MLB 2019

[Meacon Keaton]

Silly Gabriel. No free agent worth his salt wants to be a Blue Jay.

[Draevyn]

Meacon, why must you hurt my heart so much in the last couple days

[The Buscher]

I've read a lot about a new thing called an "upward mobility clause" where veterans who have to take minor league deals get a chance at the end of spring to be claimed by any of the 29 other teams before they can be sent to the minors.  Beyond that though, most veterans have the foresight to have an opt-out clause tied to their contract for later in the season so they give themselves a chance to explore Major League opportunities that might open up in the next few months.

Then you have Devin Mesoraco who took a minor league deal with no opt-outs.  He figured that the Mets had two catchers in Wilson Ramos and Travis d'Arnaud who were always hurt and he caught 21 of deGrom's 32 starts last year, so he assumed he'd find his way onto the Opening Day roster.

Well, it's not happening.  Ramos and TDA seem good to go, and even if TDA needs a week or two on the DL the Mets would rather go with a backup catcher (Tomas Nido) already on the 40-man roster for a couple of weeks than make another spot for Mesoraco.

And now, despite the other 29 teams already passing on him in the upward mobility clause, Mesoraco has demanded that the Mets release him anyway or else he'll retire rather than honor his contract.    What a friggin' baby.

[GhostMachine]

Hey, now. Maybe he just wised up and realized it would  be better to retire than to play for the Mets!

 

On 22/03/2019 at 21:51, Eric Buschenhagen said:

And now Justin Verlander gets a two-year, $66 million extension.

And yet the Mets continue to sit on their hands with giving deGrom his much-deserved extension.

If they don't give deGrom an extension, then the GM is definitely insane.

(Right now, I just think he's possibly insane.)

Edited March 24, 2019 by GhostMachine

[The Buscher]

Sanity prevails and deGrom has gotten his new contract!

5 years, $137.5 million with a 2024 club option.  Full no-trade clause and a 2022 opt-out.

[gunnar hendershow]

That's not a ton for deGrom. The increased risk of pitchers getting career-ending injuries is a big reason they are all getting below-market deals. There will still be a work stoppage, but pitchers are always fighting against more than batters when it comes to long-term money.

[The Buscher]

Padres say the hell with service time and announce Fernando Tatis Jr will be in their Opening Day lineup.

[Maxx]

Blow that kind of money on Machado and you might as well give it your all to win

[The Buscher]

The Phillies announced that texting or Tweeting during player and manager press conferences would result in an immediate revocation of press credentials.  They reversed the decision not even 12 hours later when all of the Phillies beat writers complained since Twitter is the quickest way writers get their information out nowadays.

[gunnar hendershow]

20 hours ago, Eric Buschenhagen said:

Padres say the hell with service time and announce Fernando Tatis Jr will be in their Opening Day lineup.

Eloy Jimenez is also starting the season on the big league roster.

Honestly I'm not as surprised as some. With the looming potential work stoppage and players constantly bringing up service time manipulation as a big gripe, I can see why teams are doing this.

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

1 hour ago, damsher hatfield said:

Eloy Jimenez is also starting the season on the big league roster.

Honestly I'm not as surprised as some. With the looming potential work stoppage and players constantly bringing up service time manipulation as a big gripe, I can see why teams are doing this.

Jimenez signed a contract extension already. There's no reason to keep him in the minors anyway.

Jays trade Kendry Morales to the A's. 

[The Buscher]

As the clock officially strikes midnight on Opening Day, time to throw in some predictions:

AL East
1. Yankees
2. Red Sox (WC 1)
3. Rays (WC 2)
4. Blue Jays
5. Orioles

AL Central
1. Indians
2. Twins
3. White Sox
4. Tigers
5. Royals

AL West
1. Astros
2. Angels
3. Athletics
4. Rangers
5. Mariners

NL East
1. Phillies
2. Nationals (WC 1)
3. Mets
4. Braves
5. Marlins

NL Central
1. Cardinals
2. Brewers (WC 2)
3. Cubs
4. Reds
5. Pirates

NL West
1. Dodgers
2. Padres
3. Rockies
4. Giants
5. Diamondbacks

AL MVP:  Aaron Judge, New York Yankees
AL Cy Young:  Chris Sale, Boston Red Sox
AL Rookie of the Year:  Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Toronto Blue Jays
AL Comeback Player of the Year:  Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers
AL Manager of the Year:  Kevin Cash, Tampa Bay Rays

NL MVP:  Paul Goldschmidt, St. Louis Cardinals
NL Cy Young:  Max Scherzer, Washington Nationals
NL Rookie of the Year:  Victor Robles, Washington Nationals
NL Comeback Player of the Year:  Corey Seager, Los Angeles Dodgers
NL Manager of the Year:  Andy Green, San Diego Padres

Red Sox over Rays
Nationals over Brewers

Yankees over Red Sox in 5
Astros over Indians in 4
Dodgers over Nationals in 5
Cardinals over Phillies in 4

