Need that classic Murph video breakdown of what Nick Gonzales looks like right now.
No sense pretending a couple weeks of AAA stats mean a thing unless he's fixed his swing, but there could be signs that's happening. A few less Ks and a TON of contact on the ground. Probably not ideal, that, but it could indicate the swing has adjusted.
I am wondering the same thing. Who would he come up for right now is another question? Especially with skenes maybe coming up sooner rather than later.
The depth is great. I don't think we quite have a playoff roster yet but with the rotation performing better than expected and help on the way, I don't think we have a glaring weakness. Probably a weakness will develop due to health, but say that we remain relatively healthy. The depth can't all play, but if we use some of our depth to strengthen the roster, what positions do we target? I'd probably say starting pitching but what would we have to trade to upgrade a rotation of Skenes, Jones, Keller, Perez, Priester, say?
His exit velocities are encouraging! And given that Delay's injury seems more serious than first realized, it's looking like a really good move by Cherington.
Looks like Ben Heller is surfacing. I thought he had a decent chance to make the team going into ST, based on his history, but he was hurt. Probably needs a lot of time on rehab and in AAA, but he could add useful depth at some point.
"Rain showers will likely lead to an extended delay for Thursday night's game at Citizens Bank Park. A postponement cannot be ruled out. Moderate winds with strong gusts blowing out to left-center field will give hitters a significant advantage."
I hate to be selfish but after missing Jones first two starts due to family commitments and having a work commitment this evening, I wouldn't mind seeing a delayed start or postponement. OTOH, after the kind of loss we had on Tuesday I am always anxious for the next game.
I'm curious to see what happens with our veteran pitching - Marco, Perez, Lauer, German - and how it plays out with Skenes, Keller, JJ, Priester. There's always a possibility that Ro figures it out. He's still young.
Wouldn't it be nice to have 2 starters available for every game? If someone has a game like Martin Perez, let him go 8. If someone is just ok, let him go 4 innings.
Did not attend last night but some things look to be trends early in the making.
1. Curve came back to win (vs a good hitting Senators side) after their starter (Po Yu Chen) got whacked.
2. Tsung-Tse Cheng is enjoying himself. 3 bases on balls for the second day in a row. Cheng went 1 for 2 with a run and a stolen base. The guy had two errors at short, but I gotta think it's because he gets to just about everything humanly possible. While he had two errors, he was involved in two of the four Toon-Town double plays. He's a keeper in my mind.
3. Shack continues to rake. He had a two homer night Tuesday and went 2 for 3 with two doubles last night, scored a run and drove in 3. Also added a base on balls and a strikeout.
4. The chant from the crowd for Seth Beer continues to be comical. "We Want Beer! We Want Beer!" I don't even know how the guy can hit with that going on. That said, he was one of four Toons with a multi hit game last night.
Nick Senzel of the Senators, a .300 hitter at the major league level, continues his rehab where he is hitting .800 in AA with an OPS of 1.833. Despite putting up 15 runs in two games, the Senators have still lost both games. It appears that Nick can't hit enough for everybody.
It's a rainy morning here in the Mountains of Toon. I don't think I'll get down there tonight, but man, Bubba is pitching. Saw him at The Hoppers and Altoona last year and he's something to see.
Interesting to see what he'll do with the Senator's very good batting line-up.
Shack has to be a favorite to get just one day at the MLB level. Played well at AAA last year with 17 Doubles and 14 HR, .993 at 1B, 2B was an adventure, but he was sent back down to AA (the right move) to start 2024. Took it in stride and is playing good ball for the TOONS - that's a BALLPLAYER!
Did I count right - 7 guys in the 9 man lineup hitting at the Mendoza or lower?
I think Cherington did an excellent job picking through the refuse after the majority of free-agent signings and finding some very solid depth pieces such as Lauer, Fleming, and Rider. Where has this been the past 4 seasons? I might have a different opinion of him if this had been his modus operandi from the start. Maybe better quality people around him?
He did have success with Anderson and Quintana and to a lesser degree Vogelsong (similar to adding Perez and Tellez), we just didn't have enough homegrown talent to go with those acquisitions. OTOH, he also seemed a little too obsessed with finding the next Justin Turner (something he claimed he wanted to do when he was first hired). You could say that Cherington threw so much at the wall, something (or someone) was bound to stick.
