caulfield12

Haven't seen many Stiller or De Niro movies recently...Gaylord Perry Foecker.

Almost like that story of the player traded in the middle of a double header who just switched clubhouse and played in the second game for his new team. Finally discovered one advantage of having two teams housed in same facility...ease of scouting players cost-effectively.

The 8th inning was a problem since the opening series in Anaheim. The real difference of opinion comes in on whether Kimbrel could shift roles on a dime...

Well, except Eaton's 2016 and Avi's 2017...

Gavin Sheets and Jared Kelley Wes Kath/Jake Burger Vera/Romy Gonzalez for Manaea, three packages thrown out there via internet speculation

It would take almost our entire minor league system, arguably. We could probably protect Vera, Montgomery and Colas.

Makes sense for the Mets if they believe in him as a starting pitcher...and depends how much of the Hosmer contract they are willing to take on. Gives the Padres salary relief...Voit to 1B and Dom Smith to DH. LF would be a mix of Profar/Beaty depending on matchups. Cuts the Padres rotation back down to five with Lamet, Gore and Weathers...eventually Morejon, providing depth.

Well, obviously he was never going to compete with Betts, who possesses one of the best throwing arms in the game. Or Bellinger, in CF. Or Pederson. Or Kike Rodriguez. Or even Chris Taylor. So it's going to be a matter of simply meeting the lowest of expectations with the Sox, which is Leury/Sheets/AV or broken down versions of Eaton and Mazara. We're relying on more and more veterans than any time since the unforgettable "lost decade" of the 2010's... Graveman 31, Hendriks 33, Kelly 33/34, Lynn 34/35, Velasquez 29/30, Grandal 33/34, Abreu 35, Harrison 34/35, Engel 30/31, Leury 31, Pollock 34 That's 11 guys now. We still have the young core guys, but even TA7 will be 30 in another year...and has a lot of wear and tear on his body due to his style of play. We have this PEAK year of 2022, one more year in 2023 and everything else beyond is "uncertain" or opaque at best. Minus one more starting pitcher, it's as close as we are going to get to "all in," which is basically the time of the trade deadline last year through the end of this season. As everyone is well aware by now, the number of players making significant contributions over the age of 35 is diminishing by the year...especially on the position player side of things. But I guess it's all somehow quite appropriate as we reach the twilight of JR's ownership years...a fitting ending, with a manager over 80 years old as well.

https://www.mlb.com/news/dark-horse-mvp-candidates-for-2022 Luis Robert -- White Sox Key stat: 155 OPS+, 3.6 bWAR across 68 games in 2021 Robert has only 124 career games on his big league resume, and those 124 games have had a little of everything: a tantalizing flash out of the gate in August 2020, a severe adjustment curve that September (.409 OPS) and then a scintillating sprint to the finish after he returned from a torn hip flexor last August (1.011 OPS, 12 homers in 43 games). So why do I see MVP hardware for Robert in Year 3? His power has been special from the start (118 mph max exit velocity, 43% career hard-hit rate). He made pitch-tracking history with how much he cut down on whiffs from 2020 to '21. He’s shown elite defense from the jump (+10 Outs Above Average, eighth among center fielders since 2020, in spite of all the missed time). And he’ll be a key cog on a White Sox club that should have baseball’s easiest path to a division title. We’ve already seen the five-tool potential of "La Pantera." Why not an MVP Award that arrives ahead of schedule?

They're not going to trade Lamet right now, that's crazy...they have too many question marks in their rotation and bullpen to countenance that.

As we hypothesized why the Meadows trade was never going to materialize...Kiermaier would have been the salary they were looking to exchange. So we can certainly compare Pollock, Suzuki, Conforto, Pederson, Avi, Rosario, Soler, Meadows, etc., and see who was right and who was (preliminarily) wrong just six months from now.

Because many keep spelling Pollock incorrectly!!!

Twins' announcers (that are a lot more knowledgeable than Tom Hamilton in CLE) want Pollock in LF, Jimenez at DH and Leury/Engel/Vaughn in RF...predicting that Jimenez will get hurt again or injure Robert, who they compared to the Bad News Bear CFer making all the plays by cutting in front of the worthless corner guys...tifwiw. Twins also likely to go with 16 pitchers until May 2nd.

On the plus side, when Jimenez gets hurt, we can put Pollock back in his natural position, Sheets at DH and the dreaded Leury/Vaughn platoon in RF! I seem to remember VaFan getting called out for being overly positive, which, at the time, was the contrary opinion. I suppose the board reverts back to "Hahn is a demi god" until the next (perceived) bad trade or injury. Honestly, not sure what "dick ripping" even means, but I'm sure it's meant to put critics "back in their place" or something like that.

Well, the main point is putting someone where they are most comfortable playing. We still have a bunch of round pegs and square holes in Eloy, Sheets and Vaughn with Abreu on the roster. At least until they're traded away. Collins, although not sure he will get a shot anywhere unless they mercifully jettison him into space from Charlotte's roster.

Pollack is a former UGA linebacker, not to be confused with a fish or AJ. Definitely not to be confused with polack, a pejorative for Polish people.

Next to zero trade value until he proves himself to be healthy. Which will likely never happen at this point in his career.

In RF? Well, we will just have to wait and see how Pollock does with his six career games there and about a week to adjust. Sort of like Andrew Vaughn last year. Of course, playing a new position and having a history of hamstring problems...

We'll try a baseball GM argument then. No Kimbrel option, QO to Rodon, sign Joc and platoon him in RF with Engel (where they are both comfortable/experienced), sign Eduardo Escobar and invest the savings into a starting pitcher such as Manaea and backup catcher better than Ciuffo with those aforementioned savings. That leaves Leury as the primary backup everywhere, but not starting where he shouldn't. And no Harrison. The fWAR for that particular combination will work out at least 3-5 points higher than what we're actually applauding. And a comp pick back from the Giants to boot. And more left-handedness in the normal 70% of the time lineup as well. You can really win a World Series with that team.

This goes back to the initial argument of no Kimbrel option, sign Joc and platoon him in RF with Engel (where they are both comfortable/experienced), sign Eduardo Escobar and invest the $10 savings into a starting pitcher. The fWAR for that particular combination will work out 3-4 points higher.

Just wanted to see how Archer did...not well. Twins seem most concerned about who they will rotate at 3B and LF. Larnach sent down. I do find it amusing I know more about the Twins despite being 13 times zones removed compared to what the professionals paid to announce games know about one of their top rivals merely a state away.

Thought so...so it's not like there isn't going to be a learning curve here for someone. They're not dumb enough to suddenly switch Eloy to RF one would hope. I'm assuming Friedman discussed this issue with Pollock before the trade went down.

Except we need the Scorpion King.

First thing the Twins' radio guys said was Pollock in LF, Eloy at DH and Engel to RF. Of course, they also have TA7 as a free agent after this year, ignoring all the options in his contract. Btw, how many games in the last five years does Pollock have in RF?

Calling out everyone because we finally traded Kimbrel is almost something I would expect here in China...where expressing contrary opinions publicly gets you disappeared. Did you also have a go at Balta, Ray Ray and Two Gun Pete, by the way? You can't buy trust, you have to earn it through actions and things like eventually winning a freakin' playoff series first.