mikelink45

It is always good to begin the season and again after the all-star break with hope and wishes and crossed fingers and toes. The record does not show that they are worthy, but they have a really weak schedule - much to our joy! So maybe the baseball gods are being good to us and we will win a playoff game, but then there is Tito Francona!

Thanks for the note - we are filled with mysteries, but if we go through these next 26 games and still have a 500 record I have to side with those who say blow it up, sell, and build with our youth.

I had to look at the WAR of our players - I know it is like punishing yourself to do so, but this 500 team with two "All-star big contract" players has to have some evaluation. WAR from Baseball Reference: Correa 1.1 (how much is fielding?) Buxton 0.8 Gallo 0.3 Michael Taylor 0.7 (fielding again) Max Kepler 0.4 Polanco 0.6 Vasquez -0.2 Solano 1.5 Farmer 0.5 Jeffers 1.4 Kirilloff 0.2 Julien 0.6 Castro 1.7 Yes - Donovan Solano and WIlli Castro lead the team in WAR so far! Can you really imagine a first place team with two players signed as bench and utility leading their lineup? Sonny Gray 3.1 Pablo Lopez 1.7 Ryan 1.8 Ober 2.9 Maeda -0.1 Great to see that Ober is actually the number 2 and Maeda could continue to move up since his is a short season. Duran 1.5 Stewart 1.6 Jax 0.9 Pagan 0.3 Lopez 0.0 Moran -0.1 Sands 0.0 There have been a lot of ups and downs so this is the consistent group. Based on this - who gets better in the second half? And how do we rate our FO? They constructed this team. Fansided has them 12 in MLB. Bleacher Report has them 13.. And our manager - Yardbarker has Baldelli at 16. New Arena has him #24. Does this fit your narrative or do have higher or lower expectations?

What was our record after the all-star break last year? Not good. Do we expect a repeat? The annual Buxton the superstar story is worn out and he provides us with little value - causing us to have a below average CF, and a clogged DH spot. 0.8 WAR so far on BR. Correa has made the Mets and Giants happy that they moved on. Nice player but not a key to the team. Although last year most of his value came in the second half contract moves. Kepler and Gallo do not belong on a good team. Solano has over performed in his role, but if he is your best hitter the team is in bad shape. Miranda has still not found himself and maybe that one great year in the minors was a mirage. Polanco should have been traded last year. We cannot count on him and his health. The BP has been covered and should be covered up. Can Duran pitch 4 innings a game - every game? I have been afraid of Cleveland since the start. They always move up in the second half and Francona leaves Baldelli in the dust. I know - good draft - divert our attention and hope for the best.

I try to imagine the Twins with those batting averages.

Only Robertson looks like an improvement.

The BP is what I am concerned with. Another rotation arm does nothing to address the BP inadequacy unless he is always going to go nine innings.

So glad that Kiriloff and Julien are on the roster = I hope they stay there. In the last game it was them and Miranda who got hits - where were the vets? Lewis looks legit, but so did Buxton before his rash of injuries. Now we have Correa and Buxton signed as stars, but playing at replacement level. So we have Taylor's bat in the lineup along with old Strikeout Gallo, and Vasquez and his disappearing bat. Kepler stays in the lineup and all of us shout to TD - replace them. We have wasted a half year of Wallner who has been hitting really well. (we will bring him up when he hits a slump). Wouldn't Steer look good? Year Age Tm Lg G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB Pos Awards 2 Yrs 116 484 420 57 110 24 2 16 59 9 3 53 97 .262 .353 .443 .796 110 186 6 8 0 3 0 162 Game Avg. 162 676 587 80 154 34 3 22 82 13 4 74 135 .262 .353 .443 .796 110 260 8 11 0 4 0 2022 24 CIN NL 28 108 95 12 20 5 0 2 8 0 1 11 26 .211 .306 .326 .632 72 31 2 2 0 0 0 5/34DH 2023 25 CIN NL 88 376 325 45 90 19 2 14 51 9 2 42 71 .277 .367 .477 .844 121 155 4 6 0 3 0 357/DH What do we do? The FO will not dump their signings, but we need something drastic. In addition, while our SP have been great, the BP has not been. Will it straighten out? Not sure how. Sands is not the answer. What will they do?

