adambr2

So he just … didn’t say anything and went out to pitch anyway?

The choice will be both after adding a decent bat or two.

Fine by me. If there are 5 better alternatives though on this roster, they aren’t better by much.

Nah. Contreras is fine. It would be great if he went back to being “great”, but he’s still been fine. I think you’re overestimating how good the average MLB catcher is. If you think trading Hader in first place was a risky move, imagine benching the guy who works with this pitching staff every single day.

Someone said the other day in the trade discussions that Ortiz is better than Otto Lopez, so why acquire him. Yeah, no.

Thanks, Nick, that was a fun one on alumni day.

Yeah, you can’t walk Ramirez there, Nick.

As fun as it is to have all the old Brewers here today, this game feels like a sideshow.

He’s not. He’s had pitches in the zone called a ball.

This umpire is freaking awful. At least 4 blown calls against the Brewers in this half inning alone. I can’t even be mad at Perkins for chasing there. When you have this trash can behind the plate, anything might be called a strike.

Chourio was (rightfully) pissed about taking 5 balls during the AB and still striking out.

Another day, another trash can umpire behind the plate.

I was told Ortiz is so good defensively we can’t replace him no matter how little he hits. Edit: I do think Joey is a solid defensive SS and my comment is just tongue in cheek. I just challenge the presumption that his defense can’t be replaced if we made a trade that takes him out of the daily lineup.

Oh I thought they did that in response to the call. I didn’t realize they assumed and stopped playing before the call. If that’s the case, absolutely need to be playing that out and not giving up on the play.

Yeah, but there are CFers out there who probably don’t even have the range to get there and make a play on it. Freddy had to throw a few more pitches, but Perkins still saved a run by keeping it in the ballpark. 2011 Mark Kotsay doesn’t get there. 😅

Can they do that ? Tag him out on the field and he’s out if they reverse it? That doesn’t seem right.

Don’t worry, Phil Cuzzi, it’s certainly not your first blown call and certainly won’t be your last.

I’ll take this all with a grain of salt until HighHeat19 weighs in tonight.

I have no issue losing out on McMahon. He’s an upgrade over Monasterio and other bench options, of course, but not from Durbin.

Naylor is pretty meh. Kind of surprised to see a rental of him go for much of anything. That said, organizational prospect lists become pretty subjective once you get down to the mid teens. Fans aren’t always in line with general managers on perceived value there. Sometimes you’re talking about prospects who will have to be exposed to Rule 5 anyway and the organization considers them expendable.

Going to be interesting when Gasser and Cortes are both available. 6 man rotation for August/September seems plausible. The Miz ride has been fun but they’re going to need to tread lightly with his arm the rest of the way.

First of all, I do agree that it's time to raise the bar — it's ok to start expecting playoff success now. I think we can all agree that we've been playing enough postseason baseball to start feeling disappointed with these early exits. It's not 2008 anymore. It's ok to talk about a World Series. I'll add to that by saying, I know it's not comfortable or popular to just blame it on "bad luck", and I'm not attributing it entirely to that ....but it's a big part of it. If we walk Bellinger and Grandal in extras in 2018...maybe we win the game and the NLCS. If Grisham doesn't flub the ball in '19, maybe we go on to win it all. If Devin doesn't blow Game 3 last year ....maybe everything turns out differently. We'll never know. Then you have a similar small market, with less consistent postseason appearances like the Royals, get to the playoffs just two years in 2014 and '15, and they make the World Series in the first one and then win it the following year. Sucks to say "it's baseball", but I don't know how else to explain that. I don't think the Royals made all these crazy moves in 2014 and 2015 that resulted in this. But it's what happened. None of this is saying we can't, and shouldn't, go get a bat or other weapon to improve our chances. That's fair. But it won't guarantee anything in this game. We can't have a better team on paper than the Dodgers. Doesn't mean we can't beat them, but we can't outspend and outinvest them. Unfortunately, the design of the game isn't fair. One thing to keep in mind though — the real difference makers, the Ronald Acunas, the Gunnar Hendersons — they're not really available. Not for what any team would realistically spend, not without risking actually making the rest of the roster worse. There's still assets out there that could help. But everything has to be considered. How does this guy fit into our system? How does he fit into the clubhouse? Will he be a seamless fit, or are we getting a Jesse Winker? If it's a position player, will he be a good defensive fit who will coordinate and communicate well with the others? (especially important when acquiring an infielder). Is the guy we are trading away crucial to the morale and general atmosphere of the club? I don't mean to suggest numbers aren't important — they are — I want a big bat too, but there are weird, unseen intangibles in baseball that just aren't always clear by the strength of your lineup. If there weren't, we certainly wouldn't have the best record in baseball.

Best thing to do when you have a long winning streak snapped is to start a new one.

I know people want to think Ortiz is the modern day Ozzie Smith, But he’s the most upgradable spot in the lineup. By far.

Guys, this lineup as currently constructed isn’t good enough to win a World Series. Our best hitter is … well I don’t even know, because we don’t even really have one. I guess what I’m saying is, if we need to take one or two 1-0 games on the chin in the last week before the deadline for Arnold to go out and find a bat or two, it’s worth it.