Guards 4 Life
7:51 You believe the guardians have any chance to win a series against any of the wild card teams?
Mark P
7:52 Every team should be worried about facing red-hot Cleveland at this point. Just a great job by the Guardians to close things out in standout fashion.
Future Reds GM
_
A few weeks ago the Guardians – youngest team in MLB – were struggling. Terry Francona called a team meeting. Most mangers would have gone over their shortcomings or used some sort of motivation tactic to get them back in rhythm….which would probably just added to the pressure the players were feeling. Instead he told then that they had done a great job in 2022 and had exceeded expectations. He thanked them, said they should be proud, just go out and play. With the pressure off, a few days later the young team started playing well again.
Since Francona arrived in Cleveland, when he has had any sort of a competitive team they always peak in the September stretch run. This is one of the main reasons he’s the best manager in MLB. He’s no different then great playwrights, directors, recording producers, music arrangers and others. Need to read the situation, keep your eye on the prize, and in this case understand that it’s not about having the best individual statistics – its all about the team winning when it counts (when he was with the Lakers Magic Johnson always said in the last 2-3 minutes of a game: “It’s Winnin’ Time!”).
Don’t know that the Guardians will even win one game in the playoffs. But winning a division – granted, an historically weak one – and going through the experience of the payoffs is the first step in what should be at least 5 years of sustained contention.
As for people that post here saying an MLB manager is irrelevant……
Tbh, I like Cleveland and I hope they make a deep playoff run. Lots of underrated players and if they can keep up the hot streak in October, they could make it back to the Fall Classic.
Why not Soto back to the Nats? After 2024 they will have wide open books and most of the prospects they got at the last 2 trade deadlines will be on the doorstep.
They need to find new owners. In my eyes, they’re not going to be signing any longterm contracts until that’s settled. I also don’t see many players wanting to sign with the team that let Harper, Turner, and Soto go.
“There’s an old saying in Tennessee—I know it’s in Texas, probably in Tennessee—that says, ‘Fool me once, shame on… shame on you. Fool me—you can’t get fooled again. ‘”
– Pres. George W. Bush, Nashville, TN; 09/17/2002
Jazz Chisholm is hot
9:45 With all the emerging talent with Alcantara, Chisholm, Lopez, and even Jesus Sanchez, why do you think this Marlin’s team hasn’t been performing to that standard of talent should?
Mark P
9:46 Because their ability to find and develop hitting has been very poor. Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald published a pretty damning breakdown of the long list of high draft picks and big trade acquisitions who have simply failed to pan out over the last 3-4 seasons.
–
Now this is interesting……
Under the article about Mattingly not returning, I wrote that like Dayton, baseball as played today had passed Don by. People took that to mean he/they couldn’t use analytics. I never said that. Was schooled and called names. For years I’ve written on here that the Royals needed to rethink their pitching philosophy’s because they weren’t developing pitching other than a few bullpens guys for a short time (and Dayton was my favorite Baseball Ops guy). Have also written that the Marlins have had pedestrian position players on both O and D, and today wrote that Mel Stottlemyre Jr. has been keeping that team afloat.
In MLB – like in any business – the people in charge of things have to be held accountable for results. A Baseball Ops head can’t have below average pitching under multiple managers and pitching coaches. A manger can’t have half of his roster going in circles for years. MLB isn’t rotisserie league. Teams can’t go out and buy players whenever something goes wrong. They need to be able to develop their own. If they’re not accomplishing that over a period of years, the owner has to step in and ask why. The Guardians and Orioles developed a lot of young players this year – and not all were high draft choices…..many were Rule 5 and DFA’s. For as much as the Dodgers spend on stars, they seem to develop an inordinate amount of Pitchers and Catchers every year that were in circles in other organizations.
Developing players – including at the ML level – is what MLB is all about today. Everyone can’t go out and give 5+ year contracts for $150m-plus to fill their endless “holes”.
Many teams have to start looking at their scouting departments as too many pick the wrong players in the draft. 2013: Bryant 2 and Judge 32. Appel is just giving it a go again and he was number 1. Of course it is always hard to see health in the crystal ball. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Major_League_Baseball_d…
Then the trade deadline comes and teams make some serious gambles in hopes of making the playoffs and WS. Teams like the Cubs in 2019 did well by not signing players and had some good chips to trade and did very well in return that will pay off in ’23 and ’24.
Scouting is nice – but it’s how organizations develop players.
