2037 Johnson League FA Pod

[Ted]

A recording of two jerks and one other guy, attempting to critique an interesting free agent class, staring Rand Weigand, Fred Holmes, and yours truly. This was recorded after the preseason sim, so the most recent sim's signings are not included.




San antonio 1:41
Phoenix 11:30
Wichita 12:44
Mex 16:27
Las Vegaas 18:19

Atlantic City 19:12
Brooklyn 20:10
Charm City 23:28
Montreal 25:07
Rockville 26:38

Huntsville 27:23
Jacksonville 30:53
Louisville 31:51
Nashville 33:23
New Orleans 37:09

[agrudez]

Yeah, I wasn't around for the Lara stuff (or, at the least, I don't recall it). What's the story? I scatter shotted contracts to a bunch of RH platoon guys and waived Lara because I saw he was a bad personality type (and had already gotten Manning in FA and Alonso in the Rule 5).

[Lane]

"douchecanoe"

lol

he'll probably be back on waivers. maybe. I dunno. I wanted Manning back.

[bcslouck]

Had an offer on a CF. Not really any top guys. I have a couple more offers and will probably clean up on the scraps if I miss out on these offers.

[Ted]

Yeah, I wasn't around for the Lara stuff (or, at the least, I don't recall it). What's the story? I scatter shotted contracts to a bunch of RH platoon guys and waived Lara because I saw he was a bad personality type (and had already gotten Manning in FA and Alonso in the Rule 5).

Just the personality stuff. In a short span he was on several teams and every locker room tanked immediately after his arrival. We have had a few of these guys but he was particularly awful. And he's an underachiever to boot.

[usnspecialist]

This was really fun to record (always one of the highlights of my league year).

[JimBob2232]

I am going to see if I can make a major blockbuster trade right after you complete your next podcast

#Hsin Mei

[ae37jr]

I don't get why you guys are always killing my infield defense. Here is how we ranked in the entire BBA last year...

Zone Rating
1B-16th
2B-7th
SS-3rd
3B-15th

Total Zone Rating-3rd
Def EFF-9th
Total Team Errors-4th fewest

And that was with training Workman at 3B from zero experience during the season and sometimes keeping a hot bat(Belcham at 2B) in the lineup out of position when I feel I needed more offense. Nightmare is average to below average at 1B. I'll give you that. I just need offense at that position.

Our up the middle defense (Lopez, Alatas, Campos) is elite and as good as anyone's in the league. Our corners(Nightmare/Workman/Martinez/Balderas) could be a lot better, but I don't see any of them as hindering the teams success.

Throw in that our pitching staff struck out the 2nd most batters in the BBA and we aren't as heavily reliant on defense as some teams who are built differently. It's all part of a game plan to make the team better then the sum of it's parts by extenuating strengths and hiding flaws.

[agrudez]

Your up the middle defense is definitely great (if anything I'd lament punting so much offense to get the gloves). Having 3 guys in the corners every day with 4 range is tough, though. I'd be interested to know if you plan to shift your infield a lot to try to hide that, maybe? Since your middle guys are so rangey.

[udlb58]

Gunboat definitely has a use. He was a damn good 500k pinch hitter for us down the stretch. He's like so many other good hitters that just aren't good enough to play 1b/DH, there is value in having one of them to serve as a PH, especially if they are opposite handed compared to your 1B/DH.

But as a starter? Nah, that is just asking for disappointment.

[GoldenOne]

Ted - You dont like Norris cause he cant hit lefties. Dani Lopez is there to hit lefties in place of Norris and Suarez.

Trust The Plan®!!

[RonCo]

I'm the Driscoll fan...the guy's a 2 WAR player available on the cheap. Not a guy you're going to win championships with but a guy I'd be on immediately if I were building and needed a 3B. And he's a lefty who can hit LHP. Yes, he's a butcher in the field.

[Ted]

I don't get why you guys are always killing my infield defense. Here is how we ranked in the entire BBA last year...

Zone Rating
1B-16th
2B-7th
SS-3rd
3B-15th

Total Zone Rating-3rd
Def EFF-9th
Total Team Errors-4th fewest

And that was with training Workman at 3B from zero experience during the season and sometimes keeping a hot bat(Belcham at 2B) in the lineup out of position when I feel I needed more offense. Nightmare is average to below average at 1B. I'll give you that. I just need offense at that position.

