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You worry about your own team.

Just as a point of reference, but we kicked off our rebuild with a ton of high-end pitching prospects including several elite ones (peak Baseball America ranking listed). As you can see below, the overall returns have been disappointing. Unfortunately there is a high attrition rate with pitching prospects and that is something the Tigers & Royals will likely experience in the coming years. I think it’s way too early to be scared of either of these rebuilds. Lucas Giolito: 5th (2016) - Top of rotation starter Michael Kopech: 11th (2018) - Work in progress (injuries) Carlos Rodon: 15th (2015) - Non-durable mid rotation starter Reynaldo Lopez: 31st (2017) - Fringe back of rotation starter Dylan Cease: 38th (2019) - Work in progress (command) Alec Hansen: 57th (2018) - BUST Carson Fulmer: 70th (2016) - BUST Dane Dunning: 82nd (2018) - Work in progress (injuries) Spencer Adams: 100th (2015) - BUST

Started hammering the ball after this post. lol. Now he's slashing .257/.376/.440 (.816 OPS). That is elite as hell for a catcher. AND he's one of the best defensively. What more do the people want? It was ALWAYS stupid. People declaring him a failure over 15-20 games? What a joke.

I have no idea where Parkman comes up with this stuff

Alright guys, with a 99.9% win probability and only 19 games remaining in the regular season, it’s time to start thinking about our potential post-season roster. While the positional side is pretty cut & dry outside of maybe one spot, the pitching staff has a ton of question marks at the moment and lots of different options to fill up spots. Given the overall uncertainty, I thought it would be an interesting exercise to see how you all would setup our pitching staff for the post-season. For now, I’m going to assume 14 total spots, four starters / tandems, and that key injured guys are coming back (Bummer / Fry). Rotation: Giolito Keuchel* Rodon* + Dunning Gonzalez* + Cease We all know that Giolito & Keuchel are locks for the top two spots in the rotation, but after that things get a bit scary. For me, Dunning has passed Cease and should be our primary #3 starter in the playoffs. However, given potential innings restrictions for Dane, I’d like to see us use Rodon as an opener for him. And when a fourth starter is needed, I’d like to see a Gonzalez & Cease tandem with Gio more or less serving as Dylan’s opener. Now, if Dylan can get hot down the stretch I’d potentially reconsider, but so far his peripherals have been ugly and he will likely require a short leash come the playoffs. Bullpen: CL: Colome SU: Bummer* SU: Marshall MR: Foster MR: Heuer MR: Fry* MR: Detwiler* MR: Cordero Ultimately I’m going with the guys who have been effective this year, which means Cishek, Burdi, & Lopez are out. That being said, I would keep using Zack down the stretch and see if he can find a way to harness his command. His general stuff and ability to generate whiffs could be a weapon in the postseason, but right now he’s too much of a liability to warrant real consideration. Also, in shorter series, I’d plan on using both Cease and Gonzalez out of the pen if needed.

Too few starts for Dunning to put him ahead of Cease. But as you said it depends on how they finish the season. The Sox are more of a traditional pitching staff and probably want starters in the playoffs to go as long as they can unless they get hit hard early. Cease appears to be able to carry his stuff into later innings though he can never get to those innings because of his command. Dunning is still working on extending his pitch count and as we saw with Rodon and Lambert during the season and with Burdi ,the comeback trail is fraught with landmines. I think the bullpen is so shaky and Rodon's health issues should mean he's a bullpen piece for the rest of this year. He may not like it but at this point he should worry about building some type of value to resurrect his career rather than being a prima donna. There's a very real chance he gets non tendered unless he can stay on the field and produce. If MLB teams decide to non tender more than the usual amount of players due to trying to save money Rodon could be gone . Then there is a cheap talent pool out there for all teams to choose to rebuild the back end of rosters. Gonzalez should also be in the pen . Gonzalez , Rodon, Detwiler, Marshall, Cordero, Foster, Colome, Heuer is the no Bummer BP which might be what we have to deal with. Outside shot of Lopez if they want to see what he can do in the last few weeks. Fry and Burdi are also possibilities. Cischek would really have to pull it together very quickly from now to the end of the season but I doubt he will have enough chances to do that. The new rules regarding how many batters you must pitch to make the veteran guys more reliable than the kids with command issues like Fry and Burdi. Foster should probably be the 8th inning guy unless Bummer can return strong. Don't use him for multiple innings to keep him fresh even though the temptation will be great especially in games that could decide a series.

