moonslav59

Then trade for a younger pitcher and lock them up for 6-7 years and get 4-6 years of effectiveness. When you load your farm with everyday players and can't fill the rotation from within, this is an option- an option we have done very well with since the pedro trade.

No, I meant he might have looked at like Jansen was a better match-up than Martin or the mysteriously missing Schreiber.

I agree, but I can also understand how some players are creatures of habit and new situations might distract them. I also believe there is something "added" about getting the last out or last 3 outs vs 3 outs in the 7th. I can understand why some believe that added pressure can affect some pitchers and batters more than others.

He was doing fine in May, until this most recent 0-14 three game stretch. He was 8 for 27 (.296) before the last 3 games in May.

Well said. One can understand analytics and statistics and the human element. It doesn't have to be so black and white.

During the budget crunch phase of Bloom's time here, I can understand signing placeholders or bridge-type guys at $5-10M/1 year, but he was handed a decent wallet size, last winter and chose to spend less than 15% on the rotation. There is no longer "an excuse" for neglecting an area that has been a sore spot since 2020. We can figure he felt maybe one guy from Mata, Walter and Murphy could help by midseason- that looks wrong. We can figure he hoped 2 out of 3 from the old fogies (Kluber, Sale & Paxton) could be plusses- maybe Paxton and Sale work out. We can figure he hoped he might only need one from Houck and Whitlock to be in the rotation and he'd shine- wrong and wrong. We can figure he felt Pivetta could fill the 5 slot as well or better than most team's 5th starter- so far... wrong. We can figure he felt maybe one from Bello or Crawinck might fill a rotation slot as a plus- he might get this one right. Too many ifs, ands and buts. When you look at the Yoshida, Duvall and Turner signings in a bubble, they all look like good ideas, and it was hard to expect Duran would come through, but focusing so much on hitting and not the rotation and defense looks to be a major blunder. I've still not given up on the rotation settling into a good 5, but it's taking too long, and too much trial and error leading to more errors than not is going to put us in too deep a hole. I'm encouraged by Sale, Bello and Paxton, as well as the return of Crawford and hopefully an improved Whitlock, but Bloom missed the boat. He can't blame the budget on this one.

Indeed. Fine to disagree, but certainly Cora had merit. Now, on Brasier...

I think Kluber can pitch well enough to be a plus, but he has not, so far. He has pitched okay the last 2 years: 4.17 ERA and 3.66 FIP in 47 starts. BTW, Nate was 4.15 after the extension (2019-2022) He was 3.80, the last 2 years. Kluber is never going to regain what he once had. That being said, if it's between him and Bello, I'd keep Bello. We could probably pay half his salary and trade him. Crawford and Wink have done well, this year, but it's not an easy choice with them vs Kluber, to me. My guess is someone goes on the IL, or phantom IL when the last guys is called up.

It looks like ERod got over his severe issues.

...they treat posters the same. Stat geeks have never played the game (or sucked, if they did.) Stat geeks can't possibly enjoy the game like non stat geeks. Stat geeks all believe there is no human element in the game, or it is so minimal, it is not worth discussing. When stat geeks provide evidence to back up their opinion, they come across as know-it-alls and and their statement is the be-all-end-all point of discussion. We are all robots, clones or posting under multiple names, because our views are so outlandish, only one person could possibly hold that view.

MLB.com's updated Top 100 Prospect List: 5. Mayer 78. Bleis 87. Rafaela (down 12 slots)

Woo was one hit in a 1-0 loss. The run was charged to Ort. Alfaro got the only hit, and Hamilton and Abreu both walked twice. Por won 3-1. Van Belle went 6.2 w 1 ER. Rafaela, Binelas and Rosier all had 2 hits Gre lost 9-2. Ferguson homers and was 2-3 with a BB and 2 SB Sal won 9-8 by scoring 1 in the 8th and 2 in the 9th. 3-4 Anthony 2-5 Castro w HR 1-3 Mejicano w 2 BB and HR

He's trying to reinvent himself right before our eyes. Rolling the dice.

If he's healthy, a ay off and then...

Bernardino, yes- anyone else will grossly hurt the skill level of the staff.

That very well might have been a major reason, but he might have also liked the match-ups better, too.

Because they believe people who are interested in analytics are robot, have nver played the game, cannot enjoy it like real people can and "just don't get it," because our heads are fill to the brim with swirling numbers and metrics.

I feel the same. I respect the Cardinals, perhaps more than 28-29 other teams.

Or, he trusted Martin and Schreiber, but just trusted Jansen a little more - you know, the most consistently good closer over the last 11 years. A manager is stupid for not going with the one game sample size over 11 years? Look, I'm not defending or criticizing a move like this, especially in hindsight. There are a lot of moving parts that go into these decisions that I know I am not privy to.

I went back and added Bello.

I don't really expect a top 15 prospect. More likely, we'd get someone like a high salary, but useful player at a position of need or someone like EValdez or WAbreu.

So, the batter steps out and then back in with one second left, and Jansen has to thrown it in one second? One call made no sense at all. Again, that was not why we lost.

Jansen sucked. I never said otherwise. I have no issue with people questioning choices made, but it doesn't mean I have to agree or more importantly, think it is something I like to do. Other factors contributed to both losses. Certainly Jansen was a major factor in both losses. He has also been a major factor in many wins. I don't expect perfection.

He might be a FT'er on 3-4 teams and a platoon on 3-4 others. The problem is, not many teams seek a questionable player who is best at DH.

A quarter of season is behind us, and here is where the ALE teams rank in fWAR, position by position: (Ignore, if you don't care.) Catcher 4. BAL 1.3 17. BOS 0.6 18. NYY 0.6 19. TBR 0.6 22. TOR 0.2 1B 1. TBR 3.1 4. NYY 1.4 10. TOR 1.0 19. BAL 0.1 24. BOS -0.2 2B 3. TBR 1.8 11. BAL 0.8 16. NYY 0.6 19. BOS 0.4 24. TOR -0.2 3B 1. TBR 2.1 2. TOR 1.9 8. BOS 1.0 11. BAL 0.7 13. NYY 0.6 SS 1. TBR 2.3 4. TOR 1.7 9. BAL 1.3 15. NYY 0.7 26. BOS -0.1 LF 2. TBR 1.9 10. TOR 1.2 13. BOS 0.9 19. BAL 0.4 30. NYY -0.8 CF 1. BOS 2.7 9. BAL 1.4 10. TOR 1.3 11. NYY 1.3 16. TBR 0.9 RF 1. TBR 3.3 4. BOS 1.6 11. NYY 0.8 21. BAL 0.1 30. TOR -1.0 DH 5. TBR 0.9 6. BOS 0.9 17. BAL 0.1 18. NYY 0.1 20. TOR 0.1 SP 4. TBR 4.4 11. TOR 3.3 16. NYY 2.6 23. BAL 1.4 25. BOS 1.1 RP 2. BAL 2.5 9. NYY 1.5 16. BOS 1.0 17. TOR 0.9 22. TBR 0.4 _________________ Pitching: 8. TBR 4.8 10. TOR 4.2 13. NYY 4.1 15. BAL 3.9 25. BOS 2.1 Everyday 1. TBR 13.9 6. BOS 6.7 9. TOR 6.0 13. BAL 5.4 18. NYY 4.4 Overall 18.7 TBR 10.2 TOR 9.3 BAL 8.8 BOS 8.5 NYY Obviously, SP & SS are our biggest needs. 1B and 2B are not far behind.