Thunder

Well to be fair, I am also in PA so I’m definitely within her local sphere of influence. But yeah I’ve been following her since she was a freshman and I was a senior at UConn in 2020-21. So many people in my HS went to PSU, so I was already casually intrigued by the football program when I started following her. My interest in her goes beyond football though. I’m far from being the most masculine person on the planet so I vibe with some of the other content on her platform as well. Definitely not one of those obsessed fan girlies though

Good, let Arenado go there and have their black hole at 3B continue. I think he will be a bust wherever he goes. I really do. If I’m wrong, I will gladly eat crow

Perhaps, assuming he would never sniff the closer’s chair. From June to July and then in October, he was almost a guarantee to blow the lead he came in with

Would that be Katie Feeney?

Thanks. Still not convinced that I would want him on my team, but I know we have been linked to Arenado in various trade rumors and I would rather have Castillo than Arenado if I had a gun to my head. Got to watch Arenado a couple different times at PNC Park last year. He looked like an absolute shell of himself. I wouldn't poke that with a stick.

Most of those other "agents" are just Boras. He has Burnes, Fried, and Bregman that I know of. I expect a Soto decision before Monday. With my luck, he will announce while I am at the Steelers game on Sunday.

Don't sit there and act like you wanted Clay Holmes! Severino I can understand

Why would Seattle be so willing to give up Castillo and Garver in this scenario? Can somebody fill me in? Apologies for stupid question if there is something I am missing. Garver I can see - but why Castillo?

I've always been a head in the clouds optimist, and always will be. It's fun! Gives you something to look forward to in life when everything else around you may be falling apart. Last season for me was so much fun to be a part of, at least until August... I'm worried we're getting played as well, but by Soto and Boras, not by Henry and Breslow. But, with that being said, I will be a little irritated if we don't get Soto and Breslow proceeds to do nothing major as part of the backup plan we've been hearing so much about

I'm never eating a hot dog again. Thanks a lot for that visual...

I've heard rumblings of anybody from Rafaela, Abreu, Casas, and Duran being available for a trade. Just curious what everybody thinks the best moves would be? I'm seeing a lot of you willing to trade Rafaela. I personally would rather lose Abreu and/or Casas. After all, the lefty bats are the issue here. Why trade away the righty and fall even more into an imbalance? Duran to me is untouchable. Until otherwise proven by a hypothetical Dominican superstar who shall remain nameless joining the outfield, he's the leading spark in the organization, the igniter so to speak. I've heard murmurings that the Pirates are interested in Casas. With great corner infield options available on the market, what's so bad around dealing Casas for great young talent? Clear some more cap room and allow yourself to sign an Alonso or Walker? Seems like a good situation to me.

Given my new location in Western PA, I have fallen in love with Penn State this season. Most of the fanbase has very mixed feelings about the game tomorrow. They desperately want to win, to reassure themselves that James Franklin is capable of winning championship level games, but they also want to be able to host a CFP game, and the raucous environment that would come with it in State College. Can't do both. Either you win tomorrow and get the money off your back, or you host a first round game. Quite the position to be in.

I like the Chapman signing. Low risk, high reward. I got to watch him up close here in Pittsburgh last year. He was basically lights out until the end of July, at which point he ran out of gas. If we use him sparingly/conservatively/wisely, we may be able to get him to last longer than late July.

