Looking Ahead

[Bluebeard]

The way I look at this offseason...

Something has to happen with Keibert Ruiz.

He’s a starting major league catcher with first tier potential...

But Will Smith is better...

Having both guys for one starting catcher role it not realistic.

We also have a young fella in the wings who can be up in 3-4 years by the name of Diego Cartaya. All indications are that this kid has every bit of the potential of Ruiz and Smith.

So the question is

1) Do we explore with moving Will Smith back to 3rd and handing the keys to Ruiz?

- OR -

2) Knowing that we have Cartaya in waiting, do we use Ruiz as a chip to improve elsewhere?

What I don’t think we can or should do is hold onto the kid. He’s too valuable to be doing nothing.

If a package around Ruiz would get it done, (deadhorse, I know) I’d definitely use him to swing a trade for Lindor, then I’d prioritize extending both Lindor and Seager long term.

No one wants to lose Cody, but if we’re being honest, of those three players, he’s least deserving of a Betts-esque level contract. The Dodgers still have a lot of talent on the farm to fill CF and LF.

We’d have RF, 3B, SS locked up, with 2B and C under TC for 5 and 6 years respectively.

Sign me up. I'll take door # 2.

[USCFOOTBALL]

Id rather trade Ruiz for another prospect, I wanna spend money on free agents not trades.

[Bluebeard]

I'm thinking priority # 1 should be pitching. Kershaw's been shaky for a couple of years now. He's only going to get more shaky. Who knows what we have in David Price. We need Blake Snell. We have the resources. A package of Ruiz, Gonsolin and Gray ought to get it done. We certainly don't want the Mets to get him. Might be hard getting back to the WS if we have to face DeGrom & Snell in a series. Don't want to face a Cole/Snell combo in the series either. Certainly don't want the Pads or Giants to get him. Snell is #1 priority for me.

I love JT but due to his age and the fact there's probably no DH in the NL this year, I think it's time to move on from him.

I like DJ LeMahiew a lot. I'd put him at 3rd and slot him in batting 3rd behind Mookie and Corey.

For me, I'd pass on Arenado.

[USCFOOTBALL]

I'm thinking priority # 1 should be pitching. Kershaw's been shaky for a couple of years now. He's only going to get more shaky. Who knows what we have in David Price. We need Blake Snell. We have the resources. A package of Ruiz, Gonsolin and Gray ought to get it done. We certainly don't want the Mets to get him. Might be hard getting back to the WS if we have to face DeGrom & Snell in a series. Don't want to face a Cole/Snell combo in the series either. Certainly don't want the Pads or Giants to get him. Snell is #1 priority for me.

I love JT but due to his age and the fact there's probably no DH in the NL this year, I think it's time to move on from him.

I like DJ LeMahiew a lot. I'd put him at 3rd and slot him in batting 3rd behind Mookie and Corey.

For me, I'd pass on Arenado.

Pitching, more specifically bullpen help would be great get two arms Hendriks and someone else i.e. Treinen. I think I'd let Turner go, (I think he's gonna get like 2y $50M which is too steep) and shuffle around several guys at SS and 3B, Beaty Lux, Rios, Taylor and Seager. Muncy might be able to play 3rd as well. If that doesn't work make a move for Arenado or Lindor at the deadline.

[ciaban2.0]

The way I look at this offseason...

Something has to happen with Keibert Ruiz.

He’s a starting major league catcher with first tier potential...

But Will Smith is better...

Having both guys for one starting catcher role it not realistic.

We also have a young fella in the wings who can be up in 3-4 years by the name of Diego Cartaya. All indications are that this kid has every bit of the potential of Ruiz and Smith.

So the question is

1) Do we explore with moving Will Smith back to 3rd and handing the keys to Ruiz?

- OR -

2) Knowing that we have Cartaya in waiting, do we use Ruiz as a chip to improve elsewhere?

What I don’t think we can or should do is hold onto the kid. He’s too valuable to be doing nothing.

If a package around Ruiz would get it done, (deadhorse, I know) I’d definitely use him to swing a trade for Lindor, then I’d prioritize extending both Lindor and Seager long term.

No one wants to lose Cody, but if we’re being honest, of those three players, he’s least deserving of a Betts-esque level contract. The Dodgers still have a lot of talent on the farm to fill CF and LF.

We’d have RF, 3B, SS locked up, with 2B and C under TC for 5 and 6 years respectively.

