mul21

WTF

Man, he can fly. I assumed he was probably fast just based on the CF capabilities but it was really apparent especially on the bloop down the LF line.

Nick Madrigal: not terrible?

Nice recovery by KT in the 2nd. 7 pitches.

He just had Covid in the last couple weeks.

Are we convinced Manny is actually healthy? That report of his velocity being almost 5 mph down is concerning.

Not excusing Hoyer in the least, but I think looking at raw numbers and not taking into account the larger load shouldered by the bullpen because of all the really short outings by the fill ins is probably leaving out a significant piece of the puzzle. I don't know how much of an overall difference it makes but an extra 4-8 IP every week adds up pretty quickly.

I'm not sure if the obsession with this dude or Gallo is weirder. Make it stop.

Wick seems to have fixed whatever was broken for a few weeks there. That's encouraging.

Yeah, he's not looked good either from the PAs I've seen. Was he down at AAA until he came over?

Agree with TT. Between both of them showing they can go deeper into games than they were initially ready for/trusted to, I think you mitigate some of the risk of hose 2 not consistently getting to 6IP with a more stable front end of the rotation next season, so that FA/Stroman/Hendricks combo giving you consistent deep starts is almost as big a factor for me as the young guys being able to hold their own deeper into games.

That Brown ranking sure doesn't seem like it includes this year's performance. And that's a really weird way to make that list. I get why they'd do it like that but it doesn't really seem like it's a useful tool for someone to spend time on.

Do you think there's some huge demand for Wisdom/Ortega? Even if there were teams interested, what do you think you're getting for fringy/4A guys like that? And if they determined that they can get a guy at 70 in the draft next year that will be better than any package that they were offered for Willy, I'm going to defer to them knowing what they're doing over the paltry level of knowledge on this board in comparison. I also don't think you sign guys like Suzuki and Stroman to the deals they got if you're planning on a 5 year window before you're competitive again. As was laid out, you add one of the big SS FAs this offseason, someone like Rodon and a 1B who isn't a black hole, suddenly you're looking at a team that projects to win 85+ games and that's not a far fetched reality.

Already had TJS.

Harper/Schwarber combo IMO.

Yeah you could maybe see one of them getting done with some of the interesting pitching prospects, but both would be a stretch. That said, while I'm not quite as conspiratorial as Brett, I do agree with him that a lot of this is public posturing on the Mets side, and between the time pressure of the deadline and the possibility that other NL teams make upgrades(Soto, Montas, maybe Rodon, etc), I wouldn't be convinced that their prospect-clutching is a locked in certainty. At this point, I have my money on a the trio of Contreras, Robertson and Happ going to SD after they miss out on Soto. No way on Robertson after the Hader deal and I doubt they have enough luxury tax room to add much else anyway.

From MLB.com for what it's worth, but at least a little more details on the arsenal.

There's a pretty vast difference between paying a hooker for a handy and assaulting women against their will.

Williams slides to closer (and has been better than Hader this year), Rogers will set up, plus they got assets for the future. They lost almost nothing, especially with Hader's recent performance, saved money, and gained a bunch of controllable years. Really solid move for them and will likely have a net zero effect on contention this year. They need a bat more than anything to help them now.

Never mind I guess.

Someone tell me why Sampson isn’t a thing. Has he added a pitch or velocity or control since he was bad? I know this conversation has happened elsewhere but I’m lazy and you guys are good at this.

I don't want any part of Rodon with his injury history. Obviously he is a great pitcher when healthy, and he is probably worth the risk for a team that is one piece away, but I am too afraid of the Cubs getting burnt by injuries and bad contracts at this stage in the rebuild. I'll play devil's advocate since I think what you're saying makes sense, but there is another lens we can look through. In order to get back to competitiveness, the team needs to have generally unlikely things happen more than normal, and you do that by taking on more risk. There's lots of different types of risk(developmental risk with poor performers or players in low minors, age risk, contract risk, etc), but taking on injury risk can be a way to get ahead. Said another way, for a team that has some emergent pitching depth and will not be close to their payroll capacity even with a Rodon and other significant FA spending, is having Rodon's talent for 2023-2025+ worth paying for, even if it's not for 30 starts? I think you can make the argument that yeah you take the chance to have his upside and ability to anchor a postseason rotation, especially considering there are not any realistic internal options that look possible to do so in that timeline. This feels like justifying Rich Harden 2.0. I haven't followed Rodon closely enough to know if he's that fragile but I still have PTSD from all Harden's unrealized potential.

I've seen this suggestion a couple times now. Is the thought that a contender won't sign Conforto because of the unknowns regarding his health and since the Cubs are out of the playoff picture anyway it doesn't matter if he's really healthy or not this year so they can assume a higher level of risk?