CheezWizHed

Looked like the throw was behind Kraft and as he tried to go back (or slow/stop), the DB came in with all the momentum. Kraft really didn't have much chance there. Purely a QB error, IMO.

Doh! Good call. Not sure what I was thinking on his contract. But yeah, the cap hit makes him a lock for the roster. Just because the Bears signed him doesn't mean he stays on the team. But I'm guessing there will be several block-first TEs available when cuts are made. Some other notable good games: Clifford - Two INTs, but confident, moved well, decent arm. The game is certainly not too big for him. Valentine - Lots of tight coverages. Opportunistic INT, but still has to catch it. Wicks -Some good moves and speed. Reed - Very calm receiving kicks. Getting behind the defense. Musgrave - I saw him driving a block up through the OL. One time, but nice to see. Heath - doesn't move like a "big WR" He has some wiggle. Carlson - Had a nice start before missing two Xtra-Pts. One snap was shaky. I'm also curious about who was holding on his misses... Jean-Charles - Lot of good coverages out there. Sticky in coverage. E Wilson - Surprise best RB of the day. Good size/speed combo. Nice cuts and burst. Could be a darkhorse candidate for 3rd RB.

Well that aged badly... Sorry to jinx you Davis. It wouldn't surprise me to see a blocking-focused TE picked up on waivers rather than another position. That increases the chances of other other ST only type players (Leavitt, Wilson), but this puts them really short on TE blocking. Speaking of Wilson... well, not the LB, but the RB. 31 was impressive out there last night. Nice vision, cuts, and speed. And not a small back either. Taylor outplayed Goodson also.

Energy storage is the key to what we are talking about. Gas is a natural "storage" device. Electric takes batteries; Hydrogen takes fuel cells. The main EV problem is the scalability of electric (on the grid) and battery manufacturing. Oil drilling isn't great for the environment, but it has less impact being underground. Digging out ore tends to be more strip mining. I've long been a hydrogen supporter as the cycle is theoretically cleaner (production of hydrogen being the only issue - clean supply + clean "exhaust"). There is no reason why you can't produce hydrogen at your house either. But even if people don't want that, fueling it at a service station is still a legit possibility. I can't see charging a vehicle in minutes... that is a LOT of current you are talking about. As was said above, it seems fairly easy to turn public transportation - planes, trains, and busses into hydrogen driven opportunities.

Newman looked good (for a rookie) the first year, but he certainly couldn't pick up a stunt to save his life... I had hopes that was a rookie thing and he'd get stronger and smarter, but it certainly seemed like he is stuck in neutral. Only highlights I've seen of him so far is of someone running him over.

