Moose Milligan

I do believe when it comes to the baseball scouting industry, there are those who like to be contrarians. First of all, it gets clicks. Going against the common thought in regards to the #2 prospect in baseball is something people will notice and talk about. Look no further than SG being alarmed about something that wasn’t 100% glowing about AR. And here we are talking about it. Now Jeff Mary Elizabeth Masterantonio is on my radar. I’d not heard of him before. Second, I’m convinced that there’s no one that holds these people’s feet to the fire. There’s virtually no risk involved in writing about baseball prospects, some of the players will hit, many more will bust. People have relatively short memories and there are constantly articles like this being produced. It’s easy to get lost in the sheer volume of it all and forget what was written or discussed a few weeks ago. Due to the nature of the industry I’m convinced that these writers can say whatever they want, unchecked, as long as they don’t get too carried away. If AR is what this guy says he is he gets to beat his chest. If AR is God and this guy is wrong? Who cares, whatever his take at that moment was will be buried under a deluge of other takes since posted. Hardly anyone will remember or care.

Yeah but not really, given what’s happened to him over the past year. Westburg might crack it, Bradish might too. And you can swap out Kjerstad with whoever we pick at 5 this year. Either way, I see us holding pretty steady with at least 5 in the top 100 until AR, Rodriguez and Hall graduate.

I would say the name of the game isn’t necessarily confidence gained by the successes and wins. IMO, it’s the opposite, it’s being able to grind it out through the bad times. That is probably what is helping Mullins separate himself from the pack this year; he’s been able to get through some really hard times and figure out a way to flourish. It’s easy to be confident when you’re Tony Gwynn or Chipper Jones or Mike Trout or someone else with an impeccable resume who’s been able to stick since Day 1 (yes, I realize Trout struggled in a small sample size when he initially came up, but it’s been a pretty smooth ride for him since). I love Lenny Dykstra because he revels in who he is. He’s a scumbag, through and through. However, he is not someone who cares about what other people think about him and tries to pretend that he’s someone else. I’m also not condoning his actions that landed him in jail. But, IMO, the best anecdote about him is easily found on his Wikipedia page. He was friends with Billy Beane in the minors: IMO, it’s the “no concept of failure” aspect that made him great. Of course, it’s also the “no concept of failure” aspect that probably played a part in all of his legal issues too; he’d go to whatever lengths he could to succeed, even if it meant breaking the law. In that aspect, his gift is also his curse. I would suspect that Mullins has the same programming, that he’s perfectly designed emotionally and has no concept of failure. Is that confidence? Perhaps it is.

So cheesy, but I laughed.

Yeah, you’re right. I dunno, it’s still obnoxious to think about that being the only reason why to keep him around. It’s just a terrible staring contest between insufferable idiots. Which dolt will blink first? Will Davis swallow some pride and call it a day or keep half-assing attempts to become a player who can crack 0.0 WAR? Or will the terribly run franchise with ownership that everyone loves to loathe blink instead? Meanwhile a dwindling fanbase wants to be put out of its misery.

You’re right. But I don’t think his contract was near the albatross that the Chris David deal is. Not that it should matter. Dead weight is dead weight.

Yeah @wildcard these are questions I’d like to be answered. If Holt is a true wizard why are these guys struggling? Kremer is a bag of suck, especially. Tanner Scott is Rick Vaughn Jr. I’m not saying Holt is bad, I’m not saying he’s fantastic either. But it’s not like the majority of the arms we have up right now are improving under his tutelage.

IMO, need to see where he’s at this time, next season. (Yeah, CoC, if there’s a season, I know, I know.) The history of baseball landscape is littered with guys that had one amazing year and could never capture that glory again. I want to believe Mullins is for real but even if he goes wire to wire with an amazing season he still needs to do it again next year for me to have 100% faith.

I remember watching it on tv. Amazing.

Next week? I dunno. You discount the possibility of trades, FA acquisitions, and fast risers from the minor leagues. All we do is sit here and look at who we have in the farm system and project when they’ll arrive. That’s a bit lazy, IMO. We simply can’t count on Hays to stay healthy. Unreliable players aren’t something you plan on building around. Same with Santander. Stewart’s OBP skills are the only reason I’d want to keep him around but he’s a defensive liability on a team with Mancini and Mountcastle. wildcard, don’t worry. These guys will move on and there will be new players for you to fawn over and project amazing things from small sample sizes. Kjerstad, Hudson Haskin, who knows. It’ll be fine.

Hays and Santander are expendable due to the fact that they’re always hurt. Stewart a little bit, too. I like these guys, I wish it would have worked out differently but we should soon be able to replace them.

This is how it starts.

Didn’t get to watch the game today as I’m on vacation but damn, what a box score! 5 for 5, two homers, three runs!

Just hoping that it’s all that it is. Seems like you hear guys downplay issues and then all of a sudden they’re headed for Tommy John or something.

His OPS is .923. What does someone need to OPS to be dominant?

He looked pretty good, he had a really good slider at points. But he still throws too many pitches.

Maybe he's just a slow starter.

I don't know if they'd hand it to a ML rookie manager or not. Britton wouldn't be just any ML rookie manager, he'd have managed quite a few of these guys on their way up so he's not a complete stranger. AR, G-Rod, Hall, etc, would have familiarity. There might be something to that, especially if they're trying to instill some 2020s version of the Oriole Way.

Palmer is forever talking about speeding up a bat. He mentions it at least twice a game.

Hey PHIL! He dropped a bunt!!

They're gonna call interference.

Homer!! that got out!! barely!!

Taking the over.

How many dingers does Vlad Jr. hit against us in the upcoming series? I'm thinking 4.

Well, got the man up that you'd want up...let's do it.