drewski6

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"

Also , lets not lose the context. This was presented as "the problem". Not "a problem" but the problem. That one fan (Fred), on this forum, and maybe some others like him (me) - think that the devers trade was a salary dump. Oh, the horror. Meanwhile, weve blown the budget and are still predicted for third place and a first round exit. We failed to land literally all of our top options (hitting). We've just been willing to fall back to option B, then C, then D, then E when it comes to hitting. Next year we'll hear "they made a big add last season in Suarez, how dare you ask for a big bat. You are greedy." Meanwhile, I try to pick up the bill literally every time I go out. The only time in my life Ive ever been called greedy is here. My friends and fam would laugh their butts off if they heard that. But here multiples time, by multiple people - RS FANS ARE GREEDY (including me in the lot). And its just more "be grateful for third place" . Sure we've spent the money. But we're still a consensus 3rd place team. Well guess what? Im not grateful for this consensus third place team and Im not going to be gaslit into thinking that fan expectations or fan (baseball) literacy are the problem. Im sick of people acting like this team has been succesfull in recent past. You want greedy? Hop over to a celtics forum and watch them complain about the celtics. Or hop over to a dodgers forum and watch them complain. This team has been frustrating for a while. Im not sure the RS, as currently constructed, have a problem. I think they probably do that we'll struggle to score all year and it will be our downfall, but Im open for a breakout internally or an external add or jsut flat being wrong and we end up making a deep run with a mediocre offense. But Im not over here locked into a belief that we will stink. I told Fred years ago - going on record about how you think this team will stink and repeating it ad nauseum is how you end up rooting against your team, and I wont fall into that trap. Maybe we'll be better than where the power rankings and vegs odds place us, and Ill be happy if so. But judging by where we stand right now, based on how we look today, it looks like Breslow spent a lot of money and prospects to turn a third place team into a third place team.

In a "what would you prefer" question, I get to determine which I would prefer and its Devers and its not close. It may be close for you, and I respect that, but I think the whole notion of chasing max efficiency is flawed. A strategy of maximum efficiency is overly simplistic. A team of 4 WAR players making $2m each has a 2:1 WAR/$(millions) ratio. But thats 104 WAR total on a $52m payroll. This team loses to a 150WAR team with a 200m payroll. A 10 WAR player making 30m is more valuable than a 3 WAR player making 1M, becaue that 10 WAR player is truly elite and a true difference maker. But I dont even want to lean this heavily on WAR (which I also think is dumb). I think baseball team building is more than just accumulating WAR. I think a big bat changes everything about this team more than just whatever WAR that player adds. I think Suarez is a luxury, I think IKF is a bad fit (I dont want an noodlebat infield of Mayer, IKF, Durbin - so I dont think he adds a ton of insurance), and I think Durbin is a nice piece but there was a reason why he was option #8. A bat worth going out and getting (like Devers) is different than an "i like this guy because hes solid and we didnt have to give up much" (Durbin). This team just hasnt gone out and gotten a bat, an elite bat, and Id do it and Id certainly give up this package to do it.

Devers, not even close.

Yes, but unlike some, I dont think Breslow has really cemented himself in the role. He needs to (and I want him to) feel some heat. A GM who is complacent with a non top 10 offense needs to be run out of town. People understand that competition is good for players. You want players feeling the heat. For similar reasons , I want Breslow to feel some heat. Last seasons deadline inactivity was absurd and sunk us. Bloom got canned for the same reason. Breslow shouldnt get a pass. Theres always a next man up when it comes to GMs (more so than players).

I dont think the pitching has enough room for ins-season / breakout player improvement to move the needle vs where we are right now. I think Kutter will pitch very well and bump a pitcher who also pitches very well. I think the lack of elite bats will be our ceiling and you cant pitch and defense around that.

Agreed 100%. Im glad someone pointed this out, cuz Vegas always knows. I wouldnt bet one way or the other, because I dont gamble. Not like moral issue with it, I just get bored. Unless its craps because then its social. Or like if Im at a buddys and everyone is throwing 100 on the game I will too , but thats again more of a social thing.

I enjoy the sheer number of moves and I hope that continues. Im just here to kill time during work and non-stop trades/roster churn gives us something to analyze. Im here for fun. Next I want to see some fights, got some in the NBA recently for like the first time in decades.

For me over vs under is hard because on one hand, I do think a step back is an instant sack of Breslow so I think he'll feel the heat and try to keep improving and Durbins .711 OPS (hooooooray now we have our 3b "of the future" with no place to put a real bat "in the future"), I dont think fixes all our probs. I do like the player, I do like the trade. But Im not going to jump and down that one more positional slot is now filled for the next 5 years with a 5'7, .711 OPS even though I do think that .711 has a sadly decent chance of being one of our top 3. But on the other hand , I really dont trust Breslows ability to get deals across the finish line , for players he wants, mid-season. Our track record is we do a great job of identifying the players we need, then showing a complete ineptness at bringing them on board. I dont know, Im no even sure I care much. Im here for enjoyment and I get plenty of it watching Breslows dysfunction. And at least he keeps us in the headlines, which is what really matters here. Im not even sure I want him sacked, I think I might even want....more Breslow....Like watching him like epic fail at ordering a coffee cuz he doesnt human well. Get this guy a reality show! I dont really care, just keep churning and dont be complacent.

I wouldnt call you a homer for taking the over on a line that that was designed to get 50% of bets on one side and 50% of people on the other.....Plus the people setting this threshold, Im sure, knew what they are doing.

AND we've used a significant amount of trade chips!

I think its fair to be skeptical and not count on players returning from serious injury, but I also think you cant put ever pitcher who is returning from an injury into one category. Personally, I dont play doctor. I ask doctors and hedge. Because I pay them, right? So instead of just assuming 0 from all of them, I would ask the team doctors what I can expect. And if Dr says should be good to go, I would still feel uncomfy if I have 3 guys like that in my rotation and no depth , for sure. So I would be skeptical too. Generally speaking, not this example. Kutter Crawford is f'ing awesome.

Theres not 50-50 betting on future lines, thats not how that works. Its not like they want half the money to come in on yankees winning ws and half coming in against it. NObody is going to take the latter (at lesat not anything close to 50-50) because its like bet 1100 to win 100. Sports gambling is stupid, dont get me wrong. Gambling is for people who arent smart enough to make millions consulting. I get all that. But the fact that if you make a $100 bet on the NYY you win 1000, and same be on red sox you win 1700 - thats more because of a belief that there is more of a chance of yanks winning it all than us. The gap I wouldnt say is insurmountable, I think the spread reflects this. I dont bet because I trust Vegas to know where the line is. The difference isnt huge. But I cant honestly say that I agree that its neck and neck. I chose my position carefully. The Yankee are one full step ahead of us at present. Not 2 giant leaps, not even one giant leap. But I cant say that I believe that we're neck and neck. I would say in 5 game series theyd prob be 65% likely to take the series, of course, depending on who is healthy.