They are a better club than last year, IMO. They lost 350(+ -) innings of MLB starting pitching with Ray and Marco, and Handcack and the other guy who threw 6 no-hit innings in his first and only start, IIRC, ending with Miller / Woo, who while good are in uncharted territory innings-wise. It crushed a very good bullpen.
I think with the way arms are getting chewed up and spit out, you've gotta damn near have 6-8 MLB ready guys in 3/2A at the outset of every season, for insurance. The guys they brought up got no soft landing, for sure.
I just did a little research...the M's have 5 pitchers on the DL...The Dodgers have 14 (and one wife/girlfriend/mistress/escort / rando-pick-up beater off the roster). The difference is the Dodgers have enough offense (Cap'n Obvious) to cover it. Their young guys are good (as are ours), but they don't have the need to go 5-6-7 shut out innings every turn like the M's guys do.
They have established the rep as a pitching factory, which will help with free agency going forward, and should continue to uncover bullpen arms. They have a solid to good core, pitching and hitting, now they have to build it out.
My feelings are that:
The bullpen has blown a lot of games this season, but notably more since the Sewald trade. Take away some of those, not all, and they're in first right now. I know they were over worked and that's the point. They didn't do anything to strengthen the pen after Sewald.
It would be relatively easy to replace Ty France with someone who adds a few wins. I don't know what the stats say but he has mostly been an anchor on the offense all season. I'm done and assume they are done waiting for the France of first half 2022 or second half 2021. He's gone.
I'd still be looking to resign Teoscar either with a qualifying offer or, better still, a two year deal worth about $35 million. If he goes they need to find two RH bats with power.
They need another RH bat with power.
Let's hope Robbie Ray makes a timely and successful comeback fairly early in the season. Healthy Ray plus Miller and Woo with a year under their belts makes for a hell of a six man staff.
They could still do some damage in the playoffs if they make it. All it takes is some guys getting hot and they've shown they can. Not holding my breath though.
Soft fucking losers. They need some pissed off dudes to take over this team. Crawford is one of the nice guys but plays with some fire. No issues with him. They need a couple of mean dudes though. Kelenic, if he were somehow able to be an offensive leader for a while year and gain some cred, would be good.
What they don't need is Ty France hitting a weak .250 and standing around playing grabass with the other team. They don't need airhead Teo jogging after balls in the field and making lackadaisical baserunning blunders... then laughing about it. I love Geno but I'd give a nut to see the Ms with a 3b who isn't such easy out 8/10 plate appearances.
Fuck! I'm a poor sport today but the Ms really went out with a whimper. It's tough to watch.
I think that France being chatty at 1B is a non-factor. It is who he is, and it is personality, just like Freddie Freeman, who does the same thing. I'm not comping the two, Freeman was a 2nd rounder, France was a 34th rounder.
France is a "tough" guy, and that is his problem...he has been hit by 81 pitches in the last three years. He won't give in, won't back out, won't back down, and it has taken its toll. He's a college guy, and that is what college guys are taught to do... take the dose, don't rub it, take your base, hand it off to the next guy. It is a point of pride with him. The fact that he's not kicking water coolers doesn't mean he doesn't care, or doesn't work hard. For me, toughness is knowing what needs to be done, and doing it. He is a good baseball player. His swing has been fucked up ever since the collision in Oakland last year, and adding on the HBPs, he is battered. That is a lot of abuse to the left arm, the bottom hand on the bat...
That being said, they need an upgrade there...
I have seen it from afar, and up close...Fake tough-guys get exposed, and are poison, on field and in the clubhouse. Fake tough guys are assholes.
With as much pitching as they have, they don't have enough to weather this. 2 starters lost, 2 replacements blown out, their two replacements over-extended and running on fumes, and the ramifications are the top 3 guys know they need to go 7+ every time out to save the pen for the young guys' starts. Not to mention the pen injuries.
The foundation is there, but they have to bring in more dudes, and more depth, to be able to play in October with any real chance of winning.
The tough guy stuff is misunderstood and France being chatty only bugs me because I'm in bitch mode. I get the accumulated injuries but his approach was, or became, the problem. He hit the ball in short stretches where he was willing to take pitches.
Whatever the reasons he's the one primary starter who fell far short of expectations and what they needed.
Edit... I'm also extra hard on France because I thought of him as a key cog now and going forward. I'm taking my disappointment well as usual. I thought France was a guaranteed .280-.290, 20 homer, high OBP guy. This season falls far short of what I thought his bad years would be.
Truth be told, @chuck, I haven’t watched a game since Friday, in anticipation of the meltdown…
Edit: and, they tend to play better when I give up on them, which I learned watching the Huskies in the 80’s until today. I get a pregame text from one of my friends before every Husky game, “Have you given up yet?”…
Truth be told, @chuck, I haven’t watched a game since Friday, in anticipation of the meltdown…
Edit: and, they tend to play better when I give up on them, which I learned watching the Huskies in the 80’s until today. I get a pregame text from one of my friends before every Husky game, “Have you given up yet?”…
I quit watching during game 2 against Oakland.