I wanted to get this out prior to the preseason games just to get the discussion going. Obviously, players splashing or flopping on the field will effect the fringe players, but that is the fun in discussing them. 🙂 QB (2) - Love and Clifford (McGough/or waiver pickup on PS) - Easy prediction after the Packers cut Etling. I still think a vet QB would help Love more than Clifford, but it is pretty clear what is happening here. None. Curveball option: I wonder if Carson Wentz or Matt Ryan might consider signing to the PS to act as a player/coach for Love? If either is considering coaching at the next level, but want to stay in shape for a potential QB injury opening this year, it might not be a bad option. RB (3) - Jones and Dillon are locks. Bubble: Goodson, Taylor, Nichols ( and others). What I want is Goodson. I think he has a lot of upside and could be a starter. Publicly, the Packers are leaning towards Taylor due to ST. Still Taylor to the PS makes more sense since no one is going to claim him (and we can still promote him to the gameday roster). Goodson might get nabbed on waivers. WR (5) - Watson, Doubs, Reed, Wicks, Toure are locks Bubble: Melton, Heath and Dubose (some others more remotely). Seems like they have a bunch of WRs with similar upside on the bubble (though dissimilar skillsets). With the expected higher usage of TEs and RBs, I tend to think we keep 5 and work with whomever isn't claimed of the three on the PS. TE (4) - Musgrave, Kraft, Davis, Deguara - Another spot that is pretty clear. Davis sticks around because he knows how to block and for ST. Thus no one is really on the bubble, so I think this only changes via injury or a waiver claim opportunity. Bubble: None. OL (10) - Bahk, Jenkins, Myers, Runyan, Tom, Nijman, Newman - First 6 are easy. I begrudgingly add Newman as a lock due to lack of competition at G, but he still doesn't look like he improved since his rookie year. Hansen, Rhyan, Jones, Walker, Tenuta (and others) - I tend to think Ryan, Jones and Walker win out the last three spots. I'm personally hoping Tom takes the starting C spot. But even if he doesn't, I'm guessing he is the top backup. Hansen has not improved the last couple years. I'm hoping there is a UDFA C/G that shows some upside to stow on the PS. DL (6): Clark, Wyatt, Slaton, Brooks, and Wooden are locks Bubble: Ford and Slayton (and misc others). Ford is the most likely, but Slayton splashed in pre-season last year. Ford is probably competing against other positions (i.e. OLB or S) for his spot. Time to show if he can hold the middle as his best trait is being a large person and they don't make many of them that big. I predict Ford makes it due to lack of experience on the line. OLB (5): Gary, Van Ness, Enagbare are the locks here. I know, I know... I didn't list Preston Smith. I'm going to be controversial here. Bubble: P-Smith, Cox, Hollins - Hollins most likely makes it for intangibles (i.e. leadership), but low upside as a player. Cox has the upside of a starter. Smith: strike one = Gary returning; strike two = age and contract status of a FA next year. If LVN, Cox, and Hollins all look good in preseason, I think it will be strike 3 and I'd explore what we could get for him in a trade. I predict Cox and Hollins make it. ILB (5): Campbell, Walker, McDuffie are the locks. Pretty easy. Bubble: Carpenter and Wilson are on the bubble. Both TC and Wilson are special teams guys. Carpenter has more upside and raw potential. ILB is a good spot for ST experts so might as well keep both. CB (5): Alexander, Douglas, Stokes, Nixon - Again, pretty easy. Only question is if Stokes is healthy. Bubble: Valentine, Ballentine, Gaines - Gaines seems to have some play as a slot CB, but otherwise a S. If Stokes is healthy, I see Valentine making it alone. If not, V and B (alentine) both make it. Several others will be on the PS no doubt. S (5): Savage - I'll explain why I have so few locks, but Savage is the only one not really questioned as a starter (sadly). Ford, Moore, Owens, Johnson, Leavitt - The easy button is to simply take all three of Ford, Moore, and Owens at safety plus Leavitt for ST. But I'm guessing that whomever ends up at the #4 safety (of Ford, Moore, and Owens) would prefer to play elsewhere. And personally, I wasn't impressed by Leavitt at all... But since the Packers seem to like him, Savage, two of Ford/Moore/Owens, Johnson and Leavitt is how I see it. ST (3): Orzech, Carlson - Despite all the print on his TC stats, Carlson has really only had one bad day and has been good otherwise; including a nice job at Family night with a large crowd and bright lights. They paid for Orzech... it is his to lose. O'Donnell vs Whelan - Interesting and unexpected development. Seems like the rookie has a leg, so the question is if he can hold for kicks. If someone's punter goes down in TC, don't be surprised to see O'Donnell traded (or perhaps even cut) to save the $1.5M cap hit. The rookie's leg might be worth developing regardless. Prediction: 24 offensive players, 26 defensive players and 3 ST. Especially this year, I have a tendency to prioritize upside and starters over ST. The team obviously likes their ST players, but if we think this is a reboot year, it might be work developing talent instead. Though I was able to keep Wilson and Leavitt and justify losing Taylor (to the PS again) while keeping some upside guys in Johnson, Jonathan Ford, Cox, and Carpenter. What happens as WR might impact what we can keep at DL, OLB, ILB, and S however. If someone on the bubble really starts to stand out, that might challenge the offensive/defensive numbers.

Neither did the game... 😟

Why on earth shouldn't she be?

I just find all this confusing on where it is headed. Kind of seems like the BIG10 has lost its identity... Yes, all driven by money, but what are we now? Is the BIGX (Let's face it... we need to drop the "10") and SEC just going to become the AFC/NFC of college football?

Mitchell worries me because his whole career has been injury prone.

Sorry, I misunderstood your Q; thinking you were referring to someone posting that here.

Not unless he is here with a new user name. High Heat was banned for breaking forum rules at least a year before the migration to brewerfanatic.com.

My thoughts exactly. No one to challenge the connections or show errors when his random predictions don't come true.

Oh, he could be... but of course, those people tend to be in the HOF too. 😉 I do wonder what might happen this offseason with Adames given his poor offensive year...

