Jocko87

Guys, Pablo coming out for the 6th is progress. Last year xyz wouldn't have made it out of the 5th. No worries on a cold early season start limited to 80-90 pitches and getting the big guys some run is good too. Hits will come, Grienke is still crafty as hell. Larnach is sneaky fast for a big dude, especially with a intact groin. 🤐 The pinch hitting worked out nicely and according to the radio call was setup that way on purpose. I was wondering about the LLRR bottom of the lineup but apparently Rocco planned it that way. He just happened to have two guys who rake against lefties and can play those specific positions ready to go. Score one for Rocco.

I can't help but pulling for guys like this.

He is a great get, he will be a positive WAR player if he fills in all season in center no matter how he hits. Buxton being able to play center unlocks more usefulness that doesn't show on the stat line. I really like him available as a late game sub either on defense or running the bases. He can be used as a weapon off the bench.

It is go time for Rocco, as in go show what you can do. For the first time in his tenure the FO has removed many of the easy excuses by building a deep roster on both sides of the ball with reinforcements in the minors to boot. I don't think he is on the hot seat however. A poor year this year will make next year the very hot seat. The in game stuff has to improve. They are saying the right things and maybe better personnel helps the strategies work out but I've been constantly puzzled in many game situations, like using his pitch hitter in the 6th only for the same spot to obviously come up in a leverage situation later. Just because the data says make a move doesn't mean you should make it. I love the modern analytics as much as anyone but the role of the manager is knowing what data applies in what situations. Get the damn run in to win in extra innings, it might require a bunt or SB, the horror!

Maybe, the other teams have that data too. Without the chance to try to go deeper he has no way to improve on those numbers. He can force the issue by pitching well early and should focus on that.

Good point to get ahead of the inevitable threads after they aren't at 120 pitches in April. It'll be fun to chat about in game threads but this is a topic that we will need a couple months of data to know anything.

While I'm still baffled by Pagan, nervously optimistic about a new trainer and flat suspicious of supposed in game adjustments I do have to give them a lot of credit for the past 12 months. Those are the 12 months of Correa during which they made significant changes in their approach to the trading deadline/roster construction methodologies. I don't know how much credit to give them, Correa, Boras or the new Pohlad in charge but it feels like they stepped on the gas. Their handling of the Correa situation was masterful, I would love to drink a beer with Falvey and compare notes. They also deserve credit for putting themselves in a position that Correa would be interested in the first place. Being flexible and stockpiling talent (mostly hitters) paid off big. However, 6 days after signing Correa they signed Archer off the bargain bin. That seems corrected for the most part, the veteran signings still have skill and the fits make sense. There has also been a nice streak of good luck lately. Correa is fortunate, but not a completely lucky situation. Landing Brooks Lee and the 5th pick this year is dumb luck that we were long overdue for in the draft. Can't penalize them for good fortune but they have to maximize it and so far they have. I will say I believe we need to think a little differently about Falvey and his pitching development story. When we say home grown we assume drafted and that's not how he was successful in Cleveland for the most part. Kluber, Carrasco, Cleavinger, Trevor Bauer were all trade acquisitions. Damn few drafted talents although of course there were a few that contributed. He did draft Bieber and McKenzie on his way out in 2016. To me that's what they are doing here. They have had to ramp up what they are willing to pay to get out of the bargain bin but trading for 21-25 yr old pitchers isn't bad business. It would be a fascinating piece for someone to write now that he has several years here to compare. I think we would find that the home grown reputation is mostly a creation of our casual fan brains. For example, I bet all but the most attentive Guardians fans will be thinking Joe Ryan was a Twins home grown talent.

