Guess I'll start an off-topic thread?

[ANNASDAD]

I have one word for all of you CARDINALS!

I’m pretty sure you told me once you were a Cubs fan, yep pretty sure! You can’t be both Richard!

 

[softgabby]

I definitely am a Braves fan, have been for many years, and for many years........many frustrations!! I have ALWAYS been a NL fan but over the last 10 / 12 years have just enjoyed the AL more. I love watching the Red Sox play, I'll stop whatever I'm doing to watch a
Sox / Yankess game, just love the rivalry between these two storied franchises!

I loved watching the Astros beat the Dodgers several years ago, GREAT World Series! If I'm not mistaken, Kershaw's salary alone was more than the entire Astro lineup........not the starting lineup, the entire roster, I may be off on that but it seems that I read that!

Teams I despise.......the Chicago Cubs and the Phillies (sorry gabby & Core), and the Dodgers, plus I've written off the Braves more times than I can count! Realistically, besides the 1995 World Series, just how many WS should the Braves have won with Maddux, Smoltz, and Glavine?? Way more than that one, especially after winning 14 consecutive division titles in a row!

I know somewhat about frustrations being a Phillies fan. We've been 8 consecutive seasons without making the playoffs. We're on the cusp but we can't seem to shake the injury bug long enough to make it. I've caught some AL ball and I do enjoy watching the few Astros games I get to see along with the rare occurrence I get to see the Shohei Otani/Mike Trout show out of Anaheim. But I will stop to watch the Sox/Yanks if it's on.

Your right. That Astros/Dodgers World Series from a few years back was epic. I thought they had the pieces but after Kershaw, everyone else choked under the pressure. But, I have counted out the Phillies on more than one occasion just to be proven right and I did it again this season.

As far as teams I despise...I despise the Mets, Yankees (although I hate to admit it...I did enjoy watching clips of Mariano Rivera pitch to close out ballgames. His pitching was so magical along with that A+ splitter) and Nationals.

 

[softgabby]

I wasn't a fan of Hernandez and never will be at second. But for the money he is doable there. I like Kingery to play second
and bring up Boehm from the minors for third. I cant stand Franco at third and landing Donaldson to play third at this point is
going to take a multi-year deal and not worth it if they really think Boehm is the real deal as he is gonna be here in about a year.
They missed their damn chance to get Donaldson for a year or two rental. And I do not want Rendon for 10 years/300M if we
have a home grown talent to come up soon. That's why I just say bring Boehm up and say f it and deal with his growth and
put the money into another position needed. Remember, Realmuto isn't gonna be cheap either. And Hoskins is due up soon,
although after this past year...Im might would let him walk after next year, too many 1 baggers out there to be had for decent money
who can give you the same year Hoskins did, and even give you a better average. AND he is a Boras client, so I think
Hoskins is gonna be a cost casualty when he comes up for contract next year.

I never wanted Kimbrell...he also isn't doing well for Chicago on that 3 year deal...haha. I did want Kuechel for a year rental. He isnt
out of the question as still think a 2-3 year deal is doable for him. I WOULD LOVE COLE from the Astros in the offseason,
but its gonna cost a small fortune...prob like 200M over 6 years or so. I maybe would think about it because we NEED a stud
to team up with Nola and we have Nola signed for the next 5 years on the cheap side. And we can ditch Arrieta's salary
after next year so Cole's pay isn't out of the question. I have a bad feeling about Baumgardner and whoever signs him.
I just have a feeling he is gonna be one of those 5 year deals, and only be good for 2.

And Herrera was a thorn in my side for 2 years in this franchise...HATED him as a player. Couldn't stand him at the plate and
not a very good center fielder either. And after his legal crap...PEACE OUT!

