MLB Thread

[Black Knight]

14 hours ago, mojoween said:

This is going to sound sore loserish because, well, I am, but the fact that there were total crickets from baseball commentators about how absolute shit Ohtani was during the World Series, but Aaron Judge was the worst player in the history of the sport *even though all of his stats were better than Shohei* will never not piss me off.

Ohtani injured his shoulder in the second game and dealt with it the rest of the WS, and had surgery on it a few days after the series ended. I'm not sure why the Dodgers even put him out there again at all, but it was hilarious that he got walked when he couldn't really swing a bat and had to hold his arm in place while moving around the bases so he wouldn't mess his shoulder up further. In any case, that's why the commentators talked about Judge and not Ohtani, because Judge wasn't injured.

[Notabug]

1 hour ago, Black Knight said:

Ohtani injured his shoulder in the second game and dealt with it the rest of the WS, and had surgery on it a few days after the series ended. I'm not sure why the Dodgers even put him out there again at all, but it was hilarious that he got walked when he couldn't really swing a bat and had to hold his arm in place while moving around the bases so he wouldn't mess his shoulder up further. In any case, that's why the commentators talked about Judge and not Ohtani, because Judge wasn't injured.

That was certainly my impression.  Ohtani was playing with a serious injury that greatly affected his ability to swing a bat.  For the announcers to criticize his lack of hitting in the Series would've been ridiculous.  

Meanwhile, Judge was apparently in a good a condition as possible at the end of a long season and he also made one of the most boneheaded errors ever seen in a game, let alone a World Series.  He is a great player, but he wasn't even adequate in the Series.  The announcers, who otherwise fell all over themselves praising the Yankees as they always do, had every right to point out that Judge was a major disappointment and they were absolutely right.

Edited November 23 by Notabug

[DMK]

Snort. Someone actually made merchandise and a website: https://www.topofthefifthmerchandise.com

[Lantern7]

*sigh* If I only knew any Yankees fans that could take a joke.

[baldryanr]

9 hours ago, Notabug said:

Meanwhile, Judge was apparently in a good a condition as possible at the end of a long season and he also made one of the most boneheaded errors ever seen in a game, let alone a World Series.  He is a great player, but he wasn't even adequate in the Series.  The announcers, who otherwise fell all over themselves praising the Yankees as they always do, had every right to point out that Judge was a major disappointment and they were absolutely right.

Plus Judge hasn't exactly been Mr. October throughout the rest of his time.  His career postseason BA is .205 (58 games), so the small sample size argument is falling apart.  There are a lot of player who think true greatness is performing well under real pressure (see all the people who criticize Mike Trout) and for the most part Judge hasn't.

[ProudMary]

Dodgers, Blake Snell Agree To Five-Year Deal.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/11/dodgers-blake-snell-agree-to-five-year-deal.html

[Jane Tuesday]

Baseball needs to wake the fuck up before they lose every fan outside of California and New York.

Yes, deferrals have long been a thing. But it was always, pay most of it during the contract, and save a small portion back as basically an extra pension. There's a huge difference between that and what the Dodgers are doing.

And to answer all the "any team could do this" people... no. Most teams could NOT do this. Pay more, yes. But there are only a tiny handful that have the cachet to convince superstars to leave money on the table.

I officially care less about baseball today. 

[bosawks]

48 minutes ago, Jane Tuesday said:

Baseball needs to wake the fuck up before they lose every fan outside of California and New York.

Yes, deferrals have long been a thing. But it was always, pay most of it during the contract, and save a small portion back as basically an extra pension. There's a huge difference between that and what the Dodgers are doing.

And to answer all the "any team could do this" people... no. Most teams could NOT do this. Pay more, yes. But there are only a tiny handful that have the cachet to convince superstars to leave money on the table.

I officially care less about baseball today. 

I'm a fan of 2 different big market teams and I still hate this.  

I know the NFL and MLB aren't the same but I do think there is value and looking at the NFL and how small market teams can still draw interest if marketed correctly.  

I think a marketing job in MLB is either the worst or best job on the planet. I can't decide whether you wouldn't have to do anything or if you work your ass off to have nobody listen or follow up.

[AimingforYoko]

This is why the NFL is the #1 sport in America. With TV revenue sharing, the fans know that every team has a shot and only mismanagement (Dallas, NY Giants, Jets) will prevent you from winning. Hell, the top team resides in Kansas City, MO.

