2023 Game Thread

[fish16]

id be ok with DLC and Sanchez going today. DLC is so thoroughly mediocre it hurts. For someone who supposedly hits the ball so hard, he doesnt slug a ton, and he's not getting better. His slugging has been between .427 and .432 all 3 years he's been here. He is who he is, a guy who has terrible plate discipline, terrible fielder, and mediocre hitter who will always be around .740-.760 OPS.

And the numbers are consistently not reflective of who he is for most of the year. Just like last year when he had a single hot streak, he had a single good month of may this year where he hit .337 with a .939 OPS. Every other month has been thoroughly mediocre. April he his .261 with a .692 OPS. June he hit .255 with a .664 OPS, and July he hit .215 with a .690 OPS. And he's hitting in the heart of the lineup every fucking night.

He's not the biggest problem, but he is definitely not a solution for anything. He should not be a full time starter. Unfortunately we have 4-5 guys in the lineup every night who shouldnt be starters either.

[Nick]

Today will have to do, but this was early June 2023 and who are we blaming, Bruce or Kim, and if it is both what %

The problem is we don't know what restrictions Bruce is putting on Kim, but either way, lack of activity today looks bad for Kim and could be the death knell to her stint as GM.

[lou]

i dont blame them for not making moves until today because teams always wait until the deadline. Maybe they could have made a minor move, but who is the name that was moved prior to the last week that would have made a difference for us? If they dont make a move today though, that is a fireable offense. They have 8.5 hours.

Not the right analysis for me - you blow some away in June as you are that far behind everyone else buy the extra 6-8 weeks and make it worth it

[lou]

I agree - if the other team isn't willing to trade yet, Kim can only do so much.

The real fault is not doing enough in the offseason, when there was clearly many holes....and worse, the same holes they had last year.

I agree the offseason was the main fault - and that's Bruce payroll - but it wasn't rocket science to see the writing on the wall the team needed offense and they should have been desperate 2 months ago knowing what's coming in August. They still haven't gotten to the rough schedule patch yet.

[lou]

The problem is we don't know what restrictions Bruce is putting on Kim, but either way, lack of activity today looks bad for Kim and could be the death knell to her stint as GM.

Right, I think it's both, but it's a heavy percentage blame on Bruce.

Also they are going to win 10-12 more games than last year with Jazz hurt, Sandy on a down year, Rogers hurt, innings limitations on Cabrera and Eury, and Meyer, Eder, and Bender were hurt on top of that, plus an unbelievable downturn for Segura. Isn't this a recipe for gaslighting everyone this was an improvement and Bruce gives Kim an extension? I think that is what will happen IMO. And I'm not necessarily opposed as see above - Bruce's shitty payroll is the real problem and no one is solving this problem with consistent under $100m payrolls. Not even the Rays have won a world series even if always competitive.

[Nick]

Right, I think it's both, but it's a heavy percentage blame on Bruce.

Also they are going to win 10-12 more games than last year with Jazz hurt, Sandy on a down year, Rogers hurt, innings limitations on Cabrera and Eury, and Meyer, Eder, and Bender were hurt on top of that, plus an unbelievable downturn for Segura. Isn't this a recipe for gaslighting everyone this was an improvement and Bruce gives Kim an extension? I think that is what will happen IMO. And I'm not necessarily opposed as see above - Bruce's shitty payroll is the real problem and no one is solving this problem with consistent under $100m payrolls. Not even the Rays have won a world series even if always competitive.

It'll be that big of an improvement because 2022 was such an unmitigated disaster, I think that'll be taken into account as well.

[fish16]

Not the right analysis for me - you blow some away in June as you are that far behind everyone else buy the extra 6-8 weeks and make it worth it

sounds like a good way to be desperate and overpay for a guy. it takes 2 to make a trade. Again, who is the guy who was available in June that would have made a difference? Mike Moustakas? Eduardo Escobar? Big moves very rarely happen prior to the deadline week.

[lou]

It'll be that big of an improvement because 2022 was such an unmitigated disaster, I think that'll be taken into account as well.

Do we think Bruce has any concept about this

[lou]

sounds like a good way to be desperate and overpay for a guy. it takes 2 to make a trade. Again, who is the guy who was available in June that would have made a difference? Mike Moustakas? Eduardo Escobar? Big moves very rarely happen prior to the deadline week.

........... Which is exactly where they are today?

Candelario was available in June and would have made a difference. So was Grichuk. Those teams were blasted out of contention already. Make it worth their while, since you didn't in the offseason. Sky high asking prices for 2 more months of time. Great. After 20 years of effectively not contending.

[Nick]

Do we think Bruce has any concept about this

I honestly have no idea who Bruce Sherman is. The guy doesn't do many interviews and when he does, he seems to be vague and generic. I mean with Loria and Samson, they (especially Samson) couldn't help but put themselves in the spotlight, so it was very clear, yeah these guys are assholes, and they run the team like assholes. Really the one thing I know for sure about Sherman is he's cheap and will not do what it takes financially to put this team in a position to compete year in and year out.

[lou]

I honestly have no idea who Bruce Sherman is. The guy doesn't do many interviews and when he does, he seems to be vague and generic. I mean with Loria and Samson, they (especially Samson) couldn't help but put themselves in the spotlight, so it was very clear, yeah these guys are assholes, and they run the team like assholes. Really the one thing I know for sure about Sherman is he's cheap and will not do what it takes financially to put this team in a position to compete year in and year out.

Generally agree, I get a general lack of sophistication where he is rich and likes baseball, but couldn't tell you much about the game on a front office perspective. A business team builder who builds a FO group to be the experts so he doesn't have to be, etc. Which is I mean fine, but this then goes to..... hey we won 12-13 more games than last year even with some really bad injury luck/Sandy downturn. Kim, you're a genius and here's a 3 year extension and $5m more dollars to spend next year. You earned that extra bench player to help your vision.

[fish16]

........... Which is exactly where they are today?

Candelario was available in June and would have made a difference. So was Grichuk. Those teams were blasted out of contention already. Make it worth their while, since you didn't in the offseason. Sky high asking prices for 2 more months of time. Great. After 20 years of effectively not contending.

it takes 2 teams to trade.

[rmc523]

The problem is we don't know what restrictions Bruce is putting on Kim, but either way, lack of activity today looks bad for Kim and could be the death knell to her stint as GM.

Given this is the most successful the team has been under Bruce's tenure, I think she gets an extension even if we falling out of the race/don't make the postseason. He doesn't strike me as a kneejerk type owner.

[rmc523]

It'll be that big of an improvement because 2022 was such an unmitigated disaster, I think that'll be taken into account as well.

Agreed in that I don't think we were as bad last year as we wound up being record wise. But I don't think Bruce will factor that in too much. I think she gets an extension to "see it through."

[fish16]

rosenthal is saying marlins are clearly not happy with first base production. Were in on both Cron and Santana. They will have a new 1b by tonight.