General Discussion – Week of 9-8-14 – Announcement Edition

Weekly Discussion

As the title of this post suggests, here’s an announcement – I’m leaving PhuturePhillies.com as of the end of this regular season. I’ll post a couple more weekly discussions and maybe a thought or two about the state of the org before I go, but it’s been a long year after two long ones prior, and it just got to the point where I wasn’t enjoying myself anymore. I’ll still be doing my Crashburn Alley stuff, and I hope that writing for that different, less prospect-intense audience will help bring some challenge and fun back into my writing.

A huge thanks to Gregg for bringing me on board in the first place, back when I was nothing more than a regular commenter with some questionable opinions about certain things, (notably big-bodied catching prospects from Texas). It’s been a great three years, and I’ve enjoyed writing for all of you and interacting with those of you who boldly choose to try out your opinions in the comments. I look forward to seeing what the person who comes after me has to say about the day-to-day goings on of the 2015 Phillies Minor Leagues.

Anyway, as I said, I’ll be around for a couple more weeks. So please – PLEASE – no tears, folks. There’s no use crying over minor league baseball websites. Or is it “there’s no crying in minor league baseball websites”? Perhaps its both. In which case, it’s a double negative, and you all better get the water works…uhh…working…over my departure. Open the spigot of your heart and let the sadness flow out of you like a hot summer rain!

Or talk about Phils/Bucs. Whatever.

Discuss.

42 thoughts on “General Discussion – Week of 9-8-14 – Announcement Edition”

    1. First James, then Matt, and now Brad. I feel like the site has lost so many great contributors. Best wishes.

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  2. First Thanx for everything you’ve done on here.

    I posted this in the last General Discussion but it was pretty much dead so I’m reposting.

    The Phillies are going to have to get creative in their rebuild if they want to be relevant quicker then say 2019.

    Here’s an idea . . . Jung-ho Kang. He should get posted this off season . . He’s a 27 year old SS who has legitimate power (believe he had 37 HR this year, take a look at some of his highlights on YouTube, he hits it a long ways) and has a good glove, arm IMO isn’t that strong which is where the creativity comes in. Move him to 2B. He’ll need time to adjust to 2B which is fine bc Utley has shown he’s still somewhat productive. Utley can mentor him and help him with 2B as Utley makes his move over to 1B (bye bye Ryan Howard). Look at an Inf of Utley at 1B, Kang 2B, Franco 3B and JP at SS come 2016 . . It may have some growing pains but could really be a good infield come 2017 on beyond.

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      1. His bat definitely does not play at 1B, however with the state of the team playing him at first wouldn’t make a big difference until we are competitive. I wouldn’t mind seeing Utley sharing some time with Ruf at first next season. As far as Utley playing first on a playoff contending team, that would not make a lot of sense and it would take offense elsewhere to make up for the lack of production at fist.

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      2. Because he’s going to be on the club regardless and there’s a reason why he only has 11HR IMO it’s bc pitchers don’t need to throw him many fastballs with Howard on deck. He still has 15-20 HR potential and a move to 1B will keep his body fresh. Also I’ve read (from a number of scouts) that Kang has 30 HR plus power, his highlights def show the plus power. So if that’s true and I’m getting 30 HRs from my 2B I’ll take 15-20 from my 1B and not worry about it. Obviously that would be best case scenario.

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  4. Thanks for all of the hard work Brad. I always enjoy checking your Box Score posts in the morning, even when there’s nothing positive to look at. I’ll be keeping up with your Crashburn Alley posts.

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    1. You know…the days where I had almost nothing good to say, the days that got me most disheartened, took the least time. Put the graphic together, say who did good or bad, spit out five stats, move on with my day. 15-20 minutes, really. Not bad for something I was going to do anyway, read through, notice stats, click through for two minutes to MiLB or FanGraphs on maybe one guy, etc.

      The time consuming posts were the ones where I found a way to either be (or try to be) funny the whole way through, or give a serious analysis of a particular player. A deep dive on one guy can take a while, but the end result is a better understanding of how that player is performing compared to expectations and scouting. That’s what I hope to keep up at my other gig.

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  7. Brad, you have done a terrific job and will be missed. I will make sure I check out your writings on Crashburn Alley. Best of luck!

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  8. Appreciate all the efforts Brad. A great site that I love to visit daily but totally understand all the effort that goes into contributing to the site! Best of luck in all you do! And don’t be a stranger to the comments section! Seriously, you won’t be able to get ALL the minor league chatter out of your system! You can take the boy out of the minor leagues, but you can’t take the, oh hell, you know the rest:)

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  9. Thanks so much for everything Brad. Your daily updates, delivered with just the right amount of lighthearted humor, were the highlights of my days, at least those days when I bothered to check the site. And I guess that if I am being totally candid there were some days when there were other, more notable highlights, like the first words of my son or that time I learned how to properly flip an omelet so that the melty inner filling stays precisely within the boundaries of the egg, instead of falling apart and so aw hell, you just end up having to make it into scrambled eggs. Where was I? I guess what I am trying to say is that you were a highlight of those days that did not otherwise have many things of particular interest going on, which were definitely frequent. Most days don’t involve major highlights. Or perfect omelets.

    You may no longer be here, Brad, but you will remain forever in DC. Unless you move.

    Andrew

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  12. You were a big part of the growth of this site. Seems it really took off when you began posting daily boxscores. Great job by you.

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  13. Well its official , this site is gonna suck without you , Just kidding, but it definitely wont be as good. Good luck in your future endeavors Home slice !!

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  14. You did a phenomenal job posting box scores and other threads for us obsessive phillies fans. You consistently exceeded my expectations with your prompt posts every morning and gave us readers a chance to start our work days with a laugh because of your outstanding sense of humor. It hurts to see you go but good luck and thanks for all of the thankless work you put in. Truely exceptional stuff, Brad.

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  17. Say it ain’t so, Brad? I guess that doesn’t completely work but it is my sentiment. It just won’t be the same. Most people say change is good but I’ve always said, Change is just change.” Wish you all the best in your other endeavors.

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    1. But who will post puns that consistently make me roll my eyes now and lower my expectations for humans as a whole now?

      Better?

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  19. Brad, thanks for your work in presenting boxscores, articles and offbeat humor! Now I have to check out your articles in addition to Matt’s site. Best of luck in your future endeavors.

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    1. rocco……I will pass.
      The PhuturePhilies site is looking for more posters, not alienating the ones they already have..
      Matt and Brad a good perspective on the Phillies and their system, almost every day and that is and will be difficult to replace.

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      2. yeah but alot of us dont come here for actually info we come for phuture speculation and sometimes an argument about said phuture speculation, I second Roccom’s thought

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  22. Sports is a what have you done for me lately business so the blogs covering them must also be so screw you Brad (if that is your real name) in DC (if that is your real location). Maybe your name should be John in quitsville

    VIVA ENCARNACION!!!!!
    EN
    CAR
    NACION

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  23. Brad this site is going to take a huge hit when you leave. The JAR will be in the negatives. Thats Jokes Above Replacement. There are plenty of good reports on here however yours had all the persnality. Your phun will be truly missed! Thank You!

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