max silver

I have zero issues with the team's second base/left field bats. This primarily entails a combination of Varsho (117 wrC+) and Schneider (125 wRC+). Springer is a definite concern but he should start to get turned around at the plate eventually.

The pitching has largely been very solid over the last few weeks. Both of Gausman and Bassitt have been improving and Manoah was downright fantastic in his last two starts. Kikuchi looks like an ace and Berrios has largely resumed from where he left off last season. If the offense can even be incrementally better the team will have a shot to win a lot of games.

They haven't just been beating these teams, they've been literally dominating them. They obviously aren't fully out of the woods yet but it's a damn good start.

All of Alex's haters just can't stand when he's mentally dominating the opposition. All the more reason to hope it happens.

Given how definitively you've been proclaiming the season to be over I was under the impression you were claiming to be some sort of expert.

Just wanted to ask the CEO of team whiney mofos if we are allowed to start feeling better about the team lately. That makes 3 games in the last 4 where they've scored nine runs. If memory serves that's 4 of the last 9 games scoring 9 runs as well.

Term was stylin' and profilin'

Cool your jets man, I just hadn't seen the post yet. The rest of those f***ers who didn't toss a like your way are monsters though.

Pop is making a strong case to stay with the big league club once Green and Rodriguez are ready to come back from their rehab assignments.

Isiah Kiner Falefa is sort of low key on a bit of a heater at the plate. At least by his "lofty" standards. I was suggesting IKF could have potential to surprise a little at the plate. I would never suggest more than league average offense at best but combine that with great third base defense and you have a nice player for the bottom of the lineup. Varsho deserves huge credit for contributing a lot of big clutch hits this season. Gausman was also amazing in tonight's game. Once he can reliably command his splitter he has a shot to actually improve on his previous years as he's less predictable with the addition of the 2 seamer.

Yeah I think the amount San Fran paid him was one of the more surprising developments of the offseason.

You and Masturbatesinpublic or whatever his name is are basically the board's poster children for this sentiment.

These percentages can change very quickly with a hot streak so there's no need to read too much into them at this point.

This is likely just a case of an Asian player facing an uphill battle in adjusting to major league pitching. His expected stats are actually pretty solid (.324 xwOBA) so I think the contract might turn out to be ok in the end.

We are basically in the same boat. The team's window appears as though it may be rapidly closing and the bare minimum I'd be happy with is at least making the playoffs. I'd far prefer to see the team finally perform in the playoffs and win a round or two.

Why don't you go ahead and regale us with your obviously superior opinions first.

Over recent seasons they've posted really similar sprint speeds so Votto might actually be slower upon returning from the ankle injury.

Probably some of both.

I think the drafting and development has been a bit of a mixed bag. I'll absolutely agree it ultimately hasn't been good enough, but at the same time it's likely the best it's been in decades as the minor league system has been graduating one really solid major league player per season. 2020 saw the graduation of Kirk, 2021 was Manoah, 2022 saw Moreno who was turned into Varsho, 2023 saw Schneider who is looking like a top of the order bat since his callup etc. Where the system takes a hit is in overall depth of the blue chip prospects, as although the team has been able to use the system to make trades for the likes of Berrios, Chapman, Varsho and others it hasn't had enough overall depth to allow trades for the true premium players, whether it's Jose Ramirez, Juan Soto or others. I can't help but think about how much better the offense would be if they would have had the available pitching depth to allow them to trade for Juan Soto in the offseason. I recall reading that there might have been a massive extenuating circumstance in the 2023 Angels deadline in that they might not have been able to trade Ohtani based on the various marketing deals they had which were contingent on Ohtani being on the roster.

I've always liked his potential as he features really nice stuff out of the pen. It's too bad he might finally be putting together a solid season for someone else but at the same time there's plenty of time for him to revert to his previous ways as well.

I have no issues whatsoever with suggestions like these. If the team is actually as bad as it's early play indicates the organization as a whole would be completely burying their head in the sand. I think Atkins has been a solid GM and deserves a shot to at least run out the rest of this season as he's built a generally solid team in his tenure. There has always been some sort of easily identifiable achilles heel during his time at the top that's held the team back in every season and the team has generally been less than the sum of the parts as well so new leadership could very well be warranted. If this team misses the playoffs I see very little chance Atkins is kept around as that would likely place Shapiro directly into the crosshairs as well.

Gurriel has actually turned himself into a really solid defender, it's just that his offensive abilities have seemingly gone downhill in recent seasons. Teoscar has also produced really solid metrics in right field in recent seasons as well.

Half the board wants the entire organization razed to the ground so there's no hyperbole in my statements whatsoever.

We simply don't know what this team's ceiling is yet. The way some of the board posters are carrying on is downright embarrassing. There is literally no conceivable way the offense and pitching staff are as bad over a full season of play as they have respectively been over the first 7 weeks of the season based on the talent that's on the roster. I'm not fooling myself into thinking this team as currently constructed is some sort of surefire world series contender or ignoring the deficiencies, but at the same time there is a ton of season left and the team is basically a hot week away from being within reach of a wild card position. Every single season sees a team flounder for most of the regular season, getting hot at the right time heading into the playoffs and making serious noise in the playoffs. This could still be one of these teams, but if they continue to struggle towards the deadline it will be time to consider at least shipping off some of the expiring contracts and reassessing in the offseason what direction to go. To suggest that the entire organization should be blown up because of a slow start to a season is total folly and just reeks of panic. Nobody here is saying that this front office is one of the best so take your weak strawmen arguments elsewhere. It's easy to see that the biggest factor that's turned the goal of sustainable contention into a potential window team is the lack of elite pieces from the minor league system to use to add to the 26 man roster, whether that's in the form of trade or calling these players up directly.

It certainly appeared to me that Bo REALLY enjoyed putting on the homerun jacket last night so he's likely perfectly fine with the celebrations.