Mike Elias Interview Takeaways

[Jammer7]

Great OP! Thanks for the summary. I was at the Staind concert last night and missed the game. 

Depends on the price, but Jordan Montgomery makes a lot of sense to me, with a lot of experience in meaningful games. Middle relief, and maybe even one more set up type. With Givens and Tate likely not an option, Cano actually being human, and Perez’ and Baker’s inconsistency make me think we are one short there. Unless we think Baumann is growing into that role.

I doubt Means will give us much in 2023. Maybe I’m wrong, but that first year post TJ is usually not great. Grayson is not a starter I would want starting a playoff game, not yet. Are we confident that Kremer, Wells and Bradish are going to hold up in October? All of them are heading into an innings count well beyond their previous seasons. 

[Billy F-Face3]

If I read between the lines and look at the landscape of things, what I think what he means about "pitching depth" is to bolster the bullpen in case something, (Heaven forbid),  happens to Cano or Bautista.

We currently have 2 or 3 starters in the organization who are already similar in their results and not all of them fit within a 5 man rotation. So I think he might be talking about established bullpen help. (I could see a conversation about someone like Brooks Raley from the Mets.) 

I say this with Grayson on the verge of getting the call, and Cole Irvin having earned another look with his 2 very good starts in a row when we needed them. And then we will probably want to get John Means some work in order to help him get back into the thick of things when he returns in September, too.

The only way I can see (or justify) us going for starting pitching is if it's an obvious difference maker. We shouldn't be trading for lateral talent who does little to nothing to improve the results of the current pitching staff.

Past MLB history of trade deadline deals offer some advice of caution: We don't want to be making mistakes like the White Sox trading away Fernando Tatis Jr just for James Sheilds who did nothing to help win a championship. And we don't want to be like the Cubs giving up Dylan Cease, Matt Rose, Bryant Fleet, and Elroy Jimenez to get Jose Quintana just because we were desperate for a pitcher. Those are bad trades, and we don't want to make bad trades. We want clear difference makers who will help us win the World Series.

Winning Championships is what this is all about.