For MLB fans

[Gryph]

So if anyone has MLB package, should look for me and Stretta on TV.

though fwiw I'm debating even going, managed to get 3rd row behind 1st base opening day tickets from stubhub for 300 a piece, and now they are jacked up to 1900 a pop. REALLY considering just dumping them and splitting the profit down the middle with him. But...but...baseball.

[Gryph]

It really annoys me that I have to wake up at 5:35 in the morning on wednesday to catch the opening game lol.

[Hulky]

dat trout money tho

[Spencer 555]

Considering inflation and comparables, trout probably deserved a 600m dollar deal.

[Hulky]

Does Ramon Laureano have the best arm in the MLB?

[Hugh]

The Mariners lead the league in basically every offensive category. Yesterday during the game they said they had more HRs than any team ever in the first 12 games of the season. I think maybe most runs scored too. That’s arbitrary I know but any time they talk about “all-time” it’s still prettt cool. That’s 100 years of baseball. They have 33 homeruns already. What the fuck? This team?
It’s pretty funny but also fun to watch. Definitely have a Bad News Bears thing going on.

[Hulky]

lol I'm watching Bad News Bears right now

[The Butcher]

that Harper guy sure can ding em

[Hulky]

oof

[Sanosuke]

Viva Los Bravos

[The One]

Bochy’s last season as an MLB skipper. C’mon Giants...one last hurrah.

[Hulky]

Marlins beating the Phillies 19-11 is fucking hilarious

[Serge]

Sano, if your Braves could just lose a game or two periodically that'd be great, thanks.

[Hugh]

Nelson Cruz has been a complete beast for a long time now, but he’s having the best season of his career and he’s 39. Wonder how long he can keep it up.

[Sanosuke]

Sano, if your Braves could just lose a game or two periodically that'd be great, thanks.

My condolences, friendo

[Serge]

For the first time since they moved to D.C. the Nationals have won a playoff series. This team is incredible. They are outmatched as hell but they just keep punching.

[Hulky]

Crazy that the Brewers, Dodgers and Braves are out. Would not have guessed Cardinals or Nationals as the NL World Series team. Where did this Howie Kenrick dude come from? Rendon is going to get paid, Soto is insane and it would be kinda hilarious if they won the WS after Bryce Harper's journey to FA made the covers of video games.

Cardinals I thought sucked and is pretty surprising to see still in it. I thought like their pitching was basically done with massive regressions across the board.


Astros v. Yankees should be a good series.

[Spencer 555]

These playoffs have been unreal, I guess this is the plus side of having so many teams tanking. The cream of the crop are that much more fun to watch.

[Hulky]

Is there talk about Bryce Harper leaving and the team he left almost assuredly going to the WS in DC? I feel like thats a massively understated storyline right now in sports, but maybe Im not exposed to enough baseball.

[Gryph]

Is there talk about Bryce Harper leaving and the team he left almost assuredly going to the WS in DC? I feel like thats a massively understated storyline right now in sports, but maybe Im not exposed to enough baseball.

Not really. Everyone knew Nats offered so much deferred money to Harper that he'd be paid until he was like fuckin 60 years old. But him leaving is a god send in a way. Sure you lose out on a potential generational talent, but in turn it basically allows them to potentially keep Strasburg and Rendon and use that money to bring in key pieces where they were weak to begin with. Though with how he's pitching in the postseason and Rendon putting up "sliders on rookie level" numbers, I'd assume both of them would command potentionally 150-Upper 250's million$ pending on the length of the contract.

What's funny though, is even when he shit the bed HARD in the first month of the season, he still had a fantastic season (.260 / 35 / 114 / 15) The BA leaves a bit to be desired, and he struck out way too much, but he was hitting the ball hard pretty much the entire season, stat sheet wise, he was almost as good as he was in 2015 when he won MVP. But he's in the same boat as Stanton, they don't want "elite" numbers. They want "You're paid to be the best. So No one should have that title except you" seasons.

It would of been blown WAY out of proportion if the Phillies made the playoffs and met the Nats, but that entire team shit the bed and shot itself in the foot so many times it doesn't really matter at this point.

[Serge]

From 19-31 in May to the World Series. I don't even have anything clever to say.

People making shit posts on reddit have been making a huge deal about Harper being at home while the Nats finally find success in the post season. As a Nats fan Harper honestly feels like ancient history at this point. I loved his time here and he did some incredible things and I hope he has a great career but I have too many amazing players to root for on this team to pay much mind to guys who went elsewhere. Rendon, Soto, Scherzer, Strasburg, Turner, Robles, etc.

[Hugh]

Congratulations, Serge. Nats are an awesome team. I will never get over the Mariners drafting Danny Hultzen over Anthony Rendon. He just keeps getting better.
And Hultzen never threw a pitch in the majors.:)
But good luck. I’ll be rooting for the Nats all the way.

[Achilles]

Is it just me or are the Red Sox like the most unpredictable team in any sport? This is the third time in my lifetime they've won the World Series then been literal garbage the next year with the entire same team. Baseball is really all I keep up with and it's so odd because it's not even like all three times it was the same team. Like they win then just fucking blow the next year.

Only reason I'm asking is because the entire city is like scratching their heads over how they could be this bad after winning the World Series. It's so weird.

[Lex]

Is it just me or are the Red Sox like the most unpredictable team in any sport? This is the third time in my lifetime they've won the World Series then been literal garbage the next year with the entire same team. Baseball is really all I keep up with and it's so odd because it's not even like all three times it was the same team. Like they win then just fucking blow the next year.

Only reason I'm asking is because the entire city is like scratching their heads over how they could be this bad after winning the World Series. It's so weird.

Very expensive pitchers were either injured or bad. They still had like a top 5 offense.

[Hugh]

Jose Altuve is absolutely unbelievable.

[Hulky]

So Grienke, Verlander, Cole, Scherzer, Strasburg, Corbin are all in the WS. I guess starting pitchers are important lol.

[Serge]

Jose Altuve is absolutely unbelievable.

I heard that was just the 5th time a player ended an LCS with a walk-off homerun in MLB history. What a fucking list to be on.

[Serge]

So Grienke, Verlander, Cole, Scherzer, Strasburg, Corbin are all in the WS. I guess starting pitchers are important lol.

This has to be the greatest WS ever in terms of starting pitcher matchups. It's looking like it will be Cole/Scherzer G1, Verlander/Strasburg G2, and Grienke/Corbin G3. If you love pitching duels this is the series for you.

These are actually two of the best offenses in the MLB this year but I'm predicting it's gonna be a bunch of 3-2 games unless Houston is able to force us to use a bullpen pitchers not named Doolittle or Hudson.

[Madamos]

Correa's 94.5 mph throw to first for double play was insane too. JESSSSUUSSSSS

https://www.reddit.com/r/Astros/comments/dkkm7e/correa_throws_a_945_mph_rocket_to_complete_the/

[Serge]

Everyone was so busy asking if the moment would be too big for 20 year old Juan Soto they didn't think to ask if Juan Soto would be too big for the moment.

3/4 1 HR, 1 2B, 1 1B, 3 RBI

Nats win.

[Hulky]

"Nats handed Gerrit Cole his 1st loss since May"

insane lol

[Serge]

That loss was on May 22. The Nats turned their season around May 23. Also, that loss came against former Nationals pitcher Lucas Giolito.

I love this team. They went up 6-2 late and then they just kept at it. Kept their foot on their throat and scored more every half inning to make it 12-2 going into the bottom of the 9th.

[Gryph]

Really wish it was Yanks - Nats. but I'm also super glad Nats are shit slapping the Astros right now. Team is fully starting to go heel mode at this point. Good luck Serge, hopefully they beat em down in DC.

[Achilles]

I fucking hate Red Sox ownership. They got us four World Series but they're dumbasses. It looks like they're going to let Mookie Betts walk.

[Hugh]

Mariners team ownership got us 0 World Series rings and 0 appearances...in 43 years.
Imagine how dumb they are!!

[Hulky]

So series tied at 2-2 means we will see the stud pitching match ups again right

[Serge]

Yep. Gonna be Cole/Scherzer tonight, Verlander/Strasburg on Tuesday, and then Greinke/Sanchez&Corbin in game 7 if needed.

I think we need to win the next two to win the series. No way we win game 7 in Houston.

[Serge]

So Scherzer couldn't start game 5 because of muscle spasms but the fans still got their money's worth because we all know they spent $1000s of dollars to watch Lance Barksdale compensate for his shriveled mummified cock.

Multiple key moments he called ball or strike based on whether he felt he was being properly respected by the hitters and catchers.

1. Astros catcher starts to run off the field thinking it's strike 3 to end the inning. Called a ball. (Zimmerman actually started to walk ton1st luckily the ump missed this.)

2. The catcher Gomes starts to throw the ball around the horn after an obvious strike 3 (at least an inch between the ball and the edge of the plate) and the ump calls it a ball and outright tells Gomes "Don't run off on me like that."

