adambr2

Get him some reps at catcher?

Aguilar sure hasn't been looking very average.

No, he wouldn't have. He would have been at 2nd, the infield wouldn't have been drawn in and it would have been a routine groundout instead of an RBI single.

Thanks again Jett.

Well at least Bandy offers good D.

Might as well still have the pitcher hitting.

Jeez Perez. The strike zone does not extend up to your forehead.

Some umps would have tossed Shaw right there for that, glad this wasn't one of them.

Hypothetically speaking (and I don't think it would take 4 of our top 6), what would the result need to be for acquiring Manny to be worth it in your opinion? World Series appearance? World Series win? Or doesn't matter, still not worth it?

Allow me to play Orioles mgmt (becuz no one really knows who is calling the shots over there). The only thing really known about Baltimore's asking price during this past off-season for Machado was "reportedly" costing multiple top pitching prospects (that were close to MLB ready) & iron clad agreement that team not turn around & then deal Machado to the Yankees. Its the need for pitching where I believe the Cubs would fall short in trying to put a deal together for Machado. Baltimore also has to deal with other pending higher profile Free Agents in Adam Jones, Zach Britton & Brad Brach. As the Orioles I'm looking for at least a 3 player package in return for Machado. I'm demanding 1 from each the following pairs of young pitchers: Hader/ Burnes & Woodruff/F Peralta to start the trade package. Ortiz does not interest me as he can't stay healthy & has never pitched over 95 IP in any season. After that I likely need more INF help than OF (I have multiple OF options in the upper minors, a couple almost ready) so 1 of Hiura/ Erceg to round out the 3 player package. If your suggesting Hader & Burnes are both untouchable, then I need both Woodruff & F Peralta along with both Erceg & Hiura. Your thoughts adambr2?? Hmm, well, first I think I'd counter that you are going to trade Machado, it's just a matter of being the top bidder. I know the Orioles are a little...unstable in this regard, but I just can't even fathom that letting Machado walk for basically nothing is even a possibility. So there's no way you're letting Machado remain in an Orioles uniform in August, so that's where you lose some leverage. You do however still have leverage in the fact that Manny is really good and there will be competition for his services. I should mention here that Hader is absolutely off the table in any discussions for Manny. He's just so far above everyone else on that list that I would think the Orioles would take him straight up for Manny if they could. Maybe not, but they should. And trading Hader just hurts the Brewers too much both in the short and long term. I doubt Burnes is on the table either but I could at least see it. I think the Brewers would be more open to it if guys like Ortiz and Peralta were coming along nicely. The Brewers do have the pitching prospects to get it done if they want and Woodruff + Peralta + Erceg is not an unreasonable ask. Hiura is probably a deal breaker as a 4th piece. I'd counter with Phillips.

Unless you have a super deep 40 man roster, which we don't, I've always kind of shrugged off the idea of 40 man depth once you start getting past the first 35 or so. At a minimum, you could replace Bandy, Franklin, Saladino, Sogard and Asher with Bethancourt, Orf, Derby, and 2 other "who cares" guys and they would be no worse for it. Saladino was claimed off waivers. Sogard would have had to clear waivers already to be sent down. Asher had already had a couple stints on the 40 and been removed once already and cleared. These last few guys are just totally fluid and replaceable. If Stearns wanted to replace Asher tomorrow, he could stop for breakfast, send out a few texts offering some cash or a nobody PTBNL for a guy on another team that they considered totally expendable, and have it done by the time he finished his meal.

The Machado opportunity kind of reminds me of the CC trade of 10 years ago. I'm normally pretty dead set on trading anything of real value for rentals. However, I feel a little differently about Machado. I'm not saying yes, but I'm not saying no. I'd have to see how the trade market develops. But hear me out: 1. - SS is a major offensive hole. Arcia deserves a shot, but it doesn't have to be right now. He can return to AAA for the remainder of 2018, perhaps return in September. He's not going to be nuts about it, but you can certainly justify it based on performance the same way you could justify Broxton heading down after a 20/20 season when Cain and Yelich became available. And it's nice knowing even though you'll lose Machado after the season, your future SS is still here. 2. The NL is incredibly wide open. Unlike last year when you knew no matter what we did at the deadline, we were still a Tier 2 NL team, you don't really get that feeling right now. I mean, crazy as this sounds ....everything else being equal, if we go out and acquire Manny Machado tomorrow, we have to be the favorites to represent the NL in the World Series this year, aren't we? Am I wrong to say that? It's a tightrope act, because you want to preserve your future while also not letting your opportunities to win pass you by when you have them. For a city that hasn't seen a World Series in 36 years, you wonder at what point the ends justify the means. Ideally, a team that does this deal would be able to make a move using their farm depth and be able to withstand some losses without necessarily hurting the future. Depth-wise, we're in a good position there -- if top prospect names start getting thrown out, then we're not. So I'm probably not interested if we're starting to look like a Hiura/Burnes package to get it done, but I'm definitely listening if we are looking more like a Peralta/Erceg/Phillips package.

Bubba Derby is probably going to want to forget about this one.

Stearns really isn't getting as much credit as he deserves for this pen. While many teams were dropping $7-$10M a year on relievers he stayed true to his valuations and was digging for pocket change for guys like Jeffress and Albers.

We win these really tight games more often than not because our bullpen is always better than theirs. It's that simple.

Your best bet is if Yelich is around long enough the other person forgets. Yelich is stellar, but I seriously doubt he ever puts up the stats to win an MVP award offensively. He could always be like a former 'friend' of mine whom I had a Brewers vs. Cubs NL Central champs bet for $100 with back in 2011 and who just dodged and ghosted me after the season rather than play. Over $100.

You have to wonder if Villar should stop switch hitting and just focus on hitting from the left side. He just isn't much of a hitter as a righty.

Especially after yet another walk. Must be contagious. Clearly by design, Jennings just wants to show Peralta that not to worry, it happens to the best of them. Kudos to him for doing his part to make sure the young man doesn't have his confidence shaken too much by today.

What do you mean? He's a decent pitcher. There's no controversy about him starting when he's healthy. I'm like 99% positive he was joking in reaction to my post and the post from the guy saying that it would be underwhelming to bring Davies up in place of the one hit wonder to this point, Peralta. That though, may be the single worst take I've seen in 15 years of coming to this board. Meh. People like exciting young pitchers and Peralta is that. Not that big of a deal. Of course Davies is going to have a spot if he's healthy.

Pickoff there is huge.

Leadoff walk. Again.

Not a player we can afford to lose ...

Atta boy Pina...

Yeah I really wanted Peralta to force them to keep him up but you can't survive in an MLB rotation walking a batter an inning. Still really young and needs to work on his command. He'll be back.

2 runs because of walks.