I had too much to drink at the blackjack table

DallasAg 94 said:

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That's a throwback name.

Funny story... I was at some airport traveling back to Dallas and waiting to board. This young woman answers her phone and whatever it was she said, I recall thinking, "Wow... her boyfriend/husband just got called up." It was probably something like he was joining the team where ever the Rangers were playing.

I checked to see who the Rangers had called up. I didn't talk with her, but she seemed like a genuinely sincere person. She seemed as excited for him as you'd expect a woman to be about getting engaged.

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One of our supplier's sales reps was in a meeting with us when he got a call he stepped out in the hall to take.

Came back in and started packing his stuff up, telling us his son had just called called up by the Yankees and was the starting.pitcher the next nigh so he had to leave.

We said "get the hell outta here!"

He was driving straight to DFW to fly to New York.

The kid bounced around for 6-7 years - had a nice little career.

Tksymm7 said:

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This makes me wonder why we are really keeping Josh Smith tbh. I know he can play 3rd, SS, and 2nd at a good clip, but that's all he's going to give you. We've seen who is he at the plate, so why can't we just have a good minor league fielder fill this roll but travel up and down when and if need be? Duran is going to be first off the bench because he can play SS and 3rd and then hit. I am not some Foscue homer, but I would rather give a roster spot to a guy who can at least get me some hits and gappers off the bench. Could be just a style of play preference thing though.

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I'm not trying to be a horse's a$$ here, but actually trying to answer the question. And contrary to how it may sound, I'm not a Smith homer or a Foscue basher, just offering my opinion.

The reason is, there's a difference between putting together a major league roster and a rotisserie league team. If it were the latter, then hell yes you want all the bats you can get. But that's not what we're talking about.

Everyone who I've ever heard talk about constructing a major league roster (who knows what they're talking about) have said that, regarding bench players, there are three things that have the most value - defensive versatility (can play multiple positions), defensive prowess (they are above average defenders at worst), and speed (not always necessary but preferred).

Smith is not a great offensive player, he's a slap hitter who is probably going to be about a .230-240 hitter. That's actually OK for a guy who ideally won't get a ton of ABs. But what he CAN do is come off the bench late in a game and give you solid defense at multiple positions, or maybe a stolen base, or both. He can play all the infield positions except 1st, as well as LF and CF, and does at least a decent job at all of them.

Foscue can do none of that ... none. He's below average at 2nd & 3rd (at best), useless at SS, and his play at 1B is TBD. He's never hit for average as a professional. The only thing he's really done is walk a bit more than he strikes out (last season only btw) and show occasional power. He's not fast, or quick, an average baserunner at best. Maybe he'll hit at the MLB level, maybe he won't. But as I've mentioned on here before, you don't find many guys who are career .275ish hitters in the minors who come up the majors and rake (at AAA last season, he hit .266 - in a hitter friendly league).

You're probably correct about the "style of play preference" thing, but in this case it's pick your poison - do you want to lose a game because Smith hits a weak grounder to 1st to end a rally, or do you want to lose in the bottom of the ninth because Foscue can't make a routine defensive play? IMO I'll take the guy who can give our pitchers (specifically our bullpen guys) all the help they can get in the field.

Neither one of those guys should be starters on this team (clearly). Bochy has always believed in pitching & defense. IMO, Foscue is this year's version of Willie Calhoun - a bad defender with overrated offensive potential. Best case scenario is that he either goes to AAA and hits, or has to play at the MLB level and hits good enough to have some trade value so we can ship his butt off somewhere else.

JMO but as a reserve player, give me Smith over Foscue 6 days a week and twice on Sunday. If he's going to platoon at 1B until Lowe comes back, that's a different story. But IMO Foscue has little to no value off the bench.

Langford with another bomb

Well that's an interesting headline. I'll be following this for sure

call me cynical, I just dont believe the Shohei gambling story as its being peddled currently.

It looks super weird on Ohtani's part as well…