Off-Topic Forum

The Dodgers might have something to say about that last line ;)

But the Red Sox West, excuse me Padres, never employed the best player in baseball (all apologies Mr. Gwynn) so they could be some leeway considered. Nah, look at their struggles this year. I don't thin SD tried too hard in the past, just a small market team soaking up the sun in SoCal passing the time. And yes, I've watched them play at both the Murph and Petco.

I'm most impressed with the 10 stolen bases

Seriously!  When was the last time a pitcher let a team in steals, and how sad is that for the team that halfway through the season the team leader only has 10?  Taylor Ward, their regular leadoff has a whopping 3 steals in 5 attempts.  Is he just not very good on the bases?  Does he not have the greenlight?  Do they not want to distract Trout and Ohtani from hitting home runs?

I'm often curious about the ownership's intentions with regard to how they populate their rosters.  Do they really want to win, or is the emphasis only on the team turning a profit?  And are the ownership and team management on the same page in that regard?  It would be very frustrating for a GM and MGR to be saddled with only a couple of high dollar stars who move merchandise and ticket sales, but not be able to build a good roster around them to win.

Flip side, not the good 'ole days where the team's fastest runner is the automatic leadoff man. Due to analytics and other tools, many teams put an emphasis on OBP as a measure. Schwarber has lead off for the Phillies many times over; not quite a burner he is.

More often than not, the emphasis seems to be profit. Look at Oakland and their blantent disregard for roster and outright statement on moving to Vegas. Last year the Reds went public and stated they weren't investing in a winner. Pittsburgh as well. And the Orioles chose not to invest in winning this year despite last year's amazing run. And look at them this year anyhow. Players basically giving ownership the finger. 

Taylor is in the bottom half of the team in OBP, so he's not helping them any there either.  They could promote Trey Cabbage from Salt Lake and instantly have an upgrade.

What he is doing is truly multi-generational special. If it weren't happening you couldn't even imagine it.

Had to look Trey Cabbage up to be sure he wasnt related to Mike Cubbage in some way.

Trey is good, 19 homers, 20 steals, 1 caught stealing so far this year in AAA

Speaking of Stolen Bases, believe it or not, Albert Pujols stole 31 bases in his time with the Angels. He may have been as slow as a snail, but he was a smart baserunner. 

All four of Shohei's homers in Arlington last week went opposite field.  Three of them went upper deck OPPOSITE FIELD!!!!

Bob Gibson had 13 stolen bases in his career which was the most by a pitcher in the live ball era.