Cody is the one MOST deserving of a Mookie level extension, dude just put up a 9 win season in 2019.
He's the one most capable of replicating it, and he'll age the best, since his game is based on his enormous power and good defense which he can transfer to a corner, OR FIRST since when he was coming up in the minors he has widely considered the best defensive 1st basemen in a generation.

He's basically always going to be at least GOOD defensively for us somewhere. The dude put up a 1.7 rWAR in 1/3 of a season with a bellow average OPS+
So he was offensively below average and on pace to put up a season worth nearly 5 WAR.

[GibbyIsMyHero]

Cody is the one MOST deserving of a Mookie level extension, dude just put up a 9 win season in 2019.
He's the one most capable of replicating it, and he'll age the best, since his game is based on his enormous power and good defense which he can transfer to a corner, OR FIRST since when he was coming up in the minors he has widely considered the best defensive 1st basemen in a generation.

He's basically always going to be at least GOOD defensively for us somewhere. The dude put up a 1.7 rWAR in 1/3 of a season with a bellow average OPS+
So he was offensively below average and on pace to put up a season worth nearly 5 WAR.

Look man, I’m as big a Cody fan as the next guy - hell, I basically wrote a dissertation in this forum on the guy’s hitting ability before anyone expected that he’d amount to much of anything for us - but I don’t think you’ll find much agreement on this.

It’s not where you’ve been, it’s where you’re going. Bellinger has an MVP and a 9 WAR season. He is a fantastic defender and, yes, you can move him to a corner OF spot or 1B...

BUT...

Neither of those positions are vital and we’re already paying Mookie to be a GG defender in the more important corner OF spot. C and SS are the two most important defensive positions. There’s an argument for a tossup of CF, 3B, and 2B right behind them. There’s a reason weak defenders with big bats get stuck in LF and/or 1B; great defense is a plus, but bad defense won’t necessarily break you.

On a side note, you must realize that I view it with some hypocrisy that you to consistently rail against defensive metrics when it benefits an argument of yours, but then you use it to prop up Bellinger for the benefit of a different argument.

A left infield of Seager and Lindor would be defensively superb. If Bellinger isn’t being paid to play CF, then defensively, he’s just not as valuable a signing as those two would be.

Then there’s the question of health. Seager has had his struggles but, if he moves to 3rd, I have more confidence in his long term health than Bellinger’s. Belly is long and lanky and, while I love watching, his swing is too violent and bound to become a detriment to his health. Hell, the guy just dislocated his shoulder on a home run celebration.

And health plays into the long term projection of three respective hit tools as well. Bellinger clearly has superior power, but Seager and Lindor are simply better all-around hitters. Bellinger’s swing is predicated entirely by the torque on his back that’s generated with his upper body and - make no mistake - he WILL lose torque on his swing. It’s just a matter of time and that will inevitably sap his power exceptionally more so than the degradation Seager and Lindor will see. Seager, on the other hand, swings largely with his lower body which projects very well for his long term success.

Then you have to factor postseason play where Cody has a .631 career OPS and Seager just won NLCS and WS MVP awards. No one knows what the future holds, Bellinger may end up having the best career of the three and I’m not gonna cry if we extend him but, if it’s between the three, that’s not not the first place I’d put my $300M bet.

[ciaban2.0]

Look man, I’m as big a Cody fan as the next guy - hell, I basically wrote a dissertation in this forum on the guy’s hitting ability before anyone expected that he’d amount to much of anything for us - but I don’t think you’ll find much agreement on this.

It’s not where you’ve been, it’s where you’re going. Bellinger has an MVP and a 9 WAR season. He is a fantastic defender and, yes, you can move him to a corner OF spot or 1B...

BUT...

Neither of those positions are vital and we’re already paying Mookie to be a GG defender in the more important corner OF spot. C and SS are the two most important defensive positions. There’s an argument for a tossup of CF, 3B, and 2B right behind them. There’s a reason weak defenders with big bats get stuck in LF and/or 1B; great defense is a plus, but bad defense won’t necessarily break you.

On a side note, you must realize that I view it with some hypocrisy that you to consistently rail against defensive metrics when it benefits an argument of yours, but then you use it to prop up Bellinger for the benefit of a different argument.

A left infield of Seager and Lindor would be defensively superb. If Bellinger isn’t being paid to play CF, then defensively, he’s just not as valuable a signing as those two would be.

Then there’s the question of health. Seager has had his struggles but, if he moves to 3rd, I have more confidence in his long term health than Bellinger’s. Belly is long and lanky and, while I love watching, his swing is too violent and bound to become a detriment to his health. Hell, the guy just dislocated his shoulder on a home run celebration.

