Not much going on, really, league-wide, so we shall wait for the Hot Stove to become lit.
What’s a college football prediction you find noteworthy?
Which player that hasn’t gotten much play would you be excited about? Mitch Haniger, for me. He’s better than most of the outfielders we’re connected to.
We’re going to do a “tournament” of best baseball movies soon. Look out for that. I think it’s going to be great.
I wouldn’t mind taking a flier on Hunter Renfroe as a fourth OF — he would probably be cheap, the Padres don’t really have room for him, and the dude has some serious PETCO power.
UGA at -14.5 seems too rich. I don’t bet much, but I may take the points. Records don’t matter in this rivalry.
I expect that Auburn will give them a good game.
@2 – I wouldn’t recommend it. The only way I see Auburn covering is a few late scores. Georgia seems to have found their stride and Auburn’s offense is still atrocious.
I prefer Hunter Renfrow, the Clemson WR.
from previous…
a 160 strong Chorus on full song is something else..Handle’s Messiah.
I like how AA is running a tight ship like JS but this is extremely boring with so little rumors!
Auburn Georgia game is going as expected. I hope you stayed away from betting on Auburn with the spread.
Well y’all was right.
Although there were moments when either/both Bulldog or Gator tears seemed likely, the games ended as expected. Good for us Georgia alum, but alas! Florida won too.
@6
and Handel’s….
The Bama offense looked kinda listless after the first quarter. Maybe, with both Tua and Jalen fighting injuries, Saban put it on cruise control early. Doesn’t hurt that the defense has all of a sudden caught up.
@12 – As a Bama fan, I have to admit that they looked beatable for the first time all year. It wasn’t the injuries that concerned me, it was the offensive line. They looked great to start the game and have done well all year, but they got dominated by Mississippi State in the 2nd half. That is a great way to get your qb and others hurt. MSU has one of the best defenses statistically in the NCAA, but i was still pretty disappointed by Bama.
Who will be the best 2 teams in the SEC West 3 years from now?
Alabama and LSU/Auburn. Just like 9 out of every 10 years.
So no A&M?
Plus, I specifically said two so that one would have to pick between LSU and Auburn. Auburn’s going to fire Malzahn, and they won’t replace him with anyone better. Swamp Creature has miraculously shown himself to be a good head coach.
But it’s Bama and A&M. Fisher’s going to get a bump off of everything going on in Texas, he’s going to be super motivated for the first 4-5 years, and he’s going to win a SECCG.
Firing Malzahn and paying him over $30 million to go away would be stupid…even by Auburn’s standards of money management.
I think Saban will retire in 2 to 3 years. Alabama will most likely stay pretty good, but their level of dominance will slip. I’m not sold on Orgeron at LSU. if Mississippi State gets an offense, they could be impressive. I’ve always said you build around linemen first. That being said, I would say Alabama and MSU. There are too many questions about Texas A&M for me. Fisher still hasn’t proven himself to me. I know he had a good run at FSU, but he left them in bad shape.
@13 Agreed. The main difference was that Deonte Brown was out and Lester Cotton back in after the 1st quarter. So, in that sense, injury is still the problem. The difference last year in the championship was not only putting Tua in but also putting in Leatherwood and Wills on his blind side. This year, the rushing game was nothing even with all the depth at RB until Lester Cotton was swapped out for Brown. The whole line minus Brown is not great at run blocking. They are OK at pass blocking but need a mobile QB to be able to take advantage of it (minus Brown). That’s where the QB injuries play a role.
Nevertheless, I wish they had let Mac Jones loose more to let him show what he can do. He was a pretty strong recruit himself once upon a time and he’s done some great things in the Spring game. This just feels like a time where a good 3rd string QB would be nice to have.
The last three quarters of this game looked like last year’s offense with Jalen at QB.
Every dynasty ends. It took Bama over 20 years to find Saban and they had good teams every now and then and even won a championship or two. They will just have to find someone who can replicate The Process. I do like Orgeron at LSU; I think he fits well with the state and the school and he’s apparently a good recruiter. The Mississippi schools will occasionally be good but never “great”. I am not convinced that whatever made Jimbo Fischer great will translate in Aggie-land. Auburn flourished when Georgia was down. They compete so closely for prospects and Auburn is always third to Bama and Georgia. Regardless of Malzahn, this a perennial issue. Texas will always be contested by multiple high level schools for recruiting and some folks don’t cotton to the Aggie Way. My vote for top teams is basically the same as Chief. Bama and LSU on top three years from now.
Also, three years may not be the best time period. Whoever Bama recruits for 2019 will still be playing three years from now (currently the #1 recruiting class in the nation). Not to mention that this high-powered offense is populated with freshmen and sophomores. Jalen Hurts is damn near the only junior and Damien Harris the only senior. Next year Taulia Tagovailoa joins the team.
Great insight on both posts above Roger. Agree that generally our run blocking has not been great, but seeing the pass blocking falter like it did is concerning. The substitutions as an explanation make a lot of sense.
Whoever said MSU hasn’t paid attention to the SEC for its 100 year history. The Mississippi schools will always be bottom feeders minus Arkansas.
Also, Jimbo is massively overrated.