It depends on how well they do their rebuild. They have some good pieces especially pitching and have gotten some good hitting prospects too but the hitting still lacks depth and pitching can fade away quickly with injuries (as we have seen in the early days of the sox rebuild too).

Kneejerkery in the game threads is the very reason I keep the forums on during games, it just adds to the drama. Imagine the chat if EE missed that bomb, if Grandal didn't get the call at home plate, if Tim made another error, or if the pen lost the game, That's just baseball, so please let the kneejerkery continue.

I love the game threads. First the bottom of the lineup was a blackhole, Madrigal not playing WTF, and they proceed to collect a bunch of hits. Then Encarnacion hitting 4th so bad so terrible that he proceeded to hit a 3 run bomb and RBI single. Then its DFA Cordero and drop Cishek into a bottomless pit even though we're staring at guys like Bernardo Flores and Alex McRae now in the bullpen. Then its McRae is going to turn this into a save situation fast. Then you see the critical guys saying I will keep criticizing if they keep doing this well aka " I am right if they suck and if they are good I am responsible because I used the old reverse Jinx."

It’s such a weird feeling when the Sox just like win every day for 2+ weeks

We're living in em boys. Enjoy this.

What position players do the tigers have as top prospects besides torkelson and greene? Planning a rebuild around pitching prospects is dangerous given their much higher bust rates than position players. I think their best case scenario is being the mets of the mid 2010s. A couple good years, but an offense that was so inconsistent to below average they never had sustained success.

Hard to argue with any of this. The Sox probably don't have the rotation depth to make a World Series run. Hope I'm wrong of course. And as much as I hate to do this, if Cease continues to struggle, we may have to give Reynaldo another chance at the rotation.

With the Sox offering the most money, I'm over Zack Wheeler. They did what they could do short of moving the team to Jersey.

If you look carefully, you can clearly see Rick Hahn with a gun in the background.

Dallas Keuchel praised his game calling yesterday.

Where do you get these hot takes? Is there like a fortune cookie for bad baseball takes you get somewhere?

I've only watched them when they play the Sox. They seem to be just fine.

What about the Padres?

You guys are way more optimistic than my hardcore tiger fan friends. Old spender illitch passed and now his miserly sons run the club. Avila is a mediocre at best GM and they have maybe two solid regulars among their position players. And tinssaapp. They got a lot of work to do.

It is interesting how they decline after the Astros scandal.. Makes you think. Now if only MLB can find the right PED test for Cruz. It fascinates me how hes having another career year at the young age of 40.

Several players had career years in 19 at the same time, and most of them probably got some advice from Nelson Cruz on how Professionals Excel Daily.

Grandal won't stay this hot as he was the last two weeks and he will have empty weeks where he hits .100 with one extra base hit again (still will give you walks) but it is the bottom line you pay for and that bottom line is good.

He's good. I like him.

I can tell I’m getting old when I realize that I am kinda bothered by how Eloy wears his jersey. Just some instinctive old man voice screaming from the void to button it up.

How I felt after that unbelievable Robert catch to seal the win on Saturday is the best I've felt as a Sox fan in a long time.

Someone with the screen name "Beaver Eater" is talking about cringe worthy things. Hmmmmmm.

Great news. He’s been huge this year. With other options after we missed on Wheeler, Hahn hit a home run with this signing.

Not even remotely true

Grandal is good. Yasmani Grandal since August 1: .273/.393/.489 5 HR 14 RBI 18 BB 29 K -per Chuck Garfein on Twitter

Grandal has supposedly been not so good but his current wRC + and OPS+ are higher than James McCann’s 2019 numbers.

