[DJ's left nut]

I've said it before, but you really need to watch far more Archer starts than you have reason to as a Cardinals fan to understand why he's overrated. That's a baseball nerd/fantasy baseball problem.

I watched Archer closely the last few years because of my money FBB league. He's simply not a good pitcher. He quits on too many ABs and too many games. He is so hell-bent on getting strikeouts that he nibbles early in counts. Then if he can't get you to K and he's closing in on a walk, he'll simply fire a cock-shot for you to hammer. He gives in to hitters way too often.

And in games where he's either comfortable that he's going to win or has convinced himself that he's going to lose, he'll just start to coast and get hit. Worse still, if his team does manage to change the likely outcome, he can't turn it back on so if he's already entered his 'coast' mode and the team comes back, he just goes out there and gives the runs right back.

He's a #3 starter. You look at what Price was doing as a true ace in TB and then what Snell was doing this year before his injury and you see that it isn't a 'Rays' problem or an AL East problem, it's just a Chris Archer problem. He simply is not as good as his strikeout rate says he is.

And when you look past his strikeout rate you see a guy that just isn't a guy you desperately need, especially as he nears 30 yrs old.

The Rays screwed up badly not trading him 2 years ago. They aren't going to buffalo enough teams to get a massive return. Their only hope is that Mozeliak is as stupid as Rays fans/bloggers seem to think he is. The sad truth is...he might be.