MLB 2024

[Michelle Branch]

Can't misses can miss. I hope he works it out and makes it back for good this season. Baltimore deserves a good run.

[Your Mom]

We were no hit into the 8th and still managed to grab a 3-1 win!

 

Love that the team doesn't give up. That's all I can ask for and they actually have started the season pretty good

[The Buscher]

That was a wholly unsurprising Mets loss.  By about the 5th or 6th it already looked like Sevy was gonna need to complete the no-no if the team was gonna have any chance to win, because they were not scoring another run.  Mets back to .500 which, to be fair, is fitting.  They had one really terrible stretch, one really good stretch, and otherwise largely just look mediocre.  I figured they'd be around .500 in a best case scenario and that's pretty much how they look.

The fact that Joey Wendle was one of the first players David Stearns rushed to sign in free agency still baffles me.  I'm never gonna complain about a guy like that sucking at the plate because everyone knows he sucks at the plate.  But he was signed to be a defensive-minded backup infielder.  Instead he leads the team in errors and basically lost them the game today by trying to double up a speedy runner instead of throwing the tying run out of home.  I'm sick of him.  If he can't play defense anymore he brings nothing to the table, and his useless ass should be DFA'ed.

[Your Mom]

 

[Meacon Keaton]

[The Buscher]

Mike Trout hurt again, heading for knee surgery.  That's 4 straight years of injuries preventing him from playing a full year + the COVID year before that.

He's already a first ballot HOF lock but the injuries have robbed him of what was looking like a career that'd make him a top 5 player of all time.

[gunnar hendershow]

Shades of the back half of Ken Griffey Jr's career.

[Your Mom]

17 hours ago, Your Mom said:

 

 

[The Buscher]

JD Martinez would've had a "welcome to Queens, JDM!" walkoff HR moment in any other ballpark but because it's Citi Field and Jeff Wilpon in his infinite wisdom designed the stadium like a house in The Sims, no dice.

[The Buscher]

*puts on rant cap*

While the team shouldn't have put itself in a position where this is how the game ended - Pete Alonso getting thrown out at the plate on a sac fly that had to be handled by the cutoff man was cringe on so many levels.  He's always had cinder blocks for feet and been a clod with poor fundamentals on the basepaths and he showed it twice in the 9th inning.  Awkwardly stumbling into 3rd base when most players would've made it standing up.  95% of players in the sport score on the sac fly there and probably 99% of them score if there's a cutoff man involved.  He not only manages to be so slow he allows there to be a play at the plate, he inexplicably raises his hand during his slide instead of keeping his hand down so he can touch the fucking bag!  You learn this in Little League!

Add to this he's a poor defender at first.  His AVG and OPS plummeted the last 2 years, his barrell rates have dropped, his K rates have gone up.  He has 80 grade power and he's the best power hitter since he debuted, I realize that - there's a clear value there.  Power hitters like him don't go on trees.  But everything else about his game has gotten worse despite him not even turning 30 yet, and the historical aging profile for power hitters like him isn't great.  When the power starts to slip he's not going to have anything 

And yes, his attitude irks me too.  They constantly show him on camera smiling and yucking it up in the dugout even when the team's getting embarrassed at the plate inning after inning.  His comments to the media after bad losses amount to "aw shucks", "oh darn, we'll get them next time", "just gotta tip your cap" etc. I'll never forget the team tail spinning in 2021 and his message to the fans was "just relax, and know we've got this" (they didn't).  After they got blown out in game 1 of the playoffs in 2022 he talked about how fun it was to be out there.  SHUT THE FUCK UP!

Sorry I just really don't want to give this guy $200+ million.  Yet most of the fanbase not only want him signed, they want the Captain title bestowed upon him.  If you even make the slightest suggestion that extending him wouldn't be wise, the Mets subreddit levels you with downvotes.  We already have Lindor and Nimmo signed for life at half a billion combined, the former routinely hits around the Mendoza line until Memorial Day and the latter abandoned his approach that made him one of the best leadoff guys in the sport to sell out for power.  McNeil won a batting title, got paid, and dipped out.  The core's won nothing.  Why are the fans in a rush to quadruple down on this group?

[gunnar hendershow]

Alonso is going to be a black hole in any lineup in a few years. Mets real play is to outbid everyone for Soto, which recent history suggests is possible when it's a "one-player" FA class which this one largely is. Then the fanbase is placated when Alonso signs an albatross deal elsewhere.

[The Buscher]

Soto would be the dream and I do think Cohen will make him the highest offer if given the opportunity.  However, I still feel the same way I did when he was traded...even moreso now that he's off to an MVP start.  The modern Yankees might not have the appetite to spend that George did but I don't think they're ever going to be able to sell to their fanbase that they let a 25-year old MVP go across town.  I also think Soto will, at worst, give them a chance to match because what player really wants to ever leave the Bronx for Queens?  It'll be more than the Yanks want to spend but I'll bet it gets done.

