BTH

And Fulmer has shown a willingness to take the ball even with limited rest.

well, Eppler could've kept Bailey and Ecker by offering them the promotions they were getting in other orgs, but he decided to stick with Callaway/Wise as pitching coach and Reed as hitting coach. Though, yes, Arte's lack of investment in PD is a factor.

he should be up in the majors, with one of Fulmer/Suarez being DFAd. The team shouldn't be carrying 2 long relievers.

The way you phrased it below is better, but my point still stands that it's not that common. Common sense tells you the player isn't giving you that contract stipulation unless there is some reason to warrant the clause.

You say it’s fairly common, but then go on to cite a nearly 15 year old contract as the example. I don’t think it’s that common, and the inclusion of the option is a pretty good indicator they knew his health wasn’t 100%.

Placencia starting in Single-A is weird, and I still don’t know why he was demoted. That can’t be a good sign for his standing in the org.

Yeah, but the credit for that goes to Eppler’s player development staff. Dipoto was out the door by the time those guys made legitimate changes. One of the frustrating parts of Eppler’s tenure was he identified good coaches, but couldn’t keep them. Andrew Bailey and Donnie Ecker are the most prominent.

If a middle infielder got injured, what would be the plan? Would they just play Drury or would they move Rendon to 2B with Sanó at 3B?

I’m not. If they want to save some money for a HS pitcher later, as you suggested, then do it with the 2nd round and comp picks. IMO, there’s a clear cut off in talent after 8-10. So lock in one of those top talents, then you can start playing around with your bonus pool.

Using Estévez there was the right call. He was already getting ready anyway, he hadn’t pitched in a few days, and the other options (Strickland, Cisnero) aren’t the most trustworthy. If they were in a similar situation tonight, maybe you don’t use him because then he’d be unavailable tomorrow. But you use him then.

Would I rather see a run on the board or runners at 2B/3B and 0 outs than a runner at 1B? No.

I’m sure the MLBPA would love that. /s

I wonder how that compares to the league average in those situations. EDIT: I tried to search, but am unsure what specific criteria were used to look at these situations. I looked up Trout's stats in the 8th/9th/extras where the tying or winning run was either on-base or Trout himself. My search came up with 399 such PAs. In those situations, he has an .896 OPS. Since 2008, the league average OPS in those situations is .690.

Good stuff from VinRBI to compile all that, though I’m not sure I want to watch 24 mins of video presumably filled with plenty of frustration.

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/statcast_search?hfPT=&hfAB=&hfGT=R|&hfPR=&hfZ=&hfStadium=&hfBBL=&hfNewZones=&hfPull=&hfC=&hfSea=2024|2023|2022|2021|2020|2019|2018|2017|2016|2015|2014|2013|2012|2011|2010|2009|2008|&hfSit=&player_type=batter&hfOuts=&hfOpponent=&pitcher_throws=&batter_stands=&hfSA=&game_date_gt=&game_date_lt=&hfMo=&hfTeam=&home_road=&hfRO=5|&position=&hfInfield=&hfOutfield=&hfInn=&hfBBT=&batters_lookup[]=545361&hfFlag=&metric_1=&group_by=name-year&min_pitches=0&min_results=0&min_pas=0&sort_col=pitches&player_event_sort=api_p_release_speed&sort_order=desc&chk_stats_pa=on&chk_stats_ba=on&chk_stats_obp=on&chk_stats_slg=on&chk_stats_woba=on#results

I don’t necessarily believe this, but I’m just gonna throw it out there and see what other people think... Do Canning and Sandoval have mentality problems on the mound? And if so, might that have to do with where they grew up? I don’t think it’s unreasonable to suggest people in OC have different personalities than, say, people from New York or Boston. Whenever these two pitch, there doesn’t seem to be a bulldog, fight through it mentality that other pitchers have. Sandoval leading MLB in unearned runs last year suggests there’s something there. Is there something here?

I'm gonna read through everything later, but a quick question based upon first glance: why is 45+ FV behind 45 FV and 40+ FV behind 40 FV?

I think it's the opposite: Washington is under no orders from the front office. So, as is said below, Washington is playing the "vets" until/unless the youngsters earn his trust.

considering Baltimore has claimed Soto twice now, it makes you wonder if/what they see in him that they can unlock.

noteworthy for the people who are mad about Adell not starting.

Yeah, this is the problem And the smart execs know that this is a tough job to take with the ownership in place.

Yeah, Tony Reagins is really thriving as *checks notes* Chief Baseball Development Officer for MLB. And Billy Eppler is *checks notes* suspended by MLB.

He was an above average hitter in A ball at 18 years old. Most 18 year olds were in High School, the DSL, or ACL.

Yeah, it seems like there’s a lot more interesting young, international prospects now especially in IE.

Even with low expectations, there’s still a bar that needs to be met. And if he fails to meet that, he’ll get canned.