Moose Milligan

It's always a good day when CoC whines about where a thread should be placed. In regards to Ohtani, I do believe he's the best baseball player ever. I didn't say he's the most accomplished. That's not the argument. He's just the best. The most talented, doing the craziest things that none of us have ever seen before and no one thought was possible. 15 years ago if I told you that one day there'd be a baseball player imported from Japan who was 6'4", could throw 100 mph fastballs and then hit 100 mph fastballs over 450 feet routinely AND ALSO run like a gazelle and steal 20+ bases AND lead the league in triples, no one would believe it. Yes, Ruth pitched and hit, but he wasn't a full time hitter AND a full time pitcher for long at all, if ever. From 1914 to 1917 he only averaged 102 plate appearances per year. In 1918 he threw about half the innings he did in the previous year, his plate appearances went up to 382. And then in 1919, his plate appearances went up to 543, while his innings pitched went down to 133.1. Even if you want to argue that Ruth was better, that's fine, you can certainly make a case. But no one's going to bring Ruth's speed on the bases into the equation. And I'm not, I mean I am NOT getting into the predictable debates of the level of competition Ruth faced vs. what Ohtani is facing and other factors, (training or lack of it, travel, blah blah blah). Baseball fans haven't seen anything like Ohtani since Ruth at the very least. And that, IMO, puts him squarely in the conversation as the best baseball player ever. Not the most accomplished. Not the most records, not the most hardware, not the most WAR, that's not the argument. So don't try to make it that argument. Just the best.

I am a silly mother****er, this much I know. And again, you're right. We won't know until he's here. But in 251 plate appearances at Norfolk, Cowser is slashing .328/.458/.540. I have to agree with the OP that based on what he's doing in AAA, he'd be effective in Baltimore. This is random and not based on any kind of science or analysis, but take off .060 points in all 3 areas and in the majors and he'd be hitting .268/.398/.480. If Cowser came up and slashed that the rest of the way, I'd absolutely take that.

Picking up one of those guys is extremely tempting, but I'm not sure if I'd want either of them next year. Even though it's only one season to carry that salary, I'm not worried about that amount of money...both of those guys have defied how a pitcher is supposed to age. At some point, they're going to be ineffective and I don't want that happening to either one of them if they're on this team. And even if one of them was great for us this year and next year, that only covers us going into 2025. Elias has to figure out a way to get some legit top of the rotation guys who aren't in their late 30s, early 40s who can be a centerpiece for the rotation for the long haul. Verlander/Scherzer aren't long term options, they're really nice shiny band-aids for a larger problem. I know, I know, think about all of the wisdom Verlander could impart on a guy like G-Rod, blah blah blah, veteranosity, etc. That stuff is nice but I don't know if it's worth giving up the prospects...depending, of course, on who those prospects are. I'm not freaked out to give up some good prospects if the return makes sense. But for a pitcher like Verlander or Scherzer who are at the end of their careers, I'm not so sure. If we really were one SP away from getting over the hump, I might be more inclined...but, IMO, we need two SPs and some significant bullpen help to be a legit contender.

Man, I was hoping Hicks would keep raking through July and put up great numbers against the Yankees. That could still happen, but it looks like he's slipping, too.

C'mon, don't be silly. I've loved what O'Hearn has done. I couldn't believe that we picked him up over the winter and I was pretty vocal in regards to the acquisition. But that was before Mountcastle **** the bed and O'Hearn came in and performed very well. As noted above, O'Hearn is an 83+ OPS+ guy for his career. There's a very, very high chance that he's reverting to that. Maybe not...like I said, I'd give him some more games. But to pretend that there's no way of knowing if Cowser will perform any better and using uncertainty in an argument isn't a good debate tactic. I mean, you COULD be right...but you could also be wrong. There's no way to know unless Cowser comes up. To simply say "There is no way of knowing..." is silly. Yeah, of course. C'mon, don't you want to find out? But O'Hearn was an 8th round pick and he turns 30 later this month. Cowser was a first round pick and just turned 23. I would hope that Cowser's career path doesn't duplicate what O'Hearn has done based off the fact that he was a first round pick and is on the upswing of his career. In other words, outside of O'Hearn's hot month or so Cowser doesn't have a high bar to hurdle here.

No one could have predicted this. In a way, kinda sad to see it. I like Verlander, I like Scherzer. And Buck. And Pete Alonso is fun. Despite them being the Mets, there's a few guys on that team that I like. But, whatever. They spent a metric ****ton of money and that's always obnoxious.

Mind says O'Hearn is reverting back to who he's always been, heart says to give him a few more games. I hope Cowser comes up soon, though. In regards to what to do at 1st base, Urias and Santander if O'Hearn isn't here. I don't care to see Mountcastle back anytime soon.

I don’t think many people here are sleeping on Coby Mayo.

Wheels coming off.

Got spanked last night in a laugher, gonna get shut out today by a mediocre team.

BuT AdLeY cAnT tHrOw!!!111

I’m excited!

Agreed. Another favorite OH move: “This guy sucks, but maybe other teams won’t know about it and we can get some prospects for him!”

I love it when you guys cherry-pick stats to fit your arguments.

JLC is a sloppy train wreck. I’m 50/50 on Brown.

Turning this off and reading a book and going to bed. Catch you guys on the flip.

Someone just stop Kevin Brown.

Offense looks like a bunch of dildos tonight.

I knew it. I just knew they’d **** the bed tonight. Looking lifeless over the past couple games, starting pitching looking like hot garbage and these dumbass uniforms on a Friday night.

Predictable.

Bases loaded, let’s see how they miss out on this opportunity here.

Damn. Gunnar just missed.

Well there goes the no-hitter.

I think of all the starters, Kremer is the most frustrating. You can see how he can be really good but he’s just inconsistent.

Of course.