Same reply as to Weenie above, I’m interested to hear your opinion on this as well: Makes sense on the surface. Except, sometimes if you sign quality depth pieces when tanking they turn into good players, like GFJ.
Correct. That's why they were signing guys like JFVM. They were trying to find their version of Justin Turner and when the goal is not winning games, you can run guys like VanMeter and Diego Castillo out there.
Yep. There's a difference between guys like Olivares, Joe and Bart, who have some ability and at least an outside chance of at least showing some mid-term value, and zero-upside time-servers like VanMeter, Jarrod Dyson and Miguel Perez. Not to mention letting Gregory Polanco and Yoshi Tsutsugo pile up playing time based on the non-existent hope some drunken GM will take a few pennies of their salaries off Bob Nuttin's books. After four years, Cherington's finally doing stuff he should have been doing from day one. That doesn't get him a gold star.
I think at the very least, they tried to put a team together in a different fashion than previous years. I don’t love every move they’ve made, but some of the best moves they made, IMO, were the more under the radar moves.
But a guy like Fleming or Lauer or Rider or even a combination of the three is not going to transform a 100-loss team into a 85-loss team, and that type of guy will have some trade value. You can be bad, get good draft picks, and still make shrewd acquisitions in the off-season that add future value to the team.
You might get a low, low, low level lotto ticket for these guys.
They signed guys like Anderson and flipped him for Carter Bins. They signed Quintana and flipped him for Oviedo and Nunez. They signed Rich Hill and flipped him for Wolf and Suarez.
Josh Fleming was signed to a 2-way contract. Pirates are deploying him properly and they coached him up to use heavy sinker usage. He's not bringing back anything from a trade.
Jack Brannigan has absolutely established himself as one of our better hitting MI's. At A and A+ last year he had 19 HR in 309 AB - about one for every 16 AB's! They have started him at A+ this year where he is carrying a 1.128 OPS, with 6 BB/1 K. Defensively they have him playing 3B more than SS which I think is a mistake based on his .971 fielding percentage playing SS at A+ last year.
Lonnie White, Jr is also doing very well at A+ with a good average and a 1.291 OPS. He has 6 hits so far at A+ including 1 double, 1 triple, and 3 HR. 8K/2BB is something for him to work on, but as long as he is hitting like he is, I would not be anxious to discuss that with him. TJ is struggling finding hits, but with 5BB/6K, nothing to be concerned with. Another guy we had high hopes for is Rodolfo Nolasco, and he is really struggling with only 1 hit in 14 AB.
Excellent pitching at A+ from Alessandro Ercolani, and a Drake Fellows sighting (Musgrove Trade) who has struggled with injuries since coming over from SD. Jaden Woods LHRP also impressive numbers - 3K, 1 H, 1 BB in 1.1 IP.
I’m going to hold back from getting too excited about prospects until they do it at AA/AAA. But I’ll agree it’s good to see positive results in Greensboro.
The performance I was most impressed with was Eric Lauer. He appears to be healthy, and once he’s ramped up, will be worthy of a spot on 26-man roster. Likely in the rotation.
I agree, but after the latest start by Falter, I would hate to see him dumped. Probably bounce Hernandez back to AAA because he has Options, and Falter could replace him in the BP
Those 30-40 players deep are generally right around replacement level. Your McKinney's, Lamb's, Gonzo's, Mold's, Bae's, Rider Ryan's, etc are just that...replacement players.
It's nice to have a guy like Lauer to make a spot start in case of an injury. The only one that can really make a difference in the minors is Skenes. I'd let Peguero marinate all year in AAA.
To me, the teams that can swing impact trades to fill holes at the deadline are the difference makers.
Yes, but replacement level is better than what they acquired for "depth" in previous seasons.
I agree about making moves at the deadline to fill holes. It became less fashionable as everyone started to emulate Friedman in LA, but his lack of post-season success with rosters other teams can only imagine has started to erode that model. Young with the Rangers went old-school and made big moves at the deadline, and he has won as many championships in 3 year with Texas as Friedman has in 9. Even Friedman broke out the prospect bank a couple years back at the deadline. So, I expect this year's deadline to be very interesting... a good year for sellers (which I still think, despite the hot start, that the Pirates may be).
I am not sold on the Cardinals, Reds, or Pirates being playoff teams. I like Chicago to win the division and Milwaukee to be a solid wild-card contender.
