David Stearns wants to acquire a CF

[RWeeksFan23]

If we want a short-term natural CF who can play good defense and hold down the position until Phillips is ready, why did we non-tender Logan Schaefer?

[3and2Fastball]

If we want a short-term natural CF who can play good defense and hold down the position until Phillips is ready, why did we non-tender Logan Schaefer?

 

.212/.286/.319

[QuevedosTongue]

If we want a short-term natural CF who can play good defense and hold down the position until Phillips is ready, why did we non-tender Logan Schaefer?

 

.212/.286/.319

 

Exactly the right answer. Schaefer is a known commodity (or non-commodity). Playing him means the team is playing with 2 pitchers in the batting order, essentially. Better to give an opportunity to an unknown or someone who might benefit from a change of scenery.

[pacopete4]

Please, just let Schafer die. We've all had enough.

[jerichoholicninja]

If there a LHB CF available in the rule 5 to platoon with Santana? Isn't that what happened in Philly with their CF last year?

[Outlander]

Jake Cave is your man then.

[MrTPlush]

This thread has somehow evolved into looking for a long term guy or a possibly a Rule 5 pick and I would like to throw this out there:

 

David Stearns specifically said he is looking for a short term answer in CF...SHORT TERM.

 

So basically an older veteran who is average for a couple million, someone trying to rebuild value on a one or two year deal, or trade for a guy with extremely low value to hold down fort.

 

Phillips is the future CF of this team and he will have that job at some point in 2017. They are not going to get a player to block him.

[Outlander]

He also said he will make a pick or two in the rule 5 draft. If they pick somebody up it doesn't mean that player is blocking Phillips one bit. That player can be a future 4th outfielder or sent back to the minors in 2017 to develop more when Phillips is hopefully ready. Stearns is keeping his options open.

[RWeeksFan23]

If we want a short-term natural CF who can play good defense and hold down the position until Phillips is ready, why did we non-tender Logan Schaefer?

 

.212/.286/.319

Seemed to play much better the last month or so of the season when he was getting regular at-bats, maybe that's all he needed.

 

I mean don't get me wrong, chances are he will still be a bad hitter going forward, but we're not making the playoffs anyway.

[CheezWizHed]

^^^ Exactly. A rule 5 pick isn't going to be a star player. Probably at best, a passable MLB starter. So no way a Rule 5 pick blocks Phillips. Its about talent acquisition. I'd prefer a Rule 5 flyer at CF next year than a older stopgap player.

[reillymcshane]

minorleagueball.com did a thing about a couple of interesting Rule 5 guys, including CF Jake Cave of the Yankees, who is listed as the club's #16 prospect on MLB.com:

 

"The 23-year old left-handed hitting center fielder was drafted in the sixth round of the 2011 draft by the Yankees. Cave suffered through two years of injuries — completely missing 2011 and 2012 after breaking his knee cap in his first at bat — before settling into his role: a speedster who had nice gap power and solid defense.

 

The biggest knocks on Cave were his splits and base running ability. Entering last season, he had the speed to excel on the base paths, but was sloppy. He stole bases at a paltry 67% rate over the first four years of his career, but wound up swiping 17 of 20 attempts last season. He also shows major flaws batting against lefties (.205/.258/.231) versus against right handers (a much more respectable .289/.351/.379 with both of his home runs in 2015). So, again, he seems to have more of a future as a platoon player or fourth outfielder.

 

He does play a solid centerfield, and he does make contact with the ball. He did strike out 106 times last season, but he saw 592 combined plate appearances, so his 17% strikeout rate is something to take notice of, but I wouldn’t call alarming. When he got his first taste of Triple-A, albeit a mere seven games, he excelled at his opportunity, slashing.458/.517/.667 with four extra base hits."

 

Cave looks like a fringe starter, 4th OF type, but he could possibly handle CF until Phillips is ready and/or provide depth. He was a pitcher in HS and reportedly threw 90mph as a senior - so he has a nice arm.

 

He'd fit the 'short term' need that Stearn wants. And if he plays okay, he can help club down the road as a reserve.

 

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2015/12/9/9876014/two-names-of-interest-in-the-rule-5-draft

[Boomer5]

After seeing what we got for Lind and how our current MLB roster is shaking out for 2016, I am not seeing wisdom in trading anything of value for a CF. This is looking like a strong candidate for a top 3 pick type of roster at the moment.

 

Reed or even an out of position Santana is perfectly fine for 2016 while we wait for Phillips.

[NievesNoNO]

Teoscar Hernandez seems like he might fit as a Rule 5 pick.

[BeerFan]

If we are just looking for a stopgap CF then why not just roll with Santana. When Phillips is ready then we can either move him to a corner spot or move on. I know he is not a good defensive CF, but who cares if we're not gonna be competitive in the short term.

 

Get the kid some regular ABs so we can get a better read on him and don't take playing time away from Davis so he can continue to build trade value.

[JohnBriggs12]

Maybe the issue with Santana isn't so much his defense in CF but the holes in his swing.

[MrTPlush]

Maybe the issue with Santana isn't so much his defense in CF but the holes in his swing.

 

Then I am a bit concerned with Stearns as our GM. The kid has nothing left to prove in the minors with his bat. He strikes out a bit, but not at a concerning rate. Pretty sure they wouldn't be interested in the prospects of adding Gallo if holes in a swing concerned them.

[DuWayne Steurer]

Michael Bourn is entering the final year of his contract. Probably wouldn't take too much to get him from the Braves. Bourn is the type of guy who could generate some trade value if he has a decent first half too.

