2016 MLB Thread

[The Buscher]

Like I said, I don't feel good about every AL team but I can at least envision a scenario where things break right for them.  I see zero reason to be optimistic about 2016 for those 6 aforementioned NL clubs.  I nearly tossed the Marlins in there too but if Stanton and Fernandez stay healthy I think that alone is bound to make them at least serviceable.

[thatshortguy]

It's subjective, of course, but I would consider it a surprising success if any of the teams we just mentioned have a .500 season.

[The Buscher]

Of the teams listed I wouldn't be all that surprised if the Tigers had a bounceback season.  Lineup is righty-heavy but seems like it could be really good provided Cabrera and V-Mart can avoid the injury bug.  Rotation seems solid, Zimmermann was a big edition and I like Norris a lot.  Fulmer could give them a boost before the end of the year as well.  They made some nice bullpen upgrades too, which has been a weak spot for them the last several years.

[DYSI]

Greg Bird out for the year.

So much for having an insurance plan for Teixeira/A-Rod, now we need an insurance plan for our insurance plan!

[ThrillhouseMAX]

Ah I can't wait for the start of the season. I always miss baseball when its gone. Does anybody know if there's any place that I can watch the Caribbean Series? 

 

Also, the Blue Jays are signing Gavin Floyd, and the Orioles are apparently interested in bringing in Yovanni Gallardo. 

[Meacon Keaton]

MLB Network? I'd imagine that's probably your best bet. I'll check in the morning when I'm not so sleepy/lazy. 

[thatshortguy]

12 hours ago, Meacon said:

MLB Network? I'd imagine that's probably your best bet. I'll check in the morning when I'm not so sleepy/lazy. 

I don't immediately see it on MLB.tv's schedule, which makes me leery that their Network would have it.  Then again, I doth not have such liberties.

Gavin Floyd joins the Bronson Arroyo Club as another Pitcher Who Just Keeps Finding Work and I would like the Gallardo signing if it didn't mean losing such a high draft pick.  He's started declining before he even hit 30 and I don't see him becoming the cerebral type of pitcher who gets by with an 87 MPH four-seamer.

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

I really like the Floyd signing. If he can avoid injury, he's actually been good the last two years and in the past five, only had one where he was worse than league average. He could seriously compete for the 5th starter job and win it out of spring training. 

Speaking of spring training... it's not that far off! 

[gunnar hendershow]

I could really do without Gallardo on the O's.

[ThrillhouseMAX]

David Aardsma has also signed with the Blue Jays. I didn't realize he was still playing. I haven't seen him in the majors since he played with the Mets. 

[ThrillhouseMAX]

Jenrry Mejia of the Mets has once again tested positive for PEDs. Its his third strike, and now he is the first MLB player to receive a lifetime ban from PEDs. What an idiot. 

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/report--jenrry-mejia-gets-lifetime-ban-for-failing-third-ped-test-215137583.html

[The Buscher]

Honestly?  Good riddance.  When he managed to get popped for PEDs not once but twice in a single year, I saw little reason to expect him to be reliable moving forward.

[ThrillhouseMAX]

Yeah, seriously. You'd think that he might know better or, at the very least, that somebody around him would warn him or try to help him shape up. I won't miss him. 

[9 to 5]

No big loss.

 

[EddieG]

14 hours ago, Buschan Danielson said:

Honestly?  Good riddance.  When he managed to get popped for PEDs not once but twice in a single year, I saw little reason to expect him to be reliable moving forward.

It's pretty much thrice in a single year, as the first time was opening day I believe?

[Meacon Keaton]

Makes sense. The Mets are finally worth a damn and they have a player banned for life for cheating. At least the Yanks only lost a player for a year.  

[The Buscher]

1 hour ago, EddieG said:

It's pretty much thrice in a single year, as the first time was opening day I believe?

It is three times in a year now, yes.  It was a weird series of events.  On Opening Day he was actually on the mound warming up, ready to come in for the 9th inning.  Picked up a back injury, never got into the game, went on the DL, and then got suspended days later.

I've seen people trying to slap the "LOLMETS" tag on this and I really don't get why.  To me it made perfect sense to tender him a contract because there was no risk to the team.  They were only going to have to pay him the pro-rated portion of his salary if he returned.  So the best case scenario was to get a decent reliever in July for less than a million bucks, sorta like a trade deadline move without having to give up anybody.  But I really don't think anybody in the front office was actually counting on him.  I doubt Sandy is losing sleep knowing Mejia is unavailable.

And this news broke before pitchers and catchers even reported.  So they know they won't get Mejia back.  Big deal.  Their bullpen already looks better than it was last season and now they have some extra cash freed up if they actually do need to trade for somebody later.

[The Buscher]

Don Mattingly, perhaps wanting to avoid any drama like the flak he caught from Mr. Burns, has enforced a strict facial hair policy for the Marlins.  No facial hair allowed at all, not even mustaches.  Can't begin to express how stupid I think it is to ban grown men on a professional sports team from growing facial hair if they want to but whatever.

[thatshortguy]

If he really gave a shit, that dome would be chrome he'd ker-pow the brows.

Idiot.

[MalaCloudy Black]

Didn't he have the same policy on the Yankees, or am I thinking of Joe Girardi?