The Buscher

As the season started today I have to just reiterate again how fucking boring Ohtani and Yamamoto going to the Dodgers was. Just from the standpoint of the health of the game. Those are two guys that could've elevated B-tier teams up to the A-tier, which surely would make for a more fun regular season as these signings could have a real impact over 162. Instead they go to the team that already wins 95-100 games annually. So nothing really changes over the season. The rich get richer, the team already a lock for a first round bye just solidifies it further and basically the Dodgers' spree means nothing as far as the regular season is concerned. It won't mean anything until October. Obviously, if I were a Dodgers fan I'd love it and would be embracing the villainy. But it's like, damn, just sucks that the best player in baseball has a 6 month extended spring training instead of playing meaningful games.

The Boras freeze-out has had some ramifications within the MLBPA. Evan Drelich reports that there's a lot of unrest in the union after this offseason, with Tony Clark being pressured to replace Bruce Meyer as his second in command with former MLBPA lawyer Harry Marino. Non-Boras clients have often complained that Boras holds far too much influence with union decision-making and Meyer's firmly denied that. Marino also did most of the heavy lifting with getting the minor league players into the union, and in turn the minor leaguers now have nearly half the seats on the MLBPA executive board. Enjoy the next three seasons because the 2026-27 lockout will probably be even worse than the 2021-22 one.

Sounds like bullpen AI logic has, unsurprisingly, not been touched. If the CPU is losing after 5 they'll always yank their starter and bring in a long reliever to pitch the rest of the game, seemingly no matter the score unless they tie or take the lead. Same as MLB 23. And yes, this extends to simming too which means starters in the BP will still get like 130 innings a year while the 2nd set up guy will get about 20-30. Was a day 1 complaint last year, has been a problem for years, and they still do nothing about it. Bleh.

Spotrac has now listed Darren Waller as retired despite no confirmation yet from the player or team. If he does retire, it's a $7 million dead cap hit for the season although the Giants could restructure it, much as the Rams did with Aaron Donald's contract yesterday. NFL contracts generally have automatic restructure clauses in them, they don't impact the players' wallets at all but spreads out the damage for cap implications. That's how some teams hold off the dead cap damage even longer. It's kind of a silly thing to me. Retired players of course should get all guaranteed money owed per their contract but it's strange that those earnings still have to count as dead money against the cap. Be funny if someone solidifies their spot as a team legend by signing with a division rival for like $70 million guaranteed and then retires the next day.

The Mets' refusal to sign JD Martinez is infuriating. We're less than 2 weeks from Opening Day, realistically he probably only needs a week or so of ABs to be ready but this means he's gotta sign soon and at his age it's tough to imagine Boras is still demanding a 2-year deal. The Mets are way above the CBT thresholds this year, they have to pay a 110% tax premium on any player they sign now, but who cares? It's peanuts to Cohen. Zero impact on the 2025 budget. I get Martinez is 36 but he had a great year last year, if he really regresses that badly they don't have to be beholden to him and keep forcing him out there. Or if he's good and the team sucks he's an easy trade chip. But that I have to sit here and watch David Stearns in every presser go on about how important it is that Mark Vientos be the Opening Day DH and play every day, it's a joke. I do think he's got the raw power to hit 20 jacks if he plays every day but in the process he'll hit like .205 with 200 Ks and a horrible OBP. The kid is 24 yet unplayable in the field, you need to be a 30-40 HR bat to be strictly a DH at that age. Shouldn't he be in AAA playing 1B and 3B every day if they really want him to add some value to the big league team? I want to be wrong about the kid but god damn, the insistence on playing him in the face of a clear and obvious proven upgrade is just Stearns reminding people every day that it's a punt season even as he keeps saying "we expect to compete for a playoff spot this year". Sure seems like you don't. Also, the fact that Stearns spent $10 million on Harrison Bader who, while a stellar glove, is putrid offensively and makes the lineup even weaker than it already was. That decision looks even worse now that Michael A Taylor (awesome glove), Adam Duvall (OF pop), and Gio Urshela (3B insurance) signed for the same cost as Bader combined. None of those guys would've been sexy signings but adding all three instead of Bader would've given the Mets a deeper, more well-rounded club. My basic concern with Stearns is that he's gonna want to prove he's the smartest guy in the room and will overthink things as a result.