SEC West (perpetuity)
Alabama
LSU/Auburn
Texas A&M
Ole Miss
Mississippi State
Arkansas
B. Kenny likes Soto in the ROY race.
Pulling for Acuna, obviously. Either is a good choice, though. Gotta like that OBP in Soto’s case, but Acuna’s second half is really the story to talk about with regard to his ROY case. His slash was .322/.403/.625.
I think it’s reasonable to consider Acuna the favorite in every category, but as I said Soto is a good choice.
@22 I love it that there are some out there that leave no room for discussion……. LOL
Acuña wins ROY!
Here’s an interesting note. See the bottom item in the post. Heyward is the 4th best FA available at 27 or younger…… right behind Machado who is behind A-Rod and Barry Bonds. I guess every signing has risks including the best of the bunch.
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2018/11/quick-hits-castellanos-astros-mets-degrom-riggleman-free-agents.html
At least we still have the second best farm system by more than one measure.
https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/post-2018-farm-system-rankings/
Of the 2018 playoff teams, the Braves system has more than twice the value as any other (HOU being the closest competition). We should be able to turn that value into a perennial champion.
Is there a table like that for 2016-2017? It seems like San Diego has by far one of the deepest farms in some time.
We always trend up when we have a player winning ROY!
@29 Seems to me like the two systems (Braves/Padres) are basically similar at the top but the Padres have a huge number of 40-45 FV prospects. I bet their minor league teams post better records than Atlanta’s. The bulk of their depth is in marginal prospects probably a bunch of AAAA players. They have apparently not done as well with the first step of rebuilding – building a reasonably competent major league team while maintaining a good farm.
Frankly, I’m not sure I understand how the Braves did it. The Braves drafted pitchers and produced position players. How does that happen?? The Padres seem to have more position player prospects but I guess they haven’t graduated yet.
When a brave win a roy, he is legit.
Much like the Braves with Wisler et al, the Padre’s early returns on the teardown have been less than stellar. With the exception of Franmil Reyes who looks like a future star (and only came up for the 2nd half) the rest of their early trades and signings have only produced replacement level guys (Renfroe might make me eat my words on that if he learns how to get on base).
However, they are very young and have several pitching prodigies set to debut next year — should the Dodgers start next year like they did 2018 I can see the Pods being “this years Braves” in 2019. More likely 2021 for them though. They have so little MLB talent at the moment.
snowshine at 33,
The Padres were “going for it” when the Braves started “tearing down.” They were the recipients of Justin Upton, his brother, and Craig Kimbrel. AFTER they “went for it,” and got nowhere, then, they started to “tear down.” So, off the top, they are 1 year behind the Braves.
Roger at 31,
The Braves have had 3 young position players contribute heavily from within the system. Acuna, Albies, and Camargo. Not a one of them was a draftee. Dansby was a draftee of somebody else that Braves traded for. And, to this point, Minter has impacted the team more than any other “post tear down” draftee. This year should be a year when more drafted pitchers make an impact.
Some really interesting folks on this list of potential non-tender candidates: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2018/11/2018-non-tender-candidates.html
Note that they are not predicting *which* of those guys will ultimately be non-tendered and they’re saying that they assume in most cases that most of those players will return to their current teams.
Some of the guys I’m interested in:
• Aaron Altherr as a platoon outfielder
• Travis d’Arnaud as an injured catcher
• Shelby Miller as a guy who hasn’t been good since he played for us
• Tanner Roark as a very good pitcher who almost certainly will not be available
• Adam Duvall to man the bench in the dunk tank
$100 says Dabo Swinney goes to Bama after Saban leaves.
Snit wins NL Manager of the Year.
Breakdown of the voting:
@37. This just bring smile to my face. Well deserve Snit. Well done.
“David O’Brien23m
#Braves’ Snitker got 17 of 30 first-place votes and the Brewers’ Craig Counsell got 11. Bud Black was third in the balloting. Snitker is the Braves’ first BBWAA Manager of the Year since Bobby Cox won the award 7 times between 1993 and 2005 including 4 in a row in 2002-2005.”
What is DOB smoking? That’s so not true. Bobby didn’t win 4 in a row in 2002-2005.
@39 Shrug. Might as well have. It’s believable.
These awards are pretty superficial. Managers win them and then get canned within 3-4 years due to impatience.
@40 I just don’t like how inaccurate he is when he is trying to share a fact. Whether the awards are superficial or not is not my point. His role includes being factually correct in his writing. DOB sucks.
@41: yep.
Snit
the weathered wit
we are delighted
on other shores he would likely be Knighted.
@36
Daybo Swinney
sudden raises can be two a pinney
the predator relaxes
not long to wait, he knows we’ll pay his taxes.
Neck.
One for 10
Two for 14
Bonuses
Security
Steal
Yes?
Would he sign?
@39
Yeah, that’s pretty bad. Kinda his job to not screw that up.
I think he lumped BBWAA and Sporting News manager of the year awards all into one thing, but since he’s a higher-up within the BBWAA, you’d think he’d know the difference.
For those wondering, Cox actually won the BBWAA award four times (’85, ’91, ’04-’05) and the Sporting News award eight times (’85, ’91, ’93, ’99, ’02-’05).
@32, Still chafed that Chipper’s not on that list.
New thread, if you can believe I would actually do such a thing.