Two-Gun Pete

Jake Burger says "hello," from the comfort of his couch, while shoveling Domino's pizza down his piehole.

Yeah, the only thing I'd "accept" out of this trade are KW's & RH's resignations. FFS, that 2016 team was nowhere near talented enough to compete, had the dumbest/weakest manager in the bigs, and had just finished a craptacular May: https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CHW/2016-schedule-scores.shtml The FANS knew that that team didn't have a snowball's chance in hell, and were not turning up to watch the games. The rebuild was gonna happen, whether they stupidly made that trade or not. In fact, most of us were screaming for it for a few years prior to 2016. The fact that those mouthbreathing morons in the FO finally fucking figured it out [YEARS after most of us did] was bad enough. The fact that those mouthbreathing morons fucking gave away a top player simply means they're dumber than a pile of blind, drunk monkeys. Others may want to fall all over themselves to excuse these imbeciles' fuck-ups, but I will NEVER "accept" moronic fucktitude on the part of people who should fucking know better. [Again, if we the fans KNEW that adding Shields to a shitty team with a shitty roster and a weak, incompetent manager was a moronic idea, those fuck-heads who get paid to run a team for a living should have known, too.] YMMV.

I think this is a pure "handedness" play by Renteria. It looks like he's loading up on LHH tonight. And, I think im agnostic on the matter of Tilson v. Cordell for tonight; Tilson's best splits are v. RHP on the road, but Cordell's better splits are also v. RHP. I suppose an argument could be made for either player for tonight. Honestly, IF Renteia was gonna sit McCann, why not also sit Leury, given his splits v RHP?

Yes, and no other teams were really competing for the signatures of Abreu, Dunn, Melky, or Robertson. That's the point: In a competitive FA marketplace this FO always wusses out, or finds an excuse, or in some other way utterly fails to bring the targeted player here. This offseason will likely be much more competitive than last offseason. History has shown this FO's cowardice, incompetence, and mental weakness as being barriers to them landing anything of note. Signing the piles of trash that no one wants, like Jon Jay? This FO is all over them like stink on shit. But for legit GOOD players ACTUALLY signing here? In a competitive FA market? [In other words, not "we made a competitive offer, but we were too mentally weak to convince JR to open the checkbook."] Good luck with that pipe dream.

I think you greatly underestimate the effect of a TRULY competitive FA market. All of the players you cited will have more than one or two teams vying for their signature. In order to sign any of the top player available in FA this offseason, one or more of the teams trying to sign them will have to offer more money, more years, or both. This FURTHER reinforces the imbecility of not signing Machado or Harper in a comparatively non-competitive offseason for top FAs this past winter. Moreover, JR's reluctance to sign pitchers to longer term deals will likely keep them out of the, say Bumgarner, or other top SP sweepstakes. On balance I agree with those who [IMO] rightly state that the money will be spent, but it will be spent on extensions, NOT FA additions. I hope I'm wrong, but I see no evidence to the contrary.

I struggle to come up with a better use of Free Agent money than a 26 year old stud. IMO, every other FA these idiots pursue will be either lesser players, older players, or both. With that in mind, I struggle to come up with a scenario where this org ends up in a better spot spending the money on lesser, and/or older players. Maybe they still stupidly think it's 2004/2005, with the old CBA, where "spreading the money around" could work. Alas, it's no longer 2005. And "spreading the money around" simply doesn't and simply hasn't worked in today's baseball industry. Opposing front offices are better and smarter than ever before. And still, these imbeciles are trying to execute as if the world and the league hasn't changed since then.

Yes, I get that. But honestly, if you're afraid of/don't like the home/away splits, fine. But, in what galaxy is a .302 OBP vs. RHP a good idea for a leadoff man? [i.e. Leury's line for today: 0-3, w/a K] Just based on handedness, Leury is an excellent choice v. LHP, and a moronic one v. RHP, full stop.

I gotta disagree with you, and I have to wonder if Ricky can read, or if anyone in this org understands numbers. Now, SSS and all that, AND, unless we're missing something, check out Leury's splits so far this year: Leury's Splits V. RHP: .302 OBP V. LHP: .404 OBP! Away: .267 OBP Home: .383 OBP! Now, perhaps there's more to THIS particular matchup today, but for fuck's sake, can someone, ANYONE explain why Leury should leadoff today, given the numbers above? IN today's scenario: On the road, vs RHP, his OBP is a sparkling .258, his wRC+ is 40. Honestly, what in the actual FUCK?