As a player, I think Cesar Hernandez is okay. I don't think he's great or anything. I don't think he's worth the money they're paying him. I did enjoy watching Kingery play. He has a kinda flashy glove and is much more reliable offensively than Hernandez is. I was never a fan Franco and I hated the idea of them floating getting Machado. You may be onto something with trying out Boehm. I watched him at an Iron Pigs game and he was pretty impressive at third. He could be an option if we could move Franco and either go with something more serviceable in a trade or trying out Boehm. I'm not entirely sold on Hoskins either. He's okay but we need a more consistent bat at first. We need the extra funds to keep Realmuto on. He's my favorite catcher in the game and I've tried to start doing some of the same things he does when playing softball. Hoping he can have another monster season next year.

I mainly wanted Kimbrall because he would have been someone serviceable in the pen to help take up some of the slack from the injuries in the pen. I don't think he's dominant like he was with the Braves or The Red Sox...but still good. Kuechal would be really good to have for in our rotation. I think if we could have had him in back of Arrieta and Nola, we could be in the hunt for the wild card. I would love for us to have Garrit Cole. But my fear is how much it would cost to bring him in from Houston. My biggest fear is your talking 20 million a year plus in order to sign him. And even that isn't set in stone unless you may be willing to push closer to 23-25 million a year. I'm not sure he's worth the cost. The more I think about it, the more I think you might be right on Madison Bumgardner. My biggest fear is that he runs into a bunch of health issues and you dish out a bunch of money for him. I'm not going near that.

I totally agree with you about Herrera. He's not a plus fielder out in center and really the only good thing about him is his above-average bat. But as a girl, I have an extremely hard time forgiving him for domestic abuse against his girlfriend or wife or whatever she was to him. Much like I have a hard time forgiving that jerk shortstop the Cubs have...that...Addison whatever his name is. And I have a hard time forgiving the All-Star closer of the Pirates for having a relationship with a then 13-year-old and raping her.

 

[CoreSoftball20]

As a player, I think Cesar Hernandez is okay. I don't think he's great or anything. I don't think he's worth the money they're paying him. I did enjoy watching Kingery play. He has a kinda flashy glove and is much more reliable offensively than Hernandez is. I was never a fan Franco and I hated the idea of them floating getting Machado. You may be onto something with trying out Boehm. I watched him at an Iron Pigs game and he was pretty impressive at third. He could be an option if we could move Franco and either go with something more serviceable in a trade or trying out Boehm. I'm not entirely sold on Hoskins either. He's okay but we need a more consistent bat at first. We need the extra funds to keep Realmuto on. He's my favorite catcher in the game and I've tried to start doing some of the same things he does when playing softball. Hoping he can have another monster season next year.

I mainly wanted Kimbrall because he would have been someone serviceable in the pen to help take up some of the slack from the injuries in the pen. I don't think he's dominant like he was with the Braves or The Red Sox...but still good. Kuechal would be really good to have for in our rotation. I think if we could have had him in back of Arrieta and Nola, we could be in the hunt for the wild card. I would love for us to have Garrit Cole. But my fear is how much it would cost to bring him in from Houston. My biggest fear is your talking 20 million a year plus in order to sign him. And even that isn't set in stone unless you may be willing to push closer to 23-25 million a year. I'm not sure he's worth the cost. The more I think about it, the more I think you might be right on Madison Bumgardner. My biggest fear is that he runs into a bunch of health issues and you dish out a bunch of money for him. I'm not going near that.

I totally agree with you about Herrera. He's not a plus fielder out in center and really the only good thing about him is his above-average bat. But as a girl, I have an extremely hard time forgiving him for domestic abuse against his girlfriend or wife or whatever she was to him. Much like I have a hard time forgiving that jerk shortstop the Cubs have...that...Addison whatever his name is. And I have a hard time forgiving the All-Star closer of the Pirates for having a relationship with a then 13-year-old and raping her.

Herrera did not have a plus bat...he was below average...except for his 2 week hot streaks and a couple homers. The
K after K and with no production and no clue at the plate was too much for me. Guy on third with 1 out...he K's instead
of trying to get the ball in play. For a lefty, that's a given. But with his batting style, it was almost impossible for him to be a
better contact guy than what he was. And add in his poor defense...see ya. We will move on.