And health plays into the long term projection of three respective hit tools as well. Bellinger clearly has superior power, but Seager and Lindor are simply better all-around hitters. Bellinger’s swing is predicated entirely by the torque on his back that’s generated with his upper body and - make no mistake - he WILL lose torque on his swing. It’s just a matter of time and that will inevitably sap his power exceptionally more so than the degradation Seager and Lindor will see. Seager, on the other hand, swings largely with his lower body which projects very well for his long term success.

Then you have to factor postseason play where Cody has a .631 career OPS and Seager just won NLCS and WS MVP awards. No one knows what the future holds, Bellinger may end up having the best career of the three and I’m not gonna cry if we extend him but, if it’s between the three, that’s not not the first place I’d put my $300M bet.

If you're going to talk about Health, Seager has a much worse track record, and as far as the postseason goes, it's all a small sample size, Cody was horrible in the postseason until this year.

Centerfield is just as valuable up the middle position as SS and Catcher. And Bellinger is much more likely to stick for a long time there than Seager is at SS. Bellinger is 24 he's not going to be moving off Center for a while. If we gave him a Mookie-like contract when he hits free agency (12 years for $X) He'll start the contract at age 27, and he'll be 39 when it ends. I assume by the end of it he won't be very valuable anymore, but that's true about most long-term contracts. However, in Cody's case, he's likely to still be a good defender and positive contributor on that end, even in his decline phase, because of how good he is as a first baseman.

Seager on the other hand isn't a good defender NOW, he probably going to have to move off position EARLY in the contract.

It's not that I don't love Corey, I've been high on him forever, and I was distressed at the idea of trading him last year. But between the two Cody is the guy you keep.

It's also a matter of scarcity, think of it this way. If they let Corey walk next year, how hard would it be to replace him offensively and defensivly? Considering there are 4 other SS on the market NEXT year who are also insanely talented (Baez, Lindor, Story, Correa) replacing him wouldn't be to hard, and to be honest, he's probably the worst defensively of the 5 of them.
But who could you get to replace Cody? Like what other center fielder offers his level of Offense at the Center Field position? Mike Trout?

[GibbyIsMyHero]

If you're going to talk about Health, Seager has a much worse track record, and as far as the postseason goes, it's all a small sample size, Cody was horrible in the postseason until this year.

Centerfield is just as valuable up the middle position as SS and Catcher. And Bellinger is much more likely to stick for a long time there than Seager is at SS. Bellinger is 24 he's not going to be moving off Center for a while. If we gave him a Mookie-like contract when he hits free agency (12 years for $X) He'll start the contract at age 27, and he'll be 39 when it ends. I assume by the end of it he won't be very valuable anymore, but that's true about most long-term contracts. However, in Cody's case, he's likely to still be a good defender and positive contributor on that end, even in his decline phase, because of how good he is as a first baseman.

Seager on the other hand isn't a good defender NOW, he probably going to have to move off position EARLY in the contract.

It's not that I don't love Corey, I've been high on him forever, and I was distressed at the idea of trading him last year. But between the two Cody is the guy you keep.

It's also a matter of scarcity, think of it this way. If they let Corey walk next year, how hard would it be to replace him offensively and defensivly? Considering there are 4 other SS on the market NEXT year who are also insanely talented (Baez, Lindor, Story, Correa) replacing him wouldn't be to hard, and to be honest, he's probably the worst defensively of the 5 of them.
But who could you get to replace Cody? Like what other center fielder offers his level of Offense at the Center Field position? Mike Trout?

Just some quick rebuttals and I’m done because, as per usual, this is a silly argument...

1) if you think defense in CF is as important as defense at SS, then there’s no arguing with you. I’ve played every position on the diamond, mostly staying away from 1st and 3rd. C and SS are the most important defensive positions. CF defense is the most vital OF spot, but it’s still OF. A good outfielder accounts for just over 2 outs per game. There are plenty of games where individual OF-ers don’t even get an opportunity to make a play.

Don’t agree? Let’s position it like this - would you be more comfortable moving Mike Trout to SS or Lindor to CF? No way in hell is anyone taking the former.

2) So your suggestion is to sign Bellinger because OFers of his caliber are rare, but you could go grab any of Seager, Correa, Lindor, etc? ... BUT you’d have to pay them... and they’re going to make more money than Bellinger on the open market - you can count on that... because they play more vital positions. You may want to sell it this way, but great offensive SSs aren’t growing on trees. It just so happens that a couple of draft classes produced some really good ones in close proximity.

