Hairyducked Idiot

Like it's 5-0 and the Pirates can suck it. There were some close pitches in the walk leading to Rizzo's HRs, but they were legit balls by pitchtrax

.827 OPS now. This offseason we can trade him for way better pitchers than we could have last offseason. Well played, Theo.

Castro is platinum. Stupid Pirates go squish.

This is promising.

Some people thought so, but those people were teh dumbs. CJ Edwards was the prize. But he's working his way back from shoulder fatigue :( Ramirez and Grimm are both pitching well in the MLB bullpen, though.

If that's obstruction the rule is dumb.

Stats and slash line are not synonymous.

Your "one" was incorrect. You don't have to be a scout to look at more than slash lines. That's a terrible answer. And if you stop and think about it for a moment, you'll admit it. There's this whole universe between "thinking Jason Parks is kinda dumb and wrong sometimes" and "only looking at slash lines."

Damnation by faint praise.

I hate your stupid team and you by extension.

It's not so much that Almora's performance lowers his projection as it really nails what he is. A very low-ceiling offense performer. His lack of Ks speaks well of his ability to put bat on ball at an acceptable rate all the way up to the majors, but how much power and walks can we really expect him to add from 20 to 24? His defense better be every bit as good as advertised, which is definitely not something that happens with regularity no matter how much guys like Parks drool over it. If it does, he's probably going to be a useful major leaguer. Without ceiling, without performance, I just can't put him in the top-50. I understand why a guy like Parks would, but I think that's because a player like Almora hits his blind spots pretty hard (or more accurately, excels at the parts of the game he overrates the most).

Uh you? Uhhh no. Almora has a .590 OPS. If anyone were scouting only the slash line, they wouldn't ask "is he out of the top 50." They'd say he wasn't a prospect at all. "herr derr, you only scout the slash line" is idiotic baseball hipsterism at its worst.

Name one person here who posts regularly about the minors who looks "only" at slash lines.

Wasn't that offside? That didn't look like a backpass?

Yeah, who cares if they perform. I've *seen* them. With my *eyes.* BP has become so awful.

Everyone not nailed down. Other than Samardzija, I don't see anyone who could be dealt that makes a difference for 2015.

Only if there's a team out there that needs a lefty reliever and thinks reliever ERA means something.

It truly is crazy how much hemisphere matters.

I've been well aware of both.

I wish the trade deadline would get here so projecting 2015 lineups could start being a thing. If we just went with what we already have in the organization, minus the inevitably traded Samardzija, I think we'd be looking at: Lake/Alcantara/Bryant* (Sweeney, Ruggiano) Valbuena/Castro/Baez*/Rizzo (Barney, Watkins) Castillo (Lopez) Wood/Arrieta/Jackson/Hendricks/Grimm? Rondon/Strop/Ramirez/Vizcaino/Rivero/Wright/Russell (Rosscup?) *-(up in late April after obligatory service time delay) Thoughts: I don't want to work through all the arbitration estimates, but that team can't cost more than about $45m. Tons of tons of room to work with. There's still plenty of room to add depth up and down. I just can't see them going huge on a guy like Scherzer or a major trade. They didn't spend all this time building assets and flexibility to blow it all on one big swing, especially one that might be a bit premature. Whether they have the money or not, this front office has decided that 6-year megadeals on 31-year-old pitchers or whatever are bad policy. I do expect them to be active, adding veteran depth through free agency. I'd guess we get an outfielder, at least one backup infielder, a backup catcher, and two starting pitchers. I really think some non-tenders are coming. Russell and Barney seem obvious possibilities. They definitely need to keep working on starting pitching depth. That's probably going to be true for a long time. Epstein made it pretty much explicit the other day what we'd already guessed: They see pitchers as bad long-term investments and are willing to patch year-to-year. I hate trying to convert relievers, but you probably need to, unless you get someone in the Samardzija or Hammel deals that you don't hate having take some starts in 2015. If they were serious about 2015 being a "go for it" year, they'd keep Samardzija. He just fits too beautifully into this roster at a good price. I don't think they are trying to get a top-5 pick in 2015, but I don't think they are planning to commit much to it either. Sort of a transition year where they are willing to win if some guys adjust to the big leagues quickly, but not that upset if it doesn't happen. $@%#$ me Tanaka would look so sexy at the top of that rotation and significantly improve the outlook.

I think we get one and a borderline guy who can start or come off the bench. By May next year, we get Alcantara in CF, Bryant in RF (maybe LF?) and Baez at 2b. Valbuena at 3B? Yes. I didn't sleep much last night and am kind of foggy, but Baez has been working at 2b and not 3b on those occasions where they have him taking balls elsewhere, right? If I'm misremembering, just flip them.

I think we get one and a borderline guy who can start or come off the bench. By May next year, we get Alcantara in CF, Bryant in RF (maybe LF?) and Baez at 2b.

Hey, another guy for Theo & co. to finish 2nd in the bidding for. FUN! Want want want.

Anyone have Garza throwing it into the stands yet again?

Boxes checked. Call 'im up.