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- Thread starter NFBuck
- Start date
Here's the thing with Napoli, Francona said that he was the "heart of this team" before Game 3. On a team built like this, that is not to be discarded easily. Chemistry, maybe more than anything save the bullpen, was the biggest reason this team got as far as it did. Now, he was obviously a HUGE liability on the field in the WS. So, I don't say you give him a sizeable contract. However, if he can be had back on a reasonable deal to pinch hit 1-3 times a week and be a "glue" guy, like Giambi in '13, I say you have to do it. No way should he be playing on anything resembling a regular basis next year, though.
I guess the question will be what the market for him will be. I can't imagine with the way he faltered down the stretch, and utterly failed in the post season it will be too robust. But this is MLB, so who the hell knows...
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Yeah, sure, if you could do that...but they were talking 7-8 million for one year deals at the end of the season on the radio. I don't care if he's the designated fluffer, he ain't worth that
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Well, they do get Brantley back. Who knows what he brings, but he is still reasonably young, so I would hope he can come back strong. Zimmer is generally expected to be ML ready sometime next year. So, unless they bring somebody in, the rest of the OF will probably be piecemeal.
I hope the front office recognizes the need for another bat to play out there, but I expect they'll view Brantley coming back as just that. Who knows, maybe they get a wild hair up their ass and spend like they did before 2013 with Bourne and Swisher...but I suspect considering how poorly those contracts played out that's a serious longshot.
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So, by your logic, Lindor, Kipnis and Santana won 103 total games including 10 in the playoffs with a bunch of nobodies. Doesn't matter who they put with them. So, we should be ok there.
Brantley is indeed a who knows. Maybe he's the next Joe Charboneau. Why limit your comparisons.
Guyer is a lefty match up guy, thanks for noticing.
Good old Lost cause Catchers. They're not important at all. Do you watch baseball? If I had to rank them in order, even with no hits, Perez was probably about the 7th most important player in the post season. Only Lindor, Kipnis, Kluber, and the 3 bullpen guys to me obviously had a bigger impact.
Naquin and Jeremy Sowers. Really? You can't even come up with another flash in the pan hitter? Shouldn't we be talking Franklin Gutierrez and Ben Francisco? well, I'm pretty sure those guys never flashed in the pan. Naquin unless I'm mistaken, has more MLB games than AAA games played. He's not just a rookie, but a buck ass rookie. He's got a good swing... its up to HIM to adjust, and we'll see if he can. He's a match up guy right now too.. so, who knows. (Also, did you really think Jeremy Sowers was gonna be worth a broke dick? Stuff wasn't there. Ever. At all.)
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NorthCoastKid
Legend
IMO, any sort of talent infusion that adds to the payroll is going to come via trade instead of free agency.
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Oh, I'd bring him back for one year and 8, I wouldn't think twice about it.
What we NEED to not be doing is ALWAYS making him the #4 hitter.
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tsteele316
Mr. Such and Such
not at all. he was setting up force outs at the bases. common sense baseball move.
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I just don't see the logic in signing Napoli.
After he hit a HR in 5 straight games from July 30-August 3
37/172 (.209)
OPS dipped .49 points
SLG% dipped .50 points
not to mention his train wreck of a playoffs.
Does anyone really believe he gets even near 30 HR and 100 RBI again? Seems like a guy theyll give a one year deal to and he will hack for about .200 and a million strikeouts before cutting him loose mid season
After he hit a HR in 5 straight games from July 30-August 3
37/172 (.209)
OPS dipped .49 points
SLG% dipped .50 points
not to mention his train wreck of a playoffs.
Does anyone really believe he gets even near 30 HR and 100 RBI again? Seems like a guy theyll give a one year deal to and he will hack for about .200 and a million strikeouts before cutting him loose mid season
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tsteele316
Mr. Such and Such
napoli is 32 and has never played as many games in a season as he did this past year, and especially that many games in the field. the way he faltered down the stretch where he was total garbage from the last week of august onward is not a good sign. There is no chance he doesn't try to sign a long term deal, and some team will give it to him. there's no way he's taking a one year deal and risking a regression season and any sort of future payday.
The biggest problem for napoli this year was his K rate spiked quite a bit, up to about 35% of at bats, which is about 5% higher than any other year in his career, and his K's per month remained constant all year. So, it wasn't his 7 week swoon that spiked that number. These are all very troubling trends that doesn't lend itself to a long term deal of any sort.
Now, if they did something like a 3 year deal, with the 3rd year being some sort of mutual option or something, that would be palatable. Otherwise, no. And they'd have to give him more days off, especially after the all-star break. But overall, the whole situation is too high risk for a team with spending limitations like cleveland.
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The catches are a lose cause offensively, not defensively though.
I enjoy your optimism but I just don't see next year going well.
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I don't understand why, we're not sitting here being all, "Oh noes, all the guys are free agents that we can't afford" - you don't win the division by 8 games with smoke and mirrors. You don't sweep the Red Sox with it either. Now, they 'Ryan Merrited" the Jays for one game, and that was the long game gamble by Tito just so he could have a little smoke and a little mirror for the WS. But Again, that was because some jackass had to break Carrasco's hand and maybe Salazar rushed back.... But you go from nearly 0 post season experience to everyone on the roster who comes back has 15 games worth. That's a good thing. The Cubs lost in the NLCS last year.
There are no guarantees obviously, and we could pull a Royals on the injury front. You can suck and have everyone hurt, you just don't notice it so much because losing is losing. I'm not predicting a title next year or anything like that, but, my expectations will be higher than they were to start this year. (Those being, please keep me amused till the end of August and play some meaningful games in September so these kids at least know what that's like...)
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LitlBuck
Kevin Warren is an ass
I think they will re-sign Nap just because Francona will want him back. Francona would look very bad if they did not bring back his clubhouse guy. I guess the big question is how much is a clubhouse guy worth. I would pay about $7-$8 mil but that would be it or maybe let the market determine his style before even trying to re-sign him.
I would like for the Indians to try and get a quality left-handed pitcher. I do not know if Merritt is major-league ready or not.
For those of you questioning Ramirez, I think he will be just as good next year as he was this season. The kid can just flat out hit and he is finally major-league ready.
I would like for the Indians to try and get a quality left-handed pitcher. I do not know if Merritt is major-league ready or not.
For those of you questioning Ramirez, I think he will be just as good next year as he was this season. The kid can just flat out hit and he is finally major-league ready.
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