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    Isotopes Park still has one
    https://www.milb.com/albuquerque/ballpark/isotopes-park

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      “Why do you look like Caesar Romero?”
      ”Because you don’t know what Caesar Chavez looks like.”

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        Astros sent to the moon, Alice

        ​​​​​​ https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/status/1216796031200976896

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          $5 million is apparently the maximum fine allowed, which makes me wonder why that is.

          No punishment for any players involved. 1 year ban seems like a bit of a light punishment if there's nothing like a postseason ban to go along with it.

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            [URL]https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/1216813719805669383[/URL]

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              Originally posted by Incandenza View Post
              $5 million is apparently the maximum fine allowed, which makes me wonder why that is.

              No punishment for any players involved. 1 year ban seems like a bit of a light punishment if there's nothing like a postseason ban to go along with it.
              Because the owners don't want their employees taking anything like real money out of their pockets.

              I wonder if Alex Cora is going to get a lifetime ban, as it appears that he was key to this operation and then took his "expertise" to Boston. He wasn't included in this set because MLB is still investigating the Red Sox.

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                That certainly seems to be the speculation. If so, I would think there would need to be some pretty solid proof for that given the difference between 1 year and a lifetime, but I also fear the takes from Boston.

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                  The experts on MLB Network (a good panel with Brian Kenny hosting, Tom Verducci, Bob Costas, Ken Rosenthal, and Dan O'Dowd) haven't speculated about a lifetime ban for Cora. They are using the these one year suspension as a gauge but not suggesting specific times but more than one year. Not that they seem to know anything that the rest of us don't. Man, Chaim has walked into a mess with the Red Sox (well over the luxury tax threshold, told to cut pay, weakened farm system, and now facing the need for a new manager either temporary or permanent). But they do have some time, whereas the Astros couldn't have expected these suspensions (and then to fire).

                  About half of the time for the panel has been spent discussing what should happen with tech going forward. I don't know why MLB hasn't moved to headset situations other than pitchers not liking the way the earpiece feels (which I don't want to minimize). Teams will try to cheat again even with these punishments. Players still juice even with stronger punishments. Using a headset means it would be very, very difficult to use tech to steal signs. The only sign stealing would be the already approved variety (looking for cues and clues from the pitcher).

                  About players: MLB was explicit after apple watch stuff that the clubs are the custodians of the game. And then there's the practical reality of a union defending players/no clear sense of which players did what. The players used the info. but didn't create the cheating system.

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                    And the fallout continues: Cora and Red Sox part ways by mutual consent.

                    MLB Now was fascinating today; the analysis was very insightful about Lunow (already disliked among most GMs and front office people), who is probably going to have a difficult time getting a job. The issue with Taubin (sp?) and the women reporters that we discussed previously in this thread was also highlighted in that Lunow set the tone for blaming the victims and never apologized to any of the reporters.

                    Hinch was discussed as being in an extremely difficult position. Cora and Beltran seemed to be the main drivers. If Hinch was too forceful, he could lose the room (esp. after a generally failed time managing Dbacks so having no real track record). So, Lunow needed to be the heavy. See what I just wrote--that wasn't going to happen. But then they showed a video from the playoffs this year during a press conference where Hinch told reporters that he would not talk about sign stealing since he had to answer questions yet unnamed sources were free from answering questions.

                    Finally, a clip was shown of Cora's press conference after London when the Yankees crushed the Red Sox. Cora noted that Beltran was the biggest free agent signing by the Yankees even if Beltran was working in the front office and that the Red Sox needed to be more careful with their work on the field. Cora smirked, which now has a very different meaning.

                    Dan O'Dowd was focused on the conceit of all of these guys and their drive to win overwhelming any sense of what is right.

                    And of course, we have teams that were already super powers, guaranteed to slaughter most other teams in the league and then piling on with this stuff. Too bad we don't have relegation in MLB.
                    Last edited by danielmak; 15-01-2020, 04:27.

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                      Post-season bans. I don't know why people aren't talking about that. I'm sure that people would say that it would be in effect punishing players on the team now for something that happened in the past, but there are two examples of teams who won the World Series after benefitting from cheating throughout the regular season and likely into the postseason as well.

                      The $5 million fine cap needs to be revisited. That's just ridiculous for calling results of games into question, and it's chump change for the owners.

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                        A lot of rumors now that Altuve and others wore a patch that transmitted a signal to buzz to indicate the kind of pitch that was coming. May be a complete fabrication, but supposedly it's something that multiple parties said to different people.

