In “Lawyer World” we love having Latin phrases. But actually the “Anglo American system” is better connected to my Norse ancestors and their Norman intermediate descendants. The “grand jure” is basically the Norse “council of elders.” I can remember the translation for “res judicata” sometimes occurring in law school as “the thing has been decided.” Actually, “decided” should be replaced by “adjudicated.” Nevertheless, I am falling back on the slightly less accurate definition.
I was picking up sticks and pinecones (a frequent need) and didn’t get back in and get supper and get the game on until about 8. Well, when I turned it on it was 7 to 2 in the third inning and “the thing had been decided.” You have to remember that despite frequent visits by “Good Bryce Elder“, that “Bad Bryce Elder” won’t cease to exist. Apparently, there was a controversy in inning 1 on an appeal and overturn (before I turned it on), that IF Braves had come out it would have been 1 to 0 Mets, but no, a grand slam thereafter made it 5 to “Braves coming to bat.”
Despite scoring 2 in the bottom half of 1, Elder gave up 1 more in 2 and 3, then held them scoreless through 5. So, “the thing had been decided.”
But lo, Pandora’s last release (hope) still came around a little to tantalize the faithful. I fell for the tantalizing aroma. Braves got 2 in 4 and 1 in 5 and now it was 7 to 5 and maybe a ball game again. But alas, poor Yorick, it was not to be.
So, since we won 8 in a row, we have now lost 3 of 4. You can’t figure out whether you are coming or going. So, I will now insert my “deadline deal opinion.” And just as with ani, it may stink, but so does everyone else’s. I was quite disappointed that we didn’t get one top shelf starter. I know the explanation on why Detroit supposedly would not seriously consider our package for Skubal. And, I actually thought the Braves would have been better served to see if they could target 2 elite relievers than a starter. Why? if one gets hurt, you still have another (and I do not trust “pitcher health”, even for 60 days). Aloso, the “rehabbing pitchers” might rehab to 2 inning stints and not to 5 plus inning “starts.” I do not believe in Dr. Keynes corollary. I fundamentally don’t believe in trading tomorrow for a better today. The typical observed exchange rate on “deadline deals” is you give 2 WAR (projection as high as 4, but it is not what “pans out”) for every 1 you get. I would rather retain the competitive window and not “go for it” most of the time. This was ONE time, I had a little more itch.
Kim and Murphy on the bench again.
I’m convinced that the best version of this team has Murphy behind the plate and Baldwin at DH a majority of the time. Although some of Murphy’s detractors claim he’s worthless, the truth is he still provides tons of value through his defense — even last year, with a below average batting line, he still was worth 2.0 fWAR. And I fully believe he can provide value with the bat, too, but how’s he going to get his timing back if he almost never plays.