SoCalChiSox

Parkman is correct as to the high degree of variance that short series playoffs bring. Look how long the Dodgers were probably the best team and yet the randomness of the playoffs made it such that it took forever for them to actually win a title. Home field and all that stuff doesn't make that much difference as compared to other sports in the playoffs. The incentive to suppress salaries is much greater than to spend 30m more in budget to get a bye or have one extra playoff home game. The cost benefit isn't worth it due to luck and matchups in the draw you get dictating alot of what happens.

Good point about spending incentives. Yet another reason for the union to reject this

Its alot more lucrative to the owners than the players. And fan pressure is exactly what the owners are counting on in order to turn something they really want from a novelty into an expectation. The union should reject this at once. An expanded postseason also is bad for us.

The union would be dumb to accept this. The most important sword the union can wield in the CBA talks is the expanded postseason but the owners know if you have expanded postseason two years in a row and fans like it, it puts alot of pressure for the union to agree to it in the future, and at that point it becomes impossible to put the toothpaste back in the tube.

We still have a black hole at DH and its very possible that we still have a black hole at RF too. That said, I do expect the team to be better. Im not sure the winning percentage will be better than last year as matching the .583 would translate to around 95 wins and I think that's right around where we should be, but the team should still be better even if doesn't show in terms of pure W-L. We can expect growth from Robert, the old Moncada, Lynn adding alot of value as well as Kopech and Hendriks. I do expect some regression from Keuchel, Abreu and probably Anderson.

This.

Get Brad Miller signed already. They saved more money with Rodon, so whats the delay?

When is the LH bat coming?

Another target gone. Thanks, JR.

LMAO....April Fool's Day isn't for a couple months, you're a little early there bro.

And 2/20 would have been perfectly reasonable given that we need a bridge to Colas/Cespedes who can at the same time be a key contributor to the first part of the window.

Why? The trash we have trotted out in RF is still worse than a guy who will hit well 70 percent of the time and hit poorly 30 percent of the time when we play lefties and we kill lefties anyway so the world isn't going to end if there is one guy in the lineup who won't do anything. You can put him 9th against lefties who cares. And I don't want to hear that we should not be starting a platoon player everyday in RF during the championship window. If we were really in "championship window mode"we wouldn't be starting someone like a 32 year old Adam Eaton (who is in deep decline) either so that argument has been waived.

1. It's his brother. 2. He isnt a lefty masher. So IDGAF if he's coming in 2022.

Dammit. Im jealous and pissed. "Edge" and 50 cents are worth a mediocre cup of coffee. Joc >>>>>>>> Eaton. Heck for 1 yr/7m we should have signed him to DH/LF since we aren't gonna be spending on a pitcher anyway and we still need a LH bat.

Good to see confidence from him. /2900 of them will still be singles

Agreed. They should get this done today.

poppysox can breathe a sigh of relief now it would appear.

3 years was never gonna happen here..but alas it would have been nice to have a strong LH bat with versatility.

Its only nice if it comes with a monster bat.

The value aspect is only relevant if the other 10m is actually gonna be spent. 10m is not enough to pay for Cruz and with the SP filled Madrigal isnt gonna be traded so La Stella isn't gonna sign here. So where is the rest of the money going? /Spoiler: JRs pocket

Don't they have to also keep Crochet down a bit for service time too?

He sure didn't look like a 60 runner or a 60 defender last year, at least from the eye test.

If they wouldn't do Q for 1/8, why do you think they'd pay 2m more? At this point just give Wainwright like 4m and use the rest on a bat.

Budget. Maybe if he accepts like 6m instead of the 8m allegedly set aside for the position, then La Stella might be more amenable to a 1 year deal if he was getting 9m instead of 7m.

The unspoken assumption is that because of Profar's contract, La Stella is no longer financially viable for us, probably due more to term rather than price, which is why trading for the LHH depth piece is now in the scenario he put out re: trading Madrigal rather than signing one. This is why it sucked losing Q at a cheap price. Just keep the prospects and Madrigal. Just forget it. Give Richards his 8m or whatever, keep the other 7m for absorbing salary at the deadline and keep the powder dry on other assets so we can see what we need at the deadline.