Mr. Madison, I award you no points. Low key, this was one of the best moves of a very good off season. First, its 50 hr potential, not 25. Plays solidly at 6 spots in the lineup (including DH) and potential gold glove at 3. 1 year for 11 mil is nothing for that kind of upside and gives a ton of versatility off the field as well. He's still eligible for a qualified offer so he can be a trade chip that gets a prospect if he's bad, a decent prospect if he's decent or possibly a draft pick for a QO if he goes off. Worst case, we get nothing, but that applies to everyone. Best part, for you anyway, if he goes away his most likely replacement will be Wallner, AKA Baby Gallo. Embrace the player type, its going to be around for a while.

What he was thinking is not in evidence and speculating that we know his thoughts at the time is reckless. I didn't say that he didn't know right from wrong, that would be mind reading. I will say emphatically that knowing right from wrong is a heck of a lot different from rising above to stop the thing the elders are doing. Agreed that it is part of the story, 100%. I see it as unfortunate that it happened and believe he is a better person and leader for going through it. I also contextualize it by noting that the tradition of cheating in baseball is only rivaled by the IOC, NASCAR, the NCAA and the United States Congress.

While money still matters a lot to agents and unions, we are seeing a shift in all sports of priorities for the players themselves. The days of needing the best money to survive are long gone and players are choosing on other factors as the difference between 70 and 80 mil isn't that big a deal. Location, chance at winning, chance at getting playing time faster, chance at endorsements to make up the difference etc. Tom Brady is the poster boy for taking less to further other goals.

value-brand Gallo 🤣

Not making mistakes is not a thing. Over and over again is also doing that same thing until they got caught. Was there something I'm not aware of after the trash cans? Take a look at the 2017 Astros roster and tell me you would expect a 22 yo Correa to tell 40 yo Carlos Beltran, 33 yo Brian McCann or even a 27 yo Jose Altuve we are stopping this. He may have, or he may have been fully on board, we will never know. Regardless, as this is a leadership thread, as a leader you have to hold the more senior personnel to a higher standard due to the implied leadership that comes with seniority. That 22 year old kid, amazing #1 overall pick or not, is going to follow a hero in Beltran every time. Thats why AJ Hinch, Alex Cora and Beltran got the toughest punishment. It's messy, and we will never know who started it. Some reports say it went all the way to the front office, some say Beltran was the ringleader. Correa has stated Beltran was not the ringleader and Altuve was clean but as senior guys if they didn't stop it they are basically in on it, tacitly approving. The Ace Rothstein theory of incompetence applies here. Even Verlander wishes he would have said more. On Correas part, this is what he said in 2020 after the investigation finished. "We were wrong for everything we did in 2017. It's not what we stand for. It's not what we want to portray as an organization, and we were definitely wrong about all that and we feel really sorry. We affected careers, we affected the game in some way, and looking back at it, it was just bad." That's a proper apology. No waffling, no half accountability, no I'm sorry if you fell bad about the bad thing I did. Then, in a really advanced leadership move, he defended his teammates from the accusations growing out of control. Take responsibility for your mistakes but do not let your people be defamed with things they did not do. Watch the Ken Rosenthal interview. He is taking bullets for his teammates when he didn't have to. If you are ever in a situation where someone does that for you, you don't forget it. That's what leaders do. I'm highly confident we won't have a similar situation here.

Front office deserves a ton of credit for the entire situation. They nailed the market value of the player from the start. It took a path but they were on the number from the beginning. They also probably figured out much earlier than even Boras what the Mets were up to and positioned themselves perfectly to take advantage. While the rest of us were tuned out of the holidays they were working hard on this. The main reason they were in this position is how they treated Correa and others while he was watching.

Its not about making the mistake, its about how you react to making the mistake.

I am interested if he would take a minor league deal. A little extra cash would do it and he would be a great influence and emergency option.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/03/rangers-release-sandy-leon.html I wonder if they could talk him into a minor league deal with extra cash. Presence at AAA working with the pitcher and not really taking meaningful playing time. Break glass for MLB emergency.

