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2022 Season | Series #19 | A's @ Guardians | June 9-12, 2020

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Thats just plain ridiculous.

Its almost the same to say that about the the previously mentioned 1964 Cards or the 1960 Pirates, because neither was good enough to win the WS, because they were full of 'slap' hitters who didn't hit home runs.

The goal should be to win the division...and adjust the goal after that.
Maybe it's ridiculous to you, but I'm not interested in the 1064 style of play because it does nothing for teams in the 21st century. There are outliers in everything and I'm not interested in cherry picking rarities. It's not just about homeruns either, but power plays in today's game to your dismay. Reverting back to a style of baseball that was played decades ago isn't likely to garner this team much IMO. Obviously you have a different opinion and I'm cool with that.

The goal should be to win the division. That has to be done in the AL Central to reach the playoffs more than likely. That doesn't make us a good playoff contender though.

Edited to say that I think we will be a good playoff contender within the next 2 yrs, but not as currently constructed. I'd love to eat crow if I'm wrong.
 
A wash isn't enough.

And its a wash at BEST. Kopech is sporting a sub 2.00 ERA.
Lyon was an All-Star and 3rd in Cy Young voting in 2021. He was/is an equal if not bigger loss to Chisox.
 
Chicago is a just plain bad baseball team.

Awful defense, poor batting approach, and bad decision making.

The have the fewest BB% in the league and the second worst FPC.

They were fortunate last year, because their rotation stayed intact.
White Sox are more “dumb” than “bad”. Led by the #1 dumb skipper.
 
I'm gonna keep my predictions and thoughts about the White Sox close to my vest. We are just reaching the middle of June with 3+ months of baseball remaining. Next thing you know they'll end up with Montas and a couple more good ML players. They've been bit by the injury bug and they are managed poorly IMO, but there's a lot of time left.
 
Trust me when I say that I've had those conversations with him and still do occasionally. I even tell him that as his father I'm not biased when it comes to recognizing physical talent, and that playing for so long and with so many incredibly good ball players(some in MLB and/or minors) has given me an eye for it. When you see him amongst the other he just looks and moves differently. The difference is dedication and determination. Leave it all on the table and walk away with a clear conscience. If it ends in college knowing you gave it a legitimate shot then there's nothing wrong with that.

He's the type of player you'd love Coach. Takes walks, gets hit by a lot of pitches, steals bases, and hits for a high average. For me, he has good power too.

Some of the problem has been timing, and not just for him. The entire covid malee has f'd things up for a lot of these kids.

Sounds like my style of hitter, what positions does he play? Have you talked with him on how Kwan, OGonz etc are hitting in the bigs?

(Maybe get @BimboColesHair his scouting report haha)
 
Sounds like my style of hitter, what positions does he play? Have you talked with him on how Kwan, OGonz etc are hitting in the bigs?

(Maybe get @BimboColesHair his scouting report haha)
He's played every IF position(mostly 3B), but they moved him to the OF this season. He's seeing most of his time in RF and CF now. Findlay just hired a new coach and he seems to really like my son. In his exit interview he told him that he's doing very well and wants him to keep his 60 time under 7 seconds, even as he's gaining weight.

Believe it or not he doesn't watch/follow MLB like I do. He loves going to games, but he's not going to sit and watch a game. As much time as he spends working out and practicing I can't say that I blame him. He has little spare time to do so. Take this weekend for instance, he played in Youngstown over the weekend.

Any recognition he garners will be of his own doing.
 
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Baseball evolves and sometimes the evolution is merely a reversion to a past way of playing the game.

Sometimes, past is prologue.

Some say that power is the dominating offensive force today, while watching scoring drop thru the floor. Pitching has found a way to beat power.

Those teams that keep drafting and developing power hitters without contact skills will pay the price. If you want to beat today's pitching, you had better put together a lineup more like the 1964 Cards than the 1964 Yankees.

