Pickles

The only guy imo playing over their head is Mateo. Who else? The starting pitching is mediocre. It's the worst part of the team. As we've seen the last two years, it shouldn't hinder their ability to be competitive.

Just saying, it's easy now in hindsight to say which starter they should have signed or not. Eovaldi has been good, but virtually every other FA pitcher has been hurt or bad.

As is, this team damned well better be competitive for the playoffs until the end. They don't have the second best record in the AL because of magic and fairy dust.

How would you feel if they'd grabbed Rodon?

So you don't think this team as currently constructed won't challenge for a playoff spot? That's deeply pessimistic and isn't borne out by any analysis.

Define "going far?"

That's part of it too, for sure.

This team is on pace to win like 105 games. They don't need to maintain this pace to make the playoffs. Losing two one run games to the best team in the NL in thier park is hardly cause for consternation. Wake me up after an extended losing streak. Now, that's the rational way of looking at it. However, it isn't fair to expect fans to be rational about things, especially in the heat of the moment on the internet. But yeah, rising expectations are a big part of this. Ravens boards go insane anytime they lose a game because they expect to win every game, unrealistically, of course, but that's the nature of the beast.

I thought we were good. I think we're better than I thought. I expect them to make the playoffs.

LOL. Maybe Grayson shouldn't let the other team hit the ball over the fence before we worry about the defense.

That's an interesting development.

They're structuring their roster to maximize it's talent. Their best hitter is a catcher. That is a unique situation which calls for a unique solution. Three catchers is unusual for a reason. But it makes sense in this situation. I want Adley to catch no more than 120 games, but I want his bat in the lineup close to 150+ games.

He's their best hitter.

Well, this allows him more days at DH, where he doesn't have to come in the 7th and catch half a game. This is about preserving Adley.

Not knee-jerk calling everything I don't like "stupid" is not "bowing down" to Elias or whatever other hyperbole you want to engage. I've question plenty of Elias' moves, including the Frazier signing, which virtually nobody liked. There's a lot of room between calling everything I don't like stupid and being a synchophant.

Well, yes that's part of it. It's getting Adley's bat in the lineup AND not catching him as much, which is kind of the same thing.

And they've been catching Adley way more than they want to. This solves that problem. In fact, wasn't this a problem you were just pointing out a couple of days ago?

"Good" is irrelevant. The move isn't to be judged by how "good" this guy is in a vacuum. It's about what it allows them to do. And what it allows them to do is to get Adley in the lineup as much as possible.

It's not about Coulombe anymore than it is about DeJong. It's about you passing your opinions off as facts and calling anyone who disagrees, including the decision-makers, stupid. Instead of calling everything you don't like stupid, try and take a moment and see it through the perspective of the people making the decisions. If you did that you would see that so many things you think are stupid or indefensible, actually have strong logical arguments for them. This move isn't about this catcher. It isn't even about the 26th man on the roster. It's about getting Adley's bat in the lineup as much as possible.

"Good" is irrelevant. They want a third catcher to keep Adley's bat in the lineup this weekend. They must like this guy more than the in-house options. It's not complicated.

Anything to disparage him. He had a 1.45 ERA last year or something in a year SG called him "terrible" or one of his other limited adjectives.

I'm saying your takes on who is "good" and who is "not" is consistently wrong. Year after year. You disparage just about any player acquired, usually in the most hyperbolic terms possible, in order to take shots at the FO, because of course, you could be doing it better. This is the 26th spot on the roster. By your terms, nobody is any "good" if they're the 26th man on the roster. This is specifically a matchup move, that is going to be short-term, made out of the neccessity of keeping Adley's bat in the lineup as much as possible. It's entirely logical and reasonable.

You remember when Danny Coulombe was "no good" according to you? It's the 26th spot on the roster. Nobody's 26th spot is "good." Our best hitter is a catcher. It's a unique situation and it calls for unique solutions.

Unusual circumstances call for unusual solutions. Our bestish hitter is a catcher. Obviously, he can't catch every day, but we still will want his bat in the lineup, so he gets a significant amount of DH at-bats. If we want the ability to pinch hit for McCann, and not run Adley into the ground, we need a third catcher. It's not ideal. Unusual circumastances call for unususal solutions. But, obviously, in the short term, it is not the best way to maximize your roster spots.

Hays woulda caught it.