One, maybe even two of the others, may be in the hunt for a wild card, along with 3 or 4 other teams, but not really buyers, unless they go Huntington crazy with a .500 record. I hope that you are right though.
I agree with you that Nick Gonzales did not hang his head last year after being sent back down to AAA and has started the 2024 season on fire at the plate. But, the Pirates have some serious decisions that have to be made this year regarding their MI. Oneil Cruz, 25 and Jared Triolo, 26 have been doing well as the Pirate MI, and that leaves doubt about the need to carry Alika Williams SS/2B, Nick Gonzales 2B, and Ji-Hwan Bae, 2B/CF all of whom are in their age 25 seasons. We also have Liover Peguero SS/2B at AAA, but he is only in his age 23 season. Following them are Jack Brannigan, 23 and Termarr Johnson, 20 who should both get to AA this year.
Nothing against any of these guys, but they all want one thing and that is to play at the MLB level. If the Pirates have other plans, they have all worked very hard for this franchise and deserve the opportunity to possibly play at that level with other MLB teams who have needs. I posted the ages because I have seen MLB move more toward bringing up younger players earlier than had been the case in previous decades. I'd be surprised if BC has not already been contacted by other MLB teams regarding Peguero, Bae, NG, and Williams. Who would I keep? Cruz, Triolo, and Peguero.
I wonder if anyone would give a bullpen arm or something of value for Williams? I think I’d rather have Gonzales come up and be the back up middle infielder to see if his bat plays. He was a 1st rounder. They need to find out what they have or trade him. At some point I think peguero is the starter at 2nd this year with Triolo as super utility.
It's a good problem to have and at the same time puts pressure on Cherington to get it right as to who to keep and who to trade, and getting value in return on the trades. But nothing has to be done in the next couple of months--keeping Peguero and/or Gonzales and/or Bae down until June or July is fine while seeing if Triolo is the real deal while also have insurance in case Hayes or Cruz goes down with an injury. If all are still healthy and playing well, then by the trade deadline it would seem that some decisions need to be made out of fairness to the players while filling in weaknesses at other positions. For now it's just interesting to watch.
This sounds cold and I know it was not your primary point, but I don't think anything needs done 'in fairness to the players'. Playoff / championship level teams (not saying we are there yet but boy does the start make us feel more optimistic) have players that are major league ready but are blocked. They are trade candidates, possible future starters, or will be called upon because injuries happen. The best case is what the two of you have painted. The early returns (small samples size) continue and other teams see legitimate MLB starters possibly available via trade. Despite a lot of optimism regarding 1B in this years draft, I still think the most realistic path for 2025/6 1B will be finding that blocked 1B on another team and working a trade vs. hoping a 2024 draftee is ready to truly step in and be a legitimate playoff level 1B. Maybe our hopefully surplus middle infielders can help with that trade.
We wouldn't make a move only out of fairness to the player(s) but to address whatever weaknesses pop up. And we would keep some depth. For example, maybe we'd keep Bae as a possible replacement for MAT in CF while also providing depth at 2B and also keep two out of Triolo, Peguero, and Gonzales (one to start at 2B with the other being depth) while moving the third for, say, a pitcher.
I understand and know that was not your primary comment. In many ways (if things continue.. we are so in a honeymoon phase with things going well) it is such a great problem to have.
Need that classic Murph video breakdown of what Nick Gonzales looks like right now.
No sense pretending a couple weeks of AAA stats mean a thing unless he's fixed his swing, but there could be signs that's happening. A few less Ks and a TON of contact on the ground. Probably not ideal, that, but it could indicate the swing has adjusted.
Speaking of depth, pretty cool article over at Fangraphs...
Indianapolis Indians would project to win 50 games if they were an MLB team. That's the 10 best projection of all AAA teams.
Anybody with news on Domingo German? He does not appear on the Indy roster, and have not heard of him in a long time...
Wonder if his "I don't have a problem" comments after signing led them to reassess?
Ugh i can hope
I am wondering the same thing. Who would he come up for right now is another question? Especially with skenes maybe coming up sooner rather than later.
The depth is great. I don't think we quite have a playoff roster yet but with the rotation performing better than expected and help on the way, I don't think we have a glaring weakness. Probably a weakness will develop due to health, but say that we remain relatively healthy. The depth can't all play, but if we use some of our depth to strengthen the roster, what positions do we target? I'd probably say starting pitching but what would we have to trade to upgrade a rotation of Skenes, Jones, Keller, Perez, Priester, say?
