2021 MLB Season

[Day2]

Happy to hear he found a spot, even if it’s with the Dodgers. Would rather have him on the Cardinals than Matt Carpenter, that’s for sure.

 

[OrangeDW]

I guess they might play Muncy at 2nd more?? Not sure this move makes their team stronger.

Dodgers are struggling against lefties and could use a righty bat. Hopefully Pujols proves to be that.

The downside there is I’m not a huge fan of Muncy at second, and I was hoping Lux’s big homer the other night would be a springboard for him.

 

[donniesyracuse]

Let’s Take Another Stab at Unpacking the Rising Strikeout Rate​

"As the league tries to address the issue of fewer balls in play now and in the future, finding a way to combat the rise in pitcher velocity should be one of the first items on the docket. The fact that pitches are moving more than ever does not appear to be as large a factor, given the changes in whiff rates on breaking and offspeed pitches. Moving the mound back, which will be implemented in the Atlantic League this season, and giving hitters more time to react seems like a good start. After parsing through the two strike data, it seems like rectifying the lack of formidable two strike approaches across the majors is not the silver bullet many believe. Digging further into the data by pitch type in all counts, the main issue is rising whiff rates on fastballs, which Chet Gutwein opined on in his own piece I referenced above. So maybe combating velocity is the elusive silver bullet? Without a relatively controlled experiment we cannot say for certain. But we can say that hitters being criticized for forgoing any semblance of a two strike approach and placing the blame on them for the rise in strikeouts is most likely a futile exercise."

 

[MSOrange]

Apparently my Braves are going to be THAT team this year

Braves pitcher Huascar Ynoa breaks hand after punching dugout bench, will miss several weeks

It was an act of frustration following his subpar start on Sunday

www.cbssports.com

 

[Alsacs]

 

[donniesyracuse]

I was just thinking that there used to be enough Sox fans around for them to have their own yearly thread. Where did everyone go? Did people just get bored with Alsacs raging against John Henry?

 

[Alsacs]

I was just thinking that there used to be enough Sox fans around for them to have their own yearly thread. Where did everyone go? Did people just get bored with Alsacs raging against John Henry?

Yeah exactly no need to argue just to argue.
I root for the team but like the English soccer teams I hate the ownership.
Sox will competitive but the Yankees are better.
Sox can get a wildcard though.

 

[OrangeDW]

Yeah exactly no need to argue just to argue.
I root for the team but like the English soccer teams I hate the ownership.
Sox will competitive but the Yankees are better.
Sox can get a wildcard though.

The Jays and Rays are no slouches either!

 

[Alsacs]

The Jays and Rays are no slouches either!

Jays have no pitching beyond Ryu.
The Rays will always be competitive.
I think the East gets 2 playoff teams this year.

Red Sox have a good top of the lineup and solid pitching.
They will get Sale back in August.

Yankees will win the division as long as Cole doesn’t get hurt.

 

[orangeinohio]

I was just thinking that there used to be enough Sox fans around for them to have their own yearly thread. Where did everyone go? Did people just get bored with Alsacs raging against John Henry?

Trading away once-in-a-generation homegrown talent because the billionaire owner doesn’t feel like paying him what he’s earned sent me over the edge.

 

[Alsacs]

Trading away once-in-a-generation homegrown talent because the billionaire owner doesn’t feel like paying him what he’s earned sent me over the edge.

The team knew they had to resign Mookie and they have Sale 5 years 150 million and Eovaldi 4 years 68 million.
The team traded Bientiendi for nothing but Frenchy Cordero who sucks and PTBNLs.

The organization should be embarrassed how they have been run the last 3 years since they won the WS.

John Henry like Liverpool wants to spend only when the fanbase really pushes for it.

 

[bpo57]

The team knew they had to resign Mookie and they have Sale 5 years 150 million and Eovaldi 4 years 68 million.
The team traded Bientiendi for nothing but Frenchy Cordero who sucks and PTBNLs.