Take Oneil Cruz of the Pirates. Sensational tools. He throws real hard. Runs real fast. When he hits the ball he sometimes hits it real hard – and if he gets it up in the air it can go real far. The Dodgers had him in their minor league system and put him in a package to get an established relief pitcher that helped them win a WS……who they then let leave in free agency.
Mr. Cruz may well be a fan favorite (especially to many in the baseball media) and a highlight reel regular. But like most White Sox players (a team perfect for him) he’s not a ballplayer. He insists on playing SS – the most important pure defensive position on a team. He doesn’t possess the Baseball IQ to play that position, and appears to have no interest in developing one. At times he glides over to where he’s supposed to stand, will catch the ball and tag a runner or throw it if he must….no interest,,,,no concept of how important those qualities are to helping his team win. In running the bases he’s station-to station – his blinding speed isn’t used, as say Jorge Mateo uses his.
No one expects a guy to coming up from the minors to perform all facets of his responsibilities at a high level. But what one does look for is if the player has a feel for the game. At this point, Mr. Cruz does not. Yes, he looked good in the draft. But it appears what the Dodgers saw in him during his minor league play is what the Mets saw in Jarred Kelenic – a selfish player expecting to be a superstar based on his physical abilities to hit, throw, and run; pretty much tuning out any other demands on them.
It’s all about developing players …at both the major and minor league level. Some players with lots of ability don’t grow. Some players with limited ability develop into winning ML ballplayers and even stars. Always has been. Always will be. Especially important today with a pseudo salary cap as well as many teams having to live within the revenues they take in.
Half the Cardinal IF is bought. Wainwright came from the Braves. The Yanks are a hogepodge of players right now. You can only develop players that have the ability to grow and are not just the best from HS or college pool of players. Scouting: Dallas Green saw something in Sandberg and Jenkins to bring them to the Cubs. That kind of sight does not come easy. TB, Cleveland, and Seattle are doing it right in small markets, Francona is a great manager. The Dodgers have the money to buy what they need. SD is finding out it takes more than the will of money that players have to be responsible people as well. Then we have Bauer who is paying too high a price while Ozuna of the Braves gets to play with a constant get out of jail free card. Why? There are many more failures in the draft than in development of players. I can think of players who have HOF numbers and won batting titles who could not behave on the teams they were on and were sent packing when a team valued character more than ability. I think of the psychiatrist speaking to the team in The Natural.
Predicting how players are going to develop as they progress over a few years and through several minor league stops and then, if they’re very good and at least a little lucky, reach the majors is incredibly difficult. Every person is different, and so there will never be a perfect scouting and development system.
I picked Pujols in the “who is better” poll, but I’d probably pick Clemente on second thought. The man was still putting up a 5 WAR season when he passed and wasn’t showing much signs of slowing down. He might have played another 3-5 years.
All the “hard work” and “favorable matchups” Has really paid off for Pujols… especially in the second half… You know when a “42” year old body typically thrives… middle of the season in the dead of summer
The disappointing thing is, I mean since it’s all the hard work Pujols has put in this season, what could Albert have been if he put in the work as an angel? Guess he just wasn’t motivated and never got any favorable match ups in the 10 years he played in socal.
We get it, you don’t like him. So you accuse him of something you have no evidence of.
People are celebrating him, and that’s great for MLB.
Reality is that he has a 1.3 fWar in 333 PA’s. OK. but nothing extraordinary. If he were on the juice he’d be doing far better (and would have been for the last 5 years…as say, Barry Bonds late in his career). The main thing is that he’s often hitting in clutch situations and that’s what’s important. A great way to go out with his original team in a pennant race.
According to Morosi, ATL was heavy into Verlander (my paraphrase) before he re-signed with HOU (inc. 2023 player option). If he turns down the option, most likely, for a longer deal then ATL would be in heavy. Morton has a team option that I doubt ATL would be into for 20M ($0 buyout, I believe) they could easily use on Verlander. A rotation of Verlander, Fried, Strider, 20-game winner Kyle Wright and another spot for a multitude of options, including Soroka, Ian Anderson, Bryce Elder, Kyle Muller, etc.
Not many teams Verlander would leave the comforts and competitveness of the Astros, but I’d think he’d be interested for the right offer in ATL, finally pitching in the NL.
Guards 4 Life
7:51 You believe the guardians have any chance to win a series against any of the wild card teams?
