caulfield12

Dead team walking. Doesn't feel like a pennant race anymore. Seems Robert is determined to hit every ball to the opposite field. At least his vision has returned.

three out of four innings 1-2-3 only missing those perfect 9 pitch three K innings

perfect excuse for TLR and Hahn to run things back out there again with no major changes

Every AL Central team except Detroit. Last year the lone exception.

4/56 with two strikes. That Vinnie. White Sox with ten consecutive full seasons with 100+ errors. Goes back to Ventura's first year 2012 team. Leading the league in unearned runs as well.

nice non reaction Leury at least Robert looks noticeably better in the field

Are we still leading the league in errors? Have to be 24-30 in MLB.

Inauspicious start.

The direction this franchise is headed...Anderson will be traded when Montgomery is ready to replace him. As early as the trade deadline next year. Have seen no indications they're suddenly planning a position change. And Moncada isn't going anywhere...after all this time, they're really going to push him back to second base when his defense is so much better at third?

I wrote OR. Yes, betting wise, 1.5 should be more likely than 2.5. That said, the Dodgers are playing so well right now and have almost no incentives left to play for but keeping players healthy, going for 110 plus wins and watching out for the Mets for best record. They do eventually have to blend Buehler and possibly May back into the rotation and figure out a top four. That might mean Urias OR Kershaw sits (Heaney to pen?), which is crazy depth…but how can you not go with Gonsolin and Tyler Anderson this year? With the way this season has gone, will go with a 1-1 split in LA. Balta will quickly show up to predict a Dodgers’ sweep, lol.

Great, Carlos Rodon. Who just happens to be positioned as the #1 FA pitching option this offseason. Never mind the jersey slashing and clubhouse Eaton/LaRoche/Drake rebellion.

Do we know for a fact which side of the body this oblique injury is on? https://www.mlb.com/news/oblique-strains-more-common-in-baseball-c226211408 According to a new study done by former Dodgers athletic trainer Stan Conte of Conte Injury Analytics. in conjunction with the Hospital for Special Surgery and Major League Baseball and using MLB's Health and Injury Tracking System (HITS) data, there was an uptick in oblique injuries in 2016. Fifty-six percent of oblique injuries are suffered by hitters, 44 percent are suffered by pitchers and 77 percent of all oblique injuries occur on the contralateral -- or lead -- side in both pitchers and hitters. That is, the left side for a right-handed hitter or thrower, and vice versa. But why the uptick at all? Conte's theory is simple. "Players are bigger, stronger and faster than ever, and it has led to an increase in velocity and bat speed," he said. "They go together. If a pitcher throws harder, the hitter has to have reciprocal bat speed to catch up. He has to explode more and swing harder." While older info above about obliques (2016), Moncada has NEVER had a clearly better OPS from the RH side as far as I know. Quite a few even wanted him to give up switch hitting in the past, like Jose Valentin tried. In 2020, another bad/injured season, he was just one point apart in OPS in his splits, but clearly not a highly effective hitter overall, right around 700ish. An 80 point advantage right now against LHP. Pretty unprecedented. So you’re forced to either bench him 60-70% of the time to protect that right oblique, but unfortunately we have no other roster options other than Sosa or Garcia, unless they bring Burger back and throw defense to the wind. Of course, they probably could have had Drury but no use crying over spilt milk.

Do we know for a fact which side of the body this oblique injury is on?

Anywhere from 0.5 back to 3.5 back with 1.5 or 2.5 the most likely…three game (total standings places) swing possible in one day.

