re: ATL Thread | 2023 offseason hot takes + discussion

quote:

---

Dodgers jumped us as WS favorites per Vegas with today’s news

---

Meh, if he’s not pitching, how much more productive will he be in ‘24 than JD Martinez? I’m not saying they won’t win the WS, but I don’t think he makes a huge difference until he’s able to pitch.

Now, what might be affecting the odds is that with the majority of his salary being deferred, he’s “only” making $35 million at most in ‘24, which gives them room to add even more pieces.

I mean, the odds are really only to get people to bet, so they’re not really a predictor of who will win. Because as we’ve seen very clearly the past 3 seasons at least, it’s really hard to predict the WS champ even after the regular season is over, much less before it begins. I don’t think we’re actually any less likely to win the WS today than we were yesterday. Giants, Padres, Diamondbacks, and Angels are the biggest losers in both ‘24 and beyond. Even if we don’t make another move, as long as Fried and Strider stay healthy, I like our chances in ‘24 as much as anybody’s. It’s only in ‘25 and beyond if we don’t re-sign Fried or replace him with a similar TOR talent that we’d clearly fall behind.

AJSS and/or Waldrup could wind up being TOR guys, but I think they’re both a couple years (‘26) away from being able to be counted on as such if they do.