cp176

I would have a very hard time getting rid of Yoshida. He is a bat to ball contact hitter. We need to have hitters like him regardless of whether or not he can hit the dingers. I have no faith in Casas development.

I’d be very very careful when it comes to giving up any young pitching prospect in any trade. I would tend to horde pitching prospects. I would emphasize going the free agent route to bolster our hitting. We need at least 2 big bats coming in. Going after 1 legit top line starter is necessary but once again deal from strength and that I don’t think is pitching right now.

I would be very hesitant to give up and give away any potential home grown starting pitching at this point.

I’m certainly not predicting it but I was fairly surprised to see Tolle brought up this soon and I was really surprised to see Early moving up so quickly. Things happen. Some develop and some don’t.

Weatherspoon hasn’t been mentioned much but I agree with you. He very likely might get his shot next year.

It was a great year, but also one with holes. More power is needed in that lineup for sure. We need another quality starting pitcher regardless of whether or not everybody comes back. Bello is a good piece to have going forward but over the course of the last month, I think we did see who is - a good quality number 3 guy in the rotation. Rafaela and Anthony would be the only two outfielders that I think can be penciled in for sure. I‘m pretty sure the metrics guys are going to tell me I’m wrong on this one but I don’t think that Abreu or Duran provide the kind of defense that would make this an elite fielding outfield. Once again if everybody comes back, the issues I see in the infield are at first base and possibly second. I don’t count on Casas for anything and I think that Gonzales is a super sub. If Mayer is healthy enough to stay on the field, he becomes our everyday second baseman. We are pretty close to being really good. As for me now, it’s UCONN basketball - men’s and women’s teams.

Ty.

Watching how this team has competed all season has been just a bit dreamlike. I can’t imagine that going forward any team is likely to do as much with as little as These guys have done. Playoff baseball is special so you never know what is going to happen when it all comes down to just one game. Regardless everybody in the organization deserves credit for what they have accomplished. It’s so easy to sit back and nitpick every play of every inning, to second guess and question every single move that gets made, and to hindsight everything with the usual barrage of what ifs. It’s what we do as former players and coaches. Personally I’ve been entertained and my love of the greatest game has been rekindled.

High drama for us up here in Maine. Crochet’s last pitch at 100 plus sums up what he has meant to this team all season. Chapman did what Chapman has done all season. My favorite moment was Sogard’s double ( so good). My worst moment was Abreau’s interception of a ball the was Rafaela’s all the way. Center fielder always gets what he wants. Great game, read win…

I’ve watched more baseball this year than I have in a long long time. My love of baseball has really been mostly about the regular season and all of its ins and outs, ups and downs. The playoffs are a bonus for me. Now let’s get there.

An outfield of Anthony, Abreu, Duran, with Rafaela coming off the bench would at least give us a shot at producing more runs. With Mayer at second, I see the big needs next year are two big bats - first base not named Casas and a real dh. I love defense as much as anyone could but all the metrics in the world aren’t going to make me change my mind about Rafaela at this point. I feel sad that in his development it looks like just making contact with the ball wasn’t a point of emphasis.

I’m still that guy. I think that we need them both going forward.

Great bunt by Narvarez. High pitch but he stayed up with it. I’m giving Cora a little credit here too for not pitch running for Bregman - maybe he sensed that a hit was not going to happen in the 9th and that Eaton would be the ghost runner in the 10th. Pinch hitting for Rafaela was just a no brainer for me. Say what you want about Sogard he is a contact hitter. I like guys who can actually make contact.

Abreau should be in the lineup tonight. I’m sorry but this is not the time to baby these guys. Kind of like the move to replace Early lsat night after 80 pitches. Cora is great with his players and people in general but many of his in games moves are for me quite puzzling

If you can’t hit worth a crap maybe just trying to make contact isn’t so bad. I would like to see a cf who could hit.