caulfield12

"This is not the reliever you are looking for..." Dodgers' 2024 offense has been missing in action and at best erratic all season long.

Remember how much JR supposedly hates the Cubs? Why would he warn or help them?

Ask Lip about the slander campaign against Himes when he left... Ofc Himes was also known for the Alvarez Sosa Fletcher/Baines trade and then ended up with Sosa again on the Northside as the Cubs' star veteran core group aged out.

Ramos in the outfield yet another pretty dumb idea. (But that power hitter to move to 1B is probably George Wolkow.)

Would have been worth paying good money to see Rick Hahn versus Mason Miller...probably wouldn't have been able to even stay in the box out of fear of getting hit. (When I took BP against Chuck Tanner's son Bruce at 75-80 mph back in the mid 90s, he kept busting me inside and I ended up launching the fungo bat I was using down the 3B line and it shattered into pieces in the stands. Manager Jeff Banister immediately decided that was the end of me taking BP, since he was royally pissed he had to explain to Pittsburgh why they needed to order another fungo.)

Over the top delivery so unusual. Splitter dominant pitch over FB, which doesn't have great life/movement. East Carolina not the SEC/ACC. Plus he got hurt and missed his conference tournament in his draft year last season (when a lot of scouts are doing final checks/rechecks) but was overall Top 5 in a number of NCAA categories. Especially productive but not the type of delivery scouts fall in love with...even from the LH side. Addison Barger...took 6-7 years to reach the majors High School King HS (Tampa,FL) Drafted/Signed 2018-6-176-Toronto Blue Jays Signing Bonus $ 271,100 "Heading into the 2024 draft, many online rankings had East Carolina starter Trey Yesavage in the 10 to 15 range. He had some medical concerns, but he threw hard, threw strikes, and had a “nasty splitter” according to The Athletic’s Keith Law. When he fell to the Blue Jays at No. 20, Toronto offered an above-slot bonus of more than $4 million to sign." theathletic.com "His breaking ball needed to improve. You were betting on arm strength, and the offspeed stuff is a big reason why people probably weren't in on him.”

Teoscar is a gift that both gives and takes away.

"Larry Himes took us from point A to point B. He was very successful in getting us to point B. We need to get to point C. It’s our opinion that Larry Himes is not the best person to get us to point C — a world’s championship." Guess who?, JR lol "Let’s move along to his Cubs tenure. The North Siders hired Himes as GM in Oct. 1991. The JIm Frey Cubs were, by then, leaking oil. Outscored by .25 runs/game in 1991, they had just three starting players with an above average OPS or ERA: Ryne Sandberg, Andre Dawson and Greg Maddux. By the end of the strike-shortened 1994 season, the Cubs were shedding .44 runs/game and had just four starting players with above-average OPS/ERA: Sammy Sosa, Steve Trachsel, Anthony Young, and the doomed Kevin Foster. The axe fell on Himes that October. What went wrong?" "The slow-motion collapse of the Himes Regime was unlamented, bitter and nasty. Himes’ notoriously high-handed manner and cavalier management style had alienated personnel, particularly Mark Grace, Ryne Sandberg and ex-Cub Andre Dawson. His sloppiness in handling the Greg Maddux contract negotiations had allowed the greatest pitcher of our lifetime to leave town." https://cubbiescrib.com/2022/03/12/chicago-cubs-troubling-times-larry-himes-general-manager/#:~:text=He drafted two future Hall of Famers in,careers%3A Ray Durham%2C Alex Fernandez and Bob Wickman.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/trey-yesavage-girlfriend-and-modest-salary-he-s-earning-to-start-world-series-game-1/ar-AA1P8WlY Keith Law - The Athletic - May 22nd: "He does throw an actual breaking ball but it’s a clear third pitch, with the splitter his go-to weapon for hitters on both sides of the plate. If you don’t mind or care about the short arm action, the question is whether he can be a successful major-league starter as a fastball/splitter guy." Kiley McDaniel - ESPN - May 8th: "He doesn't have a true plus pitch in my mind, but is above average at nearly everything with a clear starter look and he's posted all spring. He has a good chance to be a fourth starter in short order with the upside of becoming a third starter who reaches the enviable status of optionable big league starter within 12 months." http://www.mymlbdraft.com/2024-mlb-draft/player-profiles/Trey-Yesavage

One L. But it was Larry Himes that actually knew what he was doing. Just didn't have the personality to play well with others (aka kiss bosses' asses).

