MLB 2019

[gunnar hendershow]

The reality is that, outside of the NFL, the Baltimore/Washington region really can only fit one team. The other sports leagues simply aren't big enough. It's why Oakland is such a bottom-level market too, overshadowed by the much bigger San Fran market. Washington is a bigger city and despite the long history of the Orioles, 20 years of horrific ownership has gutted the fanbase. If the O's were good in the 2000's the Nationals wouldn't have picked up so many fans from the Maryland side of the Beltway. Instead everything south of Laurel is firmly Nationals territory now. Revenue sharing and the luxury tax help teams regardless of market size compete, but you can bet that MLB would much rather one team in the Baltimore/Washington market and another team in one of the other markets that gets talked about for expansion or relocation (Nashville, Austin, Portland, Montreal). 

Also the lease is actually up in 2021 (with an option to extend it for 5 years). But Oriole Park is slowly getting outdated, somehow, and nobody wants to invest in it until there can be some closure to the MASN issue. Orioles will certainly appeal the arbitrator's decision, so no resolution is in sight yet.

It would be criminal for there to be no baseball in Baltimore and devastating to me personally but billionaires gonna billionaire.

[GhostMachine]

And most people outside the Baltimore area pretty much stopped caring about the Orioles the day Cal Ripken Jr retired.

 

[Meacon Keaton]

If Baltimore loses their franchise before Tampa or Miami lose theirs, then that's some straight up gangster bullshit. Take the franchise away from the Angelos family first. They're tightwad penny-pinchers that see the ball club as a way to make money, not win ball games. Baltimore has shown in the past that they can easily support a team if they're given any reason at all to. Which they absolutely have not been the last few years. Nobody wants to pay $100 per person to go see what is essentially a Triple-A team play. I can't blame them. 

Take away the Rays, who have a first-place team and still can't draw five-thousand people to the stadium. Take away the Marlins, who had Giancarlo Stanton, Marcel Ozuna, and Christian Yelich in their outfield just two years ago and have a bag of scraggly minor leaguers to show for it. 

[GhostMachine]

Tampa would be my choice for which franchise to move. There's barely any reason for them to exist with their lack of fanbase despite being a good team. They could win back to back World Series by four game sweeps, and I don't think it would improve their popularity much. Put them somewhere else where people will appreciate them.

The Marlins are at least entertaining in being a living dumpster fire. And their uniforms look minor league, so why shouldn't their roster? 

[gunnar hendershow]

Tampa Bay got a raw deal with regards to stadium location. It's really out of the way for most people in the region. Heck it's not even in Tampa. The awful lease has made it impossible for them to go anywhere either, and any and many downtown Tampa stadium proposals can't happen since they can't break the lease. As it gets closer to them being able to break the lease it's easy to chalk the market up as a lost cause. But the way that city supports its hockey team (of all things) shows that maybe it could be a great baseball market if given a good team in a good stadium.

22 hours ago, Meacon said:

If Baltimore loses their franchise before Tampa or Miami lose theirs, then that's some straight up gangster bullshit. Take the franchise away from the Angelos family first. They're tightwad penny-pinchers that see the ball club as a way to make money, not win ball games. Baltimore has shown in the past that they can easily support a team if they're given any reason at all to. Which they absolutely have not been the last few years. Nobody wants to pay $100 per person to go see what is essentially a Triple-A team play. I can't blame them. 

The thing they do that bugs me *the most* is the surge pricing bullshit for Red Sox, Yankees, etc. games. When the big names come to town you can bet they'll charge more so that they can guarantee it's a de facto road game for the O's. So shameful. Why would I pay extra for that game when I can play less and see them against almost any other team? They also started doing some bullshit with the ticketing this year for certain giveaway games where your ticket to be in the ballpark isn't enough anymore and you need a more expensive ticket for the extra stuff. Silliness. We'll see what happens when the kids fully have control (they more or less do now) and if they have a more vested interest in seeing the team contend or not. This is a great market, but the caveat is when the team is good. Look at videos of crowds in the early 80s at Memorial Stadium or the 90s at Camden Yards. 

[GhostMachine]

When we were up in New Hampshire a couple of years ago, we considered going to a Red Sox game. It would have been against the Twins, and in the long run I'm glad we didn't go because the Twins won. Out of curiosity, I looked at the price of tickets for a game against the Yankees, which was either played on the day we headed home or the day before. Standing Room Only tickets were still more expensive than decent but not great seats for that game versus the Twins. 

My goal next time we go up there is to either go to a Red Sox game or at least a tour of Fenway. The last time I went to a MLB game was in Cincinnati, and that was Riverfront, not their current ballpark.

[Meacon Keaton]

Fun story:

Back in 2017, the Yanks offered Domingo German to the Mets at the trade deadline for Jay Bruce. The Mets said no because they don’t like to do business with the Yanks unless they get over value. Instead the Indians traded Ryder Ryan to the Mets for Bruce.

Now, in 2019, German is 6-1 with a sub-2.50 ERA and Ryan is a Double-A reliever with a +8.00 ERA.

