Laika

They are horrendous defensively. SS - Bo is probably below average with a chance to be average (small sample) 2B - Biggio may be average or slightly better than average (small sample) 3B - Shaw sucks now. Biggio may not be an average 3B either. 1B - Vlad is awful. CF - Grichuk's metrics wary wildly. Some think he is good some think he sucks. RF - below average LF - below average C - Jansen is good There are a few positives though: 1) the major prospects on the way will probably (hopefully?) be defensive assets (Groshans and Martin) 2) defensive is one of the things that can improve with age, of course. Young teams/players can get significantly better with work. 3) a few players could move down the spectrum and likely be good defenders. Ex., say a plus SS replaces Bo. That could bump Bo to 2B where he should be plus, Biggio to an OF corner where he should be plus. Similarly a true CF could move Grichuk back to a corner improving two positions.

This is absolutely correct and people probably need to cool their jets. The 2020 team was handed a playoff spot but this team isn't one or two FA/trade acquisitions away from being a slam-dunk actual playoff team (unless they have an incredibly lucky year with health in 2021...) Even during this short season the wheels fell off a lot of the young arms: Borucki had a bad second half. Kay did too. Hatch had a sneaky mediocre year in the bullpen. Pearson did not look dominant and got hurt. Romano got hurt. Merryweather couldn't stay healthy. Thornton got hurt. Pitching prospects will break your heart. People like to think about MLB pitching in terms of plugging 26 man roster holes, but the correct way to think about it tends to be as a system or pipeline. Toronto needs to keep building so that they are the team that has a surplus of arms and can sell a guy like Ross Stripling for younger assets during his 6 years of team control. Or, so they are the team with so much SP depth that they don't have to mess around with guys like Merryweather and Murphy as SP and can just let them succeed in the pen.

Cubs today

I think they won’t pick up Anderson’s option. They’ll gamble that they can upgrade on him for less money in what will be a weird offseason. McGuire probably hangs around as long as possible... if Tellez has offseason knee surgery or something Kirk might be the DH I agree that they likely tender Shaw. Shouldn’t cost much, insures 3B. Ideally he’s just a veteran bench player though

Yeah, it doesn't look awesome. I kind of buy Dolis is an ERA guy because his stuff is really good and he's got some "effectively wild" traits. I'd never want him as one of the best 3 RP on the team though. I could see Hatch is just a rock solid reliever if he can dial in a bit more on his better characteristics (drop some of his more mediocre SP tricks that aren't required in the pen - he doesn't need to throw everything, just his best things!) Borucki was actually awful after his first several appearances so no idea what he really is: July 27 through August 20: 7.2 IP 14 K 6 BB 2 hits 0.00 ERA 1.89 FIP August 21 through end of season: 9.0 IP 7 K 6 BB 10 hits 5.00 ERA 5.08 FIP

I don't think he shows the range or actions of a good SS. Lots of his throws in the second half were just... weird. As a prospect, many assumed he would not be a long-term SS. I guess I just agree with Hurl that he's good enough for now but nothing more.

Here are the interesting stories entering 2021, as I see it: - Is Bo Bichette a real shortstop? - Where does Alejandro Kirk fit in? C or DH... - Who is the CF - still Grichuk? - Will Vladdy lose any weight? Will the team take more control of his development? Will he attempt any approach changes? - What is Biggio's position in 2021? 2B, 3B, or CF... - Who out of Merryweather, Hatch, Borucki, and Kay will be SP in 2021? All of them? Some in Buffalo? - Will any of Walker, Shoe, or Ray be brought back? - Team is close but the biggest need is a real Ace or at least an SP2 to pair with Ryu. Is there money left and will they take a run at one? - Giles is gone and the bullpen without Merryweather or Romano looked very mediocre towards the end. Will Toronto continue bargain bin shopping for RP or will they try to sign/trade from some more reliable or higher end talent? - How good would Danny Jansen's season have been over 162 games? It seemed like he was turning a corner; .290/.371/.516 in the last couple weeks and then this 2 HR playoff game. BB rate was excellent. - How far away are Groshans, Martin, Manoah, and SWR? Will guys like this "skip" a level, sort of, because of non-game development in 2020?

I kind of WANT him to not be a SS so he beefs up a bit and starts launching more dongs

Bo Bichette is not a shortstop. Fair statement or overreaction to this game?

Upload your high school diploma and I will engage in conversation with you in the future

The numbers tell me that I need to start abusing my power and banning people for being morons

Yeah f*** Charlie Montoyo for making those errors and giving up those dingers. Such a horrible player manager.

welp now it's over

Glasnow can lose the zone. Still a chance, you losers.

Yeah pitch in. In any event it doesn't look like Ryu will be able to go deep.

Kyle Hendricks just gave up a 3 run HR on his 106th pitch of the game while facing the top of the lineup for the 4th time. hmmmm

I don't know why they chose Cole over Pearson, Borucki, several other options but I wonder if even a fresh AJ Cole is better than Shoemaker and Ray going through an order multiple times. Shoemaker had a terrible FIP this season and Ray sucked overall and was bad with Toronto too. AJ Cole had a decent year by ERA and FIP. I'm not letting you have any little piece of this. The fact that Cole gave up a bomb and they lost proves nothing. Toronto needs to use weird but thoughtful processes exactly like this to have any chance to win in the playoffs with this pitching staff.

This wasn't noticed by the broadcast or the public but I thought he looked hurt after scoring that run. He might only be healthy enough to pinch hit, again.

I'm not here to defend AJ Cole or the decision to go to him. It's not a connected matter IMO. They had lots of other options.

I think you need to either be in or out with strategies like this. It is either advantageous to have have him pitch the inning or it isn't. If you wait for a sign of trouble you're playing with fire and trying to use some middle-road, fence-sitting strategy like a huge loser would. It's dumb to think that one walk or a bloop single is a sign of trouble. Charlie Montoyo is not Nostradamus - he can't predict when Matt Shoemaker will give up a game-losing home run.

He was really interesting when he first started. He ran out of valuable stories and insight very fast.

RE: Shoemaker I understand that anti-analytics people love anecdotes and examples. Here is a good one for the Shoemaker decision. August 16th 2020 vs Tampa Bay Matt Shoemaker pitches three perfect innings to start the game. Comes out for the fourth. Out, single, walk (was ahead 0-2), strikeout (of a LHB on 5 pitches, so Shoemaker still looks great).... three run homer. Blink of an eye and he has a 6.75 ERA on the afternoon.

I read last week that MLB has already hinted/implied that they will just go with 2020 standings.

I'd probably throw the stats out the window and let Bauer throw 120+ pitches in this one.

sounds like the 2020 Reds