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I do wonder whether we can get marginally better short-term free agents by pointing to a second-place standing and a 70-something-80-something record, as opposed to a fourth-place standing and a 66-96? Marginally-better short-term free agents is nothing like a goal, of course, but it would be an improvement of sorts, and in a continuing rebuild, and little step forward is still a step forward.

Hey, Avila did a great job bringing him on board, it’s Harris who’s screwing him up … 😉

Yes, and beyond just the optionability, the guy is also throwing up a win and a half in a utility role where he’s giving us a plus glove at five different positions as well as a bit of pop at the plate. It’s not as though the guy is Willi Castro where everyone is scapegoating him and calling for his head despite what he could give us so we have to let him walk for nothing just to keep the peace. Considering we’re not going to seriously contend next year anyway*, and that we have a contractual obligation to put players on the field, we might as well ride him out for another year. Sure he’s streaky, but most players are streaky, and I don’t think we can manage a roster to maximize players who are steady the whole year. There just aren’t enough of those guys around to build a roster around. * - I realize we are in a weak winnable division, but I believe we should win it while still building toward the future on plan, not by switching gears to try to contend on the edges by go off plan and, for example, trading from the system for so-so big league regulars, or overpaying with years marginal free agents that happen to played on playoff teams.

I’ve been noodling this idea more, that there seems to be an opportunity for a system to develop two-to-three inning guys who can bridge a starter’s five innings to a closer/setup? Because right now it almost seems as if everyone is being geared to throw either five innings max effort, or one inning max effort. You end up using five pitchers in a normal close game, and then you have to vamp the next day until at least some of your guys rest up. It feels unsustainable on a mandated 13-pitcher-max staff, which means you end up churning through your 40 until you max out options. The thing they would have to manage for is how much rest a guy throwing three innings balls out would need. Probably not four, but also probably not none either? They would also have to optimize the training regimen for a guy like this, something different from a starter’s and a one-inning-guy’s regimen. I’d be interested in seeing what something like that looks like.

My understanding is that Lachlan is more pro-Trump than Rupert so I would expect FOX to tack hard toward the OAN right. Wouldn’t be surprised to see them exhume and resurrect Alex Jones.

Betcha Lorenzen comes back, or at least if he doesn’t, it won’t be his choice.

Can you imagine him being locked in a room with three of his fervent red hat supporters? He’d be screaming and clawing at the door until his fingers bled trying to get out.

Yeah, I figured. There’s definitely social pressure to tip at a high level. My buddy gives me the stink eye if I leave 20% or, god forbid, less.

Sounds incredible. I assume this is going to run through 2029 or so?

So was this voter fraud or election fraud? @PopularLiberal doesn't seem to know which.

If this happens, I expect menu prices to increase and for tips to drop dramatically.

Pro-life counterpoint: God loves rape babies, too.

Exactly.

He sure has shown something along those lines lately, hasn't he? This new development group would earn a huge feather in their cap if that guy makes it here.

Anyone is free to throw all the data out and go with their gut as they like. I'm no data scientist, but my view as an autodidactic stats layman is that, if multiple sources tend to agree in the same direction, then small sample sizes are more believable. Unless by small sample size you mean Willi hasn't played enough innings anywhere to be able to trust him playing 1,440 innings a year at any one position, but then I think that would apply to something like 90% of all players, even big leaguers.

Fun fact: Willi had positive defensive metrics on Baseball Reference, Fangraphs, and Statcast for his infield work, and on Reference for his outfield work, both this year with the Twins and last year with the Tigers. Another example of how the narrative sometimes drowns out the evidence.

Early on I thought we might have kept him, and I would have been fine with it, although as with Jeimer, I just think in the end the clamor to shtcan him was just too loud. It does not surprise me that he would put up a 2-win season. And he's done it while playing four positions pretty regularly and three others when needed!

As they all do! So maybe we sign Jeimer to a 4/50 this winter! 🦆🦆🦆

Right, Skubal is nothing like a workhorse ace, which are generationally rare unicorns. But he's what Harris/Greenberg have inherited so he's what we have to try to count on for now, at least until whatever players this front office brings aboard through draft or trade or free agency move into a position to become the dominant, franchise-leading forces that ring-winning teams need. I think we are probably years and years away from that happening.

My early sense of this is that, based on his background with the Cubs, Jeff Greenberg is going to take on the nuts and bolts part of general managing—negotiating with teams and agents, feeling out trade possibilities, taking on point-of-contact responsibility between executive management and other departments like scouting and analytics, leading preparation for and executing the drafts, and probably a few other things not immediately leaping to mind—while Scott Harris works with ownership and the executive team to develop the overall vision for baseball operations as well as the strategic direction for Greenberg to implement. In other words, as the titles suggest, I believe Greenberg will do the managing, while Harris does the presiding.

Maybe. That may end up being a distinction without much relevance since I am not totally sold on Manning yet, either. The only pitcher we have I am reasonably confident, or at least optimistic, will be an important part of our playoff team pitching staff is Tarik Skubal. Even Casey Mize is on notice to start killing right out of the box next year. This may be as good a time as any to remind everyone that, tantalizing though his stuff may be, Mize's future is starting to evaporate, as he turns 27 next May while cobbling together a very thin resume. He's not anything like a lost cause yet, but man, a whole lot of sand has fallen in his hourglass already. Sht, man, he's already arb-eligible next year!

Lachlan, right? Nothing changes.

Mmmm, burgers and whiskey. Breakfast of champions.

They may be hoping, maybe even assuming, that Trump will take all that away from illegal aliens and teh blacks and keep it for them the real Americans