Pol John Tweets ⚾ Words

I tweet politics, policy, & municipal government @JRROwens. I only tweet Baseball here. Mostly Giants these days (formerly White Sox). Analytics & memes! he/him

[Pol John Tweets ⚾ Words @BaseballPoli]

WAIT— @TimAnderson7 BROKE THE ALL TIME HITS RECORD TO BEGIN A POST SEASON CAREER WITH 13 HITS IN HIS FIRST 5 GAMES‼️

(prev record was 12, 3rd place is 11)

WHY ARE WE NOT TALKING ABOUT THAT?!

Why has @NBCSWhiteSox not covered it?!

Why didn’t MLB🤡Network not hype it all game?!

[Pol John Tweets ⚾ Words @BaseballPoli]

As of the 5th inning, Tim Anderson has tied the ALL TIME hits record through his first 5 postseason games.

@MLBNetwork it’s a bit frustrating you haven’t mentioned this, and that you didn’t mention this yesterday.

Please correct this! He’s a face of MLB player setting records!!

[Pol John Tweets ⚾ Words @BaseballPoli]

@equinepaparazzi @NBCSGiants Schmitt has one half season so far of true breakout. And he is drawing so few walks that there are reasons to worry it’s not sustainable.

(Again: I’m a big believer in Schmitt! I just think saying he is “twice the player Chapman ever was” is totally ridiculous)

[Pol John Tweets ⚾ Words @BaseballPoli]

@equinepaparazzi @NBCSGiants Schmitt is my favorite current Giants player, and I loved him as a prospect too— so no shade to him.

But Chapman has 1.2 more bWAR this season. Chapman is a top 30 position player in baseball the last 5 years. Chapman had a 7 WAR season in 2024.

[Pol John Tweets ⚾ Words @BaseballPoli]

Ray and Arraez need to be traded immediately. As soon as possible for both.

But the fact we aren’t trying to trade Webb or Chapman is really sad!

(There are a variety of reasons that Lee, Adames, and Devers are more iffy trade candidates. But we should take offers on everyone)

[SF Giants on NBCS @NBCSGiants]

Matt Chapman's agent Scott Boras addressed the likelihood of the Giants trading their star third baseman before the deadline 👀
https://t.co/dAqtPI9BvV

[Pol John Tweets ⚾ Words @BaseballPoli]

@Andrew_FBB Trading for Skubal feels like such an obvious move for a team like the Dodgers or Yankees. Who cares if it hurts your longterm team plans. It increases your odds of winning a 2026 World Series by like 25%. That’s an absurd jump.

Chances like that are so few and far between.

[Pol John Tweets ⚾ Words @BaseballPoli]

If this is really a good idea — like I have long said it is — I expect we see a team like the Rays start doing it a lot soon.

If not, I hope to someday understand why it doesn’t work as well as I think it should.

[Pol John Tweets ⚾ Words @BaseballPoli]

…and who was also the closer on their college team in a mid-quality conference. Guys like Casey Schmitt or Matt Davidson.

Allowing them to keep developing as a two way feels like such a no brainer.

[Pol John Tweets ⚾ Words @BaseballPoli]

I genuinely can’t tell if there is some very good reason I don’t understand, related to strength and conditioning and such, which is keeping teams from doing this?

Or is it classic baseball organizational inertia?

[Pol John Tweets ⚾ Words @BaseballPoli]

I understand why a future superstar hitter like Bryce Eldridge gets moved to position player only. His bat is too valuable to risk a pitching injury.

But there are very few hitting prospects with his upside. It’s way more common to be a 40-45 FV college prospect who hits on…

[Pol John Tweets ⚾ Words @BaseballPoli]

Saving one inning for the bullpen during a run-away game is inherently quite valuable! There’s a reason MLB had to crack down on position player pitching situations.

A team could entirely get around that by developing a fringe two way player.

[Pol John Tweets ⚾ Words @BaseballPoli]

I’m really confused why more teams aren’t trying to develop guys like this into serviceable low leverage middle relief two way prospects.