Being in the middle is actually the worst place to be. You keep hoping to get better even though you haven't shown that you can improve. You're trying not to get worse because in this division you're still at the top or close to it. If your Detroit you see. Ahead, if you are KC, you know you're not going to win in the future. Doesn't look good, if you are the White Sox you go to the asylum and hope there's a doctor on call, if you're a guardian fan, you just wait for francona to push the right buttons and take over the lead. If you're in Minnesota twin you enjoy the first month and then hang on, hoping that you can somehow cross that 500 barrier at the end of the year. It's not good enough.

Sabato gets his 6th HR. He is only batting 225 - if power is his game he is about 10 HRs behind what he needs to be. I see him as a failed first round pick. Sorry that SWR needs a starter to succeed, but he can take solace from Balazovic who had such a bad year and now is in the BP.

We are tied for 9th place in the AL overall standings. Only the Central division saves us and now Cleveland has put us in second. Are we in free fall like the end of last year?

Too bad we can't develop pitchers. Oh well. Why is it going to have a tendency to roll my eyes when I hear only one bad inning? Seems to be in most games. It's settled by one bad Inning and the idea is to not have one bad inning.

Whatever the supply looks like they cannot continue to burn Duran with two inning stints - it isn't working. Keep throwing in the arms until something clicks.

It is a sad comment on the team when this list is expected to improve the team.

Kiriloff at least put a ball in play - these are the major leagues - players throw 100.

What a lineup - I know that they got us our one run, but Farmer and Castro batting 3 and 4 - how does that compare to Killebrew and Allison/Hrbek and Puckett/Mauer and Morneau? No wonder we cannot get runs. Sorry, but Buxton getting his HR taken by a good defense is not an unusual play this year. There have been a of "robbed" HRs. that is how it is in a game of swinging for the fences. More importantly when we were in the bottom of the last inning Vasquez and Kepler ended it with Ks. Nice game by Ober but Ryan and Lopez showed what our starters must do to win - 9 innings, no runs. Easy task! Someone already said it - we want the Royals.

Overall not a good day for our top prospects.

Major League baseball is having this issue. We want maximum speed on their fastballs, maximum swing, and somehow the body just can't handle the load. Notice it. Mike trout is now out again. That doesn't mean the twins. I'm suffering more than the majority, what baseball does its best when they have the best players out on the field?

I have to disagree. If we are a first place team and a playoff contender that is not a good enough record

Win or lose might not be the question. More appropriate is did we get what we hoped. I say no.

Lopez did what he should do against a horrible team. My God, Kansas City looks worse than Oakland. That doesn't take away from the fact that Lopez was outstanding, but if we played Kansas City all year, we'd be 150 and 12. So let's take our victories and being over 500 and change the way we approach the better teams that are coming up. I will also say that Jeffers has taken over as number one catcher. Both defense and offense make him the choice for the majority of games as I see it. And Julien is really settling in and looks like a tremendous asset. With Lewis down it is nice to have this young player join Kiriloff. Now if only Miranda can discover his bat so we can have three productive young players in the lineup.

I have to admit that I'm really disappointed and all of the strikeouts that Rodriguez is getting this year. I really had high expectations and he still can reach him but he hasn't looked like the player I hope for

Nice win, good holiday - but let's hold off the excitement - this is KC and we are 35 - 42 against the rest of the league. We cannot judge the team versus KC/Oakland...

The FO, the coaches and the managers lack leadership. We let good prospects languish in the minors when we need their bats. We hesitate to make changes in the lineup - to move the under productive players. Not sure why we are trying to justify a 500 or less team in any way. I do not hold Baldelli completely responsible. The FO wanted this system to be in place and they got the players and coaches to bring their desires to reality. It has not worked. Now comes accountability. When it isn't working make changes! I am waiting.

Steer - he is close now