Now, for Cole...to get something you have to give something. You aren't gonna get a big arm and not pay. To land any
top pitcher is gonna cost you money. The guy is still young...so a 5-6 year deal would be fine with me. And its gonna
cost prob 25M a year. Better than paying some 30+ year old 20M for 5 years and getting 2 ok years from him...haha. The
biggest thing for me is, can you compete in signing Cole if you only offer him 5 years...hope he isn't looking for 8-10 years.
That's where I draw the line when talking pitchers. I don't like long term deals for pitchers as most strikeout pitchers
have to adjust their game after a little while and some don't do well with that. I wouldn't mind pitchers like Baumgardner,
but only like a 2 year deal...no way Im giving him 5. I think that's why some teams don't compete in contract
negotiations...they stay away from too many years and obviously, the players was as many years as they can get.

And personally, I don't pay huge money for any closer...we have more needs than that. And Kimbrell isn't elite anymore
and wasn't worth what the Cubs paid him. We have a closer who was injured, so no use paying some guy a few
years when ours will be fine next year. Not to mention, we have backup closers as well, Dominguez and Neris.

I def think Hoskins is gonna be our cost casualty soon. You cant pay everybody and he isn't worth what Boras
is gonna want for him. Atleast so far he isn't worth even close to what I think he is gonna want. And Realmuto
is probably gonna cost us 20M per year. And my idea for Realmuto is to go get a cheaper 1 bagger that can hit some big flies
like a Justin Bour type guy for a couple years...then when Realmuto needs to get away from catching, he goes to first.

 

[Fort83]

I’m pretty sure you told me once you were a Cubs fan, yep pretty sure! You can’t be both Richard!

WOW!! Man that's mean! I think you violated the community standards on that one!

 

[Eric F]

I'm a life-long Dodgers fan, and I love that my boys have a consistently good team right now. Not winning in 2 consecutive WS appearances brings a lot of finger-pointing - management, pitching, etc. One thing that the critics seem to always overlook is the caliber of the teams they were playing, and giving credit to the fact that the AL teams have simply been better.. For the past 3 years, the Dodgers have been the best team in the NL, but not the best team in baseball. I think they were close to the Astros in 2017. Last year, I thought the Dodgers were the 3rd best team, behind the Astros and the Red Sox. The Sox destroyed the Astrs, and the Dodgers not beating them in the WS was pretty predictable. This year, I again see the Dodgers as the 3rd best team, behind the Astros and the Yankees. At this point, I expect my Dodgers to get the the WS again, but am not feeling very confident about being able to finally win the whole thing. The potential is there IF everyone is on their game, but performing when it counts has been the most difficult part for them.

 

[OsDad]

We've adopted the Dodgers, since we have their AAA affiliate now. It was made a little easier because I'm positive that the Reds will never win anything ever again.

 

[Eric F]

We've adopted the Dodgers, since we have their AAA affiliate now. It was made a little easier because I'm positive that the Reds will never win anything ever again.

There's a whole lot of damn good young players coming through OKC these days.

 

[_MIA_]

There's a whole lot of damn good young players coming through OKC these days.

I've only been to one OKC game and it was because when Marcela was in dance her dance group did a little thing in between an inning. Once in a while I will use the picture of little 3 YO Marcela in her pink tutu on a ball field as ransom..She also has a funky school picture I am holding out on using so I can embarrass her when she gets a bit older..

 

[ANNASDAD]

I've only been to one OKC game and it was because when Marcela was in dance her dance group did a little thing in between an inning. Once in a while I will use the picture of little 3 YO Marcela in her pink tutu on a ball field as ransom..She also has a funky school picture I am holding out on using so I can embarrass her when she gets a bit older..

Yep, proper ammo is important!