So Pearce is a better hitter than Morales historically, recently, and is crushing Morales this spring.
there's no legitimate reason to not have Pearce DHing opening day, Imo.
11 Million dollars, sadly
Pearce only really crushes LHP historically, and he's already going to be in the lineup vs LHP, and Morales was actually decent to good vs LHP as well, you probably want them both in.
Vs RHP however, there is a strong argument to be made that Solarte steal PA from the big, stupid, lumbering Cuban
Yeah, it's not horrid to have them both in the lineup vs LHP, although given the lineup swings pretty heavy right-handed anyways so if we had a better OF option, I wouldn't mind seeing Pearce at DH and the other guy in LF.
But yeah, I do think Solarte getting more ABs is tempting. Would also be nice to use the spot to rotate a little more. Give JD and Travis a day every week or 2 at DH to keep them fresher, and Solarte can play 2B/3B those days.
I have to think that was a strong part of his appeal.
I'm curious what the Diaz/Espinosa split is under Gibby while Tulo works himself out of the shallow grave that everyone buried him in.
As far as Kendrys i general, if he's still bad for the first 2 months and either Pearce is worthy of more PA in Toronto, or Teoscar is in AAA, then i can see a release or a benching.
But they owe it to themselves to give im 6-8 weeks to see if he bounces back, dude was in the top 3rd of the league in hard hit and barrelled balls. If he truly is working on getting the ball in the air at a higher rate, it's worthwhile to see if that pays any sort of dividends. The fact he came in trimmer shows at minimum a desire on his part to address his shittyness.
But they owe it to themselves to give im 6-8 weeks to see if he bounces back,
Pillar is worse than 12th
If you cant see that the defence has deteriorated and he has zero other skillset then i can't really help you.
Grichuk and Grandy/Pearce are underrated corners though, and Hernandez/Alford will be here at some point in 2018
Pillar is worse than 12th
If you cant see that the defence has deteriorated and he has zero other skillset then i can't really help you.
Grichuk and Grandy/Pearce are underrated corners though, and Hernandez/Alford will be here at some point in 2018
Fangraphs Positional rankings Update
3B 1st
C 9th
2B 11th
SS 11th
CF 12th
1B 12th
RF 13th
LF 15th
DH 9th (of 15)
SP 13th
RP 18th
So nothing surprising - one elite slot surrounded by a whole lotta average. All things being equal, that probably means playoff contention. If more of those average slots turn into bad slots than good slots, though, we're pooched.
One thing I'll add, though, is that these slots aren't created equal. SP is probably worth 7 of the positional slots and the bullpen another 2. Or something like that.
And given that SP is by far the most valuable of any slot here, I'll point out my one major quibble with all the projections - the projection of Aaron Sanchez as a 2-2.5war pitcher even if healthy. In my biased opinion, Sanchez is just plain better than that, by a lot.