Even a 6 ERA guy that can take the mound once a week is very valuable if his main contribution is as a bench bat!

[Austin @ABartholomew_05]

A HS TWP?

[Pol John Tweets ⚾ Words @BaseballPoli]

I love Ozzie Albies. I really do.

But having him start the ASG over Luis Arraez this year is absurd! WTF?!

Ozzie:
1.7fWAR
2.0 bWAR
105 wRC+
267 avg

Arraez:
3.7 fWAR
3.0 bWAR
127 wRC+
330 avg (which really matters for how fun watching the game is)

No contest between them!

[Pol John Tweets ⚾ Words @BaseballPoli]

@SoxMach_pnoles @AaronLemingNFL Getz doing a good job at this job is by far the big picture thing I have lest expected in my entire life of following baseball.

[Pol John Tweets ⚾ Words @BaseballPoli]

@SoxMach_pnoles Getz, despite all odds, is seemingly the best of what Hahn was supposedly supposed to be.

Very confusing.

Even down to the trade reputations. Remember “Genghis Hahn” ? 🤦

The Crochet trade was everything the Sale and Quintana trades were supposed to be!

[Pol John Tweets ⚾ Words @BaseballPoli]

@HOFPosey Keyner Martinez is on the FanGraphs top 100 list. Well, technically he is at 104, and is about to get bumped down by at least 5 or 10 new draft picks.

But he certainly counts as a fringe top 100 guy who could climb.

Arraez could bet similar. Ray won’t.

Webb would net 2 or 3.

[Pol John Tweets ⚾ Words @BaseballPoli]

@CalTh1726 @HashTagWhiteSox Yeah, I’m agreeing with you. IF Lackey is the star that he very well could be, and if Teel is the star that we all think he is going to be, that’s not a problem for the Sox.

They just trade one of them for a HUGE return.

[Pol John Tweets ⚾ Words @BaseballPoli]

If the Giants trade for both picks #34 & #70, they would break the all time bonus pool record by over two million dollars.

They would have to do that in the next like 18 hours though.

[Pol John Tweets ⚾ Words @BaseballPoli]

If the Giants traded for both of these today [and they certainly have the pieces needed to do so] they could offer about half a million over first pick slot value.

That would be plenty enough to get one of the big 3 to slide down. They could prob get Roch or Emerson.

[Pol John Tweets ⚾ Words @BaseballPoli]

If the Giants traded for both of these today [and they certainly have the pieces needed to do so] they could offer about half a million over first pick slot value.

That would be plenty enough to get one of the big 3 to slide down. They could prob get Roch or Emerson.

[Kiley McDaniel @kileymcd]

Two new draft blog posts:

1. how the CBA negotiations, the weak depth of this draft, and *HUGE* NIL deals are causing teams, colleges, and agents to pivot at the last minute.

2. more details on comp picks that may be traded in the next 22 hours. https://t.co/dU9UEqVVHW

[Pol John Tweets ⚾ Words @BaseballPoli]

@mrbigjerry_ Adames is super streaky. It’s prob better to hold him and hope for another strong run, so the trade return is better. The middle infield market right now is not big either.

Chapman trade is only possible if he wants to leave, but should be done anyway. Schmitt to 3B full time.

[Pol John Tweets ⚾ Words @BaseballPoli]

@mrbigjerry_ What a weird take.

Ramos has three more years, and just came back from injury so value is still low. Killian has 5 1/2 more years. Winn has 4 1/2 more. They are both practically prospects themselves.

Walker is in AAA & has value. No reason to DFA.

[Pol John Tweets ⚾ Words @BaseballPoli]

@mrbigjerry_ Need to trade is really just Arraez and Ray, both ASAP.
Mahle too if possible.

JHL is special case b/c he brings in big international fan base. But should prob be traded.

Webb trade is very important, but return needs to be similar to Crochett / Sale / Soto kind of blockbuster.