3. A pitch in the exact same place as the one called a ball in the Zimmerman example. Well off the plate. The Astros catcher has learned his lesson and stays still. Victor Robles runs to first on what is clearly ball 4. Ump calls it strike 3 and kills the Nats best chance at a rally.

Fuck this bullshit. If that ump ever calls another game it's a travesty.

[Hugh]

I hope they get rid of home plate umpires completely. They are worthless turds.
It’s like having fat assholes perched above intersections with red, green and yellow flags instead of traffic lights. All they can do is fuck it up. The machine does everything perfect as long as it has juice. Why the fuck are we still relying on someone’s OPINION to determine balls and strikes? The machine gets it right every time.

[Achilles]

They will never in a million years do that. I agree with you, but there's no way it will ever happen. Baseball fans are obsessed with the old timey aesthetic of baseball. People would flip the fuck out if they got rid of home plate umpires. That's a huge part of the reason baseball is losing so many viewers, they refuse to modernize it because of that aesthetic, you know like BBWA types who don't wan to change the game. In my opinion they need to come close to cutting the season in half, add a pitch clock, take off three innings, etc. The average length of a baseball game is over three hours, and you get them 5-6 games a week. Nobody has time for that. I might not like football personally but the one thing about it I totally dig is it's an event. It's once a week and it's a huge deal when it comes around. Baseball, which is my favorite sport to watch, is so frequent it's not really a big deal if I miss games. I'd personally like it a lot more if they cut the season down, made games more meaningful as a result, and they were less frequent.

So in that vein I definitely agree with you. They should do away with plate umps. They just won't because they're so obsessed with how it will affect baseball stats, because you technically can no longer really compare stats between an era where you had an ump's subjective call and a computerized call. Which, I'm with you, I don't give a fuck it makes more sense to use the machine. But all the math purists in baseball would never in a million years allow that, along with the old timey american past time folks.

[Hugh]

You’re right about old baseball fans, Ach, but the young generation takes over for the old one every time. To use a baseball term, they’re batting 1.000. Eventually all the old fuckers that like watching incompetent turds fuck up balls and strikes and ruin games will be dead and baseball will either change or die with them.
As far as stats go, steroids effected stats for an entire era more than just calling a pure strike zone will in my opinion. Sure they don’t let steroid users into the HOF ( yet ) but they aren’t throwing out their stats. Barry Bonds is still the all time HR leader.
They’re already using the machine to show tv viewers the strike zone, so we can see every time the ump fucks up. They don’t have to do that. If they were worried about keeping the game pure, they wouldn’t. They’re using instant replay and manager challenges. All these things are new. I’ve read they’re experimenting with robot umpires in minor leagues already.
I think it’s coming. People can beat their chests about the purity of the game and that dumb shit all they want but when it comes down to the nut cutting ( and it already has ) cash is king. Baseball isn’t going to die on principle.
I think we’ll see it happen in the next 5 years.

[Achilles]

I hope you're right and I'm wrong. I hate seeing them so slow to modernize it because it's such an awesome sport.

There's a really awesome BBWA journalist here in Boston, Tony Massarotti. He's a pretty big deal in sports journalism and has wrote several REALLY good books about baseball. He wrote an awesome book with Tim Wakefield about what it was like being a knuckle ball pitcher that's absolutely worth reading (https://www.amazon.com/Knuckler-Life-Baseballs-Confounding-Pitch/dp/054775034X).

Anyways, he's been a heavily vocal advocate for basically what you said, that the old timey folks have to go because like it or not baseball is hemorrhaging viewers objectively. There's just too much of it, the games are just too long, and there's a bunch of common sense stuff they could do to speed up the game that would objectively be more palatable to younger viewers. It's not like pre-WW2 1930s where we can all sit around a radio for hours listening to baseball all day. Which, I get the old timey aesthetic of it, but it's just a a different world now. He was talking about it on the radio the other day and their largest demograph is people over sixty, so young people simply aren't watching it. I personally love it but realistically I don't have time to watch five or six three hour games a week.

So he had this brilliant idea that he's been very vocal about on the radio. Cut the season down by about a third, and make all games six innings. Instead of basing your record off of purely wins and losses, add a point system. You play one four game series every week. So for each game you win in the series, you get a quarter of a point. If you take 3 out of 4 games you get an additional quarter of a point for winning the majority of the series. If you sweep you get a half point additionally. So that way you get four game series that are much more meaningful. So like if you win two of the four games, you get .5 points. If you win three out of five games you get .75 points plus an addition quarter point for the majority win of the series and walk away with 1 point. If you sweep you get 1 point for all four games then .5 and walk away with 1.5 points.

I personally think it's a brilliant idea. The games would mean way more and it'd be like football, where everything you do all seasons counts much more so you're likely to be more invested.

[Serge]

Stephen. Fucking. Strasburg.

This is our fucking franchise guy. All the hype. The 14K rookie debut. All the nonsense about the shutdown. All the stories about him being a head case who can only perform when it's 75 and sunny.

And here he is 5-0 in the post season this year with two absolutely dominant performances in the World Series. With his teams backs against the wall he went out there determined to do whatever it took to force a game seven. 8.1 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, 2 R, 7 K

In an interview after we swept the NLCS he said, and I'll paraphrase here, that he felt every year the Nats made the playoffs they had truly great teams playing great but they just ran into a buzzsaw. He then added, "Maybe this year we're the buzzsaw."

Strasburg is absolutely that fucking buzzsaw.

[KBHoleN1]

For real, I don't want you to win the World Series. But I'm happy to see Strasburg pitch well. After all the bullshit he's been through, it's nice that he's got his moment now.

[Greendaybum5]

For real, I don't want you to win the World Series. But I'm happy to see Strasburg pitch well. After all the bullshit he's been through, it's nice that he's got his moment now.

i second this....let's go astros lol

[Hugh]

Go Nats! I’m Washington all the way.
I don’t hate the Astros even though they’re a divisional opponent because they paid their dues and did it right, and built their team with young players, something my fucked up team has never been able to do.
I pretty much just want the Nats to win for Rendon and Strasburg, two of my favorite players.
Also for Serge. He deserves it.

[Serge]

Never a doubt.

5 elimination games. Came from behind in all 5. They know no other way.

[Hugh]

Congrats, Serge.

[Hulky]

Congratulations

[Achilles]

Come from behind wins in post season baseball are more rewarding long term memory wise, but holy shit are they stressful to watch in the moment. The most stressful sporting event I've ever watched was the 2004 ALCS when the Red Sox were down 3 games to 0 to the Yankees. They won game 4 and we were all like meh, doesn't mean shit. Then halfway through game 5 people started being like damn what is happening. It was super fun but I've never been more stressed out watching baseball games in my life because the entire second half of the series was all elimination games, and also nobody had ever been able to come back being down 3-0. I remember being at parties and nobody was sitting, everyone was just pacing around a nervous wreck.

I'm sure it was probably stressful as fuck for you to watch at times, but now the Nats have a way more epic story.

[Serge]

Thanks guys.

Hey man, I was a Red Sox fan in 2004 because I watched baseball with my grandpa who was born and raised in Boston. I remember that team and that run. It was honestly kind of funny because my grandpa is a root for the home team kind of guy so he only wore his World Champs Red Sox hat for a few months before he swapped it for a Nationals hat.

The celebration around this Nationals win is very similar to the 2004 Sox in that the team and players have really extended an invitation to guys who were on the Nats teams of the past who never got a ring.

[KBHoleN1]

Congrats, Serge. I know it's been a long time coming and you should enjoy every minute of it.

[Achilles]

Congrats, Serge. I know it's been a long time coming and you should enjoy every minute of it.

Yeah it's like way better than anything else in sports. Same thing with Sox and Cubs. It's honestly sort of boring here with some teams because they win so much. It's a special thing when you get to see someone break a drought, or win for the first time. It's such a cool experience to see for yourself.

[Hulky]

Why would the Astros have gone from Grienke to RP instead of saying it's the last game of the year fuck it Grienke into Verlander into Cole fuck breaks if it's all on the line even if you only give a minimal amount of pitches I'd think you'd still want any of them over any RP on the Astros.

[Serge]

I've heard that Grienke isn't a guy who tends to go 110+ pitches a start and the pitch he threw to Rendon was an absolute meatball. I agree that the moment he left the game was the moment we won but I don't know that it was necessarily an obvious mistake to take him out for their best reliever. It's pretty well accepted by smart people that if you're using a starter as a reliever in the post season you want them to start an inning not come into the middle of an inning.

That said, I've also heard that Harris told Hinch before the game that he was gassed and didn't think he had his best stuff.

But *THAT* said the pitch Howie sliced into the foul pole was actually a great pitch. Howie just do what Howie do.

