moonslav59

Harden's streak is the talk of the town here in Houston, but it made me wonder about Wilt's amazing season averaging 50.4 points a game. I looked over his game logs. Here are some interesting factoids about the 1961-1962 season: His lowest scoring games that season were: 26, 28, 30, 31, 32, 34 (The lowest 4 were all vs BOS) He scored over 30 points for 65 straight games! He scored 35 or more for 34 straight games. He scored over 44 points for 14 straight games. He scored over 50 points in 12 of 13 games. When he scored his 100 points in one game, he also had scored 251 points in the 4 games surrounding that game (62.8ppg), making the 5 game stretch at 70.2 ppg. He scored just 22 in the game 7 loss to the Celtics in the 1962 playoffs. In that series, he had 131 rebound in game 1-4, but he had just 57 in the last 3. He averaged 38 ppg in games 1-4 and 28 in games 5-7. I know it was a different era, but Wilt also had 25.7 rebounds per game that year. (He had 43 in one game!)

I'd try and find a guy like Guerrero but with options. Trading Swihart straight up will not solve our pen issue or even put a moderate dent into solving the problem, but he might give us another hope and prayer to add to the list. To me, the trade that makes the most sense is one that has Swihart is part of a larger package that might get us someone better than Hembree or with less health issues than Thornburg. I don't have a bunch of names, but my guess is someone likes Chavis or Dalebec. Someone likes Johnson or Velazquez or really needs a 5th/6th starter type badly.

Henry was also the owner in 2012, 2014 and 2015. Those years, the teams were not bad on paper, but we finished last 3 out of 4 years. I'm not saying we'll finish in last the year we reset, but we won't be competitive...let alone highly competitive.

You are assuming a lot, and the cliff will happen in 2020 or 2021, so again, how is the new CBA that comes after 2021 going to help us avoid the cliff? It may shorten it, if it strips away the luxury tax or sets the limit at $280M.

MLB.com Top 100 by Team 9 SD 7 CWS 5 TOR 5 HOU 4 TB (all top 40) 4 ATL (all top 40) 4 CIN 4 LAD 3 of these 8 teams won their division last year.

MLB.com's top 100 by team and rankings.... Top 40 5- SD: 2, 15, 23, 26, 34 4- CWS: 3, 18, 21, 40 4- TB: 13, 28, 29, 39 4- ATL: 24, 30, 32, 37, 38 3- CIN: 6, 16, 31 2- TOR: 1, 11 2- MN: 5, 9 2- HOU 7, 8 2- WSH: 4, 25 2- LAD:35, 36 1- COL: 9 1- OAK: 12 1- LAA: 14 1- DET: 17 1- PIT: 19 1- MIL: 20 1- SFG: 22 1-PHI: 27 1- STL: 33 41-100 4- SD: 48, 49, 72, 74 3- CWS: 40, 47, 80 3- HOU: 44, 80, 97 3- PIT: 46, 87, 96 3- AZ: 60, 73, 83 3- BAL: 64, 71, 90 3- TOR: 65, 76, 98 3- TX: 85, 88, 89 2- OAK: 42, 45 2- CWS: 47, 80 2- NYM: 51, 58 2- DET: 52, 78 2- TB: 55, 84 2- SEA 56, 91 2- NYY: 57, 66 2- PHI: 59, 77 2- LAD: 69, 70 2- HOU: 62, 97 2- Cubs: 67, 100 1- CLE 41 1- SEA: 43 1-CIN: 53 1- KC: 54 1-STL: 61 1- LAA: 63 1- MN: 68 1- WSH: 75 1- BOS: 79 1- SF: 92 1- Cubs: 94 1- COL: 95 1- MIA 99

Good read... https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/redsox/2019/01/23/tom-werner-defends-baseball-owners-spending-free-agents/B3z9Wgs2QRw4OSEW5Q6yxN/story.html

The CBA is a major reason the cliff is so near.

We'd be way over the $40M mark had he done so. It's hard to know what we'd have done had he said yes. No Eovaldi? Trade Porcello? Pay the tax?

While both are out of options, I'm not sure we can save a spot for Guerrero in a pen we may need depth (with options) to compensate for the lack of quality.

I'll be shocked if he ranks us any higher than 25 this year and 18-20 next year. As it pertains to the cliff, most of these guys will be far from the majors by 2020 and 2021, so the whole argument that the farm would miraculously rebuild itself in time to keep the cliff from happening is looking pretty lame, right now. BTW, I've never said our farm was barren. Our main farm issue is the lack or ML ready or near ML ready difference makers. We'll have Beni & Devers for a while, but when can we realistically expect the next Beni or Devers to arrive?

You think Swihart going 6 for 15 in the beginning of ST'ing will win him the job? Management knows what we got.

LOL. Good one! Going by Steamer, Swihart for Guerrero would be a steal for the Marlins.

It would surprise me, especially Price. We could see Wright given a chance to close, if he is healthy. The only way I see Eovaldi used as our closer is in the playoffs or some scenario like this... A starter gets hurt, and Wright, Johnson or Velazquez pitches very well in the rotation. At the same time, our closer pitcher is struggling. The injured pitcher returns to the rotation, and the Sox brass decides to move Eovaldi to closer- perhaps to limit his IP. I doubt we see any of our starting 5 as the closer during the regular season.

