2017 MLB Thread

[Meacon Keaton]

Only surprise is that JD Martinez didn't get a Silver Slugger, but really who could you take out? It was always going to be one of those four getting screwed out of it. 

[The Buscher]

I imagine the problem with JD is that he split the season across two leagues, whereas a guy like Upton stayed in the AL the whole time.

[The Buscher]

The Nippon Ham Fighters have announced that they will officially post Shohei Otani.  What remains to be seen though is how the posting agreement will work out.  Because Otani is viewed as a generational player, Nippon want his situation to be grandfathered into the old posting system which allowed teams to bid up to $20 million for the negotiation rights.  But last I'd heard, the union was balking at this because Otani can only sign a minor league contract as he's under 25.  So Nippon would get $20 million while Otani plays for only a few hundred thousand plus a signing bonus.

I'd say it's 90% likely he signs with an AL team because his desire is to DH on days he doesn't pitch.  I'm highly skeptical though that any team will allow that to happen.

[gunnar hendershow]

The teams with the most bonus money are Texas, NY Yankees, and Minnesota. We'll see what happens. If he waited 2 years to come over he'd get a $200 million contract, but barring an illegal backdoor negotiation he won't sniff anywhere near that for a few years.

[JPanare89]

I don't anticipate the Yankees will make a big move this summer...I do expect them to be all in on Manny Machado and/or Bryce Harper next winter though

[Meacon Keaton]

Big night for my Dogtown Hounds, my Strat baseball league team now in year two. 

I openly admit I overpaid, but I’ve locked in Andrew Benintendi and Lucas Giolito in for the next five years (with a one year team option attached for both). 

We went 62-100 this year as an expansion team. It’s suppose to take a while for expansion teams to play well, but damn it I think I’ve made some pretty damn good moves so far this off season. Getting my ass handed to me pretty much every night got old back in May, so I’m breaking the bank and going balls to the walls to get as much talent on this team so it’ll hopefully be a bit more fun next year.

[The Buscher]

It's that time of year.  The HOF Ballot is out.  Newcomers are in bold:

Barry Bonds, Chris Carpenter, Roger Clemens, Johnny Damon, Vladimir Guerrero, Livan Hernandez, Trevor Hoffman, Orlando Hudson, Aubrey Huff, Jason Isringhausen, Andruw Jones, Chipper Jones, Jeff Kent, Carlos Lee, Brad Lidge, Edgar Martinez, Hideki Matsui, Fred McGriff, Kevin Millwood, Jamie Moyer, Mike Mussina, Manny Ramirez, Scott Rolen, Johan Santana, Curt Schilling, Gary Sheffield, Sammy Sosa, Jim Thome, Omar Vizquel, Billy Wagner, Larry Walker, Kerry Wood, Carlos Zambrano.

I'm guessing we'll get at least four - Guerrero, Hoffman, Chipper, and Thome.

If I had a vote I'd give my 10 to:

Bonds
Clemens
Guerrero
Hoffman
C. Jones
Martinez
Rolen
Sheffield
Thome
Wagner

I realllllllly wish they didn't limit the voting to 10 because I feel we're at the point where there are now way more than 10 deserving candidates and they've created such a logjam by denying the steroid era guys for all those years.  And now you have to get creative with how you maneuver your ballot.

For instance, I firmly believe Wagner is better than Hoffman and I'd probably just leave Hoffman off entirely due to there being other choices.  But I also know that Hoffman not going in this year makes it substantially more likely Wagner is bumped off the ballot next year because Rivera will be on it for the first time and I don't think a lot of people would vote for three closers on one ballot.

Similarly, I'd give a vote to Rolen because I fully expect he's going to have a hard time surviving even one year on the ballot despite being quietly excellent for 17 seasons at a position that is underrepresented in Cooperstown.

[gunnar hendershow]

The ballot is a mess now, so many guys are gonna miss out due to how much of a logjam there is. If you ignore all the steroid guys you still wind up with 6 or 7 deserving HOFers. And it's a problem that is only gonna get worse. There will people who leave a no doubter like Chipper off their ballot because it's his first year, and there will be people who leave guys like Thome off because they were a power hitter at the wrong time.

[Your Mom]

Wood can get in eventually right? I mean I don't know for sure if his numbers hold up but he was my fave player when he was with us

[JPanare89]

For me it would be...

 

Bonds

Clemens

Chipper Jones

Vlad Guerrero

Jim Thome

Edgar Martinez

Sammy Sosa

Manny Ramirez

Mike Mussina

Curt Schilling

[Your Mom]

They really need to induct the PED guys. Mention it on their plaque if you feel the need but they should be in

[Meacon Keaton]

I can't imagine Kerry Wood ever getting in. He just didn't have anywhere near the longevity to warrant it. 

[Your Mom]

Yeah in my head I know that but my heart still says maybe! 

[GhostMachine]

I'm torn. The whole PED thing killed a lot of my love for the sport. I haven't watched nearly as many games every year since I did since the whole thing broke. And Clemens was one of my favorite pitchers until it turned out he was using.....and denying it.

If the PED users are admitted, a good punishment would be to induct them (ALL of them, no exceptions) on their last year of eligibility. But I still say if Pete Rose isn't eligible, then they shouldn't be, either. Cheating is worse than betting.

Would definitely vote for Chipper Jones, Curt Schilling, Jim Thome, Billy Wagner and Trevor Hoffman. After those, I have to think about it. But sadly I agree with Meacon regarding Kerry Wood.

Edited November 21, 2017 by GhostMachine

[Your Mom]

Can we all agree without all the injuries Wood is total first ballot material? 

[Meacon Keaton]

I would've loved to have seen what he and Mark Prior could've done. It's such a shame that injuries just destroyed two potentially great careers roughly around the same time, on the same franchise. 

You guys really were cursed.  

[Your Mom]

Yeah  Like I can laugh about it now but back then the fate of those two was heart breaking

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

How quickly can the Veterans Committee induct guys? Hopefully any PED guy who deserves to be in who doesn't make it will be inducted shortly after by the VC. 

[The Buscher]

The PED guys definitely need to go in.  Bonds and Clemens were dominant as hell even before they got to the years where it was fair to question if they were using.  I see no reason to believe they wouldn't have put up HOF worthy numbers had they stayed clean.  And that's true for most of these guys, especially the hitters.  Steroids don't cause you to have amazing timing on these swings.

Since I was limited to 10, I needed to decide which PED guys to bump.  Manny's an obvious one because he was actually caught and suspended after testing went in place, multiple times even.  I can't see him ever going in for that reason because even amongst the PED guys him getting caught really stands out.  Makes me wonder what A-Rod's fate will be once he's eligible.

And I had to pick between Sosa and Sheffield.  Sosa hit more home runs but I think Sheffield was better all around and for a longer period of time so I went with him.

Oh and yes, I'll admit it.  Schilling would've made my 10 and I left him off entirely because of the vile shit he's been saying the past few years.  I know it has nothing to do with his baseball career and there are undoubtedly horrendous people in the HOF from the early years of baseball, but it's 2017 and I can't in good conscience reward a scumbag like that.  Even with unlimited votes I wouldn't check his name.

[gunnar hendershow]

The PED guys should go in because what are they gonna do when someone already in winds up having links to PEDs? It's just stupid, and a lot of votes get wasted every year by having this glut of PED-tainted names.