Keuchel Grandal Lynn Kimbrel/Pollock Hendriks Graveman Kelly Benintendi and Robert/Moncada/Jimenez extensions...is precisely where all the money went. Just spent VERY inefficiently. But $200 million is now a rounding error for the Dodgers.

(Jays' hitting coach) David Popkins previously served as the hitting coach for the Minnesota Twins in 2023. Under his philosophy, the Twins posted the seventh-best OPS in baseball at .754. They went on to beat the Blue Jays in the Wild Card series before losing to Houston in the ALDS. Popkins’ hitting philosophy? I’d call it “situational” and “simple.” “My philosophy is built off creativity,” he said, “trying to become the most creative lineup in scoring runs in baseball. And we do that by practicing all the different situations and clubs in the game.” Oh, and he also made it very clear: he loves damage. And damage is exactly what the Blue Jays have been doing. https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=popkin000dav UC Davis grad, highest level AA Springfield with the Cardinals...just 35 years old

Jerry Reinsdorf must be unhappy that the Jays are going to knock back the mid and small market owners' arguments against the Dodgers' "Evil Empire" ruining baseball. But legit rivalries are actually good for the sport.

Blue Jays likely wouldn't be where they are now without the trade of hometown kid Varland from Minnesota... https://www.mlb.com/news/why-the-twins-traded-louis-varland-to-the-blue-jays Then you have Andres Gimenez salary-dumped by the Guardians after he signed a long term extension and stopped producing offensively. Couldn't afford to overpay for a "defense first" guy.

https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/minnesota-twins/joe-ryan-big-markets-trade-interest-red-sox-new-york-mets/ Twins looking to trade Ryan, possibly Pablo Lopez. Crickets in ticket sales. Buxton might soon be last one standing, and probably should deal him off a healthy/really productive season for him.

Alex Call getting the start over slumping Pages. No sign of Jameson Fisher.

Fire Katz and Themes thread...

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/celebrity/articles/sydney-sweeney-sparks-fury-among-122113378.html

Vegas odds now must be almost dead even...with Toronto maybe even a slight favorite. G5 feels like it will be the decider, but who the heck knows.

More ex-White Sox/Bassitt featuring in this post season. Not quite as bad as last year's parade of relievers, though.

Treinen has reached the end of his rope with Roberts at this point. Ofc with that double play call not reversed, it's still just 3-1. Couldn't have been any closer at first. Looks like Series is definitely going back to Toronto...good for baseball. Pressure switches back to Dodgers and Snell to win G5 or face a very challenging 3-2 deficit and racuous pro-Jays crowd.

Alex Vesia is at home dealing with personal matters. Kopech Tanner Scott Kirby Yates all on the shelf. B.Graterol as well.

Defining moment in this one... 2nd 3rd and no outs 15.15 million viewers LOS ANGELES -- The World Series is averaging 15.15 million viewers in Japan through two games. Japanese population just 38% of the US. 14.54 million in the US so far Ratings in Canada up 10x up so far compared to 2024. 6 million. 36 Million for those three countries combined. 2025 Game 7 was the most-watched NBA Finals game in six years, averaging 16.6 million viewers and peaking with 19.6 million viewers at 9:45 p.m. ET. The seven-game series accounted for the seven most-watched primetime television programs over the past two months.

Shane Bieber is increasing his FA value on his upcoming FA contract $10 million for every inning pitched without surrendering a run. Lol at organist playing Jesus Christ Superstar for Ohtani. play "Golden"/Kpop Demon Hunters!

We haven't seen the things that were promised -- but he has been good! By EPA per dropback, Williams is just about average for the season at 0.03. For perspective, Baker Mayfield -- whom some were calling an MVP candidate through September -- is at 0.05. Daniels is at 0.02, as is Jaxson Dart. Put another way: If Williams were performing last season as he is this season, Bears fans would likely feel encouraged and excited to see his development. Williams suffers a little in success rate -- 42.1%, below league average -- which is a good proxy for the down-to-down consistency of the passing game. But he excels in explosive pass rate at 17.8%, seventh highest among all quarterbacks. This is intuitive. The Bears' passing game has felt dangerous but highly volatile through eight weeks. Some of that belongs to Williams, who has had bad accuracy sprays on key downs targeting easy routes. The end-of-game miss to DJ Moore in the back of the end zone Sunday against the Ravens is a great example. https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/46739409/nfl-week-8-drake-maye-caleb-williams-sam-darnold-trade-deadline-offers#trades