Orgfiller

The fact that it was so targeted towards the fans makes me think he's hinting at some type of media role? If it was in a coach or FO capacity I feel like he would've kept that more under wraps. On the other hand, I'm cracking up at the thought of KK as a coach teaching the non Varsho outfielders. "What do you mean you couldn't perfectly read the ball off the bat in a millisecond and immediately burst into your 100th percentile sprint speed to run down the ball like a robot?"

Brian Serven honestly made Heineman look like David Ross.

Jansen has played over 100 games in his career once in his rookie season, this year's 94 was his highest since. It also came with a significant drop in offensive performance including a big power drop, and he's been seeing a steady drop in defensive performance for some time now as well - he's elite at blocking and bad at everything else. He will also be 30 on Opening Day, but in catcher years that's not that bad, he just will very likely be out of his prime. I love Danny, would like to have him back for cheap, but I think his market won't look the best. Even when his performance has been good his availability is a major concern in what's already the most physically demanding position. He honestly should consider a one year bounceback contract with an opt-out/player option for year #2 that guarantees him at least a 50% share of the load, which is the most he's likely to play anyway regardless.

First Angels move this offseason that's made sense. O'Hoppe and d'Arnaud is a solid tandem behind the plate, and 2/12 is relatively peanuts for a solid veteran catcher.

That's an interesting thought. His xERA has been < 4.00 in 3 out of the last 4 seasons. Maybe a team like Seattle (won't do it as they have the pitching depth already), the Dodgers, the f***ing Orioles and their abomination, or the newly pitcher friendly ballpark owners the Toronto Blue Jays, can bring the nice Canadian kid home. But with a QO attached, how much are any of these teams actually willing to offer him? 3/45?

Yeah he probably would've matched or surpassed Wacha's deal, but very unlikely he would've gotten a higher AAV than the QO. At 34, this was likely his last chance at a decent sized multi-year deal, so with the QO attached he pretty much has to take it or it could backfire. Of course, if he proves he's a legit starter and repeats his 2024, he'll still be in line for a decent payday. Pivetta is an interesting one, he's been an exactly average starter his whole career with very enticing K numbers, but he just gives up so many bombs that he simply can't be trusted, and doesn't chew through innings. I could see a team looking at him and saying "I can work with this", but I feel like he'd be smart to take the QO as well.

Yup, this is the Brewers' MO. They did it with Hader, and they won't be afraid to do it again with Williams. Trevor Megill has been quietly dominant for two seasons now, and they'll probably turn DL Hall into a dominant reliever since he can't stay healthy as a starter and is cheap.

Damn, the continued injuries must have taken a big toll on him. Definitely teams out there that would take a chance on him, but the constant rehabbing must have been exhausting and destroyed his mental capacity to keep taking it on. Also was a high draft pick and top prospect, so it probably affected his self confidence as a player to see poor performance as a result of injuries.

Heh, perfect time for you to be proven wrong. Incredible game 3.

lmao One thing that could influence this decision, is that Vientos is a f***ing horrendous defender at 3B, like he looks hilariously out of place over there. So many missed plays that an average defender would make, good thing he can hit. He's a 1B/DH for me next season, likely replaces Pete Alonso for them. Can't even hide him in LF since he's already 23rd percentile in sprint speed at age 24 lol. Not like Baty is any better obviously.

It's kind of wild how Varsho is generally accepted to be the best defensive outfielder in the MLB, but because he's too good at two positions instead of one he gets snubbed from winning a GG at any one position because he didn't accumulate enough time in them. Why not just give him the award at whichever position he's played the most at, or just go back to giving GGs for OF instead of LF, CF and RF.

The Padres went scoreless their last 24 innings after the 6-run 3rd inning in game 3. Woof. Talk about going ice cold after having all the “momentum”.

Teo comes up big again. Guy thrives in big games.

Clase's cutter might be one of the most unhittable pitchers ever. 99-102 cutters that he throws exactly where he wants it every time. Good f***ing luck.

