Proposition Joe said:

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Yeah my point was more that prior to the white Sox series we were in "have to pickup a game" or "have to win the series" territory or the season was unofficially over.

Now we just have to avoid the big losing streak and we will be right there in it until late Sept.

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I guess my point is that we've got to do better than just avoid a big losing streak. We're still below .500…

According to Rosenthal there's interest in Yandy Diaz. I wouldn't mind this move. He's relatively cheap, controllable and gives us a first baseman next year if we choose not to resign Lowe.

Oh, and Rooker nuked another HR tonight.

I'm disappointed in the offense. I mean we're all stoked about the sweep, but we should have lit up the white Sox for a lot more runs then we did.

The Ms get better with Arozarena.

Randy Arozarena has been traded to the Mariners pic.twitter.com/oSsUOpV9KO

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) July 26, 2024

Lowe is an Arb3 next year... he is also a Super 2?! The team has an Arb4 for him.

2 more years of team control.

For their #12 and #22 prospects and a PTBNL. Arozarena is having a down year, but that seems like a steal. I'm sure the pitcher the Rays got will end up being a stud.

I'm betting Rays fans not upset to see Randy go.

Hearing Astros and mariners are by far the most active teams right now in trade discussions around the league.

That gets the M's one step closer to where they were before injuries.

He has been mentioned in trades for a couple weeks and after looking at him... although I didn't look at his splits... didn't see the appeal this season. Maybe he turns it on.

Wasn't super expensive, I suppose.

I think that speaks to the desperation of both orgs that I've posted about.

Even with RA... Seattle needs 2 more bats.
Houston needs 2 SP, but they have CBT implications and no prospects.

I would think this is when Bauer should be most hopeful. LoL. Houston would be a great fit.

The reason I've explored/pushed for a bat outside the org... is as much to dissuade or disincentivize Sea and Hou from adding.

Seattle lost Crawford and JRod, and dumped Ty France. RA starts to replace JRod, but they still need more pieces.

As we added Scherzer and Dunning... soon to add Mahle and Jung... you add an additional bat, and not only did you catch Seattle... You're still getting better and they have to start to think... "we just won't get there." It would cost too much to fill the holes.

Now the other side is... let Sea and Hou waste their farm spending to not make the playoffs.

Oh Seattle is going to need a lot more than RA, who's basically a clone of Adolis Garcia this year. RA's slash line is .211/.318/.394/.712 but somehow has an OPS plus of 105 (math ain't mathing on that one).

From Rosenthal

It's official: The Rangers are going for it.

In less than a month, the defending World Series champions have improved their postseason odds from 5.5 percent to better than 25 percent. The Mariners' collapse helped, but the Rangers also have won 12 of their last 16 games, including five straight. They are one game under .500, 2 1/2 games out of first place and getting healthier.

The expected returns of Cody Bradford, Dane Dunning, Tyler Mahle and Jacob deGrom will reinforce their pitching staff. What the Rangers want to add, according to sources familiar with their plans, is a bat either a left-handed hitting outfielder DH or a platoon-neutral right-handed hitter.

One name of interest: The Rays' Yandy Daz, a right-handed hitter with sizable platoon splits this season (.879 OPS vs. LHPs, .678 vs. RHPs) but more even numbers in his career (.888-.769). Daz currently is on the restricted list for personal reasons and has not played since the All-Star break.

I also compared Adolis with RA last night and was surprised at the difference in OPS. I guess RA just walks a lot more than Adolis.

My concern with Yandy Diaz is that he has been on the unpaid Restricted List for "personal reasons not related to bereavement or paternity."

I get that players are human and their schedule doesn't allow them certain privileges, like a week to settle personal matters. As long as it isn't trouble... I get it.

Looks like he is back tonight/today:

Kevin Cash #Rays manager just told us they expect Yandy Diaz to be back on their team tonight

— Jim Bowden⚾️ (@JimBowdenGM) July 26, 2024

I could see his numbers improving the rest of the way centered in our lineup.

DallasAg 94 said:

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My concern with Yandy Diaz is that he has been on the unpaid Restricted List for "personal reasons not related to bereavement or paternity."

