Re: 2024 Off-Season Thread
Posted: Mon Nov 04, 2024 3:25 pm
There are only two Hot Stove additions I want to see. The first, the easiest one, is to bring Aroldis Chapman back. I know he was expensive, but we can free up money elsewhere. I don't trust Bednar to bounce back to his All Star days. Relief pitching is so volatile! And we need a good lefty to balance things out.
The second is to sign Christian Walker to play 1B. Great glove, has power, and fills the need for lefty power. Offer him $50M for 3 years and negotiate upward if he wants to wrap up his career in western PA, where he's from. If we fail to get Walker, pursue a trade for Yandy Diaz of the Rays. We have young assets and the Rays have historically faired well in trades with Pittsburgh, so I'm sure they'd be willing to talk. If we can't get Walker or Diaz, sign Carlos Santana as a FA. Not sure when his hitting will fall off the cliff, but his defense and leadership should bring us a modest improvement at 1B.
We have two arbitration-eligible players who shouldn't be re-signed: likeable Connor Joe, and disappointing Brian De La Cruz. That should free up 6-7M. Listen to offers for IKF. Not sure that he's our best defensive SS, and he's not a guy we need to spend $7.5M on. We should pursue a trade. Anyone have an idea who would want him? On the right team, he's valuable. My point is that we can create room for Chapman and Walker signings. I hate Nutting like everyone else: I'm just trying to be realistic.
I think Liover Peguero should be given a chance to run with the SS job. If he fails, we have two other decent SS defenders on the 40-man: Tsung-Che Cheng and Alika Williams. We could even shift Gonzalez or Triolo over or try Yorke there. We need to trade someone to make room for our younger talent, and I believe IKF is that guy.
We don't need to sign a RF to replace De La Cruz. We already have Billy Cook. Let Suwinski and Bae battle it out for 4th OF. Worst case would seem to be a platoon.
The second is to sign Christian Walker to play 1B. Great glove, has power, and fills the need for lefty power. Offer him $50M for 3 years and negotiate upward if he wants to wrap up his career in western PA, where he's from. If we fail to get Walker, pursue a trade for Yandy Diaz of the Rays. We have young assets and the Rays have historically faired well in trades with Pittsburgh, so I'm sure they'd be willing to talk. If we can't get Walker or Diaz, sign Carlos Santana as a FA. Not sure when his hitting will fall off the cliff, but his defense and leadership should bring us a modest improvement at 1B.
We have two arbitration-eligible players who shouldn't be re-signed: likeable Connor Joe, and disappointing Brian De La Cruz. That should free up 6-7M. Listen to offers for IKF. Not sure that he's our best defensive SS, and he's not a guy we need to spend $7.5M on. We should pursue a trade. Anyone have an idea who would want him? On the right team, he's valuable. My point is that we can create room for Chapman and Walker signings. I hate Nutting like everyone else: I'm just trying to be realistic.
I think Liover Peguero should be given a chance to run with the SS job. If he fails, we have two other decent SS defenders on the 40-man: Tsung-Che Cheng and Alika Williams. We could even shift Gonzalez or Triolo over or try Yorke there. We need to trade someone to make room for our younger talent, and I believe IKF is that guy.
We don't need to sign a RF to replace De La Cruz. We already have Billy Cook. Let Suwinski and Bae battle it out for 4th OF. Worst case would seem to be a platoon.