moonslav59

This team changing GMs has been pretty consistent. Theo started spending big, and they went to Ben. DD started spending big and they went to Bloom. This team has re-set the tax several times and splurged several times, when the time was right- mostly. Consistent there, too. Can consistently changing, when needed, not be extreme?

I searched numerous articles and found the box score, but no place indicates how many pitches she threw.

I remember the first 20 K game thrown by a MLB pitcher, Clemens vs Detroit. That was amazing! Softball is certainly not baseball, but 21 Ks in 7 inning games is fantastic. Doing it as you pitch a perfect game is astounding, nonetheless.

Oh, I agree, and if things look good for Sale around the trade deadline, it will make it hard for us to consider being sellers, even if we are 7-11 games behind.

Did anyone see some college softball pitcher had a perfect game with 21 Ks in 21 PAs? There have been perfect games. There have been 21 K games. There has never been both.

How can anyone pitch well with a cigarette dangling from your lips?

I was kind of leaning towards the question of being seller not buyers. (I was not clear with my response or point.) I think the only way we become a buyer is by trading players not under team control for long or by taking on a salary dump without giving up any youth.

What about 7 back of the WC? Or, 11? What if we are 4 back, but Sale has suffered a set back and Eovaldi is on an extended IL stint (plus maybe more?)

This is very true, but one unique thing about these 12 games, is that it seems like most pitchers are giving us full innings. (We have allowed 7 of 17 inherited runners to score, though.) Here's OPS against in some tiny sample sizes (PAs against): .087 Barnes (23) AMAZING!!! .273 Whitlock (22) Stunning! .387 Valdez (19) People want him demoted. .400 Bazardo (5) 1 appearance .411 Sawamura (21) Solid .503 Eovaldi (66) Difference maker .651 Perez (47) Over achieving? .653 Andriese (27) Not entirely surprising .671 ERod (40) Nice to see .695 Houck (26) Will return .707 DHern (27) Still, 6 BBs in 27 PAs- not good .857 Brice (14) Teasing the DFA or phantom IL .859 Ottavino (19) Needs to improve. 1.030 Richards (36) Can turn this around, today. 1.215 Taylor (23) May not get a second look.

If he gives us a great or good outing, we will be looking very solid- for a 13 game sample size (over 1/15th of a season.

One thing that excites me a lot about tis team and Bloom & Co. is how well the most unsung additions are doing, and if that carries over to other players not yet on the big club. We could be looking at striking gold (or silver), even if just half these guys come through- beyond Whitlock. Bloom pick-ups, yet to see action with the big club: (Protecting Bazardo) Downs Seabold Arauz Ro. Hernandez © Rosario Wong German Winckowski Wallace Koss +3 PTBNL Potts

6.1 IP'd is a very small sample size. If he let's up 3 ERs in his next 2/3 of an inning he's at a decent 3.86 ERA. If he lets up 4, he's at 5.14 and a complete disaster (in the minds of some.)

If pitching changes did not take so long, I'd have no problem with teams changing pitchers, so often (or "coddling.") Finding ways to shorten the game or reduce pitching changes can be done in a number of ways, but ending the DH once the starter is removed is not what I'd choose as a way to reduce pitching changes.

One could argue that, so far, we have not done all that well with the $30M for this year, if you use Richards, Ottavino, Hernandez and Renfroe as the players that total $30M in contracts, but they are short term and still have a lot of time to contribute. I agree with your position, though. Verdugo + $30M a year > Betts. Downs and Wong could be gravy.

You know so much about everything!

I think he will be, but it's more of a gamble than Maeda- and Maeda should be much cheaper.

I get that, and don't disagree, but Maeda was under team control at a ridiculously low cost ($3M x 8 yrs) until 2023. As it turned out, he couldn't have helped in 2020, but still 3 more years might be the best we can expect from Downs before he reaches free agency- and if he's real good, his arb costs will dwarf $3M/yr.

Bloom is taking the right path. When one of our biggest issues was the budget and weak farm, the solution was not to keep throwing money after bad. I'm glad Henry saw that and made the necessary change of leadership- one directed towards rebuilding the farm and finding ways to get better without too many large & long contracts that end up dragging you down- often much sooner than anticipated. To those who felt we should have spent our way out of the mess that began in 2019 and bottomed out in 2020, I hope you see the value in taking the longer view. Sometimes that helps things in the shorter view, too- much sooner than anticipated. It's interesting to look at Bloom's biggest cost off season additions vs his smallest cost ones: Biggest: $10M Richards 10.29 (some wanted Kluber) $9M Ottavino 8.10 (we got German, too.) $7M Kike .563 Middle: $5M Perez 4.50 $3M Renfroe .560 $3M Marwin .554 Lowest: $2.1 Andriese 3.00 $1.5 Sawamura 0.00 $800K Cordero .770 $600K Whitlock 0.00 $600K Bazardo 0.00 Plus,last year's low cost additions like Arroyo (.793), Pivetta (3.27) , Plawecki (.665), Arauz and others. (Note: It's a small sample size, and these numbers can flip on a dime.)

Just not spending on Betts could make the deal a win, in the long run- this from a fan that argued we pay Betts $420/14 or something like that. IMO, Verdugo makes the deal a plus, alone. Anything else is gravy. (Imagine we had taken Maeda, instead of Verdugo and Graterol.)

Let's see if we can finish off a sweep and take it the White Sox- another good team in a much different way.

One could have scratched their heads over leading off Arroyo. His history is much worse than Kike's, but no complaints, yet- cause it worked. Let's give Kike a chance. I don't see him as a lead off hitter, but I see Arroyo as one, even less. Cora knows what he's doing. It shows.

I'm pretty sure this team will go through some hard times and maybe even some very hard times, at some point or even multiple points of the upcoming season- maybe enough to keep this from being an extra special one, but win or lose, I'm liking what I'm seeing from this team, the upgraded 40 man roster and the farm. I've always been big on Cora, and this seems like "his team." The team also is showing the work of Bloom. Last year, we had our doubts about his "magic touch" on finding bargain basement over-achievers, but it looks like he just needed a little more time. Okay, okay, guys like Kike, Richards, Ottavino, Renfroe and Marwin have yet to come through, and they were pretty much his biggest pick-ups, but if they do, watch out! I'm also expecting more from Dalbec, and maybe we'll end up seeing more good from Houck. Then, there's a chance we may get something from Duran, Downs, Arauz, Munoz, Seabold and others. The under-the-radar guys are carrying us, at times, although JD has been THE MAN! Pivetta Whitlock Sawamura Andriese Cordero Arroyo These guys are pulling together, early. After losing 3 at home to the lowly O's, there could have been a horrible direction taken. JD nearly single-handedly pulled the team out of it, and we have yet to look back. Let's ride the Mad Max Mojo train, boys! This is getting very interesting not just exciting.

What a catch by Verdugo! This team is coming through every time we need it. It kind of reminds me of 2013, when many counted us out before the season even started. I'm not predicting 2013 final results, but this team is, by far, not even close to the one we had,last year. The 2019 team looked better on paper, in March, but don't count this team out.

Here's Baseball America's mock draft 2012: https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/2012-mlb-mock-draft-2-0-may-25/ 6. Correa 8. D Marrero The Bleacher Report and others had Correa going 3rd.

His under the radar acquisitions sure seem much better than last year's, so far. Whitlock Andriese Sawamura Cordero Bazardo Renfroe Some of last year's pick-ups are showing signs of getting better, including Arroyo. Others are in the minors and may yet contribute.