We're gonna take the 2nd wild card

[Docwaukee]

the offense is currently top 10 and rising (currently 8th).  Upton on the way back.  Ohtani improving and Trout will go on another hot streak soon.  

the bullpen is top 10 as well.  Plenty of solid to very good arm with more coming.  Lots of depth.  

the starting pitching has been atrocious but is going to improve shortly.   Skaggs is a mid rotation guy and I think he's gonna go on a nice run soon.  Pena is solid/good in conjunction with using an opener.  Canning is gonna be a stud eventually but will be good this year even if in limited innings.  Harvey is going to turn a corner here soon and be good for the rest of the year.  Cahill is a wreck but Heaney is about to replace him and Trevor will go to the pen and excel.   Suarez is going to get his shot soon as well and impress people.   The rotation isn't going to be good, but it's about to go from bad to at least serviceable.  

Coupled with a top offense and pen, this team is about to make a run. 

It's gonna be a dog fight with Boston, Cleveland and Minnesota but I think we'll be right there in the end.  

[eligrba]

[tdawg87]

[Lou]

7 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

the offense is currently top 10 and rising (currently 8th).  Upton on the way back.  Ohtani improving and Trout will go on another hot streak soon.  

the bullpen is top 10 as well.  Plenty of solid to very good arm with more coming.  Lots of depth.  

the starting pitching has been atrocious but is going to improve shortly.   Skaggs is a mid rotation guy and I think he's gonna go on a nice run soon.  Pena is solid/good in conjunction with using an opener.  Canning is gonna be a stud eventually but will be good this year even if in limited innings.  Harvey is going to turn a corner here soon and be good for the rest of the year.  Cahill is a wreck but Heaney is about to replace him and Trevor will go to the pen and excel.   Suarez is going to get his shot soon as well and impress people.   The rotation isn't going to be good, but it's about to go from bad to at least serviceable.  

Coupled with a top offense and pen, this team is about to make a run. 

It's gonna be a dog fight with Boston, Cleveland and Minnesota but I think we'll be right there in the end.  

[Dick Enberg]

2018 Brewers can do it this way, we can too!

[Stradling]

Fuck yea!

[mmc]

I don't see it simply because I just don't see the bullpen being able to play this well for so long.  With how volatile our starters are I think they'll be too worn out to go on a run down the stretch, as I doubt we will be buying at the deadline and the other contenders will.

[Stradling]

It seems as though they have been rotating a few pitchers through the minors and back up.  

[totdprods]

I think if we’re in the mix we’ll see Eppler buy too. Might not be a big name - maybe a Tanner Roark-type to shore up the rotation or a vet RP or two for depth. Someone that just costs low-level guys. I don’t think we will see any offensive adds unless something catastrophic happens - and even then, it’s probably time for the AAA bats to shine in that case.

But I could also see Eppler cashing in on one of Ward/Thaiss, one of Marsh/Jones, and a lower-level arm with some upside for an impact/long-term piece, especially a SP.

Would you give up one of Thaiss or Ward for two months of Bumgarner? I think on paper, at this moment, it’d be a fair framework to start with, especially if Ward keeps this up. I’m picturing something similar to the Darvish-Calhoun trade.

Edited May 16, 2019 by totdprods

[Chuck]

14 minutes ago, totdprods said:

I think if we’re in the mix we’ll see Eppler buy too. Might not be a big name - maybe a Tanner Roark-type to shore up the rotation or a vet RP or two for depth. Someone that just costs low-level guys. I don’t think we will see any offensive adds unless something catastrophic happens - and even then, it’s probably time for the AAA bats to shine in that case.

But I could also see Eppler cashing in on one of Ward/Thaiss, one of Marsh/Jones, and a lower-level arm with some upside for an impact/long-term piece, especially a SP.

Would you give up one of Thaiss or Ward for two months of Bumgarner? I think on paper, at this moment, it’d be a fair framework to start with, especially if Ward keeps this up. I’m picturing something similar to the Darvish-Calhoun trade.

I sure would! But I think it would take a lot more. 

I'm not sure how much we can get for Thaiss who has been kind of a disappointment in AAA after a really nice spring in Arizona. 

Ward can play 1B, 3B and LF and his OBP and power/speed should be able to net something really good. 

[DMVol]

Starting pitching isn’t good enough....

[eligrba]

37 minutes ago, mymerlincat said:

I don't see it simply because I just don't see the bullpen being able to play this well for so long.  With how volatile our starters are I think they'll be too worn out to go on a run down the stretch, as I doubt we will be buying at the deadline and the other contenders will.

I actually hope Eppler is a seller at the deadline. 

[Troll Daddy]

1 hour ago, Dochalo said:

the offense is currently top 10 and rising (currently 8th).  Upton on the way back.  Ohtani improving and Trout will go on another hot streak soon.  

the bullpen is top 10 as well.  Plenty of solid to very good arm with more coming.  Lots of depth.  

the starting pitching has been atrocious but is going to improve shortly.   Skaggs is a mid rotation guy and I think he's gonna go on a nice run soon.  Pena is solid/good in conjunction with using an opener.  Canning is gonna be a stud eventually but will be good this year even if in limited innings.  Harvey is going to turn a corner here soon and be good for the rest of the year.  Cahill is a wreck but Heaney is about to replace him and Trevor will go to the pen and excel.   Suarez is going to get his shot soon as well and impress people.   The rotation isn't going to be good, but it's about to go from bad to at least serviceable.  

