Tony-OH

Well maybe not game changing, especially after Mountcastle swings at a terrible pitch and grounds into an easy DP.

The strangest thing is it didn't look that close live. I thought for sure that hit the ground.

Damn, that was close! Loaded bases much better than a triple play! lol

Looks like it bounced but is it enough to overturn?

Looking at the bench, we're really talking about Odor vs Phillips when it comes to righties. Until they bring up Stowers or Henderson, they probably don't see a reason to make that change as long as they have determined that Odor is better than Vavra at 2B defensively.

No, I don't think it affects them at all. Every player on this team is ultimately playing for themselves, whether that's to establish themselves as a major leaguer or setting themselves up for a big pay day. The fact that they've been winning a lot with their current roster, they probably aren't asking themselves why Henderson is still in AAA and Odor starts every day. I think every player tries their best everyday and I don't believe they play harder or focus harder because of veteranosity or from how their GM is setting things up for the future.

He hit the wall at AA. Just wasn't going to be a guy past that level so it makes sense to let guys go when they need the space. Good luck to the young man.

It's 100% meddling. The Owner doesn't tell the GM what he should spend, he gives him a budget and the GM descides how to use it. We all know Elias was not trying to win until this year, and honestly, I still don't think he's "going for it" this year, but rather allowing the team to play the best it can with what it has. This team still employs Odor as a regular, a right-handed back up 3B/1B on a team with right-handed 3B/1B, and has a right-handed and left-handed 5th outfielder types in Mckenna and Phillips. We can argue until we're blue in the face but it's not going to change how Elias built this organization nor change the way he brings up players. It's pretty clear he doesn't want to mess with Henderson's rookie status next year for the off chance he helps the team slip into the wild card this year. Basically this year is house money for Elias. Now next offseason we will really see if the pocketbook is opened and whether Elias is willing to trade major league and nearly major league talent to other teams for starting pitching that could make this team a true contender next year.

How many major league players can say they tackled a future NFL star? https://www.facebook.com/17841405712614686/videos/360355286161437

Henderson would have come out of the draft this year. I believe he would have be 1-1 if had developed the way he did on the pros. Imagine a guy who is nearly major league ready as a power hitting SS/3B with good plate discipline. Personally, Henderson shows is you can get drafted by a good organization that can develop, how much quicker you can get to the major leagues if you are actually really good. He'd probably be put in High-A or maybe AA by a team that just drafted him instead of being on the cusp of he major leagues in AAA now.

I'm not taking up for Koby Perez and his scouts here, but I think we are going to see these kinds of misses due to the way the system is set up. You basically have to make agreements with these guys when they are 14 or 15 years old and hope they keep developing. Think about how many young men develop that senior year of high school when they are 17? In the current system, these guys are already in the system. this is why you see guys like Benscome and Estrada doing well despite not being huge bonus guys. Thankfully, Basallo looks like a beast as a 17-year old. I don't know if he'll be able to stay behind the plate, but he's going to be a big guy with huge raw power.

Updated to top 40 with some the new players acquired in the trades and some new draft picks.

Aw, Brown just pulled a Thorne and called the wrong pitch.

This is one of the best sliders I've seen from Tate.

Sometimes you gotta really wonder about these rankings. It's kinda why I don't really care where our guys end up although it's good to see them in the conversation

Just giving you props for the thread title

I'm only surprised that the Dodgers felt he was worth a 40-man spot. Then again, the last time he was good he was hitting well in those hitter paradise places in the Dodgers system.

I'd like to see Povich to Bowie. Looking at his age and experience, it's time for him to be challenged at AA . I wouldn't mind Ortiz to AAA. AAA pitchers are trypically more experienced with a lot of guys who have been in the show. It would be a good challenge for him over the last two months of the season. Saying that, he could be a trade chip so they may want him to put up good numbers at AA. Mayo back to AA makes sense despite the fact he hasn't exactly creamed the ball in his rehab.

Hey, glad to see my moderators on it already. Thanks.

It's interesting to note that Gunnar has basically split his time at 3B and SS fairly evenly coming up until his Norfolk time where's he's started 44 games at SS and only 17 games at 3B. His .947 FLD% in Norfolk at SS is the best of his career and significantly better than Oneil Cruz's was in AAA (.918%) this year before he came up. Henderson also has a better Range factor than Cruz. So it's pretty clear to me that Henderson is can handle SS at this juncture in his career as long as you are willing to see the occasional misplay when he's moving. His hands aren't super coming in on balls and he gets caught in between hops sometimes, but he's got all the tools to keep improving in this areas.

This is not how we operate here. We treat everyone with respect. You are new so I'll just give you a warning, but this is not Facebook or the wild wild west of Twitter. Please be more respectful in your posts here.

I agree with this. I've been quite impressed with Ortiz of late and watching how he's hitting different pitches, taking close pitches, having good swing decisions while putting damage on the ball when he does means he's been flying up my list. Saying that, I don't see a way he jumps to top 100 this year and probably never because of his age. But who cares? Lots of really good major league baseball players never were top 100 prospects.

One thing to remember with Gausman is he will never be mistaken for a Mensa member. To hold a grudge against an organization in which no one is left who drafted, developed or pitched you seems pretty juvenile. Saying that, now I kinda hope we smash him again. lol

Gotta imagine this is to free up RF for Stowers.

Exactly. You can look at his awful burst numbers that his speed has really fallen off. If he can play 1st base, that also improves his value as well and if he plays it well enough, it makes Mountcastle expendable this off season. Mountcastle typically ends the year strong offensively so if that happens again, he could have pretty good value this offseason is trades for starting pitching.