We Got The Whole 9

please turn off your Tapatalk signature before I block your posts At the risk of seeming like I don't give a horsefeathers I should advise you that I am quite the daredevil Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

Weird that it took a dude who hadn't played baseball in about a decade a while to adjust to professional baseball. Over his last 15 games Tebow is hitting 327/413/436 and probably will be promoted soon. I don't care how much you hate a guy, his progress is remarkable. Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

Didn't notice Berg got promoted to Iowa Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

Lackey has a 3.4 SIERA and Jake a 3.5 Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

I think teams are going to be all over Burks in trade talks. Little excites FO more than toolsy OF and when they show excellent plate discipline to boot... the ceiling is too high to ignore. Vosler, too (sorry, I mentioned this in a past thread). I fully expect him to be high on the list of players we make available. That infield versatility along with a bat that is awakening, showing phenomenal control of the zone. If he keeps this up for another couple months, he's in AAA and knocking on the door. Those 2, I fully expect to have some high value. They are having remarkable seasons thus far. Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

As many HR+BB as IP makes it a pretty easy choice. Hopefully he gets right in Iowa. Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

Hitters had an .890 OPS against Butler the *first* time through the order last year, he walked a couple fewer guys but it's also harder to walk guys when all hitters are hitting .328 (!) against you. The point here is not that Butler is terrible, I think he's potentially a very nice find. The point is that in all of these cases you're looking for improvement beyond what they've done thus far. Butler has gotten shelled in MLB and been effective with weak peripherals in AAA. Montgomery has been effective with weak peripherals in MLB. If you start Montgomery you can keep Butler in AAA and have both being treated as SP for potential future seasons. If Montgomery struggles you can always turn to Butler too. But by starting Butler you're continuing to inch the door shut on Montgomery starting, because in the next few weeks he's not going to be capable of throwing enough IP to be considered for the 2018 rotation. It continues to mystify me that the front office talked up Montgomery as a future starter for the entire 2nd half of the season, Maddon trusted him in the playoffs more than Rondon and Strop, and now they won't let him have a role beyond next-gen Travis Wood even though there is ample opportunity. I have extremely high regard for their evaluations of pitchers, but in this case I have a hard time understanding why they aren't giving Montgomery at least the briefest of opportunities to fail out of that role. Butler just got off the DL for an ankle injury too and hasn't been lighting AAA on fire, so it'd be trivially easy to justify. Well, Monty's role is becoming one of the biggest x-factors a pitching staff can have these days. I get where you're coming from, I also want Monty to get a shot at the rotation, and coming into this year, I had him locked in for 2018. But that role, that bridge guy who can save the pen after a SP gets shelled or pushed out early, and pitch multiple innings, is really invaluable. Especially right now as half of our rotation is shaky and nobody is pitching deep into games, they feel like they're gonna need that bridge guy probably often. So they don't want to lose that weapon. But honestly I think with those 2 as SP you can expect probably similar results, with maybe a slight lean in Monty's favor. Something like a 1.5 KBB and 5 innings at best of hopefully decently suppressed contact and likely a couple runs. So I think they figure they'd rather get that and still have their multi-inning guy who they can count on and have needed quite often in the early going. But I agree and want Monty to get his rotation shot. Maybe as the 1-4 settle in and hopefully start going deeper into games, we won't have such a dire need for that bridge role and can afford to take that chance. For now they probably prefer stopgaps for the 5th spot. Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

To me, he's kind of tailor-made for Oakland. Why would Beane trade him? They've got 5 young guys(or cheap at least) in Graveman, Triggs, Manaea, Hahn, and Cotton. My guess is Beane values that a bunch and allows for trading off Gray, who probably scares him at this point anyway. Actually, your response, I basically typed out the same thing but I erased it before I posted... so I agree with your point 100% I guess the thought process behind it is that he's old with major risk. Maybe Beane would want to sell high if he does keep this up through June. Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

I like Montgomery in the role that he's in. His walk rate is a huge concern for a SP. I feel like he's great to go out there and run through a lineup once but you may not want to expose him much more than that. Not saying Butler has a better chance to thrive in the rotation but I think he controls his pitches more consistently at least. Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

Teheran is so inconsistent. Currently sitting with the 4th worst xFIP in the league. He's like a box of chocolates... or the pitching version of Starlin Castro. Velocity is also down but who knows what to trust these days in that regard. I don't know man, he's a pretty overrated player. Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

