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MLB 2019


The Buscher

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Pitchers and catchers report in a week, dozens of free agents are still on the market, and amidst that standoff come the news that the league and union are exploring some potentially drastic rule changes.

Among the ideas being thrown around:

-Universal DH
-Only having one trade deadline (right now 7/31 is the regular trade deadline and 8/31 is for waiver trades) and moving that trade deadline up to before the All Star Break
-26 man rosters, no more than 12 pitchers allowed
-20 second pitch clock
-Pitchers required to face a minimum of three batters
-Lowering the mound
-Changing draft order to discourage tanking
-Allowing two-sport amateurs to immediately sign big league contracts (aka the Kyler Murray Rule)

Could be some pretty interesting times.  I really don't want the universal DH but I've long accepted that it's inevitable so whatever.  I also like the idea of expanding the rosters by an extra player so teams can have a six man bench and it'll give jobs to specialists who otherwise wouldn't be able to make the league.  The three batter minimum for pitchers though is ridiculous, it'd basically end the career of lefty specialists all at the expense of making games faster.

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More than anything on this list I hope that one doesn't pass.  Just imagine bringing a reliever in with a man on.  Hits the first batter he faces.  Walks the second batter.  Well clearly he's rattled, better pull him.  But you can't!  Bases clearing double.

Supposedly the DH could be implemented as soon as this year, which, I have to say, kinda screws over NL teams who could've shifted their priorities this offseason to try to sign a big bat they otherwise didn't have a spot for.

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Sporacle Quiz of all the baseball related Final Jeopardy questions since 1984.

https://www.sporcle.com/games/jfrank9/baseball-on-final-jeopardy?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=share_bar

I got 26/41, which I feel really good about.

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-Universal DH It's inevitable and it's good for the players
-Only having one trade deadline (right now 7/31 is the regular trade deadline and 8/31 is for waiver trades) and moving that trade deadline up to before the All Star Break Maybe make it 8/15, but the waiver deadline has always been a bit weird
-26 man rosters, no more than 12 pitchers allowed Not sure on the cap on pitchers, but rosters could use with being expanded
-20 second pitch clock No, it'll never work as much as Manfred wants it to
-Pitchers required to face a minimum of three batters In theory I get it, but there's too many variables that make it impractical without fundamentally changing the way the game is played 
-Lowering the mound Eh, it'll boost home runs and offense so I can see why
-Changing draft order to discourage tanking Probably won't have its desired outcome, they really should adjust to focus on revenues vs expenditures. If you're spending and suck you don't get penalized. Bad contracts happen, at least you gave it a shot. If you aren't spending and suck, you do get penalized.
-Allowing two-sport amateurs to immediately sign big league contracts (aka the Kyler Murray Rule) 100% support this and it's stupid they don't allow it currently

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4 hours ago, Maxx said:

Sporacle Quiz of all the baseball related Final Jeopardy questions since 1984.

https://www.sporcle.com/games/jfrank9/baseball-on-final-jeopardy?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=share_bar

I got 26/41, which I feel really good about.

31/41, and I too feel really good. The ones I got wrong were basically all the ones that involved baseball but weren't "about" baseball.

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- Universal DH: I'm ok with it if/when it happens, but I like the rule as is


- Trade deadline: Yes to a single deadline, would keep in July.


-26 man rosters, no more than 12 pitchers allowed: Not opposed


-20 second pitch clock: at least get it to 25-30 to start off


-Three Batter Min: fuck no


-Lowering the mound: no


-Anti-Tanking: Damshow is right about spending/revenues.  I'd still like to see some reward for at least trying.  I remember being in an OOTP league where the team closest to 62 wins got the #1 overall pick, then draft order was determined by how close to 62 wins you were.  I wonder if a system like that in RL would be viable.

-Kyler Murray rule: yes

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As much as I don't want leaguewide DH, I can't deny that it would be beneficial to the Mets pretty much immediately.  Lowrie and Frazier are going to man the corner spots to open the season, but Peter Alonso will be up after a few weeks when the service time threshold passes and the thought was Frazier would become an expensive bench player at that time.  Now there will still be a spot in the lineup for him and as frustrating as he can be to watch at times, he does still have pop.

Plus if Cespedes returns, the DH is a great way to rest his balky quads.  And once he's is off the books after 2020, Cano is probably the full-time DH for the remainder of his contract.

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I know the DH thing is goin g to happen eventually, but I hate it. I like that the NL has to use a different strategy and decide when/if they should yank a pitcher in favor of a pinch hitter. And the DH rule ceased being used the way it was originally intended way too long ago. It was supposed to extend the careers or players too old or busted up from injuries to field but that were still able to hit. 

The miminum batter rule idea is just plain stupid. A mimimum number of at bats rule for a hitter would be just as stupid.

And a 20 second pitch clock? lol. 30 would be a good starting point.

 

 

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I've always wanted an alternative to the DH rule where you can pinch-hit for a pitcher whenever you want, but that pinch-hitter is assigned to said pitcher. Basically, your starter you get a DH for him. He pitches 6, the DH gets up 3 times, and then when you pull him you have to decide whether to burn through another bat on the bench when your relievers come up or let them hit to save that bat for situational hitting, pinch-running, or defensive substitutions. Because once they're assigned as a DH as soon as the pitcher is pulled, they are too.

Obviously this would still allow things like a double-switch, you take the DH move him to RF and pull the player currently in RF. 

This keeps an element of strategy that people like from pitchers batting, with some more offense added into the game, and it makes the players' union probably happy that this will allow an additional few players to have the opportunity for longer careers via just having to worry about hitting.

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1 hour ago, Ms. Canadian Destroyer said:

Yeah, just a great baseball life. He only played six seasons in Baltimore but he's one of the very first names that will ever come up when people mention the Orioles.

1 hour ago, Meacon said:

One drawn out storyline from this offseason is now over as the Phillies have acquired JT Realmuto for Sixto Sanchez and Jorge Alfaro and some other guy, along with $250k in international pool money. Pretty good haul for Miami.

It feels like a steep price for him, especially with Sixto Sanchez going to Miami. But Philadelphia seems committed to doing it right now, and they were I believe a year or two away on Sanchez still.

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