Tiger337

He also got many other players that are being billed as parts of the team's future - Skubal, Manning, Mize, Parker Meadows, Keith, Rogers, Jung. Jobe, Madden, Flores.

How do we know that he is rescuing guys?

I think there are a few people who won't question Harris on anything and they tend to be pretty smart people in general. When something like that happens, I am am always going to ask questions! That is a big part of what makes this forum fun for me. I don't know much about management decisions. None of us do and that is by design. The data tell me that Candelario and Rodriguez are pretty good players and I not satisfied with how things turned out with them.

How was Friedman responsible for other possible deals that Harris could have made? Maybe Harris could have realized that Rodriguez would have been difficult to work with and worked out a deal long before the deadline. Maybe he did try to do that. I don't know. I just don't see why he has so quickly reached a level where he can not be questioned. I am not unhappy with him at all, but he seems to be getting deified like Hinch was in 2021 and it seems unjustified at this point (for both of them).

Rodriguez was not Friedman's player. I wouldn't expect him to have much control over it. If the same thing happened to Avila, there would have been no excuses. Everyone would have been laughing at him.

I am satisfied with Torkelson's progress this year, but he still has a long way to go. He still doesn't hit enough for a first baseman, especially one who is a sub-par defender. He needs to get on base more.

If he's going to get an A grade, doesn't he need to make sure things are not beyond his control? An A grade suggests that he is an elite GM in the game.

I think his big picture plan of collecting young talent was similar to Harris' plan. Harris might be better at player development, but almost all of the developing players were acquired by Avila.

Grade is really incomplete at this point, but I'll give him a B-(with C being average) Positives - Seems to be genuinely analytics driven especially in staffing seems to work tirelessly in an effort find hidden gems. It sounds as if he had a great draft (according to experts), but there are so many unknowns there Player development went well his first year, altough hard to know how much of it was him. Negatives - I was hoping he'd take more chances in free agency/ trades regarding hitters. Somebody has to say it...Should have kept Candelario Failure to trade Rodriguez at deadline. I know there is a lot of blame being thrown around, but I think he has to own it. Overall, he seems a bit tentative in making big moves. That is excusable with a new team to evaluate, but it's something to watch going forward.

I don't think this thread is going in the direction that Echoes expected.

Damn, I suspected something was wrong when it happened. I thought it was his shoulder.

That is true and defense tends to peak before hitting. Another thing is that he has the lowest strikeout rate of his career.

He is good field for now. That can go fast when a shortstop reaches 30. The surprising thing about him is his lack of power. It was easy to predict that a totally undisciplined hitter was going to lose something as he aged and get on base even less often. I figured he'd at least continue to hit for power though. I hope they can get another couple of years of good range because that's all he's got now.

I had to look it up too. I have never paid much attention to silver sluggers. I always thought it was overkill to give an award for the best hitter at every position. Just give it to the best hitter.

It didn't start until 1980.

Hope he's not fragile his entire career.

They challenged both.

I hope Greene was not hurt on that catch. It looked like he might have may tweaked his shoulder and they pinch hit for him later.

Bennett Sousa DFA. Churn!

It's not that weird. Men have been admiring trash like him forever. He's the archtypical dumbass American alpha male wannabe that the rest of the world laughs about.

It's OK. I do not have may controversial opinions, but when I do have one I can be stubborn about it.

That was sarcasm on my part. They moved because they were getting poor attendance. They were a "small market" team with an exceptional farm system.

It's not a conspiracy. To me, the obvious reason for drafts (which are unque to the sports business) is to eliminate competition for player services. Again, I don't deny that they also promote competitive balance, something I probably care less about than most sports fans. I am sure I would have enjoyed baseball in the 50s and 60s just fine.

In 1964, they had already used up all the other ways. It's not subterfuge. They clearly eliminated competition for players with a draft. That is a really big deal and it's the first thing I think about when I think of sports drafts. I don't deny that this suppression of payment has the additional benefit (for some teams) of more competitive balance.

That was the situation in the 50s when the Cardinals and Brooklyn Dodgers had more teams than anyone else. It worked out so well for the Dodgers that they had to move to Los Angeles. By 1964, the last year prior to the first draft, it was less extreme: https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/affiliate.cgi?year=1964 The teams with the most clubs were: Minnesota, Los Angeles, New York Yankees and San Francisco with 9, Baltimore, Milwaukee and Pittsburgh with 8. So, it was a mix of small markets and large markets.