Didn't they have 5.2 in 2022 -- a decidedly not-pennant year -- or am I missing something?

I remember you being a big proponent when he was drafted. You may have even been the one to post some video of him throwing where you could see how dynamic he was.

Anyway, makes total sense on being 23 in Rancho! Hoping he handles the call-up well, because I want to believe in his potential!

Yeah, despite the fact that he’s the only one of the three not currently under contract with the team, I think I’d put him as the third-least likely to be effected by this signing between him, Taylor (most likely) and Lux (second)

Pretty sure Kiké is just waiting to sign until after the 60-day IL is opened. (On that note, it’s nice Roki will get an MiLB deal!)

Would like to move Taylor and let Kiké fully cover his role regardless, but I would think there’s still a 26-man role for Kiké regardless.

I’m 100% convinced the biggest difference is that you can’t throw like guys do anymore (velo and slider speed) w/o tacking the balls (e.g., pre-mid-‘21 rules in MLB or pre-tacked in Japan)

But it’s asinine to think that the pitch clock doesn’t increase the injury risk

Not trying to be "that person" here, but Eminem's line from his 2011 song "almost nobody else would think of" is the entire theme of Wordsworth's 2004 song (literally titled "Evol"), with the final line in the hook, "If you ask my definition of love, it's evil/evol."

soundcloud.com/wordsworth/e...

You're right I'm underselling him pigeonholing him. Obviously he did a lot in LA (where I perhaps improperly assign Friedman almost impossibly omnipotent powers) and OAK.

Most noticeable in those stops were the smart pickups. But at least half the teams in the league would improve hiring him as GM.

....but I got the impression many of those decisions were either at ownership's behest or severely hamstrung by their fiats.

Zaidi clearly has a few real skills. Whether he'd be able to turn a big-market team into a powerhouse or is limited to being a skilled dumpster diver is still TBD in my mind.

Zaidi's big-picture strategy in SF was obviously fatally flawed (never selling at the deadline when they were all but out of it, waiting to make a splash FA signing until the new regime sheen had worn off, trying to buy their way to level up the team...and by only *matching* elite teams' offers)...

Ppl fall back on conspiratorial cynicism in lieu of learning complexities

Deferred $ does much less than fans believe, and almost every complaint stems from a failure to understand econ, or the logistics of the payout or salary cap, but it feels good to believe in an unstoppable force of injustice