MLB 2019-2020 Offseason Thread

[Meacon Keaton]

I will never say I don’t want baseball, but those proposals are some corny mess that only GhostMachine would suggest.

[gunnar hendershow]

All they care about is making money even at the expense of a good season.

[Gabriel]

I think, as things stand right now, if they can fit in a full season by making the playoffs single game rounds, I'd be okay with that. You still have teams going through the grind to get to the post-season, so anyone who makes it should deserve to be there.

Or, I'd also be interested to see a shortened season with an expanded playoffs. Put the top 2 teams from each division into the post-season, and have the two wild-card teams from each league join them. Rank them 1-8 and play full 7 game series from that point.

I don't know if I'd really like expanded rosters all year and multiple double-headers.

[Meacon Keaton]

Your suggestions are somehow worse than what MLB is proposing!

[gunnar hendershow]

I'd be fine with baseball basically making Tuesdays or Wednesdays "doubleheader days" across the board during the regular season. It saves teams the headache of getaway days by giving them a full day off to get to a new city and it gives fans the chance to go to 2 games for the price of 1 on the least attended days of the week. Not to mention it frees up a ton of days for make-up games when they become necessary.

But forcing in doubleheaders just to get to an arbitrary number of games played is silly.

[The Buscher]

Another proposal out there based on the idea that they won't be able to start the season until July involves having an abridged Spring Training lead straight into the All Star Game (with rosters fully decided by fans) as the final exhibition game of the year before Opening Day later that week.

[Maxx]

Round Robin is the only way forward!

[gunnar hendershow]

3 hours ago, B-li Manning said:

Another proposal out there based on the idea that they won't be able to start the season until July involves having an abridged Spring Training lead straight into the All Star Game (with rosters fully decided by fans) as the final exhibition game of the year before Opening Day later that week.

I liked the idea of an after the season ASG. They have a lot of flexibility since it's in LA this year with when to have it. 

[The Buscher]

Even with a league on lockdown the Mets manage to get blasted with bad PR from the media as Syndergaard is getting his Tommy John today at a time when masks and ventilators are in extreme demand, even the NFL put a hold on free agents getting physicals so as to not risk tying up any resources.

The reason it's being allowed to proceed is because the doctor labeling it as essential operation, not an elective surgery.  And, to be fair, given his career it isn't an optional procedure.  You force him to wait until this stuff is over and you're looking at a summer surgery date, guaranteeing him two full missed seasons.  In that case he probably gets non-tendered after this year because why pay $10 million in arbitration to someone who won't pitch in 2021?  So best he could hope for is a cheap one year prove-it deal in 2022 before finally hitting the market as a 30-year old pitcher.  Delaying the surgery could cost him countless millions.

But even though he's yet to get his big pay day he's still made more than most normal people will make in their lives.  The optics are made worse by how many athletes and celebrities basically get to skip the line on getting COVID tests.

[gunnar hendershow]

Happy Opening Day. I'm going to celebrate by playing OOTP.

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

MLB is showing a classic game for each team on Opening Day on all their platforms. 

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

16 hours ago, Gabriel said:

If Nate Pearson is available, I will take him on the off chance that he opens the season with the Jays.

@El Tiburon

This is interesting hypothetical. It depends on how big the rosters are and how service time works this year, but there's is a good chance he actually makes the team this year.

[The Buscher]

Sounds more than likely that if there is no season, players will be granted the same amount of service they earned in 2019.  So players called up late in the year that would’ve been in the bigs all year this season get screwed, but it’s an overwhelmingly player-friendly deal.

Lots of teams losing cost-controlled years.  Dodgers still have the most to lose though as they may have traded Alex Verdugo and Jeter Downs for nothing.

[Lint]

Part 1 of whats going to be a 3 hour series

[SeanDMan]

On 26/02/2020 at 15:51, damsher hatfield said:

Oh would you look at that. Trevor Bauer is pointing out a certain pitcher got traded to Houston after 2017 and the spin rate on his pitches immediately jumped. I mean, would anyone be surprised if they had some help too?

There was a guy in the dugout hitting a garbage can when he wanted the pitcher to throw real hard.

[Lint]

 

[Lint]

The Fumble Dimension turns to the classic simulation game “Out Of The Park Baseball” to simulate a Seattle Mariners season. Who’s playing? Well guess what, it’s you.

[The Buscher]

Hall of Famer Al Kaline has passed away at 85.

[gunnar hendershow]

He was a Baltimore native, only a mile or so away from where Babe Ruth was born.

My grandfather always spoke very highly of Kaline. I've always associated him with the Tigers even though he retired well before I was born.

[Maxx]

Hope, however slight...

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/29004498/mlb-union-focused-plan-allow-season-start-early-arizona
 

All games taking place in Arizona using Chase Field, spring training facilities and other fields if needed.  All players will relocate there, isolation and social distancing will be strictly adhered to.

The unique rules involved may include:

• Implementing an electronic strike zone to allow the plate umpire to maintain sufficient distance from the catcher and batter

• No mound visits from the catcher or pitching coach

• Seven-inning doubleheaders, which with an earlier-than-expected start date could allow baseball to come closer to a full 162-game season

• Regular use of on-field microphones by players, as an added bonus for TV viewers

• Sitting in the empty stands 6 feet apart -- the recommended social-distancing space -- instead of in a dugout