moonslav59

It's annoying and weird, since you have to do added work to make it like that.

Wink may very well be worth more than Beni gave. Gambrell and de la Rosa are still in play a bit. Wong and Dugo for 1 year of Betts and the Price dump was a good deal, and the best available. Bernardino has helped. He may suck, starting today, but he has looked good. Whitlock was a steal. Valdez and Abreu look very promising. It's not often you get these immediate results from your farm in under 3 years.

Where did I come even close to hinting Bernardino is a "great find." I'm saying I am impressed by what we have gotten from Bloom's farm, since I expected about nothing for 3-6 years after his hiring. I have not "made up my mind." I have said over and over much of the value placed on Bloom's farm is highly speculative. Recently, I said it could end up being like Ben's that looked good on paper and got us some value through DD's trades but underperformed expectations. I am very open-minded and know Bloom's farm could crash and burn.

Bloom also drafted mostly HS players in the top rounds, so expectations for earlier returns are totally unrealistic. I have actually been impressed by how many Bloom prospects have made an impact, despite all those HS picks and the lost 2020 season of development and shortened draft. Whitlock Rule 5 Winckowski Trade Wong Trade Bernardino Waivers To a lesser extent... E Valdez & D Hamilton via trades This is pretty decent immediate help, considering.

...and from way back: Pedro Martinez ...and more recently & to a lesser extent... Rick Porcello Nathan Eovaldi

Where do you think they should be ranked? How much do you know about other farms of teams these ranking services have behind us? We have graduated a lot of prospects, recently, so I do think we may have moved down a bit due to attrition, but I think the power of our lower farm will help us rise back up to the top 10 within a year or two. Our next grads are not on the same level as Bello, Duran, Casas, Wong, Bernardino, Crawford and Winckowski. All these guys graduated after July 1, 2022. Players that may graduate before July 1, 2024: 10. E Valdez 11. B Walter 13. C Murphy 22. D Hamilton 47. J Jacques Longshots: 18. B Mata (if he ever stays healthy) 20. W Abreu 25. L Guerrero 26. R Fernandez 38. S Scott 39. P Sikes 43. C Koss 48. AJ Politi 51. T Denlinger I Coffey, G Gambrell, N Sogard, R Fitzgerald I can see why this class can bring you down, especially when compared to the recent class of graduates, but shortly after the above class reaches graduation potential, we will see these guys (by July 1, 2025:) 1. Mayer 3. Rafaela 5. Yorke 6. Drohan 9. Wikelman 12. Bonaci 14. Meidroth 15. Jordan 17. Paulino 21. Hickey Plus some from the above list that failed to graduate by 7/1/24. Call me a homer, but I'm excited about our younger prospects: Age: 19 Bleis #2 Anthony #4 Romero #8 Rodriguez-Cruz #19 C Coffey #27 L Ravelo #29 B Brannon #31 Y Monegro 32 J Paez 42 E Lira 49 N Yuten 50 A Lugo 60 18 Joh Garcia #16 M Alcanatara #28 F Encarnacion 45 17 Y Cespedes #23 F Arias 46

It shows how building a sustainable farm system and not trading away top prospects can work like a charm. (I realize there are many examples of teams that fail with this plan, mostly ones that never spend on good free agents.)

IFA Singings since 2020: 2020-2021 Miguel Bleis (#2 on SP's (Salem- on IL) Enderso Lira #49 SP's (DSL) Luis Ravelo 29th on SP's (Salem) Jedixson Paez #42 (Salem) Ahbram Liendo Alvaro Mejias Andy Lugo #58 (FCL) Armando Sierra .897 (CPX) 2022 Fraymi de Leon Freili Encarnacion #45 (FCL) Johanfarn Garcia Jancel Santana Natanael Yuten #50 (FCL) .969 OPS Crisofher Paniagua Yosander Ascencio .951 OPS Marvin Alcantara #28 on SP's (FCL) Yordanny Monegro #32 (Salem) 0.60 ERA 2023 Yoeilin Cespedes ranked 23rd on SPs (.878 OPS w DSL) Franklin Arias #46 (DSL) .814 OPS Yoiber Ruiz Kleyver Salazar

