Quote from fenn68 on August 21, 2024, 4:16 pm

Quote from sportwarrior on August 21, 2024, 3:58 pm

Quote from WindsorUK on August 21, 2024, 2:29 pm

But yes, should Merrill continue on his current path, he'll end up in the 20/20 club, 90 RBI, GG level defense, loads of clutch hits for a playoff bound team, which without him, is most definitely not in this position.

And I certainly agree with you guys, that as a baseball fan, Skenes should 100% be shut down in the near future. Kid has an AWESOME future ahead of him. No way Pittsburgh ruins that for a ROY award

Worth noting that Pitt doesn't get anything out of a ROY finish, either. Skenes was called up too late. In fact, I'm pretty sure that the Pirates lose a year of eligibility (or Skenes gains a year of arbitration?) if he finishes top two in ROY voting.... Is that correct? Someone around here knows more than I do.

IF Skenes finishes in the TOP 2 in NL ROY he is granted a full season of service time ... and that from PITT's perspective negates the advantage of bring him up late (in May). He would be a FA after 2029 (same as Merrill). However, IF PITT manages Skenes in a way he ends up 3rd in ROY ... he does not earn a full year service time and PITT controls him for one more year ... FA after 2030.

No idea what is the philosophy in the PITT front office but could make the case (from a club advantage) to shut him down and "hope" the BWAA slide him down to 3rd in their voting. Then they gain control for 2030 ... and since this is PITT they will never have the money to extend a player of that caliber (mega contract). Even in arbitration for the extra year PITT gets a better trade value as he hit 2029-30. Never know how that treatment is handled by Skenes and his agent but would still be a FA around age 30 ... so a mega contract would still be on the table.

Something to watch.

Quote from ultratvfan on August 27, 2024, 3:05 pm

According to FoxSports, Jackson Merrill is the leading candidate for NL ROY.

https://www.foxsports.com/articles/mlb/2024-mlb-roy-odds-al-and-nl-

 

Quote from 3fingersplit on August 27, 2024, 4:58 pm

Quote from ultratvfan on August 27, 2024, 3:05 pm

According to FoxSports, Jackson Merrill is the leading candidate for NL ROY.

https://www.foxsports.com/articles/mlb/2024-mlb-roy-odds-al-and-nl-

 

As well he should be.

I took my grandson to the game on Sunday against the Mets...it was a Kids Give A Way for a very cool Lunch Box and the kids got to run the bases after the game. He is 6 years old and he knows all the players on the Padres and his favorite is Jackson Merrill. We are watching the game and in the 8th inning he looks at me and says the Padres need to score so that Jackson Merrill can bat and win the game and after McCoy worked a walk and got on 1st base I looked at him and said " Jameson...this would be a really good time for Profar to put one in the seats to tie the game up" and two pitches later Profar drills the pitch into the right field stands and Petco went crazy and my grandson says to me..."grandpa, how did you know he would do that?" and I laughed and just said "that baseball is a funny game that way and when any player is having a career season that is the spot you want to be in and that someday you'll get to do something like that...just gotta keep playing and it will happen." Now we get to the 9th inning and we were supposed to go line up in Gallager square so the kids could run the bases and Jameson says " can we wait because Jackson Merrill is going to bat this inning" and he is reading the scoreboard and can see who is coming up...Merrill comes up and my grandson is screaming..."Hit a Home Run" and the people around us are just eating it up because he is so excited...Merrill gets a breaking ball that was flat right over the plate and he just smoked it...Walk it off and my Grandson is jumping up and down and everybody is giving him high fives...I can't remember a kid being so excited at a ball game and he says to me... "grandpa..I think he heard me" and I started laughing and just said " Jameson...I think you're right because everybody in section 112 heard you"...what a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Then he got to go run the bases and I swear I don't think his feet hit the ground because he was running as fast as he could with the biggest smile in San Diego... Yesterday was his first T ball practice and he is a right handed hitter but we have been working off the T swinging left handed and sure enough he goes up to hit...Left handed and actually hit a line drive...I don't know who was more excited...my son, Jamo's dad, or the coach who couldn't believe the swing he just saw...for me it was no big deal because the kid has a nice swing for being a little guy and it will give us something to build on when he comes to visit on Saturday 🙂

That is exactly why Baseball is the best game in the world and to see how excited he was made this old baseball coach as happy as one could be.... I just thought I would share this with you all.

Jackson Merrill should be ROY but even better is the fact that he has a young fan for life.

Go Padres !!!