[Hugh]

Retarded they just give Trout the MVP every year. He’s great obviously but he had a typical Griffey Jr. season last year and Griffey never got any MVP nods. Why? Because the Mariners sucked, just like the Angels. Bregman or Rendon should have won. Their seasons were just as good and they were pivotal to their teams getting to the World Series. That should matter.
They shouldn’t just give it to Trout every year. That’s fucking stupid.

[Achilles]

I fucking hate Red Sox ownership. We have the highest ticket prices in baseball which sucks for different reasons, and their ownership is going to let Mookie Betts walk.

[Hugh]

At least your ownership group brings home the hardware.
And I haven’t read anything and Mookie Betts leaving Boston except trade speculation.

[Hulky]

Astros accused of cheating by reading pitch signals and relaying them in real time then hitting trashcans to say what pitch it was, reported by Mike Fiers the As pitcher who won the WS with the Astros couple years ago.

Happy they didn't get a second.


edit: Also Ken Griffey won an MVP

[Hugh]

Yeah I know. He should have won a bunch though if they’re gonna give it to Trout every year no matter what is my point.
It doesn’t matter. I just think it sucks.

[Spencer 555]

Im with you Hugh. Only time a non playoff team player should win an mvp is if they put up all time numbers or smoke the competition. Id say trout winning it this year isn't completely egregious because I would agree he was the best player in the AL pretty significantly, but he missed almost 30 games due to injury. Bregman put up mvp numbers in my books.

[Achilles]

At least your ownership group brings home the hardware.
And I haven’t read anything and Mookie Betts leaving Boston except trade speculation.

They're shopping him because he doesn't want to be here. Boston is pretty cut throat when it comes to sports, not just baseball. If you listen online to 98.5 Sports Hub they talk pretty regularly about how athletes across all four sports hate coming here because it's championship or bust. It's the culture here, like the Red Sox could get to game 7 of the ACLS and lose and the city would be like WHAT A BUNCH OF FAHKIN LOSAHS.

I'm aware of how spoiled we are, there's no denying we've been the biggest sports dynasty in American history the last twenty years I've seen four World Series titles, Six Super Bowl titles. One Stanley Cup. One NBA title. Then I've seen three Super Bowl appearances they lost, two Stanley Cups they lost, and one NBA championship they lost. Not to mention how often Boston teams across all sports make it into the post season and have success.

But most people aren't aware. It's why athletes hate coming here. The expectations are too high. Terry Francona after he left the Red Sox did an interview and he was like "man you should measure years in Boston like dog years they want so much from you." And I think the people here are fucking stupid because this is a freakish thing and it isn't going to last. I mean it's insane, there's no denying we dominated the entire country across every sport for twenty years, but it's not going to last. I don't get it because like when I was a kid, Boston SUCKED at everything. The Curse of the Bambino was still a thing, nobody won shit, and it was after decades of like the Celtics winning everything, the Bruins too. We had our run but it's all going to come crashing down eventually.

[Hugh]

I don’t have my finger on the pulse of Boston sports, but if you’re saying Mookie Betts doesn’t want to play for the Red Sox as if it’s common knowledge there and widely accepted as truth, it’s makes sense that Red Sox ownership might be hesitant to sign a 10 year $300 million deal with a player who doesn’t want to be there.
The Nationals didn’t sign Bryce Harper and they just won the World Series. Mookie Betts is an awesome player but they can’t sign some huge blockbuster deal and make him the face of the franchise if he doesn’t want to be in Boston.

[Achilles]

Well that's the thing, and I didn't quantify it well in my last post. Nobody wants to be here because of the sports culture. Like you said, you don't have your finger on the pulse of Boston sports culture because you're not here, which makes sense. I don't know shit about Seattle.

David Price has famously HATED it here since he got here. He just got paid so he stuck with it. It's exhausting being an athlete here because the expectations are so absurdly high. The Bruins made it to game seven of the Stanley Cup last year and after literally everyone was like "blow it up, trade every single one of them and start over." I'm from Boston and even I can admit the insane amount of championships we've had the last twenty years has made it too cut throat here. I wouldn't want to come here if I was an athlete.

[Hugh]

Yeah, Boston sports fans have zero perspective. Either they never had it or they lost it somewhere along the way.
Even you said you think Red Sox ownership is fucking stupid and you could fix what’s wrong in 5 minutes even though you’ve seen what, 4 WS in your adult life? Lol.
That’s the thing. You can say you’re aware that you’re spoiled and maybe in the literal sense that’s true, but you don’t actually have any idea what that sounds like to someone like me.

[Achilles]

I do, actually. I'm of the age where I got stuck in the middle of my dad, and then the generation after me. My age is basically the only generation that saw Boston sports suck. My dad grew up during like the Bill Russel era in the NBA where they won what, I think fifteen times before I was even born? He saw all the Bruins crazy early success. Then you have my cousins who are younger than me who were born after the late nineties and all they've seen nothing but success across all four sports, and absurd, historical success. So they know nothing else (and they're going to be in for a rough time when it stops, because it will stop).

I grew up in the nineties when we were the laughing stock of sports culture. EVERY team fucking SUCKED. So I'm actually like a rarity for Boston sports fans, I didn't see the crazy historical stuff, and I don't only know the recent success.

So when I say it's annoying they're letting Mookie walk, I mean it in a financial sense. They have the money to give him a huge contract, and it's annoying because we have the highest ticket prices in baseball. It's not the first time they've been cheap here and let huge players walk, and it sucks that you can't even afford to go to Fenway for a game and they routinely refuse to pay people. If I have to pay twenty dollars for a beer at Fenway it's annoying when you see them like a Mike Trout level player leave and be like "we couldn't afford him" knowing the announcement was written from John Henry's private yacht.

There's also the other thing here that people might not be aware of, and it's how Boston and New York in baseball is basically a rich guy competition. It pisses people off here because John Henry is just as filthy wealthy as Steinbrenner, but Steinbrenner just pays for whatever needs to happen and it's way cheaper to go to Yankee Stadium than it is Fenway. Which is dumb. I'd actually say, as a Red Sox fan, that the Yankees and Red Sox are the reason there should be a salary cap in baseball. Every few years they blow everyone out of the water with signings because they both have so much money, and it's absolutely unfair to the rest of the league. The David Price contract was fucking stupid high.

[Achilles]

But yes, your point stands about me. I've seen four World Series wins, and countless ACLS appearances, one Stanley Cup and two other Cup appearances, Six Super Bowls and three other appearances, one one NBA Championship and one other NBA Championship appearance. And basically every team in every sport has extremely deep runs every year. So I get what you're saying.

[Hugh]

I do think it’s cool you’re a baseball fan. Baseball is something that makes no sense to anyone who isn’t a fan, and I totally get why, but I love it. Even listening to it on the radio is something I still love to do.

[Achilles]

I love listening to it on the radio. I think it's the old timey aesthetic of it to be honest. I do wood working and my favorite thing is listening to the Sox on the radio out in my garage. I have this running joke with my family that I would be the ultimate 1920s baseball announcer because I'm stupid good at voices (if I was smarter when I was younger I'd have gone into voice acting). I can do like that old timey TED WILLIAMS HIT A FROZEN ROPE INTO MID FIELD HE'S ROUNDING FIRST NOW SECOND NOW THIRD AND HE'S SLIIIIIIIIIDING INTO HOME AND HE'S!!!! OUT. OH HORSE FEATHERS...."

Haha.

[Spencer 555]

The pats success boggles my mind. I dont understand how a coach and quarterback can be so dominant over such a long length of time without the game passing them by and evolving. Is football just stuck in it's ways? I don't pay much attention to football, but the other major sports have changed a ton over the years recently and the dinosaur coaches who can't adapt are ran outta town. Hockey has a new speed/skill element that's essential, baseball has the homeruns, strikeouts, defensive shifting and 100mph pitches, basketball has wingspan and 3 pointers. From an outside perspective, bellicheck seems to have cracked the code and noone else knows how to beat his schemes.

In hockey with the bruins, the success has been cultural I believe. The players have always been the gritty/tough sons of bitches cause thats the boston way.

Red sox success, I think, has to do with analytics becoming much better at predicting success and essentially making it easier for high payroll teams to spend effectively. Imo, the red sox are basically the leafs of baseball. Highest ticket price, most rabid idiotic fans who don't tolerate failure but show up to games no matter what.

Celtics success, I think is a good representation of what to look forward to in boston when this run is over. Smart franchize, good coaching, but attracting free agents is hard and success (especially championships) is hard.

[Achilles]

Well that's sort of like the thing with it (and I'm genuinely not bragging or beating my chest, I think we can all agree the last twenty years in Boston has been insane), is basically the rhetoric on all news media here since like 2010 is "this is going to come crashing down eventually," and it just... hasn't. I know it will, I'd be dumb to think it won't. But this has just gotten historically insane at this point. I mean like Hugh noted, "what do you think this sounds like to me," I've seen an absolutely historical amount of championships here. Four World Series, Six Superbowls, one NBA Championship, and Stanley Cup and with basically constant post season deep runs in every single sport as well as other multiple championship appearances any of said four teams (except the Red Sox, they've won all of them handily) came pretty close to winning.

