nicksaviking

Big day for the Lions, because I already had Jameson Williams scoring 4 TDs against the Vikings every game he plays against them from here out.

I was trying to think where he might end up. Seems like a team with young WR that could use a veteran safety blanket. First thought was the Jets, but I changed my bet to the Lions. Could have said GB, but I'm not gonna.

Celestino's bat was a bigger problem than Celestino's glove.

I'm surprised there has been no talk of Harrison Smith getting cut. Not saying they should, but he's clearly lost a step so I'd think there'd be some chatter.

The defense wasn't a problem last year, I think they way overcompensated with the free agents and trades. This team struggled on offense last year. That should have been a higher priority.

So there are than a dozen free agent RBs this year who were starters at some point, therefore I expected Dalvin Cook to have no trade value. But of the clear top three RBs, Barkley, Jacobs and Pollard, I thought two would hit the market, now none have. The Vikings may get lucky after all. By my count that leaves Miles Sanders, David Montomery, Jamaal Williams, Devin Singletery, D'Onta Foreman, Kareem Hunt, Damien Harris, James Robinson, Alex Mattison, Darrell Henderson, Jeff Wilson, Raheem Mostert, Melvin Gordon and Rashaad Penny. Corderralle Patterson and Leonard Fournette will likely join them and Joe Mixon may too, but he might be too toxic. Still a ton of RBs, some more usable than others. I personally wouldn't have Cook at the top of my list, but he's probably the biggest name so some team might. Fifth round pick maybe? Really no clue at this point. On another note, with that many RBs available and so few spots to put them, it seems pretty likely that one of those guys will end up on the Vikings on a very minimal contract. I'll put my money on Henderson with the O'Connell connection, but Foreman, Harris and Robinson seem like possibilities too. Some good upside with Penny, for the five games you'll get to use him of course.

So last year the Vikings signed free agent defensive players in Smith and Patrick Peterson. Peterson already complained and is gone, now Smith complains too. I'm thinking this has more to do with the system/DC than anything else, but I do not know the minutia so it's only a guess. Also a guess, the Vikings trying to save money probably won't put up much of a fight, but they probably want to make sure he's untradeable first.

The team really needed to shore up the left handed outfielder position. This one was a no brainer.

Honestly, with Ober way overqualified to be a AAA starter and the team talking about having long men in the pen, Sending Pagan packing for Ober may be something they consider.

Really, you didn't? I'm sorry you didn't get to watch Twins games last year.

I agree, it's unlikely. I'm going to be jealous if GB gets a good return though. By all rights they should get next to nothing. With his contract and his ability to fake retire, Rodgers should be able to screw them over and leave them with only a token return.

Could the Vikings possibly sweep in and move Cousins to the Jets instead of Rodgers? Who'd actually be the more attractive QB at this point? Cousins is statistically better, and by a lot. He's younger and he's not a complete PR and ego liability like Rodgers is. Rodgers is obviously the bigger name and has the intangibles. I'm sure it won't happen, but it'd sure help the team both reload with players/picks AND more importantly it'd help them refocus on the future instead of chasing the past.

Like Arraez, Kwan isn't a guy who can beat you on his own. Cleveland has one fearsome bat, with a second Gimenez, who you need to watch out for. Also, and I know this isn't going to be a popular sentiment, but if it comes to a second half push, the Twins have much more open ownership when asked to take on more salary midseason. Cleveland is more likely to not spend another dime or shed payroll.

You're leaving out one of my favorite under the radar prospects! Anthony Prato knows how to draw a walk, steal a base and rack up every kind of XBH.

I reserve the right to unreasonably dislike any team that makes one of my teams look foolish in a big game. The list is getting really, really long too.

Jackson would be tempting, and while I mention him with the top tier QBs, I'm hesitant with him. Why doesn't he have an agent? I wonder about his priorities. Was he too hurt to play at the end of last year, or was he trying to demonstrate his value to the team? Which is immense. Also worried he's not a good enough passer, though he's never had good WR so I'm not going to stick firm to any opinion at this point.

Sure, it is from a business standpoint. 10-7 gets you a playoff game. Likely meaningless if you don't have a top QB, but it'll make bank.

Get'em while they're young. But get a good one, or else you'll be stuck paying an average one a lot of money anyway I guess. The Giants fell into the trap. They think they're close (but they're really not) so they did the best they could do. Now they'll be mediocre at best because they don't have a top end QB but they're stuck with Jones for several years. Would have been better to sign a stop-gap and look for your future QB in the draft or elsewhere, but too many people in charge think being 10-7 is so much better than 7-10.

I was and still am happy to have Mahle. But CES would have been a prospect I'd have been looking to trade in any case even though I hope he makes it. ***Someone cover Matt Wallner's ears for me.*** The guys with significant strikeout issues in the minors haven't been faring very well in the majors lately. Or maybe ever.

Agreed. Though people can fault the current front office and coaching staff for plenty of things, it is hard to deny that they have made a really flexible roster; just about everyone can play multiple positions. I don't think anyone will be a full time DH.

I don't think Kirilloff will be ready. And last year's team OBP of .317 tells me they shouldn't automatically defer to Nick Gordon who struggles to draw walks when there's a rookie who seems to do it at will.

But he only hits singles. I just don't see how the new rules will give him XBH power again.

I'm quite certain everyone on this board understands the opening day roster is 95% set, which would make for a pretty boring game. Pretty sure the "dream" lineup as requested in the OP doesn't require one to insert Joey Gallo or Max Kepler in it, that's not a dream I much care for. For me, it's out with the old and in with the new, and by August, I'd like to see the youth movement in full swing.

Going from the MLB to AAA is a tough jump in competition. Seems weird though that those two in particular need to be all star caliber for the Saints to be .500 when most of that roster has MLB experience, some with quite a bit of MLB experience. Also, with apologies to the Saints die-hards, I don't much care what their record is. And as usual with AAA teams, the better the players are, the worse the record is because the players keep getting called up and the roster suffers instability.

Buxton - CF Polanco - 2B Correa - SS Miranda - DH Julien - 1B Lewis - LF Larnach - RF Lee - 3B Vazquez - C That's if Polanco is back to his +.800 OPS days. If not, Julien plays 2B and Kirilloff gets back in the lineup at 1B or DH.