The Great Hambino

So you're saying Jeffers doesn't have essentially the same market value as Victor Caratini a year ago?

The Rays had a better home field advantage during their home games in the 2020 World Series than this one

My guess is once he really started looking into Seattle, he realized that he still hadn't fully processed the loss of Layne Staley and working in that market would just be too much for him

I'm writing in Taj Bradley Hopefully there's more than one right answer

And if he wasn't tipping pitches, then what are the actions he's apologizing for?

At the very least, get him some pants - there are children in the crowd, for Peter's sake

Interesting thing 1: you hear a lot of times how the playoffs are a crapshoot, and it does feel like that a lot of the time. But at least for this season, the team with the better regular season record has won every series. Interesting thing 2: we are guaranteed to see a franchise win their first-ever World Series. That hasn't been true coming into the Series since 1980, and it's only the second time it's been true since 1920 Brewers in six (actually five, but it's more fun when the winner clinches at home)

An (dis)honorable mention should go to Justin Lawrence for how acutely terrible he was during his seven-game, six-inning stint that really highlighted the downside of trying to MacGyver a bullpen together on the fly It's even worse when you consider that he was sorta getting acceptable results in his first three outings: 2.2 IP, 0 runs allowed, 1 hit, 4 K. Sure, he handed out three free passes in one outing and allowed two inherited runners (which turned out to be the winning runs) to score in another, but hey - he was available for a reason. But in his last 4 outings: 3.1 IP, 12(!) earned runs allowed on 12 hits, including 4 homers and 6 walks, plus an additional inherited runner allowed to score for good measure. He obviously didn't play enough to be LVP, which requires threading the needle of being bad but not so bad that you get cut or benched. But he was the exact opposite of bang for your buck - they even signed up to pick up his full non-minimum salary. Luckily the Nationals were kind enough to take him and his salary commitment off their hands

Proof of concept

I know that the rules of the board require us to answer "yes" to this, but I think that's legitimately the correct answer here

I still think they need a ceiling-raising starter to add to this group if they actually intend on competing next year (the organizational plan from last few years of just wishing upon quantum leaps in internal improvement isn't going to cut it). It may not be the biggest immediate need, but it's also probably the easiest area to make improvements if you look at this offseason's FA market. Ideally their resources would be put toward a real lineup-anchoring thumper at 1B, but that just isn't on the menu this year. And a pitcher of that quality improves your outlook for several years, not just 2027. I'm more concerned about the next wave of starting pitching prospects beyond the ones that have made their MLB debuts. Quick is the only pitcher in the top 13 of their updated MLB Pipeline organizational rankings, and the next two ranked pitchers were just drafted this year and haven't yet moved past rookie ball. Of the guys mentioned in the article, Gallagher is likely emergency depth at best, and Bohorquez has a ways to go before he can be relied upon as a fixture in the rotation. Festa is teetering very close to Canterino territory in that you can't count on anything out of him - whatever he can give you would be a bonus If this isn't addressed soon, it could become an expensive problem down the line

I really thought they were gonna extend him and maybe even trade JJ for a high pick after he looked like he'd put his "I'm seeing ghosts" demons to bed after the Packer game. Then it looked like they all came flooding back against Detroit for the division title/#1 seed and against the Rams in the playoffs. That's one hell of a sliding doors moment for the franchise if had looked good - maybe even just competent - in those losses.

The Brewers manager resembles a police chief who says "your badge and your gun" in a movie about a detective trying to go rogue to follow his hunch. Or Mickey Rourke from Sin City. Or The Thing. These are all meant to be compliments. He's great

Interesting stat: the Brewers starting pitchers are both winless and undefeated so far in the postseason

Petey Halpin taking Jax deep with the pitcher's name printed across his batting gloves was cold blooded. I was hoping it was a Jim McMahon/Rozelle situation, but sadly that doesn't seem to be the case