moonslav59

I agree, and who knows? Maybe, JH would have decided to spend more than he has, or he could have just told Mookie to sit tight through the farm build up. They could have traded Devers and been in this same situation, but with Betts not Devers. It's a big maybe, because we don't know if Betts would have signed with us at any price. I try not to think about the loss of Betts, because it hurts, so much. I try to understand why JH made the choice to go cheap on the most complete player we've had in over 50 years (at least.) I've accepted what happened, somehow, but what seems to bother me most, now, is why so many blame Bloom for it. I know that seems weird, but somehow I've made peace with JH's choice, and feel like the 4 rings he helped make happen will never get me to the point where I hold the Betts situation against him enough to turn on him. For one thing, we never know if Betts might have just not wanted to sign with us, or the Dodgers would have offered some outlandish amount, even you and I would maybe say, let him walk. It's all too speculative and convoluted, at this point, but no doubt, it hurts like hell seeing Betts play like he has always played and smile like every fan loves seeing a guy who loves the game as much as he does.

SEA beating up on HOU is now making the Astros a better target to pass.. We play them 7 times in the next 2 weeks, so just maybe... 70-64 HOU WC2 68-55 SEA WC3 68-56 TOR -0.5 65-58 BOS -3.0 (-2.5 TOR and -4.5 HOU) We play... HOU 7 times TOR 3 times SEA 0 times HOU still has 4 games vs SEA, including tomorrow. TOR is done playing HOU & SEA.

Because they play so many games against teams we have to pass, we may not need to go 27-12. We might be able to go 24-15 or 23-16, with some targeted wins v HOU and or TOR.

His OPS went up 49 points! 4-6 w 2B 5-5 w 2B, HR 4-4 w HR 4-6, today WOW!

"Excellent?" I was wrong saying he's "not plus," but you and I differ on this one. He has looked plus, this year, but overall, I'd say he's about average. He's not part of the problem with our D, but I'd trade him for other reasons.

TOR pulled out a close one, as the Reds has 2 & 3rd with 1 out in the 9th. SEA is up 6-2 on HOU, which is making our 7 games with HOU in 2 weeks a possible flip in the standings opportunity, if we can romp.

...and the rest of 2023. We need Casas to improve at 1B and Devers to get back into a decent defensive groove that he has shown a few times over the past 2-3 years. Duvall is decent in CF. Duran in LF is better than Yoshida, but having Yoshida DH, squeezes Casas or Turner to the bench. The way Duran is slumping, maybe some sort of rotation or platoon can get everyone just the right of playing time. Good to see Dugo hitting, again, but his D is no plus. (I think we trade him, this winter.) I really like the Wong and McGuire tandem behind the plate, going forward. With Teel in the wings, we have one less position to worry about.

He really has been impressive, basically all year. After his first start, he has a 3.13 ERA. I think Pivetta will likely have a rotation slot, too, unless he implodes. If we can get Urias or Y.Y. from Japan, I'd be thrilled, but getting 2 solid SP'er would make my day (or half decade.) SP1. Urias SP2. Bello SP3. Y.Y. SP4. Crawford SP5. Houck SP6/LR. Pivetta SP7LR. Sale SP8//LR Whitlock LR/SR Murphy Set Up Bernardino Set Up Schreiber Set Up Martin Closer Jansen

A thing of beauty!

Hell, Crawford's is 3.13 after his first game!

LeMahieu was a big part of your team's success before 2022, and he showed serious decline at age 33. Stanton was 32 and hit .759. Rizzo went from .924 at age 29, then .755 and .783. He bounces up to .817 in '22 and you think that's the real Rizzo? Donaldson is not only 100, he;s a dick. Judge was still in prime, this year, but nobody did or should have expected a repeat of '22. Torres is hittin .760, which is about his previous 3 year average. High hopes for Bader or Volpe? Sorry, but the O woes was predictable. On the pitching: no doubt, you guys looked good on paper, but paper assume health, and I remember we argued about Rodon's health ve Sale and Paxton, and you would have nothing to do with the idea of him being injury prone. Hoping on Sevy was no better than our hopes on Sale and Paxton. Injuries certainly hurt your chances, this year, but you guys keep adding injury prone players, so much of it should have been expected, or at least a big chunk of some.

Rule #1: Never tell another poster he hates Cora (even if he does.)

Woo won 14-12, so I'll skip the pitching numbers. Teams are afraid of Wilyer Abreu, and for good reason. When they weren't walking him 3 times, he homered in his other 2 PAs. It was his 22nd. His OPS is now .927! RHern went 2-4 w HR & BB. Chang homered and walked. Rafaela 2-5.

I hear tell we only draft SSs, so maybe we have one to spare.

Texas and TBR lost, but they are likely out of reach. Either HOU or SEA will lose, and we need Cincy to beat TOR, tonight. Since we have 7 games against HOU, I'm kind of thinking I want them to beat SEA, but who knows?

I'm not sure I'd say that trade was what won a ring. Ben's signing of Dempster was very similar to the Kluber and Richards signings. The big differences between Ben and Bloom was that Ben was able to spend the money saved on his big trade, immediately, and the players he inherited did not all decline or get hurt right off the bat. I do think both are capable of trading prospects for top pitching.

lol.

Fair enough, but the aging was showing signs before this year. Some aged players overperformed last year, but that should not have been expected to continue.

Because people talked about him a lot. Yes, I forgot a few other. I was just going off the top of my head.

It's a certainty they could have, but it's a dice roll to some extent. By the end of the season, we will likely see half the SP'ers acquired will have done well and maybe half will have done meh to badly. The more you give up, the better the odds, but so far... Stroman: Has not pitched 1 inning since the deadline. Rich Hill: 3GS 9.53 ERA Jack Flaherty: 3 GS 7.07 ERA Verlander: 1GS 3.00 ERA Lorenzen: 3GS 3.53 ERA Lance Lynn: 4GS 1.44 ERA I know notin and others mentioned Lorenzen, but nobody said Lance Lynn's name.

The race for team OPS leader is becoming clearer, but there is still time for a lower ranked player to get hot and pass Devers: .861 Devers .836 Casas .833 Turner .828 Duran .826 Yoshida .814 Duvall .803 Reyes Duvall and Reyes have much less PAs, so one might not count them, if they end up tops, but less PAs makes a hot streak by one of them capable of rising more quickly. On another note, how about our 2B production, of late? OPS in last 15 days: 1.023 Devers .986 Reyes (.931 last 30 days .902 Casas .823 Urias (.827 last 30 days) ,811 Duvall .793 Verdugo .781 Turner

No doubt. I think MVP was higher on him than most of us, a year or two ago.

They are talking him down from a ledge, as we speak.

What a big plus he has been for us, just about all year. He has a 3.13 ERA after his first game. 92 IP 73 Hits 22 BBs 88 Ks

Might have done the team a favor, too- not just Cora.