joelala

An ‘A’ for Ben?! I like him but don’t know if I can go THAT far. He is a master at stating the obvious and he uses the term ‘melted that ball’ at least twice a game. I’ll give him a solid ‘B.’ the more I think about it thought, the more I wonder if getting rid of Palmer and Thorne is a permanent move, perhaps at least requested by the FO. The whole Davis/Palmer beef had to have been deeply distracting for the team and Ben Macdonald is a much safer personality who will never go rogue like that.

?% agree with you.

A nice thought but I don’t think anyone is putting too much value on this season so I don’t see someone mortgaging a significant piece of their future (the kind of player who would help set us up for multiple championships) for the chance to steal a trophy with an asterisk. But sure if a deal comes that we like, I see absolutely no reason to hold onto any of the guys mentioned in the OP. Even though I do love Alberto. So I agree with you but caution you to temper expectations

I don’t know, when I look at him walk back to the dugout and take his helmet off after another entirely non-competitive AB I see a case study in shame.

Interesting. I like it.

Start with making the parks bigger and the ball less juiced. All else might fall into place if its not so (relatively) easy to hit a home run.

The goal being what, to quicken games?

He’s also 1 for 19 on the year. That doesn’t help one’s demeanor much either. I don’t know, I would like to see him opt out, but I think he sticks it out with his team. Agree though that the body language is not good right now. If he DOES opt out, what are the chances he ever suits up for us again?

From what I’ve seen this year from Castro he’ll hit his spots and look great but at least once an AB almost he makes a mistake and throws one middle-middle and a lot of times will hang it there. But hitters haven’t seemed to be pulling the trigger so he def has them off balance

Though that last K was nice and he was hitting spots

He still scares me. He has no idea where the ball is going. I suppose it scares hitters too though

Whomever could you be referring to?

Nice throw

The Bat and hand speed. He drops his hands a bit too much at times, but he’s young. This is a bit absurd, and I say it only about how the swing LOOKS, but it reminds me of Ken Griffey’s swing but with a two handed finish. Again, not in any way comparing him to Griffey, but he has a beautiful swing. And from reports he will stick in CF as a potential plus defender and a plus runner. He’s a potential 5 tool super star.

My brother, who is very knowledgeable about the team and works in the sports journalism industry, seems to think there’s no way we re-sign Alberto. Says he won’t be a part of our next winning team. I disagreed with him strongly. Thoughts?

I think the Rays are the blueprint for small market sustained success in today’s MLB so I’m all for it.

Feels like we may have played our last game today

Plausible, certainly.

I would say if we are good or great there’s decent odds he still is. An 8 year tenure certainly isn’t unprecedented

I’ll bite on your second fish hook in this thread. We have no way of knowing how long Elias’ tenure will be. Let it play out, let it play out. At least he seems to have a plan he’s sticking to and there are some huge positive changes he’s instilled (IFA activity, analytics, an aggressively unapologetic tanking strategy.)

Braylon Bishop is my favorite player in this class. House I like but I worry that he’s already so physically developed. Bishop:

Brutal ?

Yea it’s not in a normal season by any stretch of the imagination, but in this short season, where I suspect it will be easier to hide what might be the worst starting rotation I’ve ever seen, I wouldn’t be shocked if we finished with a winning percentage over like .400. But yea I think we are seeing some very positive things chemistry-wise and Alberto is really solidifying himself as a part of our long term future. Nunez too I hope. And maybe it’s the hair, but I’m really rooting for Rio this year as well. It’s been a fun offense to watch these first two weeks but let’s not go too crazy.

It’s like MLB is trying to host a house party and the house is on fire. I don’t see much longer this lasts for...

I have a feeling he’ll be one of those guys who enjoys success with his next organization. The stuff is there. If someone can get him to spot better and attack hitters he could be good. Or he could be like Mike Wright. Anyone see any mechanical red flags in the delivery that could be leading to the atrocious command?