Wow! The cliff deniers were right: our farm system is making a comeback. On the way up, baby!

There are dozens of pitchers like Buch and Pom, and I get why some focus on them or sometimes, seemingly, only them.

We are "going for it." We've still are spending more than anyone else and are a top 3 favorite right now. Just because we have one area that could use an upgrade or two, doesn't mean we are not strong contenders. That's a nice team we have right now. And, DD may not be done.

Yes, it does.Plus, I think part of the reason for using Vaz more in the playoffs was that Leon was burnt out. Leon should never be counted on as the main guy (80+ games).

Leon is only significantly better than Vaz with Sale & Price. Vaz is known for his defense, but for some reason he not only slumped offensively last year, but he started the season off looking worse than Swihart behind the plate. I may be just a homer, but I thought he looked much better as the year went on. (Leon looked worse.) Maybe it was personal issues. Maybe it was just a slump. I'm with you on the idea of keeping both. I know Swihart isn't bringing us a decent RP'er, but maybe Johnson & Swihart or Chavis & Swihart can.

There's nobody as good or better than Kelley? I'm far from an expert on players on other teams, but my guess is there are plenty out there. The issue is the price we pay and if other teams value Johnson or Velazquez, Chavis or Dalbec and maybe Swihart as a throw in. Here might be a couple options that are possible upgrades on Hembree: Lou Trivino (Oak) Adam Conley (Mia)

We've heard the pessimism for weeks, and I'm not going to pretend I'm optimistic about our pen, especially the closer role, but when focusing on a team's weakest we sometimes are easily persuaded into thinking weakest means weak. Our pen is certainly weaker than the Yanks and several other teams, but it may still be top 15 or middle tier (11-20th best). It will likely be average. Not great: not horrible. Here's an optimistic look at our 2019 pen. 1) We might not be done with winter additions. We could sign Kelley or trade for someone seemingly better suited for the closer role than anyone we have now. 2) We could see someone step up and fill the role, like Uehara did. 3) We could make an in-season trade, if needed. A positive light shown on what we currently have as pen options, assuming our 5 starters (Sale, Price, Porcello, Eovaldi & ERod) are healthy most of the year: Matt Barnes: He's 28. He had an amazing 14.0 K/9 rate in 62 IP last year. His K rate has improved every year, as has his K/BB ratio. His ERA and FIP have improved for 3 straight years to 2.71 in '18. He had his lowest HR/9 rate ever (0.7) in 2018. His 2.4 WAR since 2017 places him 22nd out of 141 qualifying RP'ers. His 3.07 xFIP ranks 20th. 15th 2.98 Treinen 17th 3.00 Osuna 20th 3.07 Barnes 26th 3.20 Soria 44th 3.59 MMinor 56th 3.72 Streckenrider 63rd 3.85 Hembree 64th 3.88 Colome 68th 3.91 Rodney 71st 3.93 Ottavino 78th 4.00 C Allen 84th 4.04 Leclerc 85th 4.40 J Wilson 87th 4.05 Joe Kelly 93rd 4.13 B Brach 101st 4.24 Herrera 110th 4.41 A Wilson 136th 5.01 Strickland Maybe Barnes can improve one more year. I'm not sure some of these recent signees are any better anyways. His playoff numbers are a awesome, but 10 IP is a pretty small sample size (0.87 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP). Ryan Brasier: He's 31. His 34 IP is pretty tiny. His 1.60 ERA and 2.83 FIP were pretty awesome. He had a 4.14 K/BB ratio, as was his 0.772 WHIP. He had a 1.04 playoff ERA, but his WHIP was 1.39- not good. Of course, Brasier is a huge question mark, but the guy looked tough. There's hope he can do well for at least another year. Heath Hembree: He just turned 30, and although his 2018 season was disappointing, he pulled it together for the post season (0.00/ 1.071 in 4.1 IP). His K/9 rate of 11.4 was a career high, and he's improved 3 years in a row. His 1.333 WHIP last year was not great, but it's better than his career or 2018 numbers. It's hard to get optimistic over Hembree, but he does offer some hope. Tyler Thornburg: He's 30. He had one super great year back in 2016 before the injury. That 2016 is probably the only thing to be optimistic about. In 2016, he had a 2.15 ERA. a 0.94 WHIP and a 12.1 K/9 rate. He has amazing career reverse splits: .556 vs LHBs .760 vs RHBs Steven Wright, Brian Johnson & Hector Velazquez: Wright has had several flashes of greatness, and when he's healthy, he's been very good almost all the time. Johnson and Velazquez showed some promise last year but will have to make major steps forward to fill important roles on this team. The good think is, we may just need one or two to come through. Possible Help: Brandon Workman, Bobby Poyner, Erasmo Ramirez, Marcus Walden and others. These are real prayers, but sometimes our prayers are answered.

I wasn't aware trades are forbidden in the winter.

Nice start. Welcome back to your old hometown.

Vaz's offense is not even close to the main reason I'd keep him. It's his defense and pitcher handling skills and ability to catch more than 80-100 games that makes him the keeper. I don't trust Leon as a FT catcher, and I trust Swihart way less. If we trade Vaz, Leon catches 120 and Swihart. 42? You okay with that?

There are more choices.