Pickles

Not gonna happen. But I can't honestly see anybody trading for him.

Who would trade for him? I can't see that happening.

Maybe the second year would appeal to him because he's ready to settle down and tired of moving about so much. He seems like a family man so you never know.

For support not illumination.

I see a lot of people using "stats" like a drunk uses a lamppost.

You're entitled to your opinions.

I mean, it's a theory.

You don't spend 20 million dollars to avoid "bad press". Particularly when they were getting destroyed in the press already last season right up until the moment they started playing really good baseball.

Pretty sure I got that from 30 Rock.

They're not comparable players. I could "see" Hosmer. There's no justification for Moustakas.

If winning wasn't important, why would he spend 20 million dollars at all?

You actually have five holes in your head. And you need them all.

I think we should look back in 10 months and see if Frazier/Gibson/Givens/McCann tally up more or less WAR than Bassit. I'd probably take the former right now.

Whatever will the Angelos family do?

It wouldn't shock me. And I wouldn't hate it in the sense that he's still an above average hitter and for the league minimum you can't really go wrong. The problem would be similar to the Frazier signing: Value-wise it's "fine" but it comes with opportunity cost. I'd rather just give those ABs to Stowers.

I'm sorry my posting has offended you. I'll be sure to stop. I wouldn't want to hurt your ego.

I just want to clarify, because you keep doing exactly what I say you're doing: What is hyperbolic about what I'm saying? You keep claiming Elias is driven to make decisions based on a pathological need to feed his ego. You keep claiming exactly that and when I repeat it back to you, you claim I'm being hyperbolic. As far as the rest, my default position is very similar to Frobby's: When they make decisions that I don't understand, I assume they have information I am not privy to. I think that is a far more reasonable position to take than to try to ascribe it to a personal failing or a psychological pathology.

1) I think he had his reasons. 2) These decisions are being wildly overblown. They're 25th/26th man roster decisions. Literally every team that has ever existed has employed guys who weren't good.

No the only hyperbole here is your claims to have special insight into the pathologies that drive Elias' decision-making. You might not like that language, or that classification of what you're doing, but it is exactly what you're doing. I don't agree with every decision the man makes- including this one! Though I still think a trade's coming that will bring a lot of clarity to the situation. However, it's one thing to criticize the move based on Frazier's performance, as many have, or based on Frazier's fit/neccessity, as many more have, and very sympathetically to my mind. It's quite another to attribute it to his being an idiot, or hiring and being guided by idiots (not that you did that), or his "ego" and "need to be the smartest guy in the room." That's baseless speculation with no evidence, and no way of even gathering evidence or testing it as a hypothesis.

You're the one assigning his bad decisions, or at least the ones that you don't like, to his ego. You did that. Not me.

Wildly overblown. Vavra and Stowers got a combined 203 PAs. Aguilar and Phillips got 68. Vavra and Stowers were not rotting on the bench as Aguilar and Phillips stole all the glory.

If he's making poor decisions systemically because he's driven by his ego and need to demonstrate his superior intellect (your claim) then that's a pathology.

No, but patholgies is what you're claiming; I'm just using the correct word. I think the criticism of all those moves is grossly overblown. Brett Phillips got 17 abs. Aguilar got 50. Odor became a part time player the second Gunnar was brought up. And if Frazier does put up a 2 WAR, then sorry, but that would certainly count as a value move.

I haven't heard a single person argue he's infallible. I haven't heard a single person cheer on this move. I have heard a lot hyperbolic vitriol that has now descended into ridiculous armchair diagnoses about the pathologies that drive Mike Elias.

Do his "pathologies" get any of the credit for his good moves?