Anyone think there's much of a chance we stumbled on a 2 WAR starting catcher in Joey Bart??
Man I remeber that 2018 draft pretty well and deluded myself into thinking Swaggerty was the right pick. One pick ahead of Grayson Rodriguez.
His exit velocities are encouraging! And given that Delay's injury seems more serious than first realized, it's looking like a really good move by Cherington.
Looks like Ben Heller is surfacing. I thought he had a decent chance to make the team going into ST, based on his history, but he was hurt. Probably needs a lot of time on rehab and in AAA, but he could add useful depth at some point.
Before I forget...
Dylan Crews effing sucks.
rocked my boi Braxton tho.
Yeah, he got lucky. It happens
Ugh. Excited for Pirates baseball and Jared Jones tonight but weather looking like it might not cooperate in Philly?
From rotowire.com on Pit/Philly game weather:
"Rain showers will likely lead to an extended delay for Thursday night's game at Citizens Bank Park. A postponement cannot be ruled out. Moderate winds with strong gusts blowing out to left-center field will give hitters a significant advantage."
I hate to be selfish but after missing Jones first two starts due to family commitments and having a work commitment this evening, I wouldn't mind seeing a delayed start or postponement. OTOH, after the kind of loss we had on Tuesday I am always anxious for the next game.
He will certainly be facing a formidable test against the Phillies.
Yeah, they're not getting this game in tonight.
That sucks
Thanks John!
I'm curious to see what happens with our veteran pitching - Marco, Perez, Lauer, German - and how it plays out with Skenes, Keller, JJ, Priester. There's always a possibility that Ro figures it out. He's still young.
Wouldn't it be nice to have 2 starters available for every game? If someone has a game like Martin Perez, let him go 8. If someone is just ok, let him go 4 innings.
TOONS News!
Did not attend last night but some things look to be trends early in the making.
1. Curve came back to win (vs a good hitting Senators side) after their starter (Po Yu Chen) got whacked.
2. Tsung-Tse Cheng is enjoying himself. 3 bases on balls for the second day in a row. Cheng went 1 for 2 with a run and a stolen base. The guy had two errors at short, but I gotta think it's because he gets to just about everything humanly possible. While he had two errors, he was involved in two of the four Toon-Town double plays. He's a keeper in my mind.
3. Shack continues to rake. He had a two homer night Tuesday and went 2 for 3 with two doubles last night, scored a run and drove in 3. Also added a base on balls and a strikeout.
4. The chant from the crowd for Seth Beer continues to be comical. "We Want Beer! We Want Beer!" I don't even know how the guy can hit with that going on. That said, he was one of four Toons with a multi hit game last night.
Nick Senzel of the Senators, a .300 hitter at the major league level, continues his rehab where he is hitting .800 in AA with an OPS of 1.833. Despite putting up 15 runs in two games, the Senators have still lost both games. It appears that Nick can't hit enough for everybody.
It's a rainy morning here in the Mountains of Toon. I don't think I'll get down there tonight, but man, Bubba is pitching. Saw him at The Hoppers and Altoona last year and he's something to see.
Interesting to see what he'll do with the Senator's very good batting line-up.
Shack has to be a favorite to get just one day at the MLB level. Played well at AAA last year with 17 Doubles and 14 HR, .993 at 1B, 2B was an adventure, but he was sent back down to AA (the right move) to start 2024. Took it in stride and is playing good ball for the TOONS - that's a BALLPLAYER!
Did I count right - 7 guys in the 9 man lineup hitting at the Mendoza or lower?
Will Cheng be able to hold off Brannigan?
Love, and I mean LOVE, the quality depth on the 40-man roster. AM is 100% right about the importance this is to being a winning team.
I think Cherington did an excellent job picking through the refuse after the majority of free-agent signings and finding some very solid depth pieces such as Lauer, Fleming, and Rider. Where has this been the past 4 seasons? I might have a different opinion of him if this had been his modus operandi from the start. Maybe better quality people around him?
He did have success with Anderson and Quintana and to a lesser degree Vogelsong (similar to adding Perez and Tellez), we just didn't have enough homegrown talent to go with those acquisitions. OTOH, he also seemed a little too obsessed with finding the next Justin Turner (something he claimed he wanted to do when he was first hired). You could say that Cherington threw so much at the wall, something (or someone) was bound to stick.