At the HOF selection meeting, generally a media rep from the market of the candidate's primary NFL team will do a presentation for the candidate, highlighting their credentials and explaining why they ought to be one of the 5 modern era inductees that year, answering questions, then tons of debate over which guys would make the cut. Hence, the meeting often goes 8-10 hours. There's an unspoken tradition that when there's a guy who is so overwhelmingly an obvious choice even among the other amazing players on the ballot that they won't waste even more time debating the player. The presentation is just the guy's name being said and then they move on to the next. It's rarely ever done and when it is it is for the most obvious of obvious candidates. Jerry Rice, Emmitt Smith, Brett Favre, Ray Lewis, Peyton Manning etc. Aaron Donald is pretty much in that category.

The Vikings seem to be positioning to move up even higher but it seems tough to imagine they can get to the very top of the draft. -The Bears are staying put and taking Caleb from all accounts. If they changed their mind they'd probably only move down to 2 or 3, certainly not trading the #1 pick into the division and falling that far in the draft. -The Commies are clearly taking a QB at #2. They just traded Howell, their fanbase's reaction to not getting a QB would make January 6th look tame. It's a QB. -The Pats also have a very clear and obvious need at QB, mercifully got rid of Mac Jones and Jacoby Brissett feels like the quintessential "here's our stopgap QB until the rookie is ready" guy. Maybe they don't like the QB board and will move down but #3 to #11 would be a big drop and they'd need a haul to sell it to the fans as a punt season. -The Cards at #4 clearly want a WR and are staring at a great chance to get the #1 WR on the board. Certainly they wouldn't want to lose out on the top 3 which is a real possibility going down to 11, if the Cards take that deal they'd need to be ready to quickly go back up and it's risky. -The Chargers trading Keenan Allen on top of releasing Mike Williams makes this pick seem like a stone cold lock for WR. Same thing as the Cards, they don't want to fall out of top 3 WR range.

Always a good thing when “HOLY OVERPAY” is trending on Twitter within minutes of a signing being announced.

Pat McAfee confirmed yesterday that the playable co-hosts in the McAfee DLC pack are, in fact, the co-hosts of his show with AJ Hawk, Darius Butler, Boston Connor, and Ty Schmit being in the pack with him. So that's 2 former NFL players and his 2 most prominent on-air co-hosts who also are big gamers/wrestling fans. Moreover he said he wouldn't agree to be in the game without them which might explain why he was planned DLC for 2k23 that got cancelled. Random inclusion as they may be, guess I can give some credit to McAfee for getting some money for his guys, this says something about how much 2k or WWE wanted McAfee in this thing to give those other guys royalties. Another tidbit that was said is that they all apparently have crazy moves. So basically this might be their way of getting every AEW/NJPW/CMLL/Whatever else move into the game that they can. Also means there's a chance they're not taking DLC spots away from others because this might've just been a Moves pack otherwise, you just now have some extra guys to beat up on if you want. So all told, pretty harmless. Still a bit annoying this pack comes out 2 months earlier than the one that has Dragon Lee and Jade Cargill, though.

I remember talking with my boss at work (fellow Giants fan) and we both suggested the Giants should call the Jets to see if they had any interest in Tyrod last year. They could’ve been a playoff team had they not just stubbornly plowed ahead with Zach Wilson. Anyway, Rodgers leaving the Jets to be a VP of a doomed campaign and never completing a pass with the team would be hysterical.

Lock is a decent enough backup. Probably not as good as Tyrod, but Tyrod himself is very injury prone which is the last thing the team needs if they're actually running back one more year of Jones. If they do run back Jones again it feels like the season is probably a punt even after handing out a massive Burns contract. To be fair, 2022-level play from Jones which got him the contract in the first place would be totally fine but with all of his injuries it's difficult to see that happening. Moreover, they're in a precarious situation because Jones' contract is set up in a way where they can get out of the deal this time next year very easily, unless he plays and gets hurt, in which case he's got injury protection built in which would move his dead money hit from like $20 million to $45 million. Basically the worst thing that can happen for the Giants is Jones playing and then getting hurt again, which he has every season except 2022. I think taking a QB early in the draft is still in play and I've gotta just trust Schoen and Daboll if they really think "their guy" is there. If this happens I'd expect the rookie and Lock to play in 2024 and the team will just awkwardly carry Jones as a healthy scratch so they can cut bait next year.

I only own two Giants jerseys. I'll wear a jersey when I go to my dad's to watch a game or go to a viewing party but that's it. I'd wear one to an actual game but MetLife is terrible so I've no interest in going to a game in-person. My two jerseys are a home Justin Tuck jersey and a road Eli SB46 jersey. Both jerseys are in good condition, including the Tuck one which is 16 years old now. As long as they stay in good condition there's no reason for me to get another one but if I did it would be a team legend, not a current player since guys move around so much. As long as Tuck or Eli don't do anything terrible they'll always be a safe wear.

No sport sees players going straight to a division rival more than the NFL. Not really surprising given the familiarity these teams have with rival players but yeah, it does get annoying. Even when you make what you feel is the right call in letting someone go, when they go straight to a division rival you can pencil them in for an anytime TD score next meeting.

Brian Burns to the Giants for a 2nd and a 5th (they had an extra 2nd from trading Leonard Williams last year). And they immediately lock him down to a 5-year, $150 million deal with $87 million guaranteed. A legit pass rusher to pair with Thibs and Dexter Lawrence. Love it.

Barkley talked so much about what he wanted his legacy to be in New York. Not that I ever took his word for it, but that legacy is complete garbage now. 6 years of injuries and mostly losing, now goes to the Eagles. Had he stayed here for life Mara probably puts him in the Ring of Honor just for sentimental reasons, that's out. Given the Eagles beat the Giants at like an 80% clip this doesn't really change much in terms of 2024 outlook between the teams. The team needs an OL before they invest heavily in a RB. I'm breathing a sigh of relief Schoen didn't pay him that kind of deal.

Kirk Cousins to the Falcons on a 4-year deal

License Plate Guy (Giants megafan who clearly has sources in the org given how often he drops hints about things) tweeted out "PISSED" just minutes after noon. Would not be the least bit shocked if the Eagles are about to sign Saquon Barkley and/or Xavier McKinney.

I know the rumors of the Fields/Atlanta trade were being kicked around last week but there's even more reports today that the Bears have decided on Caleb Williams and, in turn, the Fields trade could happen as soon as the league year opens. Along with that, they're said to have similar valuations on all three of the top WR (Harrison, Nabers, Odunze) and they would be willing to move up from #9 to secure one of them if it comes to it. Given there might be as many as 4 QBs going in the top 10 right now the Bears could be in a spot where they won't even have to do that.

The franchise stream, as expected, didn't reveal much of anything in the way of new features. Everything they've added is relatively minor. Maybe the biggest franchise feature is they have a pre-existing injury thing ala Madden where you can choose to ensure players hurt right now will be hurt in-game when you start a franchise (so some guys are already out for the year, etc). Logic was basically limited to just "we always go under the hood and make some changes every year" but nothing in detail. Given people have been screaming about bullpen logic for ages, not specifically addressing that doesn't fill me with much confidence that much was done to it. And that would be really a shame because you can tell instantly the CPU manages the same way every game and kills the same long relief pitchers dead. Guess we'll see when the game releases and we get reactions on OS. On to smaller things, I'm no developer but when I see something that's been requested by the community for well over a decade now like a coach editor. Nothing flashy, just the ability to edit a game-generated-coach just as you can edit the game-generated players. Change name, jersey number, whatever. And it's still not in there. Is it more complicated to add than I think, or do they just not see the value? Because my god I can't tell you how irritating it is to sign a new 3B coach and then every time I hit a HR I have to see him slap hands with the hitter and remember that my coach is wearing a retired number, or the same jersey number as one of my star players. And I can't do anything about it. I know it's small but it's just basic immersion stuff.

