Well, not a hangover in terms of drinking. Just that my brain hurt from thinking about this stuff. Here are some thoughts. I have broken the teams making trades down into groups.
CLEVELAND GUARDIANS
I disagree with those of you who say we should have done more. My guess it that it was like the Rockies' GM said. They wanted our Range Rover and were only willng to give us their Subaru. Look, Antonnetti hinted at it again today. They couldn't find a deal that made sense for them as the deals they were presented would cost a lot in terms of prospects and would block guys we already have. Sound like Sean Murphy/Bo Naylor to you? It does to me. So, you say, if it is our plan to compete while looking at which players will be here in the future, why are underperformers like Reyes and Clement still on this team. Answer: They are not, sort of proving his point that he said later: Last year our 40 man was clogged with guys like Chang, Mercado and others. That won't be the case this winter so he thinks we won't have a serious roster crunch. (Maybe, maybe not from my POV). Plus, as he said, last winter was hard because the guys we protected HAD to be protected even though we knew not many of them were ready to help the team this year (what I have been saying for some time). Next year he thinks those guys WILL be ready to help. So, in that situation, why bring in rentals? Our goal is different than some teams who are trying to squeeze into the playoffs. It is obvious that teams like the Yankees and Astros would flat out kill us in the playoffs right now. So you get in and get waxed. So what? Either miss the playoffs or go a one-and-done, not much different. So the Guardians not making trades of prospects for veterans? He said that time will come. He also hinted that we are in a good position because we are not paying bloated contracts to underperforming or injured players, meaning, to me, that there is an increased likelihood that we could have money to spend. In the end, if you are Cleveland you have to play the long game, even if it blows up in your face in the future if key guys don't perform or are lost due to injury. I can see a path forward for the Guardians.
As I have said, they key for me, is to work with this roster to not lose guys in the Rule 5 and turn our excess into useable pieces for a multi-year run...just like we did in the 90s and mid-2010s. Antonnetti still needs to prove he can do that and he needs to start this winter BEFORE he has to freeze the roster.
In the rest of this post I will look at selected teams to see what they did and how it fit their plan. In my next post I will look at the veterans picked up by teams and see how they would have helped or not helped the Guardians and what the approximate cost would have been in terms of which prospects it would have cost us.
WIN THE WORLD SERIES
(1) San Diego Padres -This team decided to make a huge push to finally scale Mt. Dodger. Even when they managed to beat the Dodgers they didn't make it to the WS. They have put together a virtual all-MLB lineup. Their goal was simple: collect all the best players available with AJ Preller's only mandate being, limit the damage to the farm system as much as possible...but not to the point a deal couldn't be done.
(2) New York Yankees - Look, this team is set up to win the WS. From where they are they actually solidified their chances of getting to the WS by adding Montas, Trivino, Benitendi, Effross and Bader. This will help them not get upset as it tightens up their starting rotation, defense and bullpen.
(3) Houston - Like the Yankees, they are just shoring up things. They know what their competition (the Yankees) are doing so they keep up and help to avoid an early upset in the playoffs and position them to compete with the Yankees.
WIN THE DIVISION, SOLIDIFY THE WILD CARD
(1) Seattle - Look, they have to get past Houston or, at least get enough talent to compete with Toronto, Tampa Bay
(2) Minnesota - Look, they have the lead. All, in theory, they had to do was to do more than Cleveland and the White Sox. Mission accomplished. They will NEVER be able to overtake the Yankees. They may be able to sneak out a series from them if all things come together but we know the goal and it is important to remember as Cleveland falls in this same situation.
(3) Toronto _Noah Synegard, Rasel Iglesias, Whit Merrifield, Zach Pop, Jay ANthony Bass, Mitch White - Mission accomplished
DON'T UPSET THE LONG TERM PLAN
(1) Tampa Bay
(2) Baltimore
(3) White Sox
(4) Texas
(5) Cleveland -see above
I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE HECK THEY ARE DOING
(1) Boston
(2) Detroit
(3) Kansas City
MAKE A NEW LONG-TERM PLAN
(1) Oakland - Pretty obvious
RESET AND CONTINUE ON
(1) Los Angeles - Instead of pannicking they just dumped the guys they could or guys on expiring contracts they had no use for and, by keeping Ohtani, they bought themselves until the end of this off-season to see what direction they will be going, a lot of which could be determined by Mike Trout's back.
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