2018 MLB Thread

[The Buscher]

9 hours ago, Cajun Cloudad said:

Baseball players are weird. 


I think too many of them have had that "baseball is SUPER SERIOUS" mentality pounded into them from a young age that having fun or trying new things is automatically BAD FOR BASEBALL, which is stupid.

Exactly.  What's wrong with having a good right-handed reliever go out there in the first inning to get out the three good right handed hitters at the top of the lineup?  You have to get 27 outs any way you can get them.

Hell, Jason Vargas is starting for the Mets tonight.  The second he leaves the bullpen to start the game, they should have someone else start warming up. 

[gunnar hendershow]

13 hours ago, Cajun Cloudad said:

Baseball players are weird. 


I think too many of them have had that "baseball is SUPER SERIOUS" mentality pounded into them from a young age that having fun or trying new things is automatically BAD FOR BASEBALL, which is stupid.

Yeah a big part of it is the culture of baseball. Super serious all the time. Change is bad. Your full-time job is practicing baseball.

It exists in other sports, but not to the degree it does in baseball. To borrow a video game term, baseball managers have spent half a century trying to break free of a forced meta. Every strategic step, no matter how miniscule, threatens the entire game.

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

I often find that baseball's unwritten rules malarky often ends up showing that baseball is still a teeny bit racist.

It's often white dudes who criticise Latin players for being over the top or exuberant in their style of play. 

[Meacon Keaton]

In a way, I kiiiiiiind of get it, because I was raised with the same mentality you guys are criticizing. I was taught, probably before I could even talk, that baseball was perfect. 60 feet 6 inches, is the perfect distance. 90 feet, perfect distance. Contact to the point of not even feeling the ball hit the bat? Perfect sensation. 

I'm all against "pitch clocks" and multiple wildcards and I have nothing against bean balls, but if you want to put in a catcher to pitch the first inning, do whatever floats your boat. That kind of in-game managing does not bother me at all. It's a lot of the off the field crap that MLB tries to change to "adapt with the times" that frustrates me. I actually enjoy seeing different types of managing styles. I like Tampa (BAY!)'s use of a closer in the first inning. I like the Cubs using the pitcher in the #8 spot. I like bunting to beat the shift.

[Your Mom]

21 minutes ago, Meacon said:

In a way, I kiiiiiiind of get it, because I was raised with the same mentality you guys are criticizing. I was taught, probably before I could even talk, that baseball was perfect. 60 feet 6 inches, is the perfect distance. 90 feet, perfect distance. Contact to the point of not even feeling the ball hit the bat? Perfect sensation. 

I'm all against "pitch clocks" and multiple wildcards and I have nothing against bean balls, but if you want to put in a catcher to pitch the first inning, do whatever floats your boat. That kind of in-game managing does not bother me at all. It's a lot of the off the field crap that MLB tries to change to "adapt with the times" that frustrates me. I actually enjoy seeing different types of managing styles. I like Tampa (BAY!)'s use of a closer in the first inning. I like the Cubs using the pitcher in the #8 spot. I like bunting to beat the shift.

Some of the unwritten rules feel like nonsense to me but I was brought up by my dad to respect the game and how it was perfect the way it is. I struggle with it sometimes but I also enjoy a lot of the celebrations and stuff that traditionalists hate. The shift is lame but if you are a good hitter you should be able to go the other way with it

[The Buscher]

The Mets announcers, as much I love them, have been very "old man yells at cloud" complaining about the shifts more this year than any year I can remember.  Especially because it's reaching the point where teams are shifting to such a degree that they're ignoring basic fundamentals.  On Saturday in the 9th inning, the Mets had a runner on 2nd with no outs, and the Arizona 3B played 5 miles back, which meant all the Mets needed to do was bunt it up the line to advance the winning run to 3rd.  Walkoff sacrifice fly next batter.  The shift actively cost them the game.

Then today, the Mets were playing their 3B halfway between second and third as the only man on the left side of the infield, which allowed the runner to simply steal third uncontested which led to all of the announcers groaning.  Yes there were two outs, so the Mets only cared about the batter at the plate.  But letting him swipe third like that meant you were a wild pitch away from a run scoring.  Ron Darling said that plays like that made the game "unwatchable".

And Keith Hernandez has flat out said he won't watch another baseball game once he's done with broadcasting.  As much as he enjoys his job, he thinks the game itself has been trifled with too much.  Hates that pitchers are conditioned to only go five or six innings, hates that strikeouts go up exponentially every year, hates that teams stack their bullpens with specialists instead of guys that can get both sides out, hates replay, hates mound visit limits, hates the overall lack of "fundies", hates the idea that the league will eventually expand to 32 when there is already a shortage of talent and a half dozen teams that aren't even trying to win.

[Meacon Keaton]

I'm with him on the last part

[The Buscher]

I actually am too.  I just don't see the need to saturate the league even further.  As it is I'm not sure I see a reason for the Florida teams to exist at this point.