Nothing like this has ever happened. It's fucking insane. Like it's not out of the question that the Patriots could win the Superbowl this year. The Bruins got to game 7 of the Cup last year and now they look like absolute world beaters, the numbers they're putting up are insane. The Red Sox are super unpredictable which annoys me, the routinely win the WS then like miss the playoffs with the same exact team the next year which still boggles my mind, but their ownership has so much money they're basically in the running absolutely every year. And the Celtics are always in deep playoff runs and they're playing the long game and are absolutely going to be a contender and very soon since they've developed their youth.

It's nuts because I have friends all over the country and they all share the same exact sentiment as you guys, about how we're so spoiled we don't even know we're spoiled. Like I mentioned earlier, I was born in '89 so I at least saw a little over a decade of every sport team here being fucking garbage, so I'm not blind to it. But I can't imagine if you were like born in 1995 or so and all you've seen is every single team across all four sports absolutely crushing the rest of the country year in year out. Because basically once the Patriots won in 2001 after Bledsoe got hurt and Brady came in, it for some reason absolutely opened up the flood gates and EVERYONE in EVERY sport started ruling. I remember after the Patriots second or third Super Bowl on opening day with the Red Sox they had the whole championship Patriots team come out from behind the flag with wheel barrels of dirt from Gillette Stadium and dump it all over the field at Fenway, and then the Red Sox had one of the most iconic runs to a World Series ever. It's been fucking wild here since 2001.

I'm thirty years old and I've been to twelve championship parades since I was twelve or thirteen or so. And across four sports.

It's going to be a rude awakening for that whole gen z generation once it inevitably happens. Like I said, this is surreal, and I wouldn't be surprised if this never happened in any city ever again. I know I'm very lucky to have been around for it.

[Achilles]

Oh and by the way, on the topic of Boston sports fans being shitty - it's 100% true.

This is a very, very harsh city to move to. My ex moved here from New Jersey and she was like this is the meanest culture I've ever moved into. Like if you want an idea of what people are like here just drive down the highway and you'll figure out pretty quick that people here are very vocal, very mean, and will always throw down. I love where I'm from but I grew up here and can deal with it, but if I hadn't been born here I wouldn't want to move here. The Simpsons have tons of writers from Boston and they decided to do an episode called "the Town" that's about Boston and it is the most accurate fucking thing I've ever seen. The writers from Boston were super self aware and very self depricating and it's absolutely hilarious. It's absolutely worth watching if you have twenty minutes.

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7f79gf

So us winning a ton combined with our culture here where literally everything is like FAHK YOU YA FAHKING FAGGOT was literally the worst thing that could have happened, haha.

[Achilles]

It looks like Mookie Betts is absolutely gone. The rumors here are even though he's a world beater, he just hates living in Boston and even though the Red Sox have the money, he just doesn't want to be here. It sounds like they're just going to swallow it and try to package him for as much as possible before letting him go to free agency. It sucks because he's a like a franchise player but I mean what are you gonna do if he hates it here. I hope they just trade him for a boatload of prospects because Dombrowski absolutely gutted our farm system, as he typically does. I mean we got a World Series out of it which was fun, but he didn't really set us up for the future.

It sounds like they're going to try to move David Price too, but I don't know how the fuck they're going to unload that contract unless they eat a ton of money. They gave him a retarded amount of money. Other than like the Yankees I can't think of anyone that would want to take that on, especially at his age.

[Spencer 555]

Trading price for salary relief would mean sweetening the package with prospects or young talent. If Boston is in fact worrying about the sky falling and shifting to rebuild mode, they probably should just ride out the price contract or trade him for prospects and eat the salary.

[Hulky]

Blue Jays making some neat moves.

I like Ryu and Shaw.

I assume Shaw means Vlad Jr is 1st base now. Heard Encarcion might come back to DH. Could be a sleeper playoff team next year, but tough division.

[Spencer 555]

Doubt it.

[Hulky]

1B: Shaw, assuming last year was fluke and previous two were what they are getting
2B: Biggio
SS: Bo
3B: Vlad

seems like a good infield doesn't it though?
Grichuk was a pretty underrated OF last year and Gurriel has been floated as someone of value in trade speculation.

Ryu was awesome last year, Shoemaker seems like a good #2 and Chase Anderson and Tanner Roark seem like high 3 low 4 ERA type dudes.

Then if they trade for David Price back that seems like a good rotation, especially if they got power in a bat like Edwin at DH (and Giles actually lives up to potential as closer)

[Spencer 555]

Not enough depth behind those guys, and defense is gonna be a problem. All 4 of those infielders are below average defenders especially vlad who is piss poor at 3b. We don't even have a center fielder.

The pitching thankfully looks much improved, but I don't see it as more than a stopgap between now and the future rotation. We don't have too many years or dollars committed to this rotation, so I'm happy with it.

Jays still have a ways to go. If we can get some massive improvement defensively from our infield and one of our CF prospects hits, we could be in the running for a wild card. Yankees, Red Sox and Rays are just too good to consider a division win right now.

I think the plan is to be a fringe team the next 2-3 years, competitive, but not a real contender. And then if all goes well, really invest and go for it after that.

[Spencer 555]

I would like the Jays to trade for Price btw. If we absorb that contract and get a couple prospects in that deal, it's a win win.

[Hulky]

It's amazing to me looking at some MLB trades, how a sport completely ruled by analytics has so many completely lopsided trades.

Is a huge part of these trades just shedding contracts or something?

[manonfire101]

It might be why the sport has a lot of lopsided trades. This metric says the player is okay, but this one says he's really good. These two are used to measure the same thing and reach very different conclusions. GM's can be pretty stupid as well. Like Jeff Bridich insisted on adding an opt out to Nolan Arenado's contract after he said he wanted to be a Rockie for life.

[Spencer 555]

So many factors go into it Hulky. I can explain the logic of most trades if you have any in mind.

[Hulky]

for example why did MIA trade Miguel Cabrera, Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich?

surely being a good team in a market like Miami would be worth something

[Spencer 555]

It's more profitable to be a good team without paying anyone.

Miami's style seems to be pay as little as possible and bank on the highest risk prospects in order to capitalize when the time is right to spend. They have been big spenders in the past, but never beyond a couple years in a row because it's not profitable to be a mediocre expensive team in miami and the owners have traditionally been in it for the money.

[Gryph]

for example why did MIA trade Miguel Cabrera, Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich?

surely being a good team in a market like Miami would be worth something


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkOtndaStzo

Bout sums it up. Marlins ownership is all about maximum revenue return. If their team loses 25% of their total revenue income for players, well. Fuck em.

[Achilles]

Looks like the Red Sox are gonna fire Alex Cora.

[Spencer 555]

Good. Whole team deserves to be lynched.

[Gryph]

Looks like the Red Sox are gonna fire Alex Cora.

Good. He's a frigging cunt anyways. Hopefully they ban him from baseball.

[Achilles]

Good. Whole team deserves to be lynched.

Why? Ain't the Red Sox fault. He did it while in Houston. Why should the players be lynched because they hired someone shitty?

And I agree, he should be banned from baseball. I'm sure he wasn't the only one pulling this shit but someone needs to be made an example of, so it might as well be him since it's such a clear cut case.

[Gryph]

Baseball is the only sport where the players police themselves. Every single person who joined in did it of their own accord and knew EXACTLY what they were doing. The problem with the Red Sox in this situation though is they did this AFTER the MLB memo telling teams to knock the shit off. Then they had the brush up with the Yankees over the apple watches and stealing signs during 2018 WS.

Manfred really should of just dropped the hammer and gave names, everyone's suspended 100 games involved, players included, and that includes Carlos Beltran who is appearing to get off scott free cause he was a "player" at the time. Instead, all he did was just punish Managers, who in all honesty do nothing other than look at a book set up by advanced scouts and he goes "Guess I'll go with the same 3 pitchers I've gone with for the past 7-9 innings" it's the easiest "coach" job in all of sports.

Like putting this into a little bit of perspective though, Altuve wins MVP in 2017, Aaron Judge finishes 2nd. Altuve gets 6-8 million that year [pre 7/163 extension] Now Aaron Judge on the other hand, earned around 650,000 that year for being 2nd in MVP voting on a rookie contract. His arbitration this year, was 8.5 million [compared to Mookie's 23 mil] A players arbitration money is based on previous value set before a MLBPA representative that can side with the player/agent or team itself.

If that sign stealing, ended up being the main variable in causing Judge to finish second, Altuve literally just fucked a random player out of about 5-10 million dollars of arbitration money. Which was why Fiers opened his mouth about them "ruining jobs and careers". Any player involved in it should have been decimated by Manfred, instead he wussed out and slapped their wrists.