My MLB team and my fantasy team both cratered down the stretch. I only have the Huskies left and expectations are crazy high for them so odds of being disappointed are high.
Maybe I should pick an NFL team but nobody is standing out to me right now.
I can’t predict the future, but I gotta shout out Josh Rojas, JUCO Bandit…he played for a very good friend of mine at Paradise Valley C.C….
My actual prediction…in the next two games some how, some way, the Astros will win the division because of the M’s, and the M’s go home. Reverse psychology, but I’m a beisbol lifer, and it is bred into me to expect the worst…FML
Final 10 games of the season are against the Rangers and Astros. 7 with Texas, 3 with Houston. That'll be a wild 10 day run.
Somehow, the M's have dominated Houston this year. They have been Daddy for so long that I just assumed the M's sucked against them until the recent sweep in Houston.
I can’t predict the future, but I gotta shout out Josh Rojas, JUCO Bandit…he played for a very good friend of mine at Paradise Valley C.C….
My actual prediction…in the next two games some how, some way, the Astros will win the division because of the M’s, and the M’s go home. Reverse psychology, but I’m a beisbol lifer, and it is bred into me to expect the worst…FML
**Scotch night at the ballpark
Looks like I was first, and right…praise be to the scotch
Comments
The bullpen has blown a lot of games this season, but notably more since the Sewald trade. Take away some of those, not all, and they're in first right now. I know they were over worked and that's the point. They didn't do anything to strengthen the pen after Sewald.
It would be relatively easy to replace Ty France with someone who adds a few wins. I don't know what the stats say but he has mostly been an anchor on the offense all season. I'm done and assume they are done waiting for the France of first half 2022 or second half 2021. He's gone.
I'd still be looking to resign Teoscar either with a qualifying offer or, better still, a two year deal worth about $35 million. If he goes they need to find two RH bats with power.
They need another RH bat with power.
Let's hope Robbie Ray makes a timely and successful comeback fairly early in the season. Healthy Ray plus Miller and Woo with a year under their belts makes for a hell of a six man staff.
They could still do some damage in the playoffs if they make it. All it takes is some guys getting hot and they've shown they can. Not holding my breath though.
That’s all.
What they don't need is Ty France hitting a weak .250 and standing around playing grabass with the other team. They don't need airhead Teo jogging after balls in the field and making lackadaisical baserunning blunders... then laughing about it. I love Geno but I'd give a nut to see the Ms with a 3b who isn't such easy out 8/10 plate appearances.
Fuck! I'm a poor sport today but the Ms really went out with a whimper. It's tough to watch.
France is a "tough" guy, and that is his problem...he has been hit by 81 pitches in the last three years. He won't give in, won't back out, won't back down, and it has taken its toll. He's a college guy, and that is what college guys are taught to do... take the dose, don't rub it, take your base, hand it off to the next guy. It is a point of pride with him. The fact that he's not kicking water coolers doesn't mean he doesn't care, or doesn't work hard. For me, toughness is knowing what needs to be done, and doing it. He is a good baseball player. His swing has been fucked up ever since the collision in Oakland last year, and adding on the HBPs, he is battered. That is a lot of abuse to the left arm, the bottom hand on the bat...
That being said, they need an upgrade there...
I have seen it from afar, and up close...Fake tough-guys get exposed, and are poison, on field and in the clubhouse. Fake tough guys are assholes.
With as much pitching as they have, they don't have enough to weather this. 2 starters lost, 2 replacements blown out, their two replacements over-extended and running on fumes, and the ramifications are the top 3 guys know they need to go 7+ every time out to save the pen for the young guys' starts. Not to mention the pen injuries.
The foundation is there, but they have to bring in more dudes, and more depth, to be able to play in October with any real chance of winning.
The tough guy stuff is misunderstood and France being chatty only bugs me because I'm in bitch mode. I get the accumulated injuries but his approach was, or became, the problem. He hit the ball in short stretches where he was willing to take pitches.
Whatever the reasons he's the one primary starter who fell far short of expectations and what they needed.
Edit... I'm also extra hard on France because I thought of him as a key cog now and going forward. I'm taking my disappointment well as usual. I thought France was a guaranteed .280-.290, 20 homer, high OBP guy. This season falls far short of what I thought his bad years would be.
Edit: and, they tend to play better when I give up on them, which I learned watching the Huskies in the 80’s until today. I get a pregame text from one of my friends before every Husky game, “Have you given up yet?”…
My MLB team and my fantasy team both cratered down the stretch. I only have the Huskies left and expectations are crazy high for them so odds of being disappointed are high.
Maybe I should pick an NFL team but nobody is standing out to me right now.
My actual prediction…in the next two games some how, some way, the Astros will win the division because of the M’s, and the M’s go home. Reverse psychology, but I’m a beisbol lifer, and it is bred into me to expect the worst…FML
**Scotch night at the ballpark