Coupled with a top offense and pen, this team is about to make a run. 

It's gonna be a dog fight with Boston, Cleveland and Minnesota but I think we'll be right there in the end.  

Your ending statement doesn’t scream we’re going to win the second wild card ... does it?

but yea I agree

[thebloob]

You forget that there are three teams in the mix in the east, the rays, Yankees, and Boston.  The two wild cards go through that division.  Anyone think the angels are better than those three teams in the east?

[ScottT]

Those three AL East teams play each other 19 times each.

How many times have three teams from the same division made the postseason?

[Stradling]

6 minutes ago, thebloob said:

You forget that there are three teams in the mix in the east, the rays, Yankees, and Boston.  The two wild cards go through that division.  Anyone think the angels are better than those three teams in the east?

I think we are better than the Yankees as currently constructed.  

[Jay]

if you don't then you're a bad fan.

[ScottT]

There's been seven seasons with two wild card teams in each league.

Once in the AL, both wild card teams came from the same division.  2016 Toronto and Baltimore.

Three times in the NL. 

[GA16]

1 hour ago, totdprods said:

I think if we’re in the mix we’ll see Eppler buy too. Might not be a big name - maybe a Tanner Roark-type to shore up the rotation or a vet RP or two for depth. Someone that just costs low-level guys. I don’t think we will see any offensive adds unless something catastrophic happens - and even then, it’s probably time for the AAA bats to shine in that case.

But I could also see Eppler cashing in on one of Ward/Thaiss, one of Marsh/Jones, and a lower-level arm with some upside for an impact/long-term piece, especially a SP.

Would you give up one of Thaiss or Ward for two months of Bumgarner? I think on paper, at this moment, it’d be a fair framework to start with, especially if Ward keeps this up. I’m picturing something similar to the Darvish-Calhoun trade.

I'm not sure I would move either of those two for a Bumgarner rental. However, I can see a bigger package being created for Marcus Stroman who still has 1 more year of Arbitration.

Stroman could be our horse for the 2nd half of the season for a Playoff push. Then next year, if we can land Gerrit Cole, the rotation would be looking really really nice. 

Cole, Ohtani, Stroman, Skaggs, Heaney, Canning, makes for a solid 6 man rotation with several guys ready to fill in for injuries and Ohtani, who will certainly be on an innings limit coming back from TJ.  

[Stradling]

I would put together a nice package for Stroman, and it wouldn’t surprise me if Eppler does something similar.  

[mmc]

37 minutes ago, Stradling said:

I think we are better than the Yankees as currently constructed.  

If you think we're better than the Yankees with everyone healthy except for Andujar who is missing the year, you're delusional.  They're better than us at every aspect of the game (bullpen, rotation, offense, management).  We are 6.5 games behind them with their depleted roster, and you think we're better than them with everyone healthy?  Not a chance.

[Stradling]

5 minutes ago, mymerlincat said:

If you think we're better than the Yankees with everyone healthy except for Andujar who is missing the year, you're delusional.  They're better than us at every aspect of the game (bullpen, rotation, offense, management).  We are 6.5 games behind them with their depleted roster, and you think we're better than them with everyone healthy?  Not a chance.

Except they aren’t healthy, so yes I think right now we are better.  

[BackUpTheTruck]

Vegas has NYY 7/1 to win the title. LAA is 125/1. No, we are not better than the Yankees.

[Vlad27Trout27]

we will definitely be in the race for the 2nd wildcard, especially with Upton and Heaney returning soon.  plus we should also be getting Key and Jc back by late june. 

But we still need to add a top of the rotation arm if we really want to have a solid chance at the 2nd wildcard. A name that has been on my mind for a while has been Aaron Sanchez. With us being big on spin rate, Sanchez maybe the hidden gem on the market. he has an 2900 spin rate on his Curve, while a 2342 on his fastball. Eliminate his sinker, as it has been the pitch that has been hit the most, and make him rely on his Fb, and Curve combo, while having that change-up as a 3rd pitch. If you guys don't remember, this is what Houston did with Cole. They eliminated his sinker, increased his spin rate on his FB (was around 2100 before coming over to Houston, and is up to 2500 now. SO its can be increased.)  Not saying that Sanchez will become or turn into Cole, but there is still a lot of upside to consider. 

[Docwaukee]

1 hour ago, Troll Daddy said:

Your ending statement doesn’t scream we’re going to win the second wild card ... does it?

but yea I agree

it's not like we'll run away with it.  88-90 wins is gonna get it.  That's about 10 games above .500 from where we are now.  We've already shown the ability to go on a run and it's predicated on consistent solid starting pitching.  Something that isn't out of the realm of possible.   And in fact, regression makes it pretty reasonable.