DCAngelsFan

I found out indirectly when I saw this from Weave:  
 
 

I found out indirectly when I saw this from Weave:  
 
 

The whole privacy thing is probably an under-appreciated consideration - I recall a few years ago how some guy bothered the Trout family at the Philly airport - got angry when they were like "This is family time" - and that kind of thing would've been endless - the fans would force him to live in a bubble.  

And Philly in the summertime, a bubble's not a bad place to be - when you smell Center City on a hot summer day, you're immediately reminded that Philly is over 300 years old, and so, probably, is its sewer system.  ?
I'd say he'd have hated playing there - I don't think that's quite true - but it would've definitely been harder to play there than in Anaheim, for lots of reasons.  
 

Trade? 
From everything I've read, Philly is *entitled* to Trout, so I think we just had to give him to them ...

every time they interview Skaggs it seems he edges closer and closer to his true feeling about Scioscia and the old regime

It was the equivalent of a 1 foot birdie putt for a pro, but instead Dipoto four putted for a triple bogey upon signing Baldoquin instead.

Yes, his velocity (such as it is) is consistent - not sure where that canard is coming from.
However, last season saw a decline in his K rate, increases in contact rates, and his WHIP, which isn't great at 1.31.  His GB% rate is way down (53.7% in 2018 vs. 66.8% in 2017) and the percentage of hard hit balls was up significantly.   It's one season, but ...
Problem with a guy like Keuchel is he's like Weaver - he's very reliant on command, and as it declines, one day, the camel's back will break, and he'll suddenly be a bp pitcher. 
When that happens - next year, 3 years from now - that's the gamble. 

To be honest, I almost overlook Eppler's trades and signings to a certain extent, and am more favorably impressed by his ability to fix organizational issues. 
For example, before DiPoto came in, the international operation had been gutted - and it seemed when he brought Servais, he was going to focus on rebuilding the international scouting and development operation. But DiPoto's horrendous mismanagement of the Baldoquin signing was beyond embarrassing - if nothing else, once in penalty, we should've signed as many players as we could - like the Red Sox and Yankees did.  Pretty much his entire stamp on out international system - Baldoquin.  Eppler landing Ohtani makes him look like a genius by comparison.
Similarly, his drafts look more solid than DiPoto's - though that can be a bit difficult to be certain of - I make fun of the draft room's reaction to Ward being drafted, but it's not like a bunch of guys behind him are lighting up the majors, either.
It just seems that when DiPoto left, there was nothing - no internationals or talent in the farm, no flexibility in the payroll, and much of the nuts and bolts of the organization, like player development, seemed underfunded and floundering - seriously, no reason to be optimistic forever.
Now, through scotch tape and baling wire, he's managed to improve our talent overall, and at least given us some reason for optimism. 
He's not a magician, but things *feel* better these days.   
 

To be honest, I almost overlook Eppler's trades and signings to a certain extent, and am more favorably impressed by his ability to fix organizational issues. 
For example, before DiPoto came in, the international operation had been gutted - and it seemed when he brought Servais, he was going to focus on rebuilding the international scouting and development operation. But DiPoto's horrendous mismanagement of the Baldoquin signing was beyond embarrassing - if nothing else, once in penalty, we should've signed as many players as we could - like the Red Sox and Yankees did.  Pretty much his entire stamp on out international system - Baldoquin.  Eppler landing Ohtani makes him look like a genius by comparison.
Similarly, his drafts look more solid than DiPoto's - though that can be a bit difficult to be certain of - I make fun of the draft room's reaction to Ward being drafted, but it's not like a bunch of guys behind him are lighting up the majors, either.
It just seems that when DiPoto left, there was nothing - no internationals or talent in the farm, no flexibility in the payroll, and much of the nuts and bolts of the organization, like player development, seemed underfunded and floundering - seriously, no reason to be optimistic forever.
Now, through scotch tape and baling wire, he's managed to improve our talent overall, and at least given us some reason for optimism. 
He's not a magician, but things *feel* better these days.   
 

