was high on yoshi tsutsugo but he disappointed with a 708 ops. Who would think that is basically a league average hitter at this point ? 97 ops plus. Hell, reed johnson put up a career 740 ops plus, good for 94 ops plus.

Wasn’t the Pirate infielder with the DUI issues from kbo as well?

The numbers I saw was 5/60 year deal with close to a 10m posting fee as well.

Who is comfortable with that?

[Raps18-19 Champ]

If he ends uo being worth a spot in the infield then it won’t matter that it’s crowded. He will be an asset at the very least (assuming he earns a spot on the diamond).

Yea but you want to use your limited resources on need sometimes.

If we get him and hes good, then sure it helps the infield but then you need to trade one of your infielders for a starting pitcher. Or you can just use the same/similar money on a pitcher directly.

[Chaotic98]

I was high on yoshi tsutsugo but he disappointed with a 708 ops. Who would think that is basically a league average hitter at this point ? 97 ops plus. Hell, reed johnson put up a career 740 ops plus, good for 94 ops plus.

Wasn’t the Pirate infielder with the DUI issues from kbo as well?

The numbers I saw was 5/60 year deal with close to a 10m posting fee as well.

Who is comfortable with that?

Kang was the player you're talking about. I think he came from the KBO but I'm getting confused with the NPB with some players today lol. But he was a plus hitter, ave defender at SS and 3B until he got into some DUI issues.

I'm comfortable at 5/30 as a max... maybe 5/33 for this team. The problem for the Jays (and most mid to small market teams) is they can't carry dead money and be competitive unless there's a deep pool of above ave prospects coming up (kinda how TB and Oak does it).

We have the luxury to add more payroll than them, but keep in mind currently we have dollar discrepancy that can fluctuate from +33-27% during the duration of a 5 year contract or a few percent of any given season.