Moose Milligan

I'm not sure I understand the outrage here, nor do I blame Hyde for this. Especially working in tandem with analytically and statistically minded guys like Elias and SigBot, this is a bit over the top. I don't think anyone here would have a different leadoff man than Mullins when healthy. And I think Adley #2 makes perfect sense. You hope that Mullins can start the game and that Adley and his .400 OBP can get on...then you've got Mullins and Adley on, in a best case scenario. Maybe you could flip-flop them with Adley leadoff and Mullins #2, but regardless I think those two have cemented themselves as the top two guys in the order. Not having a clear cut 3rd hitter is more of an indictment on the roster makeup than blaming Hyde for not being able to make a coherent lineup. There's no head and shoulders choice for the third spot. In regards to winning a game by scoring more runs in 8 innings than our opponents have to in 9, that's a bit over the top. I think it's hard to overcome a lead late in a game, however having 8 innings is still plenty of time to do so. And the Orioles overall W/L record implies that their first inning offensive woes aren't really hurting the team all that much. In other words, I am sure every team would love to get out to a lead in the first inning, the Orioles probably aren't any different. I think this could be chalked up to one of those flukey baseball things.

Yeah, I didn't think it was a bad signing to begin with. I didn't think it was a GREAT signing either, but the logic made sense. Would love it if he's able to come up with a big moment or two against the Yankees while they're paying him. That would be a big highlight, for sure.

Gotta take 2/3 here. No crafty Greinke to contend with. Bobby Witt looks like he's headed to bustville and I'm okay with that. This is a bit aggressive.

All true. I don't disagree with any of that.

I don't get the Vespi love. For that matter, I don't get Zimmermann, either.

I hope he can latch on somewhere else.

Okay, now you're just taking your silliness to a whole different level. Let's get back to baseball though.

Dudeman, I'm enjoying the games just fine. And I'm not always worried about being right, that's @Sports Guy's realm. Enjoy your TV, I hope the data that you found in the instruction manual to mount it to your wall was followed accurately.

Well we're on a public forum where we sit around and debate various things all day, you can't seem to sway anyone to agree with you. So it's not just me, hombre. But I get the frustration of making statements and being called out on them and being upset once I realized that they were indefensible. I was 16 once, too.

I sure am, but I'm just lowering myself to your standard here in this argument. You still haven't produced a coherent and convincing argument about the use of data.

Sure, we all are. However if you just want to dismiss data for some reason, I suppose you wouldn't argue with a lineup that has Mountcastle leading off and batting Hays and Adley 8th and 9th. No one is suggesting data is perfect, especially when it comes to baseball. You're kind of making a straw-man argument. But what data does do, especially in baseball, is help play the odds and there's nothing wrong with that.

I never thought he was, but I think he should have gotten more of a look. Too much swing and miss in his game, IMO.

You're a very silly human.

I disagree entirely. There are guys in the minors that could quite possibly help this team today. I will agree with the premise that just because this team is sputtering a bit from an offensive perspective right now, it doesn't mean they can't go on a heater moving forward as presently constructed. It would stack the cards in their favor if they promoted Westburg and Cowser and maybe even Kjerstad later this summer if he's raking in Norfolk. All three of those players could be upgrades over what we have. Cutting the fat and getting rid of Mountcastle and Frazier (I know, he's here to stay) and possibly Mateo would go a long way in helping this offense find more consistency.

I will check that out!

I don't know what that is. To your points, I understand the arguments for Hicks over McKenna and don't disagree entirely. But here's what Hicks had to say in this article: https://www.nj.com/yankees/2023/06/after-leaving-yankees-bearded-aaron-hicks-says-he-can-show-off-my-personality.html I don't know what he's expecting since he's probably not going to play every game when Mullins returns. And if Cowser comes up, too. So, like I said, I'm expecting a serious drop off in production once he's playing sparingly. Is it more than what McKenna can produce off the bench? Maybe, we'll see. I see the arguments for Hicks over McKenna, but like you said I think this is rearranging deck chairs. I also get that McKenna is kind of a whipping boy on here, he's not popular and an easy target of sorts. While we're here, I think Hicks saying he's more of a "rhythm hitter" is hysterical. Set a metronome, Aaron.

Yes. But this ain't the Titanic! To the moon, baby!!!

Come along now, Jagwar, let’s not get in the way of wildcard’s fantasyland.

Only if you want it to complicate the comparison.

I was surprised to see the esteemed @Frobby authoring such a scorching hot take. It's not that I'm a huge McKenna fan (I'm not, and I think there's a good chance we miss the playoffs by one game, and when that happens we'll all look at his dropped fly ball) but this is a simple decision based on one big factor for me; Hicks is 33, McKenna is 26. There's a lot to like about Hicks, but this is an extreme small sample size and I'm sure the love affair that this board is having with him will cool whenever his bat does. At that point, I believe the differences between him and McKenna will be largely imperceptible and debating them will be the equivalent of arguing about which item off the menu at Taco Bell is less likely to give you diarrhea. But then again, this is the OH and this is what we do. If someone wants to render McKenna as kind of a doofus who doesn't always have his head in the game and is prone to making bad decisions on the basepaths, you won't get an argument from me there. Hicks probably has him beat in that department. But I don't believe this is some easy, clear cut decision. I said it before earlier this week, I'll say it again: This place is really weird. There was such a backlash about the Hicks signing (even though it made complete sense) that I think we all forgot about Adam Frazier for a second. And he's played better than anyone's expected in an extremely small sample size and now there's this burgeoning love affair to keep him as a 4th outfielder.

He should be gunning for strikeouts all the time. If he’s not, that’s a problem.

Mons is quite a place.

That should be 2 WAR by my count.

Uli Kunkel? Her co-star in the beaver picture?