metafour

So the plan is to sit Varsho (a guy coming off a 5 WAR season) and trade assets to acquire another struggling (but marginally better?) bat under the pretense that this guy is going to start hitting? I don't get it, why not just let Varsho play and hope that his own hitting starts to normalize?

This has to be an all-time worst take. Bo Bichette is a career 128 wRC+ hitter over 498 games played. Are you seriously trying to pick through selective sample sizes to find what you want to see? He is a Top 5 hitter at his position since 2019. That's a pretty long-ass sample size.

What is 'mixed' about Atkins' trade history? The Mitch White trade? This FO clearly has a better read on their own prospects than the AA-led FO did. Sending Syndergaard instead of Sanchez is the perfect example: he misevaluated and sent the wrong guy. Allowing Musgrove to be a throw-in for Happ is another one. Atkins has made a lot of trades, and the underlying theme is that they're generally trading away surplus guys or guys who are on the precipice of losing lustre. They have a clear idea of who they want to keep and who is expendable; there seems to be less "guessing" which is generally what allows other teams to come in and scoop potentially elite talent away from you. The worst part about AA's trades wasn't about what he gave up, it's that he turned a cheap and prospect-laden team into an old and extremely overpaid roster overnight, which gave the team little to no wiggle room. And the "stars" he was acquiring were generally all guys who were in clear decline. So he locked up all of his financial flexibility on guys like Reyes, Dickey, Tulowitzki, Buehrle, etc. which meant that when they needed to add more to fill gaps, he couldn't do it in free agency because Rogers wouldn't let him. Buehrle was at least good and provided value, but he was paid $19 mill and $20 mill in his final two seasons - he was hardly a "bargain". Reyes was a colossal mistake, and then they needed to trade even more prospects to get rid of him by turning the clock back a bit to acquire another anchor contract in Tulowitzki. A guy like Daulton Varsho makes nothing. Even if he never bounces back with the bat (seems unlikely), at least you aren't crippling your roster by acquiring him. Same thing with Mitch White: yeah he sucked and you maybe traded a good prospect for him, but his failure doesn't limit your team in any way.

Both Robberse and Kloffenstein need to be added to the 40 man roster this winter, and Kloffenstein in particular was hardly a lock to be added (repeating AA, first season in forever wherein he hasn't been terrible). This FO has been doing this a lot recently (moving fringe guys before they need to be added to the 40 man).

Yes, they're both better bets than Tiedemann.

Yes, the reason is because guys typically get tired and their stuff goes down. Garcia's average FB velocity this season is 95.9 mph. He came out firing 97-98 the entire inning. So he's clearly not "fatigued". He just made a s*** pitch. And if you've seen him pitch at all, this isn't exactly a rare occurance.

These is such strawman logic LOL. He didn't give up as HR because he pitched yesterday. He looks 100% rested - as proven by his velocity. You'd have some sort of point if his velocity was down, but it's actually UP. What's the conclusion here, that he wouldn't have hung a crap breaking ball if he didn't pitch yesterday?

He's hitting 98 with the fastball. The guy just made a s*** pitch. He's not "tired". He's not an elite reliever who doesn't throw bad pitches.

Merrifield has had a lot of real s*** swings today on balls way inside.

Tucker Toman 3 for 4 with a 2B today. He's had a rough season so hopefully he can close out strong.

I like him a lot. Real SS with good bat control and some emerging power. I'd rather keep him, but I can see why teams would want him.

Apparently Leo Jimenez was initially announced in the lineup today but was pulled pre-game. Something to maybe watch.

No, they really haven't. What game are you watching? Ohtani's hit came off a swing on a pitch a foot off the plate. Next batter up Moustakis singles on a pitch in the very bottom corner of the zone. Both of those are good pitches.

He gave up 2 soft-ass singles and a walk. Lots of weak contact off him, but he's not putting guys away effectively. He really hasn't been bad.

Barriera looks fat smh.

Yeah bro, they would have traded Moreno for 1.5 years of a 40 year old 1.5 WAR pitcher. Super amazing trade idea.

You said he was being "rewarded" for yesterday, which would logically imply that you were inferring that he wouldn't deserve to play over Luplow otherwise.

Kirk is a much better hitter than Luplow, so I fail to see what the confusion is.

I hated that they pulled Manoah at only 82 pitches. Getting the bullpen tired smh.

And? He breezed through the 3 batters he faced. Or let me guess, he was "getting lucky" lol?

How dare they put an elite defender into the game with a lead.

Ricky Tiedemann in Dunedin: 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K

Nimmala sighting coming soon: