OnlyBucs

092429383F2E39797A4B0 wrote: I must admit, I am endlessly confused and amazed that a team that is supposedly built on pitching (NH's focus from the beginning) continues which such abysmal fielding. Who knows whether the pitchers are any good? They are left in so many unnecessary situations where good defense would have them resting on the bench. Unless a ball is hit right at a fielder and isn't considered 'too hot to handle,' it is charged to the pitcher as a hit. There are no errors anymore. Rant, rant, rant . . .


a few years ago (when we were winning) the defense was good.


Not when the ball was hit or thrown to Alvarez.




Ha, true enough, and (before anyone cites sources) it's my perception that they were good. I haven't dug into any metrics or anything so I'm sure there's something out there that says I'm wrong. Probably a lot of it is due to early "shift" working out more than it does now.

082528393E2F38787B4A0 wrote: I must admit, I am endlessly confused and amazed that a team that is supposedly built on pitching (NH's focus from the beginning) continues which such abysmal fielding. Who knows whether the pitchers are any good? They are left in so many unnecessary situations where good defense would have them resting on the bench. Unless a ball is hit right at a fielder and isn't considered 'too hot to handle,' it is charged to the pitcher as a hit. There are no errors anymore. Rant, rant, rant . . .


a few years ago (when we were winning) the defense was good.


Not when the ball was hit or thrown to Alvarez.




True, we've got 2 Pedro's now, 1st and 3rd.  Also, a defensively sub-par shortstop (now) and Diaz getting a lot of time behind the plate.   



Some really bad news too.  Meadows?  Yeah, he's not a good outfielder either.  Small sample, but man... another prospect where the defense was way overhyped. :'(



Hopefully Newman can field as advertised, and Hayes.   Who knows what's real and what's not  Trust nothing! ;D      

I suspect this stretch leading up to today's (Sunday's) game has put NH in an awkward spot. He said he would let the next few games decide whether they become sellers, but clearly was planning on selling. With attendance as it is, he may have no choice. Will be interesting to see what he says now.

5153494F593C0 wrote: I suspect this stretch leading up to today's (Sunday's) game has put NH in an awkward spot. He said he would let the next few games decide whether they become sellers, but clearly was planning on selling. With attendance as it is, he may have no choice. Will be interesting to see what he says now.
He gave himself an out by saying even if they won most of the games in that stretch, they'd have to consider if they could sustain that success.

He is an elusive fellow. You have to admire that, as annoying as the double-speak otherwise can be.

I'm seeing people mention the Yanks and the Red Sox for Felipe. Why? The Yanks have Green, Betances and Chapman. The last thing they need is a Vasquez. Makes no sense and they wouldn't give up Andujar for him. Boston? Kimberly and Thorburn is back. No need there. If there are designs to maximize a deal for Vazquez, (I wouldn't deal him), I'd call Houston and bend them over. I'd ask for Perez, a lefty starter from Cuba and Alvarez. That is a hefty price, but you could get one of them in a package.



I don't think this ownership or FO will add anything good. Despite the recent surge, this team isn't a playoff team and is still far away. Still think they will move assets.



One thought I have is the Yanks are courting Machado and if they want him, they will have to give up major prospects. They still need a starter. I'm not sure they go for this, but offer Nova straight up for Simon Gray. Still young and controllable for a few more years ... I think he is suffering from Jeff Weaver disease. You know, pitch well in small market with less pressure and then fold when dealt/signed by the Yanks. Nova is better than Gray right now. He knows the deal in NY too. He, Gray, would be a nice reclamation project and if it fails, you unload an inconsistent arm in Nova.

I'd definitely like to see us strike while Vasquez has good value.  He's cost controlled for a lot of years and bullpen performance is fickle.  He could impode or his arm get hurt.   Remember his arm incident this year?



Let's not get caught in a decline and strike now.

040D05141A600 wrote: I'd definitely like to see us strike while Vasquez has good value.  He's cost controlled for a lot of years and bullpen performance is fickle.  He could impode or his arm get hurt.   Remember his arm incident this year?



Let's not get caught in a decline and strike now. 
There are many pros and cons for dealing Vasquez. He is controlled for several years on a team friendly contract. I agree relief pitchers have on and off seasons. He too could incur an arm injury. If the FO trades him, there will be a backlash from the fan base saying they don’t retain their better players. It is a darned if you deal him ,or darned if you don’t deal him. If they do deal him they better get the kings ransom in return, because he is going to help the team getting him advance in the postseason.

A strong relief pitcher is a position teams are willing to overpay for, but you are right - at this point almost any trade is going to be a public relations nightmare. Of course, the way things have been handled recently one could make the argument they don't care about the public relations impact. I really thought with the attendance figures, they would be looking to dump contracts. I think now both Cervelli and Harrison wait until August.

Well I doubt this week has much effect at all on whatever the plans were. If they did, NH should have kept his mouth shut about the importance of the week.



If we would have arrived at this same place in the standings, with this many teams ahead of us, in a leasiurely way instead of sweeping 5 from the first place Brewers, we would be selling off. I hope we sell and win the trades doing it. Moving on from JHay and Mercer and trying to get out from under Cervellis contract isn't what I mean