Terminator

41. Chris McElvain, SP Drafted: 8th Round, 2022 from Vanderbilt (CIN) Age 22.3 Height 6′ 0″ Weight 205 Bat /Thr R/R FV 35+ Tool Grades (Present/Future) Fastball Slider Changeup Command Sits/Tops 40/45 55/60 30/50 30/45 89-93 / 95 McElvain spent his first couple of years at Vanderbilt in the bullpen, then moved to the rotation in his draft year. He has a plus two-plane breaking ball and his fastball plays up due to its riding life, but it isn’t hard enough to miss bats within the zone, so McElvain needs to live above the zone to avoid getting hurt. For this reason, he was walk-prone in 2022, but his command actually isn’t bad — it’s just what he has to do to get by. Because he’s so new to a rotation, he may just be scratching the surface in some pitchability areas (that’s where the changeup projection is derived from here), but Vanderbilt isn’t a school that tends to leave developmental meat on the bone, and it’s rare for pitchers moving from the ‘pen to the rotation to add velocity, something McElvain will ideally do. The Reds didn’t send him to an affiliate after the draft, so he’s poised to be rested for the start of 2023, important context to keep in mind if he’s throwing harder at the onset of camp. https://blogs.fangraphs.com/cincinnati-reds-top-46-prospects-2023/

I basically agree with that but if they wait a week or two someone might hit the 60 day DL and then they don't have to cut anyone for Votto.

With Espinal gone I think this is likely to be the squad.

Espinal traded to the Reds! Problems solved.

I love that shoeless guy in the Leafs shirt that stands up and wildly celebrates as it lands. Probably the most Canadian-in-Florida thing I've ever seen lol.

I wonder if Ross has a 60-day IL trick up his sleeve. He could threaten to option Manoah again, thus screwing up his service time. The alternative for him would be that they could put him on the 60-day DL and he could accrue service time at least. I guess if s*** hits the fan in the next couple of months we might need him. Another option is to put Zulu on the 60-day IL with a phantom injury. With the way he's throwing I don't think anyone would question if he's actually hurt or not.

Thanks Dean. It's no Swiss Chalet gift card but that was a nice gesture. Hopefully it's the first of many that I justifiably deserve after all the attacks you've thrown my way these past few weeks. Regardless, consider the hatchet buried. And to add to the Vogelbach discussion, not only would they have to pay him, they'd have to clear ANOTHER 40-man spot for him. They already have to clear one for Serven and I'm scratching my head as to what they'll do there. Having to clear another one for Vogelbach seems really difficult. I agree with this. It's early in the year and some of these guys have been slowly ramping up. Adding another multi-inning guy could be helpful early on. And in the case where Parsons does throw 3+ innings they can just option him down for a fresh arm in Pop anyway.

The Espinal/Biggio two headed monster is eternal. It feels like these guys have been around since the 2015 team. We will never get rid of them and Babe Schneider is the latest casualty.

He definitely is. He projects for 1.9 Steamer600 WAR. That's better than every infielder we have except Bo and Babe Schneider.

Giants currently have Nick Ahmed penciled in as their starting SS. Surely they'd give up a ham sandwich for Espinal.

Yeah I don't even care if they are paying anymore. I'd rather go by myself and pay than be seen with them wearing sweatshirts. My dad even considered shorts once when we went in the summer time but I yelled at him and he changed in to jeans.

Settle an argument for me. When you guys go to Swiss Chalet do you dress up or not? My parents say it's more casual and they laughed at me when I wore a tie and jacket the last time we ate there. But they were wearing sweatshirts and I thought they looked ridiculous. Who is right?

So I take it that you're NOT getting me the Swiss Chalet gift card then?

Not sure I like the idea of an "express" version. The sit-down service is key to the whole experience.

Try and name a better Canadian restaurant than Swiss Chalet. You can't. It is my go to place for fine Canadian cuisine and it's always my first stop as soon as I land at Pearson.

No but I'm willing to travel

His attacks have been relentless, even if none of them have actually landed. I can't see any other way in which he can make this right other than through a Swiss Chalet gift card. If he has any class at all he'll do it but I'm not getting my hopes up.

I believe this is correct. https://www.mlb.com/glossary/transactions/designate-for-assignment#

Going to be endless amounts of stories on the Orioles clubhouse culture.

I want to like you Dean. But then you post insufferable s*** like this. No one said Zulu and Macko are on the immediate call up radar. They weren't even mentioned in the post you replied to. But you use them as a complete non sequitur so you can take a cheap shot all because you're a giant *******.

So when I used the word "perhaps" it was a queue to alert any potential reader that I might just in fact be spitballing there. If you want to take it literal and attack me for it (even when you go on to agree with the sentiment!) feel free but it makes you look really nitpicky Dean. When I said I doubt that Zulu gets DFA'd I was referring to some of my posts like this one right here: https://www.bluejaysmessageboard.com/threads/11179-General-Blue-Jays-Discussion-Thread-(2024)?p=1778076#post1778076 I expect a full apology and if you have any class at all Dean you will make it sincere. Perhaps you should even send me a gift card to a classy establishment like Swiss Chalet or something.

Wow, more attacks I've said I doubt Zulu gets DFA'd plenty of times but I do think it's time to start thinking about it. He's 26 years old and still can't hit the broad side of a barn. Also, if you look at the 40-man it's not an easy choice right now. The board consensus seems to be to DFA a 2022 All-Star infielder with a Steamer600 of 1.9 (higher than all our other infielders outside of Bo and Schneider). I'm not saying that's wrong but it makes about as much sense as DFA'ing a 26 year old relief prospect with 30 command.

Would need to cut someone from the 40-man to add Clement but perhaps they could DFA Zulu or something instead of Espinal.

So in the 3 ABs I've seen in Spring Training he hit a homer off Wheeler and then got a walk and a single against Gausman. The guy's spring slashline is 1.000/1.000/2.500 against bon a fide MLB aces. I've seen enough, bring him north.

Not true