caulfield12

Those sound like names from a 1950's noir movie script...

Clear based on what? That one video link that was vague on details? Phillies yet again? https://www.thegoodphight.com/2021/7/23/22575765/lets-make-a-fake-deal-phillies-get-bryant-kimbrel Medina, Miller, Morales and O'Hoppe was the offer for Bryant AND Kimbrel when Craig's value was sky-high last summer, but O'Hoppe alone for back-up catcher would probably be the extent of it. Marchan was also mentioned a ton before, and Dominguez (reliever)?

I'm not sure what it was. You would have thought the two season series would have raised some warning flags or sirens at 35th & Shields. Maybe because the Astros were a .500ish team for 60 odd games in 2020 before turning it on into the post-season? No Verlander? I can't figure it out. You could go up and down the day to day line-ups and know we were going to be in for a world of hurt, particular Lynn. The Astros' veteran hitters were nightmare match-ups for guys like Rodon and Cease, because they were so patient and largely didn't swing at pitches outside of the zone. Maybe having some pressure from the Twins and Tigers and Indians' pitching will keep the Sox front office and coaching staff more honest this time around? That and the fact that the Blue Jays, Mariners, Twins, Tigers and Rangers should be MUCH better than they were last season. And that still leaves the Yankees, Red Sox, Rays and Astros to deal with.

I feel a Hawkism coming on, "... but when you do it."

Therein lies the problem....sinker-ballers, pitch to contact guys favor plus infield defense (and Harrison is going to be below average, around Madrigal last two years) and strikeout guys usually yield a lot of fly balls as well by elevating pitches up in the zone. A conundrum. Hard to take advantage of both, because those same strikeout guys like Cease and Rodon pitched well elevated pitch counts, which usually led to early bullpen usage.

By that argument, we REALLY need more high strikeout pitchers to eliminate our defense from coming into play as much as possible...if they are bound and determined to put a below average fielding team out there all season long. (Only course, the opposite style pitcher, Tepera, was our best in the postseason.)

Couldn't you make the exact same argument about why nobody seems Kimbrel as being worth $16 million, either? Yes, totally different contracts, but it all comes down to value and opportunity cost.

WBWF?

You can win the AL Central doing that. The struggles of Leury and Sheets out there suggest the playoffs are a totally different animal.

Not the 2013-17 Royals emphasizing the bullpen? Also, no pitching interventions have ever worked at Coors, starting with the Mark Hampton contract...as well as that pitcher who died in his StL hotel room. In the end, they believed relief pitching might be the successful approach compared to overpaying for FA starters who would see ERAs increase by 1.5ish per game.

But that's where we can get into an interesting debate comparing 2020 Colome and 2021 Hendriks, for example, with fWAR (versus save conversion percentage, inherited runners scored, etc). At the simplest levels, you would favor Colome in a number of top line categories, yet no baseball GM would actually prefer him fir 2022 unless they ran an Indians or Rays budget.

Cricket or futbol lol?

Hahn has enough fire able offenses to last a lifetime...fortunate JR is more forgiving with front office execs and former players than managers.

Urias and Buehrle are their two best now. May could be the best if he returns to health. Plus Gonsolin, Duffy and Price. They will be fine. SF and SD are taking a step back in all likelihood as well.

Niekros with knuckleball, Hoyt Wilhelm...Bruce Sutter split

I guarantee it will suddenly be "big money" right around the TDL time...we'll probably hear some excuse such as we exhausted our trade capital last July.

Wow, I'm quite flattered you took time out of your busy life to count.

I was being sarcastic. EVERY year in spring training, there's a breakout that doesn't translate to the regular season. Kind of a running in joke around here.

Oh, just saw it and flipped to another game too quickly. Carlos Perez had his first hit of the spring, that’s encouraging.

Well, if Sheets, Burger and Vaughn each got hurt?

Cespedes REALLY likes to swing the bat. Yermin had a single to left, Cespedes caught looking on an inside heater and Romy popped up with runners on second and third to end the inning.

Never believed that was realistic. More about showing off his versatility and relative agility for that size. Trade positioning.

Zach McKinstry for Kimbrel and $2-4 million makes some sense. Unless we are super confident in Harrison or Leury, there needs to be a better option than Romy or Mendick IMO. I guess Micker Adolfo has already been awarded RF, with Vaughn at DH/1B and Sheets/Burger traded for starting pitching…fwiw, Cespedes looks pretty sharp out there in center, granted only one play. Maybe it’s the lack of good jumps and routes by the majority of our outfielders last year.

Darvish, Chatwood and Kimbrel not performing to expectations didn't help much either.

What is Paxton's status?