Best seed will be whoever gets the blue jays or yankees in the first round

I dig division banners hanging in the ballpark.

Thanks for pointing out Colome. I envisioned Foster working in a close ball game, either coming in after Cease or Dunning in the mid innings. Gio can come if a starter can't get out of the first three innings, to save the bullpen. Cooper/Renteria have really relied on Cordero as the first reliever in. I agree he isn't necessarily the best option, but he is the best option in terms of what they see, which is why I listed him second behind Detwiler. Rodon has to come back period, but assuming he can be comfortable warming up and coming in on shorter notice than a starter can prepare, I believe his best role at least for this year is 6th/7th inning work, with Marshall handling the eighth. I can see your point about Heuer, DC/RR is more hesitant using him. All teams are at a disadvantage this year in terms of developing a bullpen. We have a much younger bullpen than many contenders, so the entire month against good teams will shake out more definitive October roles. Hahn didn't add anything, and Bummer's injury has hurt the reliability beyond a few good performers at this point. Hope one or two more can step up between now and season end, or that they get more comfortable with the strong performers like Foster, Detwiler and Heuer, if they can continue pitching well through September. Where you among the SoCal WSI fans that gathered for the 2005 ALCS Angels series?

Have to disagree with Foster as a long guy. He's been used as a 2 inning guy and excelled at it but he's our best reliever at this point. I know he hasn't pitched a lot but our options are slim in the 7th and 8th innings unless Bummer can come back. and Cordero has been overworked and that high ERA just isn't usable in those late inning situations. Cordero has been at his best with runners on base , maybe that's a fluke but hard to tell what is and isn't real in a short season. At this time we're going to have to stick with Foster, Marshall ,Detwiler and Heuer as the main setup guys 6th through 8th inning .Rodon has a long way to go in a short amount of time to prove he belongs in a set up role. I'm sure you also meant Colome not Cordero as the closer.

Yes, I want merch

Probably won't catch the Rays for the 1-seed, but the 2-seed would be nice...and then beat the Twins 2 out of 3; the Indians 3 out of 5; and the Rays and Dodgers 4 out of 7.

Yes.

I'm sure you could find an opinion on them in some corner of our internet space

Bummer is throwing but no word yet how the nerve issue in his biceps is responding. There are reports that Rodon has new injury issues. Keuchel has back issues that flair up from time to time. The WSox have lost confidence in ReyLo and he has lost confidence in himself. No Crochet this year I guess. There just aren't enough horses in the pitching stable to make a long run into the play-offs. After constructing a killer line-up the Sox could get checkmated in the playoffs if the pitching staff continues to get depleted. And what if Giolito or Keuchel lose a play-off game? That would pretty much make the odds of winning a playoff series almost insurmountable.

Need to get Bummer healthy.

Royals are super stupid. They got good depth in their system due to all the comp picks they got but they would have gotten much more if they had traded Hosmer, cain, moustakas and also Perez and merrifield instead of just cashing in comp picks. Comp picks are great but on average you only get a 45 which is great in the back half of your top 20 but not so great in your top5.

and we still cant handle them ?

Grandal is hitting .273 with an .881 OPS in his last 25 games. But people still think he’s been a disappointment.

Well, its almost like there is more than one statistical category that should be considered. Grandal's OBP being .002 higher is not really an indication that he is killing it, he is just doing what he does. Grandal has also K'd more than Abreu, in 40(ish) fewer PAs. Not to mention that Abreu's OPS is more than 200 points higher. I just don't really understand comparing those guys honestly. They are such different players.

Yeah, in most years, it would be a no-brainer that Grandal would have a higher OBP. But this year, Abreu is having an MVP caliber year and "Grandal sucks" according to some people here. I'm saying it's crazy based on how people feel about both THIS year.

That's not crazy at all. I would be shocked if it was opposite of that. OBP is Grandal's best skill, and clearly not what Abreu is focused on. With that said though, I get what you are saying. With all the negative attention towards Grandal, he is still getting his walks. He has basically been the player he has always been.