KK84":2l0j4mzh said:
Tical21":2l0j4mzh said:
I'm gonna call my shot right now. I'm sold. This is the group that is going to make it happen (players). Not all of them, mind you, but most of them. After this season, we're going to make the playoffs at least five of the next ten years. Remember this month, and this season. This will be the one we look back on like we do the 2002 Seahawks. Nick Franklin will continue to be the catalyst. Seager will continue to be the rock. Ackley will be a perennial .300 hitter. Zunino is going to be Dan Wilson with a little more pop during his prime. They are still a speedster and a stud middle of the order bat short, but they'll get them. Felix is going to lead a phenomenal young staff for years to come. And there will be hardware.
Oh no. As an eternal optimist I've said the similar things for years. Now that I've finally convinced myself to stop hoping and stop letting the losing bother me you do this…… thanks a lot.
Sorry my friend. I've been the exact opposite. I've known since 2002 that we didn't have any hope until we built through the farm again, and that it would take FOREVER. Jack Z is doing what I was screaming for. Over the next two years, we're going to be young, improving, and CHEAP. Perfect! Once we build momentum, that is when we spend the dough for the final piece or two.
I'm bullish on Montero. He has such a sweet swing. He just needs the right coach.
I'd love to find a way to keep Kendrys, but won't lose too much sleep when we can't.
Sorry, but I don't think Miller will make it. His stance is the way it is because he can't generate enough bat speed with a balanced stance. You don't see guys swing against their body and make it. That swing is too long. And he has to open his feet to compensate so he doesn't pull out. In the end, because this makes such a long swing, he has to guess right, or he's F'd. Guys at this level are just too nasty to guess right all the time. It is a shame, because we don't have a lot coming up at short besides him and Triuenfel. Things get so much easier if one of them can play.
Wilhelmsen is almost back. Still left a few pitches too high. He was as good as anybody in the business at locating his fastball. He's on the right track.
Now we need one last good ol' fashioned fire sale. Sell Ibanez. Sell Morales. Sell Morse if you can. Sell Perez. Would a team give us anything decent for a combination of these guys? I'm still on the fence about trading Iwakuma. I can't see him keeping up this pace for the next several years, so my head says to trade him while he has a bunch of value. But the dare to dream mentality thinks maybe he can pitch really good for the next 2-3 years. Maybe I'll roll the dice and keep him around.
I'm optimistic basically for one reason, Franklin. We've needed somebody for a decade now that was so confident and gritty that he was immune to the culture of failure and not hitting. We've needed somebody to come in and say "I don't care if the rest of you aren't hitting, I don't care about the ballpark, I don't care about the losing, I'm just going to hit, dammit". Similar to McCutchan in Pittsburgh. And it has to be done with flair. Only then can it be infectious. It will get the most out of Ackley and Zunino. Can it inspire Smoak? Meh, doubtful. How does your 1st baseman have 13 RBI at the halfway mark?
I hope Jack Z gets to keep his job. I wouldn't mind a new manager though. Wedge isn't the problem, but I don't think he is the solution either. Sadly, there is no way they let Jack Z hire another new manager. They're probably both as good as gone.