Mark P
7:52 Every team should be worried about facing red-hot Cleveland at this point. Just a great job by the Guardians to close things out in standout fashion.
Future Reds GM
_
A few weeks ago the Guardians – youngest team in MLB – were struggling. Terry Francona called a team meeting. Most mangers would have gone over their shortcomings or used some sort of motivation tactic to get them back in rhythm….which would probably just added to the pressure the players were feeling. Instead he told then that they had done a great job in 2022 and had exceeded expectations. He thanked them, said they should be proud, just go out and play. With the pressure off, a few days later the young team started playing well again.
Since Francona arrived in Cleveland, when he has had any sort of a competitive team they always peak in the September stretch run. This is one of the main reasons he’s the best manager in MLB. He’s no different then great playwrights, directors, recording producers, music arrangers and others. Need to read the situation, keep your eye on the prize, and in this case understand that it’s not about having the best individual statistics – its all about the team winning when it counts (when he was with the Lakers Magic Johnson always said in the last 2-3 minutes of a game: “It’s Winnin’ Time!”).
Don’t know that the Guardians will even win one game in the playoffs. But winning a division – granted, an historically weak one – and going through the experience of the payoffs is the first step in what should be at least 5 years of sustained contention.
As for people that post here saying an MLB manager is irrelevant……
Tbh, I like Cleveland and I hope they make a deep playoff run. Lots of underrated players and if they can keep up the hot streak in October, they could make it back to the Fall Classic.
What happens if Phillies don’t make the playoffs? Thomson still get the gig long term?
Why not Soto back to the Nats? After 2024 they will have wide open books and most of the prospects they got at the last 2 trade deadlines will be on the doorstep.
They need to find new owners. In my eyes, they’re not going to be signing any longterm contracts until that’s settled. I also don’t see many players wanting to sign with the team that let Harper, Turner, and Soto go.
They will if they pay
Yes, but the current owners won’t be spending. So it may take a bit.
“There’s an old saying in Tennessee—I know it’s in Texas, probably in Tennessee—that says, ‘Fool me once, shame on… shame on you. Fool me—you can’t get fooled again. ‘”
– Pres. George W. Bush, Nashville, TN; 09/17/2002
Jazz Chisholm is hot
9:45 With all the emerging talent with Alcantara, Chisholm, Lopez, and even Jesus Sanchez, why do you think this Marlin’s team hasn’t been performing to that standard of talent should?
Mark P
9:46 Because their ability to find and develop hitting has been very poor. Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald published a pretty damning breakdown of the long list of high draft picks and big trade acquisitions who have simply failed to pan out over the last 3-4 seasons.
–
Now this is interesting……
Under the article about Mattingly not returning, I wrote that like Dayton, baseball as played today had passed Don by. People took that to mean he/they couldn’t use analytics. I never said that. Was schooled and called names. For years I’ve written on here that the Royals needed to rethink their pitching philosophy’s because they weren’t developing pitching other than a few bullpens guys for a short time (and Dayton was my favorite Baseball Ops guy). Have also written that the Marlins have had pedestrian position players on both O and D, and today wrote that Mel Stottlemyre Jr. has been keeping that team afloat.
In MLB – like in any business – the people in charge of things have to be held accountable for results. A Baseball Ops head can’t have below average pitching under multiple managers and pitching coaches. A manger can’t have half of his roster going in circles for years. MLB isn’t rotisserie league. Teams can’t go out and buy players whenever something goes wrong. They need to be able to develop their own. If they’re not accomplishing that over a period of years, the owner has to step in and ask why. The Guardians and Orioles developed a lot of young players this year – and not all were high draft choices…..many were Rule 5 and DFA’s. For as much as the Dodgers spend on stars, they seem to develop an inordinate amount of Pitchers and Catchers every year that were in circles in other organizations.
Developing players – including at the ML level – is what MLB is all about today. Everyone can’t go out and give 5+ year contracts for $150m-plus to fill their endless “holes”.
Many teams have to start looking at their scouting departments as too many pick the wrong players in the draft. 2013: Bryant 2 and Judge 32. Appel is just giving it a go again and he was number 1. Of course it is always hard to see health in the crystal ball.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Major_League_Baseball_d…
Then the trade deadline comes and teams make some serious gambles in hopes of making the playoffs and WS. Teams like the Cubs in 2019 did well by not signing players and had some good chips to trade and did very well in return that will pay off in ’23 and ’24.
