moonslav59

Tonight's Line-Up L Duran LF R Story SS R Bregman 3B L Yoshida RIGHT FIELD R Romy 2B L Lowe 1B R Rafaela CF L Abreu DH R Wong C

Standings going into tonight w SEA-HOU and BOS-TBR to go... 90-66 TOR (+2.5 on NYY) 87-68 NYY (WC1) 86-69 SEA (ALW leader by 2 on HOU) 85-70 BOS (WC2 leader -2.0 from NYY) 85-71 DET (ALC leader by 1 on CLE) 84-71 HOU (WC4) _____________ 84-72 CLE -0.5 from HOU, -1.0 from DET for WC and ALC lead _____________ NL CIN & NYM are tied last WC slot w AZ -1.5 from both

DET & CLE both lose. NYY looks like a win. SEA-HOU and BOS-TBR tonight! Big chance for a +1 on 3 teams and stay even with 2 teams.

3 Run HR by Royce Lewis! MN up 6-2 on CLE!

We need DET to keep losing, since they have the tiebreaker on us. Beating them ourselves could solve that issue, too.

Twins up on CLE 3-2 in 7th! ATL still up 3-0 on DET with game delay. NYY still tied w BAL in 8th.

NYY tied BAL. ATL still up 3 on DET into the 7th. SEA v HOU tonight.

More game to go, but... After 6 innings: ATL 3 DET 0 and BAL 1 NYY 0. After 3 innings: CLE 2 MIN 1

Abreu says, "I'm ready to go."

We'd have a much better chance with Anthony & Abreu in the line-up. I'd add Casas, too, but I guess we have to assume he'd still be at .580 had he stayed healthy. I also think Mayer might have become a force had he not gotten hurt.

I agree, but I also think these last teams in don't really deserve it, anyway, so my tears are of the crocodile variety.

Shout out for a pretty awesome start by Harrison. It's the first plus we've gotten from the Devers trade, and it could not have come at a better time. It might end up being all he ever does for us, but he did come with some pretty high bonafides, as well as some pretty big question marks. Anyway, big start from the guy! Nice close out by the trio of Slaten, Whitlock & CHapman after Wilson put a scare back into the outcome. While 10 hits is nothing great, getting 10+ for a couple straight games could be a sign the team slump is ending- just in time. Let's see how the O looks, tonight.

Agreed, but they also have a couple teams waiting for the first round of the playoffs to end and TV dates and games schedule. They can't mess that up. I guess.

Today is the end of the AAA and minor league regular season. Woo is 75-73 and are up in their game today. POR ended 64-71. GRE ended 66-66 SAL ended 56-74 FCL 25-34 DSL: Blue 32-22/ Red 25-30

This team has had many bounce back hot streaks. Of course, many of those streaks and stretches were with guys like Anthony, Devers, Abreu and a few others no longer active on the 26. Being an inconsistent team does not predict a losing team, going forward, especially when you look around and see that just about every AL team has been wildly inconsistent, too. That includes these teams: DET lost 9 of their last 10 NYY had a 22-29 stretch within a 25-34 period. SEA had a 21-27 stretch and a shorter 1-6 stretch not too long ago. HOU went 20-27 for a long stretch, then lost 5 of 8 right after. Tor went 11-18 early in the season. CLE went 7-21, once.

My general feeling is that FA SP'er signings are almost always gross overpays, 2-3 years too long and often for pitchers past prime and or about to face a serious injury. Signing everyday players seems safer. Trading for SP'ers seems safer. Maybe I'm biased after watching deals work well, like for Crochet, Sale, Beckett, Schilling and Pedro, but I thin this should be the plan: 1. Trade for a solid #2 type pitcher, even if Gio stays. 2. Sign a big bat like Alonso, Schwarber or Suarez. (Tucker would mean we trade 2 OF'ers.) I'm not sure Bregman counts as a big bat, but keeping him along with adding one of the 3-4 listed above would be nice. Other secondary additions, instead of Bregman could be: Naylor, Hoskins, Bichette, Torres and maybe Ozuna, Bellinger, Grisham, Arraez (only because he can play 1B & 2B) or Caratini to replace Wong.

Can they hold off DET or HOU is the question I am asking.

Winning and making the playoffs are very important measuring sticks, for sure. I think the improvement this team has made under Brez is significant and deserves more than aside statements followed quickly by a "but..." Winning % since 2018: .519 2019 .400 2020 (rock bottom) .568 2021 (last hurrah from the DD bunch) .481 2022 .481 2023 (the Bloom plateau) .500 2024 .548 2025, so far I think we all agree the roster was in shambles after 2023, but the farm offered some promise for the everyday side of the future roster. Bloom had deepened the roster to some extent, but we were lean on star power and pitching. When you look at the 50 man roster (40+10 on 60 Day IL,) today, one thing that jumps out at me is that only 16 players were on the 40 at the end of 2023! 4 on 60 Day: Houck, Crawford, Casas & Wink 5 Role Players: Refsnyder, Wong, Kelly, Murphy, DHam 1 Overpaid Player: Yoshida 6 Meaningful Players: Duran, Bello, Story, Whitlock, Abreu & Rafaela Several players added to the 40 after 2023 were in the system, already, but these are the ones added by Brez: Weissert (17th seniority of current 50.) Slaten, Fitts & Romy Criswell, Grissom, Hendriks After 2023: Crochet, Chapman, Bregman, Giolito & Tolle Wilson, Eaton, Harrison, Matz, Moran, Lowe Sandoval, Hicks, May & A Sanchez Non 40 Man Additions still in system: Fajardo, Holobetz, Sandlin, YRod, J Bello, Judice Witherspoon, J Gonzalez, Clarke, Phillips, Godbout, Aita, Eyanson, Wehunt, E Rivera Azocar, Soto, Delzine, Rivas, Ramos, Cason, B Morgan, Jorge Rod, Futrell, M White, D Reyes, Foutch, Patton, Fermin, Finley Neely, Turner, H White, Tygart, M Martin, Winnay & others I'm probably missing someone(s.) I think this list is rather astounding for 2 years in control. Certainly, mistakes were made, and those are pointed out over and over, but there are many more good moves.

