Grt 2BA FL Gator

It wouldn't have prevented the decline, but may have improved our chances during the window. Cruz's production would have been pretty helpful, especially if you get to subtract Davis.

Heyyy. Guys a Gator and I didn't even know it. How 'bout that. Excited to watch.

God, I feel really lame doing this, but it's something I've noticed. Davis' BA up to .179 and over the last 15 days it's been .298 (albeit it's an empty BA). The sad part is, I'm not even being sarcastic. With the season he's had, it's been notable when he has a few two hit games over the course of two weeks. It may be his best stretch of the season. I still hope he crawls out of this hole to at least get the OPS near 750 for a few years.

If his breaking ball is really clicking, that’s certainly a qualitative improvement it would seem. More time is needed, but he looks to be yet another example of our ineptitude at pitcher development.

I know, I know, it’s early. But how can we not start feeling like we traded the complete wrong guy at the wrong time? Holy hell. I know it’s reactionary, but since the trade Bundy and Gausman have gone in complete opposite directions. I was still of the mindset that Bundy had more upside and value at the time of the trade. The way Bundy looks now, I would have tried to hang onto the healthy pitcher and not sell low and jumped ship on the broken pitcher and sell high. This just sucks.

Yes I agree. DD was adept at the beginning of our run of mining from the scrap heap. It's no way to build a core, but it's not unimportant in finding a nugget or two.

Will be interesting to see how this guy turns out. Seems like a nice pick up for where we're at. Decent pedigree as a prospect, decent hit potential and passable at 3B at the moment. Still only 24. What's not to like considering we picked him up off the scrap heap?

He was fine. Not sure if I would call him good. More serviceable with potential for more. If the Braves tap into that “potential for more”, it’s gonna be hard to stomach. Especially with Bundy regressing.

REactionary post here: But if Gausman lights it up for the Braves and Bundy sucks to finish the season, that’s just more damning evidence against whatever we do to screw up pitchers. Ive been on board for Dan sticking around, but he hasn’t really won with homegrown pitching success. The problem has continued. Makes me wonder if we should just clean house. Doesn’t matter how many prospects we acquire, all we do is screw them up.

On the human side of it, there's no one I'd want to succeed more. I know he's gonna get paid the rest of his life, but the public shame of having possibly the worst season in MLB history while simultaneously being the highest paid player in franchise history? It's not for a lack of effort as I think the guy has always put his work in. And he got paid at the level of his production previous in his career. He's just lost it and I feel for him and I hope by some miracle he can become a productive player again. But he's battling a lot to get to that point. An Adam Dunn type finish to his career would be great. That's what I'm hoping for. That would almost be a miracle at this point.

I've liked Marcell Ozuna's potential and I guess if this was said last year, I'd be pretty happy. He had a great year last year. But that's really the only solid year he's had. Just interesting that that's the comp he made. Ozuna doesn't really get on base and he hits for power. Looks more like what we've had vs. what Diaz is. I guess we'll see.

Yes yes. I rounded up. Potentially a baseball faux pas.

If I was a contending team with some room payroll flexibility and a hole at 1B/DH, I'd most certainly consider adding Trumbo. The commitment isn't that long to him and he's a year removed from hitting 50 HRs. Let's hope he keeps hitting in August and we find a taker. In the AL, based on production from 1B especially, The Yankees or Mariners could utilize him.

Something I failed to realize until recently is how good the Blue Jays farm system is. I assumed they would be in a similar position to us, having been competitive at similar times and not having done much selling (No prospects for Encarnacion, Bautista, Donaldson, Stroman, etc.). How do they have such a good system? I guess they've drafted and developed well while they were competitive?

Also, no Bannon on this list. FG doesn't love him for whatever reason.

It makes sense what the Rays did, they are a little ahead of us in the rebuild and could want guys like that to rebound and contribute soon. But to be honest, I didn't realize both Pirates guys had been in MLB and not successfully thus far. When they were discussed, everyone has mentioned their former prospect status and how great of a haul it was for Tampa. I think it was a fine haul. The guys have talent, but they've struggled at the major league level.

Here's a question. How was Austin Meadows so highly thought of? Consensus top 10 prospect at one point. His minor league numbers look pretty average to me. I guess he had good half seasons when he was graduated in 2015/2016? And the pedigree of the 9th overall pick? But such SSS. Must be a toolsy, eye test guy. Obviously that's key with minor leaguers. And could still turn out to be a decent player. Was just underwhelmed by the minor league resume.

Actually 3 in the top 5. Encouraged to see how highly they think of Tate. Fangraphs wasn't as high. Also, this list doesn't seem to have the Braves trade or the Pirates/Archer trade..

Actually, if ever there was a time to let him ride it out for a while, it is now. We don't really have anyone behind him. We aren't competing. Might as well hope he can get that OPS back north of 700 somehow.

I gave it an A-/B+. I feel like definitely a solid B. The Gausman trade is still hard for me to get behind because I was hoping for some top end quality, assuming our prospect price was high or we wouldn't trade him. But I think we did well with the rest of them. I guess this is getting into phase 2, but as many have said, if we do work with the international money, then I'll be near an A. At least A-.

I remember when we drafted him and watching him with LSU, eating the donuts between innings. It was exciting because he was the college arm that could make it to the majors quicker to help extend our competitive window. He did do that and he was enjoyable to watch at times. Emotions and bias aside, he never quite harnessed three pitches at once, which made it difficult for him to thrive. I almost forgot about back half of 2016 until Hallas pointed it out. I remember a few of those starts, it felt like he was peaking at the right age. Maybe it's between the ears and he'll harness it in ATL. Seems like that happens to us a lot. His FB and splitter can both be plus, so his slider he only needs to be able to mix it and spot it. I'll root for him. It will be painful if he blossoms. I'll be happy for him, but it will feel like another Oriole kick in the nuts, especially because the package of player doesn't seem that great, even from the start. Anywho, good luck Kevin! Thanks for working hard at your job and contributing to our winning teams.

Good point. Peter Angelos has always been the main problem behind it all. If John will actually run things differently and make smart decisions (main one being let the baseball people decide), then this is a new era. I'm curious what we do at GM/Manager. That will tell me more about this new era as we move further into the long term. I'm still skeptical, but this aggressive rebuild is a welcomed difference.

I kind of agree. Rebuilding is a B****. This is gonna be years. Necessary. But it's gonna be a while until we have real fun at the major league level.

Agree. And yet, maybe give him the reigns at closer? Let him beef up his resume? He may not be able to shake it tho.

I kind of agree. I like the guy and have enjoyed him, but I don't think his ceiling is much higher than what we've seen. He's got heat but it's hittable. He's got a nasty splitter that comes and goes. And a pretty average slider that's very inconsistent.