caulfield12

I think you're overestimating the risk tolerance on the Grandal deal... Bummer, yeah, it's probably a temporary blip, he's throwing 96-98 so he SHOULD be fine.

The Pirates and any team in the NL West other than LAD and SDP might disagree. Rangers or Orioles. Marlins?

If we put the Keuchel, Grandal, Bummer and Jimenez contracts on waivers, wonder how many takers there would be to assume or absorb 100% the responsibility for those current deals? Jimenez for sure, because they could buy out of the last two years of options at $6 million. Even Moncada and Robert are not exactly "sure things." It has taken Buxton, for example, the better part of 5-6 seasons to put together an MVP quality start to a season.

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Bummer better start earning his contract at some point this year...

These are the games where the middle relief gets exposed, where it's a tie game or down by 1 or 2. Cordero and Fry were usually the pitchers in these scenarios.

Which bullpen guy blows this tie game? Marshall did REALLY well to escape with only one run scoring, but that's, what, 5 leads that have evaporated from the 6th inning onward?

They have to have the lowest rate in MLB scoring runners from 3rd with less than two outs... As well as RISP. Quantrill is basically garbage. Maton, too. Neither was good enough to stick with the Padres.

Yermin is finally coming back down to earth... If they don't score any runs this inning after holding CLE to just one, the odds of winning feel like about 10-15%.

Not sure if we can count on Sox/Twins getting postponed in mid-May...but the most optimal strategy would be to get many games as possible rescheduled post-Jimenez return. A bit reminiscent of the Orioles/White Sox game played in front of an empty stadium.

Not sure that Luis Robert matches up so much better than Vaughn. We shall see. https://www.espn.com/mlb/player/splits/_/id/39631/year/2020/category/batting He was just 718 last year. If Vaughn is going to sit for most of the series or against majority of RHP, then lose even more time to Engel...I’m sure the Hahn spin will be “we felt this would be more conducive for his development to spend time observing, learning from our veterans and absorbing the speed of the game in the most optimal match-ups that would lead to successful outcomes.”

https://qctimes.com/sports/baseball/professional/mlb/cubs-have-been-supplanted-by-white-sox-on-qc-radio-airwaves/article_799caea1-e91d-57dc-a72b-9995feedab7e.html#tracking-source=home-trending If you know the QC market, where it has pretty much always been Cubs, Cards, and White Sox barely ahead of Brewers, Twins and Royals...another factor is 670 coming in much more clearly than ESPN 1000.

If Crochet simply executes a relatively simple baseball play, we're not having this conversation in all likelihood. Twins' fans should be the ones who are most upset, 0-3 in extra innings now.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/11/opinions/voting-for-vaccine-opinion-column-galant/index.html The "hesitant" 30% and their role in achieving herd immunity...interestingly, or not surprisingly, many members of the US military are refusing to get the free shots. Also, there's a brewing debate in states like Michigan and Minnesota whether the government should redirect more resources and mRNA vaccines in order to "flood" hot zones and tamp them down...or run the risk of letting them spread to other states by maintaining the current "equitable distribution" plan based on population per state. Bad news on J&J. Even worse news here in China on vaccines. Pretty discouraging, if that 50.7% rate is the effectiveness against the deadly variant currently ravaging Brazil.

Gut-check time. MON T.McKenzie vs. Carlos Rodon TUES S. Bieber vs. Lucas Giolito WED Plesac vs. Keuchel THUR Civale vs. Lynn Based on last season's 2-8 record against CLE and our ongoing terrible stretch against right-hand pitching, a 2-2 split seems like the most realistic outcome we can hope for...we missed LHP Logan Allen by one game, which I'm sure was by design. At any rate, then we head to Boston, and the Red Sox are just starting to get hot now just like the Indians (after tearing up the Tigers' pitching staff, especially early in games.) Bieber hasn't flashed Cy Young form yet, which is a bit scary, and McKenzie has really good stuff. We obviously struggled with both Plesac and Civale last year, especially in September as the Indians chased us down after the Sox were 32-15 and out in first by 3 over the Twins.

Well, the Braves also just joined the 4-5 club with the Yankees, Rays and Blue Jays. About the only thing that could cure our ills would be playing the Pirates...although even then the cold weather would somehow mess with our pitching or hitting with RISP. And the lowly Pirates just took 2/3 from the Cubs.

The Twins have lost 4 games in either the 9th or extra innings. And two at home to a very bad Mariners' team. So, in that sense, we're quite lucky they're not out to a 7-2 start, either. The division is really bunched up and we've played about as badly as possibly, bullpen, hitting with RISP, defense....everything but lots more walks and higher OBP. But that doesn't matter if you can't drive those runs in successfully. And we lost our 17 consecutive game losing streak against LHP. Maybe that means we'll finally be successful against Indians' RHPers.

Yes, I know someone will bring up the 15-30 start of the 2005 Astros as well...or even the last four months for the 1983 Chicago White Sox, but those are historical anomalies.

We never should have been in a position to have to rely upon Vaughn THIS year...at least not until he had 2-3 months of additional seasoning in Birmingham/Charlotte. Leury/Engel/Mendick should never be counted on for much above replacement level production.

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sports/padres/story/2021-04-09/fernando-tatis-gwynn-dodgers-padres-world-series-bid A lot of Padres' fans have been targeting the upcoming Dodgers series this weekend. That night be too ambitious, but hard to imagine him missing it if there's any way for him to be on the field.

Starting to get worried for all of Japan if Matsuyama blows a six shot advantage on the back 9 at Augusta.

Has anyone questioned the Sox about his noticeable dropoff in velocity?

Let's be honest, in 90% of organizations Vaughn and Crochet wouldn't be pushed so quickly. Crochet has been fine, mostly, everything speeds up in tie games late. The Royals have always been a team that puts the ball in play and forces you to execute, not unlike the Twins of old.

There's going to be even more issues when Mercedes hits his inevitable slump...

This franchise is never going to get out of its own way... somehow it feels like it will take a minor miracle just to pass the Indians and Twins. Whenever we make the playoffs, we always follow with immediate disappointment... except the first half of 2006.