moonslav59

I'm not trying to sound like I prefer having a pool of promising players to fill several slots over having a solid rock at each position, but I think the promise many of our players have is higher than many feel it is.

When you have 15 slots to fill and $20M to do it, what should be expected? (2020) 12 slots to fill and $30M to spend? (2021) Can we let the Bogey-Story choice play out more than a couple weeks? I'm not denying mistakes were made, and we hired Bloom to make good on meager signees, but until Spring 2022, IMO, the restrictions on the budget should be factored into any final judgments made. There have been some god-awful choices (Renfroe>JBJ, Richards and maybe Bogey/Yoshida/Story). We all pretty much agreed, this past winter was going to be Bloom's defining moment. At the risk of sounding belligerent or triumphant, I think it deserves more than 17 games to pass any sort of definitive judgment, but it looks like I might be in a distinct minority.

We've spent over $650M since March 2022. Sorry, if that comes across as belligerent, when using facts to support my position that we are no longer acting like a small market team. IMO, we were from the end of 2018 until March 2022. I respect your opinion, and looking at our 2023 budget supports yours, well, actually that we are a mid-market spending team.

I expected more "gems in the rough" than Bloom has acquired- no doubt. I expected better results from his FA signings, even taking into account the low prices he was forced to give out. I think he's done close to what I expected on building the farm, but I would not say he has wow'd me, there, either. Some deals are still pending, but I doubt anything jumps out.

Career, but not even close, recently, and Turner is older!

Hardly anyone is hitting, and those that are would be better utilized batting behind a .340 OBP. I know, .340 is not great, but there isn't much better to choose from. If you put Dugo up first, then you are asking the guy who only walks to knock him in.

It might have nothing to do with "figuring it out," and is just a 14 game slump, where he still managed a .340 OBP. To answer your question, yes, I think the team can handle one or two guys going through 14 game rough stretches, but likely not 5-6 at a time. The spotlight is on Yoshida, due to the contract, but to me, we have bigger worries than him.

Some Cherry-picked Pitching Numbers: ERA 0.00 Jansen 5 gms (5 IP) 1.13 Schreiber 8 gms (8 IP) 0.00 ERA/1.32 FIP last 5 gms (5 IP) 1.29 Whitlock last start 1.50 Winckowski 6 gms (12.0 IP) 1.88 Crawford last 3 games (14.1 IP) 2.16 (2.48 FIP) Brasier last 8 gms (8.1 IP) 0.00/1.48 last 4 gms (4.1 IP) 4.00 (3.10 FIP) Houck last 2 starts 4.50 Pivetta 3 starts 4.66 (4.77 FIP) Kluber last 2 starts (too bad all those IR allowed by pen) 8.00 (4.99 FIP) Sale last 2 starts

We should try this v RHPs: 1. L Yoshida LF 2. L Devers 3B 3. R Turner DH 4. L Verdugo RF 5. R Kike SS 6. L Casas 1B 7. L McGuire C 8. L Tapia CF 9. R Arroyo 2B vs LHP 1. L Yoshida LF 2. R Kike SS 3. R Turner DH 4. L Devers 3B 5. R Refsnyder CF 6. L Verdugo RF 7. R Arroyo 2B 8. L Casas 1B (Dalbec?) 9. R Wong C

I'm not excited about the fangraphs numbers, but they have us at a 19.7% chance at making the playoffs. (1 out 5.)

I'm disappointed by the offseason, too. I don't want to sound like I'm making excuses for Bloom or Henry, but it kind of irks me that the one winter we decide to spend big, the prices for the best FAs went through the roof. I'm not sure we'd have signed Rodon, Bogey, Judge or any other real big name FA, anyway, but still... I am not letting Bloom & Co. off the hook, this season. I'm just not letting the first 17 games cause me to jump the gun on final judgments. Sure, I'd like to have seen better results, out of the gate, but it's way too early. It looks like Bloom did fine with the Duvall signing, except to know he'd get hurt. (I know- I know, the guy was injury prone, so he should have expected it.) Turner and Kluber have yet to light the world of fire, and maybe they never will. Jansen has started out well. Martin is now on the IL, along with Joely, Mondesi, Mills & Story- all recent Bloom signees. I can see why people are down on the team, and even if everyone was healthy, we'd still have some questions to be answered. I know I'm in the minority, but I think our rotation will end up being fine, and maybe even more than fine. We may be fine, even without Sale being a force. As i've said before, I like the fact that we have 6 SP'ers to choose from, and I'm counting Houck for the pen. I think Mata or Walter may be helpful, later on, and guys like Houck, Wink and Crawford are solid long men who can spot start, from time to time. We need to avoid major injuries, beyond what we've already had, especially all at once, like what happened, last summer. Having so many question marks is usually viewed as a bad thing, but it also means we have so many options among players with promise that we don't need them all to do great or even all that well. We just need enough to do well. I'm staying optimistic, for now.

True, but maybe leading him off would take advantage of that. With Duvall out, he has the 4th best OBP (.340) among starters. The guy is brand new to the country and culture, missed some of ST'ing and had less than 45 PAs to his name in MLB.

The Whitlock first start had people talking, too. We need to give the kid some slack.

Any signing at more than $10M and 2 years is "risky" for us. Apparently, the scouts have wanted this guy for a long time. Only time will tell. I'm not concerned over any player's 2 week sample size, and more so with a guy adjusting to a whole new culture.

The same size is too small to be "very" anything, IMO.

Again, it is just one game. Very few decisions should ever be made over one game.

Too many squandered chances.

Crawford doing a fine Winckowski impersonation.

He needs to lead off.

Now, Kike's line shot finds an opening.

Several other hard out, today, too.

Duran on base 2 in 3 tries! Milagro!

Just don't call it "piggy-backing," but yes, having 3 guys that can go 3-4 IP every 4-5 days really takes the stress off the short guys. In theory, if you have Sale, Kluber, Paxton, Bello and Pivetta starting, we could add Whitlock and make it 4 long guys: 5 SP 4 Long Men (Whitlock, Houck, Wink, Craw) 4 Shortmen (Jansen, Martin, Schreiber, JRod/Brasier)

Heard this B4.

Pablo Lopez extended for 4 years at $73.5M by the Twins.