gehringer_2

no doubt the injuries are the over all killer for total wins and losses, but recently there have been issues of basic execution by Riley, Tork, McK, Perez and on the pitching side Valdez and Flaherty. Those are your regulars - or close to regulars in Perez' case. It's like a contagion.

I think the narrative is that there is at least a subset of owners who are demanding cost control. Think of all those teams that had Fox/Bally/FanDuel collapse out from under them, do you believe they were able to shift over MLB production without taking a cut in revenue? Or a least a cut from what they could previously project future revenue to be? That has probably never happened before. I tend to think this round is about issues between/among the owners. The question being how the dynamic plays out between small market, middle market and the rich clubs. I'm sure the clubs with big money aren't looking for a stoppage, and if they hold sway there won't be. They have the option of agreeing to more revenue sharing which would probably satisfy the rest of the clubs. But if not, and a big enough subset of small and middle market teams stand their ground together, it's a different calculus. The union won't give anything back so I see it as coming down to how much more the teams with money agree to share.

I guess I would qualify what I mean, there are bad teams that just don't have talent and there have been worse teams in the league than this one (at least we hope that will be proven true by the end of the season) but there are teams that have enough talent to do better that can't get out of their own way. When I say this team is inept, the latter is what I mean - can't execute.

also true. The running game all around has turned to dross. This season so far we are losing too much on the bases.

that's all fair.

That's is certainly something that has always been arguable with Hinch - he does not seem to believe in short term trends at all. He's a long 'track record' guy all the way. I don't know if there is a mathematical right or wrong on the issue because different players have different kinds of performance/consistency arcs.

you could, and the BP has certainly been less than stellar overall, but OTOH, on more general principle I'm not going to knock a pitching staff that give up one run to Cleveland in 9 innings.

but what do you do when they guys that are supposed to be your offensive leader have stupid AB. Swing the damn bat and defend the plate when you are down 2 strikes and there is a man on 2nd. That kind of thing isn't a so much even a matter of talent - it's lack of game IQ.

another one before the 9th would have mattered in this one. 🔚

If there has been a more inept team in the league in the last 10 years I'd be surprised.

I guess talent is no defense against playing stupid. He and Tork can now both share the distinction of taking a called third in maybe less than week with a man on second in a walk off situation.

Vest needs a K

If your talking about LA, the fire and brimstone didn't work just because they were playing badly, it worked because it was a sloppy, undisciplined, and unserious clubhouse. If that were a problem here it would actually be easier. If anything, this team may to too serious and prone to pressing.

nobody is going to make money on going to Mars unless it's on sweetheart contracts to really stupid US government. ....oh, wait, nvm.

Poor defense opens the door, Cleveland declines to walk through I'm surprised at how poorly Workman has played in the field. Not like I've followed his career closely but I do remember when he was drafted the glove was not seen as a liability. He's a big guy, maybe he outgrew his fielding coordination from his 2020 scouring report: Fielding: Solid defender with excellent instincts and a strong, above-average throwing arm. While the Detroit Tigers drafted him as a third baseman, many scouts felt he had the athleticism to handle shortstop or second base if needed. Fielding: Solid defender with excellent instincts and a strong, above-average throwing arm. While the Detroit Tigers drafted him as a third baseman, many scouts felt he had the athleticism to handle shortstop or second base if needed.

without doing more research than I have time for right now, does his comment about the lower 50% paying 3% of taxes count only the Income tax or FICA (plus the employer contribution) as well because that could be significant difference in that %

We didn't lose that many in the Iraq war did we? Of these a good many lost on the ground I suppose

"I am not a number, I am a free man!" - quothe #6

Interesting question - throwing downhill allows a pitcher more follow-through. The big question would be what a change in the mound large enough to actually lower pitch velocity would do to pitcher's arm health. Could go either way for all I know.

This hits one my single biggest reservation about Hinch - I've said I think he is a great pitcher's manager and he keeps a non-toxic clubhouse - all to the good, but I've never been able to shake the suspicion that he gives his players seriously conflicting messages about hitting. You can't spend all your focus 'looking for good pitches to drive' - an absolute Hinch Mantra - and still be a 'tough at bat, control the zone, keep yourself alive, get the ball in play, move the order along no matter what' hitter that wins close games. You just can't. Now to be fair, for my money, once a guy gets to the majors he should probably ignore 95% of whatever anyone else tells him about hitting - it's something where every player is so unique you have to understand yourself and no-one else can do that for you.

this is where the art comes in - the ability to look at these guys at AA and below and project accurately who is going to make it and who isn't so that you can still get something for them. I don't really care whether you do it with advanced metrics on eye moment, nerve conduction and swing dynamics or with some grizzled old timer who has been watching and picking good baseball players for 60 yrs, you want to have some ability in your org to project more accurately than the other guys. It's a prime place to create differential roster value.

always respected Barney - he knew his stuff. If more people in Washington understood economics like Barney did we'd be in a better place.

I've come to the view it's not our players, I think it comes from the top that on the Wings you are not to take a penalty to avenge a teammate -- and other teams know that.

I have to agree which a previous poster that a GM that has to set his coach down and tell him he is coaching wrong needs to be looking for a new coach, not extending him. A team where player procurement and coaching have different concepts about how to play the game sounds like a problem. Or as suggested, the conflict is between Gores and Langdon, which is just as bad a situation. OTOH, coaching contracts are only money and they don't count against the cap, so if they do end up writing off most of JB's extension nobody need care about the micro-dent in Gores' accounts.

Nobody in a league where people aren't throwing 95+ should bother. The break could be at MiLB and the NCAA, where there are plenty of groundskeeping resources, everyone else can stay put. It wouldn't be the only place the diamond changes as the players get older.