Yankees over Astros in 7
Cardinals over Dodgers in 6

Yankees over Cardinals in 5
World Series MVP:  Gleyber Torres

[Gabriel]

Moving Morales is a huge help for the Jays. He still has a serviceable bat, but it's more important to rotate the younger guys through the DH position this season, and moving him was necessary (if possible). It's one of the things that I mentioned that they needed to look into doing, because you have Smoak and Tellez both as first basemen. Smoak is still way too productive not to be playing, but it's going to be important to get Tellez those at-bats too, for his development. Then when Vlad comes up, he and Drury can both see some time at DH and 3B, with Vlad playing the most there. Drury can play 2B if needed. Oh, and that Bo Bichette guy seems pretty good.

Monotyo is going to have so much more roster flexibility because of this move, and the prospect coming back to Toronto seems like a pretty good fit for the system.

For all of us Jays fans... Toronto is the favorite in their opening series against the Detroit Tigers. We won't hear that a lot this year, so enjoy it.

Let's go Jays.

[GhostMachine]

Busch, I'm not doing all my predictions just yet, but....

1. The Phillies are NOT winning the NL East, and there is no way in Hell that the Mets are finishing ahead of the Braves, unless the Braves have a lot of long-term injuries. Acquring Bryce Harper and paying him way too much doesn't make Philadelphia instant contenders, and they've not made enough moves - yet - to finish any better than second in the East.

I have the NL East as:

1. Braves

2. Nationals 

3. Phillies 

4. Mets

5. Marlins

Nationals and Braves *might* be flipped. Mets I think are still a year or two away from finishing any higher than 3rd or 4th.

NL Central:

1. Brewers

2. Cardinals

3. Cubs

4. Reds 

5. Pirates

(I always do the NL first, because despite being a Red Sox fan, I prefer NL style baseball. I'm also a Cincinnati Reds and Chicago Cubs fan, and my parents are Los Angeles Dodgers fans.)

I'm in agreement with you on the NL West finishing order, however.

And if we get the Yankees-Cardinals WS you're predicting, I won't be watching. But I think it'll be either the Red Sox or Astros going, not the Yankees.

 

 

 

 

 

[The Buscher]

The Phillies did a lot more than just bring in Bryce Harper.  They also acquired Realmuta, Segura, and McCutchen.  Their lineup is stacked and they have a good bullpen.  Starting pitching is a big question mark, but when you do predictions you have to try to guess who is most likely to make a trade and the Phillies are in that group.  Pitching is also a big concern for the Braves...frankly I’m shocked they’ve not signed Keuchel and/or Kimbrel since both of them would, unfortunately, be great adds for them.

Best case scenario for the Mets is 3rd place and a 2nd Wild Card but in a stacked division I just can’t see it.  If they’re not in the playoffs I couldn’t care less whether they finished 3rd or 4th.  Only chance of them doing anything is if they stay healthy and they haven’t been able to do that for years.

On paper the NL looks like it’ll be way more competitive.  The AL’s gonna be an arms race between the same four teams that had playoff spots locked up by June last season.

[Paton]

Happy Opening Day everyone!

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

It's Opening Daaaaaaaaaaaay! (Except for those games last week)

[mattman1624]

Yeah, Today is Opening Day as far as I'm concerned, and I'm an A's fan.

[ThrillhouseMAX]

Wooooo! Opening Day! Quick, bullshitty predictions from me: 

 

AL East:

1. Red Sox

2. Yankees (WC1)

3. Blue Jays

4. Rays

5. Orioles

 

AL Central:

1. Indians

2. Twins (WC2)

3. White Sox 

4. Royals

5. Tigers

 

AL West:

1. Astros

2. Angels

3. Athletics

4. Rangers

5. Mariners

 

NL East: 

1. Braves

2. Mets (WC1)

3. Nationals

4. Phillies

5. Marlins

 

NL Central

1. Brewers

2. Reds (WC2)

3. Cubs

4. Cardinals

5. Pirates

 

NL West

1. Dodgers

2. Rockies

3. Padres

4. Diamondbacks

5. Giants

 

AL MVP: Mike Trout

AL Cy Young: Chris Sale

AL Rookie of the Year: Vlad Guerrero Jr.

AL Comeback Player of the Year:  Miguel Cabrera

 

NL MVP: Ronald Acuna Jr.

NL Cy Young: Jacob DeGrom

NL Rookie of the Year: Undecided: Peter Alonso or Fernando Tatis Jr.

NL Comeback Player of the Year: Alex Reyes

 

Playoffs: 

Yankees def. Twins

Mets def. Reds

 

Astros def. Yankees in 5 games

Red Sox def. Indians in 4

Dodgers def. Mets in 5

Brewers def. Braves in 3

 

Red Sox def. Astros in 6

Brewers def. Dodgers in 5

 

Red Sox def. Brewers in 6

[Meacon Keaton]

Luuuuuuuuke!