Reveille1984

That's why I said "independent of that" regarding our current lineup. Stale is stale. Sacrifice bunts are a waste of an out, so yes we need to be doing them basically never with a team that can barely hit or get on base as it is. I said nothing about stolen bases, but we're a slow, old team so I'm not sure why we would be stealing more often. Who's going to steal more - Pujols, Cron, Freese, Calhoun, Navarro, Joyce, Iannetta? And the few guys that are fast can't get on base enough for it to matter. This also ties into hit and runs. If you have a slow team and a lineup full of mediocre hitters that have mediocre discipline and don't walk, pitcher's aren't going to challenge them enough in the zone to make a hit and run successful. You're basically setting up for a guy to flail at a pitch out of the zone and a guy to get thrown out by ten feet at second. None of those things create runs, and as executives and front offices learn more about sabermetrics it is becoming more and more common knowledge. Obviously every team considers matchups, but it is a religion to Sosh. I mean christ, how long did it take him to finally hit Calhoun against lefties? Someone probably had to physically sit him down with a laptop and set his browser to the "splits" section on mlb.com. It is my opinion that we need a fresh and updated perspective, especially when the current one is so delineated from the front office that it is making news headlines. It is also my opinion that managers, especially in the AL, don't really affect the outcome of games all that much. But that doesn't mean we can't align our management and try to edge out more advantages where we can. If others don't agree that is fine.

Our playstyle is as stale as a decade old loaf of bread. The bunting, runnyball, shitty bullpen management, hit and runs, matchup obsessions, etc. have been old since 2009 and they're just as played out now. Sure our lineup is mediocre, but our philosophy under Sosh is mediocre independent of that.

Probably a dumb question, but even if you get "banned for life" what is really stopping you from going to more games? Do they have a "Wanted" poster like the old west days so that staff can recognize him?

I don't think Cleveland would even make that trade honestly. Alcantra has been terrible this year, and Delgado is a super young project piece. Cron is probably destined to 4A purgatory or he figures it out and becomes an average DH. You don't really see 5-6 for 1 trades anymore because sellers are in the minority since the new playoff format, and teams either want high end prospects or at least a few guys that are near MLB ready. The package would probably start at Newcomb+Heaney.

Grichuk is being propped up by a crazy high BABIP and also sucks at getting on base. Plus we need a LHB if we can help it.

A lot of teams are depending on a fourth starter at some point in the playoffs. I mean sure, guys like Richards and Shoe are capable of dominating as we saw last year. But given what we've seen this year over nearly half a season I would be hard pressed to count on that happening. Even if we make the playoffs we'd likely have Weave and C.J. in the rotation no matter what unless something crazy happens. Scioscia isn't really a "hot hand" type of manager; he's normally gonna go with the vets in big situations. I don't see him having the balls to sit Weaver in a playoff series, even if other young guys end the season on a run and Jered continues to be less than mediocre. I applaud you for being an optimist, I wish I had the ability to sometimes just shut off my brain and enjoy the team and hope for the best instead of being critical all the time. I just think we need a change organizationally to move forward and that the routine is getting stale.

The Rays have a guy named Chris Archer who is in the AL MVP discussion right now and the best team ERA in the AL by a huge margin. Unless Richards decides to start emulating last year and Weaver/Shoe pull their head out, we don't really have the type of lock down pitching I would rely on to carry a terrible offense.

A reason to watch the game, hooray!

McKinney is a nice prospect, 1st round pick in 2013. Profiles kind of like Calhoun in the minors but with less pop (only 20 years old though). Don't know anything about his arm/defense. Zagunis is pretty much the same deal but with more speed. Hasn't played above A-ball. Advanced eye at the plate (.442 OBP), 10-15 HR power and decent speed (15-20 SB potential). Both of these guys are probably at least two years away though, so if we're looking to find someone that can make an impact soon it definitely won't be with this package.

Richards isn't even close to enough For Bryant. It would probably start at something like Richards+Newcomb and go from there.

Baez is still super young obviously, but he has bust written all over him IMO. In a quarter season cup of coffee last year, he had the lowest contact rate (59%) in the league with a minimum 150 PA's and a 41.5% K rate! I mean, that is just abysmal even for a rookie. He doesn't have the profile or the plate discipline to make that work at the major league level and become the next Joc Pederson or Adam Dunn. That on top of the fact that he fractured his finger a couple weeks ago makes it even less likely.

If he would have hit .400 with 20 HR we might be in first place, thanks a lot Albert.

Those damn French testosterone boosters must be untraceable!

Fire/Passion/Heart/Etc. doesn't equal skill, contrary to popular message board belief. We just have a lot of mediocre players in our lineup. As VHF already stated, teams aren't trading their pieces away with 100 games to go. In this new double wild card era, everyone thinks they're a contender and trades are becoming less and less common. Its not like we're one piece away from making some major noise in our lineup, and making a desperate trade in mid-June just to "do something!" is a pretty dumb idea.

Johnny out of tomorrow's lineup with a case of the old bruised vag.

Anyone know what he's changed exactly about his approach? Is he still switch hitting?

Probably more likely that he enjoys his paid time off and takes a new head coaching gig next year. We aren't going to fire any of our coaches at this point in the season anyways.

They are lefty heavy, I just don't think they're going to depend on Hamilton for anything (as they shouldn't). Teams don't tend move their best offensive players when they're contending.

They aren't going to try and force a spot for Hamilton by removing Moreland from their lineup, he's been one of their best players this year and is one of the reasons why they're doing so unexpectedly well. These situations tend to work themselves out naturally over the course of a season anyways. What happens when they trade Moreland and Josh runs into a wall again or makes a bonehead baserunning play? This on top of the fact that we're a division rival makes the possibility essentially zero.

Being pessimistic about a guy who has shown nothing in years before now doesn't make you a "failo", it makes you a realist. I'll be happier than anyone if Cowart has actually made some monumental breakthrough this season and becomes even a league average MLB third baseman. But god forbid that some of us want to see an actual full season of improvement in the minors before having faith in this kid again. If he proves us wrong, all the better.

Cowart hit .240 in AA and has 20 at bats in AAA. I wouldn't say he's "suddenly blossoming" yet.

He's hitting .240 in AA, not like he's tearing up the competition even if he's been hot lately. A guy like him would get challenged in the zone at the major league level until he proves otherwise, and if he can't make you pay with the bat often enough to matter he definitely isn't going to be walking as much. And he's started 6 games in LF since 2013, and not once this year. I know we're all desperate for a LF option, but Johnson isn't going to be the answer.

To be fair it is pretty tough to move a corpse all by yourself

Seems kind of weird, but whatever. Maybe its a last ditch effort to see if whatever he's been doing to improve in A+ ball can transfer over to a different environment. Kind of odd to skip AA alltogether though. I think its a bit late to worry about killing his confidence, he's sucked for pretty much three years straight and has already been demoted.