Quote from ultratvfan on September 3, 2024, 12:33 pm

Congratulations to Merrill for winning NL Rookie of the Month for August. He has earned it.

https://www.mlb.com/padres/news/mlb-monthly-award-winners-for-august-2024

Quote from LynchMob on September 5, 2024, 8:15 am

Ken Rosenthal at The Athletic

Skenes might only be third-best NL rookie

Two weeks ago, we wrote about a motivation for the Pirates to shut down right-hander Paul Skenes. By ending Skenes’ brilliant rookie season, the team could prevent him from finishing first or second in the NL Rookie of the Year voting, and thus deprive him of gaining a full year of service time and keep him in Pittsburgh for at least one additional season. Undaunted, the Pirates keep pitching Skenes. To no one’s surprise, Skenes continues to excel, working five scoreless innings Tuesday and lowering his ERA to 2.13 in a 5-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs. But the way the NL rookie race is shaping up, the Pirates might get their extra year of control over Skenes, anyway. Crazy, isn’t it? The continued excellence of the Padres’ Jackson Merrill and the electrifying rise of the Brewers’ Jackson Chourio easily could result in the two center fielders finishing 1-2, with Skenes dropping to third. Merrill hardly was dominant in the first two months, batting .281 with three homers and a .681 OPS through May 31. Chourio downright struggled, batting .210 with five homers and a .581 OPS in that time frame. But both players have ignited since, putting together wondrous seasons. They also have been with their respective teams since Opening Day, while the Pirates waited until May 11 to promote Skenes. Now consider the numbers of Merrill and Chourio since June 1: Merrill: .298 BA, 18 HRs, .902 OPS Chourio: .320 BA, 14 HRs, .929 OPS Merrill is four stolen bases shy of a 20-20 season. Chourio is one home run short. Merrill has six game-tying or go-ahead homers in the eighth inning or later, tied with Frank Robinson for most in a season at age 21 or younger (since 1900). Chourio leads the NL in batting average since June 1, and won’t turn 21 until next March. Skenes, 22, obviously is no slouch, but he has thrown only five innings in each of his last two starts, and 114 on the season. Voters from the Baseball Writers Association of America are free to choose a hitter or pitcher for the rookie award, but as everyday players, Merrill and Chourio might rate an edge. Merrill has 514 plate appearances, Chourio 478. A number of other NL rookies also warrant consideration, but the race likely will come down to Merrill, Chourio and Skenes. Again, the whole thing is rather amazing. As good as Skenes has been, as much of an impact as he made on his team and his sport, he might only be the third-best rookie in his league.

Quote from LynchMob on September 5, 2024, 6:08 pm

MLB OPS Leaders, Last 30 Days

Rk	Player	Tm	OPS
1	Yordan Alvarez	HOU	1.233
2	Aaron Judge	NYY	1.159
3	Vladimir Guerrero Jr.	TOR	1.121
4	Bobby Witt Jr.	KCR	1.105
5	Jackson Merrill	SDP	1.071

Quote from fenn68 on September 9, 2024, 3:38 am

Supporting his case for NL ROY, Merrill currently sits #7 in BA and #10 in wRC+ ... plus based on WAR the #1 CF in the NL. Plus he started the year in the ML and played almost every game.

Wonder how much the Padres front office is "marketing" Merrill's ROY candidacy to the voters? If he wins, Padres do get a bonus draft pick so both Merrill and the Padres actually benefit.

Has Merrill done enough for the Padres to start considering offering an extension? 10 year deal buys out 5 control years and 5 FA years and still allows him to be a FA at age 31ish.

Quote from BoosterSD on September 9, 2024, 8:29 am

Quote from fenn68 on September 9, 2024, 3:38 am

Supporting his case for NL ROY, Merrill currently sits #7 in BA and #10 in wRC+ ... plus based on WAR the #1 CF in the NL. Plus he started the year in the ML and played almost every game.

Wonder how much the Padres front office is "marketing" Merrill's ROY candidacy to the voters? If he wins, Padres do get a bonus draft pick so both Merrill and the Padres actually benefit.

Has Merrill done enough for the Padres to start considering offering an extension? 10 year deal buys out 5 control years and 5 FA years and still allows him to be a FA at age 31ish.

While considering an extension, I think it would be smarter to tackle that after 2025 season. Considering if it was 10 years, it would probably be in the $10-12M per year AAV and Im not sure that SD has that room until after 2025 season.

Plus, would give SD an extra season to make sure that 2024 wasnt a fluke season.

Quote from Randy Manese on September 9, 2024, 9:17 am

I think Jackson Merrill is living out his dream, doing what he loves to do with a group of guys he loves to play with in a town that appreciates and supports the team he plays for.  I'm not worried about him wondering why he isn't getting paid more, in fact, he's earning the most money he ever has (a quarter million minimum salary) in his life and probably would play for free just (not really) to experience what he has this year.  He and Tatis Jr.  will continue to bring energy to the Padres in the future and be joined in the next couple of years by Salas and De Vries before the latter hits his peak years.   It's something to look forward to since I believe Merrill will only get better by being a little more selective at the plate, drawing more walks and driving up his OBP into the 350+ range. Stats-wise, his first 3 years could look like a young Cody Bellinger with slightly less HR's and K's, but a higher BA - just got to keep him healthy.  Merrill, however, has better bat to ball skills and is much less pull conscious than Bellinger was/is, so he's likely to retain a higher BA (280+) in the future and still develop 30+ power annually.