Philip

I wonder if we can trade for Austin Hedges? He’s not bad. I was all for Jonah Heim but I think I’ve changed my mind.

It don’t mean nuthin…not a thing…

They are talking about sharks…I wish they wouldn’t. “Gentle giants” ? Misunderstood? God Kevin, you are really plumbing the depths here. No pun intended…

Do other teams, though?

I certainly would. I am pretty sure that nobody is untouchable.

I understand, and I agree with you to a point, but the Burnes trade happened right about the time of ownership transfer, so was a probably exception to any parameters. Even within those parameters Mike only did what he did, and since Rubenstein took over, he hasn’t done anything else, despite having quite valuable trade pieces.

You yourself admit that we need some acquisitions. That means that you agree that the team currently is inadequate. So, inadequate for what? I never said we wouldn’t make the playoffs, I said we would “slowly sink.” that’s neither an overreaction, nor certainly not ridiculous. Let me explain what I mean by “slowly sink.” I don’t think we will continue our same winning percentage, I don’t think we will win 100 games, and I don’t think we will win the division. That’s what I meant. If you disagree with those concerns, then you also think we don’t need to make any acquisitions, because you think we’re going to win as many games whether we do or don’t. But I doubt you disagree with them. Instead I think you probably don’t worry about them because even if all those things happen, we can still make the playoffs, and that’s fine, I agree with that I have no desire to be contentious. But those worries are certainly not ridiculous.

I agree that Angelos tied Mikes hands to an extent, but that begs the question of why he was allowed to pay for Kimbrel and trade for Burnes. And if Angelo’s OKed those moves, why not others? Once Rubenstein took over, the discussion certainly changed, but presumably Mike would have much more freedom to trade assets. Not necessarily sign big FAs, but trade assets. We don’t know for sure, but Mike is mostly in charge of happens now.

Worrying in such circumstances is not ridiculous. Expecting a decline without additions is not ridiculous. You just said we need to make additions. “If the Os don’t make one move we CAN still get into the playoffs.” Going from our current 90+% chance of making the playoffs to “can” is a decline. I didn’t say we wouldn’t make October, I said that if we make no acquisitions we would slowly sink and that we wouldn’t maintain our current pace, which is pretty clear. I’m surprised you think we would.

I like him very much and I’m very glad we have him. I just keep spelling it wrong. Thanks for the note. I really do like him, I just have few illusions about his Cy Young chances.

Who are the Os top three? Burnes, GRod, and…….?

Your comment basically confirms what I said. You admit that Suarez and Irwin would regress, which they have. As a result of that regression, they are no longer reliable members of a powerful rotation. Therefore, we will slowly sink unless Mike gets someone better, and not just one, either. How is it an irrational fear to say we will slowly sink if we don’t make acquisitions? You just agreed that Suarez and Irwin aren’t adequate, so the concern is completely valid. Add to that Kremer’s spotty performance and injury concerns, and Povich remaining a huge question mark. Outside our top two, we got nobody dependable. And that’s just discussing the starters. your comment is curious because you try to refute what I was saying but instead confirm it, and you close by admitting they “have to improve on obvious needs” We can debate what would constitute “going overboard,” but it’s clear from his past transactions that Mike cares a lot about the price he pays for an asset, so I think, far from overpaying, he’s more likely to duplicate what he did last season.

It’s funny that people are wanting to bring back Tanner Scott and his 6.1 walk rate, but balking at McDermott and his 5.5 walk rate. I’m leery of McDermott too, but as they say, “any port in a storm,” so no reason not to give him a try.

I get your point, but the issue isn’t losing a few games, but that two of our pitchers(Suarez and Irwin) have apparently regressed to their mediocre mean, and are no longer dependable, leaving us with two useable starters and huge question marks in Kremer and Povich, AND still one short. The bullpen, despite lofty MLB Rankings, isn’t reliable, and we have nothing, nothing, in the minors. Will we pray that McDermott is the second coming of Nolan Ryan, who walked everyone in sight but was ok anyway? We have already lost 14-11 and 10-8. We have excellent offense, and can have better if Mike would end his love affair with Hays and Mullins, but Mike seems reluctant to make any major trades, and Burnes trade aside, that’s been his MO since we got over .500. The fear is that unless he does something significant, we will slowly sink. The question is whether Mike thinks we won’t sink enough to miss October.

Other teams know exactly what we need. Mike does too. The idea he needs to wait another month to decide what he needs is pretty silly. And the idea that the price will be better a month from now instead of today is also pretty silly. The price will probably be higher, but it won’t be lower. waiting does nothing except minimize the impact of anyone we pickup.