Quote from WindsorUK on November 21, 2022, 9:38 am

Props to whomever suggested trying to bring back fan favourites Reyes and Cordero!

I imagine both are FA? They'd certainly be welcomed into the clubhouse as well.

And who knows, being back home in the sunshine of San Diego could create a spark in their games, and health?!

I'm all onboard.

Quote from BoosterSD on November 21, 2022, 10:11 am

Quote from WindsorUK on November 21, 2022, 9:38 am

Props to whomever suggested trying to bring back fan favourites Reyes and Cordero!

I imagine both are FA? They'd certainly be welcomed into the clubhouse as well.

And who knows, being back home in the sunshine of San Diego could create a spark in their games, and health?!

I'm all onboard.

Cordero could be an interesting 5th OFer, he is definitely a platoon guy, he can not hit LHP. But the speed and defense is probably still there.

Reyes, built his name "Franimal" in SD, and maybe a return to warmer weather, and not a lot of pressure to field or "be the Man" with this line up could be the, along with his buddies here, could be the magic to get him back to his 2019 numbers. And he might be a guy that needs to play in the field, his hitting numbers as RFer are much better than being a DH. Can we live with his defense, for a productive bat?

Neither are worth more than $2M each, and neither should be brought in on a ML deal, MiL deals with invites to ST.

Quote from Jeremy Hill on November 21, 2022, 11:05 am

Quote from BoosterSD on November 21, 2022, 7:43 am

Even though the season starts 3/30/2023, I know most of us on here are planning the roster/line up starting on 4/20, the return of Tatis. With that in mind, that is how I keep envisioning the winter off season being planned around.

Even though Mr.P. is not a fan, I still believe that Tatis would be a great lead off option. This is the way I am seeing the line up at this time. 1. Tatis (R), 2. TBD (L), 3. Machado (R), 4. Soto (L), 5. TBD (R), 6. Crone (L), 7. Kim (R), 8. Grisham (L), Nola (R). In my mind, the #2 and #5 spots are not on the roster at this time. We have some positional flexibility in filling the batting spots, so I am looking for the right bat for the line up spot.

I think SD is predominately limited to signing FAs, since the farm is in a low spot right now, and we still need some future. Although Preller may prove me wrong here. I will stick to mainly FAs.

#2 LHH options, we could look at Michael Brantley, he has maintained a good OBP through his career, and is a professional hitter. Depending on his health, he could play some LF and DH, and could fit nicely right into the 2 spot. Other options for the 2 spot could be Benintendi and the Japanese OFer Yoshida. Fenn has highlighted some of the reasons that Yoshida could "pay" for himself, and the other options may get more heavily pursued by other teams, so I lean towards Yoshida.

#5 spot RHH, I think that this is leading towards a 1B/DH type. Of course, we have mentioned a trade for Diaz, and he would be nice. Do we have the prospects to get him out of TAM? When you look at FA, there is Aguilar, Mancini, and Abreu. Abreu has been listed as a favorite, and with his latin background, maybe he is a good choice. I like Mancini, since he does offer some position flexibility since he can play the OF corners. With his decline in HOU, I just looked at Mancinis career numbers, and I think he might be a product of a hitters ballpark in BAL, and so I think I might pass on Mancini. So maybe the option is Abreu.

Of course, SD could look to the past, and try bringing back any combination of the following, Franmil, Myers, Bell, Voit. Although I would not really like to see Voit back. His approach is horrible IMO.

Since I dont think there is anyway SD is staying around the $250M mark this season, I say go for it this season, sign Senga, Yoshida, and Abreu and see if we can really put it to LAD this season.

I don't get the obsession with moving Soto out of the 2 hole. I don't think major league hitters are doing anything differently based on their spot in the lineup. There are so many other more plausible factors that might explain his struggles than his position in the lineup.

To start I would look at the fact that the majority of his PAs in the 2 hole came this year. He had 489 this year compared to 282 for the rest of his career. Comparing his career splits to his 2022 splits we can see that the biggest difference was against LHP.