3) Seager is not a bad defender. Seager is actually a pretty damn solid defender and he’d be an excellent defensive 3B, which is where I play if he takes an extension.

4) “Small sample size” is such an overused, generic go-to. It can explain anomalies, but with regard to specifics occurrences, it assumes that people are not watching what’s happening. Bellinger’s .631 OPS has not been a matter of small sample size, it’s been a matter of an awful approach. Anyone who has watched his PAs knows what I mean. This was his best postseason in that regard, and it really wasn’t great outside of a few at-bats in key moments.

5) Why do you always act like you’re bringing up a point I didn’t make myself?

Again - I clearly stated that Seager has had a history with health.

I also stated that I’m more confident in Seager having better health than Belli moving forward.

Why? Because Seager is built like a brick shithouse and has an easy (even if violent) swing generated by his lower body. Bellinger’s swing looks beautiful, but there’s nothing easy about it and it’s going to sap his power some day, maybe a lot sooner than later.

Again, I won’t be mad if they extend Bellinger, they still have some time to prove it all out with him.

But if they skip on Seager and/or Lindor, and Bellinger breaks down... well, I’ll be sure to come back to this forum and say I told ya so...

In fact, I might dig up some old debates we have just for ***** and giggles

[ciaban2.0]

Just some quick rebuttals and I’m done because, as per usual, this is a silly argument...

1) if you think defense in CF is as important as defense at SS, then there’s no arguing with you. I’ve played every position on the diamond, mostly staying away from 1st and 3rd. C and SS are the most important defensive positions. CF defense is the most vital OF spot, but it’s still OF. A good outfielder accounts for just over 2 outs per game. There are plenty of games where individual OF-ers don’t even get an opportunity to make a play.

Don’t agree? Let’s position it like this - would you be more comfortable moving Mike Trout to SS or Lindor to CF? No way in hell is anyone taking the former.

2) So your suggestion is to sign Bellinger because OFers of his caliber are rare, but you could go grab any of Seager, Correa, Lindor, etc? ... BUT you’d have to pay them... and they’re going to make more money than Bellinger on the open market - you can count on that... because they play more vital positions. You may want to sell it this way, but great offensive SSs aren’t growing on trees. It just so happens that a couple of draft classes produced some really good ones in close proximity.

3) Seager is not a bad defender. Seager is actually a pretty damn solid defender and he’d be an excellent defensive 3B, which is where I play if he takes an extension.

4) “Small sample size” is such an overused, generic go-to. It can explain anomalies, but with regard to specifics occurrences, it assumes that people are not watching what’s happening. Bellinger’s .631 OPS has not been a matter of small sample size, it’s been a matter of an awful approach. Anyone who has watched his PAs knows what I mean. This was his best postseason in that regard, and it really wasn’t great outside of a few at-bats in key moments.

5) Why do you always act like you’re bringing up a point I didn’t make myself?

Again - I clearly stated that Seager has had a history with health.

I also stated that I’m more confident in Seager having better health than Belli moving forward.

Why? Because Seager is built like a brick shithouse and has an easy (even if violent) swing generated by his lower body. Bellinger’s swing looks beautiful, but there’s nothing easy about it and it’s going to sap his power some day, maybe a lot sooner than later.

Again, I won’t be mad if they extend Bellinger, they still have some time to prove it all out with him.

But if they skip on Seager and/or Lindor, and Bellinger breaks down... well, I’ll be sure to come back to this forum and say I told ya so...

In fact, I might dig up some old debates we have just for ***** and giggles

To be clear, I want to keep both of them.

1)We saw the difference between what a good center fielder and an average one looks like at the end of game 4 of the World Series. Bellinger doesn't **** that play up like Chris Taylor did.
2)
To the 2nd post, how can I count on those SS making more? The top 5 paid players in baseball are all OF and Gerrit Cole.

Trout, Mookie, Harper, Stanton, Cole.

No, Bellinger is going to get paid. Seager put up a 2.1 rWAR season in a year he had a 152 ops+
Bellinger had a 1.7 rWAR season in a year he had a 97 ops+ Bellinger is an amazing talent, baring serious injury, or a sudden collapse of ability, he's going to get paid a stupid amount of money.

3)
Cody really isn't that good defensively, he's passible because of how well the dodgers implement shifting and positioning, that's why Manny went from being a below-average defender at SS in his final year with the Orioles to a good defensive SS by the numbers in his half-season with the dodgers.

