TheLeviathan

It appears I need to update that meme I used last time.....

When Ishbia bowed out there were so many people that brushed that off as it being "just a buyer dropping out, no biggie".....that never made sense to me. This is the Pohlads we are talking about here. Shady practices, incompetence, incoherence....these are what we've experienced for decades. The canary already sang, we're just late to hearing it. My skepticism has now grown to full blown pessimism.

Well said old man, well said.

I think I share a similar conclusion (I'm pretty down on the offense) but my opinion is a bit different. I trust Correa, Wallner, and Lewis to be really good players when healthy. I trust Buxton and Jeffers to be good hitters. If Larnach repeats last year he's in that group. My issue is that of those 6 guys, I have serious doubts about the health of 3 of them and my confidence is lacking in their potential replacements.

Man I wish that was feasible. That we could just have clubs or rec leagues, but we're so far past that we can never unring that bell. I hate it, and rooting along with you, but we'd be better off just considering college semi-pro at this point.

Yup, off to a great start. Great actors who really understand their characters. Jon Berenthal was born to play the Punisher.

Adolescence on Netflix is brilliant. Just a stunning piece of art.

I think this is right - you hold and hope. At the same time, nothing also implies you don't double down either. We're approaching the point where many organizations would extend someone like Lewis potentially and buy out a few of his FA years with raises now. That, I think, would also be a mistake. I think nothing is correct in that you neither invest nor devest in Lewis as an asset to the team going forward. To me that's the takeaway of this article - you can't center your future on him and hope that he can be "The guy" for the core going forward. At the same time, it'd be foolish to move off of him. Hold and hope.

Dig the simulator, well done!

@Danchat who are you eyeballing my friend?

He has some technique to learn. I liked him early but the tape says he is really raw. But yeah....the measurables? Gimme that.

This draft is really hard to predict because the RB class is so good it might cause a lot of weirdness. Post combine here are the guys I think are realistic targets that could be there: DT Kenneth Grant - a dancing bear. Dude is so good with his hands, he can move well. He's a beast. This is your zero or 1 tech nose tackle guy. DT - Walter Nolen. He's more likely to line up as your 5 tech or 3 tech in a pass rush. But when you watch this guy, his drive is upfield. He's got a motor on him and just pushes and pushes to collapse the pocket. OL - Grey Zabel - Moves well. Good base. Good use of hands. Not a dominant guy but he's feisty. Can play anywhere but probably best as a guard. DT - Derrick Harmon - Dude just beats people. He reminds me of Ndamukong Suh. CB - Maxwell Hairston - This dude is long and his burst/speed is stupid. Great zone corner but also good in man2man because he's smart. Willing tackler. CB - Trey Amos - More of your man2man guy. Not as wirey or athletic, but he's got some dog in him. I remaind a huge fan of Cam Skattebo. RJ Harvey is another one I really like. Kaleb Johnson is going to be good. Damien Martinez is getting slept on by some rankings. Personally, I'd prefer to take a safety later in the draft, not in the first. I love the TEs in this draft. Would be happy to snag one at that position group too. Jason Taylor's kid and Luke Lachey are both nice players. Some quality linebackers might fall in this draft too. Jay HIggins is nice. Cody Lindenberg staying home would be awesome.

Last year really sucked out a lot of my willpower to watch them play. Like, I'm an adult with kids. Watching baseball requires me to make an effort. Most nights, it felt like my effort was not rewarded with the quality of baseball I was watching. It's hard to shake that feeling.

I don't mind the value, don't like the pick. Kenneth Grant, Kaleb Johnson, and Tyler Booker all there instead. Hairston or Amos at CB too. It might be a trade we do, but we better walk away with better players if we do.

Also, the more I think about it.....I think they're waiting on backup QB precisely because of the comp formula. If they wait until the second Tuesday after the draft, then anyone they sign has no impact on their comp picks. Since anyone with an AAV of 4M or more qualifies....I think they're waiting on purpose. Right now they'd have a 3rd from Darnold and a 4th from Bynum. That seems worth waiting for.

Cam Robinson gets us a 5th, maybe a 4th round comp pick.

https://theonion.com/numerous-teams-express-interest-in-aaron-rodgers-playing-elsewhere/

I guess I don't understand the last few pages. Everyone deals with injuries and everyone has to fill out their roster with players outside their organization. The Dodgers have had a stupidly good farm pipeline but have also gone outside their organization (frequently!) to backfill positions their farm didn't give them. This idea you can be purely homegrown for all scenarios is just as silly as expecting the team to dump the injury prone stars for pennies. It doesn't feel like either "side" of this conversation is giving the concerns of the other side a fair hearing. The conclusion seems pretty simple to me, though not particularly attractive: unfortunate luck makes our roster construction what it is. But it is what it is. The alternatives are worse. Buxton and Lewis getting hurt all the time is a real strain on roster construction. It forces you to invest assets into players who you can't plan on playing full time but also have to be good enough to play full time in all likelihood. That's a tough needle to thread. But dumping them is worse. So here we are. Is there a magical way out of that? Probably not. Does it change the problem? Not really. It's frustrating as a fan. (And probably as a front office) The loud implication lately is that the Twins have just failed to wave their Wand of Magical Prospect Farming and therefore failed to have a ready-made dude at AAA for all positions. I'm being ridiculous, but that seems to be the counter-argument lately and it's just not grounded in reality at all. I'd love it if it were true, but I'd also love it if Royce Lewis was a bionic human who was impervious to all harm. I have just as much chance of Robo-Royce as the Twins do of having a viable Plan B at AAA for all contingencies. Hopefully the pitching pipeline creates some trade possibilities going forward, but that has it's own risks and flaws. It is what it is guys, unlucky and unfortunate as it may be.

Agreed. I think, since he was released, he wouldn't be part of the formula. So if they actually want him (I hope not - and I'd love to add some profanity to that to make it clear just how strongly I feel!) they could sign him any time. Here is the comp formula update if anyone cares.

Totally agree....and yet something about this is weird. Why not sign a backup by now? Why would Rodgers not sign on to play in Pittsburgh? (Clearly the best option available to him) This all feels like leverage but why are the Vikings connected to it at all? Like I said...weird. I don't like it. Sign Drew Lock and end this please Kwesi.

Agreed, but the longer we go without a backup the weirder this Rodgers thing is.

Sorta depends how far you trade back, no? If you slide back somewhere in the 27-32 range and snag another top 100 pick, it's worth it I think.

Paid Gesicki quite a bit too. It's a lot of money into skill positions.

Some people are gifted with amazing genetics to play baseball....but without the equally amazing genetics to withstand it.