 

Against RHP

Career .296/.448/.558

2022 .261/.431/.511

 

Against LHP

Career .268/.376/.465

2022 .210/.348/.354

 

Then I think you have to look at who was hitting behind him. Early in the season that was Nelson Cruz who managed only a .651 OPS on the season and a dismal .464 out of the 3 hole. Later with the Nats it was Josh Bell who did much better with a .897 OPS hitting 3rd. Outside of Bell the rest of the Nats lineup sucked. Is it possible he got into some bad habits and tried to do too much with the weak lineup around him? Soto himself said he got too pull happy and that he needed to get back to going the other way and using the whole field after the trade. He seemed to be rolling over on a lot of balls which would support that explanation.

With the Padres he also had to adjust to a new home park, environment, and team. We also don't know how much his back injury may have affected him. It also may just have been bad luck. His career BAPIP is .309 last year it was .249. His expected batting average was 19 points higher than his actual average. His expected slugging was 49 points higher.

I could keep going, but the point is that lineup position seems like a lazy and unlikely explanation for his numbers being down.

Quote from Randy Manese on November 21, 2022, 11:09 am

Don't believe Cordero ever made 1M a year and his 2022 season ended when his spikes got caught in the outfield wall in left in Boston.  Reyes had a huge bump in salary in 2022 to 4.55 million from the Guardians and then got traded to the Cubs, where he fizzled.  Probably can get both for a combined 4M or less and since both have K rates around 30%, likely not in the line-up at the same time.  Both still have awesome power when they are locked in, although neither is likely to hit more than .250.

Looks like good low cost options if we can't land the one or more of the big bats (Abreu, Yoshida and/or Benintendi) and decide to put that money into SP.  This is the money you probably would have spent on Alfaro if we didn't non-tender him.  Appreciate the kudos for my earlier suggestion to regain some of that team chemistry we lost after the season ended by bringing back these guys.

Quote from BoosterSD on November 21, 2022, 11:43 am

Quote from Jeremy Hill on November 21, 2022, 11:05 am

I don't get the obsession with moving Soto out of the 2 hole. I don't think major league hitters are doing anything differently based on their spot in the lineup. There are so many other more plausible factors that might explain his struggles than his position in the lineup.

To start I would look at the fact that the majority of his PAs in the 2 hole came this year. He had 489 this year compared to 282 for the rest of his career. Comparing his career splits to his 2022 splits we can see that the biggest difference was against LHP.

 

I'll do it right back to you. Why the obsession of keeping him in the 2 hole? Because Melvin did it when he came to SD? Because his power numbers were so great in the 2 hole? You can make all the guesses, excuses, and assumptions that you want, he was not Soto in the 2 spot. 

He is historically best in the 3 or 4 spot. Machado seems most comfortable at 3, and he SHOULD have been MVP this season, so leave Machado at 3, and put Soto back where history says he is better, the 4 spot.

Quote from BoosterSD on November 21, 2022, 12:00 pm

With the trade rumors last season where SD was in on Bogaerts, why doesnt Preller just go nuts and have an all SS team, except for Soto. We could sign Bogaerts and Turner, and have the following defense. Soto LF, Turner CF, Tatis RF. Machado 3B, Kim SS, Bogaerts 2B, with Crone at 1B, and Nola at C. The only player to have not played have played SS in professional baseball would be Soto.

Then have a $400M payroll and sign Verlander and Senga, and we should have a good shot at winning the NL West this season! HAHAHA 😉

 

Quote from Jeremy Hill on November 21, 2022, 12:09 pm

The 2 hole having a magical negative effect on him is a pretty terrible argument.

Quote from BoosterSD on November 21, 2022, 12:18 pm

Quote from Jeremy Hill on November 21, 2022, 12:09 pm

The 2 hole having a magical negative effect on him is a pretty terrible argument.

Well even his 2022 numbers back up, he is a better slugger (which is what I think we all want) in the 3 spot versus 2 spot. So maybe its magical BS, or maybe its not. Still dont get the argument that he should stay in a spot that he under performs his career norms.

So I will stick the numbers argument until Soto proves me wrong in real game situations.

Seems a waste of $22M+ to keep him at the 2 spot.

Quote from MrPadre19 on November 21, 2022, 12:37 pm

Who hits where will be determined by who we bring in.

If we bring in a guy that can lead off IMO Soto then hits 2nd again (due to his OBP) with Tatis and Machado behind him.

IMO Tatis and Machado are the RBI guys….personally I would hit them behind the highest OBP guys…. of which Soto is obviously one.

We all feel different obviously…all that matters in the end though is what Melvin thinks.