[manonfire101]

Very happy for Larry Walker.

[manonfire101]

Derek Jeter got 396/397 votes. I wonder what asshole didn't vote for him.

[Spencer 555]

Yes! Bout damn time!

[Gryph]

Derek Jeter got 396/397 votes. I wonder what asshole didn't vote for him.

Probably a Marlins fan. lol

[Hugh]

After Mariano Rivera got 100% votes I thought the voters were done with that stupid tradition of “Nobody gets 100%. If Babe Ruth wasn’t 100% then nobody ever will be!”
Which is archaic and dumb as fuck but fine. So one or two assholes would hold out on a player like Griffey or Ripken or someone even though they knew for a fact that player was a hall of famer. They were just preserving a stupid old tradition.
Then a relief pitcher gets 100%...
Probably the greatest reliever in history but a reliever all the same. First player ever. Not Hank Aaron. Not Willie Mayes. Not Mickey Mantle or Cy Young or Nolan Ryan. Mariano Rivera.
Fine. The tradition is over and these old fucks are going to start voting honestly according to what they actually believe and the players deserve. Here we go. Derek Jeter. Slam dunk. No discussion necessary.
And some fucking dipshit votes no.
Votes no on Derek fucking Jeter. Baseball is so fucking stupid sometimes.

[Spencer 555]

Im with ya hugh. I think Clemons and Bonds are pooched. Next guy I want in from the list of older ballot guys is Rolen. Always hated Schilling. Lots of guys have a fairly good claim still and there really aren't any new guys on the ballot next year.

[Gryph]

After Mariano Rivera got 100% votes I thought the voters were done with that stupid tradition of “Nobody gets 100%. If Babe Ruth wasn’t 100% then nobody ever will be!”
Which is archaic and dumb as fuck but fine. So one or two assholes would hold out on a player like Griffey or Ripken or someone even though they knew for a fact that player was a hall of famer. They were just preserving a stupid old tradition.
Then a relief pitcher gets 100%...
Probably the greatest reliever in history but a reliever all the same. First player ever. Not Hank Aaron. Not Willie Mayes. Not Mickey Mantle or Cy Young or Nolan Ryan. Mariano Rivera.
Fine. The tradition is over and these old fucks are going to start voting honestly according to what they actually believe and the players deserve. Here we go. Derek Jeter. Slam dunk. No discussion necessary.
And some fucking dipshit votes no.
Votes no on Derek fucking Jeter. Baseball is so fucking stupid sometimes.

What do you expect from writers? Not players, or managers, or GMs/Owners. Just random writers, who have nothing to do with the sport and were "grandfathered in", deciding who gets in and who doesn't.

[Hugh]

I expect them to be honest. I get what you’re saying, and I agree, but do you really think the one voter who voted no on Derek Jeter for the Hall of Fame REALLY believes Jeter isn’t a first ballot Hall of Famer? No he doesn’t. It’s ridiculous to even suggest it. Anyone who covers baseball for a living knows Derek Jeter is a no brainer.
It’s fucking stupid, like I said.

[Spencer 555]

Id vote no if Jeter didn't sign my collection of game used Derek Jeter jock straps as well.

[Serge]

You don't vote yes or no. You list ten eligible players you believe should be in. So the guy left Jeter off his balot knowing Jeter was a slam dunk because it let him put an extra fringe player on his balot.

[Spencer 555]

Let me rephrase then. Id leave him off my ballet if he refused to sign my authentic jock strap collection too.

[Hugh]

So the guy left Jeter off his balot knowing Jeter was a slam dunk because it let him put an extra fringe player on his balot. If the real reason for a voter keeping Jeter off the ballot was to give a a fringe player a chance then you would have seen more than one voter do it. Don’t try to justify something as stupid as keeping Derek Jeter off of a hall of fame ballot. It’s just as stupid as it sounds.

[Spencer 555]

There werent 10 guys on the list anyways that were worthy. Next year is even thinner.

[Gryph]

Price and Betts to the Dodgers

For those who don't know :
Dodgers Acquire Betts and Price, along with Brauston Gababababababababaulllyyy whatever his name is
Twins acquire Kenta Maeda
Boston Gets Alex Verdugo and Brauston Gabababababababaullly whatever his name is.

Strange trade honestly, I know why Boston did it. But, I don't know why the hell the Dodgers would do it. Sure Betts is a game changer, and Price can be elite at times. But didn't Dodgers have a massive outfield logjam last year at one point? Trading OF for OF just...yea lol.

Verdugo, Pollack, Bellinger, Taylor, Hernandez. Plus they have a logjam infield as well

Muncy, Taylor, Hernandez, Lux, Turner, Seager and a bunch of situational guys. Everybody on that team plays multiple positions, sure. But how much value can you really have moving 12 bats around all over the diamond every day? At some point, positions need to settle in y'know?

Edit : Nvm, there goes Joc Pederson to the Angels. Logjam fixed not more than 4 seconds after I made this post

[Spencer 555]

Highway robery. For the first time ever, I feel a little bad for the red sox.... but not really :p.

Dodgers have to be world series favourites at this point.

[Hulky]

would they extend Betts or is this a rental

[Gryph]

would they extend Betts or is this a rental

I have a feeling it was mostly the same with Chapman and the Yankees - Cubs. Where management explained like "Hey, this needs to happen and we want you here. Help these guys win so you can help us win tomorrow, go try to get this world series and then we can do our business" kinda things. Then Chapman resigned the next year.

If it was to go Boston's dream scenario the following would need to happen :
--JD Martinez goes off and is dealt at the deadline to a DH needing contender for more salary dump
He brings back either a highly touted pitching prospect or a few dart throw 1-2 year away guys / Backend bullpen guys [Hader possibly?]

--Jackie Bradley is traded for another prospect

--Triston Casas and Bryan Mata DESTROY the minors and get called up

--Red Sox, now under luxury tax enter 2020/21 season with a 300 million dollar centerpiece, very little dead money, and a restructured rotation and begin contending again

[Achilles]

Mookie hated Boston. David Price REALLY hated Boston. Like very openly in our media. The Red Sox fucked up. They signed price for waaaay too much money, and he fucking despised living here. The Boston sports media is more cut throat than any sports market in the nation and I'll eat my hat if you can prove me wrong. Athletes and managers are on record saying it fucking blows working here because it's championship or bust in Boston. Since 2000 I've seen six super bowl wins across nine appearances, four world series wins, one stanley cup across three appearances, and one NBA title across two appearances. I remember saying something bitching about the Red Sox and Hugh was like "you're only thirty and uou've seen four world series titles."

So Mookie and Price fucking hated it here. When Price came here he'd never won a post season game. The people here absolutely impaled him because he blew his first season and only came here for the money.

I ain't saying it's right, but if you come to Boston either win or go home. That isn't my feeling, it's just my observation on the culture here.

[Achilles]

Not for nothing either, but when my dad was eight there wasn't a single year the Celtics had not won the NBA Championship since he was born. If you come here as an athlete in any sport... good luck.

I would not want to come here if I was a pro athlete. That's why Mookie is gone and the Red Sox ate half of Price's historically high salary.

[Hugh]

Yeah I can see that. There’s no denying Boston is the king of the hill in pro sports. I’d have an easier time trying to prove Shaq is a Korean dwarf. It would be hard enough trying to stay mentally and emotionally focused throughout a 200 game, 9 month baseball season. Doing it in front of the toughest fans in baseball is something I can see a lot of players just not wanting to sign up for. Especially since baseball teams don’t really stick together anyway. Players get moved around so much practically everyone is an extended slump away from a new city.
The Mariners suck, and have forever, but we have a beautiful stadium WITH a retractable roof ( no rainouts) good fans, plenty of money and no expectations. People here love the Mariners and we never win. Why not make a shitload of money playing here with no pressure? I mean there’s pressure to perform but nothing like with the Red Sox or Yankees.
Of course you’re never going to win anything here but if you do you’ll be a fucking hero for eternity.
Seriously Edgar Martinez is royalty here. The guy could commit murder on the top of the space needle and not get convicted. He was a career DH who hit a double in the NLCS once and a couple of batting titles. I mean I loved him too but Jesus.

[Hulky]

pretty sure Price won at least one playoff game in Tampa like they did make the WS Im assuming he won a game and I'm pretty sure he won one that year with him Josh Donaldson and Edwin in Toronto

[Achilles]

Price hadn't won a playoff game until a few years into his tenure in Boston. The entire media rhetoric around him here until we won in 2018 is how did this prolific post season choke get this much money.

He was also out for weeks because he, and he's on record saying this, "injures himself playing Overwatch." The reason the Red Sox ate half his salary and included him in the trade is he was just like a cancer in the club house. It was something in the news he was bitching about every day. It was super well known from the onset that he hated Boston. He only came here for the money and literally did nothing but constantly bitch to tbe media.

