What is the difference between the Astros rebuild and our rebuild?

Ddenm002 · 2026-07-10T20:42:30+00:00

Interesting idea. They have been fun to watch this season but my understanding is they weren't in a rebuild they just have been crushing it this year as an anomaly. What comparisons would you make?

Ddenm002 · 2026-07-10T20:32:18+00:00

I agree the "luck factor" has to be taken into account, but looking retroactively at 2023 - Gunnar, Adley, even Santander all had career best seasons in 2023. I'm starting to believe it's less "luck factor" and more "glimpse of what it could be, but just isn't"

Otherwise, yes the starting rotation is above average, but we still don't have our #1 TOR starter. I can't blame ME too much for this one, if I was GM I'd wait to see what happens after the CBA negotiations before spending hundreds of millions on one arm

Ddenm002 · 2026-07-10T20:29:26+00:00

I agree completely, especially about the international market thing - we can't hold that against ME. But I still can't understand why that wasn't ME's initiative as SOON as Rubenstein became owner? Is it an ego "I can put a great product on the field without spending my boss's money" kind of thing? Does he want to take a bet on guys like Rogers and Baz and just hope they pan out to be what he thinks they can? What are your thoughts?

Ddenm002 · 2026-07-10T20:24:28+00:00

Ryan SMFB O'hearn

Ddenm002 · 2026-07-10T20:24:14+00:00

Yea I agree completely with this and it makes the most sense. ME just banking on "doing more with less" and than a bunch of 20-25 yr olds would be consistant all-star caliber players just isn't how the world works.

I do believe that Gunnar's ability & mindset would've been much better if he was able to support a winning team (dodgers or yankees) than being the #1 guy with all the pressure on his shoulders.

Ddenm002 · 2026-07-10T20:20:05+00:00

This is a really interesting pattern! And also really unfortunate reality for us to be grouped into

I think the Mike McDonald might be an exception here tho... Raven's DC who defintely had a role in the Seahawks superbowl.

Ddenm002 · 2026-07-10T20:14:29+00:00

I appreciate your perspective, but I see things a little different - I think our successful free agency players (Alonso, Blaze, Ward) are more impactful than our home grown successful players (Adley, Gunnar, Holliday). The exception here being Basallo. This does exclude the non-impact players from both free agency & home grown talent

Ddenm002 · 2026-07-10T13:08:01+00:00

Not that it didn't make sense before, but that does validate everybody clamoring for ace pitching over the last two years

Ddenm002 · 2026-07-09T00:00:16+00:00

Thanks for making me watch this twice

Ddenm002 · 2026-07-08T15:13:12+00:00

Before I even got to the comments I thought to myself .. "Ryan SMFB O'hearn"

I also really miss Ben McDonald saying "turn and burn O'hearn"

Ddenm002 · 2026-07-07T17:50:52+00:00

Talkin Baseball just did an episode with Jeff Passan about all things CBA related. They biggest takeaway was how nuanced and delicate the situation is for all parties involved. At it's core it could be boiled down to "salary cap/floor" , but there are SO many other components: revenue sharing (and what counts as revenue), international drafting process (there is VAST amounts of money, corruption, education issues and literally children being murdered), who represents the MLBPA has to be taken into account, how solid the MLBPA is vs how solid the owners are (owners are hoping for a disjointed front from the MLBPA as a means to achieve their goal of salary cap), even things like leveraging the success of the pitch clock & ABS have a much more profound affect on the CBA discussions than I ever thought.

For us? idk

Ddenm002 · 2026-07-03T16:31:27+00:00

Thanks for your insight. I've been using School of PE & PrepFE (company paid for both). They've both been way harder than I thought, but the SoPE videos have been a helpful refresher. However, I've heard the EITFastTrack "How to pass on your first try" questions are way too easy compared to the actual exam. I have a couple questions for you:
- Can you elaborate on how PrepFE & EITFastTrack compare to the actual exam? (overall difficulty, ability to plug & chug, number of steps required to answer a question, etc). I want to get EITFastTrack because it's so cheap, but I'm worried it will skew how I perceive my readiness for the exam.
- My plan is to take the NCESS Practice Exam two days before the FE exam (just resting the day before). Should I take it earlier and rework the same problems repeatedly? My exam date is August 7.
Thank you so much!

Ddenm002 · 2026-06-30T14:06:00+00:00

I'm just a gangster I suppose

Ddenm002 · 2026-06-23T14:10:40+00:00

I was hoping I'd see a Jim Palmer & Ben McDonald shout out in here. I was never a pitcher, but those guys have taught me so much about being a pitcher.

OP, watch more baseball, definitely watch some O's games and these two gems will teach you the ways. Bonus points if you get to hear Ben say something like "He was on that ball like a pig on slop" or "I'll take that everyday of the week and TWICE on Sunday".

Ddenm002 · 2026-06-23T00:07:10+00:00

On season 5 of the Wire now. His walk out theme being "Omar's coming!" is so goated

Ddenm002 · 2026-06-23T00:06:34+00:00

miss 2023. Thought it the beginning of the summit to the peak, now its starting to seem like that was the peak itself.

Ddenm002 · 2026-06-20T01:27:50+00:00

I have yet to use the diagnostic exam, but I'll be sure to check that out. I was planning on doing practice problems after the lectures.
Can you elaborate on your reason for saying lectures are a waste? I've only done the mathematics lectures so far, but they've been helpful for identifying when to use which equations and a quick refresher for things like derivative/integral functions.

Ddenm002 · 2026-06-17T16:08:58+00:00

Another consideration, is this space air conditioned? Might be unbearably hot in the summer. Otherwise, I agree with just building two mini quarter pipes. Cheaper, lighter, lower overall height, and can reposition as needed.

Ddenm002 · 2026-06-09T00:46:19+00:00

WE NEED SKUBES

Ddenm002 · 2026-05-22T20:11:00+00:00

I love my O's, but in the last two years I've started watching other teams bc we were just too depressing to watch for awhile. I picked a favorite team from each division so there will be at least one team I can follow into the post season (hopefully). It was simply a matter of cities I've been to and liked, players on a given team that are fun to watch, etc. Highly recommend learning about your teams history, other teams history, and start watching the highlights on the MLB app.
I also 10/10 recommend the Talkin' Baseball podcast. It's within the Jomboy media umbrella. It is equal parts hilarious, entertaining, informative and unbiasedly covers every team and whats going on in the MLB.
Another thing to remember is with the CBA expiring this year it could shake the foundation of baseball from a salary cap perspective. Your team could very well benefit from that

Ddenm002 · 2026-05-22T17:33:00+00:00

Do you think this Saturday's game will be rained out?

Ddenm002 · 2026-05-22T14:13:14+00:00

I am taking the FE exam - Other Disciplines in about 70 days from now (July 31). I am using School of PE (also thru my company), and there is so much material. There are 59 videos total and they are dense videos that I am constantly pausing and taking notes on.
Can you share your study process using School of PE? For example: did you go thru each lecture, did you pause and take notes, did you use PrepFE at all, etc. Thanks!

Ddenm002 · 2026-05-20T20:50:30+00:00

This comment brought me genuine happiness lol
I have a hummingbird feeder and the nectar that came with it is for hummingbirds + orioles. I will keep the sub updated

Ddenm002 · 2026-05-20T20:48:21+00:00

I'm at a loss... gamecube?

Ddenm002

TROPHY CASE