I just dont understand how cutting bait when you are in first place in July could ever be a sound strategy. Especially when you just spent the season before this losing as many games as possible on purpose and you are supposed to be a flagship MLB franchise.

Playing Houck is throwing in the towel? I'm not saying quit the season. I'm saying sell what you can and play the kids. See what you've got.

But they are in first place.

well now they're in second place

Yeah! Keep up, Numbers.

THANKS TO CHAIMS INACTION!

I mean, the guys TB acquired seem to be helping. Yanks & Blue Jay's, too. Seems like the prudent thing to do was recognize where this was heading and sell off the parts you don't plan on having around next year and/or beyond.

I am never going to agree with this. You have a firesale when you are in first place.

Not trading for Rizzo is borderline inexcusable (the fact he ended up going to the Yankees even moreso)

THEN trying to fix that mistake by trading for Schwarber and trying to convince themselves that they can "try" him at first base is almost as bad (especially since you know, he's still on the IL)

Maybe it wouldn't have mattered anyway because the pitching isn't there (especially since there's too many "ifs")...but the team earned the right to have some help brought in and it feels like they dropped the ball and the team knows it...

Also, the fanbase doesn't give a shit anymore because they've won 4 World Series in the last 17 years...there was definitely a dropoff in rabidness after 2004, but it's only decreased each year, the one exception being 2013 for obvious reasons...add in the fact that the younger crowd (anyone younger than 35, and that's being generous) doesn't give a shit about baseball, and that a lot of the hardcores have literally died off in the last 15 years or so, and you get what you have now in terms of the fanbase

It has eroded at a much faster pace since 2019. You cannot convince it's not because the owners/front office have completely embraced antagonizing and insulting the fans whenever they speak in public.

We don't have to agree, but as Matt just explained better than I ever could they missed their chance to really improve to win it all this year. They were barely in first with a lot of luck (especially with the state of the Yankees to this point). The division got a lot better, so first place was tenuous if not unsustainable.

In my mind, dumping Chavis for nothing, when you could have dumped Gonzalez with the same results by the end of the year seems odd. I feel like the same could be said for Richards and
Perez. None of this changes the fact tat adding Schwarber makes zero sense for this roster.

Yeah that is absurd.

Chicago & Washington had fire sales.

I'm suggesting a dump off whilst maintaining competitive status for the remainder of this year and beyond.

Who are you suggesting they should have dumped? Kike? Renfroe? Eovaldi? How would they remain competitive after this?

All along I was saying Richards, Perez, and Gonzalez. I would have been fine with Renfroe, since he was the best (expendable) chip.

I went back and checked and did use the phrase fire sale originally (6/28), but it was meant as a joke and there after I only posted the names I've said here.

None of the names you mentioned would have brought any kind of return other than Renfroe, and even that return wouldn’t have been spectacular.

I actually don't care. Anything would be better than watching Perez and Richards.

ellis i like you and all but you sound like a moron here

Lol at the idea that they would get anything for Perez or Richards (at the very, very least, they could take on a washed-up veteran's contract, but they don't have the space under the tax). Houck has also temporarily hit a ceiling--he's a two-pitch hitter who can go through a lineup one time before being hit. He's a C+ version of Whitlock who can pitch 4 innings on a good day. He could still keep working on that splitter/change and get stretched out, but right now his value is probably the lowest it's ever been. And I like Houck!