1984Echoes

Sedition against the United States of America. Simple answer.

But if you're just going to get a 1-year stopgap guy... which is basically not much more than nothing... Then trading "nothing" to get him is not a "Fail", it's a "Pass" - not in the sense that you are getting anyone "really good", but that you are just filling an MLB hole that needs filling for a year. It's like getting a C- or a D+... Yeah, you pass, but it's barely over the finish line of passing. It was just enough to "get by". That's how I view Barnhart.

I totally forgot those names but now that you mention them... Yeah, now I remember Danrys and Wilken... But I think there was a large gap between those signings - nothing but small-dollar signings - until they went back into the top-30 International Prospects again... and signed Wenceel in 2016. IIRC.

Maybe I was reading other articles but I never saw either one of those: That AA was a genius or that he (Barnhart) was expected to be anything other than a 1-year stopgap. My own expectations, starting from when Rogers went in to Tommy John, and have never changed since that time, were that we need only a 1-year stopgap to get back to Rogers after he recovers. Barnhart certainly was not someone taht was going to change that for me. And I'm pretty certain I argued that on the old board... "Barnhart's a crappy option, but we only need him for one year." It doesn't take a whole lot of research on, like, you know, the internet, to see that Barnhart is a 31 year old "meh" catcher not any different than as described: a crappy 1-year option just to get by until we get Rogers back.

It's so simple. This.

Never mind...

And that's not even the issue. The only correct issue here is that we needed a 1-year stopgap MLB catcher. Barnhart probably should be a #2 catcher. But he was a #1 catcher previously, and even if he SHOULD be a #2 catcher, we got him for THIS YEAR ONLY to be a #1 stopgap catcher. Listen (not to just you G2, but addressing this to everyone), there may be a lot of issues with this team, starting with health and a lot of failed expectations... but why is everyone making Barnhart out to be something more than what he is? Pure and simple: a 1 year stopgap. I could care less about Barnhart... I think there are bigger fish to fry... IMO.

That's next year's question, not this year's.

??? Barnhart hype? What exactly was that supposed to be? And Buddha is calling this a "failed trade". What are you guys even talking about? There was "Hype" associated with his name? Barnhart is exactly what he was supposed to be: NOTHING but a 1-year stopgap. Nothing more than that. Rogers is out for a year after surgery so we went after a guy who had MLB experience, was good with pitchers, and had a small amount of pop in his bat but a known/ expected low BA. We traded almost "nothing" for him. We need nothing more than 1 year out of him. (This does nothing to answer the future of the position, but that isn't what we traded for). And Barnhart has proven that he is exactly what we traded for: a catcher with MLB experience, good with pitchers, and a crappy bat. What exactly were (sorry for the Jersey here:) you'se guys thinking he was going to provide?

Wenceel was our 1st foray into actually spending money in the international market instead of spending only low dollars on as many players as we could. Our first high-dollar international signee... I think it was something like $550K. I don't remember spending higher than $125K on any one guy prior to that...

Has Javy decided that he needs to go on a smokin' hot run for a little while...?

And Baez makes it 2-0.

No I'm glad AJ is pushing him up there. I'd rather he get acclimated to where he should be in the lineup - and I think AJ should be doing the same thing with Tork like, right now - and go through his ups and downs. Especially this year. Here's your spot... figure it out.

Baddoo has power. I'm fine if the OF is Baddoo-Daz-Greene and Hill/ Reyes sprinkled in as defense and/or RH'ed bat for a Baddoo-platoon. I think Meadows shifts to primarily DH after Miggy decides to retire this offseason (conjecture), or is offered a "retirement plan". But if he still isn't getting power back (Meadows) then it'll need to be someone else. Can we get Paredes back for DH?

But owning an AR-15 is...

meh game unless something changes here...

Titus?

New Lineup: Reyes (as long as he's getting on base like he has been) Greene Torkelson Candelario Cabrera Baez ... whoever else is playing that day... EDIT: If Meadows is playing, then I slot him in between Cabrera & Baez... Maybe even Grossman should be there. And if Baddoo gets back up here... definitely in between these two...

It appears teams are terrified of pitching to Riley and walking him like crazy... Because.... He's the only "real" bat this team has, at this point in time. IMO.

That's exactly my assumption and I'm just not interested. I would say he's probably going to be a really good regular season player and a dud playoff player. And will be off the court 50% of the time due to injuries... But I'm just guessing. I'm not interested. Even if he falls to #5.

Wasn't maple always around? They just weren't used as much as ash since they were brittle and broke often (IIRC)... But with the emphasis on HR's everyone went with the harder wood and since teams are paying for the bats anyways who cares if there's lots of broken bats... ? I could be off on that... just going from memory... What do you guys remember on this...?

... becomes our #1 Position Player Prospect after Greene gets enough time in MLB...

He's 31 years old. It's not like he's the future of the Tigers... Dodgers want him/ they can have him/ what do we get?

I believe the manipulation of the baseball is specifically due to the Steroid Era. Homers Galore! and the interest in baseball skyrocketed (starting with the McGwire-Sosa great HR chase, "breaking" Maris's record, and then Bonds and "breaking" Aaron's record...). Dontcha know chicks dig the longball? And owners love raking in all that money... But then steroids testing and penalties shot up as the steroid jig was up (in 2005 or 2006 or... ? don't remember the exact year) and the longball crashed back to earth. What to do....? Hmmm... Juice the baseballs? I think that was the specific reaction to the drop in HR's after the age of steroids came to an end... Management Decision.

I really like Wenceel... But I keep inexplicably forgetting to put him on my "Top" lists for some reason...