Also important to note that part of why JD didn’t fit is that it wasn’t the dollar amount of the contract, it was the significance to this organization. That’s why he can go to the Yankees and be a JAG or jag-off, depending. He blends in and isn’t the dude. This doesn’t just apply to the #1 dude. I saw Sandy Leon is now available and I wonder if he would just take a AAA deal just for his leadership role. Pay extra, but get big value working with the young pitchers. Break glass in case of emergency for the big club. I don’t think he would be blocking to much playing time for prospects either.

Agreed, I’m a bit confused with some of the handling of injuries but I’m willing to be patient as the trainer is a position that takes a lot of time to see an effect of their work. I’ve been wondering if Polancos knee is still under the plan put in place by the old trainer and switching it would have been worse. We also have to be comfortable giving credit where it’s due. This front office made a heck of a lot of moves this past year that are exactly the right choice if they are going all out to win. The dumb WTF cheap moves seem to have dried up. I was very critical in the past. I do think Correa has direct influence on some of this but credit the front office for listening too. Several other items are coming together for them as well. I’m seeing good decision making and comfortable with the trainer choice as well. Time will tell.

With zero inside information I can almost guarantee that JD didn’t understand or care that signing the by far, largest free agent contract in the history of the team at the time comes with a leadership component that cannot be overlooked or sidestepped. Most of the clubhouse is going to be influenced by you, again, whether you like it or not. Carlos Correa not only understands this, he embraces it.

No DH, just like the Twins. I see what you did there 😉

Subscribed. Can we do that? Whatever, will be watching this series closely. Correa has been endlessly fascinating to me ever since the first signing when I sent my Astros season ticket holder friend a text that said something like "does this mean I have to like Correa now?" He came back with "Dude, your going to love him." He knows me well. Just for background on how my mind works, I have an MBA with a focus on Organizational Leadership and I can really nerd out on it if I'm not careful. I'm far more interested in the machinations of the back and front office than the on field 6th inning decision even though I love the baseball. I'm watching Steve Cohen very closely but know very little about the Mets. One of the most important leadership factors in life is that we don't always get to chose being in a leadership position or not. You don't get to chose how people see you. The shortstop has some of this as the captain of the infield. Pablo Lopez has some as the pitcher the boss was willing to give the current batting champ for. I also umpire youth baseball 10-16u. At my plate meetings I set the expectation that we (umpires and coaches) are all setting an example for these kids, whether we like it or not, and we will conduct ourselves accordingly. The bolded phrase is the ear worm. Looking forward to the rest of the series!

It's even more than the look, I haven't seen them discuss what data they are looking at but I have to assume they are very carefully watching spin rates, velocity, movement etc and know the signs of impending meatballs. My memories are that most of the time when they tried to push it they lost the bet. Bundy had a couple starts where he was dominant into the 4th/5th and exploded. It will be very interesting to see some on field adjustments this year. For this issue, base running and my personal favorite getting the run in from second to win a game Rocco now has much better personnel options to execute better strategies. They are saying the right things, now show us.

The 3rd time through the order stat seems incredibly messy to me. It’s a lagging indicator of several other better predictive pitcher stats. The number that jumped out to me from the article is 10 of the 12 6+ inning starts were Gray and Ryan. Pitch well, pitch more innings.

Is this the thread where we post $100m contracts and laugh about what a great deal we got? Next door over? Ok, I’ll show myself out.

But which direction are they off? They certainly can be cumulative. I’ve seen a lot of managers look really good because their errors in plan netted out. Profit and loss is like batting average, it’s a good number but doesn’t tell you much of the story. They obviously don’t add up by percentage, we would need raw number to tie back to a percentage. You can’t claim 1.5 or 7.5% without a whole lot of information I haven’t seen either. I thought it was an obvious exaggeration to make point, sorry. I promise we don’t have an exact number for payroll, even of players. Like I asked earlier, what is the insurance premiums on Correas contract. Payroll is the only thing we can get close on, other than maybe tv money but we don’t know what cut of advertising they get.