[Your Mom]

If anything a couple teams need to go away

[Meacon Keaton]

I’d be all for MLB and NBA contracted by two to four teams but it’ll never happen.

[Your Mom]

We don't need 2 teams. I offer up the White Sox as tribute

[Gabriel]

Is there really too little talent to round out the teams we have when there are free agents like the ones who are still available? Honestly, I think the biggest issue is with encouraging teams to make those signings. Teams should be rewarded for trying to win, even if they finish last.

From the perspective of the teams, if I'm expecting to finish last in my division, why would I throw a bunch of money at a veteran star who won't be a difference maker enough to jump to first or second? As a fan, and for the greater good of the game, it still hurts me to see teams actively shed payroll and replace star players with known scrubs because they don't think they can compete. Even knowing that the game is a business and understanding why it happens, it still hurts when Miami hands out cash one year, fails and then trades everybody away for absolutely nothing because attendance didn't go up immediately and they didn't win enough.

Maybe change the way the draft works. The number one pick goes to the team with the most wins in the season after the game where they were mathematically eliminated from the post-season. A reason to continue pushing for the absolute best out of a lineup, regardless of situation.

[The Buscher]

C Realmuto
1B Bour
2B Gordon
SS Rojas
3B Anderson
LF Ozuna
CF Yelich
RF Stanton

That lineup absolutely could've gotten them into the playoffs.  They just needed help on the pitching side - and rather than do that they decided to blow it all up.

There aren't too many times where it's okay to actually change teams, no matter how much you may want to.  But in the case of the Marlins, I think it's totally fine to give up on them after that.  Blowing that team up was a giant middle finger to all 17 fans they had.

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

11 hours ago, Buschoru Suzuki said:

hates the overall lack of "fundies".

To be fair, very few players are wearing fun underwear these days. It's a tragedy. 

[Maxx]

13 hours ago, Meacon said:

In a way, I kiiiiiiind of get it, because I was raised with the same mentality you guys are criticizing. I was taught, probably before I could even talk, that baseball was perfect. 60 feet 6 inches, is the perfect distance. 90 feet, perfect distance. Contact to the point of not even feeling the ball hit the bat? Perfect sensation. 

I'm all against "pitch clocks" and multiple wildcards and I have nothing against bean balls, but if you want to put in a catcher to pitch the first inning, do whatever floats your boat. That kind of in-game managing does not bother me at all. It's a lot of the off the field crap that MLB tries to change to "adapt with the times" that frustrates me. I actually enjoy seeing different types of managing styles. I like Tampa (BAY!)'s use of a closer in the first inning. I like the Cubs using the pitcher in the #8 spot. I like bunting to beat the shift.

my lawn, perfect for getting off of

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

1 hour ago, Gabriel said:

Maybe change the way the draft works. The number one pick goes to the team with the most wins in the season after the game where they were mathematically eliminated from the post-season. A reason to continue pushing for the absolute best out of a lineup, regardless of situation.

I've always loved this idea and would love to see a league give it a try. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work and they can scrap it. But I think it's interesting. 

[The Buscher]

Mets sign Jose Bautista.

Jose Bautista, Jose Reyes, and Adrian Gonzalez on the same team.  This makes the Mets the clear favorites to win the 2010 World Series.

[gunnar hendershow]

I don't mind any of the changes with pitchers, strikeouts, etc. The game has never been constant. Go through baseball history and there's constant changes in play styles, strategies, etc. Pitchers only go 5 or 6 because pitching is so much different in this day and age. Walter Johnson was one of baseball's first "flamethrowers" and he was pitching something like high 80s consistently. His arm didn't go under as much strain as today's arms do, where they're throwing heat and breaking balls on every pitch. Bullpens are annoying in the sense that the break up the game so much, and with so many specialists every game gets broken up. I don't mind specialists though, they're a logical strategic step. Strikeouts are gonna happen because modern pitching is so precise around the edges. You don't ever give them a pitch over the plate, so hitters have adapted to focusing much more on power.

What's important to note about today's hitters is they're facing many more hurdles than the greats did back in the 20s, 30s, etc. The shift, faster pitches, specialists all make it a lot harder to be a hitter than in the past. Without all those factors you'd probably see guys come close to .400 with much more regularity. You'd probably see strikeout numbers drop dramatically. You'd probably see games go much faster as well.

If baseball has one major cultural problem it's people unwilling to accept that the hitters of today are as good, if not better than the hallowed greats. And the same goes for pitchers.

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

Red Sox have designated Hanley Ramirez. 

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2018/05/red-sox-to-designate-hanley-ramirez-for-assignment.html

[The Buscher]

As the draft is coming up, a reminder that Luke Heimlich molested his six year old niece.  Any team that actually drafts him deserves nonstop scorn and criticism, and I hope their fans drop them en masse.