If/when Soto's off the board the question for the Mets would become do they turn around and panic pay Alonso, keeping the same core of losers intact.  If they do, they may as well start hanging banners for him breaking the franchise records because those are they certainly won't have any to hang from winning.

[Your Mom]

14 hours ago, The Buscher said:

*puts on rant cap*

While the team shouldn't have put itself in a position where this is how the game ended - Pete Alonso getting thrown out at the plate on a sac fly that had to be handled by the cutoff man was cringe on so many levels.  He's always had cinder blocks for feet and been a clod with poor fundamentals on the basepaths and he showed it twice in the 9th inning.  Awkwardly stumbling into 3rd base when most players would've made it standing up.  95% of players in the sport score on the sac fly there and probably 99% of them score if there's a cutoff man involved.  He not only manages to be so slow he allows there to be a play at the plate, he inexplicably raises his hand during his slide instead of keeping his hand down so he can touch the fucking bag!  You learn this in Little League!

Add to this he's a poor defender at first.  His AVG and OPS plummeted the last 2 years, his barrell rates have dropped, his K rates have gone up.  He has 80 grade power and he's the best power hitter since he debuted, I realize that - there's a clear value there.  Power hitters like him don't go on trees.  But everything else about his game has gotten worse despite him not even turning 30 yet, and the historical aging profile for power hitters like him isn't great.  When the power starts to slip he's not going to have anything 

And yes, his attitude irks me too.  They constantly show him on camera smiling and yucking it up in the dugout even when the team's getting embarrassed at the plate inning after inning.  His comments to the media after bad losses amount to "aw shucks", "oh darn, we'll get them next time", "just gotta tip your cap" etc. I'll never forget the team tail spinning in 2021 and his message to the fans was "just relax, and know we've got this" (they didn't).  After they got blown out in game 1 of the playoffs in 2022 he talked about how fun it was to be out there.  SHUT THE FUCK UP!

Sorry I just really don't want to give this guy $200+ million.  Yet most of the fanbase not only want him signed, they want the Captain title bestowed upon him.  If you even make the slightest suggestion that extending him wouldn't be wise, the Mets subreddit levels you with downvotes.  We already have Lindor and Nimmo signed for life at half a billion combined, the former routinely hits around the Mendoza line until Memorial Day and the latter abandoned his approach that made him one of the best leadoff guys in the sport to sell out for power.  McNeil won a batting title, got paid, and dipped out.  The core's won nothing.  Why are the fans in a rush to quadruple down on this group?

 

[The Buscher]

And we have an early trade involving an All Star:

Padres get:  2B Luis Arraez

Marlins get:  RP Woo-Suk Go, OF Dillon Head, OF Jakob Marsee, and 1B/OF Nathan Martorella

The latter two were informed in-game, with Martorella standing on second base

 

[gunnar hendershow]

I guess if you put Arraez, a slap hitter without a ton of offensive power, into a lineup where he can help turn it over then that's good. Guy is a throwback to a time when OBP was not valuable, and AVG was all that mattered.

[Gabriel]

The Blue Jays are preaching patience despite sitting last in the AL East.

No... it's time to start looking at who can go. I'm not saying it's time for a fire sale, but it's time to start looking towards next year. Can we move some under-performing guys for prospects or offense?

The pitching hasn't been great this year, but it's the offense that needs the most help. I think if the pitchers felt more confident in run production, that they'd likely attack more and that's what led to such good numbers last year. They were fearless on the mound. This year, they're out there doing their best to limit damage. That's a recipe for disaster.

Atkins needs to be kicking tires to infuse some offense into the lineup, and if the best potential get is someone who pushes someone else out of the lineup? That's fine. I don't care if it's Biggio, Guerrero, Springer, Kirk or whoever. Get a bat we can trust, and if they take someone else's spot, move them for prospects if you can.

If the team waits too long to act, they'll be completely out of the race by the deadline and we'll be looking at selling off as many pieces as we can to drop the budget and hopefully restock the cupboards on the farm. That's not a good look for a team with this high of a payroll.

[GhostMachine]

On 04/05/2024 at 00:20, The Buscher said:

And we have an early trade involving an All Star:

Padres get:  2B Luis Arraez

Marlins get:  RP Woo-Suk Go, OF Dillon Head, OF Jakob Marsee, and 1B/OF Nathan Martorella

The latter two were informed in-game, with Martorella standing on second base

 

Have to really feel for Martorella. Not only does he find out while playing in a game, but he's going from a farm team for a legit contender to a farm team for one of the worst teams in the league. (Yes, its still early, but the Marlins are in the same division as the Braves and Phillies, and its too early to count out the Nationals.)

[Your Mom]

I love Baseball so much  

 

There is really no feeling in sports like a walk off HR

[Michelle Branch]

 

[The Lusophone]