What do you guys think of Andrew Triggs? Dude is 28 and slipped through the cracks, he throws his breaking balls more than half of the time, and his periphs are (and were in milb, too) excellent, with great command of the strike zone. Barely any service time, 90 innings of 3.5 xFIP. Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

Both average about 5.5 innings per start, 20-22 K%, up to this year Odorizzi had been a 7-8 BB%, which is where MF is. MF gets about 5% more GB, and over his last 200 IP, JO has been more of a mid-4s FIP guy, which is what MF has been but his sample is only 250 IP. Purely by results he's pretty much as good as JO is, as JO is trending in the wrong direction. Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk Yes but: - Odorizzi has done it way more often at all levels of ball - Does it against tougher competition at the ML level - If JO is trending down already at 27, why would you want to spend precious resources on a guy with a watered down version of his skill set only two years younger? I mean if he were super cheap to pick up that would be a find, but the easy/safe assumption is that anyone and everyone will demand the Cubs pay a premium Because there's still a lot of time to unearth that upside and I think realistically the best we are going to get will be a MORP type. I'd rather get a guy in that case that has many years of control. I really dont want to simply be in the rental market every season. If he brings down the HR rate he should be pretty decent. Too bad Atlanta wouldn't consider Newcomb. I really think Candy to Atlanta makes perfect sense. Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

I feel like he's Odorizzi with more team control and we've shown significant interest in Odorizzi. Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk That would be a huge step up for him. Unfortunately there's nothing to really indicate it's on the way. Odorizzi's got a deeper set of pitches, better command, better control, is a way better bet to stay healthy, has a more successful background, has at least logged the innings they're (likely) shopping for... Both average about 5.5 innings per start, 20-22 K%, up to this year Odorizzi had been a 7-8 BB%, which is where MF is. MF gets about 5% more GB, and over his last 200 IP, JO has been more of a mid-4s FIP guy, which is what MF has been but his sample is only 250 IP. Purely by results he's pretty much as good as JO is, as JO is trending in the wrong direction. Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

The thing with him is that he doesn't do anything well besides throw hard. He's young and cheap, but beyond that there's no appeal. Even his minor league career doesn't indicate significantly higher upside - he was more solid than spectacular at his best. Some might point to Arrieta as an example of terrible to awesome, but Arrieta at his worst in the minors was better than anything Foltynewicz did, was a significantly more accomplished amateur before that, and had way better breaking stuff. I feel like he's Odorizzi with more team control and we've shown significant interest in Odorizzi. Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

I didn't include him because they're expecting to compete soon. Hell, they went into the year expecting 75ish wins this year. With their new stadium, they're going to be aggressive quick. I do NOT think its going to work great, but I think they make a strong push this off season. They like Foltynewicz, I don't see them moving him. If they did, I guess they'd want a major league ready position player, ala Happ(off season type of move) I think you're probably right but they are getting a 250 wOBA from their 3B position, manned by 32 y/o Adonis Garcia. What about a Candy-led package? That would really solidify their future infield with Swanson and Albies. Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

What about Foltynewicz? I realize he's underwhelmed but he's got a powerful arm, decent KBB, only 25, should have upside left but maybe he doesn't really fit the Atlanta rebuild timeline... they could conceivably move him. Any interest, and what would you guys expect the cost to be? Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

When pitchers pound the zone we tend to get dominated Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

Miguel Sano currently carries a 1.7% soft contact rate. No other hitter in baseball is under 7%, and Miguel Cabrera is the only hitter to post a season under 7% this decade. Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

IIRC he didn't get a K in his 1st start either Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

I found it interesting that Pirates P Mitch Keller (evokes images of Dazed and Confused, for me) says the organization has set a certain % of pitches that they want to be off-speed in every start for their prospects. Is this common practice? Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

Candy is about to Schwarber '15 this team back into beating the horsefeathers out of all who oppose Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

I randomly started watching vids of his prime years the other day and he was one of the best I've ever seen at going to the opposite field. He had 1 year where he only pulled 9 HR out of 50. And he was hitting 450 oppo shots with total ease. Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

Anybody ready to deal for a pitching prospect? Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

Haven't seen such a swift fall from grace since the 07 Bears Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

On the bright side, the pitchers that will actually matter to this team at the end of the season did hold the best offense in baseball to 13 runs in essentially 4 games... But my god are the young hitters besides KB disappointing as hell. Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk