now

Well said!

That case could be made a few times this year, for Mr. Odor.

You're describing HOF talent, which is a fine even if premature bet for Gunnar and Adley. Looks like you've named two tiers after that, with those other guys (i.e., superstars / stars / regulars).

I guess you could say Hyde took one out of three in TO. Still wondering about leaving Lyles in too long, yanking Bradish too soon, and who was responsible for that Mullins-Rutschman failed double steal with Santander up? All is forgiven I guess with genius pinch-hitting and pushing some right bullpen buttons.

On this topic, I bring in a conversation from last night about djembe players (West African drumming). The person said to play a particular rhythm (Tiriba) now in Guinea, they like it really fast, so for the lead players that pretty much means age 15-25.

So you're saying, plate discipline CAN be taught!?

It is infuriating to see this happen like three times in the past week. I think all with hard grounders to the left side. It seems partly a problem with the automatic send, and partly the hitting approach.

Do you forget the immortal Todd Cruz being the starting third baseman for the 1983 World Champion Baltimore Orioles? (.208 avg., .558 OPS, 55 OPS+). Heck, even WS star Rich Dauer at 2B hit .235, .615, 72 OPS+). Odor right now sits at .202, .618, 74.

Payback time for '89 and '16, baby.

Yes and isn't 2B a more active position (chances, and range) than 3B, espec. with a RHP starter and more lefties in the opposing lineup? (Edit: just after I posted this, the game starts with two fielding gems by Henderson at 2B!! :))

In today's broadcast Palmer was comparing Felix Bautista to former O's closer Lee Smith. Another case for a close match would be Kyle Bradish and Chris Tillman (starting with face, demeanor, body type, physical presence, not necessarily pitch for pitch). By these criteria another few matches also suggest themselves: Felix Bautista - Lee Smith Kyle Bradish - Chris Tillman Jesus Aguilar - Bobby Bonilla Keegan Akin - Zach Britton, David Wells Adley Rutschman - Brooks Robinson Terrin Vavra - Brian Roberts Bruce Zimmerman - Scott McGregor ... thoughts, additions?

Sure he's still good but having those 2 blown saves in 8(?) chances with Minn is ugly. Wasn't it the Twins we were playing when Lopez blew two in a row? Now they have him... ironic.

I agree "the problem" isn't with Adley per se; it's with the catcher position, which has to be split almost 1/3 of the games with another guy. Impossible to fill those shoes with an equal talent of offense+defense. So we're left choosing between the Severinos and Chorinos of the world for 50 games a season.

This discussion brings up a point I haven't seen addressed here, which is how to evaluate cost of missed playing time for a catcher compared to other positions. It's probably a simple calculation but the point is, doesn't that reduction affect his overall value/ranking? For example as a draft pick? I have no problem with the pick and think of Adley as a legit superstar in the making. I also acknowledge the rarity of the offense-defense-intangibles he brings for the position... so perhaps that offsets the relative limits of a catcher's playing time?

Yeah on the broadcast Garceau was wondering out loud why it was that Gunnar fell to the second round. He didn't answer his own question and Palmer was uncharacteristically silent. Guess they don't read the Hangout, or didn't care to bring up the recent post around here that GH was asking first-round (overslot) money (and was a high-school bat).

Cool article. Here's the money quote for me, the Westworld reference: "This isn’t the plot of Westworld. It’s rather easy to figure out. For these Astros to be at their best, Trey Mancini needs to play a lot."

Just enjoyed watching the tight contest btw Minn and ChiSox after tonight's 5-2 Oriole victory over Oak, to see if we could put a little more distance in front of the Twins. Lo and behold, after a game-tying Chicago HR in the 8th, our friend Jorge Lopez proceeds to lose the game for Minn in the 9th in dramatic fashion... Loading the bases with two hits and a hit batter, then a deflected grounder for the score... and deliciously pummeling the turf with his pitching hand after the loss.

Thanks for the link. It's complex! So GRod would have to replace another pitcher who finished serving a full stint on the injured list; that is, GRod added instead of that other pitcher (for example Chris Ellis or John Means...)?

Petition? How does that work?

Good observations. Got me to thinking back on past recent drafts to compare. I ended up going as far back as 2004 (Wade Townsend #1, followed by Fiorentino and Bergeson, ouch!). Bottom line, basically two major league contributors (proven or on cusp) per year on average in those 15 years pre-2019. Here they are: Reimold, Hernandez, Britton, Wieters, Arrieta, Matusz, Joseph, Drake, Givens, Machado, Bundy, Davies, Gausman, Walker, Hader, Heim, Mancini, Brault, Yastrzemski, Scott, Means, Mountcastle, McKenna, Mullins, Vespi, Akin, Hays, DL Hall, G. Rodriguez, Rom. I'll give the same "solid" status to those ranked since then on Tony's top 21: 2019: Rutschman, Henderson, Stowers, Ortiz, Hernaiz 2020: Kjerstad, Westburg, Mayo, Baumler 2021: Cowser, Norby 2022: Holliday, Beavers, Wagner, Fabian That's 15 solid prospects over 4 years, almost double the previous draft yields if they all pan out. Some won't, but then others from the lower ranks may rise to fill the gaps, as they have in years past (8 out of 30 in the above list pre-2019 drafted in rounds 11-43).

So wait... now we'll have a whole other rotation to throw out there all of a sudden? Zimmermann, Harvey, Wells, Rodriguez, Hall... Yeah I know it's not gonna happen like that. Still, it's kind of cool to know there's all these reinforcements all of a sudden, if and when needed...

All that being said, he recovered to strike out the next two batters to end the inning. So you could say, one bad pitch, and then a temporary loss of cool.

I think the OP isn't so much about ranking talent as addressing current needs into September, which call out for adding more pitching over yet another infield sub beyond Vavra and Henderson.

Nice to be watching basically playoff baseball here... and for that matter the last couple of weeks.

Yeah, physical appearance mainly, and poise/presence too.