Bertz

Didn't expect the Bote move. He seems likely to be out of the org after this year.

That's a really good outing for Hughes. He hasn't had major platoon issues to this point, but anecdotally I think he's been spared from especially tough righties. Getting some confirmation that he's totally playable even against tough righties is the sort of thing these last two months should be for.

I was pretty sure Stroman was fine before he went on the IL, but it's nice that he's providing pretty definitively that the stuff in April was just something temporary like the weirdo spring training or the weather.

On the position player side, nothing too crazy IMO. - Wisdom and Higgins should own 1B, Schwindel probably shouldn't take another PA. Wisdom because he probably opens there as the everyday guy next year, and Higgins because we should try to learn how legit his bat is. He's a bad defensive catcher, but if he hits he's at least an option as the backup next year - Mckinstry and Madrigal need to play as much as possible. Nelly's not quite in the same boat, but I'd start protecting him less aggressively and give him more starts against RHP. Barring injury obviously, there should rarely be a lineup that doesn't feature two of Mckinstry/Madrigal/Nelly - It takes a backseat to the two above, but I'd like to see Darius Hill up and get some action. He's probably about the same as Ortega, but being 6 years younger and having minor league options, it'd be nice to know if that's a swap Jed can make over the offseason Pitching is a lot more complicated. But: - At this point Thompson and Steele have shown enough that I like them longer term. They're both getting wobbly lately but it's pretty clearly tied to fatigue. Make sure they get their full complement of innings as safely as possible - I'd like to get Kilian, Newcomb, and Wesneski as many MLB innings as possible as well. I'm not sure how many are available given there were no SP trades, but I'd like to lean here where possible - I'd like to really cycle through short relievers. There's a ton of 40 man issues to consider, but I'd like some of the live arms up, even if they on paper don't seem quite ready. Get at least the beginnings of some answers heading into the winter

Not 100% sure where the 40 is at at this point, but Dermody seems likely to have been called up because he's easily DFA-able.

So those stats were before Perlaza had a 4-hit game with 2 HRs and a double today. It's just a fun all around offensive profile. The swing and miss and the strikeouts are around average. The walks are elite. The power is good. He hits everything in the air BUT ALSO doesn't hit a bunch of popups. The speed seems average-ish. He's a switch hitter who's pretty comparable from both sides of the plate. Honestly if he was still an infielder I'd be letting my expectations get unreasonable. As is I think he settles in as a bat off the bench, but like our favorite bat off the bench.

You can't look at it day-by-day, but Canario's swinging strike rate is now roughly average, after being in the danger zone early on. He has fully leveled up at AA. I'm pretty sure even when Nelly went nuclear at AA last year he was still swinging and missing at a Gallo-esque pace.

I think Davis, Mervis, and Amaya are the biggies. If Davis excels upon returning, it's suddenly very realistic for him to win the CF job out of ST. Between that and Happ sticking around, the OF doesn't need any reinforcements at all this winter, which is great. With Mervis and Amaya, I don't know that there's enough time for them to get pencilled into next year's opening day lineup, but there is enough for them to influence how many resources need to be allocated to their respective positions. Like if Mervis is crushing it, I'm very comfortable just throwing Wisdom and Mervis at 1B and assuming things will work out fine. I don't think there's anything Amaya can do to make me "very comfortable" but I think I could be okay with it.

I think Brad is driving the Perlaza bandwagon and I'm riding shotgun

Curious what the plan is with Newcomb, and the Iowa SPs more broadly, now that neither rental SP got traded. Keegan is clearly gassed, and probably gets shifted to the pen after another couple starts, a la Alzolay last year. Steele seems to have more in the tank, but not a ton more. Hendricks is out for at least another month. Let's say between those three, there's ~15 more starts accounted for. Stroman, Smyly, and Miley presumably make all of their remaining starts as long as they stay healthy, so 25-30 starts. That leaves 15-20 starts for Sampson and the Iowa crew. I assume Kilian is front of the line there, but does Newcomb jump in ahead of Sampson? Does Wesneski have any shot at MLB starts this year?

I still doubt that Jed couldn't get more than the draft pick, but man the league does not like Willson, at least as a catcher.

It still doesn't pass the sniff test for me, but interesting that the Rangers held onto Martin Perez and give a lot of the same reasons.

Keegan's velo is down again tonight. You can tell the innings are piling up and he's hitting a bit of a wall.

Yeah it's really as simple as this. I'm sure Brett or somebody will try to bring up the Qualifying Offer but that's horsefeathers. It'll be like the 75th pick, more than that that was certainly on the table this deadline. An absolute debacle if there's no extension. That said, assuming they do extend, you go into the winter with a mostly complete lineup already. C - Contreras 1B - Wisdom 2B - Madrigal SS - Hoerner 3B - Morel LF - Happ CF - Ortega/Nelly platoon RF - Seiya Bench - Mckinstry, Gomes, Higgins, Bote Iowa - Davis, Mervis, Amaya, Canario That's... actually a really solid group. Payroll's ~$165M, so you can add one more big bat and further push out some of the chaff from the bottom of the roster.

!?!?

Yankees might be grabbing Rodon

A pick between the 2nd and 3rd rounds. It's not nearly enough to change the calculus. He'll get moved.

I'm not worried about Contreras getting moved, there's still options there. The Rays got mentioned a lot this AM. I am wondering if Jed's holding pat on Happ though. Most of the teams that wanted a lefty bat have shot their shot at this point.

So basically the pitch lab needs to find him a breaking balls and then all bets are off. Very fun.