1984Echoes

The back-end pitching (starter) prospects I'm interested in following/ seeing how they develop: Lakeland Wilmer Flores and Nick Davila (both 2020 undrafted FA signees after the 6 round draft...) West Michigan Austin Bergner (9th-2019) Erie Joey Wentz and Beau Brieske (27th-2019). I guess Garrett Hill (26th-2018) too but, for some reason, I think Hill ends up AAAA or as a reliever... Doesn't mean anyone listed above won't end up the same... I just feel there's more upside to the other guys without really knowing how Hill's "stuff" and "makeup" play...

Correct.

I see no reason to sign Candy long-term right now. We've got him for two more arbitration years. I would reevaluate mid-season 2023... By then, we can get a read on Paredes to see if he can become Candy 2.0, or not. By then, Workman is going to be pushing AAA (hopefully...), and we'll see whether he's still at SS or has moved over to 3B (he's a big dude at 6' 3"...). By then we'll know how quickly Colten Keith is rising up the ranks... or not. I can see signing a top-shelf SS FA because we don't have a top-shelf SS in the pipeline, unless we're talking Christian Santana who is (a) at 17 a LONG way away from MLB and (b) so far away he's a huge unknown at this point. And who knows if Trei Cruz will make it or not, he had a tough start this year. But maybe he does figure things out? Still, 2-3 years away at least? I can see signing Schoop to a short-term contract because by mid-year 2023... we're in the same boat as in 3B: Paredes or Clemens will turn out good enough in MLB to take over as a starter, or not. Maybe even Willi Castro turns into a 2B'man after all... Why are we signing Candy long-term? We have similar, cheaper options in 2024 (Paredes or Workman), he'll be 30 in 2024 (could be something, could be nothing...). I consider him a short-term solution, just like Schoop. I wouldn't do anything with him but wait until mid-season 2023 so we can figure out what else we've got in the system. Just my 2 cents.

PS: On Zach Short... I think he's a guy you stick at AAA to call up in an emergency

That was a cool, quirky movie...

I don't know how Kreidler looks in the field on a day-to-day basis... I've seen a couple highlights where he looks more than competent... My point being, if he's more than adequate at SS... then I am going to guess there will be Hinch-interest in his bat. So if Kreidler can back up SS, and I think he's also played at 3B and 2B, and... Paredes can do 3B and 2B (and SS in an emergency?), and... Clemens can do 2B and the OF (they've had him in RF I believe, and also other IF spots...?), then... Why do we need to put up with the Castrei or Niko any longer? It's time to move on from Niko. Willi can play a year, next year, at AAA, where they can figure out what to do with his glove, and to see if he has any hitting skills whatsoever that he can recover. Does Harold have an option left? If not, maybe he holds a bench spot as the veteran whilst one of the kids gets stuck in AAA alongside Willi... But I'm ready to move on, even if the team isn't. I could do Haase, Kreidler, Paredes and Clemens as backups. Hill-Baddoo-Grossman-Greene in the OF. Cameron to start at AAA (I think Hill wins out based on his CF play... but his hold on that spot is VERY tenuous...). Haase and Clemens can also play OF so there's enough coverage. If Hill gets hurt again, or if he plays himself back to AAA, Cameron or Reyes can come up. Those are my thoughts anyways...

Cat... you just look so JB Happy I must say!!!

Also... We ain't selecting #1 in next year's draft either!!! I think we are currently sitting at #11 and can still move a few spots lower (passing Angels (1/2 game above us), Mets (1 game above us) & Indians (2.5 game above us)). We could also do higher than 11, getting up to 10th if we pass the Rockies in the other direction (1.5 game below us) but the next team is the Royals (4.5 game below us) and that seems too impossible of a swing. We're going to finish in the 10th to 14th draft spot this year which is another marker for the progress we've made this year. I don't think we get any closer to .500 than we are now. A month or so ago I said it looked like we were going to finish in the 74 to 78 win range. It looks like we're still in that target range, and maybe at the high point of that... but anyways, we'll see what the team comes up with in the last dozen games...