Look at Ray Ray Run

This was inevitable; not even sure why people thought otherwise. Once they made the change, they were never going back. I hope they make a change to the first round obviously. It would be laughable to play 162 games and then lose to an under .500 team in a 3 game series. I think it's likely they make that change and give some kind of reward to the division winners or top seeds but I just don't know how.

This is a fair point, but being seen can save parents money. This isn't about being a professional; this is, at it's core, about being seen and getting a college opportunity somewhere for most of these kids. Getting a scholarship - which for baseball likely sucks ha - and getting a chance at a college education.

You know that's easier said than done for smaller town kids though; for the big city kids who play in large conferences they can play other sports and they'll still get recognized. For some smaller town and high school kids, travel ball is their chance to get noticed in their eyes. Northern kids are already docked too much for the lack of "competition" in regular high school ball and travel ball; if you play somewhere small you take an even bigger hit.

Yeah, Jason Kendall used to do this most recently. I think the more fascinating thing Tim does is coming up out of his crouch on high pitches. Instead of moving his hands or pulling them in or up, he instead moves his body to keep his hands and swing on the same plane. That's really unique and not something you see; that takes a stupid level of athleticism and hand eye coordination.

For the 17th pick in the draft? Alexei Ramirez would be a home run result

That's the best part to me... Tim has been trying to tell people, and almost no one listened. All people did was try to tell him how he COULD and SHOULD succeed, but he was having none of that. He tried to tell you how he was going to succeed, and how much work he put in and etc and people just kept saying that won't work. Tim has had a better 162 game stretch than 99% of baseball players will ever have in their career... instead of people telling Tim how he should do things, they should shut up and watch and learn a thing or two. On this very board people were asking for a different lead off hitter 6 weeks ago! The unknown is scary, and being original means you're not really projectible yet but as a fan who has watched him everyday, isn't this why human scouts still exist? Watch the kid grow over the last three years, watch the work, the adjustments, the development and as Harold said... you'd know Elite athlete + elite makeup + elite work ethic = Superstar I'd add you need an elite tool in baseball as well, since athleticism can't save a leaky bat, but Tim always had that elite tool. The guy had no idea how to hit, what pitchers were doing, and he was still out there holding his own against professionals who had played the game for 15-20+ years. That said more than any number or walk rate.

We were thinking about the same guy at the same moment; I almost started a Tim Anderson thread but just bumped the MVP thread and the other TA thread instead. I should have started one like you, as should everyone! This guy is playing like the best damn baseball player on the planet. It's absurd. He talked, and now he's walking that walk. I am even surprised how great Tim has been, and I'm on record here saying he has the best and quickest hands I've ever seen. People have hands as quick, but no one in the games history have had faster hands/wrists than Anderson. He gets to start his bat so late he can do whatever he wants with the baseball.

Fangraphs might want to reconsider this one. ?

Tim is now leading the AL in fWAR despite missing games. He's also catching Tatis for the MLB lead despite having played 12 fewer games so far. On a rate basis, Tim Anderson has been the best player in baseball this year. Jose has been healthy and huge and likely will get the MVP over Tim, but Tim Anderson is the best damn player in the game right now. When you break models and you break systems, you truly become one of the GOATS. So much talent; such great hands. Let's go TA74MVP

Yeah, I'm a big proponent of this. When I was growing up, kids played multiple sports. Kids feel so much pressure today to play year round because they're scared they'll miss reps or being noticed. It's awful. When I was growing up I played with Kipnis and Bowden. Both guys played football and didn't play baseball year round. I think Kip was an all-state receiver, but I could be wrong on that. That shit helps I think it helps big time as well; you use other muscles and you allow your baseball body to heal a bit while strengthening the core around it. My favorite thing about Stiever is he played two sports - really well too - and he has grown into his pitchers body. He's really exciting because his arm doesn't have the drain and his velocity could continue to grow. Look at DeGrom for another example of a guy who came into velocity as a pro. Corey Kluber another guy who grew into his stuff. Those two went to freakin' STetson for god sakes.

I actually would be surprised if they did. Going year to year on Madrigal, given how Arbitration treats players of his skill set, seems like the smarter choice. Nothing Nick does will break the bank - he's not going to put up gaudy SB or HR totals and he's not winning any MVP's. Given how anti-players-like-Madrigal the Arbitration process is and has been, I think they'll just play this one out. Robert and Eloy had the chance of getting near MVP levels which escalates the payouts so much that those two make more sense.

