Originally Posted by BigRedChief:
Hey DJ, what does the Athletics have they would give up for Piscotty?
Who cares?
Look, I'd try to toss some actual interesting ideas out there, but why bother?
Chapman and Olsen are likely to end up blocking each other at some point and both guys are powerful hitters with some holes in their swing. Chapman is an elite defender. Barreto came over in the Grey deal and I like him a lot; he may also be blocked - he'd be a perfect get for us.
Or I could talk about Luzardo, the fireballing lefty that was a potential 1st rounder before TJ surgery in college. He recovered and it looks like his stuff is all the way back after he was a big part of the Madson/Doolittle deal.
But you know what? None of that matters because Mozeliak is going to do what he does - sell ungodly low. Whoever we get, you and I will have never heard of before and will almost certainly never hear of again. It'll be like the Adams and Diaz trades.
Because one thing Moe is really really good at is selling low and buying high. Why trade for Ozuna 2 years ago when the Marlins were trying to give him away just to get him off the roster after they played service time games with him and pissed him off? Why acquire Fowler 2 years ago when he had to slink back to Chicago on a 1-yr deal when the market never came together for him? Why look for guys like Colome BEFORE they're Colome when you can just wait until after they break out and pay 4 times as much for them?
And why wait and see if a guy with a startlingly similar offensive profile to Christian Yelich rebounds when you can just dump him for nothing?
That's what's going to happen here. Piscotty will be dumped. For most of 2016 ago he was among the better young 'pure' hitters in the league and looked like a born 2 hitter or a perfect 6 hitter in the Renteria mold. We'd tinkered with his swing, added the necessary loft and made him a legit asset. Then we decided to fuck with it even more, absolutely wrecked his approach and then acted all surprised when he struggled. So now we'll dump a guy to the A's, who will then build him back up and in 2 seasons trade him for an actual return.
Why? Because Billy Beane is a smart GM. John Mozeliak, OTOH, thinks Dexter Fowler and Matt Carpenter are going to be part of the next Cardinal champion. Because he's an idiot and doesn't understand aging curves. [Reply]
Originally Posted by VAChief:
Trading Pham would be asinine. He would get more back than our other outfielders, but he won't hit free agency until after his prime years. Ride that horse as long as you can.
Piscotty doesn't fit here. Oakland would be one of the few we might actually get a warm body in return.
He will have ZERO value after this year. Fluke season. Gives those at bats to a better player in Piscotty. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Pasta Giant Meatball:
Send them Pham.
Why in the actual fuck would you do that?
His value is nominal due to his injury/eye issues. Meanwhile, if he DOES have a handle on either of those things, he's a 30/30 player who is likely to give you a .300/.400/.500 season because this guy understands baseball backwards and forwards.
Meanwhile he's the only guy on the team with any passion.
If you could get a genuinely excellent return for him, go ahead and deal him. But you're not getting that from Oakland because that's not what they do. They value shop and rehabilitate so they can sell high later.
At this point the best move with Pham is probably to just hold him. He doesn't cost anything and if he gets hurt...so what? He's cheap and we have replacements like O'Niell and even Bader who can probably step in. Arozarena might be big league ready at some pont next year as well.
Meanwhile if he has one more year like the one he just had, his value skyrockets. If he doesn't...c'est la vie; nobody was going to give you 'healthy Pham' value for him right now anyway. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Pasta Giant Meatball:
He will have ZERO value after this year. Fluke season. Gives those at bats to a better player in Piscotty.
Tommy Pham is an infinitely more talented player that Piscotty. It's not even particularly close.
Pham's talent has always been there, even when he was in his early 20s and killing it in Springfield. Injuries have been the thing that's held him back his entire career.
His batspeed is excellent, his pitch recognition is some of the best on the team (when he can actually see). And again - he understands what a good offensive season is. He's bought into the idea that OBP, ISO and speed are how you win baseball games. He's not a sellout idiot like Grichuk, he's not an average first guy either. He's a genuinely intelligent hitter with the physical tools to rival anyone in baseball.
Hell, he said it best himself:
Originally Posted by :
“When you look at the production of what I’ve done there are three players in the big leagues that are .300-.400-.500 guys and are 20-20 guys,” Pham said. “Look at those other two players. Are those teams trying to trade those guys? Then the question is why would this team want to trade me? And, I’m not making much money. That wouldn’t be a smart deal.”
For the record, 'those other two players' are Jose Altuve and Mike Trout. That's...uh...not bad company. Tommy Pham is a passionate player who understands the game. You take the gamble that he's figured out a solution to the eye issue and can give you 125 games. If he does that, he's far FAR more valuable to the Cardinals than what they'd get in return.
The players to trade are Fowler and Carpenter. If it's the former, Piscotty plays LF. If it's the latter, move him to 1b. Fuck, move 'em both and put Martinez at 1b, who's a very good hitter in his own right. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Pasta Giant Meatball:
It will all come out crystal clear. Just like Heyturd.
Heyward was a beta male who had no interest in improving his offensive game.
Pham's a fucking killer; he's an animal. He doesn't just want to improve, he knows how to do it.
I'm not sure how anyone can actively dislike Tommy Pham - the dude's produced at every level. Injuries are all that's ever held him back.
He's the kind of guy you need to hit on if you want to catch the cubs. Moving him for a paltry return just to get something out of him is a .500 move. It's what you do if you're more interested in not losing than you are winning.
So in that regard, it's another Mozeliak special. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
Heyward was a beta male who had no interest in improving his offensive game.
Pham's a ****ing killer; he's an animal. He doesn't just want to improve, he knows how to do it.
I'm not sure how anyone can actively dislike Tommy Pham - the dude's produced at every level. Injuries are all that's ever held him back.
He's the kind of guy you need to hit on if you want to catch the cubs. Moving him for a paltry return just to get something out of him is a .500 move. It's what you do if you're more interested in not losing than you are winning.
So in that regard, it's another Mozeliak special.
With our current outfield Pham should be untouchable. [Reply]
#Cardinals have signed Tony Pena's son, Francisco Pena, to a minor-league deal, and he'll be one of the catchers at Class AAA Memphis this past season. He had cameos on the majors with the #Orioles the past two seasons.