Was holding out some hope that we could be competitive until mid August. Even with the Lopez injury I still believe that the SP is going to be good enough to compete.
Here's my issue and why I think 75 wins is probably the ceiling. An emphasis is being placed on defense, yet we have Lee at SS, Wallner and Larnach in the OF. We seem to think 1st is irrelevant defensively... it's not. It's certainly a position you can put someone with limited range,, however it's critical for scooping bad throws from the IF, accurate throws to start DP's, throws to the plate, you just don't throw a extra body there.... especially one that isn't a above average hitter. We will once again leave outs on the field, giving up runs that should end innings and will be actually extending them leading to higher pitch counts in high leverage situations.
Throw in the catcher position that is average at best defensively and just how did we improve on this new emphasis placed on defense and speed.. It's looking like a month to month subscription to MLBTV.