So thanks Mets!

[The Buscher]

In defense of Ryder Ryan, he had a good season in the minors last year and is only 23.  I have more hope for him than most of the other relievers they've brought in via trade the last few years.  But I struggle to see him ever being as valuable as German and it's infuriating that the Mets refuse to trade with the Yankees even when it's to their clear benefit to do so.  That all comes from the Wilpons being terrible owners and petty assholes.

Those 2017 trades...woof.  Sandy Alderson had to offload guys and he decided to trade exclusively for hard throwing right handed relievers.  His theory was that bullpens were so hit and miss year to year, your best bet was to load up and have a whole stable of cost-controlled relievers that you can rotate in and out from the minors during their option years.

Lucas Duda to the Rays:
Drew Smith (actually looked good last year, but he underwent TJS this spring so he won't be seen again until mid 2020)

Addison Reed to the Red Sox:
Gerson Bautista (throws 100 MPH, didn't look good in 2018 but still very young with potential, instead he was a throw-in for the Cano/Diaz trade)
Jamie Callahan (only pitched in a few games in 2017, hurt for most of 2018, now gone from the organization)
Stephen Nogosek (5 ERA in the minors last year)

Jay Bruce to the Indians:
Ryder Ryan (as mentioned is struggling in AA this year)

Neil Walker to the Brewers:
Eric Hanhold (near 5 ERA for his minor league career, looked bad in a cup of coffee last September)

Curtis Granderson to the Dodgers:
Jacob Rhame (absolutely god awful in all his big league stints from 2017-19, may have single-handedly turned the Phillies' season around by throwing at Rhys Hoskins)

[Lowerdeck]

12 hours ago, GhostMachine said:

When we were up in New Hampshire a couple of years ago, we considered going to a Red Sox game. It would have been against the Twins, and in the long run I'm glad we didn't go because the Twins won. Out of curiosity, I looked at the price of tickets for a game against the Yankees, which was either played on the day we headed home or the day before. Standing Room Only tickets were still more expensive than decent but not great seats for that game versus the Twins. 

My goal next time we go up there is to either go to a Red Sox game or at least a tour of Fenway. The last time I went to a MLB game was in Cincinnati, and that was Riverfront, not their current ballpark.

 

Fenway has a six tier pricing system, which gives higher or lower prices depending on opponent and timing.  Opening Day, Patriots Day, games against the Yankees and other powerhouse teams (Houston currently) will all be on the highest levels.  If they're playing the Orioles or Blue Jays mid-week in April or September, that's going to be the cheapest of the lot.

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

Most teams do that. Jays tickets are more expensive when they play the Red Sox or Yankees. 

[The Buscher]

Welcome everybody to year 3 ABWD (After Bart Went Deep)
 

 

[Meacon Keaton]

25 minutes ago, Eric Buschenhagen said:

Welcome everybody to year 3 ABWD (After Bart Went Deep)
 

 

It feels like only yesterday...that he finally finished running the bases.

[gunnar hendershow]

Keuchel and Kimbrel still being unsigned is a travesty but I can forgive bad teams for not dropping a ton of money on them. But dammit, a bad team should take a vet contract on Bartolo and try him out as a 5th starter. Preferably a bad team in the Chesapeake Bay region where I can easily go to games that he pitches.

[The Buscher]

I like to think that Bartolo Colon played a part in helping the Padres get Tatis.

[Gabriel]

The Jays are in a spot now where they absolutely need rotation help. It wouldn't shock me if they extend a deal for Keuchel or Colon at this point. I think Keuchel could be a good longer term pickup, but if it's a short term arm they are after, Colon would be great for so many reasons, but the biggest one is his ability to teach the younger guys.

[Meacon Keaton]

I can't imagine the Blue Jays think they're anywhere close enough to competing to sign Keuchel. 

If Severino's injury is worse than it appears (and they keep pushing back his return to now July...) I would not be the least bit shocked if Cashman doesn't at least extend an offer to him after the draft. The Cash values draft picks way too much to give up a first rounder for him, but once the draft is done, all bets are off. 

[ThrillhouseMAX]

Me rn, except this time its late o'fucking clock because the Mets are on the West Coast. 

[RoHitman Reigns]

Mike Fiers of the As just completed the first no-no of the season tonight. 131 total pitches in a 2-0 victory.

[gunnar hendershow]

9 hours ago, Meacon said:

I can't imagine the Blue Jays think they're anywhere close enough to competing to sign Keuchel. 

If Severino's injury is worse than it appears (and they keep pushing back his return to now July...) I would not be the least bit shocked if Cashman doesn't at least extend an offer to him after the draft. The Cash values draft picks way too much to give up a first rounder for him, but once the draft is done, all bets are off. 

Oh yeah I forgot about the draft pick compensation. And I guess part of me has been waiting for teams to start playing dirty to hang onto their picks.

[Meacon Keaton]

Adam Ottavino says, "Hi, friend. Wanna see my slider slide?"