ATL: Playoffs

[coolhandluke121]

Donaldson in the title but no post?

4/$92m from the Twins. Seems like something the Brewers would have done if they were convinced they're close to a title. Not saying they should have done it though. I get their conservative moves.

[Kerb Hohl]

Donaldson in the title but no post?

4/$92m from the Twins. Seems like something the Brewers would have done if they were convinced they're close to a title. Not saying they should have done it though. I get their conservative moves.

I don't know if the Twins are that close to a title.

They have a somewhat similar analytically-driven front office that as a smaller market does not put emphasis on starting pitching...but their pitching is pretty awful.

Twins fans have been losing their minds all year last year and this entire offseason about cheap ownership. It happens everywhere because every offseason, 5-ish teams go "all in" and if your team doesn't, you can point to those teams. The Twins will likely take next offseason off.

[coolhandluke121]

Donaldson in the title but no post?

4/$92m from the Twins. Seems like something the Brewers would have done if they were convinced they're close to a title. Not saying they should have done it though. I get their conservative moves.

I don't know if the Twins are that close to a title.

I think being in that division automatically gives them a better chance than the Brewers.

I understand the White Sox are supposed to be better, but that usually takes time, and all your problems don't suddenly go away with a few big acquisitions.

I like what the Brewers did but I understand why some might question the extent of the frugality considering they've averaged 90 wins for 3 years.

[Kerb Hohl]

Donaldson in the title but no post?

4/$92m from the Twins. Seems like something the Brewers would have done if they were convinced they're close to a title. Not saying they should have done it though. I get their conservative moves.

I don't know if the Twins are that close to a title.

I think being in that division automatically gives them a better chance than the Brewers.

I understand the White Sox are supposed to be better, but that usually takes time, and all your problems don't suddenly go away with a few big acquisitions.

I like what the Brewers did but I understand why some might question the extent of the frugality considering they've averaged 90 wins for 3 years.

I'm an Attanasio apologist to the idea that in this landscape, he generally outspends his market.

But if they don't make one more move to finish the offseason, I kinda agree. They seem to be one player/move away. Not necessarily from a title but they probably could have made one of those other deals work. You should never "spend just to spend" because it can affect them down the road, but if they fall $20 million short of where they were last year, that isn't the best look for their window.

[neiLz]

so brewers are probably done with free agency unless there is anyone else out there? I think they make a trade, but not sure whom Stearns would target. Any word on Hader trade rumors?

[coolhandluke121]

You should never "spend just to spend" because it can affect them down the road, but if they fall $20 million short of where they were last year, that isn't the best look for their window.

Precisely. I think they might already be tentatively planning for the next window. The combination of all the low-budget moves, combined with rumors of listening to offers for Hader, seems to indicate a team that is at least reckoning with the odds of a down cycle. I hope they have another good year though.

[MAC1987]

so brewers are probably done with free agency unless there is anyone else out there? I think they make a trade, but not sure whom Stearns would target. Any word on Hader trade rumors?

I'm probably a broken record, but I think they are done and having the extra flexibility in cash, might prove to be useful at the trade deadline. See what the team has and go from there.

Would a trade of Hader also be better mid-season when teams are desperate? Even if we are in contention...

[neiLz]

Mets fired beltran. lol.

[WeekapaugGroove]

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using RealGM mobile app

[ReasonablySober]

If they were doing that (and I completely believe they were) they should be kicked the **** out of the game.

[coolhandluke121]

Suspend for a year. Disown for life. Losers. They need to find a way to punish the players, and this could be it.

That whole twitter thread is a disaster for the Astros. Make sure you scroll down and watch it, share it, comment, publicize. I'm not on twitter, but it provides evidence of a far more in-depth sign-stealing conspiracy than we've learned about so far.

Also, I couldn't help but rethink Chapman's reaction to Altuve's HR. Remember how many people accused him of laughing and not caring? Now it seems obvious that he was just incredulous that Altuve could tee up on his pitch, as if he knew what was coming.

I think pitchers must have a bit of a 6th sense about when hitters seem to be anticipating their pitchers a little too much. There is so much attention to detail there, and the law of averages says they should only guess right a certain amount of the time, give or take a reasonable margin of error. And it's really hard to crush a good pitch unless you know it's coming, so a pitcher who knows he threw a good pitch has reason to be suspicious/incredulous when it gets crushed.

On that note, it makes me wonder a little about Hader's HR rate last year. It wasn't just the HRs defying his incredible periphals, but the way they were crushed. And I hate to say it, but if there are rumors of pitchers suspecting the Brewers of stealing signs, there's a decent chance we're about to have a problem.

[WeekapaugGroove]

At this point MLB should just let catchers use an electronic device to get the sign to pitchers. Probably the only way to really prevent this ****.



Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using RealGM mobile app

[coolhandluke121]

I mean they've been using headsets for QB's for years, right? Obviously fans don't mind on "purity of the game" grounds and it works fine.

[Kerb Hohl]

This is an incredibly fun day.

There's even a relatively not credible suggestion from Scott Brosius' son that Trout is legally on HGH for thyroid treatment as a loophole.

[blazza18]

What woman wouldn't want to see her man shirtless? Altuve's story doesn't hold up imo.

[ReasonablySober]

I miss Deadspin so much.

[WeekapaugGroove]

Read on Twitter

Pitchers starting to weigh in. Trevor Bauer has also had some spicy takes on all this. Including this on how pitchers increase spin rate

Read on Twitter

?s=19



Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using RealGM mobile app

[humanrefutation]

We know that a lot of teams find ways around the rules. Wouldn't be surprised if the Brewers had some **** going on at Miller Park. Stearns did come from the Luhnow tree.

From the MLB's perspective, they're more concerned with teams that get caught. I doubt they're going to dig too deeply behind the Astros because they don't want to open up that can of worms.

[jute2003]

If the buzzer thing is true...perma-ban shouldn't be off the table

[MickeyDavis]

Pete Rose is banned for life