Terminator

Wow, indeed!

I never attacked you for not liking the Brad Hand trade. I called you out for saying Atkins' 2021 performance was a complete failure when the guy added a Cy Young winner, a 45 homer 2B, a couple of 3 WAR SPs, George Springer, an effective lefty bench bat, a RP who put up 1.79 ERA in over 37 innings, and another reliever who put up a 3.30 ERA in over 30 innings. It's like saying Cindy Crawford is ugly because she has a mole.

I never said I don't like AA. I even said "which is fine, but still" because I didn't want to get into an argument over AA. I thought he did a solid job. I will forever be grateful to him for ending the playoff drought. That was a rough 20 years. But that 2015 team was not set up for long term success, hence the "which is fine, but still." It had a 2 year window and that's it. AA then went to the Dodgers and has seemingly changed his philosophy a bit and then landed in a very good situation in Atlanta. He's doing a great job there. My larger point was that you are harping on how bad Atkins f***ed up 2021 because he didn't address the bullpen. He did. And on top of it he added a 45 homer 2B, a Cy Young winner, George Springer, and a couple of 3 WAR starting pitchers. That's one of the most monumentally brilliant seasons that a GM has had in the past decade. It might be the best in franchise history though I'm sure Pat Gillick had a couple as well. And on top of it, unlike what AA did here (who again I like), Atkins has built this team with a far larger window. The 2015-2016 teams had two years and that's it. With Atkins we made the Covid playoffs in 2020 (for whatever that is worth), missed out on the final day of the season in 2021, made it last year in 2022 and the team is in prime shape to make it again in 2023. Next year and 2025 look like good bets as well. The franchise is in good shape.

I don't know enough about the justice system in the DR. None of this looks good at all and seems pretty perilous for Franco, both legally as well as what it means for him getting back on the field. But that said, couldn't a review by the Attorney General also mean that he's quickly cleared of all wrongdoing? It definitely looks like he's a disgusting scumbag but I don't know if the DR legal system will cover for a rich ballplayer or not.

Wow!

At this point if Vlad wants to sign an extension he's going to have to take a paycut on the AAV of his arb years.

Yankees are such a mess. That loss yesterday was perfect. I think they blew a 5 run led heading into the 9th. Michael Kay was on the verge of a breakdown. We face them a bunch at the end of the year. They might be throwing in the towel by then. Resting Judge and Cole, etc.

It really is crazy. He has turned in to Eric Hosmer (career .276/.335/.427).

Coming out of a rebuilding phase (because AA left them an old expensive team which is fine, but still), the FO: -Signed George Springer -Signed Semien who hit 45 bombs -Signed Robbie Ray who won the Cy Young -Traded for Matz who put up 3 WAR -Made one of the biggest trades at the deadline for Berrios As for the bullpen specifically, they chose to spend most of their capital on the above. They did make the following bullpen moves though: -Traded the corpse of Joe Panik for Adam Cimber (1.79 ERA in 37 innings) and Corey Dickerson (slashed .282/.329/.450 for us). I still don't know how Atkins did this. -Traded Tellez for Richards who put up 3.30 WAR in over 30 innings. Francis was also a part of that deal and has been a nifty bullpen piece for us this year. -They also signed Kirby Yates (probably the only one on this list who they invested significant capital in to) who didn't pan out, Tyler Chatwood who didn't pan out and David Phelps who gave us a good 10 innings before contributing more the next year. -Trades for Brad Hand and Soria who didn't work out. That team had a run differential of +183 and a pytho W-L of 99-63. "ROSS ATKINS FAILED. THEY DIDN'T EVEN MAKE THE PLAYOFFS" lmao

He should to adopt two different plate approaches. Wait for his pitch and try to pull it into the seats until it gets to two strikes. Then he can try and hammer low and away if he wants and one of his hard ground balls actually isn't that bad in a two strike count.

Yeah he seems to be running on fumes to me and that .388 BABIP (career high) seems to be doing him wonders. But his vetrin presents really helps him play up his value. Or maybe he's just always been a smart player. Compare him to Vlad who is slightly faster but because he's always playing hero ball he's a garbage baserunner, maybe the worst I've ever seen from a slow guy running into outs perspective. Belt on the other hand seemingly keeps himself in shape (imagine Vlad's sprint speed at age 35 at this rate) and knows his limits. Same thing with defense and probably even pitch selection/walk rate.

You've got applaud this man's never ending crusade against the APOLOGISTS and the HOMERS. He won't rest until they are destroyed.

Reminds me of twisted logic ruining the fantasy thread. That's what I think of it.

At the risk of being labeled a "poster", "Atkins apologist" and "homer", didn't Atkins trade for Adam Cimber that year who went on to post a 1.69 ERA in over 37 innings? Seems like that should count toward addressing the bullpen?

Craig Biggio's son is batting 5th? lol imagine if this guy could hit .240 they'd be batting him leadoff

Craig Biggio's son is batting 5th tonight. Akin to the Little League coach playing his son at SS and batting him cleanup.

In some ways it's baked into the acquisition of the player, especially with Kirk. They signed him under the radar the way they did because he looks like that. If he was a chiseled 6'1'' 210 pounds with the same exact talent his signing money probably skyrockets. Body type could have also played a factor with Vlad and Manoah as well. Perhaps Vlad signs for even more money and Manoah gets drafted even higher. Sure would be nice to see them get it all under control though.

I'm sure the team tries to push good habits on them but they are employees not pets. Some players are just lost causes and struggle with their weight just like normal people do (they are still people after all). Others struggle with alcohol and drugs too. I've read several stories about the Giants and Red Sox and how they tried to work with Pablo Sandoval. They would put two handlers in his hotel room each night and he would still find a way to sneak out and go eat a large pizza all to himself.

Bringing Manoah back for what was basically a month kind of worked out. He gave us 6 starts where the team went 4-2. He averaged 4.8 innings per start and had a 4.91 ERA with a similar FIP. That definitely stinks but there are teams using worse starters than that. He ate some innings during the dog days of summer when we didn't have many off days. Would Bowden Francis have done any better? Maybe. But it was also probably worth seeing if Manoah could get back to anywhere close to what he was prior. It's pretty clear he's not and with Ryu back it makes sense to send him back down. See you next year pal (hopefully AT LEAST 20 pounds lighter).

Good move

Mods

The other possibility is that Ryu needs a little time to get over the knee bruise so he's going to skip a start on the IL.

They said Ryu was ok but my only other thought in addition to yours is that they feel he needs to skip a start after the ball to his knee.

He was a generational 70 FV talent that is playing like a 40 FV. Yikes

Ok I see where you are coming from. Yeah right now this thing is looking like a coin flip with the Mariners. Fangraphs likes our odds better than theirs for whatever that is worth. We need to get healthy ASAP. Bo especially.