I get that players are human and their schedule doesn't allow them certain privileges, like a week to settle personal matters. As long as it isn't trouble... I get it.

Looks like he is back tonight/today:

Kevin Cash #Rays manager just told us they expect Yandy Diaz to be back on their team tonight

— Jim Bowden⚾️ (@JimBowdenGM) July 26, 2024

I could see his numbers improving the rest of the way centered in our lineup.

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You would hope that the Rays would maybe take a package of Dunning, Duran and one other pitcher for him. I would do that in a heartbeat.

Tonight's Scoreboad watching:
Texas (Heaney: 4-10, 3.60) @ Toronto (Kikuchi: 4-0, 4.54)
- Apple TV+; 6:07

LADodgers (Stone: 9-3, 3.19) @ Houston (Valdez: 8-5, 3.63)
- Time for the Astros to play "playoff caliber teams."

Seattle (Kirby: 7-7, 3.20) @ ChiSox (Thorpe: 3-1, 3.03)
- Should be a snoozer if you like Runs.
#14 in AL: Seattle with 390 Rs
#15 in AL: CWS with 324 Rs.

Good lord the Rays are really just throwing in towel. Diaz would fit pretty well what we are missing.

This is how they get/stay good.

They took Seattle's (from my post, yesterday):

Quote:

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12. Smith <- 4.124 pick in '23 @ A
22. Hopkins <- 6.187 in '23 @ A

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They become Tampa's:

Quote:

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6. Hopkins <- 6.187 in '23 @ A
12. Smith <- 4.124 pick in '23 @ A

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They'll insert a couple more from Diaz and other liquidations.

Funny how yesterday Hopkins was ranked below Smith as a Mariners prospect and today he is ahead of him as a Rays prospect.

I think I saw that the pitcher has an ERA under 3 this year in close to 100 innings, so he was probably due for an update/bump.

I also have read the PTNL is going to be a significant piece.

I saw somewhere that RA is batting .290 in the last 49 games. Not sure how accurate that is but RA could be a bigger addition than we are giving the mariners credit for.

In June RA hit .291 with 13 walks. In July .275 with 7 walks. Garcia in June .198 with 10 walks. In July .159 with 5 walks. So while on the surface it appears RA is just another Garcia, RA is playing much better lately.

According to fWAR, Langford isn't even in the top 35 of all rookies. Found that to be very interesting.

Tomorrow Scherzer turns 40.

Jared Sandler, who does radio for the Rangers had presented Scherzer as one who was in decline and might be limited in value. Then, he put up a huge game against the CWS. I get it... the CWS. Don't read too much.

We know Max just passed JV for #10 all time in SOs.

The list is at the bottom. I think it's reasonable to see Max get as high as #5. His low-water has been about 145SO/yr. Two more years of MLB could achieve that if he remains viable.

I could see him taking 1year deals... maybe like Kershaw has done... join the team around the ASG and just pitch the last half of the season. For Kershaw it has been health related... could be the same for Max... who kinda just joined the team.

Top 11 SOs All-Time
1. Nolan: 5714
2. Randy Johnson: 4875
3. Clemens: 4672
4. Carlton: 4136 (+636)

5. Blyleven: 3701 (+301)
6. Seaver: 3640 (+240)
7. Sutton: 3574 (+174)
8. Gaylord Perry: 3534 (+134)
9. Walter Johnson: 3508 (+108)
10. Mad Max: 3400
11. Verlander: 3393

shack009 said:

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Water Boy said:

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According to fWAR, Langford isn't even in the top 35 of all rookies. Found that to be very interesting.

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He really needs the power to tick up. Even his doubles are more stretch-doubles than to the corners or to the wall in the gap. He's doing enough to be serviceable in the 4 spot right now, but those warning track outs need to start going over the wall.

It's so strange because nobody ever questioned his power and now he's a guy relying more on speed than slug.

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I believe Langford has a bit of a top spin swing as currently constructed. I am sure they've worked on it some, but IMO a fix like that is an offseason overall so-to-speak.