Ackley will be higher than 85 IMO, but I don't think Smoak is gonna hit 125 next season, so that probably evens out.
I still think we need another bat even if that projection came true. SS will be killing us, C will be killing us, and DH may be as well. I'm still chewing my hand off about not adding Jack Cust when Oakland cut him back in April. Having him available when Griffey walked would have been well worth the 2.5 million price tag.
But regardless, we need a DH rotation that can club a 110 OPS+. We can't be posting numbers in the 70s there. I would still try to keep Branyan if we can't get a steadier option, with the understanding that he cannot play full-time. Bradley has always hit LHP well, and can still hit LHP better than RHP even in this terrible year. That's a ridiculously expensive platoon, but Bradley's price tag doesn't give us much option.
I don't expect to DFA Bradley, which means he's part of our 2011 DH outlook.
But how would the FO possibly justify bringing back the exact same team that is putting up a historically bad offense this year, with just the addition of Ackley to shuffle it up a little?
I think we'd be smart to pay V-Mart, suffer with his bad D (and plus bat) at catcher for a year, then move him to DH and part-time catcher as Moore gets more ABs and both Bradley and Branyan are gone in 2012. That would increase our offensive potential for '11 dramatically - we'd just have to swallow the price tag and risk a Johjima-like falloff at the end of his contract. No big, right?
And as you say, we're gonna need to do something about SS...
~G
Add new comment
1