 

 

Bourn has been bad 3 years in a row, is expensive, has declining defensive metrics, and has a vesting option for 2017 at 550 plate appearances. If he continues to play poorly, we'd have to eat part of his contract just to get someone to take him off our hands.

 

Acquiring bad contracts just to hope to flip them is a terrible strategy, if you end up not being able to flip them.

[JohnBriggs12]

Maybe the issue with Santana isn't so much his defense in CF but the holes in his swing.

 

Then I am a bit concerned with Stearns as our GM. The kid has nothing left to prove in the minors with his bat. He strikes out a bit, but not at a concerning rate. Pretty sure they wouldn't be interested in the prospects of adding Gallo if holes in a swing concerned them.

 

Nor should they. Gallo would be a disaster. Gallo is much closer to the second coming of Mike Olt or Matt Davidson than he is Kris Bryant or Kyle Schwarber. Schwarber has Gallo's power but actually also has the ability (and always has had) to put the bat on the ball with some regularity and while Bryant strikes out a lot, it's a lot less than Gallo would. Gallo's strikeout rate has been going up as he's gotten to higher levels. He's not going to suddenly learn how to make contact against big league pitching. Then there's the shifts he'll be hitting into when he does make contact. He still has youth on his side but the trends are not good. As much power as Gallo has, there's no way he can hit over .200 in the major leagues over time with as little contact as he makes and while he'll take some walks, and will post OBP that's quite a bit higher than his BA, it's still going likely fall below .300.

[JohnBriggs12]

Michael Bourn is entering the final year of his contract. Probably wouldn't take too much to get him from the Braves. Bourn is the type of guy who could generate some trade value if he has a decent first half too.

 

 

Bourn has been bad 3 years in a row, is expensive, has declining defensive metrics, and has a vesting option for 2017 at 550 plate appearances. If he continues to play poorly, we'd have to eat part of his contract just to get someone to take him off our hands.

 

Acquiring bad contracts just to hope to flip them is a terrible strategy, if you end up not being able to flip them.

 

Bourn still covers enough ground to help the pitching staff and his contract isn't that onerous when your payroll is currently sitting at $55 million.

[DuWayne Steurer]

Michael Bourn is entering the final year of his contract. Probably wouldn't take too much to get him from the Braves. Bourn is the type of guy who could generate some trade value if he has a decent first half too.

 

 

Bourn has been bad 3 years in a row, is expensive, has declining defensive metrics, and has a vesting option for 2017 at 550 plate appearances. If he continues to play poorly, we'd have to eat part of his contract just to get someone to take him off our hands.

 

Acquiring bad contracts just to hope to flip them is a terrible strategy, if you end up not being able to flip them.

 

Bourn still covers enough ground to help the pitching staff and his contract isn't that onerous when your payroll is currently sitting at $55 million.

 

 

For the last 2 years Bourn has almost been below replacement level. He's not ready to fall off the cliff, he's fallen off it. While 14 million dollars isn't a huge chunk of change, that's a lot to pay for a guy who might not OPS .600, and isn't playing gold glove caliber defense anymore. For that, we might as well just put Logan Schafer out there.

[pacopete4]

No on Michael Bourn, yes on Jason Bourne. He brings a certain set of skills that we do not currently possess.

[Jenkins5]

CC & Stearns have all but official said Santana is not their CF this season. There is a reason why even in the minors he didn't play there. Gaps really open up for opposing teams with him in there. I get we are going to lose anyway but you don't want to go out there and put yourself in a position to lose games.

 

Hernadez and Caves would be good options if either is there in the rule 5 draft. Take a flyer on one and hope like Shields it works out. If they can at least play defense and maintain around .300 OBP that will do until Reed, Wren, or Phillips beat them out.

 

At the same time, isn't Reed just as MLB ready if not more than both of those guys? Really hurts they never put him in CF due to Taylor

[JohnBriggs12]

If they were certain Santana would put up .250/.330/.530 with 30-35 HR they'd probably be fine with him in CF. I just think they fear he'll put up more like .220/.290/.430 with 200+ strikeouts. If he puts up monster numbers at AAA, as he's likely to do in Colorado, he'll still be a corner OF option if Davis is eventually dealt. I'm guessing the hope is Davis puts up monster numbers like 40 and 110, which will make him a very attractive trade target next winter and Santana uses 2016 to improve his plate discipline and contact.

[BrewBalls]

I don't see Davis putting up numbers to different than last season so I would look to trade him now. His value to a team with payroll restraints would be drastically increased over his value once he is arbitration eligible since power pays in arbitration.

[JohnBriggs12]

I don't see Davis putting up numbers to different than last season so I would look to trade him now. His value to a team with payroll restraints would be drastically increased over his value once he is arbitration eligible since power pays in arbitration.

 

Davis AB/HR rate of 14.5 was better than all but Bryce Harper, Carlos Gonzalez (Q) and Mike Stanton (NQ) in the NL. His career rate of one HR ever 17.2 AB's would have tied him with Goldschmidt for 7th last year. If he gets 550 AB's and reverts to his career rate, that's 32 HR. If he maintains his 2015 rate, that's 38.

 

Trading him now would be repeating the mistake Pittsburgh made dealing Bautista or Cincinnati trading Encarnacion early. Davis value isn't likely to go down a year from now but it could well skyrocket with a 40 HR season. While I'm not predicting he'll hit 40, the potential is certainly there.