When Jon Jay got an affordable extension last January it worried me as I didn’t understand it. Yes he was coming off a good season, but we had good talent in the pipes, and I had never been a fan. Then 2015 came. Here’s a refresher: In a season where he was both injured and pushed out [...]
The problem with being a fan, even a well read one, is all you have access to is rumors. A reporter/blogger/analyst will tell you who’s likely to sign someone, but until it actually happens, it’s all happenstance. What I want is something I’ll never get. Indeed, it’s something even the most connected reporter never gets: [...]
Something happened this offseason, that could be significant down the road, the first rain drops of a possible oncoming storm. Players signed qualifying offers. Until this year, there had been 30+ such offers, and nobody had signed them. GM’s could offer them freely, knowing that they’d get a compensatory draft pick in return. Thus year [...]
In my mind, there are four kinds of GM’s: (Editors note: GM’s can change categories. They have to, or they don’t last.) Active: Ones who make a good team better at a big cost, or see an opportunity at the deadline, and act upon it, pushing their chips to the middle of the table, like [...]
Suppose you’re John Mozeliak, and you’ve been told you can sign a big free agent, and you’ve narrowed your choices down two players: Chris Davis and re-signing Jason Heyward. If you sign Davis, you’re emphasizing power over defense and speed, Heyward is the opposite. Which way to go? Davis had a year of extremes last [...]
Recently I participated in a UCB Round Table Chast, and when it was my turn, I simply asked if there was anyone people would trade for, why, and who they would offer in the deal. Here’s the replies. Doug V Hope everyone is having a good morning. I’m a creative guy, and one thing i [...]
When the Royals made the World Series last year, I (and many others) dismissed it as a fluke, and didn’t think their brand of baseball was sustainable. It wasn’t their pitching approach. I loved that, and would probably build a team the same way: super deep bullpen, and starters just good enough to get to [...]
With the Mets making the World Series, there are many interesting storylines about their trip. First appearance since 2000, the young pitching, etc. What interests me is the first World Series by a pair of veterans, David Wright and Bartolo Colon. Plenty will be written, I’m sure, about Wright’s first appearance, so I’d like to [...]
With the Wild Card game coming up today between our old friends the Cubs and the Pirates, I thought I’d take a brief look at both, tell who I’d prefer to face (though honestly, neither one is appealing, but that’s pretty much true of every team. Nobody said the playoffs were going to be easy, [...]
I’m enjoying this season, and am looking forward to the playoffs. However once they’re done, and the shine of the post season wears off (hopefully that shine is coming off of the metallic flags of a World Series Trophy) the Cardinals have a very interesting decision to make. Now you guys might be saying “yeah [...]
I’m currently reading a book about a guy with Asperger’s Syndrome (The Journal Of Best Practices) where he discusses how he dealt with it. One way he dealt with it was to have different personalities for different situations. Business Man persona for business situations, etc. Basically adapting as the situation seemed fit. The guy also [...]
How do you define ugly baseball? Committing lots of errors, losing by a ton of runs as your pitchers get shellacked? That’s not a bad definition. I have a different one. Ugly baseball is when players and managers act like 5 year olds, instead of the well paid adults they’re supposed to be. We had [...]