Why didn't someone just ask her why they were so horrible...?

https://www.truebluela.com/2014/7/21/5921421/keibert-ruiz-dodgers-venezuela-catcher Keibert Ruiz, key part of Scherzer/Turner deal $140k signing bonus out of Venezuela Yordan Alvarez, $2 million bonus, traded for reliever Josh Fields Oneil Cruz signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers in July 2015 as an international free agent for a $950,000 signing bonus. Cruz made his professional debut in 2016 with DSL Dodgers 1, batting . 294 with 23 RBIs in 55 games. He began the 2017 season with the Great Lakes Loons. Traded to the Pirates for reliever Tony Watson. Some other prospects that they did give up that turned out to have some potential include Jharel Cotton (Twins), Frankie Montas, Devin Smeltzer (Twins) and Yusniel Diaz (Orioles). Pitcher Josiah Gray was the other key aspect of Scherzer/Turner deal. On December 21, 2018, the Reds traded Gray, along with Jeter Downs and Homer Bailey, to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for Matt Kemp, Yasiel Puig, Alex Wood, Kyle Farmer and cash considerations. Interesting that Alex Wood arguably turned out to be the best of that group. Just another spare starter in LA...rotation member for SFG historic 2021 season.

Funny you should mention that. My father probably qualified as a Civil War buff and almost every summer road trip was connected to that in some way, as well as reading about the battles ahead of time. Never spent a minute at Disneyland or Disney World, it was always a museum or national park. That type of childhood really doesn't exist anymore. Fwiw, I learned how to read because my parents tricked me (reverse psychology!) by buying sports bios in elementary school because they saw my interest level rising. Now I have to throw out the school grammar workbooks and read my own son Plants vs. Zombies almanac terms because he just fell in love with that mobile game. Of course, the other problem is English is not his first language, it's Chinese. BTW, had a cousin from Plano who died in his mid 50s, spent his whole life writing about the Civil War and Texas history. Look up "My Brother, the Wind." Carl Everett, when he played for the Rangers once wrote him a personal note saying that he was his favorite author...yet another reason I have such a soft spot for that 2005 team. Also highly recommend Life Ain't the Same in the Pecos League by Bill Rogan. Provided me with a far greater appreciation with the winding path Yermin Mercedes took to reach the majors.

And that has basically been true of every AL Central division winner or WC dating back to the 2016-17 Indians...

Of course, Dodgers and Red Sox fans will forever believe they were cheated out of additional championships, but this Astros' run as well as the Dodgers ascent in 2013 through today are almost as remarkable as the Braves' 14 year run...at least in the modern game. Along with 1996-2001 peak Yankees. It has also been the era of the underdogs, Twins, A's, Indians, Rays, Brewers...falling short but fighting the system valiantly like Don Quixotes.

Ultimately with KC it was hitting on the Gordon Hosmer Moustakas draft picks in the first round, the Zack Greinke trade to Milwaukee and the Shields trade...culminating with finishing moves for Zobrist and Cueto. Plus the scouting department for finding Salvador Perez. That and assembling the very best bullpen in history that pretty much ushered in the modern era of 5-6 inning starters. Then contact hitting, solid fundamentals, defense and the combination of Dyson and Gore to almost automatically get runners in scoring position in the late innings in close games. The death of Yordano Ventura and health/payroll restrictions quickly led to a demise in 2016-17... Of course, there were numerous times from 2006 - 2013 when KC fans and the local press lost their belief in the rebuild. It felt like Rany's prediction from 2009 was coming to pass:

Right, how many times have the relatively paltry signing bonuses for Latin American players come up? It’s just like stock market investing. Taking your 25-30 shots with small incremental amounts is almost always going to win out over the amount of talent surrendered and then $500+ million for a Soto extension. The only positive is that you can pretty quickly rebuild your minor league system when you have those frontline stars to move if your team still can’t compete. A broadcaster the other night was praising the Sox for their payroll allocation because there were so many “bets” made in the $10-20 million range as opposed to $20-45 million yearly deals. As we all know, most of those deals aren’t looking all that great right now. Back to the Cardinals example. Their fans want frontline/ace pitching, but options like Musgrove, Castillo and Verlander are already off the board. deGrom is unlikely to leave NY. That likely makes Carlos Rodon one of the top FA pitching options, which is probably scaring the heck out of a lot of GM’s right now. Eovaldi or Thor? Kershaw? Freaking Adam Wainright arguably is the fifth best option if he doesn’t retire or re-up one final year with the Cards or LaRussa, lol.

