Grt 2BA FL Gator

I agree that the prospect capital is getting to a point where we need to make some trades. And I think this was part of the plan. Trade from the position player glut. I just wouldn’t want to see us turn into the padres or blue jays and squander the talent infusion. There’s definitely a balanced approach that I think ME can pull off.

I feel like Adley is the glue for this team. Others can overshadow him a bit, but the winning started when he showed up and he feels like the type of guy that doesn’t need the recognition. His skillset pairs well with this. Solid defense. Great approach at the plate. Nothing crazy flashy but absolutely essential. A quietly, insanely productive player.

And here’s the thing like you said in the OP. What’s the one thing we’re missing right now to feel even better about our WS chances? An “out of the box solution” that undoubtedly strengthens our chances when we haven’t sniffed a title in 40 years. Yet this also makes me appreciate the current regime. They won’t get desperate and do something short sighted to chase one title. But it is intriguing of how dominant Grayson could be for one season and address our biggest hurdle to a championship. Also, no prospect capital would have to be used.

I pitched this to my family a day or so ago. David Price came to mind and I’m sure there are other top starter prospects that were used in the bullpen. He could very likely become the shutdown closer we’ve been missing, and then some. And he could go back to starting next year. And yet I understand the backlash and hesitancy. Starting and relieving can be two different animals and we wouldn’t want to mess with his development. But I’ve thought about the same thing over the past few days with our starter excess and just knowing that Grayson is a dog and his A level stuff would play up even more out of the bullpen.

It’ll be fun to see him get to pitch meaningful games because I feel like he’ll be a gamer. Was itching for this one I’m sure.

I like these reverse jinx threads. Keep em coming.

ADLEY!

The stuff looks vintage. Normal Means velo. Spotting the change and mixing it in very effectively. Decent hook. Looking like the mid rotation arm he’s historically been for us…. When healthy

I have missed the John Means change up.

Westy’s arm more than adequate there. Nice to see.

Plenty of negativity around here on Means and how he was gonna look. First inning there was NICE. Vintage.

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?