MLB 2019-2020 Offseason Thread

[The Buscher]

For whatever it's worth, league and team officials seem to have optimism that they're going to be able to slowly get things going again.  The NBA led the charge with being the first North American league to shut down, and now they're the first to start opening training facilities in states that have re-opened.  With Florida and Arizona both being on the lax side of things, it might not be long before spring training facilities are allowed to open up again.  But I don't know how many players will say "fuck this" and not go.

[gunnar hendershow]

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/i-am-so-lucky-trey-mancini-orioles-cancer

[The Buscher]

The latest from Jeff Passan - Manfred, Tony Clark, and the owners all optimistic about baseball being played this year in some form and they're supposedly working with disease experts on a safe rollout.  Details will still need to be worked out with the union but their hope is to come to an agreement by mid-May so they can give players some time to report back to camp with the hopes of resuming spring training in late May/early June.

The rough target now is to get a season started in late June/early July, playing around 80-100 games over a 3.5/4 month span.  They think there would be enough cities/stadiums open to not have to try to keep everyone in a close radius like Arizona, but even if every city eventually opened they likely wouldn't do it.  Most likely they'd be sticking to warm weather/domed stadiums to minimize the chance of weather delays.  And for that same reason they're not averse to holding the playoffs in November if they have to.

Obviously though there are still a lot of moving parts.  Just because the MLBPA might agree to it doesn't mean some players won't refuse to participate.

Morally and objectively, there's really no reason sports, wrestling, or any of that should be back at all until next year.  But I'm not gonna sit here and pretend like I'm going to boycott watching baseball if it does return.

[Meacon Keaton]

Yeah, while I don’t think it’s smart, I sure as hell am going to watch every friggin second of it, so *shrug*

[gunnar hendershow]

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/29043681/cracking-birthday-mystery-don-mattingly-1987-topps-baseball-card

[The Buscher]

The Hall of Fame ceremony has been cancelled and all of this year's inductees will be inducted next summer along with anyone that gets elected on the 2021 ballot.

It's the only sensible move.  Even if you get a season up and running...you can't have a Hall of Fame ceremony without fans.  Not to mention many of the living HOFers like to go to welcome the new class and as many are over 70, they especially shouldn't be traveling.

Strangely it might end up being a good thing because based on the voting trends from the last ballot it was looking likely that 2021 was going to be a Schilling-only class.

[gunnar hendershow]

A Schilling-only class would have a weird number of people who had other plans and couldn't be there 😄

[Lowerdeck]

Just looked at the list of people first time on the ballot next year, nobody jumps out as a hall of famer to me.

If it's the last year for Clemens and Bonds, *maybe* they'll get bumped enough to get inducted - especially if Schilling is the only other real candidate to get in next year.

[MalaCloudy Black]

Does baseball have "boys", like wrestling? Who are your baseball "boys"? 

Mine is eternally and forever Augie Ojeda.

[Lint]

 

[The Buscher]

18 hours ago, How The Cloud Stole Christ said:

Does baseball have "boys", like wrestling? Who are your baseball "boys"? 

Mine is eternally and forever Augie Ojeda.

First one that jumped to mind is Steve Trachsel.  He made a 16 year career out of basically being an innings eater with a 4.39 ERA but his FIP suggests he should've been closer to a 5 ERA.  Also known for working notoriously slow between pitches in the pre-clock era.

His six-year Mets career was pretty much along career averages...but what makes him a "boy" is that from 2003-04 I went to four Mets games in a row that he happened to be starting and he always seemed to do well when I was there...including watching him throw a one-hitter against the Rockies (and of course, the only hit he gave up was to the pitcher).

[MalaCloudy Black]

10 minutes ago, B-li Manning said:

First one that jumped to mind is Steve Trachsel.  He made a 16 year career out of basically being an innings eater with a 4.39 ERA but his FIP suggests he should've been closer to a 5 ERA.  Also known for working notoriously slow between pitches in the pre-clock era.