[Gryph]

Boston fans kinda set their sights a little too high when it came to him to be honest. They were expecting 1968 Bob Gibson, and instead got someone who went 46-24 with a 3.66 era while he was there, won game 5 of the world series, shutting down the Dodgers for 7 innings. If he did that with 28 other clubs, he'd probably still be there.

2016 : 17-9 / 3.99 Era, 35 starts [Ran into the buzzsaw that was the Indians, who went like 41-5 at one point in the season or something insane like that]

2017 : He yells at Eckersley [who is a known cocksucker] team mates applaud him on plane, he injures his elbow, goes to bullpen, shuts down Astros in ALDS 6 1/3rd scoreless and pitched on 3 days rest out of the bullpen later in the series. He refuses to apologize to Eck and gets skewered by fans and media

2018 : 16-7 3.58era, Eckersley bullshit blows out of proportion, media and fans attack him again, he gets blown up by the Yankees [who always hit him hard] then bails out the team on 3 days rest against the Astros when Sale got scratched.

If you remove the one indians and yankees starts, he was 5-7 with a 3.01 Era in the postseason. If it wasn't for Eckersley and his shitty attitude he'd still be a Red Sox and wouldn't have a problem. And it all started because he stood up for his team mate [Eduardo Rodriguez] who Eckersley was insulting on the team plane. And then Eck decided to tweet about it and blow it completely out of proportion. his locker room problems as a cancer was because of Farrel, and they latched onto Price as a lynchpin media wise, when the majority of it was just him not putting up with bullshit. I don't blame him for hating it there

[Spencer 555]

To be fair, we heard plenty of shit about him hating boston since his tampa days when he was in Toronto. I was shocked he signed with the red sox, and fully agree it was for the money.

But from my perspective, he performed adequately to the level of his contract for most teams, and for the most part I think the drama was overblown.

Betts on the other hand is pretty insane to me. I think this trade was a clear ship by your owner. "Get these guys off the team now". Ive never heard of a team trading an mvp caliber player AND an adequate #3 starter on a big contract for practically nothing while also eating some of the contract.

[Gryph]

To be fair, we heard plenty of shit about him hating boston since his tampa days when he was in Toronto. I was shocked he signed with the red sox, and fully agree it was for the money.

But from my perspective, he performed adequately to the level of his contract for most teams, and for the most part I think the drama was overblown.

Betts on the other hand is pretty insane to me. I think this trade was a clear ship by your owner. "Get these guys off the team now". Ive never heard of a team trading an mvp caliber player AND an adequate #3 starter on a big contract for practically nothing while also eating some of the contract.

I forget how many years it is before MLB docks funds from Intl' pool money for being over the luxury tax, but I'm pretty sure the Red Sox were like, this year and that's it close to it. They were at like +50% tax rate

[Spencer 555]

Its just insane that there wasnt a bigger market for those 2 in a trade. The sox mustve been higher on Verdugo then me.

[Gryph]

From what Alder on ESPN reported, Red Sox wanted two top 10 prospects for just Betts. He's good, but he's not worth that for 27 million and one year to a non contender. So it really leaves only a handful of teams, yknow?

[Spencer 555]

I dunno man, but you may have a better understanding of the trade market then me based on this trade.

Just a few years ago the cubs gave up Torres who was a top 5 prospect in baseball at the time for half a year of a closer. Would seem like Betts on a 1 year deal is at least worth double that to me. I understand most people feel the cubs overpaid, but there's a price to pay for winning. A lot has changed in the last few years, teams have gotten smarter at managing their money and capital, but damn.

I would have been happy to see the jays trade like this: Lourdes Gouriel (young big league talent - proven impact player) + Anthony Kay (close to bigs 45 FV prospect #4 in jays system) + Adam Kloffenstein (A ball prospect 45 FV prospect - far from majors - #10 in jays system) for Price and Betts, and I think the jays would have had the bankroll to absorb the entire Price contract.

This would have been comparable to the haul the A's made off with for Donaldson and that was seen as a huge win for the jays at the time. Factoring in what we knew about Donaldson at the time (all star - not mvp level player) + three control years, would you not agree that a year of Betts (mvp level player) + potential to get the inside track on signing him long term (young) + #3 starter - beloved veteran presence on young team - minus all the money, would you not agree that this should have garnered similar trade value (or even more because again, most people laughed the donaldson trade outta the building)

Rant over, sorry for grammar, I dont have much time these days to sort out my thoughts properly.

[Spencer 555]

Looks like the red sox got a bit better of a deal after all is said and done. Still think they coulda got more, but at least they're getting a couple guys to go along with Verdugo.

[Hulky]

Any chance he just goes back to Boston after winning a WS in LA?

[Spencer 555]

Why would he? Theyre only trading him cause they dont think he'll resign.

[I'malive]

Well the only way we could realistically "afford" to pay him what he's worth is by ducking under the luxury tax this year, so it is possible that there was some kind of verbal agreement. It would make sense for both sides - enable the Sox to pay closer to what Mookie wants, while bolstering the team and farm system in a way that wouldn't have been possible without the trade. I'm not saying there's really any chance of this happening, but it wouldn't be the craziest free agent storyline that I've ever heard.

[Gryph]

I dunno man, but you may have a better understanding of the trade market then me based on this trade.

Just a few years ago the cubs gave up Torres who was a top 5 prospect in baseball at the time for half a year of a closer. Would seem like Betts on a 1 year deal is at least worth double that to me. I understand most people feel the cubs overpaid, but there's a price to pay for winning. A lot has changed in the last few years, teams have gotten smarter at managing their money and capital, but damn.

I would have been happy to see the jays trade like this: Lourdes Gouriel (young big league talent - proven impact player) + Anthony Kay (close to bigs 45 FV prospect #4 in jays system) + Adam Kloffenstein (A ball prospect 45 FV prospect - far from majors - #10 in jays system) for Price and Betts, and I think the jays would have had the bankroll to absorb the entire Price contract.

This would have been comparable to the haul the A's made off with for Donaldson and that was seen as a huge win for the jays at the time. Factoring in what we knew about Donaldson at the time (all star - not mvp level player) + three control years, would you not agree that a year of Betts (mvp level player) + potential to get the inside track on signing him long term (young) + #3 starter - beloved veteran presence on young team - minus all the money, would you not agree that this should have garnered similar trade value (or even more because again, most people laughed the donaldson trade outta the building)

Rant over, sorry for grammar, I dont have much time these days to sort out my thoughts properly.

Nah I feel you. But what some people don't remember was that Cubs team had no place for Gleyber to actually play [at the time] Addison Russel just came out belting out 20+ bombs at SS, Zobrist was all over the place, Javy locked down 2b, which was both of Gleybers prime positions. Cubs were in "we need to win. Now's the chance" and overpaid for Chapman. But Chapman also at the time was making 11.3 million [also half paid by Yankees because of how trading mid contract works] So in reality it was more like getting one of the best relievers in baseball for 5 million in exchange for a super prospect who was roadblocked at the time.

Flipping that to the Dodgers side though, Betts is in arbitration that was set at 27 mil. Dodgers have to pay ALL of that. Plus whatever they are taking on from the Price trade [I don't think those numbers were released yet] I just think it's a dumb trade by the Dodgers and wasn't needed. I'll lay it out like this :

Dodgers Gave up -
5 Years of Control of Alex Verdugo and Kenta Maeda [After losing Ryu and Rich Hill to FA]
Add Mookie Betts and David Price [For upwards of ... AT LEAST 50 million]
A complete question mark if Mookie resigns there [And even if he did that's 300 million + Minimum]

And if they didn't do that trade
Keep 5 years of plus value from Verdugo
Use that 50 million to bring in 2 stop gaps [Taijuan Walker and Ervin Santana for example]
Roll with a rotation of : Kershaw, Buehler, Walker, Santana, Urias/May/Whoever and save money and set themselves up to keep a window open.

The NL west is weak, it's been the Dodgers division to lose for a while now. Rockies didn't do crap, Neither did the Giants or DBacks. So there's no changing of parity in that division. Brewers got exposed consistently in the playoffs [unless Yelich decides to play with all sliders on rookie mode again], Cubs underperform, Cards overperform and fall flat [also lost Ozuna] like, the only team they'd need to worry about would probably be the Braves and MAYBE the Phillies.

[Spencer 555]

That's a horrible way to look at it, but I understand where you're coming from. I bet these are the types of debates happening in MLB war rooms all the time. Thx for goin in depth with me gryph, hope you're doin well and getting excited for the new season.

You think my jays have a chance at bein good this year?

[Spencer 555]

Also, I think the padres will surprise people this year. The dbacks and padres have incredibly good farm systems.

[Gryph]

That's a horrible way to look at it, but I understand where you're coming from. I bet these are the types of debates happening in MLB war rooms all the time. Thx for goin in depth with me gryph, hope you're doin well and getting excited for the new season.

You think my jays have a chance at bein good this year?

