Bob's Big Boy hamburgers. Mmmm....

When I was in Junior High our church youth group, having collected donations for Christmas presents all year, would cram into a bus and deliver said presents to needy migrant workers housed at at an seasonal encampment in the Coachella Valley (Salton Sea area) in California. It was a large, fenced community dotted with small quonset huts that each housed a family, sometimes with as many as six or seven kids. We would pull into the camp by late morning and spend most of the day putting on programs and playing soccer and other games in the common area with the kids. Then, late in the afternoon, our group would divvy up the packages bound for each family, including some needed supplies, and "surprise" them in their huts. In many cases these were the only presents these families would receive, and the kids went ape over the toys we brought.


So why do I mention this in a thread about Dae Ho Lee?


Well on the way back to our Orange County home our bus full of Jr. Highers and High Schoolers would always pull up at a Bob's Big Boy restaurant in Indio to eat dinner. I would get their "World's Best" hamburger. (I know, looking back on things it's incongruous that we would eat at a restaurant on the way home while the workers ate their normal fare in their huts.) So when I saw Doc's chosen picture for the Dae Ho Lee article, the reminescence just sorta came out.


By the way, here's a picture of a different migrant camp that gives you some idea of what this one was like. 

Lee's pride was hurt, but he made some real high character remarks concerning he dealt with it:

He admitted he didn't produce when given the role as everyday player.

He admits his manager did the right thing because he didn't produce. And he admits he should have worked harder.

He doesn't hold any ill will toward the manager for doing his job.

He seems to suggest to me, reading this, that he would have done the same thing had he been manager.

This is the kind of pride, coupled with honesty and humility. That makes one a better contributor to an organization. His pride will propel him to work harder, rather than complain the world is rigged against him. 

Sign him!

Great story- peripherally related to DHL, but very impactful nonetheless. Thank you, Dad!     (o;

We clearly aren't "getting younger" (As DiPoto has espoused) or "more athletic" (ditto) if we resign Aoki, Lee and Smith.

Or even if we just resign two of the three.

I think we ink just one, or maybe two if Smith is an extend and then trade him guy.  I have no problem signing Lee but we aren't giving him 150 starts at 1B.  If we resign Lee we do so as insurance.  I would like to have him as such, but I'm betting he ends up back in Japan, of his own volition.

He came, he saw, he swatted. 

While Dexter Fowler remains my favorite guy to get, two others are sneaking up my list.

There are hints that the Fish could swap out Marcel Ozuna for a young arm.  This I would consider.  He's a RH bat, with a glove, and a track record that isn't bad.  Career .845 vL and controlled for 3 more seasons.

Ian Desmond would be a great and flexible addition.  CF/SS/LF/2B.....you name it.  Has leather, will travel. 20+ homers and durability.  Career .787 vL.  4x$15M is going to be close, I think.  I like him for the flexibility he brings.  He and Martin and Gamel would be pretty sweet in the OF.  Move him to SS when needed.  Smith and Aoki likely pay for him.

Would you rather lose a Walker or Miranda for Ozuna or cough up the cash for one of the other guys?  Miranda and Heredia might get you Ozuna (maybe add a lesser arm).  Both those guys would fit into the Miami scene real well.

Desmond fell off by 269 points of OPS from first half to second half, but like you say he'd be a nice, solid, FLEXIBLE addition. He is 31, though. And he'll cost. 'Twill be interesting to see DiPoto's approach unfold.

But Desmond's .899 1st half was the best half-season of his career.  He was at .888 in the 1st half of '12 but settled back to his career norms.

Interestingly, Desmond's 2nd half of '16 (.630) was the 2nd worst of his career.  He was at .589 during the 1st half of '15.

In between his dismal 1st half of '15 and 2nd half of '16, he whacked .777 and .899.  I think we're dealing with normal career fluctuations;  Noise, in otherwords.

Ozuna's half-seasons, from '14-'16, look like .786, .751, .638, .789, .892, .609 (he crashed in the 2nd half last year, too).  If you could get that level of production from your LF, in exchange for Walker (or Miranda) for the next three years you might likely go "Whooopeeee!"

Interestingly, Fowler's last 6 half-seasons have basically shawdowed Ozuna's, excepting the 2nd half of '16:  .774, .773, .677, .852, .881, .795.

I thought Heyward's bat looked really slow in the Series: Was it just me?  His dismal year (his first) was driven by a .577 2nd half where his BABIP fell to .233!  It won't remain there.  But it did seem as if he was seeing the ball poorly and he was starting the bat early to make up for it.  I think the rain-delay weightroom meeting that he called last night becomes the stuff of Cub legend.  Makes it hard to trade him.  But I will bet you could get him and a decent chunk of his huge salary if you offered big.  I would prefer a RH bat, however.