He clearly wasn't trying to win. He was tanking.
Same reply as to Weenie above, I’m interested to hear your opinion on this as well: Makes sense on the surface. Except, sometimes if you sign quality depth pieces when tanking they turn into good players, like GFJ.
Correct. That's why they were signing guys like JFVM. They were trying to find their version of Justin Turner and when the goal is not winning games, you can run guys like VanMeter and Diego Castillo out there.
I think you’re more likely to luck into a Turner taking the approach they did this offseason, was what I was driving at.
This conversation somehow seems to have memory-holed the fact that Justin Turner was a *development* success.
Little to no "luck" involved.
The failure of the early Cherington has been a near complete inability to make acquisitions better, at least on the position player side of the ball.
Yep. There's a difference between guys like Olivares, Joe and Bart, who have some ability and at least an outside chance of at least showing some mid-term value, and zero-upside time-servers like VanMeter, Jarrod Dyson and Miguel Perez. Not to mention letting Gregory Polanco and Yoshi Tsutsugo pile up playing time based on the non-existent hope some drunken GM will take a few pennies of their salaries off Bob Nuttin's books. After four years, Cherington's finally doing stuff he should have been doing from day one. That doesn't get him a gold star.
What player on this years roster could yield a Turner? Oilvares? Tellez?
Yes... that is sort of my point too.
Hard not to think that way with some of the trash that came through in '20-'22. Of course, some of those guys are still getting PT with other org's.
I think at the very least, they tried to put a team together in a different fashion than previous years. I don’t love every move they’ve made, but some of the best moves they made, IMO, were the more under the radar moves.
Imo, the quality of depth pieces signed was impacted by the fact that BC was tanking.
Makes sense on the surface. Except, sometimes if you sign quality depth pieces when tanking they turn into good players, like GFJ.
But a guy like Fleming or Lauer or Rider or even a combination of the three is not going to transform a 100-loss team into a 85-loss team, and that type of guy will have some trade value. You can be bad, get good draft picks, and still make shrewd acquisitions in the off-season that add future value to the team.
You might get a low, low, low level lotto ticket for these guys.
They signed guys like Anderson and flipped him for Carter Bins. They signed Quintana and flipped him for Oviedo and Nunez. They signed Rich Hill and flipped him for Wolf and Suarez.
Josh Fleming was signed to a 2-way contract. Pirates are deploying him properly and they coached him up to use heavy sinker usage. He's not bringing back anything from a trade.
Jack Brannigan has absolutely established himself as one of our better hitting MI's. At A and A+ last year he had 19 HR in 309 AB - about one for every 16 AB's! They have started him at A+ this year where he is carrying a 1.128 OPS, with 6 BB/1 K. Defensively they have him playing 3B more than SS which I think is a mistake based on his .971 fielding percentage playing SS at A+ last year.
Lonnie White, Jr is also doing very well at A+ with a good average and a 1.291 OPS. He has 6 hits so far at A+ including 1 double, 1 triple, and 3 HR. 8K/2BB is something for him to work on, but as long as he is hitting like he is, I would not be anxious to discuss that with him. TJ is struggling finding hits, but with 5BB/6K, nothing to be concerned with. Another guy we had high hopes for is Rodolfo Nolasco, and he is really struggling with only 1 hit in 14 AB.
Excellent pitching at A+ from Alessandro Ercolani, and a Drake Fellows sighting (Musgrove Trade) who has struggled with injuries since coming over from SD. Jaden Woods LHRP also impressive numbers - 3K, 1 H, 1 BB in 1.1 IP.
I’m going to hold back from getting too excited about prospects until they do it at AA/AAA. But I’ll agree it’s good to see positive results in Greensboro.
The performance I was most impressed with was Eric Lauer. He appears to be healthy, and once he’s ramped up, will be worthy of a spot on 26-man roster. Likely in the rotation.
I agree, but after the latest start by Falter, I would hate to see him dumped. Probably bounce Hernandez back to AAA because he has Options, and Falter could replace him in the BP
"It’s not generally the team with the best 26-man roster at the beginning of the season, but who can go that 30-40 players deep."
Couldn't agree more. Well-stated.
Those 30-40 players deep are generally right around replacement level. Your McKinney's, Lamb's, Gonzo's, Mold's, Bae's, Rider Ryan's, etc are just that...replacement players.
