apete6

Welp. This team STINKS. They've wasted probably the best seasons that Stroman and Swanson will ever have. The farm system is good, but there are no guaranteed all-stars in the bunch. We could be bad for a loooooong time.

It's an acceptable line. People are clamoring for a new center, but both Whitehair and Patrick are better at C than probably literally anyone we have on the D-line is at their position. Unless that is rectified in the draft and/or with training camp cuts, the offense will have to put up 30 points per game to even be competitive next year as their D line is one of the worst position groups in the entire NFL.

Fulmer was good yesterday!

I've been doing like a million of the draft simulator things. While I love the idea of trading down for more picks, it would be tough to have the #1 pick and not end up with a guy who is a day 1 starter and likely pro-bowler. Overall, I looked at the roster again and can't believe how bad the defensive line/edge is. If they used 4 picks on the defensive line, I wouldn't bat an eye--there's a chance all 4 of those guys would get the most playing time on the D-line this year, it's that bad currently.

The guy has gotten worse both of the last 2 years prior to this one and the 2nd half of last year on the Twins was worse than the 1st half with the Tigers. It's more than a this year thing. Obviously I wouldn't expect him to have a 8.68 ERA and 1.93 WHIP all season, but combined with the previous couple of years of performance, I don't really know why it was ever expected that he would be a major part of a competitive bullpen. For a team that is probably going to be tracking within 1-3 games of making/missing the playoffs, every game that he pitches in could be the difference in the season outcome. Same with Hosmer and Torrens on the offensive side. This isn't like Juan Soto having a rough April.

No words from the Fulmer supporters after another bad outing on Sunday in a less pressure (but still relevant) game situation. It's bad. Real bad. Guy doesn't need to see any part of a close game until something gets figured out.

Does Verlander throw 60% of his pitches at 79 now? The old 1.80 WHIP is looking awesome. Guy was afraid to throw a strike to Jason Heyward in the year 2023.

He has thrown more than 1/2 of his pitches this season as cutters that average 89.6 mph. Also, 96 is basically every single relief pitcher in baseball in 2023. He shouldn't be pitching in high leverage situations for a decent team. There's a reason he was signed so late. https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/michael-fulmer-605242?stats=statcast-r-pitching-mlb

Why is this guy pitching in the 9th inning? Every other team in the league is closing with a guy who throws 99 and has a wipeout slider and we're trotting out a soft tossing crafty veteran who is trying to pitch like Mariano Rivera and failing spectacularly. Fire this guy into the sun (or the 6th inning).

Even if the hot start is a mirage and Wisdom settles in to the .230/.300/.500 range (like he was in 2021) with solid defense at 3B and positional flexibility to occasionally give you some innings in the outfield and 1B, that's a 2-3 win player for $763,000 this year then 3 years of arbitration after. A very valuable commodity even throughout his arbitration years.

Thank you!

Maybe dumb question. If he opts out, are we allowed to offer him the Qualifying Offer and get compensation if he signs elsewhere (or, possibly, use it to offset our signing of another QO free agent)?

I would like access to the Social/Non-Sports Forums. Thanks.

I'd love it. Not sure how much they'll be willing to go down that road after the Addison Russell fiasco, though. https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2850051-dodgers-julio-urias-suspended-20-games-for-violating-domestic-violence-policy

I see people continuing to suggest trading down for more and more picks. I understand the team sucks and you need a ton of talent, but to not even get a blue chip player out of the #1 overall pick would hurt. I like DJ Moore, but don't consider him a blue chip guy (which I'll define as a top 5 player at your position or top150 player in the entire league). Maybe you don't get one of those at #9, either, but you at least give yourself a better chance than at 15 or whatever. I still probably would have just taken whatever Houston was willing to give to move to #1 and take Will Anderson #2 overall unless you subsequently got bowled over by an offer the night of the draft. I think Anderson could be a Myles Garrett type guy and will be an awesome blue chip level player.