1984Echoes

But Jackson Jobe it is...

There were multiple candidates I would like to put my support behind... But of course, we are only adopting one per person... Jobe beat out Parker Meadows and Joey Wentz, who I also want to put in my support for them... Oh, Wilmer Flores too...

I'll put my support behind Jackson Jobe. I'd like to see him break out this year and show he's a worthy top prospect...

Yeah I just said the same thing. 100% on board with your comments here...

Which might be the only reason to have Parker play in AAA this year. So he can get ALL the PA's and not worry about platoon squeezes on the MLB roster. Unless, again, the squeeze is put on Austin and Miggy. I'm OK with that a whole lot more than on Parker. And I don't care if it's Baddoo or Carpenter on the MLB roster and they are played on a platoon basis. Perfectly fine with that. But yeah... can't wait until Miggy rides off into the sunset... Loved him as a Tiger and what he did for us... But it's just way past time to move on... by at least a year or 3.

Checking in on the standings... We're locked into the 10th spot, and... it looks nearly impossible to improve that draft spot, and a WHOLE lot easier to lose a couple draft spots... So, early call looks like we're in the 10-12 drafting range this year with our pick...

Somewhere I saw that Parker was the best CF'er of the 3... even if that was just an opinion. But based on whoever is able to command the CF spot... who has the better arm for RF, versus needs to be stuck in LF? And is LF still more spacey/ difficult than RF, like it was when first built? Or have all the mods made that a moot point from a fielding perspective...? Just questions to consider...

This is going to be the key for all 3 of them - Parker, Baddoo, and Carpenter. Who can handle Major League sliders and curves, etc...?

PPS: Let's say Parker makes it and AJ decides Vierling-Parker-Greene is his best starting OF. 9 out of 10 games. So... Can we have Austin take all the LH'ed PA's at DH? So Cabrera is only playing 2-3 games per week, and is available as a PH'er? I don't think AJ would do that... just tossing it out there. Austin could also take half the RH'ed pitchers with Vierling so that they are both playing about 1/2 the LF PA's... as another suggestion... And they would both be great PH'ers off the bench... Just thinking out loud.

PS: as an exercise, rank all our OF'ers by defense: is it: 1) Parker 2) Vierling 3) Greene 4) Baddoo 5) Austin 6) Carpenter ??? Or is Greene above Vierling? Or... how would you guys rank them? On defense?

And Parker is definitely throwing his hat in the ring for the 26-man... He has to take a starting spot I think, to go north. I could see it as Meadows-Meadows-Greene getting most starts (against RH'ers of course... so those 3 as main starters doesn't bother me...) And Vierling taking all PA's against LH'ers, whether Austin or Parker take s a seat for a game or two... But I think Vierling gets more starts than that. So I don't know what that means. Parker in AAA for more consistent PA's? Parker & Vierling start over Austin? Making Austin a bit more of a bench guy? That seems unlikely... but if Parker wins a spot over Baddoo & Carpenter... then these are the questions/ issues to be resolved by AJ...

Jimenez with a slow ST start for the Braves so far...

I don't think Young will be a bust at all. I just think he'll have a short shelf life if he takes off running too much. Or has a bad offensive line that allows him to get beat up all to hell... On that basis, if you wanna call that a bust I would agree. But as long as he's standing upright I think he's more Drew Brees than bust...

I doubt Carolina would offer Corral out for a 6th... but if they were, I'd absolutely say yes. I view him and Hooker as nearly identical... both running QB's, Hooker a couple inches taller, a year older, and both were hitting a completion rate of about 67% in college. Both topped out in college (best year) at around 600 yards and 4 yards a pop. With some minor variances between the two. The Lions want a running QB for backup so they can get different looks during the week... especially when facing an upcoming running QB... So the short answer is: absolutely yes. But... I think there's a 0% chance Carolina offers Corral for a 6th... Nice fever dream though. I could buy into it.

Let us know when that happens.

Yeah... I don't know if they're still in love with Carter... But it doesn't bother me if they draft him. Until he proves me otherwise that is...

Yes, batting average. Not spring training BA, projected BA. Can Baddoo hit MLB pitching? Because if he's still struggling against MLB off-speed, he won't be able to get to his speed. Unless he's a PR only. Which is... unlikely. AAA. If Carpenter is struggling against MLB off-speed... AAA. If he's showing that he can handle MLB-offspeed, then he can get to his power. And that does NOT mean spring training BA, it means that they can project, if he is handling MLB offspeed, that he will be able to get to his power and not struggle at the Mendoza line. During... the 2023 regular season.

I don't think it's a bad trade from the Panthers POV. On the Bears side... we'll see what they do with these picks. Also, who said the Bears will draft Carter at #9? I'd be fine with that as I think he'll be a headcase (not dedicated to practice, the team, the coaching) and won't be as good as his talent dictates. We'll see about that... I'm just guessing...

They must believe in Stroud. That's why they made the trade. Not saying that's good, or bad... but that's why they did it. I don't see Stroud as significantly different than Goff... So I would have no problem whatsoever with this trade if I'm the Panthers....

They drop from #1 to #9, get two 2nd round picks from the Panthers, and a WR taken 24th overall in 2018 and who catches approximately 58% of his targets but is good for 1,200-ish yards with a good QB... And a Panthers 1st next year that, if they improve as much as they think they should, would end up mid-1st or later for the Bears... Yeah, that doesn't seem to be as much as I thought it might be... I am not afraid.

I think our trade down options are limited to only if one of Will Levis or AR being available at #6, and a few teams wanting to draft that QB (Raiders?, Falcons?, Vikings?). So yeah, our prospects to trade back dropped a bit with the Panthers jumping to #1. The Panthers have stated that they are NOT interested in AR. They do NOT want a developmental QB but want an NFL-ready QB only. They have publicly stated that they had interest in 3 QB's only, based on those parameters. My guess is that, that order would be Stroud/ Young/ Levis. So I think they're drafting Stroud. IMO.

Rogers is not the guy I'd want at first. I'd be looking more at guys like Nevin, Maton, Vierling, etc...

I think the answer to that is BA-driven. Whoever can hit MLB pitching can GET to that power, or speed; otherwise... if they're struggling against MLB pitching (makes the power and/ or speed moot) it's some more time in AAA, IMO...

If it's the #3 pick and the Pistons are fine with Miller after doing a full investigation on his character... I'll take his deadeye shooting which is a major, major area of need for the Pistons... and he's also a SF, which fits with Cade & Ivey... And hope he both shoots the lights out as well as keeps his nose clean... Just my 2 cents.

If we end up at #2 and pick Scoot... You start: Scoot at PG, Ivey at SG, Cade at SF, and then see what happens... IMO.