I’ve barely absorbed any RT content in a decade but the old podcasts and Let’s Plays had me in stitches at times and gave me some running jokes with my friends.

Yeah whenever they don't mention franchise at all it means the mode is basically a copy and paste job from the year prior. I'll grant that there's only so much more they could do to the mode in terms of new features and I'm sure there are spatial limitations (that they're still making PS4 might be a bit of a hold back in terms of adding, say, Class A). But there are definite under the hood adjustments that would make the mode better. I only just got 23 at Christmas so I wasn't rushing out to the buy this one, but I just have this looming sense that within the first day of release I'll see a post on OS about bullpen AI logic still being broken. I'm not willing to spend the time doing 30 team control reconfiguring rosters so they'll manage a bullpen realistically. So I've just had to create a headcanon in my world where some of the best set up guys in baseball are injury prone and that's why they only pitch 15 innings a year, and just accept that it's standard practice in this world for teams to carry multiple SP in the bullpen and have them eat nearly all the innings. It's dumb, but too much work for me to fix myself. Hell it's not just the bullpen. I'm in May in my franchise and I've seen teams carry 24-year old B rated prospects on their bench, accumulating a month of service time and playing in just 2 games instead of having them play every day in the minors. And nobody ever uses the DH spot logically either - for as long as I can remember Nelson Cruz has been playing RF in the Show and the game refuses to keep him at DH. And this is a legacy issue - definitely remember years where the Red Sox in my game didn't roster a backup 1B which meant David Ortiz played 1B every day. Why can't DH be its own position at this point? There's literally a DH Silver Slugger, so the game can and does track who is taking their ABs at DH.

I saw they put J&J Security in the game but not really - they're blurred out of the WM31 footage and it's basically just 2 NPCs that are reasonable facsimiles to J&J without being them. Kinda like how they handled Tyson in a previous game. Anyway I only say this because it's wild that somehow the only game Jamie Noble ever got to officially be in was Raw 2 in 2003. The SmackDown games had smaller rosters back then, maybe 50 or so active roster and then legend spots for the rest and Noble, even when he was Cruiserweight Champion, topped off at someone who was probably in the final round of cuts. The cruiserweight division in general was always underrepresented - Nunzio never got to be in one, Funaki was only ever in SD2, etc. Used to annoy me having to create the same guys every year. I was definitely that guy who as far back as HCTP was yelling to get rid of the legends to put in the undercard current roster.

For the first time ever, you can play as a woman in RTTS. Awesome addition.

I got the THPS remake on Christmas 2020. By about May 2021 I figure I'd topped out my ability and assumed I'd never platinum. About a year later I picked the game back up, played the hell out of it and, against all odds, actually beat all of the really hard "get-there" challenges to earn a trophy only 0.2% of players get, and then went through the grind of earning the platinum (only 0.1% do it) before putting it away. Couple weeks ago I had the urge to play again after almost 2 years, popped the game into my PS5 and spent the 10 bucks to download the graphically enhanced PS5 version. Thought to myself "well I already platinumed the game once, least I don't need to do those awful get-there challenges again" ...I did the challenges again they suuuuuuck but after knocking a few out the desire to see if I could do them all again took hold. So now I've earned the hardest of the trophies in the game. Still would need to grind through like 25 levels which takes a long time if i'm gonna get a 2nd platinum but no real reason I can't get there with the one brutal trophy over and done with. Love this game. Still bums me out the 3 and 4 remake got nixed due to Activision's dumbassery.

Arch Manning has decided to not be in the game because "he is focused on playing football on the field". There's gonna be players who opt out of course but it's hilarious to give a reason that implies signing a document and getting a check for $600 is some massive distraction to getting ready to play the real season. Most guys who opt out are doing so because they want to take a stand about it not being enough money for likeness rights or whatever. Knowing the Manning Family I can quite easily imagine them not wanting his image attached to like a 75 OVR backup QB that players can transfer to Coastal Carolina.