MLB 2019

[San Bernardhinault]

I hope Ursus and GY are out doing something fun rather than watching this first inning of the Cubs Atlanta game.

[jefe]

Trade deadline is 4 months from today!

[Ginger Yellow]

That was one ugly game of baseball

Not as ugly as that one. That first inning, oof.

[Exiled off Main Street]

Red Sox brains trust basically kept their starting pitchers off the mound during spring training. Worked a treat.

[danielmak]

Red Sox brains trust basically kept their starting pitchers off the mound during spring training. Worked a treat.

I think it will pay off in the end. Realistically, there are 3 teams in the AL and unless Cleveland can just clobber their division rivals to win with the best record, the wild card team from the East is going to have to play both the East winner and the Astros. Of course, getting in through the Wild Card game is always going to present more of a challenge: if the pitchers aren't hitting their spots or the hitters are hitting, it could be one and done for a team that should be in the mix for the championship.

Yankees facing some big injuries right now. I guess what seemed to me to be an absolutely ridiculous signing (Lemahieu) is going to pay off if Andjuar is out for the season.

Meanwhile Giants-Dodgers begins tonight. I'll look for highlights since Libertadores has my attention.

[ursus arctos]

The Jeter administration is killing it in Miami

[URL]https://twitter.com/bizballmaury/status/1113274495828058112?s=21[/URL]

[Gerontophile]

Whereas, Zach Greinke has hit 2 homers v Padres.

[danielmak]

The Jeter administration is killing it in Miami

[URL]https://twitter.com/bizballmaury/status/1113274495828058112?s=21[/URL]

One of the arguments made by the larger revenue generating teams was that they needed to see how revenue recipients were using the money. The Marlins, in particular, were called out for not spending the money. The Marlins said they were saving for the new ballpark, which was not supposed to be the way dollars were spent (or in this case hoarded). Instead, the agreements seemed to be that money could be used for players and player development. All of this is to say that the Marlins have a new ballpark and it's still the same old Marlins: build a team, sell a team off. I've found the repeated sales to be bad for the game, but this last one was particularly bad because, other than Stanton, they sold off controllable young talent. My feeling is good riddance. Let the team fold and replace them with another one in one of the markets we discussed earlier in the thread. Or (I hate to say this) but also kill off the Rays and reorganize the leagues (14 each).

[Flynnie]

Getting rid of a baseball team in Miami because they don't draw is an institutional failure of baseball, not the market. Miami shits out more big league talent than any other city in the United States and it's loaded with fucking Cubans who love baseball.

The problem is Loria found a loophole that baseball is yet to close and he didn't really give a shit what you thank about it.

[ursus arctos]

The Chicago National League baseball club has not conceded this many runs in the opening week of the season since 1901, at which time they weren't even called the Cubs.

[danielmak]

One move would be to cut off luxury tax money to the Marlins, but that won't happen. I'm sure MLB is hoping this new ownership group turns it around. But I don't know if I share your optimism, Flynnie. They're now on the third (?) ownership group and the same problems seem to plague the organization.

UA: I guess one thing to inspire some optimism is that the Cubs still lead the league in a variety of offensive categories, which seems crazy. But that scenario also highlights for me some of the wonky features of newer metrics. I always get a kick out of the guys on Brian Kinney's show that talk about metrics based on what "should" happen versus what did happen. Although I tend to share the views of the stat geeks on the shows over the ex-players, who seem a bit more close-minded about any kind of change, I keep waiting for the day when the ex-players laugh out loud about the "what should happen" stats (e.g. http://m.mlb.com/glossary/statcast/expected-woba ).

[San Bernardhinault]

Padres solid start to the season is continuing, which feels very odd. I'm really enjoying watching Tatis play, even though he clearly has some big ego stuff going on. Not just his hitting, but his throwing arm seems crazy strong.

[danielmak]

Padres solid start to the season is continuing, which feels very odd. I'm really enjoying watching Tatis play, even though he clearly has some big ego stuff going on. Not just his hitting, but his throwing arm seems crazy strong.

I think a good Padres team is good for baseball in the NL West. But it is interesting to see how little national attention Manny is getting compared to Bryce (at least on MLB Network). Granted, Harper went back to DC right away, which made for a story. And he had a great series there (on top of a career where he has always been hot in April). But I'm guessing we're seeing the East Coast bias in play. Nobody's awake at MLB Network to watch Manny play.

[San Bernardhinault]

He's been hitting a few home runs now, including a very nice one today. It's strange to watch the team 3-1 down in St Louis at the top of the seventh and not be surprised that the game finishes with a Padres win rather than with a 7-1 defeat. They still have that fun fighty togetherness that they had last year, but are actually playing well on top of that.

[Ginger Yellow]

Thanks Christ for that. Though we did give up another 8 runs. This has got to be among the highest scoring (on both sides) starts to a team's season ever.

[Hot Pepsi]

One of the arguments made by the larger revenue generating teams was that they needed to see how revenue recipients were using the money. The Marlins, in particular, were called out for not spending the money. The Marlins said they were saving for the new ballpark, which was not supposed to be the way dollars were spent (or in this case hoarded). Instead, the agreements seemed to be that money could be used for players and player development. All of this is to say that the Marlins have a new ballpark and it's still the same old Marlins: build a team, sell a team off. I've found the repeated sales to be bad for the game, but this last one was particularly bad because, other than Stanton, they sold off controllable young talent. My feeling is good riddance. Let the team fold and replace them with another one in one of the markets we discussed earlier in the thread. Or (I hate to say this) but also kill off the Rays and reorganize the leagues (14 each).

It’s unlikely that MLB will give up on the entire state of Florida, pop. 21m. The Rays are well-run but have a unappealing stadium in a suboptimal location. The Marlins have a brand new stadium in what seems like a good location, but are poorly run. Maybe the Rays should move to Miami.

If the players could ever accept a salary cap then the owners would have to take a salary floor and vice versa. That’s just how that would have to go in negotiations. So the Marlins are, in a way, the cost MLB incurs for allowing the Yankees, Red Sox, and Dodgers to exist as they do.

Maybe MLB should just contract all the teams except New York, LA, SF, and Chicago. That seems to be what the players union wants and what the national media wants.

[Hot Pepsi]

http://www.espn.com/mlb/recap?gameId=401074866

The Rays moved a pitcher over to first to bring a different guy in to get one out and then moved him back to the mound. Outside of Little League, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a team moving a pitcher to the field and then bringing them back to pitch.

[ursus arctos]

Maddon has done it at least half a dozen times with the Cubs, though he prefers the traditional Little League move of trying to hide the hurler in left field.

[Hot Pepsi]

It requires ultimately changing the guy at whatever position gets swapped out, so you’d have to factor in where he is in the batting order and how that change is going to affect your offense the rest of the game.

[Ginger Yellow]

*sigh*

At least that game felt more like a proper contest.

[ursus arctos]

Exactly my reaction as well.

I really thought that Bryant was going to get to Hader in the 8th.

[Ginger Yellow]

And now we're back to silliness again. At least it's in our favour. It would be nice to have a pitcher last the distance for once, though.

[Hot Pepsi]

Trump decides appeasing the anti-communist fringe is more important than the lives of Cuban baseball players.

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/2...uban-agreement

[Gerontophile]

Very decent Padres win, and good game. They beat the Giants 6-5, after being 5-0 down.

[ursus arctos]

[URL]https://twitter.com/bleachernation/status/1115808177088618496?s=21[/URL]