MrTPlush

They can’t go after the universities without proof the universities did something. In most of the evidence the shoe companies are trying to get those guys go to those colleges for their own gain. The G-League thing is a nice story, but when you dig deep I question if high profile guys would really take that money. That money isn’t crap if it makes you a lower 1st rounder or or even worse a 2nd rounder. They need playing time and the ability to play inferior talent to showcase their abilities. They won’t get that same golden opportunity in the G-League. When you are a top 10 pick every spot is HUGE in the draft. They won’t give that money to anyone, but mega talents and why would those mega talents opt for the G-League? You would have to be a freak athlete that is going to be drafted Top 5 no matter what happens.

“I was trying to beat the throw to first.” Running hard to first would be a good start Machado.

Annnnnnnnnnd the lead is gone.

Puig and Machado powering a lot of the Dodgers offense...we could have had both. Maybe they don’t fit in our clubhouse (especially Puig), but I think that is a little overblown to some extent. Interesting to wonder if Machado might have actually been the missing link. Would never have guessed at the deadline, but a major RH hitter killed us when we needed it most. Of course Arcia was pretty good in the postseason, but I’d bet my life Arcia would have gotten work in at 2B after such a trade. With the pathetic play at 2B by our RH hitters he probably would have started anyway. Would have been some nice defense up the middle. Just some “what if” things to wonder about. Not saying it would have ended better or even the same...just a situation that easily could have happened.

Puig and Machado powering a lot of the Dodgers offense...we could have had both. Maybe they don’t fit in our clubhouse (especially Puig), but I think that is a little overblown to some extent. Interesting to wonder if Machado might have actually been the missing link. Would never have guessed at the deadline, but a major RH hitter killed us when we needed it most. Of course Arcia was pretty good in the postseason, but I’d bet my life Arcia would have gotten work in at 2B after such a trade. With the pathetic play at 2B by our RH hitters he probably would have started anyway. Would have been some nice defense up the middle. Just some “what if” things to wonder about. Not saying it would have ended better or even the same...just a situation that easily could have happened.

Yelich isn't very fast....? Compared to....like....Cain....or like Hamilton...or other guys considered elite defensively, no. He does not have elite speed. He does not cover a ton of ground. But once again I guess we are talking LF where you just need to be slightly above average in the OF to win a GG.

Doesn't Yelich already have a GG from Miami? I think you may be being a bit harsh. He doesn't have Broxton speed, but he is definitely fast. His arm is pretty accurate, but it is definitely lacking in the power department. GGs in some ways, over the past decade, have sort of become an award for the best defensive player who can also hit Well I guess we are talking LF right? Which for most NL teams is where the worst defender goes in OF or their worst defender period. So yah, competition isn’t really all that high from the get go.

Dan, is that you?

Where did anyone say it was his fault? sorry, it was suggested the rehab was his fault. Something in the rehab could have been his fault, we don’t know.

Where did anyone say it was his fault?

I’m guessing one of the injuries (or multiple) was handled in a way the Brewers weren’t particularly happy about. Lee Tunnell is also interesting. Was he just a holdover still on contract and now they can find someone they want?

Shaw is slow running up on balls. He makes decent throws, but you can’t be that slow and get a ton of baserunners out. I think he is a fine defender, but nowhere near GG. Shaw is underrated to some extent, but Yelich is overrated. Yelich isn’t very fast so he doesn’t cover a ton of ground and his arm is pretty terrible. He runs great routes though which a lot of people overlook when it comes to OF defense. I just don’t see how you can get anywhere close to calling him a GG.

Reading the full quote it sounds like that is their plan. Sounds like he is going to report to ST like normal and isn't doing something special this winter. If he has issues in ST...then yah, get worried. I am not too concerned. Strength training all winter and no pitching should pretty much make him good to go. He seemed like he was pretty much there at the end of the season, but now there is no point to keep making him rehab...just let him rest now. Could he be rusty come ST and need to go slow? Maybe, but I don't imagine major problems. Personally I am betting he is in the bullpen come the start of 2019 (or whenever he officially starts playing). Just a guess.

Hopefully Melvin helps us find some good garbage bin finds before he leaves us (if he does). We can't afford expensive bullpen guys and Stearns has been horrible at finding good value for the bullpen. So far some of the names David Stearns has brought us: Neftali Feliz Matt Albers Oliver Drake Boone Logan Dan Jennings He has got to do better than that in the future. He has been really lacking trying to build a bullpen. Thank gosh we were loaded in the minors to come save the bullpen when half the guys we had flopped like hot garbage. While the depth in the minors helped us this year with some of them moving to the rotation in 2019 he will need to find more reliable true bullpen arms.

Well I am waaaaaays away from said retirement, but imagine I will retire in my late 50s if I stick with a federal job for life. I would be eligible to retire at 55 technically due to 30+ years of service, but not sure I would want to start milking my savings that early. Thankfully I was born into a time where saving for retirement early is a pretty big deal and highly recommended. In today's dollars my pension should come out to about $40,000 annually. Add in a my retirement savings account that gets 10% of my salary (with match) I should have a nice sum of money between those two and SS (if it exists then...). Interesting story Storm. Super early retirement can be a nice option if you get into a lucrative career early enough into your life and plan for it. You will never see me driving around a luxury car or having a huge house, but I plan to spend money and enjoy myself too. Spend money on what makes you happy. Some people want to retire at 45 and some don't care if they work to 70 if it means a big house and a Tesla.

I don't think there is any chance this happens.

