monkeytargets39

Btw….the start of last year had lots and lots of playing time going to folks like Gio Urshela, Carson Kelly, Javy Baez, Matt Manning, Alex Lange, Akil Baddoo, Joey Wentz, Shelby Miller, and Mark Canha. Once all of those players were dealt/injured/released, we started winning. So I wouldn’t necessarily say that we couldn’t win with the current group we have—most of them just don’t have an established track record.

Minnesota fans don’t exactly have credibility to tease anyone else….in any sport

Padres couldn’t land Sasaki, so they signed their backup plan: Niko Goodrum

It’s a shame that the original Dream Team took Laettner instead of Shaq

If that’s the case, offer him half when he comes crawling back

Sweeping the Dodgers on opening week is gonna be great

Nobody else seems super into signing Bregman…so just wait him out until spring and maybe he gets desperate and takes way less. If not, we still have Vierling, Jung, McKinstry, Ibanez, etc.

Thank you for everything Bob. I feel awful for diehard Milwaukee fans today. It’s just like when Ernie passed—a piece of your childhood goes with it. Those are big shoes to fill and hopefully they get lucky like we did with Dan.

I thought the last thing you’d ever do is allow someone to miscalculate a players service time without correcting them.

Does Campos start the year in Erie then? A third year at WM basically destroys his prospect status I would think

I don’t know that I’d say they’re down on him as much as I’d say they’re really high on McGonigle—and deservedly so with those K/BB numbers. Clark struggled a little bit with the jump to WM but was still pretty good. McGonigle could climb the ladder real quick

McGonigle at 6 is incredible

So he’s Roberto Campos 2.0?

If they just let Vlad walk…..oof. If you can’t get him extended by May, trade him and get some building blocks back.

Well at least I won’t have to make good on my Sasaki bet and have to watch 162 White Sox games

That’s what I was thinking too. Which isn’t a horrible strategy except after a while you’d think fans would get annoyed that they’re always rumored to be in on guys they never get.

I always chuckle when Toronto ends up being reported as an option for a big name free agent. Nothing against Toronto as a city or even anything against franchise as a whole or the fans—-but outside of just the money and differences in taxes from the USA—-what is the motivation for a star player to want to be there? Youre in a division with the Yankees and Red Sox—who are always going to spend more to be more competitive than Toronto will be able to. Add to that now the Orioles and their system loaded with tons of young top prospects and the Rays top talent development. You’re playing in the Rogers Centre, while nice, is a 36 year old ballpark. They don’t have especially well regarded management or coaching/training staffs—compared to say Detroit, who has a World Series Winning Manager* and arguably the top pitching coach in the league. The odds that you’d sign there, be a part of a half-assed rebuild and then get traded somewhere else when they realize the window has closed again is very high…. Both of their other young stars will be free agents after this year—and it’s highly unlikely both re-sign…..especially if Toronto is out of it by the trade deadline this year (which they will be regardless of Sasaki) Not saying I want to see him go to SD or LA, but…..bro, give some other organizations a better look.

Shaves what? 😬

Who are we really gonna celebrate from 90-06? Jeff Weaver?

Shh shh it’s ok Justin. Billy Butler can’t hurt you anymore.

With all the focus on the free agent pitchers, another possible way to go is to try and get Dylan Cease from SD. They’re reportedly trying to trim a bit of payroll- and Cease is good enough where I’d be fine with some prospect capital going their way. He’s still on the right side of 30 and hasn’t had injuries.

A name I wouldn’t mind seeing us bring in is Tommy Kahnle. Considering Breiske and Vest have power fastballs, it’d be a good mix to have a changeup specialist in the pen too. He’s on the older side but that means we could probably get him on a shorter or cheaper deal.

I can see Nashville….beyond that…..maaaaybe San Antonio? I don’t see Portland or Salt Lake City getting in it any time soon.

RIP Brian Matusz I know several folks on here that were super high on him when he was a prospect with Baltimore, but he never really broke through in the bigs. Gone way too soon.

I’m not sure Mize going all out in short inning relief has good enough swing and miss stuff to convert to effective reliever. He certainly wasn’t impressive enough in that role to make the ALDS roster. If he doesn’t put it together as a starter coming out of ST, I don’t know why you use a roster spot on him. So many other arms in our system—even guys like Guenther and Hanifee—have shown they can be highly effective situationally and fit as potential useful bullpen options.