9/18: Home Away from Home G/T

[TraderGary]

White killed that. lord.

Okay, I'm PUI (posting under the influence) so take anything I say with a grain of salt. But I think anyone ready to throw in the towel on Evan is barking up the wrong tree. They have to keep in mind that this is his first season above AA. He's had streaks where he has absolutely raked, and he's one of the best defensive 1st basemen in baseball.

Based on what I have seen, I can easily see him as a .270-.280 hitter, 20 HR's, and 90 RBI's. Combine that with his GG defense, and I'll take that every time.

That used to be my expectation but now its .230-.240 with 25-30 HRs. Which probably is close to the same OPS. Really hope he finishes strong and last night was a good start.

I think it's too early to draw any conclusions. I could just as easily see .230-.240 as I could .270-.280. But as someone posted last night, he needs to get his swing under control and quit swinging out his ass. The power is there. He doesn't need to try to hit 500 foot HR's.

[TraderGary]

I think Evan has to stop swinging out of his ass at every pitch if he ever wants to think about .270+

True that. But I think he's pressing this year in an attempt to prove himself. Give him a little more time and I think he will settle in and adjust his swing to be a little more under control.

I am guessing one of the points of the contract was so that he wouldn't press. Not working out there.

It think anytime a player first comes up to the majors, they're going to press to prove they belong. Obviously, once they get a taste of the show, they're not going to want to go back down. And he's still adjusting to major league pitching. It's a tough transition.

[TraderGary]

I'm not ready to give up on KK. His stuff is much better this year, and he's got the arsenal to be pretty effective. I think it's all mental at this point. Can they get him straightened out? That remains to be seen, but the potential exists. Next year will be the key for him.

Over the last few years a lot of people have said the same from Chone Figgins to Casey Kotchman to Justin Smoak to Nori Aoki to Wade Miley to Dee Gordon to Mallex Smith. The list goes on and on.

In the end, most just sucked. Some got better; would they have gotten better in Seattle? I lean, No.

I never felt confident about any of those players you listed. I'm not going to put KK into the same category as those guys, at least not yet. He's got above average stuff, he just needs to get his head screwed on straight. Is that possible? Time will tell, but he needs to show us something next year for sure.

[TraderGary]

Over the last few years a lot of people have said the same from Chone Figgins to Casey Kotchman to Justin Smoak to Nori Aoki to Wade Miley to Dee Gordon to Mallex Smith. The list goes on and on.

In the end, most just sucked. Some got better; would they have gotten better in Seattle? I lean, No.

Trying to think of a single guy that suck for a year and a half with us and we were patient with and finally got better here?

I've tried doing the same.

The best I can come up with is guys that were jerked around and not given a steady opportunity like Dylan Moore and he's still performed when given the chance.

The guys they play every day that just suck, can't think of any.

I'm with you guys in that I can't think of any either. That's pretty sad.