Submitted by: mp2891
May 23, 2023
Royals
| Name | Age | Level | P1 | P2 | Availablility | Years | AFV | Salary | Surplus | Low | Median | High |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montgomery | Minors | LHP | 8.9 | 7.1 | 8.9 | 10.7 |
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Been watching C.Hernandez since another Rays’ fan pointed him out, and I gotta say the kid is looking legit. In this trade, the Rays swap a promising starting pitching prospect for 2 relievers the Royals may be looking to move at the deadline. It’s an overpay in total value as well as swapping a high valued prospect for multiple major leaguers, but if you assume C.Hernandez could be a legit set up man or moderately high leverage reliever in time (and under the Rays’ tutelage), then this deal is a good one for the Rays.
Yeah this is a case of deja vu lol. I hadn’t seen this trade, nor have I heard anyone talking about Carlos Hernandez yet. When we’re thinking alike, we’re probably right.
Fuck it, let’s get all 3 of Staumont, Barlow and Hernandez. The Royals won a world series a decade ago with a pretty meh slate of position players, 1 good starter, and 4 elite relievers.
I don’t know your thoughts, but I’m open to trading Mead. There’s nowhere for him to play this year or next, and with Walls emerging, he can’t even be a backup at the Major League level for the Rays. Meanwhile, we’re losing games we should win at least once a week. Whether it’s from bad bulk pitching, like Criswell, or bad relief, we’re giving a game a week away, with little chance of winning it, no matter how good our offense does. I assume Mead doesn’t get called up this year. I assume he doesn’t get called up next year. By 2025 it will be his 4th year in AAA. That is poor allocation of resources.
Mead nor Manzardo have a clear path to the MLB til Randy or Diaz are gone, and neither seems likely this year or next. Rather than going with two openers for 40% of our rotation, I want some pitching upgrades.
It was the dudeofdudes at DRB who first put me on to him. I think he’d be the typical high upside pitcher the Rays sometimes land in a deal that seems like a huge overpay at the time but looks amazing a year or two later.
I think Mead is the most likely to be traded out of the Rays’ top 5 prospects (Bradley, Mead, Manzardo, Caminero and Williams), and I’d be fine with it for the right return. Rays are just so stacked at the big league level right now, and they have such a good team this year (with 1 huge obvious flaw that needs correcting). That said, Mead does have a path to the Bigs. It just lies in LF (Aroz trade), 2B (B.Lowe trade), or infield generally (Ramirez trade). Manzardo is more limited. He needs the Rays to decide Ramirez is too limited and costs too much for what he provides to keep. He may be waiting a while.
So if we’re open to Mead being available, let’s think outside the box. Maybe we don’t need to trade with a team that’s ready to tank. Maybe we need to target a team that needs a bat this year. Cleveland ranks 29th in position player fWAR, yet are still in decent position to win the division. I’d love to be rid of Margot, and they need OF.
BIEBER!!!
His lack of K’s this year make me nervous, but 200 innings of a 5 win starter would surely look good in September. Cleveland isn’t very good, so it’s too early to sell. But Mead, Margot, and Chirinos would still give them a shot. Screw it, throw in Patino too. 2022 Patino was the worst player to ever wear a Rays jersey. And 2023 is getting close to being the worst player to ever wear a Bulls jersey. He’s played himself out of Japan, Korea, and Mexico. Luis Patino is going to be the only guy in Miami getting on a raft hoping to defect to Cuba.
“Yo Amigo, Bienvenido a America! You done with that raft?”
If we are shooting for the stars and willing to part with Mead, I think we can do better than Bieber. He’s not having that good a year, and while his game is more finesse than overpowering stuff (ie: easier to fix), something still seems off. Get me Cobb or Giolito for a fraction of the cost.
And yeah, Hernandez is 100% one of those guys you expect Brujan to be traded for, but instead it’s Aranda, and the media skewers the Rays, and a year later Hernandez is anchoring the bullpen and Aranda is going his best Hunter Dozier impression.