caulfield12

Move Moncada to RF, haha... In all seriousness, if he keeps this up, it will be a Disney doubleheader, with the Yermin Mercedes Story headlining. Narrated by Ron LeFlore.

Ethical dilemmas... cheer for Cubs/Ricketts to beat the cash poor Indians? On the plus side, more wins for them makes it harder and harder to White Flag it unless the Cardinals start to run away with the division. Still a bad look for Marquee/ownership...that they never could extend Baez or Bryant.

Need about 5000 posts to take on a reputation around here...jmo.

Except Sweeney started out as a catcher...but yeah, even at 1-3, you take those career and (relatively) lower than ideal power numbers. Not sure he ever becomes the most popular franchise player though for 5-7 years, like Sweeney in KC or Konerko with the White Sox. Of course, a lot more talented players to choose from with this Sox team.

If we had a different owner (or Theo Epstein as GM) easily 3-5 World Series titles since 1959 or 1967 or whatever arbitrary date we want to go back to...or maybe TLR never becomes a big league manager for any other ownership group going back to 1979/80. Or, if Marco Paddy was allowed to spend freely and make all the final decisions on which players to sign and eventually keep around...we’d already have been in the World Series last year. This game of what ifs and hypotheticals has no endings, just going around in circles. Interesting to some, ceaselessly frustrating to others. At the end of last season, would anyone have believed that Rick Renteria would have a 50%+ positive or approval rating? Somehow, that has taken place. Almost inconceivable to manage that feat.

Well, this is basically another version of the Hahn vs. KW vs. JR debate. in the end, it makes for somewhat entertaining arguments...but never a firm conclusion. As a Sox fan, you don’t want to be embarrassed or feel like your team is getting attention for all the wrong reasons. So when you start throwing around all these words like respect and revere (with TLR), it’s also way too early to know that. Finally, I do find it interesting that VAFAN is now drawing fire for his blind optimism and “leave it up to the professionals” arguments. Other than nuclear or rocket physics, plumbing and complicated electrical work, what American thinks they’re not allowed to be Monday morning quarterback/s? Just go to any Little League or youth sports competition. It’s almost an American tradition. We can second guess every teacher (see home schooling), but usually not brain or heart surgeons, dentists and lawyers. Well, nobody likes lawyers much, either. And I take part of that argument back...here in China, ALMOST any time a patient dies, the family and friends will gather in hospital lobbies to shout at the doctor and embarrass shame him/her until the hospital pays them money to go away. No lawsuits, just ceaseless wailing and protests even though most families are still lacking in post-secondary education...especially those from rural areas or the countryside. Doesn’t mean they don’t have their own opinions and beliefs about everything under the sun. Why would coaching or managing be any different?

Or, it allows them to skip over Marshall, Ruiz and Foster...getting the back end of the pen into action more quickly. There’s that.

At the very least, a cool name. Corbin Carroll Consumes Corn on the Cob would be quite the alliterative tongue twister, it sounds like a raw Big 12 high school QB prospect.

Some are even speculating this year. Nobody really knows. Going by some of the scouting reports, there's a lot of rust/inactivity to overcome, so there should be a really strong indication by the end of this season if he's progressing in a way where expectations of a 2022 debut are realistic. Based on his photos/Instagram, he keeps himself in really good shape, but body/tone conditioning is quite distinct from hitting a 95 mph fastball with consistency...and especially adjusting to high quality secondary pitches thrown with command/control Cespedes was unlikely to have encountered in Cuba or international tournaments.

