Bertz

Ryan Jensen starting tomorrow night at...6:60??

lol

Yeah, this was the Sox best chance and they didn't get the job done. Kind of like the Cubs at the start of the run everyone talks about their bats but it's the pitching that really made the team special. Meanwhile Rodon is a FA, Lynn will be 35 next year, and Cease hasn't shown what he did this year before. They're going to slide Kopech in, and that will help, but this rotation is going to regress a lot. It'll still be quite good, but there's really no place to go but down from #1. Can the offense pick up the slack? You look at Robert, Eloy, and Vaughn and you probably think "Of Course!" but we all saw how assuming your guys will keep improving turns out. And even on this side of the ball, they have no 2B, and their 1B and C are starting to get pretty old. I assume they still are willing to spend resources to do some stuff this winter, though likely nothing huge. So at that point you'd expect a slightly worse team next year? But then you have to think about the rest of the division. It's been complete horsefeathers the last few years, but that might not still be the case next year. The Twins and Tigers are expected to be pretty active this winter. The Indians and Royals will likely make a few moves, and have some significant help coming from the farm imminently. So even if the Sox hold serve talent-wise, it's not going to be nearly as easy next year. They're not going to crash and burn, but they really needed to at least make some noise during these playoffs.

Wasn't there talk of some of Milwaukee's own 'home-cookin' hijinks' during the 2018 & 2019 seasons? I'm seem to recall Yelich's number being absurd at home, especially his power number those two seasons (22/14 & 27/17). Then the Astros got busted at the end of 2019 and remarkably, Yelich becomes worse, like horrible. Honestly I think it's as simple as his gruesome knee injury. I don't know how you give a guy 9 figures without seeing him play post injury, especially when you have him under control for so long already (IIRC it was 3 tears remaining at the time).

https://twitter.com/Bernstein/status/1447997432567058434?t=qakas669DPm3PZpYLLSiOQ&s=19

Fixed, they made a new tweet to fix a typo

Longenhagen wasn't impressed earlier this year either This year has not alleviated my belief that TINSTAAC should also be a thing

Four scoreless innings, 5 Ks. Guess who had over 5.5 strikeouts. I had Shane McLanahan over 4.5 the other night as part of a parlay. He struck out the side in the first and then no one else after.

Brewers had runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs, and 8-9-1 coming up. They didn't score AND burned Freddy Peralta with a pinch hitter. Huge swing for the game there.

Oakland really stands out here. Padres and Yankees maybe a too, depending on how much the luxury tax limit changes

Yeah, I think this is where I'm at, with the added bit that with how much brain drain has happened in Tampa the last few years I'd be a bit more comfortable we're truly getting the best and brightest out of Cleveland. So come on down James Harris!

https://twitter.com/JATayler/status/1446590751652163585?t=FVrvb2jlwUjjtw6YtjyNPg&s=19

I'm guessing Craig's option does not get picked up, bring him home this winter

https://twitter.com/JATayler/status/1446578122686701569?t=yL8L0mb0Fer2js09-qwnqA&s=19

I frankly love this idea

Luckily pretty much every one on both sides have rightfully poo poo'd that. I think the expectation should be this idea that was floated a few years ago https://nypost.com/2020/02/10/mlb-plotting-playoff-expansion-with-reality-tv-twist/ I think the players will try to keep it to 12 teams, but this is what the owners want. So if even they're wanting to cap it at 14 I think we're safe from last year's nonsense coming back. I hope so, that who playoffs was so weird and felt fake (also because of the neutral sites and lack of fans until later on). People on twitter always joke about the Dodgers Mickey Mouse Championship but it really does feel like that. It doesn't feel like the Dodgers won a legit World Series last year. I don't love giving the Dodgers credit, but honestly I think most of the mickey mouse stuff last year made it harder for them to win, not easier. But I do think they probably need to win another one to fully cement their status as an all-time group. And while they're certainly not in trouble, I do think their contract situation is about to start getting sticky enough that they're no longer going to waltz to 100+ wins every year, so this is likely their last best shot.