Dam8610

And $500,000 per year seems really high for total cost increase. I can't imagine the total cost being more than $50,000 per affiliate. And all these little advantages people have been talking about seem like advantages that could add up to 20-25 WAR over the course of a decade. What's that worth?

Exactly. Dead arm seems the most likely culprit.

I thought it was obvious by the ridiculous threshold that I was also being sarcastic.

Not even going to wait for an ERA above 2 to call it?

That is one hell of a season.

Megabucks on a stud like Machado is the only thing that really makes sense in free agency for a team like this.

Looking at his August, he had a .191 batting average allowed, though it came with a drastically increased K rate. With the increased K rate, does that fall in line with the rest of his season results, or is this an outlier that we should expect to increase with worse BABIP luck?

That would be a team I would be excited to watch in 2019, and one that, with the continued development of the pitching staff, would have a good shot at the playoffs. Also, what's the breakdown on that? $35/$20/$15?

I hope they put Guerrero on the 40 this time and give him a shot at the backend of the rotation. I also hope they keep most of that Winston Salem team together and move them up to Birmingham next year. Most of them have earned promotions at this point.

Hopefully they're telling both he and his catcher to continue that pitch mix going forward. It's certainly more effective than what we've seen from him for most of the year.

If they changed it to where Super 2 granted a 1 year reduction in service time requirements, would that end all of these games?

Still past the full year service time accrual deadline for next year.

If you value that 7th year of control at $25 million, it has a present value of $12,828,952.96

Ideally Eloy becomes a 1B/DH because Basabe, Gonzalez, Robert, Rutherford, etc. overwhelm them with quality OF options. There are worse things than having Eloy as a 1B/DH, having Collins as a C/1B/DH, and having Narvaez/Zavala as Cs.

It's from 5 years ago and newer research has proven something different.

Isn't he also still on the part of the WAR curve where, on average, you expect better results from the player the following year?

What do those guys provide at this point that throwing a guy like Jordan Stephens, Jordan Guerrero, or Spencer Adams at the rotation spot wouldn't? Especially for a team that isn't going to be fully into compete mode in 2019? I'd rather see if one or two of those three can become a backend starter than waste $8-10 million on a bargain basement starter who is just as much of a risk.

They don't even need a stopgap. Put Eloy in RF and let Palka/Delmonico play LF.

Wasn't one of Giolito's biggest problems that his four seamer had no break and hitters could time it up and square it up pretty easily? If so, it makes sense that a two seamer and a change adapted to look like the two seamer would solve a lot of his problems. 93 with good movement is a lot better than 95 straight as an arrow. I'm not sold on a turnaround yet, but all of the visual evidence shows a lot of positive indicators that we might yet get the Giolito we hoped for when he came in the Eaton deal.

I thought Texas was shifting toward being a potential battleground state? Or we could just let the will of the people happen. I know you can't conceive of a world in which the wealthy and politicians aren't allowed to conspire to move their agendas forward over the will of the people, but it's an idea that many, including the DNC now (though only out of fear), are embracing. Letting the wealthy and politicians decide is how we've gotten the last ~40 years of disaster. Insanity is trying the same thing and expecting different results. I'm glad the people and, by extension, the DNC, are being sane and embracing the concept of trying something different.

The reason they changed from AB to PA on K% is that AB misses quite a few PA, plus BB% is required to be calculated on PA.

The last time I checked (a few days ago), Sheets had 25 2B. To me, that indicates that the power is there, he just needs to make small adjustments to tap into it for HR power. The encouraging part is he's hitting near .300 with no power. If he taps into the power and keeps that average, he'll be a dangerous hitter.

Throw Rodon in that mix, too. If they can all stay healthy, Rodon-Kopech-Cease-Dunning-(whoever wins the 5th spot) has a chance to be a lights out dominant rotation.

He needs to make the same mechanical adjustments Altuve did circa 2011. He jabs his front foot out pretty far, which robs his swing of a lot of the power he could generate from his legs and core. That's why I believe there's untapped power potential in him. If he's going to use a high leg kick, he needs to learn to plant the front foot rather than jabbing out with it. This will transfer all of the available power into his swing.

Lock him up and get him up. Otherwise, can't wait until mid April 2019. This guy is going to be a star.