I remember thinking the same thing about Eloy, but accepting the "service time" angle. Now, as we watch the comedy of him trying to play LF while hurting himself, and shuffling at the plate, I wonder if he couldn't have done with more time in AAA. With Robert, his health had been an issue, and I don't know how he is as a defender. But on this org, "learning at the big league level" oftentimes seems to lead to slower and incomplete development. We'll simply have to see with Robert.

Wait, people still use ERA to judge a reliever's ability? In 2019? Are we also still using RBI to judge hitters? Or errors to judge fielders?

Probably. But, if this kid says he can play some 3rd, that adds so much value. Both him individually, and to the 25 man, whenever he arrives. To me, it's at least worth exploring.

Initially, I was a bit 'meh' about a RH, smallish-for-position, 1B. But, I've warned on the idea, given the reports on his bat. I would, however, prefer if he could learn how to play at a cromulent level @ another position, be it 3rd or a corner OF. Given the cavalcade of future 1B/DH in the system & in the 25 man, it would be a big help if he could play an additional position. Hell, if Bryant can play off his preferred 3B, why can't this org build versatility into the roster as well? If teaching this kid an additional position means him coming up next June vs him coming up sooner as a 1B ONLY, I'll gladly take the former.

For one, if Keuchel signs a one year deal, it won't be for a team with a -50 run differential that he'd be expected to save singlehandedly. So, they'd likely have to overpay, most likely with years. Especially with THAT agent. Signing Keuchel to HOPE that he'd miracle this team to the WC is throwing good money away, Yonder Alonzo -style.

So what happened this past offseason? I'm genuinely curious as to your spin on them shitting their pants on the opportunity to sign a rare pair of star players that were available IN THEIR PRIMES. [In other words, for the purpose of this exercise, you don't get to conflate Harper/Machado with stoopid overpays for geezing geezers like Pujols.] Thanks.

The more I think about this idea, the more I hate it. In the Wild Card Standings, the SOX are behind Cleveland, Oakland, Boston, Texas, and Tampa Bay. Does anyone really think THIS roster, with THIS pitching staff, and THAT manager can overtake 4 of the aforementioned teams? Does anyone think that THIS team is better than any 4 of those teams? It would be one thing if: The SOX were already IN the Wildcard, and were trying to supplement an already strong roster, and The SOX already added Machado or Harper, and had extra ammo [i.e. Madrigal] to further supplement this team, and Kopech/Rodon were healthy & productive/reliable, thus necessitating ONLY one more SP to make 4 "reliable ones," plus an innings-eater, and There was more MLB-ready depth available in Charlotte, in case of injury/underperformance. But, isn't adding Keuchel, and HOPING he quickly shakes off the cobwebs/becomes a 2nd reliable starter for this club more like the stooopid James Shields trade? On top of it, even if Keuchel comes here, we're still HOPING for 4 of the 5 teams ahead of us to stumble. Oh, and we'd be HOPING that Giolito continues to pitch well, and we'd be HOPING that no more major injuries occur [due to a lack of MLB-ready depth], and we'd be HOPING that Jimenez breaks out, and we'd be HOPING that the AAAA types and McCann continue to overperform, and we'd be HOPING that Renteria's moronic managing doesn't become an impediment to this team. Did I miss any thing? Oh yeah: "Hope is NOT a plan." What's more, I believe the SOX have had the easiest schedule hereto fore, which may explain any over-achievement so far. June's schedule looks like it'll be a killer, with or without Keuchel. Again, if this team were ALREADY IN wildcard position, with a competent manager, and with depth from which to trade, and a more-reliable starting rotation already in place, and MLB-ready depth in Charlotte, I might be on board with such a move. But, since this is the dumbest front office in all of professional sports, I fully expect those imbeciles to overpay for Keuchel, and then he immediately gets hurt.

Well, your source compares a sabermetrically "optimal" lineup to a "typical" lineup. As I read that, an "optimal" lineup, in the '99th percentile' of lineups vs a '50th percentile lineup.' How far afield are rickys lineups from a theoretical "typical lineup," one that would fall smack-dab in the middle of optimization? I'd argue that Rickys lineup choices are inferior to a typical one; therefore he likely costs the team much more than the proposed 5-15 runs. Delmonico batting 2nd? Alonzo batting 4th? Hell, before Anderson was scratched, I think he planned to bat Tilson ahead of him the other day. (Likely due to his slavish adherence to l-r-l-r sequencing.) In Rickys case, his lineups matter much more than the average manager's lineups do, IMO.