It's nice to have a guy like Lauer to make a spot start in case of an injury. The only one that can really make a difference in the minors is Skenes. I'd let Peguero marinate all year in AAA.
To me, the teams that can swing impact trades to fill holes at the deadline are the difference makers.
Yes, but replacement level is better than what they acquired for "depth" in previous seasons.
I agree about making moves at the deadline to fill holes. It became less fashionable as everyone started to emulate Friedman in LA, but his lack of post-season success with rosters other teams can only imagine has started to erode that model. Young with the Rangers went old-school and made big moves at the deadline, and he has won as many championships in 3 year with Texas as Friedman has in 9. Even Friedman broke out the prospect bank a couple years back at the deadline. So, I expect this year's deadline to be very interesting... a good year for sellers (which I still think, despite the hot start, that the Pirates may be).
I think there is a real good chance every team in the Central is buyers at the deadline.
I am not sold on the Cardinals, Reds, or Pirates being playoff teams. I like Chicago to win the division and Milwaukee to be a solid wild-card contender.
One, maybe even two of the others, may be in the hunt for a wild card, along with 3 or 4 other teams, but not really buyers, unless they go Huntington crazy with a .500 record. I hope that you are right though.
I agree with you that Nick Gonzales did not hang his head last year after being sent back down to AAA and has started the 2024 season on fire at the plate. But, the Pirates have some serious decisions that have to be made this year regarding their MI. Oneil Cruz, 25 and Jared Triolo, 26 have been doing well as the Pirate MI, and that leaves doubt about the need to carry Alika Williams SS/2B, Nick Gonzales 2B, and Ji-Hwan Bae, 2B/CF all of whom are in their age 25 seasons. We also have Liover Peguero SS/2B at AAA, but he is only in his age 23 season. Following them are Jack Brannigan, 23 and Termarr Johnson, 20 who should both get to AA this year.
Nothing against any of these guys, but they all want one thing and that is to play at the MLB level. If the Pirates have other plans, they have all worked very hard for this franchise and deserve the opportunity to possibly play at that level with other MLB teams who have needs. I posted the ages because I have seen MLB move more toward bringing up younger players earlier than had been the case in previous decades. I'd be surprised if BC has not already been contacted by other MLB teams regarding Peguero, Bae, NG, and Williams. Who would I keep? Cruz, Triolo, and Peguero.
how old was Brian Giles when he arrived in PIttsburgh?
28?
I wonder if anyone would give a bullpen arm or something of value for Williams? I think I’d rather have Gonzales come up and be the back up middle infielder to see if his bat plays. He was a 1st rounder. They need to find out what they have or trade him. At some point I think peguero is the starter at 2nd this year with Triolo as super utility.
It's a good problem to have and at the same time puts pressure on Cherington to get it right as to who to keep and who to trade, and getting value in return on the trades. But nothing has to be done in the next couple of months--keeping Peguero and/or Gonzales and/or Bae down until June or July is fine while seeing if Triolo is the real deal while also have insurance in case Hayes or Cruz goes down with an injury. If all are still healthy and playing well, then by the trade deadline it would seem that some decisions need to be made out of fairness to the players while filling in weaknesses at other positions. For now it's just interesting to watch.
This sounds cold and I know it was not your primary point, but I don't think anything needs done 'in fairness to the players'. Playoff / championship level teams (not saying we are there yet but boy does the start make us feel more optimistic) have players that are major league ready but are blocked. They are trade candidates, possible future starters, or will be called upon because injuries happen. The best case is what the two of you have painted. The early returns (small samples size) continue and other teams see legitimate MLB starters possibly available via trade. Despite a lot of optimism regarding 1B in this years draft, I still think the most realistic path for 2025/6 1B will be finding that blocked 1B on another team and working a trade vs. hoping a 2024 draftee is ready to truly step in and be a legitimate playoff level 1B. Maybe our hopefully surplus middle infielders can help with that trade.
We wouldn't make a move only out of fairness to the player(s) but to address whatever weaknesses pop up. And we would keep some depth. For example, maybe we'd keep Bae as a possible replacement for MAT in CF while also providing depth at 2B and also keep two out of Triolo, Peguero, and Gonzales (one to start at 2B with the other being depth) while moving the third for, say, a pitcher.
I understand and know that was not your primary comment. In many ways (if things continue.. we are so in a honeymoon phase with things going well) it is such a great problem to have.