1984Echoes

I had this weird fantasy once-upon-a-time that Manning could turn into another JV. Long and lanky, uber-athletic, fires missiles at home plate. But there's nothing Manning has that's like JV, not the stamina, not the repeatability, not the secondary pitches, not the control, certainly not any consistency. That little fever dream is evaporating. Errr, evaporated.

I would rather Baddoo go down than Malloy. I know Malloy is not much in the field... But I'd rather give him more run. I feel like there's nothing else to learn about Baddoo.

Yes, he does. I don't know what kind of "stuff" these under-the-radar guys have though. For any of these guys, I'd say they need to have a good FB and at least 1 good secondary pitch, for starters. I would look at Jake Miller and Zach Lee (23) and Hamm (21), maybe even Rayner Castillo (20) too. All at Lakeland except Hamm at A+. That I don't know. They're dominating lowers, keeping walks and WHIP down. I have no idea what kind of upside though...

I think he's been streaky. And that's probably the result of adjustments going back and forth between him and the pitchers trying to shut him down. He hit .342 with a .881 OPS in May... that seems positive. Followed by a .536 OPS in June. But .306 and a .787 OPS in the last 15 days...

That depth is still ripening on the vine...

Everybody else is looking middle-reliever-ish, at best...

Not until Jobe hits Toledo at least...

Some crazy box score numbers from top to bottom (I'll stop at Lakeland though... lower than that is a bridge to far for me...). So... The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly... although today was more like the Kick-Ass, the Good, and the Ugly. There's also the Inconsequential (Bad) but I'm not going to waste my time on that...: The Kick-Ass: Detroit: A Colt Keith 4-5 with a double, HR & 2 singles = Kick-Ass! A Reese Olson win is Kick-Ass! 6 1/3 Inn's, 4 H's, 0 BB's, 2 ER's Riley Greene 2-4 with a HR and BB is Kick-Ass! Wenceel Perez 3-4 with 2 doubles and a BB is Kick-Ass! West Mich: Jackson Jobe with a rehab start at 3 Inn's, 0 hits, 0 BB's, 4 K's... Good enough for a Kick-Ass! Toledo: Parker Meadows with a double & HR in a 2-5 with a HBP. Kick-Ass! Dillon Dingler with 2 HR's and a single in 3-5 with a SF as well and 7 RBI's... definitely Kick-Ass! The Good: Detroit: A Vierling 2-5 with a triple is Good A bullpen with 2 2/3 Inn's, 1 hit, 4 K's and no ER's (even though Vest gave up Olson's 2 runs, he DID come in with men on 2nd & 3rd and one outs...). Good. McKinstry & Baddoo chipping in with HR's is Good Lakeland: Andrew Sears is one of a several interesting Pitchers at Lakeland (see, it's not only hitters Briceno, Clark & McGonigle...). I don't know if any of them turn into real prospects... but they're doing well, at least at Lakeland this year (includes Joe Adametz, Jake Miller, Rayner Castillo, Zach Lee, and...): Sears pitched 4 SO Inn's today with 0 H's, 4 BB's (ewww... yes, he gives up too many BB's: 34 BB's in 47 Inn's) and 8 K's. Good. Not kickass. West Mich: Colin Fields pitched 4 shutout Inn's coming in after Jobe, he's an undrafted 2022 free agent (basically a 21st rounder), and gave up 7 baserunners (but a 1.09 WHIP this year) and got 5 K's... Good enough for Good! Erie: Workman hit a HR (and 5 RBI's) in a 2-5 today. Good! Toledo: Vilade went 2-6 with a HR and double (.318 BA and .933 OPS on the season) today. That's Good! The Ugly: Toledo: Madden got rocked today with 9 runs (8 ER's) in 4 innings and 10 hits & 5 BB's given up... UGLY!!!

Just the position where he ends up at...

I don't know if I would go that far... But... yes. Pair him up with Edvinsson. No-brainer. On Martin Jones... I'd be OK with that. He would be Reimer for a year.

"Know fraudulent bull**** when they see it..." It's about time.

They sang to me this song of hope, And this is what they said... Come Sail Away...

I would guess Petry is a country & western guy, not a 70's rock guy... just a WAG.

Lee HBP and he was taken out of the game with injury...

"Yes... we DO want to burn it all down to the ground. And WILL." https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-not-bluffing-inside-maga-171834845.html Trump’s Not ‘Bluffing’: Inside the MAGA Efforts To Make a Second Term Even More Extreme Asawin Suebsaeng and Adam Rawnsley Fri, June 21, 2024

If you're seeing the same thing that I'm seeing... Not really so shocking, right? I haven't seen him much... But man, I just don't see someone dedicated to this game or dedicated to being the best player he could be... Just my opinion, but... It appears I am not the only one seeing this...?

The only thing I would say pertaining to this is that he would need to be moved in the offseason... Not at the trade deadline if that's what you mean by "now". Then, every team in the league will bid on him and the prices are usually higher in the offseason than at the deadline. Or at least I believe that's the prevailing theory...

I think this is the best path. AAA in 2024 for the rest of the season. He needs to work on both his offensive and defensive game. Just by appearances, from what I've seen of him... it just LOOKS to me like he is not taking the game seriously. Fat & happy in Detroit and a 1-1 who will get paid/ get his. If he can't take this game seriously and improve... Then move him out. I think 2024 in Toledo and one more offseason to decide how much and at what level he would actually like to play in MLB is the right recipe. If he is surpassed at 1B in Spring Training, by anyone, then send him back to Toledo and move him at the first opportunity. If he DOES decide to take the game seriously and makes the necessary improvements... then fine, let him have that chance. Can he get to Tony Clark level? Maybe that's good enough. I would prefer a Konerko level... but TC would be good enough?

Exactly.

I would prefer it be in GR because then that means Cossa is the 3rd goalie and called up whenever necessary. A good way to get his feet wet with some experience in NHL without putting a huge load on his shoulders if he's not quite ready yet. Even if he were the 2nd goalie, backup, in Detroit, that would mean 20+ games (or so) almost guaranteed. As 3rd goalie they can manage in much smaller doses. And they've had backups in GR recently that they could also call up as a 3rd goalie, giving options to further manage Cossa' potential NHL time.

The flipside on Keith that I would ask: He's playing 2nd because of last year's surgery on his shoulder IIRC. Does his shoulder get back to full strength as more time passes from the surgery? Can he make the throws from 3B by now? Is there a chance that he goes back to 3B? I believe if his arm/shoulder warrants... he's more valuable at 3B than at 1B. Just my 2 cents.

I didn't. Strawman.

You are providing the bad faith argument. It's even in what you quoted. "I would prefer" does NOT equal "claims he can just be rubber stamp signed to a 2-3 year extension". You created a strawman. In bad faith. And just because I didn't STATE an if/then statement, does not mean that it doesn't exist. The very statement "I would prefer", and ALSO "Skubal-Flaherty-Olson, for now" does the exact same thing. IF the team can sign Flaherty to an extension THEN the "for now" and "I would prefer" have more staying power. I put no guarantees in there. NONE whatsoever. Until then, your "rubber stamp" is both an absolute strawman and in BAD FAITH.

Where did I say that? Please provide quotes: