Just for the record, let me state the fact that he testified under oath that he's a Cubs fan.Might be good to get away from the Ligue family
OT: Baseball Free Agents
- Thread starter Hungry Jack
- Start date
It's hilarious... Northwestern football is the one thing I can look at and be like, "yep. That team makes me happy usually. They don't kill my soul."
The White Sox are a laughingstock
“Road to Nowhere”.
https://www.theringer.com/mlb/2019/2/20/18232714/manny-machado-white-sox-whiff-free-agency
At least Moncada looks like a star. Oh, what?
Not a big concern (famous last words). He's already back and throwing again. Look out St. Louis!!
I remember as a kid being so excited to see the Astros up near the top of the exhibition standings, only to be sorely disappointed year after year when they fell flat in the regular season.
Do they still have split squad games in spring training? That was another source of joy (and confusion) back in the day - the split squad schedule, where your team would be playing two games against different teams at the same time. Scanning through the results in the newspaper (remember those?), there was the strange feeling that comes from seeing your team both win and lose on the same day.
Just read this board on a football Saturday and you'll get the same sensation.
(Yes, they still do split squads.)
Nothing is funnier than watching a bunch of offensive linemen play baseball. (To the non-experts, a bunch of guys wearing uniform numbers in the 60's and 70's appear during spring training games. These are usually minor league guys who won't be around long.) Spring training is so great, mostly because it means spring is coming soon and with that, baseball... the greatest game!
Nolan Arenado and the Rockies agreed on an 8-year, $260M extension. I never saw him leaving Colorado, and I'm happy that the best player in the NL is staying put.
But for some of the teams that were withholding cash from Harper hoping to use if on Arenado instead, maybe this loosens some change for Bryce today? Or the Rockies could pull a coup de grace, persuade Harper that Coors is a magical place to hit, and point to Denver's proximity to Vegas.
But for some of the teams that were withholding cash from Harper hoping to use if on Arenado instead, maybe this loosens some change for Bryce today? Or the Rockies could pull a coup de grace, persuade Harper that Coors is a magical place to hit, and point to Denver's proximity to Vegas.
For the Rockies, Harper is too young and unproven to play every day. Let Ian Desmond have the reps, instead.
Nice writeup on the Reds’ unconventional strategy of, uhhh, trying to win a lot of games this season. Probably not new to you, but newish to me.
https://www.theringer.com/mlb/2019/...iel-puig-nick-senzel-eugenio-suarez-alex-wood
"We have nowhere to play Bryce Harper because we had to move All Star Charlie Blackmon to RF to accommodate Ian Desmond in CF, where he's never played before" is one of the funnier rumor squashers in a while.
Like, Blackmon was terrible in the field last year, but Desmond is terrible, period. His terrible contract is part of why Colorado couldn't seriously get involved in Harper talks in the first place, even though otherwise he'd be a pretty great fit there. For shame.
It is very weird seeing Cincinnati and the word "non-conformist" in the same sentence. But I like it!
I like the idea that neither Desmond nor Murphy can play the infield anymore. Ryan McMahon is their 2B, it would appear.
Garrett Hampson and Brendan Rodgers are both at the MLB level or coming soon. That's a really good roster.
The NL is a total meat grinder right now. There have been years where you'd look at a roster like Pittsburgh, squint and see a path to the playoffs. Much less Cincinnati, which to TheC's joy has some really interesting pieces, or SD now moving its schedule up ahead. Arizona, SF, NY are caught in between. It's gonna be a crazy year.
As usual, my Marlins will stink.
Trout "lands" the biggest deal in history. Wow what collusion
Collusion against players that aren't worth long term deals, apparently
Collusion against players that aren't worth long term deals, apparently
4th megadeal this off-season. 2 FA and 2 extensions that beat A-Rod’s deal.
Poor Craig Kimbrel can’t get his $100 million. Maybe owners figured out that guys who pitch 60 innings a season don’t merit those types of deals; that closers are overvalued; and that generational talent positional players in their 20s are generally good bets.