To be honest, I almost overlook Eppler's trades and signings to a certain extent, and am more favorably impressed by his ability to fix organizational issues. 
For example, before DiPoto came in, the international operation had been gutted - and it seemed when he brought Servais, he was going to focus on rebuilding the international scouting and development operation. But DiPoto's horrendous mismanagement of the Baldoquin signing was beyond embarrassing - if nothing else, once in penalty, we should've signed as many players as we could - like the Red Sox and Yankees did.  Pretty much his entire stamp on out international system - Baldoquin.  Eppler landing Ohtani makes him look like a genius by comparison.
Similarly, his drafts look more solid than DiPoto's - though that can be a bit difficult to be certain of - I make fun of the draft room's reaction to Ward being drafted, but it's not like a bunch of guys behind him are lighting up the majors, either.
It just seems that when DiPoto left, there was nothing - no internationals or talent in the farm, no flexibility in the payroll, and much of the nuts and bolts of the organization, like player development, seemed underfunded and floundering - seriously, no reason to be optimistic forever.
Now, through scotch tape and baling wire, he's managed to improve our talent overall, and at least given us some reason for optimism. 
He's not a magician, but things *feel* better these days.   
 

This.  I think it helps to remember that Miller and Maybin were top 10, or top 20 prospects, sure.
It also helps to remember that that same year, Brandon Wood was a top 5 prospect.
Trout is a singular player; his value is so high, even teams that can put together enough talent in a package would choke on letting them go.  
edt:  I meant to say, it all-but makes him untradeable, in the sense that his value is so high, it's hard to imagine a team having enough expendable talent they'd be willing to part with that we'd take for him.   
Any trade involving Trout has the potential to be  labelled "The worst trade in MLB history"  

Or play chicken with him and get him to badly overpay - either outcome is fine with me.

I think whoever loses the bidding for Harper and Machado will be more relieved than the "winner" will be ecstatic.  
The thing about Trout is his value isn't entirely defined by his play - he's a good guy, a face of the franchise, fans *like* him.  *And* he's produced at historic levels. 
Harper and Machado, not so much on either count.  I think teams are less likely to commit to historic contracts  for "superstars" who aren't particularly "super" - not that likable, and their production isn't particularly "historic."
So, I think there's a very good chance the contracts they ultimately get will be on the low range.
Of course, now that I've written that, someone just tendered Harper a 20-year $1B contract, payable in bags of diamonds ...

I read that string of four words and wonder how on earth can anyone learn a second language.  Can you imagine understanding each of those words individually and being baffled as to what the hell that means?

Dippy might fancy Ward as a trade piece too. Didn't they have a dance party when he was drafted a few years back? 

Wow.  That makes zero sense.  He put up pretty good numbers last year considering his contract being cheap.
I'd take Cron for 1B with Pujols on the DL for the season in a heartbeat. 
 

Clearly, he was a seminal player ...

Settle down Dr. Seuss.

Does the story about DiPoto repeatedly punching a whiteboard ring true with anyone? 
That's such a bizarre - and specific - behavior, so wonder if anyone here ever witnessed that from him?
Her injecting "no team has ever been to the playoffs under DiPoto" jibe actually hurts her case a bit - (and make no mistake, a case is coming) - makes it seem more personal and retaliatory.   
Hate to think these guys are that ignorant - but also hate to think she'd exaggerate things to buff up her story - sadly, both are equally plausible, because we've certainly seen people that ignorant and racist (even worse) in positions of power, and we've seen people lie through their teeth, making really malignant charges, just to get revenge or make money.  
However it turns out, the "stain" from the above is true - very difficult to undo the damage. 

This thread is Bumpalicious 

back loaded deals do nothing to help with the AAV and suck near their end; see Pujols...

Chika bow wow

I haven't watched any video - but shoulder pain is a big red flag in pitchers - we've gotten used to the recovery rate in TJ surgery, with a recovery rate exceeding 90% - it's almost routine.  
Labrum and/or rotator cuff tears?  For pitchers, it's *still* a career-ender - they rarely recover - poking around, I see a 14% recovery rate.  
Without a comprehensive imaging study on his shoulder, I wouldn't even consider signing him.   
 

Think Baldoquin for Paxton sounds fair ...
Of course, he wants to hang on to Diaz, to save games they're, uh,  losing ...