FredLynn

Yes. He should not have been thrown a strike. But since Farrell made a mistake and decided to pitch to him, why did he position Mookie shallow enough for Miggy to be able to hit the ball over his head? Seems the correct tactic in that situation would have been to prevent extra base hits. This may have been mentioned earlier in this thread: I haven't read over all of it. Two mistakes by Farrell in one AB...is that a record?

Its pillow worthy

We won't come close to 97 wins more than likely. To do that we need a record of 43-25 (.632 ball) for the rest of the way. Given that a large majority of the remaining games are on the road, including two west coast swings, we will be lucky to make it to 90 wins. Unless Price begins to pitch like Price and Pomeranz is lights out.......and Price hasn't done that all year.

True. And its one of the reasons Theo Epstein has such a good club in Chicago right now. He didn't build that farm system. Someone else did, benefiting from some horrible finishes and good drafting of pick high in the pecking order.

Who knows why he was in the minors? Maybe its because he had options...maybe it was for rehab starts after his injuries. It obviously wasn't because of his performance. His numbers for the past 2 1/2 years are very good. As for Espinosa, I would have loved to keep him. I personally offered SD the combination of Buchholz, Craig, Castillo, Owens, and O'Sullivan, but they wouldn't listen. They weren't willing to hand over an all star for a bag of golf balls. Espinosa may or may not become a legit ML pitcher; he has promise, which is why the Padres wanted him. Whatever your opinion of this trade is, you have to give DD credit for not sitting on his hands. He actually went out and did something to hopefully improve the team. I am going to assume he got the best deal he could, though I will never know. Doing nothing was not an option if this team was to stand a good chance to make the playoffs. Not with our SPing. Here is what Bannister said about his turnaround as a SP: ""He went from being a two-pitch pitcher, which limits your viability as a starter," Bannister said before the Red Sox beat the Yankees on Friday night. "He added a third pitch, which got him over the hump and it's a quality third pitch." That pitch is a cutter, and Bannister believes it's not only the key to Pomeranz's emergence, but the key to sustaining it, especially when paired with a "top-20" curveball, as well as an effective fastball. "He's always had the ability to spin the ball, it's always been one of the better curveballs in the league from a lefty, he's a big body, he knows how to pitch," Bannister said. "He needed something that could balance out his fastball, especially when you get behind in the count, because you can't always just throw a curveball and he wasn't a changeup guy. Just having that ability to mix in that cutter like he has and have it be a power pitch, it's really just taken him to another level.""

I am having a hard time understanding your insistence that he has been very good for only half a season. The fact of the matter is, he has been above average to excellent for two and a half years running: ERA +: 159/108/161. Even if you think he is only an average pitcher, something these statistics show otherwise, its an upgrade over who our #4-5 SPs are now. And this team was sorely in need of an upgrade in that department. What Espinoza becomes or doesn't become is unknown. He is an 18 year old who isn't even pitching well in A ball right now.

Thats not true. His ERA+ in 2014 was 159; in 2015 it was 108; and this year it is 161. Admittedly, he seems injury prone. Thats my only concern about this deal.

So who goes now? SP now include Price, Wright, Porcello, Pomeranz, ERod, (Buchholz)....and in the pen, assuming Kelly comes back, there will be Kimbrel, Ziegler, Taz, Koji, Barnes, Ross, Layne, Kelly, Hembree, (Buchholz). Thats 5-6 SP (if you want to call Buchholz one) and 10 guys in the pen. Two too many I think. Rodriguez hasn't had enough starts to write him off just yet (6). Does Buchholz get released, finally?

Pablo put on 30

I kinda know a bit about this Hugh. People grow in height by extending the bony length towards the ends of their long bones' cartilaginous areas-the "growth plate". Bone itself cannot grow in length; only the cartilage can ossify, ie turn into bone, thereby increasing height. Fact is, by age 18 the vast majority of growth plates have disappeared and are all bone. There is no more growth in height after that. Thats just the way it works in humans. You may have been an exception; there are always exceptions. Again, I am less concerned about his height as his heart, talent, and work ethic. Now, in fact, am not concerned about him at all.

Read the article. Its not made up. He has put on "some size" where? Shoulders? Muscle? Fat? As the article says (and there are other articles that substantiate it) the body of a guy has generally grown to its fullest by age 18 with a FEW CASES where men continue to grow until 21. Its possible; its very unlikely that he will be one of those few cases. Espinoza is likely as big as he is ever going to be. That said, I don't think size is a huge factor; its heart and talent. Time will tell.