Can anyone stil believe (pinch me!) that Ben Cherrington offered Jack Z JBjr for Charlie Furbush...

and was turned down?!

I think I'm good with Miranda and Heredia. I have to think long and hard about including Walker in any trade for less than a superstar (but, I'm inclined to hang onto my favorites for longer than the average "new GM".) 

Ian's desirability is directly linked to the QO issue. If he is given a QO, I'm out. If Texas passes (why would they, if he's predicted to get 4/$64M), then he's definitely a prime target.

If Ozuna could be had for Miranda and Heredia or Karns and one of the Cuban two, it's a go. But Miami will hold out to get Walker or Paxton from the Ms, I'm sure. They'll probably eventually get a young starter in Karns' class, but with more inspiring 2016 numbers. They're image-conscious down there on South Beach, I believe.

Stupid Question: If, after hiring Hazen and Sawdaye, the Diamondbacks hire Torey Lovullo as manager, should we start referring to them as the Arizona Argyles?

Would you rather have Lee or Steve Pearce backing up 1B and serving as Bach insurance? Pearce will cost more but he's got a better track record and some positional flexibility. 

Pearce, in an electoral landslide.

23 HR's last year.  3 to RF, 2 to dead CF and the rest to LF.  He doesn't get many cheap ones:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jl4xm1cULxY

Oh...he's got an arm, too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdMOTRPCIKk

I like Miranda.  I would trade him out for Ozuna. 

Fowler is still my Dream Date but three years of Ozuna is better than one of Fowler.  I don't think you can steal Fowler from Chicago, even with just one year remaining before he gets the big 4 year contract.  Too many teams will want him.  But he's the better player AND he bats at the top of the lineup.

Desmond's best BA comes when he's batting 2nd.  He likes it there.  Ozuna rips at 5 or 6 and his .314 career OBP isn't  ToTO stuff. Martin's is .305.  I don't want the two of them at the top of the order.  Minus an OBP guy in LF/RF, I'm batting Vogs in the #2 spot. 

Pearce isn't terrible on D in the COF and he's a RHB with OBP chops:  .362, .373, .374 in '13, '14 & '16.  He won't be nearly as expensive...but he's 34 in April.  Has generally become a LHP masher (except for the weird '15).  Will be cheap-ish compared to lots of guys.

Of course, you can just get Aoki, who is a RHB, of sorts.  Well, his reverse split and .363 OBP vL makes him look like a RHB. I thinnk he's our most likely re-sign.  He doesn't get us younger or more athletic.

7 million.

Claimed off waivers

Desmond gets the QO, according to MLBT-R.

I think we're trading Smith.  If not, I wonder if we're willing to go with Heredia as his platoon mate or if we're bringing back Guti.

Pearce would be ducky in that role.

My #1 trade would be to get Stephen Vogt from the Orcs, who have younger (and cheaper and maybe better) catchers waiting in line. If you have him, you solve both the BU C issue *and* the BU 1B. I realize both he and Vogelbach are LH hitters, but neither has extreme platoon splits - well, Vogt isn't great against LHs, but not nearly as bad as Lind. But if you planned that Zunino, Vogelbach, and Vogt are each going to play in 100 games, and picked your mix-and-match spots, that could be a working combo. And it still leaves DH PAs for others.

If Desmond hadn't gotten the QO, I'd be all for him in the #2 spot, with Cozart or Villar at SS and #1. But if it's at all possible to get Blackmon or Ozuna in trade, that would be, if anything, better. Blackmon or Villar solves the leadoff problem, with Cozart acceptable there. So fill SS, and then see if Blackmon or Ozuna fits better at an acceptable price.

You all know I've been a big Ozuna fan-boy. But everyone and their dog knows Miami needs a top young pitcher and that Ozuna is their chip to get one. Would he be worth Walker? I'm really torn by that. But we have nothing between Karns and Walker in potential that other teams would find to their liking. Gohara looks legit for an A level youngest-guy-in-the-league down in the AFL, but he's still 2 years away or more. The highest concentrations of Brazilians in the US are in Florida, Massachusetts, and New Jersey, so maybe Miami would have some interest in Luiz - but having lost Fernandez, they want help now. If I knew Felix was going to come back like Verlander, I'd trade Walker and accept that Karns is my #4 and Miranda #5. But O'Neill ++ going to Colorado for Blackmon makes more sense to me right now.