.
I/O: M's have a good offer in for Zack Cozart ...
CRUNCH: ... but aren't going to get held up by the Reds. It sez here the chances for a deal are not bad a'tall.
Dutton's column was to the point on the quotes:
.
Reds general manager Dick Williams made it clear last week that Cozart is available by telling USA Today: "It’s something we’d have to consider. We’ve shown the willingness to trade guys who have been with us if it helps us get better."
Several major-league sources cited the Mariners as the most-likely fit for Cozart, who batted .252 this season with 16 homers and 50 RBIs. He is also viewed as a good defensive player; he rates at plus-34 in runs saved over the last three seasons....
"We don’t need a shortstop," one Mariners official said. "We have Marte, and we think he’s going to be fine in the long term. Now could he benefit from some additional development time in the minors? Yes.
"We did that with (Mike) Zunino, and we think that really helped him. But it’s not the same. Zunino absolutely needed that development time. With Marte, we think it would be beneficial, but it’s not a must."
.
Refreshing!
Long gone are the days when Al Campanis sidled up to the Mariners at a party and said, "So tell me about this Calderoni guy." (At the time, Ivan Calderon was our Tyler O'Neill.) Nowadays, shtick like that would make the interns laugh out loud. "Sound logic" is the new "bluffing," as you just now read above.
It's going to be rather tough to discuss life, love and sports if we have an 8-year ;- ) moratorium on the very mention of POTUS' name. Politics aside, most people would agree that Donald Trump has some money. As most people would agree that Trump is not exactly obsessed with other people's moods, feelings and sensitivities.
Interesting little report comes up this week that he has never served croissant at his negotiations and never asked "How are you doing." He just sat down at 8:00 a.m. and said "tell me your demands." Many huge negotiations done before lunch. Word is, he literally used to say "list everything you want on this piece of paper," crossing off every other item, instead of saying "Good morning." This report is not exactly inconsistent with the fact that the Trump Tower revolving door is now spinning about 30 generals a day through itself.
Point is, the kids* these days are way sharper than we were, when we were running the show. The geezers who run with the 17-year-old dot com wizards are to-the-point also, it seems.
Point-point is, the Mariners actually would go with Marte next year if the Reds are unreasonable, but actually would prefer to rent Cozart for one year, and actually told the Reds exactly that. I wish I'd been born 30 years later than I was. :- )
....
My own roto prediction for Zack Cozart in 2017: about .250/.300/.425 for a 100-110 OPS+. This is even a little modest for the way he played in late 2015, and in 2016 when the knee was right. Since Cozart can pick it, pick it real good ... , and can get around the bases, this is roughly a 3-WAR player for those 120 games he stays on the field.
How would that delta against Ketel Marte in 2016? If y'hadn't noticed, Marte had -0.7 WAR last season. HAD you noticed? Prolly the Reds have noticed ... the upgrade from -1 to 2 or 3 is the same as an outfield upgrade from, say, 1-2 to 5. Well, y'know. The M's DID suffer long with young Ketel last year, as they did with Zuumball the year before. Lots of room for all kindsa gainzzz.
Leaving us with:
(1) Cozart 3 WAR (prorated) vs Marte's -0.7
(2) Valencia/'Bach 2 WAR vs last year's platoon was -0.3 in terms of WAR
(3) That's 6 wins added to 86 ... carry the 2 ... Hey, I like what this Fangraphs type math is doing for us
(4) Billy has a wager down, that we're in on Yoenis Cespedes or somebody
(4a) Well, maybe a $13M player doesn't EXACTLY mean Cespedes, but still
So, here's a fresh thread for other Hot Stove noodlings?
Gracias,
Dr D
