MLB 2019-2020 Offseason Thread

[The Buscher]

I just used Vegas as an example cause I always used to create the Las Vegas Blackjacks back in my Baseball Mogul days...but it would work just the same for Portland or wherever else out West.  If the other new team was located in the East (Charlotte) then I’d guess Minnesota would be the team most likely to get bumped West.

Although it would be funny to see the Raiders go right back to sharing a stadium with a baseball team.

[Meacon Keaton]

Alex Wood, Trevor Bauer, Didi. A lot of player's are not being quiet and letting everyone know just how moronic this potential new playoff system is. 

[GhostMachine]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/10/us/mlb-pitcher-mike-bolsinger-lawsuit-houston-astros-spt/index.html <----I hope he wins.

[MalaCloudy Black]

For the playoffs, I propose the team that does the best in a dizzy bat race should advance.

[The Buscher]

More details emerged on the 2017 sign stealing, Beltran was referred to in an e-mail as "the godfather of the entire operation" with Cora as his right hand man.  Reportedly Brian McCann was among the players who asked Beltran to put an end to the scheme but Beltran just "steamrolled" right past everyone and continued on.

So yeah, as annoyed as I was to see him get fired when it felt like the media was basically trying to get him forced out with very little info available, but with the new information coming out it was clearly the right decision as this story was not going away and it would've been an enormous distraction as long as he was around.

Beltran and Cora's baseball careers are almost certainly finished.  For Beltran, that means losing the spot in the Hall of Fame he would've eventually gotten.  From a Mets perspective I think unless his managerial run was a disaster he would've eventually gone into the team HOF and maybe even gotten his number retired, that's obviously out the window too.  He did it to himself.

[Meacon Keaton]

I haaaaaaate dealing with people who don’t realize you have to give to get in trade talks.

The Strat league I’m in, I need pitching help so I contacted a guy who has Lance Lynn. He wants me to give him Ketel Marte AND MacKenzie Gore. I suppose it can’t hurt to ask but when that’s the original demand, I always follow it up with a smart ass remark instead of a counter offer.

[DYSI]

 

[The Buscher]

Well that's a new take on releasing the Kraken.

[RoHitman Reigns]

https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-rule-changes-for-2020-season

[Your Mom]

I've been only casually following it because the idea makes me sad but do you think we are going to trade Bryant?

[The Buscher]

I like the roster changes.  Creates 30 extra jobs first and foremost.  But nearly every team in the league carried a 13 man pitching staff at one point or another last year so upping the rosters to 26 but capping the pitchers at 13 allows everyone to go back to carrying a full bench, especially important for the NL.  The September rules kinda suck for teams who are long out of it since it'll limit the number of young players they can add to their roster but it does level the playing field for games and you'll probably just see teams releasing their veterans on August 31st to make the roster space.

I still hate the three batter minimum rule though.  Specialists have been a part of the game for ages and this basically legislates them out of jobs.  If you want to argue that you shouldn't be in the league if you can't pitch to both sides of the plate I get it...but this still impacts the game in that it clearly favors the offense as managers won't be able to counter for a pinch hitter or things like that.  I expect a lot of teams will try for lefty/righty balance in their lineup as well.

I guess the main reason I don't like it though is that they don't care about the on-field impact it will have on the actual game, they're just trying to shorten games by a few minutes and appease the grumpy old men who get annoyed at strategic pitching changes because back in their day pitchers went nine innings.

[Meacon Keaton]

2 hours ago, Your Mom's Side Chick said:

I've been only casually following it because the idea makes me sad but do you think we are going to trade Bryant?

Prolly

[gunnar hendershow]

3 hours ago, B-li Manning said:

I like the roster changes.  Creates 30 extra jobs first and foremost.  But nearly every team in the league carried a 13 man pitching staff at one point or another last year so upping the rosters to 26 but capping the pitchers at 13 allows everyone to go back to carrying a full bench, especially important for the NL.  The September rules kinda suck for teams who are long out of it since it'll limit the number of young players they can add to their roster but it does level the playing field for games and you'll probably just see teams releasing their veterans on August 31st to make the roster space.

I still hate the three batter minimum rule though.  Specialists have been a part of the game for ages and this basically legislates them out of jobs.  If you want to argue that you shouldn't be in the league if you can't pitch to both sides of the plate I get it...but this still impacts the game in that it clearly favors the offense as managers won't be able to counter for a pinch hitter or things like that.  I expect a lot of teams will try for lefty/righty balance in their lineup as well.

I guess the main reason I don't like it though is that they don't care about the on-field impact it will have on the actual game, they're just trying to shorten games by a few minutes and appease the grumpy old men who get annoyed at strategic pitching changes because back in their day pitchers went nine innings.

I hate the 3-batter minimum rule and it definitely won't change anything about the pace of games. More runners will get on and so you'll lose any time savings from a pitcher coming out just to face one batter.

Most of the rule changes are frankly pretty sensible though. 

[GhostMachine]

I do not like the idea of more playoff teams. We have enough wild cards already.

None of the rules changes bother me. Most are actually good ideas.

[Lowerdeck]

On 12/02/2020 at 18:25, B-li Manning said:

I guess the main reason I don't like it though is that they don't care about the on-field impact it will have on the actual game, they're just trying to shorten games by a few minutes and appease the grumpy old men who get annoyed at strategic pitching changes because back in their day pitchers went nine innings.

 

I thought it was more because the powers that be assume millennials and zoomers have no attention spans and want two hour long action packed games.

[Meacon Keaton]

Yeah, MLB is pissing themselves because they refused to market their stars or toward the younger demographic for the last decade, and now those shares of the market don’t care about MLB. So instead of fixing things from the ground up, they’re pulling a NASCAR and trying to fuck with everything that those of us who watch love in hopes of bringing in new viewers.

Its more likely to have the same results as NASCAR too, where they fail to bring in that new audience and they turn their loyal fans away by changing the things we all love about the sport. 

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

Not a fan of some of Bauer's online comments but this rant is a pretty good explanation of what's wrong with MLB right now.

 

[Meacon Keaton]

Yeah some of his social views are distorted and just gross, but he at least gets baseball and the business side of it.

[gunnar hendershow]

7 hours ago, Meacon say “Hi People!” said:

Yeah, MLB is pissing themselves because they refused to market their stars or toward the younger demographic for the last decade, and now those shares of the market don’t care about MLB. So instead of fixing things from the ground up, they’re pulling a NASCAR and trying to fuck with everything that those of us who watch love in hopes of bringing in new viewers.

Its more likely to have the same results as NASCAR too, where they fail to bring in that new audience and they turn their loyal fans away by changing the things we all love about the sport. 

Manfred is sitting on the perfect way to make young people care and he does everything else because doing it would affect owner revenues. None of these billionaires care about the long-term health of the sport, they just want to keep fleecing advertisers as long as they can. And "we're trying a new twist on the sport" is a great way to keep bilking ad revenue out of "potential for growth".

[The Buscher]

With players all around the league being asked about the Astros and most of them saying they’re disgusted...Dusty Baker has already raised a concern with the league that his players, specifically Altuve and Bregman, are going to be plunked a lot.