I'm fine with Corey moving to 3rd, that's where he's going to need to be long term. But he isn't a good SS.

4) No, SSS really ins't that over used, especially for the playoffs. Corey Seager was TERRIBLE in nearly every post season UNTIL this year. None of those previous years had any impact on this one though.
And Cody was good in more than one series. He had an OPS over 1.700 against the Padres, and an OPS of nearly .900 against the Braves.

5)
What makes you more confident that Seager will have better health moving forward considering he's had TJ and Shoulder surgery? OF tend to age better than infielders too.

Like I said I want them to extend both, which they should have the money to do. That said if I HAD to pick only one, it would be Cody. Because he's significantly harder to replace and generally more productive, even in down years.

The question to me isn't a matter of Cody vs Corey, it's a matter of Seager vs an alternative. And I think Lux makes that unnecessary.

The real question is what do we do at 2nd base long term?

In fact, I might dig up some old debates we have just for ***** and giggles

If you really want to, why don't you start with the one where you were insisting that Chris Taylor's .400 BABIP was TOTALLY sustainable.

[GibbyIsMyHero]

To be clear, I want to keep both of them.

1)We saw the difference between what a good center fielder and an average one looks like at the end of game 4 of the World Series. Bellinger doesn't **** that play up like Chris Taylor did.
2)
To the 2nd post, how can I count on those SS making more? The top 5 paid players in baseball are all OF and Gerrit Cole.

Trout, Mookie, Harper, Stanton, Cole.

No, Bellinger is going to get paid. Seager put up a 2.1 rWAR season in a year he had a 152 ops+
Bellinger had a 1.7 rWAR season in a year he had a 97 ops+ Bellinger is an amazing talent, baring serious injury, or a sudden collapse of ability, he's going to get paid a stupid amount of money.

3)
Cody really isn't that good defensively, he's passible because of how well the dodgers implement shifting and positioning, that's why Manny went from being a below-average defender at SS in his final year with the Orioles to a good defensive SS by the numbers in his half-season with the dodgers.

I'm fine with Corey moving to 3rd, that's where he's going to need to be long term. But he isn't a good SS.

4) No, SSS really ins't that over used, especially for the playoffs. Corey Seager was TERRIBLE in nearly every post season UNTIL this year. None of those previous years had any impact on this one though.
And Cody was good in more than one series. He had an OPS over 1.700 against the Padres, and an OPS of nearly .900 against the Braves.

5)
What makes you more confident that Seager will have better health moving forward considering he's had TJ and Shoulder surgery? OF tend to age better than infielders too.

Like I said I want them to extend both, which they should have the money to do. That said if I HAD to pick only one, it would be Cody. Because he's significantly harder to replace and generally more productive, even in down years.

The question to me isn't a matter of Cody vs Corey, it's a matter of Seager vs an alternative. And I think Lux makes that unnecessary.

The real question is what do we do at 2nd base long term?



If you really want to, why don't you start with the one where you were insisting that Chris Taylor's .400 BABIP was TOTALLY sustainable.

Dude, stop.

You said CT3’s BABIP was inflated and that he was going to suck when it inevitably dropped. You said he couldn’t possibly be as good at BABIP as Mike Trout.

My argument was never that Taylor’s .400 BABIP was sustainable. What I argued was that YOU don’t know what his ceiling is in that regard and that he absolutely could be one of the best in the league at BABIP because he hits the **** out of baseballs...

For the record...

Trout Career BABIP - .346
Chris Taylor Career BABIP - .346

Since 2017 (when Taylor came over and we had this debate)
Trout - .318 (73rd in baseball)
Chris Taylor - .350 (6th in baseball)

Thanks for bringing up another win of mine.

Wanna play again?

[GibbyIsMyHero]

CT3 BABIP debate starting on page 2

https://forums.prosportsdaily.com/sh...rs-Ideas/page3

Oh, there are some other great nuggets in here too...

*Ciaban arguing that Kike was likely to be the better hitter between him and CT3 because... BABIP
*Ciaban arguing that Bellinger should be platooned.


Note that I never said CT3 would sustain a .422 BABIP and was, in fact, pretty damn clear that I did not believe he would.

Here’s what I actually said in reaction to Ciaban - once again - trying to start a fight out of thin air...

Also note that I stated .350 BABIP was not out of the question for CT3 (which happens to be EXACTLY what he’s produced as a Dodger)

As for Chris Taylor, you seem to live and die by BABIP when you clearly don't fully understand it.

