drewski6

I agree here, the buy/sell hybrid deadlines and the cross our fingers and stand pat despite the wheels coming off deadlines. 2022/2023/2034 were tough.

This is about where I have us as well. I just think that the teams in front of us, at least in some cases, are more than just a tiny step in front of us.

So you are saying that the guy who broke his promise to Wake when Wake was on his deathbed, who also scammed RI was 100% correct when he says that the team that gets the most starts from their regular starters will finish with the better record. Harmony already told you that 2 yrs ago, the mariners got all their starts from their starters and struggled. So....right there you know, not 100% true. But sure lets say its 90% true. I have a great idea. Lets have all 18 yr old non-drafted high school players on offense and have a 8 man rotation. Because we are 8 deep "regular rotation", we'll prob get a lot of starts from our regular starters. Because when one gets hurt, we'll just drop to 7 man rotation, down to 6 man.....Sounds like a guaranteed championship to me, Im on board. Yes, if Torontos starters miss 40, and our starters miss 10, we're likely to have a better record. But that doesnt mean that this is 100% true. On the flip, if we miss 40 starts from our rotation, except from one injury that we will not say.....I think we'll be better for it because I think our 6,7,8 pitchers are better than our 2,3,4 pitchers and Breslow wasted all that money. 100% true. Also, why even go get Ranger and Gray if its 100% true that the team with most starts from their regular rotation will win most games. Because Schilling said it? He also said that the state of RI should loan him millions for a video game company, that went belly-up pretty fast

I think worse than lateral, if Im honest.

As a massive Eddie Guerrero fan (RIP), I would support Eddie Romero Jr

Has Dodgers GM gotten it yet? Might be one of those things where if hes won 2 straight championships but hasnt gotten it yet, he'd prob get it. But I think if he won last year, thats working against him winning again this year (fair or unfair) I also think the Mets could rebound, As could surprise, and some sources are telling me to look out for the Rangers (but I dont see it). Cubs could be in consideration if they win their division (because they didnt last year)

Or Dan Duquette

If that injury happens, sure, thats the only way I can see us finishing in 5th (or 4th) without Breslow losing his job. I wont name that injury either. Regarding my second paragraph, my top picks for new gm are 1. 5GG , 2. One of your dogs (you pick), 3. An AI Bot, 4. The guy who called Brez a stiff. I feel like maybe you could have gotten there, figured out what I meant, despite leaky sentence structure on my part. But Ill give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you were true to your word.

Mike Elias

PECOTA/Fangraphs/Zips/USA TODAY/MLB.COM power rankings all say step back. Thats a lot of money and prospects to be spent for a consensus step back. Before injuries and breakouts and unforeseen twists and turns. We have to gauge based on what we're seeing right now, because its unfair to use hindsight. Im very surprised that so many sources are saying 4th in ALE. I find it sobering. Find me one objective article / source that has us second in the AL East . Im hoping that you can (must be a source Ive heard of). We're a good not great team, closer to middle of the pack than the top dogs, in year 3. We've spent and I dont see a lot of money coming off the books after this year. This is usually the put up or shut up year, and I believe in accountability.

I think its on him (Breslow) not JH. JH didnt tell him to insult Bregman to his face and tell Bregman that it was just impossible that the cubs would give him an offer similar to what Alonso and Schwarber got.

Well, thanks for answering your own question, because I honestly didnt know. But let me ask you a question. With the farm system that Breslow inherited (tops and close to MLB ready) and hes had the green light to spend. If after 3 years, we finish in 4th or 5th despite having dented the farm for like Gray..... How much worse can it really get? Saying he cant lose his job even if we finish 5th despite spending a lot and trading a lot and botching a lot out of fear over who would be willing to replace him - at that point, I dunno, one of your dogs? A AI bot? Personally - id get the guy Breslow sacked for calling him a stiff. I like that guys ability to assess. My top choice would be 5GG, but only if he promised to not extend Masa.

I will fall back to all reputable sources have us between 6 and 9 and remove USA today and thier pick of 11. I dont think its reasonable to have us behind the rangers and o's like they did. Certainly not the rangers.

I think someone will take the job even if its someone young. Its not like Breslow wasnt allowed to spend or anything like that.

quantifiable KPI's (key performance indicators) so hot in consulting spaces right now

good traceable metric. I like it. Accountability.

Preemptively pointing to injuries as an excuse should #2 in BB not come to fruition is a masterclass in accountability dodging. Meanwhile, all reputable sources have us somewhere between 6 and 11. USA Today has us below the Rangers.

When they fired Bloom, they said something like we generally give 4 yr contracts, and if after 3 yrs its not an easy decision to extend, we sack. Not sure if Breslow got their typical 4 yr contract. But why does breslow not need to be accountable to results after 3 yrs again?

To me, this is efficiency chasing and "penciling in" getting in the way. Schwarber would have fixed this team but we couldnt bench an 18m Masa who is getting benched anyways. And I dont care if Duran/Cedanne/Abreu/Anthony would have had to rotate. Sounds like great depth.

Im okay with this. I just cant ignore the success that Yamamoto, Skenes, Gausman, and Ohtani are having with the splitter.

Chalk it up to hindsight vision is undefeated.

I like dirt dogs, and I dont mind good defense. Pitchiing is great. BUt I think having elite bats in the middle are critical. This is why I wanted Schwarber. Because if you have an elite bat ad DH, you can build your position players with a higher focus on D and grit. Having Devers at DH makes the defense a lot better. Because now you are way more free to deploy defense first players at key defensive positions wihtout worrying about balancing for offense. I think this is a good team with a fatal flaw. Its not about fantasy stats, its about my own beliefs on hitting. Trying to grind out an at-bat or not strike out is not a particularly confident approach. I would rather have "pitch to me , I dare you" than I better choke up and not strike out. I dont even need homeruns. I just know that hot players arent trying to "not strike out" or "grind at-bats". They are looking to damage. I love players who grind at-bats, take pitches, and dont strike out. But only if they arent trying to. Only if its natural. I prefer players that pick up spin early and dont strike out for that reason over players who let the ball get deep and avoid striking out that way. I want talent not cheaters (cheating as in doing the little things like choke up, not talking about PEDs)

I obviously want to see Kutter pitch before I know or declare anything definitively. But splitters have taken over the game. And Kutter has one. And when hes struggled, its been finding a good secondary pitch that he can mix in with his 4-seam. This year, I think he finds that pitch and its his splitter. In 2026, splitters and pull-hitters win championships.

Yeah, but now he knows to ditch his cutter for his splitter.

I honestly dont even need to go for it every summer. But it feels like a kick the can down the road mentality. And I get it, accountability is scary. If 3 years from now is always the "prove it" year, then you never have to "prove it". If "the future looks brighter than the present" than you never have to face disappointment of coming up short because "our window is just opening" Mental gymnastics. But some of us thought we were finally turning a corner, and now we're being told "OMG think about how good we'll look in 2030" and when 2030 comes it will be "OMG, I cant wait till 2033"