RandyMarsh

Not to stick up for McCoskey but the "old friend" tagline for former players of your team has been used by people for years(decades?), it's not like he is using in the literal sense or to suck up to a player.

Lol There's no way that was an accident. I wonder if there is a demand for that card in the hobby because of that? Like the Billy Ripken "fck face card" in the 80s.

haha I just went and double checked, Verlander gave up a triple off a weird bounce(1:09:30 on the 2nd video), and Ichiro hit the HR off one later in the game. I give myself somewhat of a pass for mixing that up but should've known that Ichiro was on the same team since he basically played his entire career in the AL.

I don't blame Hinch cause it's hard to pinch hit for your starts young player but tactically it probably would've been better to use Javy there against the LH.

Somebody I have my eye on is Mike Soroka of the Nationals. Yes at first glance you see his ERA is above 5 but that doesn't tell the whole story. He has an xERA at 3.19 which is elite, has elite K% along with BB%. Also has been pitching better of late. I would gamble on things correcting themselves and him getting luckier in the second half. Also last year when put in relief he excelled with a 2.75 ERA and 15 k/9, so even if we don't need him as a starter in the playoffs he could be the swing and miss guy we desperately need out of the bullpen. Also just 27 so somebody that we could look to keep if he performs well down the stretch.

I only watched it when it happened so I may be remembering it wrong but from memory that looks alike Ichiro against Verlander in the All Star Game there in 07 I believe. A similar bounce led to Ichiro walking in for the inside the park hr.

Its just a total roll of the dice trading for a young pitcher like that. You could get 6+ yrs of prime Verlander or Kershaw, or you could get 6 years of Stephen Strasburg. There just isn't a reliable way to predict their health to my knowledge and for that it's too risky to empty the farm for.

From a prospec/young talent standpoint that would be the biggest haul that I can remember. The Marlins got two top 10 overall prospects for Miggy as did the White Sox for Sale but this is quite a bit more than that. You not only get 2 top 10 prospects but a guy who yes is having TJ surgery but was just ranked in the top 5 and best RH pitching prospect in baseball just 4 months ago so that is a big piece as well. Then the cherry on top is Keith, a 23yr old that has already hitting at a plus level and at times elite level who himself was among the best prospects in baseball just 18 months ago. Also has the added benefit of signing a team friendly extension. Not to mention the "throw in" would be SGL who has the makings of being a serviceable back end starter. That may be what it would take to get Skenes but no way would I make that trade for a single pitcher. Just way too much risk involved.

As an added benefit they knocked around Hunter Brown putting his ERA behind Skubal's now.

Yep they are brutal, my friends and I got a season ticket package out there that year without having ever sit out there before. The team sucked then so as early 20 somethings we just went for the atmosphere and have a good time so not seeing the action the first few innings wasn't the end of the world for us but after that year we still made sure to switch to the RF bleachers the following few years we got packages.

Bradley Beal is terrible for what his contract was but would he be that bad for us if it was on the cheap? Still shoots 40% from deep on catch and shoots so theoretically it seems like he could be beneficiary for us there.

I remember a game I was at back in 04 or 05, sitting about 10 rows back of the bullpen and Pudge hit a HR 2 rows behind me. Anyway I completely lost the ball in the sun about 3/4 of the way through but I knew it was tracking right towards us so I instinctively ducked and covered by head, the dude that it hit behind me didn't see it either and it hit his watch and destroyed it and cut up his wrist. When I got home I wanted to see the highlights just to see how pathetic I looked and luckily for me I wasn't the only one that lost it and ducked for cover. Out of the hundreds of games I've been to in my life that was probably my closest chance at a HR ball, if I didn't lose it I surely would've been able to at least get my hands on it given my height and reach.

We're probably better off having Cleveland win over Houston but I still refuse to root for them.

Yep, also a relatively low K rate of 18%, for reference if that were for the season that number would be among the top 30 in baseball among qualified hitters.

Last 162 games we are 100-62, that's 27 games better than the Twins and 24 better than the Guardians. So crazy!

McKINGstry!!

Keith with a BOMB!

Sixth time in his last 10 outings that Montero has given up 1 or less in 5+ innings.

Keith kinda quietly turning the corner offensively albeit without a ton of HR power. Coming into today OPS+ up to 111 and has an .860 OPS the past 30 days.

BAEZ BOMB!

Just a random thought but I wonder if Greene is under any consideration for the HR Derby and if we would do it if invited? I know some think it can screw up your swing but Riley's swing is naturally tailored for it so he really shouldn't have to change anything for it.

Yeah IIRC it was almost universally praised at the time by everybody. Ironically though Cabrera was maybe the pick I was most excited about as many of the pundits had him as a first round grade so to get him where we got him at looked like a steal and it turns out he was far and away the worst pick.

I wonder if after the break AJ will split Skubal and Mize up? As is we go 3 straight games with unreliable pitching, may be better served to break that up.

Trei Cruz may never get more than a cup of coffee in the majors but I would have put long odds on even that happening 18 months ago. If that were to happen that would mean that everybody but Daniel Cabrera made it to the majors out of that draft. Was of course the Covid draft but still 5 out of 6 picks would be pretty good.

I went to the most games between 04-08 so for me it would almost assuredly be somebody in the division from that time frame. Thome and Mauer come to mind as does Grady Sizemore. Sizemore played in all but 3 games from 05 to 08 so he was likely playing every time he was here during those years.