Look at Ray Ray Run

He was a nice player, but he wasn't a generational bat in college by any means. Vaughn was a generational bat; his sophomore year was better than Beckham's best year despite playing with the new bats and suppressed offense.

Those are two legit good points though; I'll give Steve that. If someone was willing to give me long odds on Madrigal, I'd be willing to bet he breaks camp with the team. If he has a huge spring, I think he puts the pressure on and I think they go for it and call him up.

Who ever said Gordon Beckham was the greatest college hitter they saw? Gordon had a nice junior year, but he wasn't a better college hitter than Buster who was drafted the same year (he wasn't even close) and he wasn't better than Pedro Alvarez that year either. I don't think anyone ever said he was the best college hitter; let alone the best they saw. Vaughn has been in the argument for top 10ish ever. Beckham's junior was amazing, 1323 OPS and he hit 411. Buster had a 1445 ops and hit 463!

Yeah, I don't get it at all. Why sign Castellanos to move Senzel? Senzel was one of your high variance/high upside pieces that could push your projected win total north of what it is. Replacing Senzel with Castellanos/Moustakas seems like a really poor strategy; doing it to get Lindor for 2 years makes it even worse. They should be keeping Senzel unless their internal valuations of him are lower after what they just saw.

Yeah, I think the point being made is it's still a prospect for prospect swap, and one could argue Vaughn is on Senzel's level as a prospect so adding Stiever would be an overpay. Either way, the deal doesn't really make sense for either club.

Senzel was a top 10 prospect by all publications entering last year.

Wow, really nice deal for Castellano's would love to know the opt out rules if there are any. I always thought if Castellanos could prove himself that last years second half wasn't a fluke he could get big money next year. Now he has a chance.

Harold already trying to get rid of Madrigal again. This guy!

Vaughn is the best hitting prospect to come out of college in 10 years; imo.

Why would the Reds trade Senzel for MiLB assets when they're in win now mode? I wouldnt trade vaughn/stiever for Senzel but I am much higher on Vaughn than many here. I wouldn't hate the deal, I just think Vaughn is gonna be a 140-150 wRC+ bat consistently.

This seems like a terrible thing for the Reds; a terrible idea.

Cole - 7 years, 250 million - Signed: 9 year, 324 million Rendon - 8 years, 255 million - Signed: 7 year, 245 million Stras - 6 years, 220 million - Signed: 7 years, 245 million Bumgarner - 6 years, 175 million - Signed: 5 years, 85 million Ryu - 4 years, 85 million - Signed: 4 years, 80 million Donaldson - 3 years, 65 million - Signed: 4 years, 92 million Wheeler - 5 years, 125 million - Signed: 5 years, 118 million Ozuna - 4 years, 85 million - Signed: 1 year, 18 million Grandal - 4 years, 70 million - Signed: 4 Years, 73 Million Odorizzi - 4 years, 60 million - Signed: QO Hamels - 2 years, 30 million - Signed: 1 year, 18 million Didi - 5 years, 68 million - Signed: 1 year, 14 million Keuchel - 3 years, 50 million - Signed: 3 years, 55 million Castellanos - 5 years, 80 million - Signed: 4 years, 64 million Miley - 2 years, 25 million - Signed: 2 years, 15 million Encarnacion - 1 year, 19 million - Signed: 1 year, 12 million Moustakas - 2 years, 38 million - Signed: 4 years, 64 million Puig - 3 years, 45 million - Signed: NONE Will Smith - 4 years, 48 million - Signed: 3 Years, 39 million Will Harris - 3 years, 30 million - Signed: 3 years, 24 million Betances - 2 years, 16 million - Signed: 1 year, 10.5 million Roark - 1 year, 13 million - Signed: 1 year, 12 million Pineda 1 year, 11 million - Signed: 1 year, 10 million Overall not terrible. Biggest misses were Bumgarner (terrible projections by me), Did (who took the shorter offer to rebuild value), and Ozuna.

Yeah, that rumor was one of the most absurd of the off-season.

4 years 64 million. Good for Nick.

Heyman calling the Reds the favorite in the NL Central despite having a team WAR still about 2 wins short of the White Sox who are projected to win about 85 games. Reds had a nice off-season, but I'm not sure Castellanos puts them anywhere near over the top, but you gotta love them keeping him from the Cubs!

Founders just sold recently. Nothing has changed as far as I could tell.

Yeah; I had the Bourbon County this year for the first time.. and I cant believe people compare that to KBS and CBS. KBS and CBS are so much better its absurd. Heck, I'd probably rather have a Dragons Milk than Bourbon County.

I hate this response. I understand the sanctity of a clubhouse just as well as people in the MLB. I get it... and anyone who has played at a high level in the past 25 years has witnessed cheating (whether PED's or whatever) and certainly didn't speak up against their own. But, now that it has come to light there's just no reason to cite the sanctity of the clubhouse as something that bothers you about Fiers. What Fiers did was right, and it doesn't mean Keuchel was wrong (disagree with Balta here) but him not accepting that it was wrong and it's OK to tell the truth about cheating in a clubhouse bothers me a little. I understand 100% why people didn't come forward, and I don't believe it reflects negatively on everyone of them (we're all moralistically superior in our own minds than in the face of reality), but I believe it reflects negatively on you if you get angry at the one person being honest.

Ja Morant just turned 20 before this season started; despite coming out after his Sophomore year, Ja was younger than most college freshman. I point that out because I was comparing Ja's rookie year so far to some other young greats. Bron was 1 year younger, but Ja has a higher PER (not a perfect stat) as a rookie than Lebron James so far. That's pretty amazing given how damn good Lebron was as a Rookie.

I said this at the time of the draft, but Zion Williamson has the best post footwork to enter the NBA since The Dream. The way he uses his body and feet is something that should be taught to all young bigs.

I'll say, fingers crossed, I've recommended Fin Du Monde to a lot of light beer and IPA strictly drinkers, and they have really enjoyed it. It's a little more boozy, but it hides it really well and you don't taste it. I'm not a big fan of big hopped beers; I think that's a much more acquired taste, but beligums are yeastier so if that's a taste someone absolutely hates they may not like it. Check back and let me know what you think! I love that the best belgium in the world is made by Canadians; Unibroue in general makes a lot of great beers. Before I got into my current career, I spent about 3 years running a restaurant group in Chicago and I probably sampled about 5,000 beers in that time; best perk of that job by far.

St Bernardus makes a Xmas ale; it's good. I enjoy it. The one I'm citing above is the ABT 12; https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/259/1708/ It's not quite as malty as the xmas ale; a little more yeasty which I like. They're both quads so really similar.

If you've never had it, give Founders Solid Gold a try for a lager/pilsner style beer.

Appeasing the masses is much more important than niche markets when you become that large; it hurts your portfolios diversity, but it creates a far more consistent product and that's what mass produced breweries need to do; make sure their offerings are consistent and drinkable by the majority.

I'm a beer snob, I admit it and I know it's an asshole trait. I drink Fin Du Monde religiously, Founders (pretty much anything, because for my money that's the best brewery in the world), and in general I love belgium tripels and quads. I don't enjoy drinking a lot of low ABV beers because of the calories and it makes me feel bloated and full. I like high ABV beers in general; have 2 or 3 and set for the night. Triple Karm, Fin Du Monde, St Bernardus are three of my favorites. Fin du Monde the best beer in the world for my money and imo. I think Goose Island is too passive, doesn't take a lot of chances/risks, and tend to make safe beers. I like Founders because they make amazing beer (CBS, KBS, All Day) but they also make a lot of creative beers and take chances.