Yeah, I coulda pulled a bit more in depth, but just...I don't see how you can justify losing 60% of your rotation, give up a prized prospect, get 20% of said rotation back and add 67 million in payroll for a fantastic player that you already have fantasic players in his positions. lol

I.f Ryu goes on a run like he did last year, I could see them making a lot of noise. They def won't be a rollover for the rest of the division though thats for sure and if the 97 hall of fame children on that team show up in spades, could potentially sneak in as a WC or at least make a few teams sweat.

Also our baseball league renewed this morning. So expect me to start lookin for heads in a week or two.

[Spencer 555]

Yipee, ill be available. Probably won't be as heavily invested though this year lol

[manonfire101]

I really hate Dick Monfort and Jeff Bridich. I want gryph to be the rockies gm

[Spencer 555]

Wouldn't you rather someone who has won the tao fantasy baseball league run the rockies?

[manonfire101]

Ya anyone else.

[Greendaybum5]

Nah I feel you. But what some people don't remember was that Cubs team had no place for Gleyber to actually play [at the time] Addison Russel just came out belting out 20+ bombs at SS, Zobrist was all over the place, Javy locked down 2b, which was both of Gleybers prime positions. Cubs were in "we need to win. Now's the chance" and overpaid for Chapman. But Chapman also at the time was making 11.3 million [also half paid by Yankees because of how trading mid contract works] So in reality it was more like getting one of the best relievers in baseball for 5 million in exchange for a super prospect who was roadblocked at the time.

Flipping that to the Dodgers side though, Betts is in arbitration that was set at 27 mil. Dodgers have to pay ALL of that. Plus whatever they are taking on from the Price trade [I don't think those numbers were released yet] I just think it's a dumb trade by the Dodgers and wasn't needed. I'll lay it out like this :

Dodgers Gave up -
5 Years of Control of Alex Verdugo and Kenta Maeda [After losing Ryu and Rich Hill to FA]
Add Mookie Betts and David Price [For upwards of ... AT LEAST 50 million]
A complete question mark if Mookie resigns there [And even if he did that's 300 million + Minimum]

And if they didn't do that trade
Keep 5 years of plus value from Verdugo
Use that 50 million to bring in 2 stop gaps [Taijuan Walker and Ervin Santana for example]
Roll with a rotation of : Kershaw, Buehler, Walker, Santana, Urias/May/Whoever and save money and set themselves up to keep a window open.

The NL west is weak, it's been the Dodgers division to lose for a while now. Rockies didn't do crap, Neither did the Giants or DBacks. So there's no changing of parity in that division. Brewers got exposed consistently in the playoffs [unless Yelich decides to play with all sliders on rookie mode again], Cubs underperform, Cards overperform and fall flat [also lost Ozuna] like, the only team they'd need to worry about would probably be the Braves and MAYBE the Phillies.

did you forget about the nationals?

[Hulky]

wow the Cubs gave up Gleyber Torres for a rental?

[Gryph]

I really hate Dick Monfort and Jeff Bridich. I want gryph to be the rockies gm

Start a petition. someone will listen eventually lol.

Hell I'd take lead scouting director, get some depth down in that system of y'alls

[Gryph]

did you forget about the nationals?

No, but I don't see them being durable enough to win again. that's an OLD team. Out of their free agents, they lose Rendon, bring back Stras, and replace Rendon with Starlin Castro.

But really though, howie kendrick [36], Will Harris [35], Hudson [34], Gomes [33], Thames [33], Asdrubal [34], Zimmerman [35], Dozier [34]

Like, they could compete, but I just don't see half of those guys making it through a season. That window of contention isn't gonna close steadily, it's gonna slam shut either this year or next year. NL East is Braves division to lose so far. Nats might sneak in as a wild card team and make some noise, but I just don't see them getting past the Dodgers this year [pending they fix the backend of that rotation after that trade]

[Spencer 555]

Ill take the mets over the nats tbh.

[Hugh]

I don’t go to as many Mariners games as I used to, but I still occasionally see an old person in the stands keeping score on a card with a pencil like they did 50 years ago. It’s so funny.

[The Butcher]

has a batter that's being intentionally walked ever tried to hit the ball anyway?

[KBHoleN1]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6YzVvtxoaY

[KBHoleN1]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WgK4FtRkTo

[The Butcher]

thank you KB, that's amazing lol

[Spencer 555]

Theyve eliminated the intentional walk now anyways. You just put the guy on by motioning the the umpire now.

[The Butcher]

Theyve eliminated the intentional walk now anyways. You just put the guy on by motioning the the umpire now.

seems like that a long time overdue

[Spencer 555]

Nope, they changed the rule recently. That literally happens exactly as you pointed out.

[Hulky]

opening day delayed

[Sanosuke]

I'm legitimately depressed that there's no baseball.

My wife and I have been to a ton of AAA Nashville Sounds games since we're 40 minutes away. This was the last season we'd get to go before moving and there's not really any close stadiums to where we're moving in Missouri.

[Habeas Corpus]

Shits fucking over LA sports. Gave away prospects for mookie betts and we won’t even get to use him. Also if NBA season is cancelled Lakers have no chance next year.

[Madamos]

I feel you. I'm an MLB superfan. I was literally counting down every single day until the opener.

Pretty depressed lol. I decided to download a TAP baseball app. I guess it's some baseball...

[Sanosuke]

I feel you. I'm an MLB superfan. I was literally counting down every single day until the opener.

Pretty depressed lol. I decided to download a TAP baseball app. I guess it's some baseball...

OOTP Baseball on steam is amazing. Also the show 20 is pretty sick too.

[Sanosuke]

Shits fucking over LA sports. Gave away prospects for mookie betts and we won’t even get to use him. Also if NBA season is cancelled Lakers have no chance next year.

I have no sympathy for Dodgers fans. I want a ring so Kershaw can have it but that's about it. The Braves haven't been truly relevant since the 90s/early 00s despite back to back div champs.

[Habeas Corpus]

I have no sympathy for Dodgers fans. I want a ring so Kershaw can have it but that's about it. The Braves haven't been truly relevant since the 90s/early 00s despite back to back div champs.
Kershaw is the last dodger who deserves a ring with his playoff performances. Best regular season pitcher of all time statistically speaking but way too disappointing year after year in the post. Although Roberts is partially at fault for not being able to say no to him. Also Braves are sick right now, one of my favorite NL teams.

[Sanosuke]

Kershaw is the last dodger who deserves a ring with his playoff performances. Best regular season pitcher of all time statistically speaking but way too disappointing year after year in the post. Although Roberts is partially at fault for not being able to say no to him. Also Braves are sick right now, one of my favorite NL teams.

I'm super excited for the Braves, the issue is Liberty Media. We should've paid Josh Donaldson whatever he wanted tbh, regardless if he tapered off after the last two years. Letting him go to a loaded Twins team was a colossal mistake. Albies and Acuna signing 8-10 year deals for absolutely nothing is astounding and almost robbery. I'd like us to resign Freeman (which we almost certainly will) and Swanson as well. I think Riley is our future at 3B. He cleaned up his swing and looked very very good in spring. Will definitely have 30HR power for the forseeable future.

Soroka is going to be the first Braves pitcher to win a Cy Young since Smoltz/Glavine/Maddux. I'd like us to move on from Folty. Fried will be a great #3 guy. Ian Anderson or Kyle Wright will end up our #2 imo.

Pache and Waters are the real deal and it will be very soon where we have Pache at CF, Waters at LF and Acuna in RF. It will be one of the best if not the best defensive outfield in baseball. Almost similar to how the Rays were.

I think Acuna has a very bright future. I just hope the Braves don't squander it. Having Freeman Albies and Acuna is a core many would kill for. We won't have this window for long and we should've honestly been buyers in FA for SP. Hamels was a shit deal.

[Madamos]

OOTP Baseball on steam is amazing. Also the show 20 is pretty sick too.

I have the show 19. Is there any difference between it and '20? Don't really feel like blowing 90$ on the same game.

[Sanosuke]

I have the show 19. Is there any difference between it and '20? Don't really feel like blowing 90$ on the same game.

I like some of the improvements to franchise. RTTS got some solid quality of life improvements imo. I enjoy the new relationship build as you play with teammates thing. I'd buy the base game for 60 and not spend 90.

[DNA]

Nope, they changed the rule recently. That literally happens exactly as you pointed out.

Not to play devils advocate as I’m uncertain with the rule completely but I also felt it added an area of uncertainty like the vide posted above. If the pitcher can’t execute it properly, it leaves the chance for a huge play or overthrow. Is the rule only to speed it the up when there is no one else on base?

[Gryph]

I like some of the improvements to franchise. RTTS got some solid quality of life improvements imo. I enjoy the new relationship build as you play with teammates thing. I'd buy the base game for 60 and not spend 90.

