At this point, you win as many ****ing games as you can. If they finish the first half 10 games under, try to be 20 games over for the second 81. Can't control what other teams do (till you play them h-2-h). They can't just relase/trade everybody and rebuild with some of their long-term commitments. Get Garcia and LMJ back and eased in (when next year was always going to be the true "back healthy/no restrictions" year). Based on a lot of that, they can decide whether or not to trade Tucker/Framber this off-season or go for one more loaded chance in 2025 (certainly feasible with some minor changes and better luck with health). But they have the ability to play better/more consistent baseball throughout. The starting pitching has been really good for the last month+. The lineup has been a mixed bag but hopefully with less dead weight, gets more consistent as well. Same with the bullpen that is HEAVILY invested right now.
While its true the gap is less (6.5 games), we are chasing 7 teams. IMO, a wild card birth is even less likely than a division title.
We will get to see for ourselves how dysfunctional they are as will be evidenced by what they accomplish in the coming weeks. If they think letting Abreu go was all they needed to do, then they are delusional as well as dysfunctional.
Divisions? Wild Cards? Playoffs? If this team wants any part of those, they’re going to have to go streaking….
Hope its not out of necessity (meaning JV injury or a setback to one of the guys coming back). While he looks very promising... young pitchers are going to be inconsistent regardless, till they're not. Hopefully Hunter Brown is at the point where he's over whatever was afflicting him since his debut, but it took almost a full 2 seasons (or 40 or so starts) to get to this stage.
This is why they dont need to be sellers. Those guys and if Loperfido plays like he has so far, there's no reason not to be buyers. I really want one more solid J.D. Martinez type bat and a high leverage reliever.