Loved Wilmer when he was here but I’d rather bet on Vientos bat bouncing back. Just 1 season ago he was one of our best hitters. I think he missed JD last year.
Indulge me vs with our beloved Flores. Honestly if they only need depth and versatility, Wilmer fills it as well as anyone else-plus his experience and clutch are positives. None of the others mentioned are needle movers for that part time role.
The Melendez deal is a split contract where he gets 1.5 at the MLB level and 500k bonus. He still has options. Benge is going to get all of spring training to see if he is ready. Melendez isn’t a great fielder and doesn’t fit the “run prevention” narrative and if he is the guy Benge needs to beat the bar is low. Careful throwing around the “Ace” for Peralta as his 33 starts last year avg. 5-1/3 innings. Also, have zero faith Mendoza will be able to juggle all the bats for Baty.
I’m not sold on Benge as much as Stearns is. I have seen him play quite a bit in AAA last year and he looked over matched. He seems to need more time to get acclimated. Clifford is the guy I would give a longer look. He isn’t mentioned much by Stearns but the power is real. He strikes out very little, puts the ball in play and hits the ball extremely hard. One of the issues is he doesn’t really have a position. Played a lot of LF last year and has seen a good amount of time at 1B. If his outfield play is in question heck he only has to be better than Soto which isn’t hard to do.
I’ve been wondering about him too. Maybe he mashes this spring making it impossible for them to leave off the roster. Stearns preached run prevention but is headed into the season with a guy who has all of one inning playing first. Makes no sense to me
I really hope Clifford mashes this spring. My eye test, which doesn’t mean anything, sees Clifford as a much more advanced hitter than some of the other prospects Stearns talks about. Clifford is only 23 so he should mature even more in the next few years. At 6’3 200 lbs he has room to get even stronger.
Wilmer would also be a great good-will gesture to the fans, who have lost many fan favorites along the way this off-season. (Another Ruben Tejada, signing as a minor league coach with the Phillies was disappointing.) A face of the 2015 would be a good deal, and if they are giving Daniel Murphy more announcing spots for Keith, it would be another win in the PR game. As for Vientos, if you can get a solid starting pitcher out of Pittsburgh, go for it.
No and no to Castellanos. Too early to give up on Vientos who is a DH if there ever was one. I don't believe in good will gestures to fans. Winning makes the fans happy.
Loved Wilmer when he was here but I’d rather bet on Vientos bat bouncing back. Just 1 season ago he was one of our best hitters. I think he missed JD last year.
Indulge me vs with our beloved Flores. Honestly if they only need depth and versatility, Wilmer fills it as well as anyone else-plus his experience and clutch are positives. None of the others mentioned are needle movers for that part time role.
The Melendez deal is a split contract where he gets 1.5 at the MLB level and 500k bonus. He still has options. Benge is going to get all of spring training to see if he is ready. Melendez isn’t a great fielder and doesn’t fit the “run prevention” narrative and if he is the guy Benge needs to beat the bar is low. Careful throwing around the “Ace” for Peralta as his 33 starts last year avg. 5-1/3 innings. Also, have zero faith Mendoza will be able to juggle all the bats for Baty.
I’m not sold on Benge as much as Stearns is. I have seen him play quite a bit in AAA last year and he looked over matched. He seems to need more time to get acclimated. Clifford is the guy I would give a longer look. He isn’t mentioned much by Stearns but the power is real. He strikes out very little, puts the ball in play and hits the ball extremely hard. One of the issues is he doesn’t really have a position. Played a lot of LF last year and has seen a good amount of time at 1B. If his outfield play is in question heck he only has to be better than Soto which isn’t hard to do.
I’ve been wondering about him too. Maybe he mashes this spring making it impossible for them to leave off the roster. Stearns preached run prevention but is headed into the season with a guy who has all of one inning playing first. Makes no sense to me
I really hope Clifford mashes this spring. My eye test, which doesn’t mean anything, sees Clifford as a much more advanced hitter than some of the other prospects Stearns talks about. Clifford is only 23 so he should mature even more in the next few years. At 6’3 200 lbs he has room to get even stronger.
Will be keeping a close eye.
Good point. Stearns recovered from his Diaz fiasco but there's a lot a lot of questions on this club.
Benge has been overhyped.
E
Wilmer would also be a great good-will gesture to the fans, who have lost many fan favorites along the way this off-season. (Another Ruben Tejada, signing as a minor league coach with the Phillies was disappointing.) A face of the 2015 would be a good deal, and if they are giving Daniel Murphy more announcing spots for Keith, it would be another win in the PR game. As for Vientos, if you can get a solid starting pitcher out of Pittsburgh, go for it.
A AAA player-coach deal would also be smart if he does not find a MLB spot.
And Nick Castellanos would be a great addition to the team as a DH bat.
No and no to Castellanos. Too early to give up on Vientos who is a DH if there ever was one. I don't believe in good will gestures to fans. Winning makes the fans happy.