Dana Brown on MLBN:

"I'm challenging [Drew] Gilbert to come up and compete and win to the CF job. We believe in him"

👀👀👀 pic.twitter.com/hnDIMWRdMG

— Imp (@ThatImpGuy) February 17, 2023

Paging Bag…

yep, this is the kind of stuff we've been talking about with Dusty.

Dubon is getting his 200 AB's one way or the other. Jake too apparently

Fewer innings but is more high stress innings, unknown pitching dates, getting warm fast, less rest the way to go?

Anyone come to mind?

As opposed to moving LMJ to the pen, I'd almost rather carve out a new role for him: 2nd half starter. Just boot him every year in June/July, have him make a few "rehab" (ie simulated spring training) starts at AAA, then throw 75-100 with the big club before the playoffs.

We almost certainly aren't starting the year with Gilbert starting in CF. I think the most aggressive/bullish case for Gilbert is that he crushes AA to start the year, then moves to AAA by June and continues his success. If Chas and Jake are having meh seasons, maaaaybe he gets a look in September a la Tucker in 2018. Otherwise, 2024 seems much more practical for him to feasibly compete for a job with the big club.

EDIT: I'd love to be wrong. If Gilbert wins the CF job and is ready to crush MLB pitching by April, I will issue a formal apology.

Chas is a very solid player and was a hero in the playoffs last year, but he has a pretty limited ceiling. He would be one of the top 4th outfielders in the league. I hope he does start opening day based on what he did last year, but Meyers has a much higher offensive ceiling than Chas does.

Harry Dunne said:

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John Smoltz and Kerry Wood.

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and in the last decade? I think TJ has come a long way since then and Lance is on his 3rd year removed from it.

I never have much expectations for LMJ because I hate getting let down, so when he actually can show up and pitch I'm pleased.

Never ever tempt the impulsive and sadistic baseball gods!

I get Gilbert is a great prospect, and is probably the future CF… but Chas could have had an argument for ALCS MVP, and had a potentially series clinching web gem in Philly

I can see a future where the OF is Tucker (RF), Gilbert (CF) and Chas (LF) with Yordan as DH.

bearkatag15 said:

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Luis Garcia and the most videoed bullpen session in spring training history pic.twitter.com/l2HEDAOYS8

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) February 17, 2023

Still is pretty slow overall. I'm going to miss him rocking that baby

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Is Chandler a next level troll, or dumb enough to not realize the difference b/w the stretch and the wind-up?

Scatter shooting some thoughts on these recent topics:

Lance is sore? Oh no what will we do? Who cares, it's Feb 17? I'm gonna wait until he misses a couple spring training appearances before I pay attention.

If you're Chas, you might feel disrespected, especially if they haven't had any conversations with him in private. But if you're Dusty or Dana, you want those other guys to be motivated if they think they can win the job. You never know how players will react to being told this early "nah, we're good." Gilbert, at least, proved while at Tenn that he's a hot head.

Maybe he ditches the windup entirely?

[24 hour ban - Texags Staff]

Wtaf was that? I'm scared to ask where that came from.

What did I miss

Looked like a sex trafficking training camp. Real weird.

Bad bull bringing that degenerate trash here.

All I do is Nguyen said:

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[24 hour ban - Texags Staff]

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Don't get yourself perma banned Nguyen. You started the season thread last year, you're good luck. We need you.

Edit: I have no idea how I posted this on the wrong thread.

OK thanks for clearing that up. I only saw it for a second and it looked a lot worse than that to me.

loma_vista78 said:

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Chas is a very solid player and was a hero in the playoffs last year, but he has a pretty limited ceiling. He would be one of the top 4th outfielders in the league. I hope he does start opening day based on what he did last year, but Meyers has a much higher offensive ceiling than Chas does.

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The danger is you don't want to make Chas into Chris Burke 2.0 where you keep remembering what he did in the playoffs and limit yourself from a better replacement if there is one.

Now Chas is light years beyond anything Chris Burke did in the regular season, don't get me wrong, But Burke was incredible in the 2005 NLDS and NLCS and we then gave him a starting role for the next 2 years that he didn't deserve and he sucked.

I really like how much of a bulldog Chas is and the catch and the post-season HRs are legendary ****, but other than his walks going up quite a bit, he wasn't as good in 2022 and he was in 2021. Average dropped 12 points, slugging dropped 40 points, and he had the exact # of HR and 6 fewer RBI in 75 extra at bats.

I love Jake Myers solely because I can use my endless supply of Zach Morris gifs, but if Drew Gilbert is pushing for a roster spot, go ahead and challenge his ass to get there. If Chas has a problem with it, he should stop paying attention to the media.

Blaming manfred and baseballs for his struggles is one helluva stretch