2019 MLB Regular Season running thread

'ROASTED NUTS' was already taken.

 

One strike, two balls?

 

For a team that isn't in "tank mode" - the Giants are doing a damn good impression. The entire franchise is headed for a reboot. Bochy is retiring, Jon Miller and Krukow may not be back in the booth next year and even Larry Baer will probably be taking a back seat (if he still has one) by the end of the year. The free agent crop isn't stellar this year - best hope is to get some key foundational pieces for MadBum and the team's best player this year - Pablo Sandoval - only "regular" hitting above .260.

 

Fouled ball.

 

I expect Bumgarner and Will Smith to be gone by the trade deadline. Sandoval? Perhaps to a team needing a DH or pinch hitter. Until they get free of some bad contracts (Samardzija, Longoria, Melancon), their manuverability is very limited (hello and goodbye, Connor Joe!). Seems to be some starting pitching in the farm system and they did load up on position players in the draft. Hope lies mostly with Bart and Ramos down in San Jose. Still, it's going to be a year or two. Twitter fanbois calling for Zadhi's head because he isn't making quick fixes at the major league level will never get this.

Had not heard anything about Miller. They did sign Dave Flemming to a long-term deal in the offseason, so he's the heir apparent (and if that happens, hoping they'll add Doug Greenwald to the team). Krukow's been cutting back his schedule over the last few years due to a rare muscular disease and travels only to LA and San Diego as well as the home games.

 

So depressing to even look at lineup everyday.

Leadoff hotter is slow footed 2B hitting .250 and slugging .300 beautiful. 3rd hole, Belt, continually watches 3rd strike with runners on to complain ball was off plate or high 2 inches, HIT THE BALL!! Yeah Panda is most threatening hitter in lineup. NO fresh faces of note anywhere.

Zaidi is doing best he can. Avoiding $300M for a .250 hitter (Harper) was a good move. Let’s see how draft picks turn out because that has more impact in long run.

 

Honestly, that's what's so amazing about getting three World Series rings in five years. Everything has to break perfectly to win it even once. And in order to keep chasing the window of contention, you've got two choices: overperform or overspend.

The Giants aren't the only team that's attempted to continue trying to go all-in in hopes of kicking the rebuilding can farther down the road. Unfortunately, that reality gets more painful the deeper you reach into your pockets for expensive free agents or trade the few valuable pieces remaining. Making the playoffs in 2016 was probably the worst possible outcome, because it fooled the front office into believing they weren't already in teardown mode.

Hence spending more good money on bad contracts, hamstringing yourself even worse.

The inherent issue with a team as it reaches the end of its window of contention is two-fold: Your core players are getting older (costing more and hence less valuable to other teams) and because you're drafting late every year, your farm system doesn't get replenished. The organization dries up from the bottom up. As a fan of the Detroit Tigers -- who also waited too long when all the signs pointed otherwise -- I commiserate in your misery. (The problem the Tigers face is that the Twins have already opened their window and the White Sox are at most one or two years from it, so even if everything breaks right there are no guarantees.)

Bart is a great start in the rebuilding process. (BART is still the best way to get to San Francisco as well.) Bishop should be, too.

San Jose may be just 55 miles from Oracle Park, but that's three huge leaps up the chain, with pitfalls and dead ends for even the most promising prospects. Unfortunately, it's going to take time -- and a lot of luck -- to put enough talented pieces together to make another extended run. Fans always want to "win now," and Bay Area fans have been blessed with an overabundance of magical sports moments. But impatience is sometimes what gets you in a deeper hole.

 

Throw in giving up top prospects for rentals. They've had a few of their higher priced players in a row play out the string, underperforming at a level that makes their trade value nil. Even with the championships, their hitting has always been suspect -

 

Cracked nut?

 

TSP's was better.

 

The Astros finally got tired of watching Yordan Alvarez abuse Triple-A pitching and called him up today. Alvarez hit his first home run in his second major-league at-bat.

 

Bumgarner's "hold me back, bro" clown act is getting weak.

Dodgers vs. Giants - Game Recap - June 9, 2019 - ESPN

Muncy dropped the bat more than he flipped it. And if I hit one 426 feet I'm going to admire it for a few seconds. Bumgarner doesn't get to tell me how fast I have to run or how long I get to look at it. If he doesn't like he's free to get my ass out.
Fuck these diva pitchers and their fucking "rules."