Flash

Notice his relaxed stance. He isn't coiled up with his left foot pointing inward.

Would identify and pursue key pieces through trade. Is there a scenario where the Mets would part with Syndergard and Nimmo? What could we reasonably offer? Would a package including Lopez, Colome and Vaughn make sense? I honestly believe, even allowing for an adjustment period for Madrigal and Robert, if we can somehow pull off a big trade for a TOR piece plus sign Grandal, we leapfrog to the top of the division.

I don't disagree unless TA can move to OF (and if he can, that would take care of several issues). Even if he can't/won't, Didi brings LH pop and reliable middle IF skills. I've seen several pro-JD Martinez posts and personally feel Didi brings more to the table at this point and will cost considerably less.

Gregorious situation interesting. Fan favorite but injury-marred season and Gleybor and Lamahieu have to play. Would love if the Sox could sign him and worry about positional issues later.

Would love for us to target a LH hitter(s) w/pop, ideally one who gives us positional flexibility. Without researching (sorry) contract situations, guys I would consider include Gregorious, Benintendi, Joc Pederson and Nimmo. Nimmo is particulary interesting due to age and yrs. of control. Maybe we can work a trade w/Mets, possibly to include Matz.

Machado hitting .259 w/.795 OPS. Still like him but it appears we may have dodged a bullet.

Saw someone suggest Benitendi. Wonder what it would take? Would you part with Colome, Lopez and Rutherford? Would that be enough?

I like his bat but he is 26 years old in his 4th year as starting SS w/500 games under his belt. He ain't turning into Ozzie Smith or even Ozzie Guillan. If you can keep his bat and upgrade the most important position AND add LH balance to lineup without significant payroll burden, why wouldn't you try him in RF ?

Gregorious won't be 30 until next Feb. Been injured for most of this year but had 4.6 WAR in 2018 and 4.0 in 2017. Obviously the very definition of stop gap.

Who is the 30 year old 'stop gap' you refer to?

I'm not so sure moving from IF to OF is as easy as we assume (see Dee Gordon/Mariners). I was never a gazelle but played 4 yrs of HS baseball back in the day and remember how the ball appeared to wobble as my feet planted in pursuit of fly balls. Getting an instant beed on trajectory, angle flight path, etc. is harder than it seems. That said, I wouldn't move Moncada, even he he took to the OF naturally. TA on the other hand, I would try, especially if we can upgrade our defense while also filling an OF spot and keeping TAs bat in the lineup.

Personally, on the assumption TA can play OF, I'd rather we pursue Gregorious than Rendon. He solves for LH bat w/with 25-30HR potential while providing a huge upgrade at SS. We can assume TA will eventually cut down on the errors, both mental and physical but why risk it when someone like Gregorious might be available at less than half (both AV and # of yrs.) than Rendon?

Love the idea of Gregorious. LH hitter with some pop and huge defensive upgrade at SS. Yankees might let him walk due to Gleybar and Lemahieu. Might be had for 2-3 yrs. for $12M/per. The question is can TA handle OF. If yes, we would be close to done positionally.

Ray Ray...your alias (Rational Fan) is spot on. Normally I agree with the boys but they are either being stubborn or lazy. Either way, great job calling them out.

Nova has been pitching great since the break. If that keeps up, there will be plenty of demand for his services. The front office will need to anticipate what to expect from him in '20 and possibly beyond (might require multi-year commitment). If his recent performance appears sustainable, I would try to lockhim up before FA season gets underway. If he continues as he has been lately, will cost way more than $5-6M/per.

Can see us resigning Nova if demands are in the realm of sanity (maybe 2yrs/$25M?). Who knows what it will take for some of the upper tier guys but I'd feel pretty good about our chances with Gio, Lopez, Kopech, Cease, Nova and any of Ryu, Bumgarner, Wheeler, Strasburg and of course, Cole.

Been following the Padres box scores and while Machado has been steady, he hasn't set the world on fire or played to his contract. That said, now with benefit of hindsight and notwithstanding the clumsy courtship by front office, am curious on whether the majority believe we should have outbid Padres or that maybe we are better off without him and his $300M K.

Much milder climate to say the least. I've found its a surprisingly easy drive to Chgo., even from Atlanta.

Yep....feel the same since moving to Atlanta. Gotta admit Nashville has a lot to offer although housing market is crazy.

Not the point but thanks for the tutorial on Internet technology. I think it has potential to be big.

Since you like to search and repost others to support your perceived high ground, why don't you pull up the posts about you leaving this board? Something about moving to Nashville because you were so distraught. Obviously that didn't happen.

I remember tossing out a hypothetical Moncada for Gavin Lux trade when Moncada couldn't hit his weight and was a strikeout machine. BTW, Lux is now the LAD #1 prospect. Anyway, you mischaracterize my post. I'm not jumping ship as much as attempting to ignite discussion.

Okay...I'll toss some red meat to the pro-Eloy section.....is he a major liability in the OF? do we believe his defense is likely to improve w/experience? And...here comes the red meat..would you entertain trading him to someone like Seattle for, oh say Jarred Kelenic (LH OF prospect) and Logan Gilbert (strong RHP prospect)? Heresy, but if Eloy is DH only, maybe we should leverage his value before the luster wears off.

Hope you are right about Eloy but it would sure be nice if one of our prospects entered the league with authority; i.e. Alonso, Acuna, Sosa, Tatis, etc. And while we can argue how bad the Tatis trade was, I think the Dodgers trade of Yordan Alvarez for Josh Field was at least as bad. Alvarez, like Alonso, were not nearly as highly rated as Eloy and they started tearing it up as soon as they arrived and don't appear as though they will be slowing down anytime soon.

Every Astro in tonights lineup has at least 10 HRs on season with four players north of 20 (Sox have four with at least 10). We compensate though with brilliant defense.