2021 MLB Season / 21-22 Offseason Thread

[The Buscher]

59 minutes ago, damshow said:

James Shields for Tatis Jr is really going to be an all-timer. He wasn't particularly good before the trade and was dreadful in Chicago. The team he was brought in to help push over the edge instead imploded and dealt away all their veterans (except for Shields since SD was paying a ton of his salary) within a year and a half.

Yeah, Tatis hadn't played a game but given he was the prize of the 2015 IFA class, they were trading away a very high potential prospect for a 34-year old pitcher on the decline.  Winning heals all wounds so there are lofty short-term things that could've happened to make it not feel like a complete loss (in this case it would've required Shields coming in, pitching great either in 2016 or before the end of the contract and getting that team to the playoffs).  But the bar for that is really high.  For the most part it's a trade you lose by default the second it's made.

I said as much about the Mets' Cano/Diaz for Kelenic trade.  I mean he'd played in all of 56 career games when he was dealt and nobody had him as a top 10 prospect yet, but he was still a first round draft pick just months earlier.  Trading his potential away meant Cano and Diaz had to come in and lead that team to the playoffs straight away.  Cano was terrible in 2019 and Diaz was probably the single biggest reason they didn't get to the playoffs.  Both guys were great in the gimmick 2020 season but it didn't amount to anything.  And now Cano's suspended for PEDs.  Kelenic will probably make his big league debut this month and I expect he'll be great, but even if he somehow busts, it doesn't matter.  They lost the trade.

[gunnar hendershow]

Bobby Valentine is running for mayor of Stamford, CT. Finally someone who can unify our divided country.

[The Buscher]

Yeah I’ll trust the guy that managed to get fired in one season by what was supposed to be a loaded Boston team.

[DYSI]

I actually heard he dropped out of the running - but the very next day this guy was on the ballot:

 

[The Buscher]

Yet another no-hitter.  Wade Miley joins the club.

[The Buscher]

Wowwwwwww.

[MalaCloudy Black]

1 hour ago, Buschie Kay said:

Yet another no-hitter.  Wade Miley joins the club.

 

[The Buscher]

Not to take anything away from the pitchers because it’s still very hard to do.  But yeah...four no-hitters (five if you count Bumgarner who wasn’t allowed to continue).  Plus several other pitchers taking no-no’s into the 7th, 8th, and 9th already.  All in the first five weeks of the season.

Baseball is broken.

[Lowerdeck]

Half the league is just trying to mash home runs every at bat.  Strikeouts are way up when they can't make contact.  The nerds are pushing launch angles.  It's like nobody is content with a single anymore, just get on base and string a run together.

[Meacon Keaton]

10 hours ago, Buschie Kay said:

Wowwwwwww.

Jesus...

[MalaCloudy Black]

https://amp.usatoday.com/amp/5007305001

 

I didn’t realize how contentious Pujols’ exit was. 

[Maxx]

The A’s are officially threatening to leave Oakland if they don’t get a new stadium deal.  Which, fair play to them, Oakland really doesn’t seem at all interested in having a pro team, they’ve lost 2 out of the 3 that were there.  The coliseum is one of the worst stadiums in the sport and has been for years now, so many times these pushes for new stadiums are completely absurd (hello Rangers) this is one of the only instances where it is truly needed.

also really wanted to post this in The Athletics thread.

[MalaCloudy Black]

Say hello to your Berkeley Athletics!

[gunnar hendershow]

Obviously the owners need to quit bitching and pay for their own stadiums but the A's absolutely do need a new one. Oakland has zero interest in keeping its teams because it won't give in to these owners, so good for them. Also MLB (much like is starting to boil over with the Orioles) really hates 2 teams sharing a market. They only want one team in the Bay Area, they only want one team in the DMV, if the White Sox ever entertain the idea again like they did in the 90s MLB would be happy to relocate them too. LA and NY are probably the only two regions big enough to justify multiple teams in their eyes.

Curious what city winds up giving the A's the tax breaks to move there. I know San Jose got thrown around for years but for the reasons I listed above I think if it's anywhere in California it'd be Sacramento. More realistically Portland, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Austin, and Nashville. The names that get tossed around a lot now as being in line for teams.

[MalaCloudy Black]

Austin Athletics has a nice ring to it.

[Maxx]

Portland feels like the right place for the A's if they were to move, both from a sort of underdog hipster vibe and location wise.  Vegas would be humorous because of the Raiders connection.

Are they trying to push the Orioles out of Baltimore?  That is some bullshit because while the Nationals do have recent success, that's been Orioles territory for far longer and they have one of the best ballparks in the world.

[MalaCloudy Black]

48 minutes ago, Maxx said:

Portland feels like the right place for the A's if they were to move, both from a sort of underdog hipster vibe and location wise.  Vegas would be humorous because of the Raiders connection.

Are they trying to push the Orioles out of Baltimore?  That is some bullshit because while the Nationals do have recent success, that's been Orioles territory for far longer and they have one of the best ballparks in the world.

"It'd be a real shame about your ballpark if something.... happened to you."

[gunnar hendershow]

1 hour ago, Maxx said:

Portland feels like the right place for the A's if they were to move, both from a sort of underdog hipster vibe and location wise.  Vegas would be humorous because of the Raiders connection.

Are they trying to push the Orioles out of Baltimore?  That is some bullshit because while the Nationals do have recent success, that's been Orioles territory for far longer and they have one of the best ballparks in the world.

Orioles have a tenuous lease situation and a tenuous ownership situation. Lot of people suspect the Angelos sons want to sell the team as soon as their dad passes away and if there's not a long-term lease in place with the city at that time then the team is easily movable. Couple this with how you get the feeling MLB would rather only have one team in this TV market (for all intents and purposes Baltimore and DC share the same market) to then get a team in a new one and it creates a lot of anxiety.

We'll see as lease negotiations drag on, a long-term agreement will require some updates to the stadium among other things and then you have to answer the question of who pays for them. So it could all look rosy and then the city or state could totally fuck everything up.

Edited May 11, 2021 by damshow

[GhostMachine]

Vancouver and Montreal have been mentioned as possibilites, as well as Charlotte, Nashville, Portland and Las Vegas.

I just don't see the A's relocating to Canada, so I'm guessing it'll be Vegas or Portland. 

[gunnar hendershow]

John Means pitches a no-hitter and the Orioles bats immediately turn into the Mets when deGrom is on the mound.