His six-year Mets career was pretty much along career averages...but what makes him a "boy" is that from 2003-04 I went to four Mets games in a row that he happened to be starting and he always seemed to do well when I was there...including watching him throw a one-hitter against the Rockies (and of course, the only hit he gave up was to the pitcher).

I liked Augie Ojeda because I thought his name was cool

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

Travis Snider is a guy I thought was going to be a star and even though he never broke through, was very sad when he was traded. 

[Meacon Keaton]

Former Florida Marlin (among other teams) shortstop Alex Gonzalez. For whatever reason I could hit with him in The Show like no other player. Something about his stance and swing. I can't hit with Mike Trout, but I turned Alex Gonzalez into a Hall of Famer.

Uhm, from the days of playing Baseball Mogul back in the early 2000's, I was always a fan of "Dig" Doug Davis, the pitcher. My buddy and I assembled a team of the best hitters in the league (I think our outfield was Griffey, Bonds, and Sosa) just to see if a team with awesome hitting and terrible pitching would be any good. They were. And "Dig" Doug Davis, as I came to call him, won on average 22 games a year for six or seven straight years, despite having ERA's in the high 4's/low 5's.

In reality, with no game affiliation, there's Shane Spencer, Jim Abbott, Matt Nokes, and Danny Tartabul from Yankee runs. Non-Yankees, was obviously Ken Griffey, but if we're talking "boys" as in guys that weren't necessarily great, but we love them anyway, I have to say Mike "Spanky" LaValliere, Shane Mack, Jeff Reboulet, Rob Deer, Mike Gallego, and more recently Trevor Plouffe. 

[gunnar hendershow]

On 01/05/2020 at 01:14, How The Cloud Stole Christ said:

Does baseball have "boys", like wrestling? Who are your baseball "boys"? 

Mine is eternally and forever Augie Ojeda.

He showed a few glimpses of greatness but Jeremy Guthrie was for the most part pretty average. Though he was for a few years the lone pitching bright spot on some bad O's teams.

He was here for a short amount of time but for like 4 months Nate McLouth was really good and he also used "Kyrie" as his walk-up song.

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

Oh, Juan Francisco. I thought he was going to be the next Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion. He never panned out in real life but in a co-op Franchise a few years ago, he was the home run leader on my team for like 5 years in a row. 

[Meacon Keaton]

Oh! Someone else I absolutely adored, but was very good, was Julio Franco. Playing whiffle ball in the backyard and mimicking his fantastic batting stance was a staple at family barbecues. 

[The Buscher]

He only played 75 games for the Mets but I friggin loved Xavier Nady when he was here in 2006.  He had some really big hits.

I don’t think the team ever wanted to trade him...they got hamstrung when their set-up man got into a cab accident the day of the trade deadline.  So they flipped Nady for a reliever and Oliver Perez who went on to become one of the most maligned figures in team history.

[Gabriel]

26 minutes ago, Mr. Meacon Moneybags said:

Oh! Someone else I absolutely adored, but was very good, was Julio Franco. Playing whiffle ball in the backyard and mimicking his fantastic batting stance was a staple at family barbecues. 

I once got in trouble in little league for adopting a Joey Cora stance at the plate. I was a pitcher that couldn't hit worth shit, so I figured if I made the strike zone as small as possible, I'd walk more.

Umpires didn't like it. Opposing coaches hated it. I was asked to stop.

[MalaCloudy Black]

Would Gabe Kapler count? I always liked him circa the 2000 Texas Rangers.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2020/04/mlb-umpires-pay-reduction-short-season.html

Quote

In addition to seeking pro-rated salaries for players — and larger reductions if/when games are played without fans in attendance — the league is asking umpires to take a reduction in pay as well, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports. Nightengale indicates that the league is seeking a roughly 35 percent reduction in pay and has informed the umpires that if no agreement can be reached between the two sides, they will not be paid until play resumes. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports that the umpires’ offer included a 20 percent reduction in pay (subscription link). The league is seeking an agreement as soon as this weekend, though that may not be likely.