SigBaby

We're 4 games back of the A's. The Royals are 4.5 back of us. I'm not worried, by that logic we're on the A's a$$. Tigers should be the ones worried as KC is .5 back in the Central, but i think ultimately the Royals will sizzle out

Keep in mind Richards is going to have to have his innings limited down the stretch. We need a starter badly. Besides the obvious Colon choice, who else might go unclaimed?

Just got DFA'd by the Indians. Not having a good year, but his peripherals are decent and he's been solid the past two years. Would be a good depth pickup, which we have a desperate need for.

No, but we had a much bigger need for SP depth than a closer. We probably could've gotten a Masterson/Colon/Peavy for a lesser package than what we gave up for Street. It's only going to get worse if Richards fades/ has an innings limit down the stretch

Richards will need rest down the stretch too. We need Skaggs desperately if we're to keep pace Weaver, Wilson, Richards, Shoemaker, Santiago, Wolf Shark, Lester, Gray, Kazmir, Chavez, Hammel Not happening

who do we have as depth at SP Edit: Never mind I just looked and its not good

That's really why we needed another starter. Him and Skaggs won't hold up over the entire season

Only one of them will have that opportunity in the wildcard game

I don't know how the team can rely on Richards to pitch 200 innings this year and expect for him to not get injured/ the quality of his innings to not decline. You've said it already, but we need CJ to pitch like he did the first couple months of the season

Felix Doubrant traded to the Cubs. Remember when people thought all Trumbo would get us was him? Maybe the Cubs will pull an Arrieta on him although Arrieta always had good stuff.

Kemp's younger and much more likely to bounce back.

There would obviously be more to the trade like the Dodgers eating half the contract and including a solid prospect

Anyone's game for the second wild card right now. Everyone but the Twins, Stros, and Rangers have a chance.

Obviously haven't seen him much but Street seems to not have a great put away pitch

Ok I was going based on Fangraphs. But as I said, Bourjos and Freese are probably equal upgrades (maybe even downgrades) from what the teams had before. Jay and Taveras for the Cards and Green/Jimenez for us.

Freese- .9 WAR Bourjos- 1.1 WAR I do agree they won but only because Grichuk. Trade kinda sucks for both teams, the Cards have a major logjam in the outfield so Grichuk is pretty blocked and Bourjos doesn't even start. Salas has been serviceable though and actually pretty good as of late so that's a plus.

He was hitting really well before the break

Skaggs, Shoemaker, Santiago starting 3 out of 4. Big series to see if we need another starter

In a 3 game series against the A's if Santiago, Skaggs, and Shoemaker pitch 2 out of those 3 games, our chances of winning the series aren't very good. Those guys are decent and I'm comfortable with them getting us to the playoffs, but they aren't good enough to overtake the A's. If we're looking to win now, it's either going to happen through the wildcard as the team is now or we acquire a solid starter and have a chance at the division

Should Cleveland fall out Justin Masterson is worth a look. He's not having that great of a year, but the potential for him to be a solid #2 is there. His infield defense this year is pretty bad Lonnie Chisenhall/Carlos Santana at third is terrible and Asdrubal and Kipnis are below average at SS and 2b. He could do much better with our infield defense seeing as he's a sinkerballer

"The Padres received a very nice package for closer Huston Street, who has a very favorable contract for a ninth-inning man. But while Benoit is drawing serious interest, the Padres would be hard-pressed to match that haul for Benoit, who is seen as more of a set-up man (and closer insurance) by most."- Jon Heyman. If true, that's complete BS. Benoit is just as good as Street and again, we didn't need a shutdown closer. If anything Benoit would've been a better fit for us with Smith's success in the ninth. God the closer label is ridiculously overrated. I wonder if we could've gotten Kennedy and Benoit for the same package

He's already almost at a career high in innings pitched. It'll be interesting to see how they play it down the stretch with his innings. The more I think about it, the more pissed I am that we got Street instead of a starter. Every time Richards pitches I'm scared to death that he's going to get injured

I would love for him to keep pitching how he has been. But he's having the best season of his career and I don't like the idea of investing so much in a reliever. But if he's the guy that puts us over the A's i'm all for it

Not sure how WAR works for pitchers, much less relievers, but Frieri gave up 22 runs in 31 innings with us. Street has given up 4 runs in 33 innings so far. Frieri's WAR with us was -.5. Street's WAR so far has been .5. That is a 1 game difference from Frieri at his worst to Street at his best. Street won't keep pitching the way he has been and he's not replacing Frieri, he's replacing Rasmus. By WAR standards he'll win us less than a game than what we have now