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                          Beltran and Mets separate "by mutual consent." I think that would have been a tough road for a rookie manager, so the right move. Because he didn't start managing really, the Mets should have their choices. Red Sox and Astros (esp. the Astros) are going to need a veteran in my opinion. Supposedly the Astros have already interviewed Showalter and Gibbons.

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                            It looks like Dusty Baker will be the next Astros manager. I tend to buy the sentiment that he's not tactically very astute but I also buy the sentiment that he's very good with team building. The Nats were a mess other than during Dusty's tenure there and until this past season. And he's certainly done well with the teams he managed, but (to extend my first sentence) I think he gets only so far and then is usually out-managed when he's into the playoffs. Anyway, I think it's the right hire at the right time, although I would have gone with Showalter if I was the Astros. My sense is that Showalter's need to be in on everything, basically wearing out the front office, has settled with age.

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                              He strikes me as just the guy to hire when you find yourselves in a crisis of your own making like this

                              He will make the environment as easy as possible for the players, is well liked by the media and has learned to appreciate the value of analytics.

                              Perhaps most importantly, he has zero connection with any of the shenanigans.

                              He's going to be spending a lot of time with the media, and I can see whey they thought he would be better in that role than Buck.

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                                Originally posted by ursus arctos View Post
                                He strikes me as just the guy to hire when you find yourselves in a crisis of your own making like this

                                He will make the environment as easy as possible for the players, is well liked by the media and has learned to appreciate the value of analytics.

                                Perhaps most importantly, he has zero connection with any of the shenanigans.

                                He's going to be spending a lot of time with the media, and I can see whey they thought he would be better in that role than Buck.
                                I agree with all of this except the last line. I think Buck's firing by the Rangers (that was post-Diamondbacks if I remember correctly) had a big influence on his public approach (that and working at ESPN after that firing). He's an insightful interviewee, but I only see/hear him in national outlets so can't say if he was difficult for local folks in Baltimore. But Dusty should do well. The team is still loaded obviously, although the loss of Cole will hurt.

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                                  Got my London ticket, having not realised they'd gone on sale until yesterday. £134 for lower tier outfield, which I'm not too happy about but could have been worse. There were still £92 tickets left, but I was worried they'd be too far or too obstructed. At least with Wembley I know what the sightlines are like.

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                                    Sounds like Betts is done in Boston

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                                      Why’d they trade him?

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                                        Didn't think they could afford to re-sign him. The heavy rumor is that over the winter they offered him $300 million and he countered with $420M.

                                        It's Betts and David Price to LAD, Alex Verdugo to Boston, Kenta Maeda to Minnesota, and a pitching prospect to Boston, with a second deal dumping Joc Pederson on the Angels for an infielder.

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                                          The Dodgers assert their claim to the leadership of the Evil Empire in much the way the Byzantines did (though LAD didn't wait for the Sack of the Bronx)

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                                            A controlling stake in the Mets, the whole franchise valued at $2.6 billion, was going to go to some hedge fundie until the Mets tried to change the terms late, per Jon Heyman.

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                                              Of course they did

                                              New York real estate types can't help themselves

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                                                Originally posted by jefe View Post
                                                Didn't think they could afford to re-sign him. The heavy rumor is that over the winter they offered him $300 million and he countered with $420M.

                                                It's Betts and David Price to LAD, Alex Verdugo to Boston, Kenta Maeda to Minnesota, and a pitching prospect to Boston, with a second deal dumping Joc Pederson on the Angels for an infielder.
                                                In general, I'm happy about almost all of these moves. Betts for one year is a no-brainer. Price, if healthy, will be much better in the NL West (esp. if interleague has the NL West playing the AL West). But I can't say I'm happy about trading Maeda. He was cheap and was lights out in the bullpen. Unlike Kershaw, Maeda could easily transition between starting, long relief, or short relief and do the last two effectively. I would rather have seen the Dodgers off-set the money the Red Sox off-set by bringing in a third team that would have taken Pollock.

                                                Verdugo grew up a Red Sox fan so I'm sure he's happy.

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                                                  Originally posted by ursus arctos View Post
                                                  Of course they did

                                                  New York real estate types can't help themselves
                                                  The Wilpons are still illiquid as all hell, probably in debt up to their eyeballs, and they ain't gonna get more for the team than they will from Cohen, who is rich as hell and a lifelong Mets fan.

                                                  If I'm Cohen, I squeeze them until they get out of the building as soon as the ink dries, rather than the ridiculous five year waiting period the Wilpons tried to force on them.

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                                                    In my fever dreams, that happens.

                                                    Cohen is then finally done for insider trading, and the franchise is seized under the proceeds of crime provisions and then liquidated.

                                                    The win probability for this scenario is zero, but it still brings a smile to my lips.

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