Our up the middle defense (Lopez, Alatas, Campos) is elite and as good as anyone's in the league. Our corners(Nightmare/Workman/Martinez/Balderas) could be a lot better, but I don't see any of them as hindering the teams success.

Throw in that our pitching staff struck out the 2nd most batters in the BBA and we aren't as heavily reliant on defense as some teams who are built differently. It's all part of a game plan to make the team better then the sum of it's parts by extenuating strengths and hiding flaws.

In all honestly I think I got you mixed up with someone else. As the pod went on and we ran into other teams with actually bad IF defense, I realized I had made a mistake. I just forgot to say anything about it.

[usnspecialist]

I don't get why you guys are always killing my infield defense. Here is how we ranked in the entire BBA last year...

Zone Rating
1B-16th
2B-7th
SS-3rd
3B-15th

Total Zone Rating-3rd
Def EFF-9th
Total Team Errors-4th fewest

And that was with training Workman at 3B from zero experience during the season and sometimes keeping a hot bat(Belcham at 2B) in the lineup out of position when I feel I needed more offense. Nightmare is average to below average at 1B. I'll give you that. I just need offense at that position.

Our up the middle defense (Lopez, Alatas, Campos) is elite and as good as anyone's in the league. Our corners(Nightmare/Workman/Martinez/Balderas) could be a lot better, but I don't see any of them as hindering the teams success.

Throw in that our pitching staff struck out the 2nd most batters in the BBA and we aren't as heavily reliant on defense as some teams who are built differently. It's all part of a game plan to make the team better then the sum of it's parts by extenuating strengths and hiding flaws.

In all honestly I think I got you mixed up with someone else. As the pod went on and we ran into other teams with actually bad IF defense, I realized I had made a mistake. I just forgot to say anything about it.

Montreal Maybe? We slapped them pretty good defensively.

[Ted]

I'm the Driscoll fan...the guy's a 2 WAR player available on the cheap. Not a guy you're going to win championships with but a guy I'd be on immediately if I were building and needed a 3B. And he's a lefty who can hit LHP. Yes, he's a butcher in the field.

Ea
I can't for the life of me figure out how Driscoll has overcome his glove in his years of recent success. early in his career, I believe his range was up around 5/6. I see that he has somehow pulled it off as recently as two seasons ago. I don't think it continues this year. 3 range is middle of the road at first. If he plays 155 games at third this year, I bet he's -2.5 WAR with his glove alone.

[agrudez]

I was going to chime in and say that -2.5 WAR from defense seemed pretty extreme, but then I looked up Rhys Hoskins (largely considered to be the worst defensive OFer in the majors last season... since, you know... he's a ****ing 1B) and he had -3.6 dWAR last year. Yikes. A 125 OPS+ netted him 0.5 WAR over a full season, lol.

[ae37jr]

Your up the middle defense is definitely great (if anything I'd lament punting so much offense to get the gloves). Having 3 guys in the corners every day with 4 range is tough, though. I'd be interested to know if you plan to shift your infield a lot to try to hide that, maybe? Since your middle guys are so rangey.

Yeah I move guys around quite a bit. Defensively I'll sub in 3-4 guys starting in the 7th inning of a close game. Offensively my big 4 tend to be really streaky. When they are hot, I don't need anymore offense. When they go cold together I pretty much do whatever I can to get hot bats in the lineup. IE Belcham at 2B. Then sub them out quick.

In all honestly I think I got you mixed up with someone else. As the pod went on and we ran into other teams with actually bad IF defense, I realized I had made a mistake. I just forgot to say anything about it.

Fair enough. It was probably Montreal. Or maybe you just went by the positional ranking page which often puts weird players on it.

[agrudez]

Oh, I meant put your infield/outfield shift strategy sliders up. It's not something I play around with much, so was interested to know if you had and/or were going to.

[ae37jr]

Oh, I meant put your infield/outfield shift strategy sliders up. It's not something I play around with much, so was interested to know if you had and/or were going to.

Oh, no. My manager actually blocks me. It's a little over halfway on the slider.

[RonCo]

Driscoll is exhibit A when it comes to the need for a defensive replacement. B ut if he OBPs .370, he's a superior offensive cog who generally comes at value. If I were a building team needing a stopgap I'd take him in a heartbeat. That said, he's crossing to the wrong side of 30, so the risk of his bat declining is pretty serious.