You read enough front office bios, you never see any crossover with the White Sox “trees”. I guess Hostetler leaving the Braves (seemed like writing was on the wall on his departure)? Getz from KC, that’s pretty much it. Otoh, you see terrible organizations like the Orioles realizing the only way to survive in the gladiatorial AL East is to bring in the best and brightest…who have actually produced positive results elsewhere. Mike Elias graduated from the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia,[1] where he was born.[2] He attended Yale University, graduating in 2006.[3] He played college baseball for the Yale Bulldogsas a pitcher.[4] After his sophomore season, Elias required surgery to repair a torn labrum.[5] After graduating from Yale, Elias became a scout for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2007.[3] When the Houston Astros hired Jeff Luhnow from the Cardinals as their general manager in 2011, Elias went to Houston with him as their director of amateur scouting.[6] Elias is credited with the Astros' selection of Carlos Correa in the 2012 MLB draft.[7] In 2016, after David Stearns was hired by the Milwaukee Brewers as their general manager, the Astros promoted Elias to fill Stearns' role as assistant general manager. He was given oversight of player development and minor league operations.[8] On November 16, 2018, the Baltimore Orioles hired Elias as their general manager and executive vice president.[3] Elias hired Sig Mejdal from the Astros as his assistant general manager to bring analytics to the Orioles.[9]

“Working with Andrew Friedman, depth was always something that was critical to our organization," Erik Neander, the senior vice president of baseball operations and general manager, told ESPN.com earlier this year. "For health and also for unexpected performance in both directions. Depth is a way to have guys who can surprise you in pleasant ways. In this division, we usually don't bully clubs with the top of our roster. It's really about flattening the talent slope from spots five through 40, making sure we're strong there." After Friedman's departure, the unorthodox approach to franchise building and willingness to stretch the impact of analytics on the field continued with an all-star quartet of executives, including Neander, who was named MLB's 2019 Executive of the Year. Matthew Silverman started his career at Goldman Sachs, where he helped Rays owner Stuart Sternberg structure his bid for the team before being hired as its president. Senior vice president of baseball operations (now Red Sox chief baseball officer) Chaim Bloom wrote for Baseball Prospectus before joining the Rays as an intern. Current Astros general manager James Click also rose from Baseball Prospectus writer to intern, then all the way to vice president of baseball operations with Tampa Bay. Together, they developed a front-office culture where decisions were collaborative, nontraditional ideas were embraced and negative reaction from others outside the organization was largely ignored. "Try to appreciate the strengths a player possesses at any given moment. ... You don't necessarily know what [paths] they're going to take, but the more options, the more possibilities, the more you have a chance for them to take that step. It's easy on any given player to focus on what they can't do, especially prospects."Rays GM Erik Neander on scouting and developing players Not that being in St. Petersburg, Florida, hurt. While the front office sometimes faced blowback from the national media regarding some of its forward-thinking moves, the lack of the daily scrutiny found in larger markets like Boston, New York, Philadelphia or Los Angeles meant more room for experimentation, according to former Rays executives -- not to mention the necessity to be creative with money. That relative freedom is something Rays alums say they've come to appreciate after moving on to bigger markets. In recent years, the success of Tampa Bay brought attention to Bloom, who interviewed with the Phillies, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, San Francisco Giants and New York Mets before taking the job in 2019 running the Red Sox. All of the final four teams in this year's playoffs -- the Astros (Click), the Braves (team president Alex Anthopoulos worked under Friedman in L.A.), the Dodgers and, of course, Tampa Bay -- have roots and ties to the Tampa Bay organization.” https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/30146884/world-series-2020-how-rays-became-rays-brain-trust-mlb-most-innovative-team The strange thing is that Hahn by and large gets a free pass from the Chicago media…so that’s not an excuse either. Jed Hoyer on the Northside gets a LOT more scrutiny and that’s even after that 2014-2020 stretch of competitiveness the Cubs enjoyed before finally tearing it down last year. Ricketts is easy enough to dislike, but he also gets more arrows fired at him than anyone but the Bears’ front office/ownership group.

Pretty sure just two games at Chavez…