smg58

The GM and manager have showed more confidence, at least until recently, in the back of the bullpen than they have in Francisco Alvarez. And that has cost us games. In order for Verlander and Scherzer to justify their salaries, they had to combine for 11 WAR over the season. A third of the way in, Fangraphs has them combining for 0.8 WAR. Eppler probably thought going in that the presence of Diaz obviated the need to invest in the back of the pen. But I think that underscores the flaw in his strategy. You have three guys who categorically HAVE to be elite for the entire season to justify their salaries. One of them likely won't even pitch an inning for us this year. And the other two are old. Basically there are no such things as safe bets where pitchers are concerned right now, and we are invested in some pitchers to the point that we can't afford them to be ordinary, much less miss any time. It was a reasonable expectation that Peterson and Megill would be able to step in and keep us in games, given they did that for us last year. It hasn't happened. Every team needs that depth and we thought we had it, but we don't. I looked at Quintana and saw a guy who returned to his best form by dialing down the mph, and I though he'd be as safe a bet as anybody. Guessing right on pitching is a very inexact science. So what to do? Well, we're kind of committed to Scherzer and Verlander, so hopefully they give us something close to what we paid for the rest of the way. Senga is still an unknown commodity, but hopefully he'll improve as he gets more familiar with the league. Carrasco was good last outing and the track record is there, but I've stopped holding my breath. The state of the bullpen is not acceptable. The good news is that we have some major league resources that are moveable due to our younger players. Narvaez will be more valuable to another team than he is to us. A team in a hitters' park that needs a 3B might take a flyer on Escobar. Canha or Marte might be dealable too. But who has pitching to spare?

So apparently, Sanchez got a time limit for how long the Mets could wait before activating him, and then a guaranteed prorated $1.5M salary which leaves the Mets on the books for about a million for the rest of this season. Well I hope the 6 at-bats he got instead of Perez make all the difference in the season. Was he threatening to force the government to default on its debts?

I have no problem with organizational depth. I'd have a huge problem with demoting Alvarez to make room for this guy.

A Boy Named Seo wrote: I'm sure Texas had nervousness baked into the recipe. So far, it's been exactly what everybody would've expected. DeGrom is lights out when he is on a mound but he's not there as often as anybody would like. Absolutely this. Our willingness (both the Mets and the fans) to let him go had nothing to do with how we thought he'd pitch when healthy.

So where does Joey go from here? Is it safe to say he's already vaulted over Peterson, Megill, and Butto on the depth charts? What about Carrasco? Thoughts?

=bmfc1 post_id=123105 time=1682116010 user_id=73] On Tony Korneiser's podcast today, Tom Verducci only gave Bumgarner a 3 out of 10 chance of being successful again.

He's pitched far too poorly so far this season to be an immediate answer. But if my pitching coach thinks he's a tweak in his mechanics away from getting his groove back, I'm interested. Lucchesi pitched too well in his last AAA start to not get the call.

The one concern for me is whether throwing the same amount of pitches over a shorter period of time will increase the stress on pitchers' arms in a way that becomes noticeable by the end of the season. But you can't complain at all about the pace of the games.

The hits will come. And I'll see how the pitching looks at that point before I start worrying about that.

You postpone Opening Day the day before if you know it's going to pour. It's not going to pour. Maybe the rest will help, but I'd want to get right out there.

I once threw my back out picking up something to put in the trash. Now granted I meet nobody's standard of "proper shape," but it wasn't so much the mundane act as it was the accumulation of stresses that needed one more tiny trigger. I think a lot of athletic injuries (probably more so to pitchers than any other type of pro athlete) fall in the category where it's not one impact or event, but a buildup of stresses that just goes pop in a seemingly innocuous place. I think Edgy is right that Diaz's body language implied that he knew something wasn't right. But I guess he thought there was no harm in joining the celebration.

In case you didn't see it on the site, the draft will be held at 9 pm on Sunday March 19.

Honestly, good for San Diego. You want to see other teams spending to win, too. I do wonder how much the thought of Cohen lurking in the background gave the Padres an extra sense of urgency to get something done ahead of time.

=Fman99 post_id=118394 time=1676565645 user_id=86] It'll be curious to see how many teams cheat that outfielder in from the other side to go where the third infielder on the wrong side of the base was formerly.

Andrew Chafin, the best lefty reliever on the market this offseason, gets one year and $6.25M guaranteed from the D-Backs, with a team option for 2024. And this is why you wait to sign relievers. I hope we're in on Matt Moore at this price.

While we're on the subject, does anybody want the Mohawk Red Flyers team?

Will we even recognize baseball by the time Manfred is done with it?

Bob Alpacadaca wrote: He spent just a single game as a Rumble Pony before getting called up to Vegas. Well if you could move from Binghamton to Las Vegas after only one day, wouldn't you?

At first glance it's team-friendly, especially given the openness of Cohen's wallet. But if McNeil gets plagued by minor injuries like in 2021 he'd have become a non-tender candidate, and worse injuries could leave him with little to nothing. Basically he's buying an insurance policy. And it just might be possible that he likes it here, too.

There's no Spanish equivalent for "Here's the pitch"?

A likeable guy, a great interviewee, and our first star player. RIP.

Give him a front-loaded contract with an opt-out that you secretly hope he takes.

Definitely an easy guy to root for. He thrived under Chili Davis, but none of our other hitting coaches seemed to get him. The Nats are a good landing spot for him, even though he stays in the division.

I was thinking something more arcane, like BABIP or FIP. Although I am looking at McNeil's late season surge and reading the Gary Cohen quote on roger_that's timeline, and I'm just shaking my head and wondering how many things had to go wrong.

I hadn't appreciated how good Rolen's case is until I looked at his stats just recently. Although I think Endy Chavez should come from out of nowhere and snag his plaque at the last moment.