The outrage over the slides into Arcia made be laugh. I'm not that old and didn't start watching baseball heavily until 2009, yet I still remember a few years ago guy would absolutely plow into the legs of the defender on 2nd. He grabbed his leg and I really can't blame him. Guys are constantly trying to be sneaky and get away with rules that aren't called often. Running down the line too far over or leaning into a pitch to get hit. Anyone remember Chase Utley's slide....now THAT is bad. I think it is one of those things where Machado is known for being a giant douche so every questionable situation has to be made out so he is a giant douche. The umpires just need to see plays like that and correctly call them, as they did on the second slide. We shouldn't even care if he does it because it should help us in the end. Throwing at him would have been 100 times more dangerous than what he did during any time in that series. BUT Machado is indeed a big douche bag and I don't like him or anyone that plays the game like that.

Probably not, at his age he would probably take the multi-year if given the option. I think a team will gamble on a rebound of some sort over multiple years. He struggled, but not a total disaster...still had some nice looking numbers. Holland was a lot younger when he did it.

I never understand all the complaining about the IGT threads. Not complaining, just saying it doesn't really add much to the board if you know what I mean. Like if the IGTs fell off the Earth I can't say we would be worse off...transactions forum, the place would die. And I am not saying we should get rid of IGTs or anything...I use them all the time. Just saying talking about transactions/rumors is a million times better. That is all. I think we understand things get dicey in those threads. Because if people acted that way anywhere else in this place they would be permabanned.

Well the Dodgers are pretty well toast at this point, so that is cool. Can't wait for the offseason. I think that is what makes this forum great, all the rumors and collective thoughts on what we could do. Can't say the IGTs and armchair managing brings a whole lot to the table.

I can tell you that rumor is complete BS. Miller Park doesn't hold nearly enough to even think about hosting a final four. There is a reason it is always in a football stadium. Let me know when Miller Park can hold 70k. I think you could make a weird configuration to get 50k or so...maybe And it doesn't make sense to do any lesser games in the tourney because they have a pro basketball arena in town that already has enough seats without having to do a weird setup.

I gave you about every sporadic playing time stat you could want. I gave "just his first AB" and then also showed you the stats that would include additional ABs. I gave you this years numbers and I gave you his career numbers for PHing. To say of someone struggled due to sporadic playing time, but at that same time mashes like Barry Bonds as a PHer seems a tad far-fetched in my mind. Did it help his cause at the start of the year when he lost playing time? No, probably not...but at that point I thinking it was just kicking him while he was already down. He was already hitting for no power...not like that made it any worse. Really looking back he wasn't even hitting that bad when he stopped playing much. Yah his OPS was .701, but he lost his playing time after a really solid month of May.

I would agree with you if it was like mid-August when there is no other option. Right now the world is out oyster and we can improve quite easily for not too much money (or prospects). For example lets say we could get Marwin Gonzalez at 3/$24mil and he gives us an OPS+ of 115. Hiura comes up and shows some flashes, but his OPS+ is 85...that is a pretty big drop off before even considering defense. And yes defensive shifting helps, but you will not hide his poor arm and overall questionable defensive skills. Shaw has a strong arm making him pretty good on defensive shifts...that will be a long throw for Hiura out there if it isn't smoked right at him. You can't just ignore all the potential scenarios we could do this offense and just compare Hiura to what we had last year...that's just not right. I'm not even saying Hiura can't come up and be great. All I am saying is why not getting a better back-up plan if you are going to spend 8 figures?

Yah there are smaller programs getting caught in it too. Sure they can and have tracked the Adidas case to know a lot about that, but there are even boosters throwing their wallets at these kids (or their guardians). There was a Maryland booster that paid the guardian of Silvio De Sousa $60k(!) to go to Maryland...not even that great of a school and De Sousa isn't a huge prospect in the grand scheme. If you have that much money thrown around at a not great school by someone not looking for a financial gain there has to be way more than I want to know. The sad thing is the kids probably aren't even getting the money a lot of the time. I bet their parents/guardians just pocket it under the table...unknowingly to the kid. I think the problem has really gotten out of hand when it isn't even the colleges trying to pay these kids, we got shoe companies and boosters tossing the money out there.

With both of these guys, Schoop especially, the Hiura factor has to be considered. Barring injury or struggles at AAA, he'll be up at some point in 2019. If you're a free agent with options, why would you come to a team where you have a real chance to be benched by mid-season? Conversely, is the player who's willing to sign with Milwaukee knowing their top prospect is on the horizon at the same position likely to be better than your former All-Star? Given Shaw's positional flexibility, I think there's a decent chance the Brewers will try to hold on to one of Schoop / Moose. Signing a stopgap to a multi-year deal would actually end up being more expensive than an additional 1-year for either player. I think both are pretty terrible options for us next year. Both are marginal offensively and neither is versatile. Both have low OBPs and Moustakas pops it up so much he might as well strikeout 150+ times a season. I am pretty sure we can spend money to find a better player that at least adds some kind of value outside of average at best offense. Yasmani Grandal gives us offense at a position that was brutal last year for the most part and Marwin Gonzalez would give similar offense, but with position versatility. Bringing in a stop gap to HOPE Hiura can make a impact right away is borderline foolish if you ask me. He has proven nothing and his defense is not going to help the cause when he gets here. If anything we should find someone more versatile that can hold down the fort if they have to or can move around once Hiura is up to still get a big chunk of ABs elsewhere too. If you don't want to go crazy Marwin Gonzalez might be the most logical. He can play the entire field so even if Hiura comes up and proves himself we will still get starter value out of Gonzalez...just all over the field. That is so much better of a target than Schoop/Moustakas.