Do you really think us selecting Yorke and Jordan is such a bad thing that we need to discuss it for pages and pages. I think we did fine with those picks and that draft. If it ends up we swung and missed on that draft, I'd say the others look to make up for it, and then some. Our IFA signings, the last 3.5 years seem to be showing a lot of promise, too. Our farm is ranked about 10th to 15th, despite seeing many recent graduates. I'm not sure why you seem to be obsessed with tearing it down.

I'm assuming one of two things: 1. They are waiting until they think they are one Curt Schilling away from ring contention. 2. They are trying a new strategy of actually keeping almost all the top prospects until fruition. Castillo was traded last summer. Free agency might be an option, at some point.

I'm just talking about the farm. Did you really expect us to rebuild from a bottom 5 farm to a top 10 in less than 3.5 years? Chosen prospects take time to develop, and then often need more time to mature once called up. Yes, I think this is a long term winning strategy that takes patience- something our society sorely lacks.

Too bad, our farm is so weak.

BTV has these values: 2 month Rentals 9.7 Giolito CWS 8.8 Montgomery STL 8.5 Snell SDP 6.1 Stroman CHC 5.7 ERod DET 2.1 W Miley MIL Longer Term (Years) 56.0 Keller (2.3) PIT 51.4 Cease (2.3) CWS 40.7 Burnes (1.3) MIL 36.8 Musgrove (4.3) SDP 35.1 Sandoval (3.3) LAA 27.4 Senga (1.3) NYM 26.6 S Gray (4.3) WSH 24.1 Canning (2.3) LAA 22.4 Sears (5.3) OAK 21.9 Lynch (4.3) KCR 20.0 Singer (3.3) KCR 10.7 Blackburn (2.3) OAK 4.4 S Lugo (1.3) SDP 2.7 Houser (1.3) MIL -34.5 Verlander (2.3) NYM Sox Values 63 Mayer 51 Duran 49 Bello 42 Casas 35 Devers 32 Houck 28 Bleis & Anthony 20 Crawford & Yoshida 19 Yorke & Verdugo 17 Whitlock 13 Rafaela 9 Alcantara, Schreiber & Romero 6 Paxton & Paulino 5 Drohan 4 Wong, Perales, Wikelman, EValdez & Walter 3 Meidroth, Pivetta & E R-C 2.5 Hickey & Brannon 2.4 Abreu, DHam, Cespedes, Jordan, Wink & Monegro 2.2 Bastrado, Mata & Murphy 2.1 Encarnacion 2.0 Guerrero, Castro, Refsnyder, Bonaci, Fernandez, Blalock & Lugo I have to think, despite Paulino maybe being overvalued, I'd make these trades: Paulino for Stroman or ERod Paulino & Mata for Montgomery or Snell Paulino & Walter for Giolito

He always had the most flavorful coffee.

Our farm pitching has greatly improved as indicated by all the recent grads and call-ups that have shown promise of more. It may look a bit weakened, due to the amount called up, recently, but I think the signs and trends are moving in the right direction, despite not drafting or signing IFA pitchers as much as batters. To me, I can't see how anyone does not see an improvement. Yes, it would be nice to be a more significant improvement, but here is a graphic: From Buchholz and Masterson (#1's in 2008) to Houck's call up in 2020 (farm of 2017 and later): Michael Bowden, Casey Kelly, Daniel Bard, Nick Hagadone Felix Doubront Stolmy Pimental, Drake Britton, Anthony Ranaudo Kyle Weiland, Matt Barnes, Henry Owens Allen Webster & Rubby de la Rosa (LAD trade) Trey Ball, B Workman & B Johnson ERod (trade) Anderson Espinoza & Michael Kopech Jay Groome & Travis Lakins 2017>2019 Houck, Beeks, Mata Shawaryn, Raudes, Scherff, DHern Feltman, TWard, Aldo Ramirez, Zeferjahn 2020 (Bloom, but most are DD prospects)>>> APRIL '20: Houck, Mata, Groome, Song, Ward, Zeferjahn, Ramirez, Murphy, Bello APRIL '21: Whitlock, Houck, Seabold, Ward, Ramirez, Mata, Song, Groome, Bazardo APRIL '22: Bello, Groome\, Mata, Walter, Wikelman, Seabold, Murphy, Crawford, Ward APRIL '23 (Bello barely graduated), Mata, Perales, Walter, Drohan, Wikelman, E R-C, Murphy, Guerrero Am I being a homer, of is this improvement?