But in all those cases, bi is a prefix to indicate two things or two of something. What about his lineage has two things? Were they historically a family of beekeepers, hence bi-bee?

Tanner Bibee’s name being pronounced “Bye-bee” instead of “Bee-bee” is inconceivable to me.

Fangraphs has been using OAA for range - basically its main component that separates it from the others - in its WAR calculations since 2022, retroactive to 2016. https://blogs.fangraphs.com/a-fangraphs-war-fielding-update/ Vlad is a f***ing awful defender. He has a strong arm which is often useless for a 1B, and has horrendous feet and range.

This is pretty much true for most teams in the league that aren’t the Braves and the Kirk-Jansen era Blue Jays. And even in that era the question was usually “what if Kirk also got injured” since Jansen was a lock to miss half the season or more every year.

Mark Vientos is a god awful fielder. That man cannot stick at 3B past these playoffs.

To be honest, I don't think there's as much gap in the AL Central teams as one would think, compared to the remaining other playoff teams. Most teams follow a formula of 1-2 superstars, a couple of other good guys, and then average options to fill out the roster with a good bullpen. Yankees: Judge + Soto (superstars+) - Cole would be included but he missed half the season and hasn't been that good, Wells + Volpe (good supporting players), everyone else, good bullpen (Weaver, Holmes) Tigers: Skubal (superstar, top 2 pitcher in the league), Greene (low end star), Vierling + Carpenter + Meadows (good supporting players), everyone else, good bullpen (Vest, Brieske, Holton, Foley?) Guardians: JRam (superstar), Kwan (low end star), Gimenez + Josh Naylor + Tanner Bibee (good supporting cast), everyone else, filthy bullpen (Clase++, Cade Smith++, Hunter Gaddis, Tim Herrin) Royals: Witt Jr (superstar+) + Ragans + Lugo, Salvador Perez + Wacha + Brady Singer? (good supporting players), everyone else, decent bullpen with two good arms (Erceg + Bubic) The Yankees have two absolutely incredible bats, but the rest of their team kinda blows. I don’t think they’re any more “deserving” of representing the AL in the World Series than like, Cleveland or Kansas City. Even the NL has one such team. The Mets kind of blow but they have Lindor who's awesome surrounded by a cast of average to good but not great players. The Dodgers, Padres and Phillies are all powerhouse teams, and the Dodgers don't even have any healthy pitching so they live and die by their offense.

The Dodgers are unlikeable because of whine jobs like what Dave Roberts was doing, not because they have good (and some likeable) players. They also get shoved down our throats, but I get that that's just marketing and they're a big market team. Would sure be nice if people talked about Tatis having a historic postseason rather than focusing on the whining though. It's also just fun to dunk on the Dodgers for continually underperforming in the playoffs despite their unlimited resources and coverage, much like the Yankees. Ohtani is great and all, but the Dodgers just having him fall on their lap for a joke contract is something that still rubs people the wrong way.

What Machado did is legal, and actually quite the heads up move. Unlike the runner's lane when going from the batter's box to first, you don't have to run in any particular straight line to get to second base as Machado did there. The runner's path is only established once an attempt is made to tag him, in that case if he did veer too far off the line then he would be out. You obviously just can't interfere with the thrown ball, i.e. make an obvious attempt to deflect it, that would be deemed interference and he would be out. But what he did was totally legal and a high IQ play.

Yeah I think I'm gonna drop out for this league as well. Just don't have the interest in it that I once did.

Safe to say this was the most entertaining series.

Profar is single handedly going to fan the flames of people clamouring to sign former top prospects busts because "we can fix fix", years past their debut and team control days. 12 years after his MLB debut lol. Good for him, he's set himself up well heading into FA. I wouldn't say Profar was all luck, $1M might as well be a minor league deal in this day and age. They signed him in February, maybe they had some workouts with him or his agent sold them on offseason lab metrics he was putting up and saw potential for a bounceback season. And by bounceback I mean gets back to a 1-2 WAR player, any value he's provided beyond that is definitely almost all luck.