The organization should be embarrassed how they have been run the last 3 years since they won the WS.

John Henry like Liverpool wants to spend only when the fanbase really pushes for it.

You have to admit your boy "dugie" is a better player than you thought he would be. Benintendi is playing a little bit better after a horrific start but it's not clear if he can return to what he was in 2018. I like how Dugie puts on a professional AB. He's disciplined, is tough to strike out and has some decent pop. He could be a very good player in the years to come.

Mookie Betts signed for 12 years guaranteed at a cool $30+ million per year. The LAD probably don't care but they'll be choking on the back half of that contract like the NYY did with ARod. Not to mention that it was pretty clear that Betts had no interest in re-signing with Boston.

Boston's fate, like every other MLB team, will be decided by their pitching. I'd rather see them plow money into pitching than spending $30 mil per year on a corner outfielder.

 

[OrangeDW]

You have to admit your boy "dugie" is a better player than you thought he would be. Benintendi is playing a little bit better after a horrific start but it's not clear if he can return to what he was in 2018. I like how Dugie puts on a professional AB. He's disciplined, is tough to strike out and has some decent pop. He could be a very good player in the years to come.

Mookie Betts signed for 12 years guaranteed at a cool $30+ million per year. The LAD probably don't care but they'll be choking on the back half of that contract like the NYY did with ARod. Not to mention that it was pretty clear that Betts had no interest in re-signing with Boston.

Boston's fate, like every other MLB team, will be decided by their pitching. I'd rather see them plow money into pitching rather than $30 mil per year on a corner outfielder.

Verdugo is definitely solid.

How is Jeter Downs progressing?

 

[bpo57]

Verdugo is definitely solid.

How is Jeter Downs progressing?

So-so but the season just started 10 days ago. He supposedly looked good in spring training. They also got a catcher who is in AAA out of that trade- Connor Wong.

 

[Alsacs]

You have to admit your boy "dugie" is a better player than you thought he would be. Benintendi is playing a little bit better after a horrific start but it's not clear if he can return to what he was in 2018. I like how Dugie puts on a professional AB. He's disciplined, is tough to strike out and has some decent pop. He could be a very good player in the years to come.

Mookie Betts signed for 12 years guaranteed at a cool $30+ million per year. The LAD probably don't care but they'll be choking on the back half of that contract like the NYY did with ARod. Not to mention that it was pretty clear that Betts had no interest in re-signing with Boston.

Boston's fate, like every other MLB team, will be decided by their pitching. I'd rather see them plow money into pitching than spending $30 mil per year on a corner outfielder.

Verdugo is garbage.
He is lucky to be eligible.
I don’t believe for a second he didn’t know what was going on with the sexual assault of that girl.
The Dodgers were happy to trade that mess of situation.
I trust Nick Francona a lot more than I trust Verdugo or Gabe Kepler.
Alex Verdugo "at best" was present and witnessed an underage girl getting assaulted, and didn't intervene or report it.

Scum is too kind a word for him.
I don’t care how much talent he has.

 

[bpo57]

Verdugo is garbage.
He is lucky to be eligible.
I don’t believe for a second he didn’t know what was going on with the s e xual assault of that girl.
The Dodgers were happy to trade that mess of situation.
I trust Nick Francona a lot more than I trust Verdugo or Gabe Kepler.
Alex Verdugo "at best" was present and witnessed an underage girl getting assaulted, and didn't intervene or report it.

Scum is too kind a word for him.
I don’t care how much talent he has.

You can't knock his performance so I imagine this will be your default position going forward. I'm more interested in how he performs and behaves now and in the years to come. So far so good.

 

[orangeinohio]

You have to admit your boy "dugie" is a better player than you thought he would be. Benintendi is playing a little bit better after a horrific start but it's not clear if he can return to what he was in 2018. I like how Dugie puts on a professional AB. He's disciplined, is tough to strike out and has some decent pop. He could be a very good player in the years to come.