Pitching is better, the ball is dealer, and if you wait around for a bunch of three run bombs, you are gonna lose a lot of games. In spite of the universal DH, we are gonna somewhat see a return to what used to be called National League baseball.

More contact, better base running, a bigger emphasis on defense and small ball fundamentals...situational hitting....all around team speed.

BTW, its the only way a small market team is gonna stand a chance against $200 mil payrolls.

Develope your own pitching, defense, and contact hitting. Get your power thru doubles, many of which are garnered thru speed. OBP trumps SLG, partly because OBP is a component of SLG.

A partial return to the Charlie Manual hitting philosophy...hit the ball hard up the middle and aim for BA instead of pull side power, and when you master that, begin evolving to power.

Guess which org has reverted to that philosophy?
 
Final out today was Luis Robert thrown out at 3B attempting to advance on a sac fly down 2 runs in the 12th inning. Love it. It was close and they were actually on the phone deciding if they were gonna challenge, lol
Warms the cockles of my heart.
 
Baseball evolves and sometimes the evolution is merely a reversion to a past way of playing the game.

Sometimes, past is prologue.

Some say that power is the dominating offensive force today, while watching scoring drop thru the floor. Pitching has found a way to beat power.

Those teams that keep drafting and developing power hitters without contact skills will pay the price. If you want to beat today's pitching, you had better put together a lineup more like the 1964 Cards than the 1964 Yankees.

Pitching is better, the ball is dealer, and if you wait around for a bunch of three run bombs, you are gonna lose a lot of games. In spite of the universal DH, we are gonna somewhat see a return to what used to be called National League baseball.

More contact, better base running, a bigger emphasis on defense and small ball fundamentals...situational hitting....all around team speed.

BTW, its the only way a small market team is gonna stand a chance against $200 mil payrolls.

Develope your own pitching, defense, and contact hitting. Get your power thru doubles, many of which are garnered thru speed. OBP trumps SLG, partly because OBP is a component of SLG.

A partial return to the Charlie Manual hitting philosophy...hit the ball hard up the middle and aim for BA instead of pull side power, and when you master that, begin evolving to power.

Guess which org has reverted to that philosophy?
Wrong again. Pitching hasn't "found a way to beat power", it's simply developed an advantage over hitting in general which has amplified the importance of quality contact. You're simply not typically going to string together enough hits against quality pitching to score many runs and the only way to be an effective, effecient offense is to take advantage of the few pitcher's mistakes presented throughout a game. I know you hate that and if I'm honest I'm not the biggest fan of it either, but it is the reality.

I don't "say" a damn thing. The playoff results from the last 15 yrs tell you everything you need to know, but it's your world so believe whatever you want.

I call bullshit. It's not the only way that a small market team is gonna stand a chance against $200M payrolls. The Guardians in short order will be showing you that developing your very own TALENT and astute trades is how they will make their mark against the spenders.

Let's not turn this into something it isn't. This isn't a debate about "contact". Nobody in their right mind is against a hitter that can make consistent contact. What I'm referring to is the quality of contact. Guys like the Naylors, JRam, Gimenez, Gonzalez, Valera, and Arias have that important skill. It's not to say that a guy like Kwan isn't or can't be valuable because they can and he is, but too many of that type in a lineup will get your ass kicked in the post season.

Let's put it this way. Do you think Kwan can hold off Valera should he continue to perform the way he is? There's no way in hell. He just doesn't have the ability to do that and it's not a fair comparison really. Who Kwan needs to be in competition with just signed a 4 yr extension. That isn't going to happen so it looks like 4th OFer is written on the wall.
 
Wrong again. Pitching hasn't "found a way to beat power", it's simply developed an advantage over hitting in general which has amplified the importance of quality contact. You're simply not typically going to string together enough hits against quality pitching to score many runs and the only way to be an effective, effecient offense is to take advantage of the few pitcher's mistakes presented throughout a game. I know you hate that and if I'm honest I'm not the biggest fan of it either, but it is the reality.