Yeah, good point; definitely worse for pitchers. They should be up earlier. To expand on Stiever - I'm actually doing a research piece on pitchers like Stiever right now - there's a lot of reason to be really excited about Stiever. In the game today, we have become obsessed with youth velocity - reality is, you're better off not having your high school/college guys throwing their peak velocities at that age - you want guys to grow into velocity in pro-ball with proper former and teachings. Stiever actually has a LOT in common with the elite starters in baseball over the past decade +; what exactly? Well: 1. Northern kid who didn't throw over 90 MPH as a high school pitcher (he threw 88 at PG) 2. Went to a midwest school and didn't have the wear and tear of constant pitching. He was also an all-state Wide Receiver so he DID NOT play baseball year round. This is a major key. He played baseball during baseball season up north. 3. Played travel ball but took falls off - winters mostly as well. The wear and tear on Stievers arm today is similar to that of a high school kid in the south or out west. 4. He has grown into his velocity in pro-ball - Steiver has NEVER thrown harder in his life than he has this year and last. This is a huge key to Stiever's success; guys who throw 95-100 in high school and college are NOT holding up. The velocity too young is just an issue; an issue I would avoid. Look at at the list of top starters over the last decade; they all grew into velocity. None of them were throwing 100 MPH in high school - even Stras who started throwing 100 in college wasn't doing it in high school. Verlander (not a big prospect out of high school) Greinke (played SS a lot and didn't have peak velocity until the minor leagues) SCherzer (Took him years to find velocity and command in professional ball) Sale (Came into velocity in pro ball) Kershaw (Started throwing harder as a professional than amateur) Cole (Found more velocity after draft) Stras was a stud but he was nothing out of high school I have found that the best pitchers in the game typically weren't throwing 100 MPH in high school or even early college. Velocity can destroy a young arm. The combination of Stiever pitching up north, playing football, and coming into his velocity as a professional has been a heck of a predictor of elite big league success. I'm not saying that'll be Stiever, but the pedigree there is really exciting. Northern kids who don't throw over 90 MPH as kids but develop as pitchers first and then find big velocity have gone on to be elite arms in baseball over and over again.

I think the players are making one hell of a case for why service time manipulation and the minor league hold downs in general are completely meaningless; this year has allowed so many guys that were supposedly a year or two away to show that they're not actually that far off at all. The gap between elite amateurs and professionals may be closing in baseball.

Your car is public property? Damn, you might want to look into that. I think you're being ripped off! Dude, it's just a game. Saying the Cubs suck is just in good fun; if someone reads that shirt and gets deeply offended maybe they can attend their local therapists office and figure out why they're so mentally weak.

Nice to see the constant negativity, fighting and b****ijg in the game thread of a 6-2 big win vs your divisional foe. I swear some fans are happier being miserable than winning.

Jaysus, some people just don't like the cubs guy. I think you've put way more thought into this than the "blowhards" who are having a little fun.

I can't wait for everyone to tell me how much better McCann is defensively.

The Rickettes are terrible people; I have no idea what I'd do if my favorite teams were owned by such heinous people. Jerry is a lot of things, but he's not a Rickette.

What an absurd take; I learned to hate the Cubs from my father and Uncle, who grew up in the 50's and 60's.

It hasn't amounted to anything, and I haven't actually looked fully at video etc, but I think Mazaras swing has been much better the past 10-14+ days. His rhythm as well. He has felt inbetween all year.

They both just faced the same opponent, and Reylo was better. This is the back up QB concept; always asking for the back up to someone who isn't good. I hope Stiever is awesome, but guy has thrown 3 2/3 inning above A ball and the Sox are in a pennant race. Reylo can be maddening, but he's also been a below avg MLB starter which is better than a lot of bad arms.

What has Stiever done to start over Lopez? Honest question. I like Stiever, but by no means has he earned anything over Lopez.

The no off days isn't great for the Sox starting pitching depth; or lack there of.

And managers really having no say over roster construction; for example, if he wanted to move on from Edwin it wouldn't be his choice and while he's there I'm sure there's directive to play him out of his struggles. Bottom line, the stuff fans think matters so much because they watch it just doesn't matter that much. A guy who is not the 100% right choice will still work out as the right decision 48-49% of the time. In some seasons, the non-optimal thing will actually work more than optimal one. The margins we are discussing on a bullpen move or lineup decision is like .01% each time. Sure over 162 games it might impact a game or two over a sample size 10,000 seasons big, but in reality each decisions right and wrong choice with professional ball players involved has a difference of expected outcome so small that b****ing about it and focusing on it as the main deciding factor in how good a manager is simply is wrong imo.

@Green Line, what do you think the Sox results/stats/record would be with a GOOD manager by your definition who made optimal moves?