seagull wrote:Lots of positives from last night's game.....but then again, it's the Tigers

Shit with virtually the same record as we have.

That type of performance by Quantrill from a pure confidence perspective is amazing.

By the way, on the topic, check out Quantrill's dad's career.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/play ... pa01.shtml


This guy was an old school animal.

Not a star or anything - just a damn valuable pitcher. 3.83 over 14 years

4 straight years he led the league in appearances !!!!

2001-2004

Straw will be a nice piece in the middle of the field. Not a great hitter but he doesn't look like a guy who's going to blow and cold. Very clever pick up.

Some OF help looms n Class A where George Valera is homering and walking with great regularity.
in AA Will Benson is kind of Bradleyesgue lots of homers lots of strikeouts but also steals bases and plays solid RF with a strong arm.
Will Brennan and Steven Kwan in AA hit for average and doubles.

Way down in Arizona there are a trio of outfielders who are having very nice U.S. debuts: Luis Durango [basestealer and on base machine; Isaiah Greene, kid from the Mets does a lot of stuff well; Jorge Burgos, who's leading the league in on base pct, hitting 386 and lots of doubles.

Planez?

HITTERS H-AB RBI HR SB AVG
M. StrawCF 94-357 37 3 19 .263
B. ZimmerRF 36-149 16 2 7 .242
J. Ramirez3B 90-358 65 24 11 .251
F. ReyesDH 68-248 51 20 3 .274
O. MercadoLF 21-89 7 2 3 .236
O. Miller1B 10-72 5 1 0 .139
A. GimenezSS 14-78 5 2 4 .179
A. HedgesC 31-174 17 5 0 .178
E. Clement2B 19-81 4 0 0 .235

Ok, if this lineup isn't evidence of total tank mode I don't know what is!!

(Not that we didn't know that)

This is total spring training mode now - except better for the team since the competition is way better too. And heck lots of spring training games are actually won with this type of lineup - stuff happens.

Auditions for all!

Spring training mode suggests the stars are resting
Amed is the only resting regular
Well sort of regular Harold R
This is more roster mode

Yeah Planez maybe

And i lookef at Kwan’s numbers aftet he homered yesterday for Akron his 5th More power than i realized 5th round draftee so obviously has some positives
I keep looking for “major league average” players for perhsps 6 or even 7 positions to support a couple stars Kwan may be one of those
Zimmer dreams of being average
Rosario may be
Straw’s plus D and minus O equals average

Casey Blake used to be gold standard average
Id probably add cesar Hernandez to that asset class

civ - we have 2 veterans out (Harold and Amed) and in their place Gimenez and Mercado.

Often times in spring training you have a couple good players and the rest young ones. Jose and Franmil are the good players.

So to me this is spring training mode.

Giminez returns and makes an error and goes hitless but drove in a run with a sac fly.

Zimmer with the game winning homer, he's almost looking like a major leaguer this go around.

Plesac managed to allow 5 runs[ 4 earned, on 2 hits.
Excellent bullpen work staying with Stephan

civ - if Zimmer can be that more consistent hitter it's really quite fun to think of him in RF and Straw in CF.

You compliment that next year with a REAL hitter in left field (and 1B) and now we are talking.

We have a zillion options at SS/2B and that should sort itself out. But this year at the very least shows that Amed Rosario is a good, valid option at SS. That guy knows how to hit - especially with runners on. And he is an excellent baserunner.

Just some random thoughts.....For most of the year I couldn't understand how Zimmer would be in the lineup. He wasn't hitting, and always had a look of constipation on his face. Sunday, after he hit the game winner he came back to the dugout with the biggest smile I have ever seen on his face. His growl as he met Franmil was priceless. I like what I see about Austin Hedges. He seems to be a real communicator in the dugout, seems to get timely hits, and his scoring from 1st yesterday was fun to watch. Jose seems to have put on 20 pounds since the season started. Since Clase started throwing his curve more frequently he is much more effective. Ernie Clements gets my vote over Yu Chang for utility infielder. Owen Miller, what the heck???

The rise of Sandlin made trading Maton much more affordable. Is Brian Shaw a reincarnation of Paul Assenmacher? I think Plesak gets traded over the winter. His breaking quarantine with Clevenger and his hurting his thumb taking off his shirt seems to indicate he is a loose cannon, Speaking of head cases, Mercado seems to look afraid every time he comes up to bat.

Does anyone think the rash of not being able to hit the ball out of the infield over the past 2 games reflects over-swinging?

A real LF and a real 1B sound good, if they are willing to pay for them. I'd be surprised if they went for more than on.e.
they sort of thought they did that this year with Eddie R.
Disappointed that Nolan Jones has not looked good in Columbus and not ready to fill a corner position next year.
They certainly can afford to sell some of their many solid middle infielders in a deal for an outfielder.
Yes Ernie seems to be perfectly designed utility guy.
Giminez screws up the first ball hit to him when he returns, not going to endear him to fans or team that way.

by the way Maton had his first clunker of a game for the Astros. It still seems like a trade of your starting CF for a middle reliever is a rather lopsided deal, but perhaps Houston expects Maton to move farther back toward setup man or even closer role someday.

civ - good points and I don't think they necessarily have to go the free agent route for BOTH LF and 1B.

Look, they traded for Franmil Reyes right? And I think Myles Straw will end up a steal for them.

These are not flukes they seem to have a knack for trading. The only reason they got Franmil was that SD had an excess of outfielders and he was the one with the least fielding skills. No DH.

They spot him and get him tossed into the trade. That's a real skill.

So they scan MLB, like they did for Straw, and look for teams with an excess then trade out of their excess. It may seem a lot to ask but they actually do this consistently.

Heck another example is Quantrill. They spot the guy and he blossoms later. Remember Casey Blake for Santana? Remember Trevor Bauer as a guy Arizona was done with?

Sure, those are a longer time ago but it is still the same core group running the team.

They know the drill. You see what you have the rest of the season. If still no LF or 1B look viable you chase one by either trade or FA.

(BTW, Harold Ramirez was a really nice pickup at no cost at all and would be a really nice 4th outfielder if they can fill that LF spot - also could platoon with Zimmer in RF if Zim can continue his progress)

I agree with you that the front office does a really good job on the trade market
What a change from the days of dealing away Nettles Chambliss Eckersley for a pile of not quite mediocrities