mtutiger

In other words, very similar to what it is now?

Kinda flew under the radar this weekend, but Jackson Jobe with 2IP, 4K's this weekend... good to see!

They just traded Isaac Paredes and a draft pick for a guy who has made an All Star appearance in the past couple of years. Granted maybe that was a fluke for Meadows, but it also speaks to the fact that the org may know what they are doing in acquiring players or how to maximize value on trade.

I don't believe they are punting for the next three years. And in regards to the imbalance of pitching, particularly seeing the nature by which the organization (with Baby Doc's blessing apparently) traded for Austin Meadows, if they are in fact as deep as they seem to think they are pitching wise, it stands to reason they have bullets to work with to upgrade the roster there as well. They'll be fine.... I don't see them taking the Guardian approach to roster building in this period.

Ty Madden and Dylan Smith are both college guys... can we really say that they won't be seen until 2025 at the earliest, if all goes well? I can't answer that definitively, especially considering that (iirc) the MLB Pipeline guys had Madden at one point as being one of the guys who could make the bigs the fastest out of the 2021 Draft Class. In terms of the imbalance between position players and pitching prospects, you are correct.... that may change, but a lot of the talent they are hyping up are in Lakeland right now. Also a lot hinges on some guys that are in West Michigan and Erie (ie. Colt Keith, Parker Meadows, Gage Workman) making strides as well.... but you are correct, they are further out on that side. Overall, I'm more pushing back on the idea that the system is "barren"... this system is not the worst system in baseball, probably more middle of the pack. Which, since I've been following the team, probably makes it better than at any point in my fandom. And pitching wise, given how notorious injuries are, the fact that they do have more depth IS a good thing that will help this club going forward. It's the kinda thing that successful orgs like Tampa and LA can hang their hat on. Lastly, regarding Brieske... I think it's fair to approach with skepticism the fact that he's only had one start as to whether he can be successful or good depth.... but come on. The fact that he's a 27th rounder has absolutely no bearing on whether or not he can be a successful major leaguer. He didn't make it this far by being a fluke... I don't think AJ or Chris Fetter would send him out there if they didn't feel his stuff was good or didn't like his makeup.

I always hear it as "tronna" when he says it, but idk

Or they can produce more through the draft and international signings and restock the system. Which, at least pitching wise, there seems to be evidence of that happening, given the promise of Ty Madden, Wilmer Flores, Dylan Smith etc. IDK, I guess I don't know that the system is as top-heavy as we make it out to be sometimes. They have a lot more depth then at any point I've followed them. I would add that someone mentioned in the thread for Brieske's start that he's the kinda pitcher this org needs to produce more of.... it doesn't have to all be superstar profiles, but they have really struggled even to produce more serviceable guys who profile as even a 4-5 starter at the MLB level. Maybe that is starting to change some.

Completely on brand

I do have some hope Robbie will join that club soon. Along with Baez. But yeah, Candy and Schoop are issues lol

If we had the French system (which, IMO, is the platonic ideal in terms of how they elect their Presidents), we probably would have a candidate who espoused those beliefs. But don't need to beat the horse about our terrible system again lol.

Crazy enough, but I believe the 21-0 Cubs win over Pittsburgh was similar in regards to how many one baggers the Cubs had... Edit: 23 hits, 18 singles in that one

Oh God, I hate it so much. At least when James Mason said it, he had the excuse of being a haughty Brit lol

100% right. For all of our complaining, every other team in the division is kinda treading water at the moment. And if (big if) the pitching can hold up enough until Manning/Mize get back, I don't know that they need to have the best offense to be at least on the periphery of competing in this division. They just need to get to their potential, particularly on 2nd and 3rd. I'd still stick with my 82 win prediction, but I can see scenarios where they can do better.

Thinking a little more about the coverage of the French Presidential Election, it reminds me a lot of California Recall election last year in that, while it may have been close at one point, it didn't last and, just as it was the case then, the media did not recalibrate once that trend away took place. And naturally, when the polls start trending toward more right leaning candidates, that recalibration tends to happen (see Virginia 2021)... for some reason it doesn't happen much in the other direction In the grand scheme of things it may not be that big of a deal, but I do worry that the outsized coverage can be a boon for nutjob candidates.

It's true about the clicks... I sometimes feel like they learned all the wrong lessons from Brexit and Trump and almost seem to yearn for hyping right wing candidates to drive readership. Conspiratorial, maybe, but setting aside left/right bias, we all know media companies also have a bias toward making money. Zemmour almost acted like a stalking horse for Le Pen to seem more moderate or sane in comparison (not sure if that's the case or not, but it kinda worked out that way anyway). And I dont know that it's a coincidence that Macron started gaining after the first round once Zemmour was off the stage... all eyes were on her and, though she did somewhat better this time, for the most part, she did a good job reminding a lot of French voters what they didn't like about her five year ago. As for the future, you are correct, with the caveat that it's more of a three wing system now with the Melanchon bloc of voters. They may not be quite as big as the other two, but it stands to reason in France's system, they could find themselves in the Kingmaker role frequently going forward.

A lot of Ws for liberal democratic values today

Not that Willi is a world beater or anything, but this is a bit surprising. Either way, its almost Chafin time!

I posted it in the other thread, but the coverage of the French election was complete malpractice by the US and international media. Macron, particularly after round one when he outperformed his polls and started gaining between the first and second round, was obviously going to be reelected. That would have made the obvious play to profile the voters who would vote to give him another mandate, or profile what he may have planned for a second term. Instead, we were treated out countless pieces discussing the 5% probability that Le Pen would be elected. Like, it would have taken by far the largest polling error in the history of the Republic, and one of the largest in world history, for that to have happened. Instead, it was covered as if it were more 60/40 that it would happen. I get that there is long memories of Brexit and Trump's first election, but we need to stick with the facts... not gin up stories that don't align with the facts because it sells papers and draws eyeballs. It just makes me feel that the media learned all the wrong lessons the past few uears.years

This is one of those games that you would expect they would lose even with a functioning offense. Even the best teams can have a bad start. But it just makes losing winnable games (such as last night's) even harder.

Gotta start somewhere!

I'll take that from Schoop... nice contact there.

Does Candy have options left? I know Schoop doesn't...

I dont want to be one of these guys who makes excuses, but there have been some good signs today. Barnhart looking more like the guy who was advertised, Robbie starting to get hot, Meadows mixing in more extra base power into his game. But they really need better production out of 4 and 5. Nothing is holding this team back more at the moment.

Not a bad half inning at all, unfortunately they have not cashed in much before that...