"When Do Men Stop Growing? Men grow the most from 12 to 16 with the increase in height being as high as 12 inches in normal cases. Boys actually gain the most weight during this period, too. The growth during this time period is mostly in the extremities with the legs, feet, arms and hands growing the fastest. It is for this reason that most teenage boys look very clumsy as they start getting accustomed to the changes in their body. Hair starts to appear all over the body during this period while change in the vocal cords occurs. The skin starts to get very oily during this period too and usually leads to acne. However, by 18, the body grows to its fullest with the shoulders getting broad and the body becoming more muscular. So, the most appropriate answer to questions like ‘what age do boys stop growing’ or ‘when do guys stop growing’ would be 18. However, there are a few cases where men continue to grow till 21 as well while there can be the odd exceptional case where a man might continue to grow till 25." http://www.newhealthguide.org/When-Do-Men-Stop-Growing.html Espinoza is as tall as he is ever going to be. Maybe he could put on some fat or muscle, but his frame now is likely as big as its ever going to be.

I believe Hugh's comment was cynical...at least I hope so. Ben is out of baseball for a reason: he is incompetent. We will not be seeing him as GM again, but if we do, I hope he becomes Cashman's replacement.

That would have worked too. Fact is, DD obtained an all star pitcher with good numbers for 2 1/2 years for an A player with *potential*. We weren't getting him for Clay Buchholz, Trey Ball, Joe Kelly etc etc. You have to give to receive. Its likely that DD explored getting a better pitcher and was not successful. I like the deal. Its a win today attitude.

Right. Espinoza, age 18 with a very mediocre record in A ball is the next coming of Pedro Martinez. Such comparisons are as absurd as they sound. I realize I might be eating my words in 3-4 years-as much as I realize that those who are ready to jump off a bridge right now might be eating theirs. This team needed more pitching THIS YEAR, right now, if they want to make the playoffs. Guess thats not important to some.

Drew Pomeranz ERA+ the past 2 1/2 years: 159/108/161. Half a season? Which half of those two and a half years were you referring to?

Ummm...he is an 18 year old untested SP with an ERA in the mid 4s this year. Maybe he will be good, maybe he won't. Pomeranz is an all star with very good ERA+ numbers for the past three years. We weren't going to get anyone decent for a Trey Ball or a Henry Owens. You want to make the playoffs this year, you gotta give to get.

Think what you like Slasher. Last year we were a terrible team destined to finish last for the second year in a row. This year's version of Clay Buchholz would fit right in with that team. However.....if we are going to compete for a playoff spot this year and next we cannot have a guy with his horrendous statistics starting for us-hoping that somehow he will improve. Maybe he will; likely he will not. If I am DD I am not waiting around to find out.

I meant that if Ziegler is not available lets use Barnes, not Koji. I don't think he has it any more. Just the location of his pitches...not sharp.

Thats the problem. There is no one else. Owens has neither command nor velocity, a bad combination. No to Owens. Even worse, Farrell has said that Buchholz is coming back into the rotation. We really need help.

Who would you rather have as our fourth SP then-from among the currently available options? I agree: ERod needs a slider or a curve, and that's what he should be working on all next winter. He isn't going to suddenly come up with one in a few weeks.

Lets keep this real. Last year ERod, in 121 IP, had an ERA of 3.85, and an ERA+ of 110. At the beginning of this year he got hurt. So far he has pitched just 29 innings in just 6 games. Are you really ready to give up on him already? We gave Buchholz 10+ starts before declaring him a disaster. Aside from the fact that right now there is no better option than ERod-who last year was very good-its simply too early to give up on him. Six starts? Really?

Barnes has been very good, with a few notable exceptions. He is a good strikeout pitcher, and I would personally prefer that he be given a shot at closing games over Uehara. Ziegler could be the primary closer, then Barnes.

Phantom injury I suspect. O'Sullivan's value is pretty low. And someone had to be put on the DL or demoted to make room for Ziegler. I doubt this is a serious injury or even a real one. And apparently ERod is being reactivated: "Michael Silverman ✔ @mikesilvermanbb Eduardo Rodriguez will be activated to start 2nd-half opener in NY @yankees this Friday. Followed by Wright and Price." As for the 19th, we do not need another starter then. Not until the 23rd. And here is what Farrell had to say about it: "Michael Silverman ✔ @mikesilvermanbb Farrell said plan is to have Buchholz in rotation in second half. First start unknown right now, no rush for 5th starter until July 23." Oh goody. Clay Buchholz back in the rotation. Its the sort of thing nightmares are made of.

ERod's major problem, aside from command, is that he has only two pitches he can throw reliably. As a RP you can get away with that, but not as a starter. He needs to develop a slider or curve that he can command.