Flash

Another shit outing for Burnes today in St. Louis. Gave up a hit to first batter he faced then retired the next 18 in a row, 9 on Ks before being lifted. On season he has thrown 12.1 innings and allowed 2 hits while striking out 20. WHIP = 0.16.

FWIW, Dane Dunning tossed a gem last night.

FWIW, Quintana pulled after 3 innings and 86 pitches

He's always got that music career to fall back on

If you back out 2019, Moncada is Leury Garcia if Garcia struck out 45% of his ABs.

This game is taking forever

Both teams should get some answers re: Cease and Ohtani.

He cannot play left field so the notion that it is "his position" is wishful thinking. I think we might be surprised at Eloy's trade value as an injury prone DH under contract for 6 years at $43M plus. And of course it was his fault.

Yermin makes Eloy and to a lesser extent, Vaughn, redundant. We trade whoever possesses the highest trade value. Going into this season and even before Yermin mania, I advocated pursuing Tauchman (NYY). He is a Chgo kid who bats LH and is well better than avg at all 3 OF positions. I'd still pursue him (Lopez + ???). He can hold the fort down until Colas/Cespedes emerges. Vaughn needs to continue his development and build confidence which he is less likely to do while learning a new position. He can go to Charlotte for a bit. Assuming Eloy still has trade value (I posited trading him for Corbin Burnes and this board wanted to hang me from the highest tree), I'd use him to bring in another SP although Burnes is obviously out of the question now. FWIW, am guessing Abreu will still be playing first and hitting 3rd come 2022 and likely beyond. Obviously just one man's opinion.

Extremally small sample size in MLB but the guy passes the real deal eye test for me. I don't need to see too many more ABs to state he is our best hitter (w/apologies to Abreu). Our power hitting RH hitters (Abreu, Jimenez, Robert and to a lesser extent, Vaughn) all seem vulnerable to out of the zone sliders. Yermin spits on them and waits until he gets a pitch he can put in play. He has a plan when he steps up to bat. Again, SSS but I'm convinced he is the real deal already.

Yermin is gonna disrupt this lineup. I want that guy at the plate as often as possible. He has great plate coverage and a terrific eye. Short to the ball and an idea of what he wants to do each at bat. My guess is he will continue to impress, in which case we'll have a high-class problem.

Eloy is easy to root for...seems a little goofy, perpetual smile, big-kid persona and, importantly, he can hit a baseball, often a long way, all of which translates to significant market value. The problem is he appears to lack athleticism to the point of looking silly a lot of the time. This lack of athleticism combined with being seriously injury prone makes him unreliable. I've previously posited (months ago) that he should be used as a trade chit, ideally for a TOR starter, while his market value exceeded his intrinsic value to the team. I believe the real casualty with his latest injury is that it diminishes his market/trade value. I understand most people here love Eloy and the thought of trading him is heresy but, for me, we missed the window and are now left with a big (and not inexpensive) unknown.

Prescient. Not to cite Cubs as lone example but after drafting Ed Howard (SS), they sent Darvish to Padres for a package of tooled-up, middle of the field teenagers.

Any chance Nick Williams breaks camp with team. He's hasn't looked bad at all and seems to be getting plenty of ABs

According to the noise on Pinstripe Alley (Yankee blog), they are keeping Tauchman as their 5th Of'er.

Tauchman would be ideal target as I've posted in the past. Chgo kid, LH, some pop and can play all 3 OF positions. Offer Lopez and Mercedes for starters

I agree Brewers wouldn't do it but there was a window at end of last season when it was feasible they might. Your assessment about his declining trade value is spot on. His lack of coordination and glass body render him a liability wherever he plays. I think this board would be disappointed at what/who he might return in trade.

Too funny. I've advocated trading Eloy several times here in the past and specifically for Corbin Burnes. The overwhelming feedback to the mere suggestion was deemed as heresy.

Eloy...he ain't a Marine

Blake Rutherford was #5 in NYY system and 51 in MLB when that trade happened. Thus far he has not lived up to the hype. Seems like he could still blossom but for now, it looks like we were fleeced. from MLB.com on Rutherford The most productive hitter on the U.S. national team that won a gold medal at the 18-and-under World Cup in Japan last September, Rutherford began 2016 as the top-rated high school position player in the Draft. Eventually passed by fellow California outfielder Mickey Moniak, who became the No. 1 overall pick of the Phillies, Rutherford still was held in high regard. The Yankees took him with the 18th selection and paid him a well-over-slot bonus of $3,282,000, a club record for a position player.

Just want to point out Joc Pederson hit HR #5 today and OPS @2100. Oh well.

It would definitely make for an interesting study. You could take a sample size of say 100 of the all-time greats and pull data on parents and children. Clearly Bobbie/Barry Bonds, father and son Griffey and the Alou family fit the description but the flip side is all the greats who came from non-athletic parents and how many, if any (other than the aforementioned), followed in Dad's footsteps.

Are we assuming there is a DNA link to baseball performance ?

Any chance we start the season with 3 catchers? If yes, who among Collins, Lucroy and Mercedes would be the odd man out?

Reports indicate Sheets has been adjusting to OF nicely. Wouldn't it be great if he turned into a legit corner OF'er ?