MLB 2019

[danielmak]

I've posted this before but will repeat again, MLB has the best playoffs going. I get that in part I am discounting NFL because I could care less about gridiron, so maybe NFL and MLB are top notch. NBA and NHL last way too long and I say that as a hockey fan. NHL is really exciting, but just way too loooooooong. MLB doesn't need to mess with this. I think a shorter MLB season would be good, and I know this is mostly unpopular among this board, but universal DH would be good. And umps actually enforcing the rule that batters need to stay in the box would be good. Beyond that, don't mess with a sport that works. In fact, I think this new rule about pitchers facing 3 batters is going to bloat game time since most pitching changes happen when someone isn't getting outs late in innings. Now those guys will get shelled, the game will be gone, and there will be less chance for late drama since the losing team will be too far behind.

BTW, the Dodgers-Red Sox-Twins deal seems to be done. Consensus seems to be that Dodgers actually did better if the Twins reliever stays healthy. And now the Dodgers need to figure out what to do with their 42 man roster (2 over the max) now that Moreno pulled out of the Angels-Dodgers trade.

[ursus arctos]

[URL="https://twitter.com/jessespector/status/1227016410297225216?s=21"]https://twitter.com/jessespector/status/1227016410297225216[/URL]

[Greenlander]

New format for postseason anyone? More wildcards, a bye for the team with the best record in each division and the other divisional winners picking their opponents and playing the best of three series at home.

https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-conside...tseason-format

[danielmak]

There was a very interesting interview with AJ Hinch on MLB Tonight with Tom Verducci. The interview was probably close to 30 minutes long. Hinch really fell on the sword, although he said he was not in favor of what was happening but that he failed as a leader. The panel on MLB Tonight talked about Hinch's failures with the Dbacks stemming from losing the veteran dressing room and perhaps not being strong enough yet to halt the spying. It was a very interesting interview, although I can't say that I learned anything new about the actual cheating. Mostly just got a better sense of who Hinch might be as a manager when he has finished his suspension and a believable sense of remorse for the impact on the game. He also was very honest in his consideration of the reasons why fans might not view the Astros as the true 2017 champions.

[ursus arctos]

[URL="https://twitter.com/buckweaver/status/1225932924572160005?s=21"]https://twitter.com/buckweaver/status/1225932924572160005[/URL]

[ursus arctos]

Yes, that was part of the longer post.

They were gone before I was born, but I did see a game in the Polo Grounds.

[Hot Pepsi]

I thought there may have been some lingering Dodgers/Giants-related resentment too. You’re not old enough to remember them, but you’re old enough to remember the wound they left in New York when they moved to California.

[danielmak]

The short version does the trick. That was a tough lead to lose.

[ursus arctos]

danielmak, I once wrote a long post about why I hate the Mets with every fibre of my being, but it looks to have been lost in the hack
The short version is that I was 10 in 1969

[ursus arctos]

https://twitter.com/PSLToFlushing/status/1225489707708092416

[danielmak]

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.

But what if that fever dream goes haywire and the league decides to merge the Mets and the Cubs into one organization. The New York Cubettes. Haha. I couldn't resist that.

I'm sure you posted this before, but what's the logical or illogical reason for your hatred of the Mets?

And to return to the Dodgers: I didn't know until now that the Dodgers included Stripling in the Angels deal. I get that they've got two young guys who were circling around the rotation last year, but I don't know about either of these pitchers moves (as I said last night about Maeda). Stripling is another guy who easily moved back and forth between starting and the pen.

[ursus arctos]

Ever since they began to take the game seriously under Branch Rickey, los Doyers have always been more of a pitching team than a hitting team, and Chavez Ravine was very much designed to accentuate their advantage on the mound.

We didn't get to see many games from there back in the day, but Koufax, Drysdale and friends were often unhittable, particularly before the mound was lowered.

[Incandenza]

Some perspective on this trade from Jayson Stark:

I don’t need to tell you how storied a franchise the Dodgers have been, right? OK, now digest this: According to the Baseball-Reference.com WAR computations, Betts has run off four consecutive seasons as at least a 6.4-win player. You know the last Dodger position player who had four seasons as at least a 6.4-win player over any span of time? That would be Duke Snider, from 1953 to 1956. You know how many Dodgers hitters in history have had at least four seasons that good? Precisely two: the Duke and Jackie Robinson (who had five in a row, from 1949 to 1953).

Betts has also already had two seasons worth at least 9.7 wins. Ready for a list of all the position players in the past 80 years who have had at least that many? Willie Mays, Barry Bonds, Ted Williams, Mike Trout, Mickey Mantle, Rickey Henderson, Cal Ripken Jr. and Carl Yastrzemski. Whoever they are. But you know how many Dodgers position players have ever had a season that good? That answer is zero.

[Incandenza]

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)

It's not an evil empire until you win something, so I hope this pans out.

[ursus arctos]

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.

[Flynnie]

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.

[danielmak]

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.

[ursus arctos]

Of course they did

New York real estate types can't help themselves

[jefe]

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.

[ursus arctos]

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)

[jefe]

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.

[Hot Pepsi]

Why’d they trade him?

[caja-dglh]

Sounds like Betts is done in Boston

[Ginger Yellow]

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.

[danielmak]

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.