Unfortunately for MLB, no national TV outlet is going to pay what they pay the NFL, so the owners will never agree to the NFL model.

[Fukui San]

Weirdly, I think the MLB has had more variety in its champions than the NFL in the past 15-20 years or so. The importance of the QB tends to tilt results that way.  
 

The Ohtani contract,  though, seems like something a League should not allow for competitive balance.  

[twoods]

Eventually the Dodgers have to pay these deferred contracts so they won’t be this stacked for too long. And there are injuries, which is why most of the Dodgers aces didn’t play in the playoffs. Anything can happen.

[NUguy514]

2 hours ago, Fukui San said:

Weirdly, I think the MLB has had more variety in its champions than the NFL in the past 15-20 years or so. The importance of the QB tends to tilt results that way.  
 

The Ohtani contract,  though, seems like something a League should not allow for competitive balance.  

I immediately thought you were right about this, but this isn't actually the case.  There have been thirteen different World Series winners and thirteen different Super Bowl winners in the last twenty years.  If you look at the last fifteen years, there have been ten different World Series winners and eleven different Super Bowl winners.  That really surprised me, but there have been more baseball teams that have repeated (the Red Sox, the Giants, the Cheaters, the Dodgers, the Cardinals) in both time periods than there have been football teams that have repeated (the Patriots, the Chiefs, the Giants, the Steelers).

[ProudMary]

Some offseason signing info from Bob Nightengale via Bluesky. (I like their "Copy Text" option as we can't automatically embed here. Hopefully,  someday.)

Five Scott Boras starting pitchers have now signed:

Blake Snell, Dodgers: 5 years, $182 million.
Yusei Kikuchi, Angels: 3 years, $63 million.
Frankie Montas, Mets: 2 years, $34 million.
Matthew Boyd, Cubs: 2 years, $29 million.
Nick Martinez, Reds: 1 year, $21.05 million.

[ProudMary]

No, no, no, no, no, no, NO! Is Manfred just throwing things out there to see how far he can push the envelope?

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/mlb-commissioner-says-there-s-buzz-about-a-golden-at-bat-rule-what-is-it/ar-AA1v98R9

“There are a variety of things that are being talked about, out there. One of them, there was a little buzz around it at an owner’s meeting, was the idea of a ‘Golden At-Bat.’ That is, putting your best player out there, out of order, at a particular point of the game,” Manfred said.

Manfred didn’t elaborate on the rule or the “buzz” surrounding it, but the notion of a one-time slugger swap has been talked about for years. Jayson Stark, of The New York Times’ The Athletic, delved deeper into the possible ways the rule could play out, claiming he’s heard several variations.

Of those, Stark explained that a “Golden At-Bat” could involve both teams getting a once-per-game pass to substitute a hitter, or maybe just one team (whichever team is trailing in a later inning). He also brought up the possibility that a player could potentially bat twice in a row, if he’s called out on his first-at bat in the inning.

 

[ebk57]

This is because the commissioner hates baseball.  I hate him.

[mojoween]

On 11/23/2024 at 1:36 AM, Lantern7 said:

*sigh* If I only knew any Yankees fans that could take a joke.

Not it!

Is today April 1st?  What the fuck is this Golden at Bat bullshit?  When is Manfred’s contract up anyways?  Tomorrow?  Can it be tomorrow?

[DMK]

Sounds like someone was reading the Banana Ball rulebook. That’s a rule from Savannah Bananas games.

[ProudMary]

15 hours ago, DMK said:

Sounds like someone was reading the Banana Ball rulebook. That’s a rule from Savannah Bananas games.

Interesting. I didn't know this. So yeah, that's definitely where I'd like MLB to get ALL of its rules moving forward. 🙄

I actually had high hopes for Manfred, especially following Bud Selig's reign. I figured there was nowhere to go but up. Boy, was I ever wrong! Manfred has been a huge disappointment. 

[mojoween]

Fuzzy (whoever he/she is) put it much more eloquently than fuck that fucking fuck

 

[ebk57]

12 minutes ago, mojoween said:

Fuzzy (whoever he/she is) put it much more eloquently than fuck that fucking fuck

 

I like this idea