Jim Tavegia;
I’ll write it again…..
Scouting is nice – but it’s how organizations develop players.
Take Oneil Cruz of the Pirates. Sensational tools. He throws real hard. Runs real fast. When he hits the ball he sometimes hits it real hard – and if he gets it up in the air it can go real far. The Dodgers had him in their minor league system and put him in a package to get an established relief pitcher that helped them win a WS……who they then let leave in free agency.
Mr. Cruz may well be a fan favorite (especially to many in the baseball media) and a highlight reel regular. But like most White Sox players (a team perfect for him) he’s not a ballplayer. He insists on playing SS – the most important pure defensive position on a team. He doesn’t possess the Baseball IQ to play that position, and appears to have no interest in developing one. At times he glides over to where he’s supposed to stand, will catch the ball and tag a runner or throw it if he must….no interest,,,,no concept of how important those qualities are to helping his team win. In running the bases he’s station-to station – his blinding speed isn’t used, as say Jorge Mateo uses his.
No one expects a guy to coming up from the minors to perform all facets of his responsibilities at a high level. But what one does look for is if the player has a feel for the game. At this point, Mr. Cruz does not. Yes, he looked good in the draft. But it appears what the Dodgers saw in him during his minor league play is what the Mets saw in Jarred Kelenic – a selfish player expecting to be a superstar based on his physical abilities to hit, throw, and run; pretty much tuning out any other demands on them.
It’s all about developing players …at both the major and minor league level. Some players with lots of ability don’t grow. Some players with limited ability develop into winning ML ballplayers and even stars. Always has been. Always will be. Especially important today with a pseudo salary cap as well as many teams having to live within the revenues they take in.
Done.
Cruz steal your girl?
Half the Cardinal IF is bought. Wainwright came from the Braves. The Yanks are a hogepodge of players right now. You can only develop players that have the ability to grow and are not just the best from HS or college pool of players. Scouting: Dallas Green saw something in Sandberg and Jenkins to bring them to the Cubs. That kind of sight does not come easy. TB, Cleveland, and Seattle are doing it right in small markets, Francona is a great manager. The Dodgers have the money to buy what they need. SD is finding out it takes more than the will of money that players have to be responsible people as well. Then we have Bauer who is paying too high a price while Ozuna of the Braves gets to play with a constant get out of jail free card. Why? There are many more failures in the draft than in development of players. I can think of players who have HOF numbers and won batting titles who could not behave on the teams they were on and were sent packing when a team valued character more than ability. I think of the psychiatrist speaking to the team in The Natural.
Predicting how players are going to develop as they progress over a few years and through several minor league stops and then, if they’re very good and at least a little lucky, reach the majors is incredibly difficult. Every person is different, and so there will never be a perfect scouting and development system.
I picked Pujols in the “who is better” poll, but I’d probably pick Clemente on second thought. The man was still putting up a 5 WAR season when he passed and wasn’t showing much signs of slowing down. He might have played another 3-5 years.
All the “hard work” and “favorable matchups” Has really paid off for Pujols… especially in the second half… You know when a “42” year old body typically thrives… middle of the season in the dead of summer
The disappointing thing is, I mean since it’s all the hard work Pujols has put in this season, what could Albert have been if he put in the work as an angel? Guess he just wasn’t motivated and never got any favorable match ups in the 10 years he played in socal.
We get it, you don’t like him. So you accuse him of something you have no evidence of.
People are celebrating him, and that’s great for MLB.
Reality is that he has a 1.3 fWar in 333 PA’s. OK. but nothing extraordinary. If he were on the juice he’d be doing far better (and would have been for the last 5 years…as say, Barry Bonds late in his career). The main thing is that he’s often hitting in clutch situations and that’s what’s important. A great way to go out with his original team in a pennant race.
According to Morosi, ATL was heavy into Verlander (my paraphrase) before he re-signed with HOU (inc. 2023 player option). If he turns down the option, most likely, for a longer deal then ATL would be in heavy. Morton has a team option that I doubt ATL would be into for 20M ($0 buyout, I believe) they could easily use on Verlander. A rotation of Verlander, Fried, Strider, 20-game winner Kyle Wright and another spot for a multitude of options, including Soroka, Ian Anderson, Bryce Elder, Kyle Muller, etc.
Not many teams Verlander would leave the comforts and competitveness of the Astros, but I’d think he’d be interested for the right offer in ATL, finally pitching in the NL.