NL CENTRAL PREDICTATRON 2019

cubs sign carlos gonzalez to a minor-league deal. local sports radio dudes point out this shows how the team feels about ian happ.

just a head's up - one of the cardinals top prospects is Dylan Carlson, which is the same name as the Earth guy.

could be cool

génesis cabrera will become the 2000th player to appear in a game for the cardinals

"Cards! You've got Genesis!"

I could see Carlos Gonzalez as a nice platoon player and pinch hitter. It's kind of an old Yankees type signing. Might hit or miss, either way they can afford to give him a shot. Cargo's stat line is a pretty classic peak around age 30 so far, but hey he hit the lottery with one big deal. I'd figure after that kind of deal, baseball is a hobby (albeit that pays well). I'm sure Cargo would like to play in the playoffs and have a shot at winning a ring.

The Cardinals have lost seven consecutive one-run games in May. You have to go back to July 1970 to find that many one-run losses and zero victories in the same month.

not sure if the second sentence is MLB-wide or just cardinals history - probably the latter

I would imagine - assuming these are 50/50 your odds are 1 in 128 out of any given 7-game stretch of one-run games, I would guess some team accomplishes that misfortune every year

pretty sure this is the first time since jason thompson circa 1982-85 that the pirates' best hitter is their first baseman

in between there have been a couple serviceable guys and an astonishing number of flat-out awful ones

3+ hour rain delay. this trio must have been ragin

https://i.imgur.com/JmI64CS.png

Brewers/Pirates yesterday was nuts

The Brewers placed Gio Gonzalez on the injured list with a dead arm.

that's pretty ominous, doesn't "dead arm" usually mean TJ? not to mention Chacin is *also* on the DL, though he's been fairly garbage in nearly every start thus far. on the flip side Jimmy Nelson is set to return Wednesday, the Brewers could potentially have a decent starter in their rotation for once

nah, 'dead arm' is pretty common. not a good sign or anything, but it happens.

I kind of always just took it for basic over use inflammation.

"pretty sure this is the first time since jason thompson circa 1982-85 that the pirates' best hitter is their first baseman"

Bell starting to hit like he looks. He's built like Frank Thomas, football player build.

Pirates have had a lot of formerly serviceable guys at the end of their careers playing first who are most known for playing with other teams.

The move Brewers fans have been dreading. Hiura goes back down to make room for Travis Shaw’s return from IL. https://t.co/L7ciO1hak2

— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) June 3, 2019

seems like a dumb move

idk. i mean shaw did hit 30 homers the last two seasons, but he also did not look cured in his triple-a stint

tough all around when every team needs 15 relievers

I am sure he'll be back fairly soon but yeah, pretty disappointing. he looks big-league ready.

I'm pretty sure the longterm solution is gonna be DFA'ing Aguilar - he's actually been *worse* than Shaw, and I think his prior success is a bit more flukey. Plus, we already have Eric Thames...you can always use middle infielders, while bad 1B/DH guys do nothing but clog up the roster

Moustakas just broke his finger so Hiura will probably be coming back in a day or two.

Cardinals first round draft pick UK pitcher Zach Thompson is from the county in Indiana where I grew up. Jeremy Hazelbaker who had one season as a utility guy for the Cardinals also wen to the same small county high school. I'm sure there are going to be a few less Reds fans growing up in the area and a few more Cardinal (sic) fans. Not like it is a big push to follow the Cubs or something else than the Reds these days in Indiana.

Unfortunately, he is Zack with a K, and for that reason alone, i don't like the cut of his jib

so you have also bounced Britton from the brotherhood?

lol, watch the first part (the fielding segment) of this video of the guy the cardinals drafted in the second round yesterday:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5c4v_sSfQU

mmmmm

Today @baseballpro, how #Rays Austin Meadows has fulfilled the potential that always lurked in his bat, becoming one of baseball’s best hitters. It’s a story of approach and mechanics, and of the #Pirates looking awfully silly again. https://t.co/b1BKvUnYgf

— Matthew Trueblood (@MATrueblood) June 5, 2019

all three pirates color guys have now said stupid shit that drew national attention just in the last month. i think only steve blass was obviously racist, so maybe that's a minor victory

craig "dumbass" kimbrel signs 3-year, $43M deal with Cubs

what was he originally asking for?

5+ years, triple digits, I believe

triple abbreviated digits

The New York Daily News reports:

President Donald Trump’s acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney along with other Republican Party bigwigs are hosting a campaign retreat for donors in Chicago this weekend where guests will be feted with a Wrigley Field reception in a “Friends and Family” suite including a Cubs-Cardinals rivalry game, according to a published report.

Cubs co-owner Todd Ricketts is a host of the invitation-only event. Ricketts also is finance chair of the Trump Victory Committee, which is a joint fundraising venture of the president’s re-election campaign and the Republican National Committee.

gross.

all three pirates color guys have now said stupid shit that drew national attention just in the last month. i think only steve blass was obviously racist, so maybe that's a minor victory

― mookieproof, Wednesday, June 5, 2019 2:39 PM (two days ago)

I guess Blass would bust a blood vessel if he was a barves broadcaster — they're having an Ozzie Albies palm-tree necklace giveaway night.

it's his last year, at least. and few of us know what it's like to have a disease named after one's self

he's literally been involved with the pirates for almost 60 years; i guess he must have secretly hated dave parker and the we are family team

I think some people on TV just chatter their way into trouble by not thinking about what they are saying and then trying to save face that they are not an idiot, when it is obvious at least in this case they were.

I find myself rooting for the Cards this weekend as the Cubs need to go die as long as the Rickettses are around

reds are 111 runs better than the pirates. and a game behind them

pirates also have a worse run differential than the marlins

Mike Moustakas has 20 home runs already

pirates: last place in the division, worst run differential in the league, worst team ERA in the league, second-worst home attendance in the league

also their biggest trade acquisition in forever, chris archer, has a 5.73 ERA and -0.2 bWAR. it's gonna be hilarious when they decline the 2020-2021 team options on him

Archers performance isn’t even the worst part of it!

at least meadows and glasgow have had minor injuries that will *probably* keep them from winning major awards

brian reynolds looks ok??

Meadows looks right back on track. Not sure about awards tho (all star yes, maybe silver slugger).

There is plenty of season left for this number to get back to what you usually might see, but the Reds Pythagorean record on Baseball Reference is right now pretty wacky.

Pythagorean (37-31)
Actual (30-38)

cardinals call up rangel ravelo, who has hit .301 in 838 minor league games over 10 seasons

sounds like he's just about ready.

Moves: OF Tyrone Taylor will begin a minor league rehab assignment tonight with the AZL Brewers Gold.

INF Brett Lawrie has been released.

— Brewers Player Dev (@BrewersPD) June 18, 2019

Marty Brennamen was pretty fun today driving home listening to the Reds comeback. You could tell he was pretty disgusted like 'yep the Reds are going to lose again' especially after Barnhart and Votto striking out on seven pitches was going to strand the opening double by Peraza.

Then you had the couple singles by Senzel and Winker and the game was over with the game won. Marty seemed genuinely surprised by the turnabout and was actually laughing.

Reds sweeping the Astros is also par for the course for this oddball club.

i too am open to adding a controllable hitter

The @Reds, who rank 3rd in @MLB in team ERA, have the ingredients for a second-half run at a playoff spot, as one NL Central observer said to me this week. The Reds’ front office is open to adding a controllable hitter at the deadline, source says. @MLBNetwork

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) June 20, 2019