Rob

Kimbrel in to pitch. He's pretty good.

Is he warming up? Maddon can't possibly put that bum in again. I understand liking guys who get ground balls, but I feel like relievers need to be able to miss bats. And Schlitter hasn't shown the stuff to be able to do that (even with his stuff looking better this year).

http://www.reactiongifs.com/r/Scarlett-Johansson-hobo-yoga.gif

Yuuus

I hate hit and runs so much.

Yeah, Grimm was a guy I kept thinking was poised for a breakout. Rough break.

I was super pissed at Hendry for tanking Bradley's value with the suspension at the end of the year at making it so clear he wouldn't be coming back. I seem to recall getting into an argument with Fred about it. Had I known then about the domestic violence, I would have been on Fred's side. That article made my blood run cold.

How awful...

I was wondering when BP was going to try something different.

Let's see... he doesn't strike people out. He walks too many. He doesn't get ground balls. And he's not even particularly effective as a LOOGY (lefties hit even better off him than righties last year). All in all, a pretty useless pitcher. Yup, still James Russell. If they brought him back to be depth in AAA just in case a better pitcher breaks down, fine. If somebody is thinking he belongs in the big league pen, I may start bashing my head against a brick wall.

Giolito?

Chris I just hate how he spells his first name.

Get the HOF plaque ready.

Nice find.

Did the Cubs spend half a million purchasing a supercomputer? http://www.techgraphs.com/mystery-mlb-team-that-purchased-500000-supercomputer-remains-unknown/ We fit all the hint criteria: We won more games than the Astros, are a team that five years ago nobody would have guessed would want one, and of course we actually have a front office and budget that are conducive to spending that much on a supercomputer. Interesting to think about.

The Cubs get into May before they realize they don't have a left fielder. They continue to play without one until August. Carlos Zambrano is the new Manny Ramirez and signs a minor league deal with the intent being to focus on instructing the young guys. The media can't get enough circlejerking about how much the kids are learning from him, and how he's really matured. The only player Kaplan is a racist [expletive] towards is "that Latin hothead" Javy Baez.

I'd argue that the difference matters, even if we completely ignore the performance at AA. A 5.5% walk rate is bad, but it's still quite possible to have a long and productive career if you do enough other things well. Andre Dawson, Juan Pierre, and Placido Polanco are all in that region. A 3.1% walk rate is absymal. That's Shawon Dunston, Ozzie Guillen, and Yuniesky Betancourt territory. I am every bit as worried about Almora's walk rate as I am Baez's strikeout rate.

Almora's walk rate at Daytona last year was 3.1%, not 5.5%.

Wanna hear something truly frightening? Almora's walk rate last year is closer to Carlos Zambrano's as a hitter than it is to Neifi Perez.

McKinney's limited power projection puts him behind Torres for me Edwards' injury and stamina questions puts him behind Torres for me Almora's disastrous 2014 puts him behind Torres for me Those are going to be my next three guys in some order. I'm randomly picking a quote, so this isn't meant to be directed at Tim ... but I'm a little surprised at the amount of support for Torres this high, and the lack thereof for Almora, and I've never really loved Almora. It's not like Torres has jump of the chart tools/ceiling. I mean, just taking one review, but Kiley had him without really a plus tool. As far away as he is, and with minimal plus tools, I'm a bit surprised we're getting this excited (granted these votes don't really tell the story on excitement, but I'm just a bit curious about the disparity). Yes, Almora was bad ... but he's only 21 this year (to be fair on the Torres, comments, the fact that he did what he did at age 17 is amazing ... ). He's been rushed up a tiny bit, IMO, but the tools are still there. It's not like there's been tools degradation or exposure of some sort - the issue is discipline/approach, and I tend to think he should be given a chance to adjust. One wonders if they pushed him because they thought he needed to get exposure to significant failure. I just don't recall many bad reviews on this kid's head/willingness to learn, and at his age, I'm a bit surprised that the voting has gone the way it has for 5. (fully acknowledge that the gap from 5 to say, 15 might not be huge, and this commenting on vote disparities here can be viewed as somewhat nitpicking). Almora took 14 walks in 529 PA last year. Torres took 29 in 215 PA. Let's put this another way. Per 529 PA for his career, Neifi Perez averaged 22 walks. Almora only managed to get 63% of the way to showing Neifi Perez level plate discipline.

Torres seems likely to pass McKinney at some point, but until he either 1) hits for more extra bases, 2) keeps up his performance for longer than 32 PA in full season, 3) shows himself to be a true plus defensive SS, or some combination of those, I can't put him above what McKinney's accomplished at higher levels. I'm excited about Torres, but he's also someone who could very easily occupy that Lindor evaluative blind spot of athletic middle infield types that we assume multiple problems will sort themselves out simply because of age and athleticism. They sure might, but there's a bit of double counting that goes on there that makes the ceiling a little lower than some would imply. I'm talking more broadly about the archetype now than Torres specifically, but I think you get the idea. Fair enough. I'm still leaning Torres, but I see your argument.

TT, I'd like to hear your argument for McKinney over Torres. I see the same things in Torres I see in McKinney, but at SS.

I'm a bit bummed to have missed the first four spots, but this is where it gets interesting anyways. I like McKinney, but Torres has the better prospect pedigree, is more likely to stick at a premium defensive position, and actually walked more often (as crazy as that is). And while McKinney is super young for his league, Torres could spend all of 2015 in A ball and still remain on the same development path as McKinney. I think McKinney is criminally underrrated, but I just can't place him above Torres. I know Almora ranks higher than both on some lists, but wow was last year abysmal. If he starts walking or showing some power, I wouldn't have a problem jumping Almora over either at mid-season though. The only other guy really in consideration for me here is Edwards. And I'm just a bit too scared of the injury situation right now to rank him above Torres.

Earl Weaver was always convinced that Boog Powell played better when he came into spring training fat.

I'm surprised it's not the Mets.