Cool. There's a proclivity of "than/then," "their/there/they're," and other confused words here. That said, if you're suggesting that they should have traded Sale/Eaton/Quintana, then go right back to doing what they were trying to do from 2012 - 2016, I disagree. I think it was right to sell assets for future assets, but that every last turd in the front office should have been fired the moment the Shields trade went down. [And therefore, better decisions would have been made in terms of the "Tear-Down" phase, the "Asset Agglomeration" phase, and now, the "Youngster Development/FA Supplementation" phase of the rebuild.] I think that better/smarter decision-makers would have gotten this rebuild a lot closer to fruition than these ass-clowns have done so far. I also think that going right back to gap-filling would have been the wrong thing to do, at least with the extant FO. YMMV.

I agree that this should put an end to mouthbreathing morons that think that this SHITTY roster, with this SHITTY coaching staff, and THOSE morons in the front office has a snowball's chance in hell of competing this or next year. But, this kinda was a AAA squad out there today: Tilson and Cordell starting in the OF? Rondon and Sanchez the middle IF pair? Alonzo, not only in the 25 man roster, but starting and hitting 4th? Zavala rushed up, because they stupidly protected some other scrub instead of Smith? Covey as SP? Renteria as manager? By my count, that's 6 position players that probably wouldn't start for ANY decent team, an SP that's probably a long reliever on a decent team, and a manager that shouldn't be a manager in MLB, and possibly, not even in MiLB. All I can think is, "Godspeed, Hostetler. Do better than you've done hereto fore."

Not trying to be a jerk, but I don't understand this post. Do you mean that they would have been better off trading Sale/Eaton/Quintana "instead of" [READ: THAN] getting right back..... OR Did you mean that they would have been better off trading Sale/Eaton/Quintana and thereafter [READ: the sequential "THEN"], getting right back to filling in the gaps... Thanks. And Modelo thanks Two-Gun Pete. [Announcer Voice] Modelo: Proud Sponsor of Two-Gun Pete. [/Announcer Voice]

We said the same thing about the Blackhawks not too long ago. Keep the faith, my friend. Well, for the parts of the job that ARE on public display, Renteria sucks at them. Think lineup construction: Any one of us can Google "how to properly set a lineup," and decades of R & D, with mountains of data to back it up, can be had. Instead, it seems like Renteria stupidly prioritizes L-R-L-R in one of the more important parts of the lineup. Or bunting. The maths are easily available to know when to bunt (I.e. the odd speedster trying for a base hit, or Alonzo trying to break the shift against him), and when to NOT bunt. (I.e. ~90% of all the other cases where Ricky calls the bunt.) An optimist could say that these issues are easily fixable. A SOX fan will look at years of stupidity at all levels of this org, and groan.

This. Anyone who says Renteria is probably either a milennial, or simply wasn't paying attention. And, this. When Ventura was hired, that was the 1st moment I got into the mindset of "every fucking clown in the front office needs to be fired." I still havent wavered from that viewpoint all these years later. When a GOOD organization, needs to hire too talent, the interview teaches the org about themselves as much as it does about the interviewee. Having a thorough and competitive process is essential in a competitive industry. Otherwise, you end up with incompetence, ignorance, and failure among your decision-makers. The fact that this org hasn't had a competitive process for ANY of the major hirees (manager, scouting director, director of player development , etc...) is a big fucking problem. Its CENTRAL to why this org never seems to progress, when other orgs seem to make leaps forward. It's a massive part of why this team has been among the suckiest sucks that have ever sucked over the past decade or so. Again, I just throw this non-competitive process onto the mountain of reasons why every last member of the front office needs to be fired. Seriously, just blow it up, & start over. This fandom deserves better.

Who cares? In the time it took for us to type these posts, he probably already K"ed again. Wasn't he a pitcher in HS? Maybe he should try that, because he's never going to amount to anything as a hitter.

Doesn't Moncada generally start a season hot, before his bat goes to sleep for a few months, and then numbers-padding in Sept/Oct? At least, that's how remember him hitting hereto fore in his career.

My favorite part about this thread is that the header has a question mark in it, but then the title ends with an exclaimation point. Is this a question poll? Or Is this a question poll! Carry on...

Ok, I'm game: Exactly WHO should spend money on this off-season? More to the point, who makes more sense than Machado or Harper? I'll hang up, & listen for my answer.