2016 MLB Thread

[Meacon Keaton]

Tim Raines forever! Schilling never!

[gunnar hendershow]

I don't even know if Schilling is a Hall of Famer on his numbers. Unless you overly inflate postseason performances he doesn't really have the regular season numbers. And if you have to choose between him and Mussina that's an easy decision for Mussina, who had equal or better numbers in the AL East at the height of the steroid era vs pitching in the NL.

[Meacon Keaton]

Yeah, damshow! Mussina forever! Schilling never!

[The Buscher]

Being a consistently great performer in the postseason is a big deal, though.  I'd never keep somebody out of the HOF because their teams weren't good enough to make the playoffs (same reason I wouldn't deny an MVP to somebody not on playoff team) - but I would certainly reward a player who thrived when he got a chance to play in October.  And Schilling did exactly that.  2.23 ERA and sub-1 WHIP in 19 postseason starts, Co-MVP in the World Series, key member of a team that ended one of the most famous droughts in sports history, and 3 rings total.

He's a Hall of Fame player.  But he's also a Hall of Fame piece of shit, so I don't blame writers who decided to use their 10 votes elsewhere.  I would too.  There are way more than 10 HOF-quality players on the ballot right now and it figures to stay that way for a few years.  Because of the many hateful things he's said in the last year I would be hard pressed to tick the box next to his name as long as I'm limited in the number of players I could vote for, and even then I'd need to battle with my conscience to do it.

[Meacon Keaton]

@#BROKEN Busch So since you put such a huge emphasis on postseason play, does this mean you're also up for Bernie Williams going into the HoF? Second all time in hits, runs, and home runs, and first all time in RBIs.

[The Buscher]

I actually think Bernie was very underrated, and there is certainly a case for him to make it.  Like Schilling, the regular season numbers were good but not quite HOF worthy on their own.  But that he so often thrived in October paints the full picture for him and gives him a great case.

At minimum, it's a joke that he got bounced from the ballot after one year.  Just like Kenny Lofton and most recently Jim Edmonds last year, HOF voting is especially harsh for center fielders.  Only seven CFs have made it in through the HOF vote and it feels like voters naturally compare previous inductees to the candidates even if it's unrealistic.  And that's crippling at CF because nobody can fairly be compared to Mantle, Mays, and DiMaggio.  At worst it's another reason why limiting voters to 10 ballots is a detriment to the voting process.

A while back I saw Brian Kenny school Chris Russo on MLB Network (which seems to be a regular occurrence).  Kenny pointed out that advanced metrics have Carlos Beltran as the 6th best center fielder of all time.  And Russo, who HATES advanced metrics, flew off the handle.  "You mean to tell me he's up there with Mantle, Mays, and DiMaggio?  Come on!"  He did exactly what the voters do.

[Toe]

Encarnacion signing with Cleveland is a bit weird. I think Edwin backed himself into a corner after rejecting the 4 year, $80 million deal from the Jays. 

[Gabriel]

7 hours ago, Toe said:

Encarnacion signing with Cleveland is a bit weird. I think Edwin backed himself into a corner after rejecting the 4 year, $80 million deal from the Jays. 

That's more or less what happened. His agent turned down the initial offer, which is essentially the same deal he got from Cleveland... putting the Jays in a situation where they could wait and see what the market dictated for Edwin (missing out on potential replacements) and have him go somewhere else anyways... or they could react and go after replacement players immediately, which is what they did.

Apparently he wanted to come back anyways, but the original deal wasn't on the table anymore.

The whole situation makes me wonder whether or not the Jays throw a public offer at Jose Bautista now. Edwin is gone for sure. Can they really afford to allow two franchise favorites to walk during free agency when it's quite clear that they are not a better team than they were at the end of the season? I don't think it's good business to just let Joey go without a fight now. If I am the Jays staff, I am crunching numbers right now to see what I can realistically offer Bautista. Especially since the outfield is a position of great contention right now for the team. If they go into the season with what they have AND Jose Bautista, at least the fans are happy. If they go into the season with what they have and Bautsita is gone, then we are massively inferior to where we were last year, and the face of the franchise is gone to boot.

[gunnar hendershow]

I'm not surprised to see the Encarnacion deal be what it is. I think the market for sluggers is dwindling, Chris Davis might be the last mammoth contract we see for that type of player. Proven aces and very young 5-tool players are the only types who will be cracking huge salaries now.

[MalaCloudy Black]

I guess in his off time, Hunter Pence streams on Twitch. I've gotten emails about it for the past 3-4 days, and he's always streaming Magic: The Gathering. Neeeeeeeeeeeeerd.

[Meacon Keaton]

Yeah, Pence is a major dork. It makes it so easy to cheer for the guy, because he is who he is and he definitely doesn't shy away from it.

It's funny you posted here, because I was literally thinking an hour or so ago if it was too early for a MLB 2017 thread. Since my football team didn't make the playoffs, I'm saying it's officially baseball season.

[MalaCloudy Black]

Do it. Pitchers and catchers report in 38 days!