poppysox

So who is the talent evaluator who makes the final call on who we acquire? I know in the case of Machado/Harper that JR is the final call. Everyone agrees that both players have pluses. The disagreement comes in when we discuss how high to go in salary negotiation. Does RH get a scouting report on Alonzo and say we'll give him 9 mill and an option or is Kenny & JR in on it. How about when it's only 4 mil for Santana. Someone must be the talent evaluator and that person isn't very good sometimes. Neither RH or JR are baseball skills evaluators. Just like most of us... they watch lots of games and have their opinions. Someone is being paid to be that baseball evaluating professional. If it's Kenny I would like to know. Someone has to have looked at Nova, Santana and Alonzo and decided we were getting good value for the money. If what they are really doing is group think then the group needs to be held accountable.

I wonder how JR feels about our talent evaluation team? We do make our fair share of evaluation mistakes. In no way do I think Jay, Alonzo or McCann are big mistakes. Hahn brought them here as veteran influence on a young team. By the end of the year they will probably all perform to historic levels. Nova and Santana are unwatchable. You could bring up anybody to replace them without losing one extra game. If I were JR...7 mil for Nova or 4 mil for Santana would have me very unhappy.

I like the batting order tonight.

To answer the original question...sure lets try it... anything is better than beating you head against the wall every 5th day. I've said it before but I've never seen a really good pitcher work slow and I can't remember a bad pitcher who works fast. Don't overthink it....just throw the ball where the catcher tells you to.

This is the only offseason move I just hate. James Shields could have been half the money and I would have only hated it half as much.

Tilson is a younger and cheaper Jon Jay.

Part of being a fan is drinking the Kool-Aid.

Hard to break a 60 year habit.

We're fans. We take the good with the bad. Doesn't mean we have to like the bad.

I hope we don't see this lineup again. Some teams believe in stacking the best hitters this way but it leads to solo Home Runs and multiple innings of nothing.

Nova at 9 million is the one that I choke on.

Unwatchable! I usually watch every inning. Tonight I was surfing with the best of them.

A very reasonable attempt to save your sanity.

Yes he did. He also does it very slowly.

Agreed

Also, Robert and Madrigal in the lineup.

I would love to see him use a big barrel Nellie Fox type bat and choke-up. A little more bat control and a lot more contact. Can't hurt to try.

The average golfer goes to the pro...moves his grip a little...changes his stance...he hits the ball a little better. With a very coordinated athlete and full time coaching you would think anyone would improve a little bit. He can leg out 50 hits a year the average guy can't. At the end of the day...what are the coaches trying to do? If as some suggest they've given up he doesn't belong on the team. I guess that means management hasn't given up.

This guy really has great natural gifts of speed, strength and quick reactions. Why can't someone coach him into becoming a competent hitter. I fear the moment we cut him loose the next team will turn him into a star. Most guys just don't have his physical gifts so I just hate that coaching can't find that key to unlock all that raw talent. I understand that lots of guys have failed at hitting that object moving at 95 mph but not many of them have Engel's raw talents. I keep hoping he pulls a Moncada and one day shows up with it all sinking in.

Cordell, McCann & Banuelos have all been pleasant developments. Finding a few unexpected assets is a big help to any rebuild.

When what you are doing doesn't work... try something else.

I wish they could talk him into picking up the pace. Extra time to think does not help this guy. Something of a head case in my opinion. Did fine here with no pressure.

Perfect place for Carson. Two innings if he gets lucky.

This game will help get the monkey off the back of a few players who have been putting pressure on themselves. Abreu in particular struggles when he is trying to do to much.

Cordell making us wonder why he wasn't in the opening day lineup.