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2018 Tribe offensive discussion

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On one hand it would make sense to explore trading Edwin in the offseason. You're going to be paying $20 million for someone who is going to give you .760 or .770 OPS next year. That's way too much. But can we replace that production at all, let alone cheaply?

Nobody is assigning positive value to him, and I hope we don't give up value just to move him.

Pay the man next year, once you get to the playoffs, the difference between a .760 OPS during the regular season and .810 won't mean jack shit. Just hope he gets a few big AB's for you to make a difference.
 
On one hand it would make sense to explore trading Edwin in the offseason. You're going to be paying $20 million for someone who is going to give you .760 or .770 OPS next year. That's way too much. But can we replace that production at all, let alone cheaply?

It would be hard to replace his production in some ways, but it also depends on who we get back for him if we move him. I think we all agree that EE is at the point of his career his numbers will not equal out his cost, but if we cannot get more than an A ball player back for him then we likely won't trade him either. I feel we need to move Kipnis and EE for next season in all honesty since I think we can find at least some production to replace them aka like a Diaz.

Would anyone here be willing to gamble 3-4 years on Brantley?
 
Jason Kipnis

2016: 156 games, 168 hits, 23 HRs, 82 RBIs, 15 SBs, .275 AVG, .343 OBP, .811 OPS

2017 & '18: 188 games, 159 hits, 22 HRs, 78 RBIs, 10 SBs, batting average putrid, and OBP under .300

2016 was his absolute ceiling and it has no chance to ever return by the looks of what's trending now. Call it injuries, or aging, but he's fallen off pretty badly.

Really hope Jose is the starting 2B next season and we look to put a bat that's more capable than Kipnis's at 3rd. I went from being a Kipnis fanboy to not wanting him anymore and searching for better production. He also has been developing a habit of booting some grounders.

but Kipnis hit like a all star for 2 days in may and June and Diaz isn't good enough to play.

Diaz should be our 3b or corner OF today not the walking dead we put out there everyday.

Kid can hit all day but doesn't hit for HRs and strike out 200 times so he can't play.
 
I get the Kipnis hate and the Yandy love, I really do. But can the arguments be better?

We're complaining that Kipnis strikes out a ton and doesn't hit enough HRs?

In 457 MLB PAs this year, Kipnis has 11 HR and is striking out 19% of the time.

In 426 AAA PAs this year, Yandy has 3 HR and is striking out 17.6% of the time. Yandy does not have a HR in 200 MLB PAs
 
Curious to see everyone’s numbers since the ASB.
 
but Kipnis hit like a all star for 2 days in may and June and Diaz isn't good enough to play.

Diaz should be our 3b or corner OF today not the walking dead we put out there everyday.

Kid can hit all day but doesn't hit for HRs and strike out 200 times so he can't play.

Diaz is absolutely going to force Tito's and the management's hand, his current play simply has too.

Kipnis isn't hitting the bench. However he does have more experience in the OF than Yandy. I'll say this -- If Yandy was good enough in RF, he would've been there a while ago and not Melky. There's something wrong there.

Kipnis may have to sacrifice again for the Tribe and move to the OF to better the ball club.

He's also getting his OBP up by the game lately. All this lineup needs in my opinion is increased OBP while being tough outs. Yandy has been that and plus...

If anything, when EE is back we should platoon Yandy and Yonder because Yonder is absolutely awful vs lefties right now.
 
In his last 86 games Kipnis is hitting .263/.344/.447 with 13 HR, 7 SB, a 113 wRC+ across 343 PA (that's equal to Michael Brantley over the same stretch)

Can somebody enlighten me as to why there are so many people in a hurry to glue him to the bench?

Is it because of his 90 injury plagued games last year, or the 40 rough ones to start the year?

He's healthy now and hitting the ball well. He's an asset that needs to be in the lineup almost every day. If Greg Allen could actually hit at the major league level right now, I'd be more apt to consider playing him over Kip. He can't though, and seems like a perfect late inning defensive replacement.

By the way, he's also slashing .294/.358/.523 with RISP this year (including his abysmal 40 games to start the year)

I've never understood why there have been so many people ready cut bait on him over the years.
 
In his last 86 games Kipnis is hitting .263/.344/.447 with 13 HR, 7 SB, a 113 wRC+ across 343 PA (that's equal to Michael Brantley over the same stretch)

Can somebody enlighten me as to why there are so many people in a hurry to glue him to the bench?

Is it because of his 90 injury plagued games last year, or the 40 rough ones to start the year?

He's healthy now and hitting the ball well. He's an asset that needs to be in the lineup almost every day. If Greg Allen could actually hit at the major league level right now, I'd be more apt to consider playing him over Kip. He can't though, and seems like a perfect late inning defensive replacement.

By the way, he's also slashing .294/.358/.523 with RISP this year (including his abysmal 40 games to start the year)

I've never understood why there have been so many people ready cut bait on him over the years.

Kipnis gets raked over the coals for his slumps, but Greg Allen has been had some pretty brutal slumps. He went 3-36 in June and is currently in a 3-32 slump.

I think Kipnis's is subject to a lot of scrutiny because he was a very good hitter for several years as recently as 2016. On a team with Lindor, Jose, Brantley, EE, and soon to be Donaldson, Kipnis is doing perfectly fine for us being a league average hitter.
 
I'm fine with Kipnis starting in CF in the postseason, but if we jump out to a 3-0, 4-1, 6-3, whatever lead on somebody in the 5th inning or later, I think you need to get Allen in there to cover CF (and probably Guyer in for Melky).
 
I'm fine with Kipnis starting in CF in the postseason, but if we jump out to a 3-0, 4-1, 6-3, whatever lead on somebody in the 5th inning or later, I think you need to get Allen in there to cover CF (and probably Guyer in for Melky).

If Allen is on the post season roster, I would think Terry would be making this sort of move.
I don’t know if there’s a way to measure the difference in defense in CF between Kipnis and Allen, but it’s significant.
Can you all honestly say this is a WS caliber team with Kipnis in CF?
 
If Allen is on the post season roster, I would think Terry would be making this sort of move.
I don’t know if there’s a way to measure the difference in defense in CF between Kipnis and Allen, but it’s significant.
Can you all honestly say this is a WS caliber team with Kipnis in CF?
Can you honestly say we’re a WS caliber team with Greg Allen in CF with a .602 OPS and a 59 wRC+?

No, but if we can find a way to utilize both and maximize their skills, we’re in good shape.

Kipnis’s bat is a weapon, Allen’s legs are a weapon. We’ll need both to get where we want to go.
 

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