Is Chris Taylor likely to sustain a .422 BABIP? No. But that doesn't mean he's going to regress to league average either. Some players carry higher BABIPs - there are 12 players between 2010 and 2017 that have career BABIPs of more than .350, more than 30 above .330. Do you know why that happens?

Chris Taylor seems to have a skillset that plays well by that stat, so even if he is in for some regression there, that doesn't mean he's suddenly bound to be a scrub. You prefer Kiké - duly noted. But Taylor is swinging a hot bat and I'd be using it as much as possible.

As for platooning Bellinger... really? Who would you sit him against? He's hitting Lefties better than righties. So what if he's striking out at over 30%? He's doing it against both sides, why is that an indication that he needs to be platooned? Let him get his feet settled and make some adjustments.

How could you possibly think you won this?

[ciaban2.0]

CT3 BABIP debate starting on page 2

https://forums.prosportsdaily.com/sh...rs-Ideas/page3

Oh, there are some other great nuggets in here too...

*Ciaban arguing that Kike was likely to be the better hitter between him and CT3 because... BABIP
*Ciaban arguing that Bellinger should be platooned.


Note that I never said CT3 would sustain a .422 BABIP and was, in fact, pretty damn clear that I did not believe he would.

Here’s what I actually said in reaction to Ciaban - once again - trying to start a fight out of thin air...

Also note that I stated .350 BABIP was not out of the question for CT3 (which happens to be EXACTLY what he’s produced as a Dodger)



How could you possibly think you won this?

Bellinger was striking out in over 1/3 of his AB's he made neccasary changes, which isn't something we as fans can know. I stand by my comments that when a player is striking out in more than 30% of their at bats you need to start limiting them.
Which is why I brought up this point.

Look I'm not saying that Bellinger is doomed, Kris Bryant had a 30% K-rate his rookie year, then dropped it to 22% last year, and to 20% this year. However, if Bellinger can't drop that K-rate he's going to struggle with slumps like Pederson dose. It's hard to strike out that much and sustain success.

Actually I said, that .350 was his best case scenario.

You, said that it wasn't and he could do better than that. By the way for context, this was all based on Chris Taylor having 160 AB's that season. The suggestion you were making that he could maintain a BABIP higher than .350 which is top of the game, was predicated on 160 AB's. You saw enough in 160 AB's to say...YEAH THIS GUY CAN BE THE BEST EVER AT THE LUCK SKILL.

Right now he's hitting .316/.409/.541 with a .420 BABIP, lets say he is a player that can sustain a .350 BABIP, what will his numbers look like when his BABIP falls 70 POINTS and that's the best case scenario. What will it look like if it falls 90 points to .330 which is still far above league average.

That's not the "best case scenario". Chris Taylor could legitimately prove to be one of the better performers in the league regarding BABIP.

BTW we got to see what Chris Taylor who at the time was K'ing over 30% would look like if his BABIP dropped from a super human .420 to a mear GREAT .345 while maintaining his K%
It looked like the following year.

.345 BABIP 29% K rate .254/.331/.444 113 wRC+ he went from being this MVP candidate to a good hitter who can't start regularly, the following year he was even worse.

The reason he had his best season this year, despite still not maintaining a .420 BABIP is that he did what I said he needed to do, he got his strike out's under control, he still K's a lot but 25% is manageable. And he matched that with his career-best BB% but everything else he did this season was pretty similar to what he had done the 2 previous years when he was basically a super-sub non-starter.

[ciaban2.0]

Also, loved the the points you made that [QUOTE]"No hitter in the league is afraid of him with two strikes because they know he's going to nibble and fight for the corners. " [QUOTE]

This for a guy who averaged over 9k's a game that year and basically every other year, and this year led the league IN WHIP to go along with his 10.6 k/9 and his 2nd place finish in CY Young voting. Where he averaged over 6 innings per start.

[ciaban2.0]

But hey I'm willing to admit when I'm wrong too, you totally schooled me when it came to the need to trade for Even Longoria. If only the front office had listened to you and swooped him up before the giants could.

[GibbyIsMyHero]

Ok... let’s do this one item at a time because you love to throw out nonsense and hope it gets lost in the shuffle.

This all started because you (as always without an original thought) jumped on my post to say - among other things that we will get to - Kiké’s bat was just as deserving to be in the lineup as Taylor’s was.

Everything that followed regarding CT3’s BABIP, which we will also get to, was to support that argument

True or not?

If you’re willing to admit when you’re wrong, who’s bat has proven better with the benefit of hindsight?