It's a lot worse than that....look at the trend for three weeks. They were +12 at one point.

https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/mariners/how-mariners-top-prospects-like-jarred-kelenic-and-julio-rodriguez-did-over-minor-league-opening-weekends/ Seattle Foodies/Hector Gomez involved, haha? Contrary to a tweet from a fake Twitter account posing itself as the Mariners PR Twitter account, outfielder Jarred Kelenic and pitcher Logan Gilbert were not called up to the Mariners on Monday. The tweet fooled plenty of people because they either want the two prized prospects to join the team or think the Mariners could use the infusion of young talent to help a sagging offense and an injury-riddled rotation. Now, if the person intent on trolling M’s fans and the media had tweeted that Kelenic was being called up Thursday they might have stumbled into a scoop. Because Monday evening, just 15 minutes after Kelenic led off the bottom of the first with a crisp single for Class AAA Tacoma at Cheney Stadium, ESPN’s Jeff Passan tweeted that based on a MLB source, the Mariners were going call up Kelenic for the game Thursday against Cleveland at T-Mobile Park. Major League Baseball sources confirmed Passan’s report. Kelenic won’t accompany the Rainiers to Salt Lake City on Wednesday. Instead, he will remain in Seattle and make his debut Thursday evening. The decision to call up Kelenic for the game Thursday does fit a logical timeline. Where the bogus tweet missed the standard of logic is with the Mariners having the day off Monday.

Kelenic tonight so far 1/1, .474 BA, 1.313 OPS. https://www.milb.com/gameday/chihuahuas-vs-rainiers/2021/05/10/644654#game_state=live,game_tab=,game=644654

Recognition at this point is only measured by MVP's, Cy Young votes, playoff appearances and at least advancing to the ALCS (also, avoiding the wild card play-in games.)

Losing three starters from last year, and Maeda looking more like a fifth than a Cy Young candidate decimates that team. Then you have the back end of the bullpen issues and the Twins don't have a lot of depth in that area at St. Paul. Berrios is their only true TOR, and he's likely to be traded this summer at peak value instead of them waiting one more year behind Donaldson (and Cruz, who might not even be around.)

Of course, the other massive difference is Abreu was the AL MVP...as opposed to a below-average MLB first baseman in all aspects except RBI production this year.

If Crochet pitches 2-3 innings with the amazing stuff he had that day, then there's likely a completely different result. We'll never know.

Yes, they're prioritizing speed and in some cases defense over power/RBI's, and that's a bit dangerous considering how weak/thin the offensive numbers are unless Vaughn suddenly rediscovers his NCAA power stroke and Eaton gets himself back to at least 85-90%. Goodwin isn't a very good, defender, but his overall 772 MLB ops number is nothing to sneeze at...that said, he's past his peak and wouldn't expect anything much beyond 700-725 in this offense-challenged season so far. Maybe it will shift back to normal over the summer months, but a low 230's MLB overall batting average is pretty abysmal, and it goes beyond the shift taking away base hits up the middle from a decade or two ago.

To me, the Mariners aren't realistically expecting to compete against HOU, LAA and Oakland this year...and are targeting the 2023-26 window. I'm just arguing what the M's front office would argue (defending keeping Kelenic down), just like the Cubs did with Kris Bryant back in the day against Boras Corp. The other aspect, of course, is leverage over the player himself (for not signing a below market deal, at least from Kelenic and his agent's POV)...of course, the fan base is not necessarily on ownership's side and will be increasingly concerned about spoiling the relationship with the player/franchise before it ever gets off on the right foot. Look at where the Cubs stand now with Baez and Bryant, for example. And Contreras, as well, longer-term.

It’s baseball. Need to add an outfielder and a couple veteran bullpen arms, at the very least.

Using the Grandal is effective at .121 argument, he is or can be effective in CF or on the basepaths.

Too low energy!

They have made some mistakes, though. Cronenworth is the type of player like Wendle/Zobrist/Keppinger whose value they typically maximize for 3-4 years before trading at peak value before salary commitment strains the budget in arbitration.

Were they also slow footed catchers who never get infield hits and constantly pull/hook everything into the shift?

His style of game was mostly built on high OBP/walks....than dominant hitting. Maybe not so more Charlotte, since Alcides Escobar also was a 900+ ops guy there, but Collins his first 2-3 minor league seasons as a three outcome hitter with lots more walks and Ks than XB hits.

Rockies aren’t going to have a new GM give away too much like they did with Arenado...even with Blackmon dramatically underperforming. And White Sox usually don’t take on bigger than $10+ million commitments during the season. Who knows, the late stage career “big name” player addition is typical Sox, although often more sizzle/marketing than steak.