davell

I don't really think 5th starter is ever a need worthy of all caps. Either guy is fine. I mean we won 98 games with Dan haren and like traviyoshiton wodachard Did I say we need a 5th?

We NEED a starter. Its not Butler or Montgomery.

Nothing on a national level, for the Midwest U Il, WI, Ia and MN. Carlson is signable, fwiw. Cool. Curious, why is Crouse a complete no for the Cubs? Too animated or just too much of a project?

Holy horsefeathers lol

UK, have you heard of any high bonus demands yet this year?

He's going to be lucky to give us 4. Squeezed? Nothing ridiculous. Just looked to be missing by a bit to me.

Toonster, I think teams have gotten much more hesitant recently to deal to true competition. Same with dealing inside the division now. It happens, but its rare. And in these two cases, I'd look at it like this.....I'm sure the Cubs would like Ross. Hoyer and McLeod drafted him. But, I think the Nats are looking at him as a reliever themselves currently. And if that doesn't work, I'm pretty sure many other teams have the same type of relievers we do, to offer the Nats for him and they'd feel more comfortable dealing him to a team that he has much less of a chance of coming back to haunt them...... I guess Kazmir is the guy you're forgetting on the Dodgers. Yeah, they may part with him, McCarthy, or maybe even Ryu to ANYONE. They need to trim some payroll to get under the LT next year. In this case, why would we help them do that? None of those 3 are remotely special. All are injury-prone too. My guess is if we are just looking for a depth type addition, we can find one without helping them get out from underneath the LT. I'm sure Theo would like to see them have to make a tougher decision than that, when it comes to their future roster. Not to mention, in the end, I think we've got our sites set higher than that type of acquisition for a starter.

As much as I love him, I was thinking Javy could have been sent down, prior to today. But, with Addy struggling, and the total lack of another guy capable of playing SS, I doubt it was on the table. At any rate, with Zobrists back, Addy's shoulder(and struggles), plus days off for others and typical replacements in-game, I think Joe can find plenty of AB's to go around for a while, until things sort themselves out better. 10 game sample of starts....After that, maybe its solved on its own. C Contreras-7 Montero-3 1B Rizzo-9 KB-1 2B Javy-5 Zobrist-4 Happ-1 SS Addy-8 Javy-2 3B KB-8 Happ-1 Javy-1 LF Schwarber-8 Happ-2 CF Almora-3 Heyward-3 Happ-3 Jay-1 RF Heyward-5 Zobrist-3 Happ-1 Almora-1 Total Starts Contreras-7 Montero-3 Rizzo-9 Javy-8 Zobrist-7 Happ-8 Addy-8 KB-9 Schwarber-8 Almora-4 Heyward-8 Jay-1 Plus, defensive replacements, pinch hitting.....At any rate, there's AB's to go around, and I doubt anyone cares if Jay doesn't play much for the time being.....

Tseng goes 6 4 1 0 2 4.....Still just 22 years old. I'd love to hear how his stuff is looking. He's been very good this year.

Walking off on his own is a positive, at least.

Gotta love Koji.

Its gotta be Joe's biggest fault as a manager.

https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/865303486673571840

Yes and a Warren Buffett's soriano on defense Was Buffett a 2B only, or could he play SS in a pinch? I want my billionaires to have versatility.

I wonder if Addy's shoulder is worse than what has been thought?

horsefeathers YEAH JAVY BOMB

Dammit. I actually still call them Boise usually lol

Adell's swing and miss, maybe? He's kind of boom or bust. But yeah, his bonus demands probably make more sense.

That's still a good bit down on his stuff from the scant reports we received last year. He was supposedly 94-96, touching 98. 2 mph slower and an inability to command it does not bode well. He's set for Salem, according to AZPhil. Its still relatively early for him, could be something simple still. It doesn't sound great, but real game action may be a different story.

I suspect this may be more individual, than organizational. "If you get into situations where you have to strike guys out", try to. I wonder if, to a pitcher, "pitch to contact" is basically understood to mean "throw more fastballs"? Watched part of Butler's game on Friday. Totally different approach than Lester or Hendricks. Suspect if Butler tries to pitch like Lester, he'll not do very well. But for that day at least, he had enough fastball that he could throw a lot of fastballs, and still succeed. Did he spot them all, and were they so fast and so explosive that they were swing-and-miss fastballs? No. But they were fast enough and had enough run/movement that they weren't all getting mashed. In his case, I'd guess "pitch to contact" in practice means "throw your fastball a lot, don't get behind in the count all the time, and if they' sit on fastball, your change doesn't need to be Hendricks-esque to get some chase swings." Montgomery could perhaps use a little "pitch to contact" encouragement. Does he ever throw two fastballs in a row, or three strikes in a row? When he does does mix in a fastball, the hitter could almost count on the next pitch *Not* being another fastball. Perhaps if he threw more fastballs, maybe he'd pitch ahead more often, and maybe guys wouldn't be sitting offspeed as effectively if they weren't so sure fastball wasn't coming. Guessing De la Cruz has got a pretty decent fastball,and maybe is throwing lots of curves and changeups which result in long and unfavorable counts? Maybe throwing more fastballs for him is "pitching to contact" and helps him in A-ball. Whether it will help him have the command for majors, not so sure. Cease might be another guy who might be encouraged to "pitch to contact. But kinda guessing he can get some K's even with his fastball; that developmentally he needs plenty of work on curve and change; and that even if he threw mostly fastballs that he'd still be wild. He's got a plus FB and a CB that flashes plus too. The change is obviously below average. No idea how they call a game for him. His command is still relatively weak too, but expected to come around. Since he's only been pitching for 4 years total, it very well may be that they just want to get him to a certain innings amount, since he missed time last year, and pitching to contact, helps get to that. Outside of Cease and Albertos, he's got the most upside of any pitcher in the system. He's got size, velo, athleticism, a real chance at two plus pitches, and is known as a hard worker.

BA has us taking HS RHP Blayne Enlow and HS OF Quentin Holmes, mentioned us being connected to Allen too. And RS, there's definitely less guys now that'll be much invested in the draft, but there's still going to be good conversation.

Not sure an assignment to high-A was too advanced for a guy with his pedigree. Most of us were hoping he'd start in Myrtle Beach over the winter. Oh, I was hoping he would too. Just don't think its worked out. Revisionist crap and all.

This. You're just not going to potentially make your biggest threats better.

Kelly goes 5 5 2 2 1 6 in his debut for Iowa. I guess it wouldn't totally shock me if he made his way to the majors under our watch and the FO's familiarity with him.

Caratini just won't stop hitting. 2-2 tonight already. Definitely think he's getting dealt in July.