Can't believe the Twins of all teams couldn't find a way to keep him.
I do think we may have the same problem as we are due to get 3 pitchers back next week. Then Bieber and Yimi are due back later this month.
Some injury stuff will most certainly happen but even so that's 5 pitchers plus SWR that need to be added. Here are the guys we can move:
Dallas is an obvious option candidate
Seabold is an obvious DFA candidate
Macko can be optioned, though that leaves Fluharty as are only lefty
Maybe we eat the 12+ mil on Yariel's final two years? I think he's got some potential if he can find his command but will we have the patience as a slow starting contender.
Spencer Miles has barely thrown in pro ball and is blowing past his career high in innings so he could be due for a phantom injury?
Maybe SWR proves he's a team player and suffers a phantom injury?
A lot of guys have been worked really hard. Maybe some phantom injuries to lighten their workload would help.
Idk all these bullpen days have been a disaster and Kirk is a major improvement over Val who is a major improvement over Hineyman
Barger probably less of an impact but I would like to see them work him into the infield some more
If Cease, Scherzer and Nance are in fact back next week it will be interesting to see what they do.
My guess:
Seabold is DFA'd and he'll elect FA.
Juenger optioned.
Macko optioned.
Yariel survives bc if he's DFA'd again he can elect FA and we are on the hook for his contract. Though at 6.5 AAV for two more years after this one, they could just bite the bullet now and keep Macko.
The good news is that this is hopefully the last day of the year where the roster is a complete mess due to injuries.
Pitching:
Cease will be able to take his next turn through the rotation. Huge.
Scherzer should also be able to take his next turn through the rotation. Need the innings.
Nance will be back next week too. He's been dealing this year.
Bieber should be back later this month. This is pretty big addition as Steamer thinks he's a 3 WAR talent.
Yimi could be back later this month but I'm not confident.
Hitting:
Kirk will be back next week which is massive. I see some people downplaying this because Val has been good but Kirk is our best player and it has ripple effects throughout the lineup.
Barger will also be back. Our corner OFers have been good so this one has less of an impact.
Letting the Orioles skate their way into a split and then getting swept by the AA-led Braves is my own personal 9/11.
So if it looks like we are going to lose today I trust that everyone will be extra kind to me.
Thanks.
As outstanding as that movie was, that is an Angels specific meme and doesn't have much usage on a Blue Jays board.
I personally recommend professional wrestling .gifs and have used them to great success over the years.
Team has basically been treading water which is frustrating but also kind of okay given all the injuries and that the fact that the AL sucks.
Seemed like we were building some momentum until the Cease injury which really hurts the entire pitching staff. We now have two bullpen games every 5 days which is insane.
But things should get better on the injury front in a hurry.
Cease, Kirk, Nance and Scherzer should be back next week
Barger back sometime this month
Bieber should be back by the end of the month
May get Yimi back this month but I'm not counting on it
Olerud was actually on to something with his Nimmala critiques. The hit tool is a concern and as he ages he better start showing signs of improvement there. And there's a lot of history to back that up.
But it took me about a month's worth of posts to understand what he was getting at. Has some useful insights and isn't a part of the hivemind so we might learn something.
Glad to see it. Check swings were probably the one MLB rule that nobody really knew how to define and that wasn't called consistently.
The NBA is a total mess on what constitutes a foul or not. And the NFL still can't seem to agree on what a catch, holding, or pass interference is.
Good on the MLB for getting this stuff figured out.
But even if he's tubing them down the middle, tipping pitches, is a mental midget, or whatever else could possibly be wrong with him....teams aren't making hard contact off of him at all.
87.7 EV against him is the best of his career.
Yes exactly!
You could come up with whatever extraneous reason you want and maybe I'd buy it. But even in the worst case that might explain why he's closer to a true talent 4.00 ERA guy and not the 2.75-ish that his peripherals suggest.
A .516 BABIP is insane. Position players pitching don't even get close to this.
I'm sure this was discussed at length in the GDT this weekend but I was looking under the hood on what is wrong with Jeff Hoffman and I cannot figure anything out other than he is experiencing perhaps the worst luck in MLB history.
By all indicators he should be one of the top RPs in baseball. The only stat that really stands out is a .516 BABIP (and perhaps his 61.6% which is laregly a product of that BABIP). This would be the worst BABIP for any season in MLB history for any pitcher with a minimum of 25 innings pitched.