There's a serious question there about money. That's a bigger concern because it's not like Lopez is going to get a major return either way. It's that they traded for a guy they could have had a week ago for cash considerations. They still got him but saved a bunch of money in the process. Dumped salary, avoided the cash considerations and didn't eat any of the contract to get a better return. Looks like a straightforward dump to me.

I actually don't think JJ has been like Dayton as much as people say. Dayton wouldn't have done this. JJ seems pretty hung up on trying to find relievers and fringe pitchers they think they can fix. Dayton struggled finding starting pitchers but a lot of his moves did follow the pattern of trying to find starters and if they didn't work out then they could move to the pen.

Because it is the Royals and they have shown they do not know what they are doing. The Braves, however appear to be doing things correctly.

For those who are willing to give JJ a chance, what do you need to see and by when for him to show he is a capable GM able to make the team competitive?

I'm done with him after seeing the interview where he insists they need major league ready talent in return on any trade. Even if that is his desire, he should be more aware of the fanbase and need to differentiate himself from DM and not put it out there directly.

Hopefully Sherman can have a Clark Hunt/Pioli type revelation sometime soon, clean house, and hire someone respected and proven who can lead the change.

I think the organization is so far away from being competitive that the evaluation of JJ needs to be more transactional. Is he making moves that puts the organization in a better position for the future? At this point I think there just seems to be a lot of negativity surrounding everything, and the lazy approach is to just look at ML. If they are reworking philosophies and instructional procedures throughout the org, that takes time. But we as fans have limited visibility into that because the rewards of such changes will never be immediate, and ultimately you can\will see dips in productivity at the MiLB levels if the changes are massive (which are needed). We are seeing the minors taking a step back this year.... the HOPE is that this is due to organizational philosophy changes.

What a lot of us were hoping was these "changes" would be of the personnel type so we would KNOW 100% a philosophy and approach overhaul was occurring. That isn't happening and we're hearing some of the same "GM Philosophy speak" from JJ that we heard from Dayton. Which gives the impression that we're just ****ed.

Yesterdays trade is a Dayton Moore trade. I don't know if JJ knows he is toast and wants to really just completely destroy the organization on his way out, if Sherman is telling him every trade he makes there needs to be a guy that can help in 2024 and not beyond or if he is just incompetent.

I need him to stop talking about getting back major league ready talent in every trade.

I liked what they got for Chapman. Ragans was close to MLB but had issues they thought they could fix and was high ceiling. The younger player in the package is the type of lottery ticket they should be acquiring.

When they're trading any talent, of any level, and the return doesn't make them younger, or better, or have more upside than the player they shipped out, that's an issue.

I didn't expect much for Nicky Lopez. I did expect them to do something different/better than acquiring a shitty reliever with the same level of control, who is older and worse. Especially one who literally was available for CASH last week.

It's a Scott Pioli-type move.

Three years is what you should give a GM unless legal or total shit show circumstances

This is 1 of 2 things...

JJ literally has no idea what he's doing and is nothing more than a Dayton Moore puppet as he says a whole lot of the same type of stuff...

Or

Dumping salary and acquiring "major league ready talent" is an edict from John Sherman. JJ has been told this team is not adding payroll and if anything needs to cut payroll while improving. So you have a GM who has his hands tied by ownership because hey if you are Sherman "An A ball lottery ticket doesn't get me my new stadium"

Could be either or hey maybe it's both, the fact that that entire front office is the same save for 1 guy tells me alot of about Shermans desire to spend money.

When he was already in the organization for 15 ****in years he doesn't get the time or judgement a new GM gets, that's a different scale.

This year is a total shit show, this is Nathaniel Hackett level incompetence.

I would agree under normal circumstances.

With Picollo, being an internal promotion who was touting a willingness to keep the good things (the work Drew Saylor and company were doing with hitters, letting Paul Gibson continue to overhaul pitching development after 1 year) while also ditching the bad things (extreme loyalty to players, lack of ability to be transactional, over-focus on "developing players as leaders and men", unwillingness to dump the shitty ****ing major league coaching staff).

Has he carried through on that?

It's hard to say.

Some of the pitching at the lowest levels has shown promise. Maybe the development there is working. But the hitting has also taken a step back at most levels, including the majors. I'm not sure they have something they can really hang their hat upon.

It's something fans can't get a complete picture on. But it sure seems like the stale air that was causing a lot of problems still is fairly stale and causing problems.

They're as bad as a team that is tanking on purpose...they really come off as a team that has no idea what it's doing.

The whole "major league talent" thing re: Nicky Lopez really was discouraging to see. I was willing to give them benefit of the doubt after that Rangers trade and see what types of returns they were seeking. Pulling in that level of return for him is just... inexplicable.

They're getting dragged for it, and rightfully so.

Taylor Hearns can be acquired pretty easily.

Major League ready just makes me think of the Beltran deal. That tunnel vision will kill you.

Mark Teahen was such a homo too