Alright everybody, it's time I emerge from the void in which I have fallen into, and provide my thoughts on this topic: Do I want Juan Soto on the Red Sox? Yes - as much, if not more so, than anybody else out there. The dude and I look alike (other than skin tone), for God's sake! I want him so bad I have been refreshing news feeds every hour on the hour since Monday for any slightest bit of news Do I think we have a realistic shot at getting him? I will believe when I see it. I think Henry and Breslow wanting him and being willing to spent $700ish million is legitimate. What I am caught up on is I think Boras is playing us to get more out of the Yankees and Mets. I have nightmares from Boras doing us dirty with Xander, so I'm cautiously optimistic. I also think that the fact he has taken this long to mull over his 5 offers is telling. If he was going to go to the Yankees all along, I would figure he would have signed with them by now, unless he and Boras really want to milk all the possible money they can out of Hal and Cashman. If he is automatically going to go to the highest bidder, he can tell Steve Cohen the price he needs to beat, and he can do it. Done deal. I think he's seriously considering us and Toronto, otherwise he would have decided by now. And there's a lot of good reasons to come here, as I am sure all of you have discussed in every possible thread that I can't possibly be bothered to catch up on. Regardless of whether or not we get him, I think we will have a great free agency cycle and drastically improve our team. I like every bit of the messaging I've been seeing from Sam Kennedy and Breslow so far.

Don't sleep on that Georgia Tech game, either! Not sure what to make of them, or Florida State, until we get a bigger sample size of games, but their style of play looks legit. Not sure if they can compete with Notre Dame for 60 minutes, but that's what everybody said when they played FSU

To your point, moon, I brought this up to a friend of mine the other week: Nobody in baseball is on pace to win 100 games. In the AL: Yankees and Orioles are both on pace to win 93, Guardians are on pace to win 92, and Astros are on pace to win 88. In the NL: Dodgers are on pace to win 97, Phillies are on pace to win 96, Brewers are on pace to win 95, Diamondbacks and Padres are both on pace to win 91. The last time a team didn't win 100 games in a season (excluding 2020) was 2014. In 2014, two wild card teams made the World Series (KC and SF). Last year, two wild card teams made the World Series, and at least one wild card team has made the World Series in 3 of the last 4 years (excluding 2020). Dodgers have some glaring weaknesses (pitching). Orioles have some glaring weaknesses (pitching). Yankees have some glaring weaknesses (everybody in the lineup not named Judge and Soto). Anybody who gets in has a shot. That's the new trend in baseball, especially since the Wild Card was expanded. That's what makes it fun.

Normally, my optimistic self would say, hey, let's win this series and sweep the White Sox to go 5-1 this week. But, considering that we are an absolute dumpster fire at home, I would say, let's just go out and have some fun and pretend like we know what a good baseball team looks like.

It is quite impressive to see how much better the AL West has gotten in the last 3-4 years. I always love seeing different teams rise to the top of the standings board and make noise in the playoffs, but this has been something else. Arizona definitely has the pieces in place to be around for the next decade, and the Padres finally got out of their own way (mostly Tatis shooting himself in the foot). And they both have already proved that they can do it in the playoffs, and that they can beat the Dodgers in the playoffs .

Speaking of teams that usually find a way to lose, how about LSU? That was fun to watch. I have been dealing with some very annoying Lousiana parish auditors/tax collectors all summer long, and for their sake, I was rooting against the Tigers.

I LOL'd at this. I literally have no memory of anything before October 2004 but you don't hear me clamoring for a World Series title every year to go with the 4 others I've witnessed in my 20 years of fandom

I don't think the issue was Leonard. I watched him closely last year when he was at Duke. If Freeman and the staff can open up the playbook for him, he'll be fine. I watched the entirety of the A&M game, and was very impressed by Notre Dame otherwise. That's a game they usually lose. I kept waiting for them to find a way to lose, like the Cowboys usually do in big games.

Late to the party here as I have not been as active this season as I usually am, but I have nothing bad to say about the changes! It's sleek and modern - just like me

This team has made me lose faith in humanity

4-2 H2H record is what I was going off of

It’s frustrating to go 4-3 in a week and still lose ground, but we have to remain patient. We’ve shown we’re a better team than the Royals. They have a harder schedule than we do the rest of the way - not entirely sure how that’s possible but I’ll take it. We need to survive in Houston and then win every home series from here on out. I’m not as optimistic as I am in years past, but I’m also not as nervous. I feel like there’s been countless moments when, in the past, this team would have crumbled. But they haven’t. Curious to see what the home stretch looks like.