DET was up... 12.5 in early July 11.5 on AUG 23 10 on Sept 3 They are 5-12 in Sept and 1-9 in their last 10 games! They are up 1.0, right now, with 1 more vs ATL, then on the road for 2 at CLE and 3 at BOS.

So, we make it and Brez is okay and not make it we fire him?

I was wrong about SEA's offense having just 1-2 top batters. That being said, I don't count Polanco as one or as in a higher tier than Anthony, Abreu, Duran or Casas going forward. Arozarena is a good hitter, too, but he never hit more than 23 HRs, until this year, has a .235 BA and .334 OBP and .762 OPS. He's not in my top tier batters, either. SEA has the advantage of having 5 batters with 500+ PAs. It's weird that they have zero with between 295 and 506 PAs. They have 11 batters with 172-295 PAs, and that does not include last night's defensive hero, Victor Robles. One can accuse me of cherry-picking the PA cut off, but I'm going with two groups: 300+ and 150-300. Here are the OPS+ for each category: BOS: T1: 139 Anthony, 129 Bregman, 127 Romy, 122 Abreu, 117 Duran, 107 Story, 99 Narvaez, 91 Rafaela T2: 136 Refsnyder, 86 KC, 82 Toro, 76 Yoshida, 62 DHam, 46 Wong SEA: 169 Raleigh, 132 Polanco, 128 J Rod, 119 Arozarena, 111 Crawford T2: 140 Canzone, 129 Naylor, 97 Suarez, 93 Tellez, 86 Raley & Garver, 80 Young, 78 Moore, 76 Williamson DET: (10 batter with 300+) T1: 123 Tork, 120 Greene, 118 Carpenter, 112 Torres & McKinstry, 107 Keith, 106 Dingler, 105 Perez, 85 Baez, 53 Sweeney T2: 80 Meadows and Ibanez HOU: T1: 131 Pena, 126 Paredes, 121 110 Altuve, 108 Myers, 102 Caratini, 92 Diaz, 91 Walker, 89 Smith, 82 Dubon T2: 121 Alvarez & 116 Correa CLE: T1: 137 Ramirez, 112 Manzardo, 98 Kwan, 83 Bo Nayor, 81 Santana, 80 DS, 78 Arias, 75 Martinez, 74 Rocchio, 68 Jones T2: 64 Fry & 41 Hedges NYY: T1: 211 Judge, 127 Grisham, 124 Chisholm, 122 Rice, 125 Bellinger, 107 Goldschmidt, 102 Dominguez, 95 Wells, 84 Volpe T2: 150 Stanton, 75 McMahon, 27 Peraza TOR: T1: 155 Springer, 137 Vlad, 128 Bichette, 108 Kirk, 103 Barger, 94 Clement & Lukas, 61 Gimenez T2: 127 Varsho, 124 Schneider, 116 Heineman, 83 Straw, 58 Santander

I was mostly looking at OPS, but yes, I'd count Julio and his 30+ HRs, although a .799 OPS is pretty common in a Sox line-up. If we are going by WAR, then the whole idea of needing to make up for Rafaela is moot. OK, SEA has 2, NYY & TOR, as well. HOU, DET & CLE do not, so half our comp teams do not have 2. Many NL teams are in danger of losing their 2nd guy.

Maybe I'm a fool for having faith in Casas for 2026, but I do. He may not be the beast of a bat, I've spoken of, but he and others can come close enough, so maybe we can get by with only adding one from Alonso, Schwarber or Suarez, (Breggie or not.) .875+ One of the 3 .800-.875: Anthony .775-.850: Casas, Duran, Abreu (Ref, if he stays) .750-.825: Story, Romy & maybe Mayer or Yoshida (Breggie, if he stays) .725-.775: Narvaez & maybe Jh Garcia or Campbell .675-.725: Rafaela, Wong, DHam/Sogard/Eaton

I had hopes Grissom, who looked below average at SS could maybe be average at 2B on D. Boy was I wrong. I was Chris Freakin' Sale's biggest fan, but 5 years of letdowns, along with watching countless other pitchers coming off injuries fail, one after another, broke my camel's back. I had hopes the Gio signing might make up for some of the loss, and he seemed like a safe bet for 28+ starts, however, I never expected he'd be the only SP'er we added. I can see why several posters disliked or even hated the deal on day one. It's always a risk trading away a CYA pitcher, but at his age, the risk seemed minimal. Boy, was I wrong!

We'll have to agree to disagree on Brez. I think he has a decent "hit rate" on additions while working wonders with the farm and improved pitching outlooks. Of course, having Devers and Priester, right now, or a healthy Sale is enough to make any fan cringe, he struck gold with Crochet, Chapman, silver with Gio & Slaten and Bronze with Narvaez, Romy, Breggie and maybe Matz or some others. I hope we don't rely on Anthony to be the second big bat, although I think he will be a big enough bat, but I also think we need to fill Gio's shoes with a solid #2 type SP'er. Bello could pull a Houck or Crawford. I'm not sure JH will fork over enough for 3 big signings, so at least one has to be a trade, and Brez needs to nail it like he did with Crochet.