AI managers are still complete trash though. I played 20 for like 2 days and realized on a mechanic level, all they did was just change the way you hit the ball hard.

[Sanosuke]

Ya I'm not a fan of how they handle the bullpen at all? Like why are 50 OVR guys in an MLB bullpen? I do like that you can insist that you're staying your position and the team will just trade you if you're gonna be a douche.

[Gryph]

Ya I'm not a fan of how they handle the bullpen at all? Like why are 50 OVR guys in an MLB bullpen? I do like that you can insist that you're staying your position and the team will just trade you if you're gonna be a douche.

See you say that lol. I made a catcher and got drafted by the Marlins. Told them I'm staying a catch, got called up and just...started playing in LF, as a 78, and the catcher behind the plate was 62.

So...yeah Artificial "Intelligence" once I played ~50 or so games, my player card auto changed to Lf primary / C secondary and I just stopped playing altogether after that.

[Madamos]

See you say that lol. I made a catcher and got drafted by the Marlins. Told them I'm staying a catch, got called up and just...started playing in LF, as a 78, and the catcher behind the plate was 62.

So...yeah Artificial "Intelligence" once I played ~50 or so games, my player card auto changed to Lf primary / C secondary and I just stopped playing altogether after that.
Lmao.

Thats actually fucked.

[Spencer 555]

Not to play devils advocate as I’m uncertain with the rule completely but I also felt it added an area of uncertainty like the vide posted above. If the pitcher can’t execute it properly, it leaves the chance for a huge play or overthrow. Is the rule only to speed it the up when there is no one else on base?

If I had to guess the potential runs added by pitcher mistake on an intentional walk, Id guess it would be microscopically low. I get what you're saying, but I think the rule was mainly implemented to speed up the game a bit.

[Sanosuke]

See you say that lol. I made a catcher and got drafted by the Marlins. Told them I'm staying a catch, got called up and just...started playing in LF, as a 78, and the catcher behind the plate was 62.

So...yeah Artificial "Intelligence" once I played ~50 or so games, my player card auto changed to Lf primary / C secondary and I just stopped playing altogether after that.


they put my in RF after I argued I'm staying 3B when I chose to get drafted by the braves. I got called up last 2 weeks of regular season. During the offseason I got traded to the Dbacks and then a week later to the cubs. Played a whole season with them, won ROTY, the HR derby, 3rd in MVP voting, Silver Slugger. Got traded in the offseason to the yankees to DH play RF when no DH and Judge shifts to LF.

I'm so mad I've been traded 4 times within my first year. On the bright side, I'm an 81 OVR now so the game isn't annoying anymore. I much prefer pitching in the game tho tbh.

[Madamos]

Damn , that's insane. I decided to let things go and see who will draft me, as a shortstop. Got picked by Baltimore (fuck me). Not even a month in I was already in the AAA and midway in the season, I got the call to the show.

[Hulky]

I'm super excited for the Braves, the issue is Liberty Media.

oooo talking about the investing thread, the Liberty Media Braves Group is one I didn't think of that is on a discount from this Corona Virus stuff. It's like a 1/3rd off and is a sports team+stadium that is valued at <1bil right now and has some young big names for a quick ascension to relevancy when this is over.

[Sanosuke]

oooo talking about the investing thread, the Liberty Media Braves Group is one I didn't think of that is on a discount from this Corona Virus stuff. It's like a 1/3rd off and is a sports team+stadium that is valued at <1bil right now and has some young big names for a quick ascension to relevancy when this is over.

I honestly have been looking into it tbh.

[Serge]

So it seems like when baseball comes back we will have the DH in the NL. I honestly think if we're gonna have the stupid rule might as well have 2 DHs per team. 1 for the pitcher and 1 for a defensive specialist. Lots of guys who play an elite CF, SS, or C but can't swing a bat well enough to make it in the bigs. There isn't a single MLB team whose defense wouldn't be instantly improved by a 2nd DH.

[Hugh]

Well I wouldn’t want to see that. I mean pitchers make sense because starters only play once a week or so. It’s stupid having them hit. They will never have enough consistent ABs or see enough major league pitching to be anything but terrible at the plate. That’s why they’re all terrible at the plate. And yes, I know there are a handful of unicorn pitchers who aren’t totally terrible but even those guys are terrible.
Great defensive catchers or CFs who aren’t good hitters are still WAY better than pitchers on average. And since they’re doing it every day there’s a real chance they can get better. And if they don’t, time for the next guy to get a chance.
Pitchers will never ever get better with 3 ABs every 5 games or so. Everyone knows that. They know that. So I mean if you like watching an automatic out in the 9 hole every night and pitchers standing in the batter’s box looking like baby giraffes learning to walk, cool. I think it’s silly and the NL should just adopt the DH and the leave rest alone.

[Gryph]

It'll benefit the NL clubs as well. As it opens a lot of aging players who can't go out there every day to remain in NL parks as opposed to waiting solely on AL offers. All those problems the Brewers had last year rotating Thames and Aguilar around essentially having them dump one of them would of never even amounted to that.

[Serge]

Great defensive players who suck at hitting are only significantly better hitters than pitchers because those are the only ones who make it to the bigs. Anyone who hits as poorly as a pitcher wouldn't even sniff high A.

My thought process is if we are gonna have the DH because it makes the product on the field better I don't see how you could argue against adding a second DH because it would undeniably make the product better. Every single team has a player on the bench who fields better than one of their every day players. And it makes resting guys better which would reduce injuries and keep star players playing more consistently.

[Hugh]

I know what you’re saying.
It makes the product on the field better, yes, but I don’t want a game full of defensive specialists and DHs. I mean the DH is an actual position. If you’re going to have 2 in the lineup, why not 3? Why not 4?
Replacing the pitcher with the DH was an obvious inprovement because pitchers truly can’t hit. They don’t work at it and they don’t get consistent ABs and that will never change, so why torture everyone? Watching them hack away like a drunk guy in a batting cage is stupid and makes a 3 hour often boring game even more boring. I love baseball but it’s true.
I mean you could probably replace most catchers with a DH in the lineup and improve offense but it’s not like catchers CAN’T hit. They can. They’re just usually not great hitters.
Pitchers can’t fucking hit.

[Spencer 555]

Also, the quality of some hitters who cant field in thenminors is pretty ridiculous. That would be my biggest argument for adding a DH to the NL. How often do you see impact bats get stuck in NL systems because they can't field. Fuck that shit.

[Spencer 555]

Oh another big argument for the DH, it extends the career of some players by giving them days off from fielding.

[The One]

Play ball?!

[Hulky]

Apparently July 23rd or 24th

Kinda excited my fantasy team will actually play

[Habeas Corpus]

Dh in nl Get that fucking shit out of here im so pissed. Controversy over games lasting too long for public audience. Hey lets throw in some more bats. Makes no fucking sense

[Hugh]

Makes no sense watching pitchers make assholes out of themselves trying to hit. Completely useless. It’s the dumbest shit in pro sports.
NL needs to get with the times. It’s been 47 years for fuck’s sake.

[Hulky]

Got a MLB lineup today hope it works
sp Bauer
sp Kikuchi
c Zunino
1 Votto
2 Merrifield
3 Arenado
SS Lindor
OF Harper
OF Cruz
OF Kepler

[Hugh]

Why do stories about Jim Edmonds always come across my news feed?
Jim Edmonds and his girlfriend. Jim Edmonds and his ex-girlfriend. Jim Edmonds and COVID-19.
I don’t give a shit about what Jim Edmonds is doing. Does anyone?

[Hulky]

https://www.teamworkonline.com/baseball-jobs/baseballjobs/oakland-athletics/baseball-operations-intern-1977878?source=Indeed

Baseball draft internship for the As if it's relevant to anyone

[KBHoleN1]

Hank Aaron died today at the age of 86. RIP to the greatest Brave, one of the greatest players period, and one hell of an ambassador for the sport.

[Hulky]

I think I have a book signed by him somewhere. He is the one with 715 home runs right?

[Hugh]

755. He was the all-time HR champ forever until Barry Bonds went super villain and passed him.

[KBHoleN1]

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/posts/joc-pederson-atlanta-braves-mlb-baseball


Because, yeah — we might not be a superteam. We might have only won 88 games. We might have had our share of injuries, and slipped below some people’s radars, and taken an unconventional path to get to this stage.

But we also just might be those motherf*ckers.

[Hugh]

Congrats, KB.

[KBHoleN1]

Congrats, KB.

Thanks, Hugh! I'm so happy for them. It still doesn't feel real, because there were no expectations, especially after Acuna went down the season seemed over to me. Every postseason game was kind of a bonus, until it got to 3-1 in the Dodgers series and then a little bit of dread started to set in, like, what if we blow this lead again? What a crazy run.

[|AFO|]

Congrats. What a year for the Braves. You gotta love it, especially when the Astros lose too.

[Serge]

Super late congratulations, KB. Almost as crazy a run as the Nats. Almost.