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ashbury

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Everything posted by ashbury

  1. The last few seasons tell me that it's really difficult to do .400 OBP for an AL season without 25-HR power. Maybe Arraez will develop into that, but for now I don't see it.
  2. Not only was it a walk Astudillo drew, it was on the first four pitches they offered him! Apparently Pawtucket came into the game with an obvious plan for him, and he laid off. After that, it was vintage Tortuga, with him reaching a bit on some of his swings, but obviously things were going his way last night. Dobnak was perfect through three innings. It's often said that every no-hitter has one stellar play that keeps it intact, and I was wondering if that might prove to be the case after second-baseman Jordany Valdespin made a spectacular horizontal leaping grab of a liner by Sox batter Cole Sturgeon for the first out of the third inning. The no-no was broken up in the fourth, of course, with a no-doubt hit to left field and a wild pitch and a double to center which scored a run. Then Dobnak settled back down and pitched a clean fifth, and got the first two men in the sixth as well before giving up a couple of base runners and then finishing his night's work with a swinging strikeout. Early in the game his fastball seemed to be sitting at 92 MPH, but nearer the end I saw a couple of pitches at 94. He seemed to rely more on the offspeed stuff (curve or change, I couldn't tell you) to put batters away, though. Preston Guilmet needs some recognition for pitching two clean innings of his own in the seventh and eighth. I didn't have high expectations when Hildenberger took the mound, and I saw nothing to give me hope. He was workmanlike, and a few pitches fooled batters but mostly it looks like it's going to be a struggle for him to make it back to the majors. Arraez played shortstop and Rooker was in left, but neither of these players whom I was hoping to get a read on defensively was particularly tested last night. Astudillo continues to be the slowest player to go out to his position, reaching RF later than Cave managed to saunter out to CF. (Only Rooker trotted, FWIW.) Speaking of Cave, I thought he got a terrible read on that ninth-inning HR to left-center, not that there turned out to be a chance to catch it, a few feet beyond the fence. We've gotten pretty spoiled by our current starting outfield for the big club. Earlier in the day I got to see a couple of Red Sox players from the past. Catcher Rich Gedman (now hitting coach for Pawtucket) hosted a Q&A session - here's a poor photo but it's the best I thought to take: And here's '75 World Series hero Bernie Carbo, again a poor candid shot, of him listening to a presentation (he wasn't nearly as grumpy as this moment of concentration would imply): At the game, here's Wilin Rosario taking a cut at a pitch from Brian Ellington: I like their ballpark; sadly in 2021 it will no longer be used for AAA, as the team is moving to Worcester. Anyway it was a beautiful night for a ballgame in Rhode Island!
  3. I watched Willians go 3-for-4* in Pawtucket tonight, so I can confirm your hypothesis. * Plus a walk on 4 pitches, his first time up!
  4. A losing team that wants to try out a sequence of OF prospects might like the flexibility to send Cave down next year if 3 of them click.
  5. I don't think I know you well enough to run with the funny, funny joke I have in mind.
  6. Molly: You didn’t even hear what I said, did you? Scott (to himself): Gee, what a strange way to begin a conversation.
  7. I like the WPA chart, for games I didn't get to watch. I can get a lot from a box score and a line score, and a 5-run fourth obviously will turn many a game - but sometimes a 0 in the linescore will contain a ton of drama, and WPA can show that. Instead of perusing an entire PbP recording, the chart tells me which part of the game to look at in detail.
  8. I think he even has one minor league option remaining* after this year, and that's part of his value - his stashability at AAA for this season and next. That would be of value to another team too, so maybe his trade value is a little higher still, because of this, than for a typical 4th outfielder like Robbie Grossman who is out of options. He won't bring back a difference-maker by himself, but should be more than a throw-in, for the right team. He's valuable, so to answer your question, I'm not in a hurry to dispose of him. But I'd make him super-available, if that makes sense. * Cave seemed to be injured soon after signing, and missed a couple of years before playing minor league ball in earnest, and I don't know the rostering rules well enough to know for sure that this is the reason he apparently didn't have to be added to the Yankees' 40-man roster sooner than they wanted.
  9. USAFChief takes one look at these dates and says, "1900, 1901? They might be experienced enough to make a contribution."
  10. For the past several years, a team's draft money goes into and out of a pool of funds, the size of which varies from team to team. The Twins will likely spend every penny of their allotment. $4M to one player comes out of what could go to other draftees, causing them to refuse to sign, which in turn has a negative effect on the size of the pool. If as you say this one guy fell to the third round, then all 30 teams went through this exact calculation, one or two or three times. It's not reasonable to chalk this up to ownership.
  11. Nevery. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/gonzama01.shtml
  12. Cedar Rapids pitchers did best, holding the opposition to only 6 runs while their counterparts up the chain all allowed 9. Yeesh.
  13. A lot of hitters stall out at high-A in the Florida State League. Slow your roll. Time will tell.
  14. Moderator's Note: If you don't find the insights of a medical doctor interesting, move along to another topic. Heezy's disclaimer at the top of the article made clear the limitations of what he would write.
  15. Big deal. At your advanced age, isn't that your usual schedule?
  16. The two sides of a negotiating table may have different ideas about what is "signable," but I did invoke that word with the intention to rule out downright low-balling the players - the team would indeed get what they deserve if they do that. My hypothetical involves our front office getting verbal agreements, and the Aikin case previously brought up plus Jeremy's response makes it clear: nothing is clear, until all the dust settles.
  17. I suppose there is no excuse for the Miracle to ever be caught short a man or two on their roster.
  18. So then, penalty to MLB potentially on top of that?
  19. Not just millenials. You probably haven't had occasion to read the site's Comment Policy, which contains this passage written by an old fart:
  20. This makes sense on the surface. But can you really come to terms when the offer is contingent on others? (People buy houses with contingencies, and those deals fall through all the time.) Can the team "reach an agreement" with a draftee saying "our offer is $x million, but we will reduce it by whatever percent is required if anyone else doesn't agree to terms?" And then if that draftee balks and changes his mind, everyone else's offer is reduced further. There's a degree of circularity and ripple effect that I would think a capable lawyer could ask for damages and receive. Further thought - if it's all not "inked", there is room for one of the draftees to change his mind and demand more, too, thus causing a last-minute ripple effect from the other direction. But verbal contracts can be enforced, in either direction, so I'm actually not sure what it means to delay signing. Here's hoping Jeremy has the answer already at hand. It can't be this difficult.
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