A tip of the cap to the retirement today of one of the greatest players of all time. The complete package and somehow always seemed underrated. Best to you in the future, Ichiro.
Dallas Keuchel is also still unemployed, a week before the season starts for most teams. Former Cy Young award winner and #1 starter on the 2017 Astros team that won the WS.
These guys certainly still have value, but apparently not as much as they think.
He also has a rapidly declining K/9 at a time when teams are prioritizing pitchers who accrue strikeouts, a rising H/9 rate for a guy who doesn't strike hitters out to end jams, and is on the wrong side of 30 having just thrown 200 IP last year. This is the kind of guy who teams have given the big deal to, only to turn around 3 years later and bemoan what the contract did to their books.
If Keuchel were open to a 1- or 2-year deal, he'd have a job tomorrow, probably at around $18 million per. But he wants the long term payday, knowing (correctly) that this was probably his only chance to get it.
Some contender will lose a starter, need innings and turn to him.
Keuchel had like a 1.3 WHIP last year. Doesn't miss bats. I wouldn't touch him for anything more than a 2 year deal and I'd probably front load the 1st year
The Astros apparently offered him a one year deal in that price range, so if he were interested in one or two year deals, he could have easily signed one last November. But instead, he's sitting at home waiting for the phone to ring. It's possible that he could still sign with the Astros, which would certainly be awkward.
Baseball teams are getting smarter with how they allocate money, and that's a good thing.
Also, and this is the paranoid conspiracy theorist in me talking, I would be very suspicious of Keuchel's productivity plummeting all the more once he signs elsewhere than Houston. I think they're doing something REALLY fishy down there with "science"
Ok, I'll bite. Fishy "science"? Explain!
The paranoid conspiracy theorist in you should also keep an eye on Charlie Morton in Tampa Bay. He was a journeyman pitcher for years until he got to Houston. Then he became a very reliable starter and a World Series hero. He was unhittable against the Dodgers in the WS that year. So how will he do in Tampa?
They're known to focus heavily on spin rate, which has led to increased velocity across the board for their pitchers. If Wade Miley breaks out all of a sudden, that's gonna be 'spicious, because he's been sticks and glue his whole career.
Whether auspicious or suspicious, I leave to you all.
If you'd like to take this to the paid board, I'll tell ya a few stories about the Astros. The juicing part is conjecture on my end but I have heard a few stories about them that would blow your hair back
Well, the damn 2019 FA class looks pretty darn thin now. It’s Rendon or bust for the Sox. I mentioned elsewhere that much of Sox nation is quite pissed about Machado. Solving 3B without sacrificing any players was such a no brainer. And they missed because they got cute, not cheap, just cute.
I expect any goodwill that would have brought the faithful out to watch a few times is long gone. Same for those media contracts. It’s no surprise they struggle to find a radio station, Sox fans have stopped caring as much as the front office has.
Without a real solution (not patching an underperforming strikeout artist over there) and some legitimate star power, this team won’t get attention until they prove it on the field.
Between the Sox and Bulls, Reinsdorf should really consider selling. Take the money and run. He has lost the fan base in both sports.
I expect any goodwill that would have brought the faithful out to watch a few times is long gone. Same for those media contracts. It’s no surprise they struggle to find a radio station, Sox fans have stopped caring as much as the front office has.
Without a real solution (not patching an underperforming strikeout artist over there) and some legitimate star power, this team won’t get attention until they prove it on the field.
Between the Sox and Bulls, Reinsdorf should really consider selling. Take the money and run. He has lost the fan base in both sports.
Rendon is quietly one of the best players in baseball and a Boras client. He’ll get a huge deal
I agree wholeheartedly. Problem is: who? Nothing in the minors. Nothing in the draft. And the only big international guy they are connected to is a soft swinging SS. Sometimes I think I could do better managing rosters. Not that I can recruit, but who knows
