btdart20

This feels like the path that Elias will take. If there's an SP upgrade, then the odds increase. Keep the higher end talent for the long haul. Supplement in the short term with the next tier.

No romamticizing here. Many referred to him as a solid #2 back in the day. I referred to him as a #2-3. Going forward he's a back-end starter at best unless he proves something more than the smoke and mirrors from last season.

I was talking about their cutters.

There goes that theory!

For Kremer, the cutter is his primary pitch RHH. Savant says it's worked well for him. .188 BA, .313 SLG. His 4S is getting hit harder though. Could be sequencing, could be how his mix plays/complements each other. Cutter has more movement too. He dropped the CH and Sweeper and added a splitter. Wells looks rough. Not sure his deal is.

Yeah, they do. I'm interested in how the strategy plays out. I've said it before but I think they have a sneaky good staff. Probably should put this in the Red Sox thread, but Houck, Crawford, Bello, and even Pivetta (when healthy) are good. All of them would bump someone from from our rotation. Whitlock I'm not convinced.

Are you referring to the BoSox?

That's my point. A big chunkof his/their pitches weren't 4S.

Yeah. True. Struggled isn't the right word.

Can we give it another 80 PAs for Gunnar? He might double up Manny's HR total. #elite

And we struggled against the soft tossing BoSox too. Is there somewhere we can find the team's OPS vs. pitch type?

I liked seeing him talking to the coaches yesterday during the game. He's pressing but looks like he's seeking input.

5.1 IP - 3 H,, 9 K, 4BB, 0 R.

Agreed. The spigot may have greater volume thru-put but it'll still be focused.

Everyone? Nah. Some of us have been saying that.

Haha, true. Just sticking to my Bradish is a TOR arm.

Are you saying you would sign a 7 year deal on whatever beats the rest of the market for Burnes? Or are you saying Rubenstein and Elias will? But that's really not how I understand the OP posed. It's more about org building and weighting of FA value to roster construction not specific to where we are currently in payroll. $30m committed for 7 years today reduces the opportunity to spend differently tomorrow. Agreed that our playoff odds are high for the next few years. Balancing the org build/perennial contender ongoing concern with figuring out how to guarantee bumping up the playoff win% odds is the magic question. Can that be done in the offseason with long term contracts?

I don't think they'll spend big on SPs either. At least not until they make better UCLs... Maybe the right position player in the right context but generally agree the focus will be homegrown. At least for the foreseeable future.

No surprise here. If Bradish wasn't hurt, there's a good chance he'd be in the discussion too. Still might be by the AS break.

Means has a legit resume that shouldn't be thrown out. Even it if was 2-5 years ago. That matters if for no other reason than as a reasonable ceiling for expectations. Odds are he won't outperform that (and yes there are exceptions). His injury/recovery and recent performance matters too. Obviously. I think it's fair to view his AAA as ST-like but with an injury-risk asterisks. That broadens the range of outcomes (i.e. lowers the floor). I wouldn't have him as plan A either. I had questions with sustainability of his ERA last year. But how many #2/3 upside SPs are on speed dial? (And he'd be in the SP3-SP5 range for us.) Pitching is thin and everyone is scrounging for arms. A dice role (or 2 if you throw Bradish in this discussion) at upside is worth it. Another few games will impact expectations.

Roy Thomas -> 150 lbs powder keg! Even Ced has him by 25 lbs.

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https://lookaside.fbsbx.com/lookaside/crawler/media/?media_id%3D653137658120434&tbnid=08GBFV_k6p_mrM&vet=1&imgrefurl=https://m.facebook.com/TheMLBMemes/photos/a.212223438878527/653137658120434/&docid=PWpb_cg5C1Ok_M&w=472&h=630&source=sh/x/im/m1/2&kgs=eeb2e5809c78dcaf&shem=abme,trie

I was thinking O'Hearn.

That can't be true because I'm told he needs to increase his BB% to be elite.

Yeah, they have a sneaky good rotation.