adambr2

Agreed with those that said the T against Giannis was absolutely bogus. Giannis did nothing but get excited, not even directed at anyone, Ibaka explodes and has to be held back and they T up Giannis for it. Absolutely disgraceful call and the fact that the game was over by that point doesn't make it any less bogus. Even the announcers on ESPN were incredulous that Giannis got T'ed up. Imagine the same situation with the same call against Lebron, Westbrook or Curry. Not a chance in hell.

That's not the point of this thread though. Thames should not be on the trading block. If he is legit we found our 1B on the next contending team that could be real soon if we spend money smart in FA and our top prospects come up and perform. Even though I started this thread, I tend to lean towards agreement of this viewpoint the most. At some point, you've got to pick some guys to build around coming out of the rebuild, and if Thames could indeed somehow be a .925-.950 OPS guy with 35-40 HR power, he'd definitely be a candidate. It doesn't hurt that he costs $5M a year for the first 3 years, which is basically nothing in MLB salary terms. Now obviously you'd prefer if he was 25 instead of 30, but you've still got control over him through 2020, and by all accounts he keeps himself in great shape, so it's not out of the question that he could stay productive through those 4 years. If he is, he's the guy you want manning 1st in 2019 and 2020. If you had a Cody Bellinger in the wings, maybe you'd look to move Thames if he rakes in the 1st half, but we don't. Now, all of this is subject to change. If 2017 ends and we end up with a 65 win team, and our prospects aren't coming along as well as we hoped and Thames has turned into a star 1st baseman, maybe you look to move him. But I'm not that pessimistic on our outlook this year. I also probably shouldn't be that optimistic about Thames either -- it's still so early, and all of this conversation may end up being moot. But it's hard not to get excited about his production, especially when he has production in Korea to suggest that maybe it's not all just a fluke.

Is Erceg hurt? Strange to see him out of the lineup the last couple games.

Just the way of life for a small market team, man. Especially when you're dealing with players in their 30s. That's not me saying that we should trade Thames, but that we should never close the door on the possibility for anyone. Gomez and Lucroy weren't traded for players that were expected to make an impact on day 1. I don't know how anyone can look at those trades, especially Gomez without considering them big successes .

Been a heck of a road trip so far. Now if we can take at least 1 of 3 in Chicago we can head back home at. 500 after a brutal first 15 game schedule.

I thought while he was just as effective today for sure, he was more effectively wild than usual and making more mistakes. Didn't look like he had the stuff going he had his first 2 outings, so while I wouldn't have been opposed to one more inning I can't blame them for being glad what they got out of him today and turning it over to the pen.

Whew. I was going to say, anybody but Scooter.

I need to find that trash pre-season article by that ESPN MLB writer that gave Stearns a C for his off-season mainly because he said the Brewers were stupid to not keep Chris Carter in free agency and instead sign a guy from the Korean Leagues who wouldn't be any good .

I'm not expecting him to be THIS good all year, but with how much that average MLB starters make, how were there 29 other GMs out there not willing to take a flyer on Thames at more than 5M a year?

Right on. I mean, if you can't complain about Nieuwenhuis on this team, who CAN you complain about ? I don't think Kirk gets half the venom around here that Villar gets.

I'm for it just so I can see you stop posting about it. Getting into Briggs territory. Actually it'll be more fun that if you get your Braun trade and they start Kirk out in left even more often. Nah, they'd likely get Puig. Or if they don't, someone would come up. Maybe Phillips.

I really would think they should know enough not to think there was any intent behind it on an 0-2 pitch with the bases empty.

[attachment=0]images.jpg[/attachment]

I hate him, but with his speed he can get away with his positioning.

I'm for it just so I can see you stop posting about it. Getting into Briggs territory. I'm not the only one who can't stand Kirk and you do plenty of complaining yourself about Milone and Perez and others. I know you have a weird thing about defending Kirk every chance you get but quit whining about it if you're going to be a hypocrite about it.

It's going to be like Christmas morning the day that the alert comes in that Kirk Nieuwenhuis has been designated for assignment.

Right call both ways on the field. I think it's hilarious that the umpire refuses to take 2 minutes off from shoveling seeds or whatever they were into his mouth while he's on the headset reviewing the play.

That's where walks really hurt you.

Need to get this game through 5. The rains are coming in Cincy later.

Nieuwenhuis might strike out 120 times as a bench player. Actually he had 133 last year so that seems rather likely.

Kirk needs to go into the box and just keep the bat on his shoulders the whole AB.

You know Romano is in trouble when he walks Perez on 4 pitches.

Not taking advantage of good chances so far.

Surprised we didn't tag there.

Wow, beautiful DP!