Well, holding the bat high got him noticed by his manager and clearly was the reason he won a job out of ST. But holding it lower and more normally seems to have helped his swing also.

@Mass Haas, with your attention to detail, please let me know if you ever want to go into safety critical software development. And I know I'm in your "neighborhood". 😉 Thank you for being focused and accurate with your work here!

Simply put Brice did not have a good start to his rookie year. His glove was always excellent, but the bat as a black hole. But I happened to peek at his stats last night and was surprised to see how how has done in this second half of the year. Yes, this is a small sample, but good to see him getting on a hot streak: Split G GS PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB ROE BAbip tOPS+ sOPS+ 1st Half 68 52 219 203 18 42 7 3 3 18 9 4 16 52 .207 .265 .315 .580 64 4 0 0 0 1 2 .264 81 60 2nd Half 23 21 77 64 10 18 1 0 3 9 5 0 12 13 .281 .390 .438 .827 28 1 0 0 1 0 1 .306 158 125 With the month of August being extremely hot: 450/542/750/1292 in 24 PAs. It is unlikely that he will ever be a "stick-first" player, but there is a lot of value in anything north of 90 OPS+ with his defensive profile. He might not be far from being our starting SS either. I love Adames, but he has been the same black hole at the plate that Turang was earlier in the season and is about to become expensive. He

But then, what would we have to debate about? 😉

Fixed. 😉

It sinks in like oil on water... 😕

Bunting thoughts: it is harder than it looks. Tons of movement on balls and only specific Little Leaguers, HS, College or historically at MLB level were good at doing it. Risk of injury - to fingers especially. I do think small ball is starting to gain prominence in our pitching heavy present, so I think there is more room to do this now compared to 10 years ago. But I still have no desire to see Yelich or Contreras (i.e. the big bats) bunting. If you are a low BA, low SLG hitter, yeah, maybe there are situations we see this more. I do miss the bunt for hit guys...especially the faster, low BA, low SLG types.

1) Santana for Severino - A-. Santana is an average bat at best, but elite D. Clearly an upgrade on what we had (especially with Miller faltering and Tellez injured). Didn't give up much to get there. 2) Canha for Jarvis - B. Again, an upgrade on our current RF, but again only to "average". Again didn't give up much to get there. 3) Chafin for Strezlecki - B+ interesting trade of struggling relievers. Chafin more likely helps this year. Strez more for future years or maybe we capitalized on a flash in the pan 2022? 4) Blalock for Urias - B. Hurts to give up on Urias at this point, but clearly a long-term roster focused move. Got a decent arm for someone that is probably non-tendered next year when it was unlikely to see him back up this year. Also Monestario is currently producing at Urias' career level, so there is some redundancy on the roster already. Hope the best for Urias in Boston where he gets a fresh start. In the long run, Boston may "win" this trade but it will also cost them $$ to see that additional WAR. 5) McKendry for Jackson - A+ I think this was a great grab. Still not an Earth shattering move, but pulling in a potential SP rotational depth for 2024 by giving up a catcher we didn't necessarily have plans on using is a great move. Maybe gives Jackson a better chance at the MLB level too. Missed opportunities= Controversially... I'll say NONE. Sure, they could've done more and yes, we are risking wasting another year of our strong SP staff. But I think the improvements needed to make this squad a legit WS contender right now is pretty significant and the risk very high to "sell off the farm" to get all the bats necessary. To me it looks like management is putting us in a situation to have a chance (slightly more than Dumb and Dumber) by getting into the playoffs and then getting hot. By getting "hot", I mean that Frelick plays well, our additions play "average", Tellez is healthy and plays his career norms, and BA and Adames bounce back to their norms while our pitching remains strong. Overall deadline Grade= B+. They found decent improvements (i.e. plugging holes in the dike) for very low cost. They used some creativity to strengthen the future while making mild improvements to the current.

First, Welcome to the board! Second, I doubt people sell him short. We all saw what he could do and potentially could be again. I tend to think the FO sold low because of injuries and other similar options. And Blalock as a return isn't bad. I'm guessing a 2023 Adrian Houser floor (5th/6th SP, multi-inning RP), albeit with his own injury issues. Certainly a change of scenery trade.

Well, his 3.5 months with the big leagues was probably a shorter stop than he wanted...

Owen's offense shine came off unfortunately. Hopefully he can find his stick again. A utility player that can manage 700+ OPS with a high OBP is very valuable.