Matz is not worth the salary he makes- barely. That's all BTV is judging.

Most of us did not think Murphy and Walter would help the big club, and if they did, we might have expected 2024-2025. I'm not saying they will be great or even good, but how well pitchers do in the minors is not always a great indicator. Houck never put up great numbers on the farm. I still have some hopes for Perales, Drohan, E R-C, Mata and a mess of lower level pitchers. Even with a lot of recent pitching graduates and prospects on the 26, right now, I still like what is on the farm. Our everyday players do look much more promising, but I think we are okay with prospect pitching.

In the post I responded to, you mentioned only Mayer and Yorke. We disagree on the drafting pitchers as being essential, when everyday players look to be surer ets, and we have a very good track record with them. We can always trade our everyday prospects for a more sure pitcher, who has already proven he can do well. It's been a winning strategy for 2 decades.

1. He's a lefty. 2. After returning from a long injury, he struggled in 3 of his first 5 games, but in his last 4 games: 4 IP 2 Hits 0 ER (0.00 ERA) 0 BB 5K .385 OPS Against Yes, it's a small sample size, but he's out of options and has another year of team control. To me, it's Bernardino vs Murphy- both who can stay in the system, until the next pitcher gets hurt, which you know will happen, and can be called up. I will say, Bernardino and Murphy have both pitched well enough to "deserve" to stay on the 26. I'm looking longer term, and not just 2024. I'm looking at later, this season and want to keep all 3 on the team.

3 in the loss column.

You short-change other prospects in our system. Mayer, Rafaela, Yorke and Drohan, Abreu, Guerrero & Fernandez are near ML ready. That's 7 guys, including 3-4 highly regarded prospects plus 3 prospects that have already shown they can help in the bigs: EValdez, Walter, Murphy. That's 10 prospects- with maybe 4-7 with significant promise. Rafaela is now over 1.000 in AAA. His D is superb. Yorke is doing fine. Drohan has struggled in AAA, but so did Murphy in the second half of 2022. Don't write off all 10. Farther away prospects look very promising, including... Anthony is skyrocketing on every rankings list. Bleis got hurt, but he is still highly regarded. Perales E R-C and Wikelman, who happen to be pitchers, have been shining, of late.

Why not? 20 GS 119 IP (about 6 IP/GS) 2.88 ERA 155 ERA+ leads league .560 OPS Against is astounding for a SP over 6 IP per start x 20 0.5 HR/9 leads league 1.087 WHIP He's getting better: last 11 starts 2.62 ERA .517 OPS Against He's pitching like an ace.

BAL & TOR won. The Rays lost. The O's now lead the Rays by 3 in the loss column. 59-37 BAL 60-40 TBR -1.0 54-43 TOR -5.5 51-46 BOS -8.5 50-47 NYY -9.5 WC Race 60-40 TBR +7.5 over BOS 54-43 TOR +3.0 over BOS 53-43 HOU +2.5 over BOS (HOU up 2-1 in 7th) 51-46 BOS -2.5 50-47 NYY -3.5 49-48 LAA -4.5 48-48 SEA -5.0 47-49 CLE -6.0 (-2.0 from MIN in ALC)

He also puts on a clinic, every time he plays.

Tough call, but Joely has no options remaining. I have the choice being Bernardino vs Murphy with the loser being demoted.