cmathewson

I have no clue what's going on. Next up:Gilmartin.

I never understood the signing, other than Gard-anderson's bromance with veterans. Even if he returned to his former self, he would not be worth much at the deadline. The value of developing Pressly or some other was higher than any potential return, imho.

My biggest problem with Anderson in particular is his cookie-cutter approach. "Teach the kid a sinker and make him keep it at the knees." It's basically the Bert Blyleven school of pitching. That works for some guys, but not for all. Scott Baker could not throw a sinker to save his life. When he tried to, he got hit hard. His best pitch was and is the high fastball, which Anderson tried to tell him not to throw. Eventually, Baker just decided he had to ignore Anderson in order to be successful. To his credit, he was. The strange thing is, Worley fit the mold of guys Anderson tends to help, like Carlos Silva and Nick Blackburn. Guys who throw the sinker 80% of the time. I'm at a loss as to how he was unable to help Worley.

Between Worley and Nolasco, Anderson should be fired. One season is not enough, but this is a well-established pattern. Garza is probably the best example of how to screw up a promising pitcher.

Ahem, it was not so terrible when they signed. If I recall, the general tone of the conversation here was : "Halleluiah! They finally opened up their pocket books!"

I think Hammer should return something more than a bucket of balls. Not sure about Correia. The Yankees might be a fit, with the news that Sabathia is done and the poor performances of his replacement.

Forgot about that. He's as good as gone, as is Willingham. I'd like to trade the rest, except Suzuki, but I doubt there are any takers.

I could see keeping Morales and offering him a qualifying offer. Doubt he'd turn it down this time.

Here's hoping his tough love has the desired affect on Hicks. I agree about the talent. It's apparent. But maybe he just needs to get his energy level and focus up.

The manager loves Florimon because he is a better version of himself, a no-hit infielder who "can really pick it." As long as Florimon is on the roster, he will play nearly everyday. The only solution is to activate Nunez from the DL and option Florimon. That strategy was the only way to get Escobar the playing time he needed to show he was an upgrade. It's eerily similar to the Juan Castro years, when Ryan had to trade Castro to keep Gardy from playing him.

I don't think we're talking about a lot of money int he grand scheme of things, to give him a two-year $15M extension. I would try to get it done prior to free agency.

Exactly. I want wins right now. Hopefully we can get closer in the next month and maybe add to rather than subtracting from the current roster. If not, sell. But it's too early to dump useful pieces when we are this close to contention.

As usual, it depends on the return and where the team is in the standings in mid-July. I hope they are contending by then. They have the horses to get there. If they are 7-10 games out of the wild card after the All Star Game, I could see dealing the first two. I'm with Tobi on keeping Suzuki and trying to extend him. With so many young pitchers coming up, I want him calling games next year.

Guys go from crappy to god and back in the bullpen all the time. I'm OK with waiting until Burton and Guerrier go back to crappy before dumping them. Same with Correia. As long as he pitches like this, he's the best option. I look for May to replace Pino in the near term. Then let's see. There's no urgency on getting rid of guys just because they are relatively old.

When he starts hitting again, I'm sure he'll get the call to Rochester. But there's no rush. Hopefully, he gets up there and establishes himself before the playoffs. I still believe in him.

Only if he elects free agency. He's not that much of an upgrade over Fuld.

Assuming all those things are true, it's bad. The only one we know is true is waffling on whether to be a switch hitter or not. Still. If they're true, why would you insist on publicly stating them and then trade him. It would be like crapping on the living room floor the day of the open house.

Was at a hotel that left a Current outside my door this past weekend. All the stories were about the Sox and Yanks. Only Rock Cats standings on the back page. Odd.

The theory was, he would hit better and with more power with fresher hands and legs. Weakness rarely creates better results. I like to think he still struggles with concussion symptoms, which manifest themselves in not seeing the ball as well. His K rate is way up. And looking at some of his Ks in video, he's missed some balls that I've never seen him miss before.

I think we should trade all the veterans for Low A prospects. Not.

I defended Pinto's defense earlier. But after his stint up here, it is pretty clear he is not ready defensively. Not only was he awful at pitch framing, he had tons of passed balls, errors and wild pitches. And he failed to throw out a single runner. He seemed to get worse as his playing time at catcher decreased. Hopefully, he can iron out those things in AAA. But he has a lot of work to do.

Why do they continue to give Hermsen innings? Back at High A after two seasons in AA. I'm sure he's a nice kid and all but...

He earned his way up. He will have to fail to go back down. If he keeps pitching like that, there's no reason to change. With his mix, intelligence, and control, I see no reason he can't continue to have success.

I don't think removing Burton or Guerrier is about whether they are part of the future. Relievers come and go so fast, age is not really a huge issue. For the present, we can win more games with other pitchers in the organization, imho. That is why I would want to make those moves. If the new guys are younger, all the better.

I think they are waiting for the rainout, just to kick the can down the street a bit. But they might also be waiting for a DFA to work it's way through the system prior to announcing it.