Tenacious D

That trade devastated my 7th grade self. Got to meet him as an adult through my son’s travel baseball stuff. You know that expression that you should never meet your heroes because they’ll disappoint you? Spot on.

Is it really cord cutting? I have to believe the TV audience is diminishing because baseball is waning in popularity. Its biggest advantage is that it owns the summer, while the other three major sports overlap in the fall-spring. MLB has to figure out how to market their marquee players, as well as teaching them how to market themselves via social media. The only baseball player that I’ve seen do that effectively has been Trevor Bauer, who then got canceled.

I recall the stretch where we would add guys past their prime: Eric Davis Lloyd Moseby Ruben Sierra Fred Lynn Bill Madlock Vince Coleman Ray Knight Probably forgetting a few.

Reminded of what a disappointment Nick was while playing with us. He never should have left the friendly confines of Cincinnati’s stadium.

Why didn’t you say, “old friend update…”

this will be an interesting comparison--both org's bottomed out around the same time and have had high draft picks over the last handful of drafts.

I don't think anyone would disagree that Avila didn't do a great job. It's why he is out of the job. I just don't think it's nearly as dire. The only guy out of all of the high picks still in the org that I have doubts about is Tork, and he could still be very good. Given the success rate with TJ surgery, I'm bullish that both Turnbull and Mize will be able to make it back. Greene should still turn out good. If Faedo ends up a middle reliever, that's kind of a bummer for a 1st rounder, but if he can be a productive major leaguer, there are plenty of 1st rounders that never pan out. I feel uncomfortable being the glass is half-full guy and resent all of you for making me do it.

True, but I mostly excluded the first rounders, who for all intents and purposes are still raw (Mize, Tork. Greene, Manning). My only point is if we’re truly the worst in the majors, it doesn’t seem that bad to me.

I actually like the current system—not smart enough to know how it ranks, but it seems light years better than it was, say 5 years ago. And the point that we’ve had to rush players to the majors based on injuries and general ineptitude, has changed the current state. Prospects I like include Wenceel Perez, Josh Crouch, Parker Meadows, Justyn Malloy, Kerry Carpenter, Colt Keith, Jace Jung, Peyton Graham, Roberto Campos, Dillon Dingler, Ty Madden, Dylan Smith, Reese Olsen, Jackson Jobe, Elvis Alvarado, Wilmer Flores, Cristian Santana… Probably left some players out, but I feel good that some of these guys can make it. Especially optimistic with the new focus on player development.

I could have sworn that Negan had killed Todd Jones years ago?

I always plead ignorance when it comes to rules of engagement here. and pretty much everything else.

Phillips and Tettleton were both underrated and Scott Harris would have salivated over both of those guys.

Agree—I never pay attention to AS appearances when it comes to a players resume. I think Bill Freehan was a 11x All Star. Didn’t help him get in the Hall, unfortunately.

I think you have to employ a BBA (best burger available) approach. I see the Big Mac going in the 2nd round.

Funny that we have to call out not drafting a TE with a top-10 pick from actual experience.

If I’m reading Fangraphs WAR properly, his was higher than a lot of guys in our lineup last season. I know—pretty low bar.

I think the one to watch as it pertains to Jung is Zach Neto, who went one pick after him.

Basically the same lineup coming back, so hopefully we’ll see improvements from Baez, Meadows and Schoop. Agree that better collective performance from the lineup will help them.

Saw a funny comment on Twitter that he was just going through his midlife crisis.

No, they were in the same ballparks. And neither delivered in them. Hopeful for this season, though.

Greene’s OPS was under .700—basically the equivalent of a backup infielder. If we give him the benefit of the doubt, we should extend that to Torkelson, too. For our sake, let’s call it growing pains for both and hope the new coaches in charge of player development can help make any necessary adjustments.

I don’t know why everyone piles on Tork, but Greene gets a free pass? Is it because he dives for balls? I would argue Tork was as important to the team defensively, routinely digging out shitty throws from Baez, who probably would have committed closer to 40 errors. I don’t think we should write off any of the guys I listed, but the returns have been underwhelming (so far) for players of their pedigree. (Mize and Faedo due to injuries that were out of their control). This team could easily turn around quickly if some combination of those guys can start to live up to the promise, and other youngsters like Keith, Perez, Flores, Olsen and/or Madden soon progress to the majors. But if these things happen, should Avila still be so reviled? I liked his offseason moves last year (as did everyone else), and the collective team performance was inexplicable. How does one team endure the number of pitching injuries they had and every hitter hitting significantly below expectations?

Complaining about last season is a waste of time, unless you enjoy dancing on Avila’s grave. More energy should be spent around the quality and lack of activity this offseason and whether or not we are starting a new rebuild. I know Harris has understandably avoided that term publicly, but it’s pretty clear that is where we’re at given the underwhelming return to-date from our #1’s (Manning, Faedo, Mize, Greene and Tork), along with the questions with Jung.

Again, moot. I have more regrets that we have wasted time discussing this than seeing the 4A guy go to LA. Next!

Hill might have already been gone from the org. But it sounds like you agree that Baddoo and Carpenter both should have been higher in the pecking order than Thompson. If anything, I could have been onboard with dumping Reyes for Thompson, exchanging one journeyman for another. Again—a moot point, given ML’s intel.