Wabs said:
Not getting a bat at the trade deadline is looking like it's really going to hurt us. This will go down as Dana's major mistake in his first year as a GM.
Seriously, where do you want a bat? Let's go around each position.
3B. Bregman. Nope
SS Peña. Gold glove, WS MVP. You aren't taking him out if the lineup unless you swapped him for someone like Wander Franco and there is 0% chance you were getting anyone like that.
2B. That Altuve cat is pretty good. Move on.
1B. IMHO there is no way Dusty takes Abreu out if this lineup short of an injury or a trade. He's untradable and now he's injured. You couldn't predict that so if he's not hurt your hands are tied. Because Dusty was playing Captain Lou 160 games this year before Oct 1.
DH/LF Yordan. Move on.
LF/CF Chas. The level of trade to improve that is insane. You would have to trade him plus something else big.
CF when it's not Chas. Thats Jake now. Ok. That's a place. Who? Everyone talked Bellinger but the Cubs are right at the edge of the NL WC. I can't imagine what the price was but I suspect it started with Chas plus a pitcher (France or Brown). That's a no for me dog.
RF. Tucker. Move on
And that leaves C. The black hole. The rally killer. The end of the line. The catcher who literally can't catch. The Human Pear. The Machete. Dusty and the pitchers see something we don't. Dusty clearly has a better option both as a hitter and fielder and he's not penciling Diaz in now. So unless you have a silenced .22 to hold at Dusty's head I can't imagine you can trade for anyone not named Johnny Bench that he's going to play there in place of Maldonado. So you now are free to play Diaz as DH when Yordan is in the field, which moves Chas to CF.
And now what realistic bat are you getting better than this?
2B Altuve
RF Tucker
LF Yordan
3B Bregman
CF Chas
DH Diaz
1B Abreu/Big Jon
SS Peña
C Machete
It's not close to the best lineup Dusty can make. But it's the lineup he's making because he's starting at C and working his way up starting with you know who.