Mookie Betts signed for 12 years guaranteed at a cool $30+ million per year. The LAD probably don't care but they'll be choking on the back half of that contract like the NYY did with ARod. Not to mention that it was pretty clear that Betts had no interest in re-signing with Boston.

Boston's fate, like every other MLB team, will be decided by their pitching. I'd rather see them plow money into pitching than spending $30 mil per year on a corner outfielder.

Betts wanted to sign a long term deal in Boston. He said it when he was on the Red Sox and he has said it while in LA. He just wanted to get paid what he deserved.

 

[upperdeck]

yeah thats worked out well for the Mets so far.

 

[bpo57]

Betts wanted to sign a long term deal in Boston. He said it when he was on the Red Sox and he has said it while in LA. He just wanted to get paid what he deserved.

I've heard conflicting reports on whether he wanted to stay in Boston. He didn't want to negotiate in his last year so he left Boston no choice but to trade him. They made the right move. 12 years at $30 mil per year is too much imo.

 

[donniesyracuse]

The bright side for Sox fans is with the money the team saved from trading/not extending Betts, they were able to lower ticket prices. Hahaha!

 

[bpo57]

The bright side for Sox fans is with the money the team saved from trading/not extending Betts, they were able to lower ticket prices. Hahaha!

Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't you a NYY fan? They've become quite frugal in comparison to when Big Stein owned the team. If George were still around he'd have opened up the wallet cuz one title in 20 years wouldn't have cut it. The Cash man would have been fired two or three times by now.

And speaking of ticket prices, all those empty box seats (pre covid) right near the field at Yankee Stadium are not exactly a pretty sight either. Their refusal to lower prices on those seats is an embarrassment.

 

[donniesyracuse]

Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't you a NYY fan? They've become quite frugal in comparison to when Big Stein owned the team. If George were still around he'd have opened up the wallet cuz one title in 20 years wouldn't have cut it. The Cash man would have been fired two or three times by now.

And speaking of ticket prices, all those empty box seats (pre covid) right near the field at Yankee Stadium are not exactly a pretty sight either. Their refusal to lower prices on those seats is an embarrassment.

I agree with all of that. I oppose all billionaires who cry poverty.

 

[bpo57]

I agree with all of that. I oppose all billionaires who cry poverty.

Most of them didn't get to become billionaires by being stupid. Just tossing nine figure contracts around in MLB has usually proved to be a fool's errand.

 

[donniesyracuse]

Most of them didn't get to become billionaires by being stupid. Just tossing nine figure contracts around in MLB has usually proved to be a fool's errand.

Most of the bad examples are guys that were already in their 30s (e.g., Pujols, Cano, A-Rod’s second deal). The recent big deals have been relatively younger guys (Tatis, Trout, Machado, Betts, Cole, Linder). They can provide enough WAR in the first six or seven years of their deals to overcome a decline to below replacement-level in their final two or three years.

 

[bpo57]

Most of the bad examples are guys that were already in their 30s (e.g., Pujols, Cano, A-Rod’s second deal). The recent big deals have been relatively younger guys (Tatis, Trout, Machado, Betts, Cole, Linder). They can provide enough WAR in the first six or seven years of their deals to overcome a decline to below replacement-level in their final two or three years.

When you do double digit (in years) length of contracts then the decline to below replacement-level will likely cover more than two to three years. The other thing is expectations. Since Machado left Baltimore he's basically been a 20 HR/.800 OPS guy. To me that doesn't cut it for what he's getting paid. You get paid that kind of money then you should be a top five MVP guy year in and year out. The Bryce Harper deal was another dumb contract.

It always comes back to the pitching. Look at the LAA. They pay big money to position players and yet they will be lucky to finish above .500 cuz of their woeful pitching. I like the White Sox to come out of the AL this year due to their strong pitching particularly the studs they have in their bullpen.