I don't "say" a damn thing. The playoff results from the last 15 yrs tell you everything you need to know, but it's your world so believe whatever you want.

I call bullshit. It's not the only way that a small market team is gonna stand a chance against $200M payrolls. The Guardians in short order will be showing you that developing your very own TALENT and astute trades is how they will make their mark against the spenders.

Let's not turn this into something it isn't. This isn't a debate about "contact". Nobody in their right mind is against a hitter that can make consistent contact. What I'm referring to is the quality of contact. Guys like the Naylors, JRam, Gimenez, Gonzalez, Valera, and Arias have that important skill. It's not to say that a guy like Kwan isn't or can't be valuable because they can and he is, but too many of that type in a lineup will get your ass kicked in the post season.

Let's put it this way. Do you think Kwan can hold off Valera should he continue to perform the way he is? There's no way in hell. He just doesn't have the ability to do that and it's not a fair comparison really. Who Kwan needs to be in competition with just signed a 4 yr extension. That isn't going to happen so it looks like 4th OFer is written on the wall.
You do love your prospects.

If you can't see what has happened in baseball over the last five years....as teams have focused on power and launch angles over contact....

If you can't see that pitching has successfully strangled hitting....leading to more Ks and less baserunners and less runs.

If you can't see the massive change this org has made in the profile of playing position prospects it has acquired over the last six years...

If you can't see the measures that MLB has taken to lower K rates and home run rates, while making OBP (baserunners) a more important aspect of the game....

Nobody can help you.
 
You do love your prospects.

If you can't see what has happened in baseball over the last five years....as teams have focused on power and launch angles over contact....

If you can't see that pitching has successfully strangled hitting....leading to more Ks and less baserunners and less runs.

If you can't see the massive change this org has made in the profile of playing position prospects it has acquired over the last six years...

If you can't see the measures that MLB has taken to lower K rates and home run rates, while making OBP (baserunners) a more important aspect of the game....

Nobody can help you.
Well hell yeah I can see it and so can everyone else. Now, ask yourself why that is CATS? You think someone just showed up and said, hey we don't want contact hitters anymore? Or maybe the contact hitters were failing against the surge in pitching and shifts?

Good pitching almost always strangles hitting and that includes your beloved "contact" hitters. The most effective way to counter it has been the surge in launch angle/power. Funny thing is that I'm not overly worried about it because guys like Kwan will take a back seat to hitters like Valera that bring more to the table. You're fucking right I love my prospects because the team is made up of them.

MLB is an ever evolving animal and it always has been.

You certainly can't help me because you're stuck in the 60's and don't know shit. I mean if we're trading insults and all.
 
Cats is on record to crowning Amed over all of the IFs in the organization. Even Gimenez at the beginning of season.

Basically if you have your guy, everyone else can't be better. Maybe he just loves him some Amed enough to trade off other assets. He was ho-hum on Arias, talked down on Rocchio.

Pretty sure he was one of the alternative posters regarding calling up OGon and sending down Franmil/Mercado.

Prospects are very important to what we are doing. Our organization needs these kids to be good while being cheap.

They add a spark, OGoat has created such a buzz in his short time and he's here to stay. Valera is going to be that same spark come his time it's probably going to be in LF while Kwan is a super 4th OF for us.

Do you want to keep Plesac and Civale when it's time to call up Espino and Gavin? Obvious answer, NO.
 
See it in the game day thread, see it in the main Guardians thread, a large number of board members very happy to pencil Kwan as a future 4th OFer when time comes for Valera to be up.

And just like I said a few days ago.. Kwan will just quietly keep getting on base.

While I'm enjoying OG's run, and the Spongebob memes that come with it, I think we all need to relax. He's been incredible. I will continue to have Kwan > OG when it comes to who do I think is going to be a long term starter in this league.

Let's ride with this OF and see where it all plays out after 400-500 PAs. My $ is on Kwan. He remains 9th for all major league outfielders in OBP. Keep doing your thing kid.
 

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