2018 MLB Thread

[gunnar hendershow]

Apparently Mike Mussina had just finished coaching basketball (he's a high school basketball coach now in his hometown) when he got the call from the Hall of Fame and he had to duck into a place where no one would see him.

I'm ecstatic he got in. My oldest friend is from a baseball family and she had a crush on Mussina since the early 90s, she even switched team allegiances when he signed with the Yankees! Needless to say she's spending that weekend in Cooperstown, and much to her convenience it's a year before Jeter gets in and they probably break the Ripken/Gwynn attendance record from 07. I'd be debating going myself if I had assurances he'd be wearing the right cap (and Oriole cap) on his plaque. Since that's the last time an Oriole will be going in for probably 30 years, as I'm assuming Manny wears the cap of whatever team he signs his long-term deal with.

[The Buscher]

During today’s press conference witht he new HOF class, Mussina sounded torn on what cap he’d wear.  He might be someone who simply goes in with a blank cap.

[The Buscher]

AJ Pollock to the Dodgers.  4 years, $50 million.

Harper and Machado still being unsigned is ridiculous.  Apparently paying them when they're 35 and 36 is a more terrifying prospect to these teams than winning over the next seven or eight years.  I miss when baseball franchises didn't operate like actuaries. 

[Meacon Keaton]

It sucks. If George was still alive, he’d have signed both of them back in November. 

[Szumi]

Really happy for Mussina, he lives only 40 minutes away from where I'm at. Awesome to see a hometown guy be so excellent at something.

[GhostMachine]

18 hours ago, Buschie Van Wagenen said:

During today’s press conference witht he new HOF class, Mussina sounded torn on what cap he’d wear.  He might be someone who simply goes in with a blank cap.

Apparently Halladay is going in with a blank cap, according to his widow. He was one of my favorite pitchers, and I have no problem with that.

What I hate is that players don't always get to choose.Gary Carter and Andre Dawson went in with an Expos cap, because I guess the Hall decided they needed to have HoFers from that garbage. Carter wanted to go in as a Met, and Dawson a Cub. The Expos did Dawson dirty, so going in as an Expo was severely disappointing to him.

 

[The Buscher]

The reason they do that is because Tampa paid Wade Boggs to go in as a Tampa Bay Devil Ray despite barely being associated with them during his career.  Once that happened, the Hall overrode him and decided they would pick the caps moving forward.  Early on they were really strict about it when Carter and Dawson went in.  Now they've lightened up and although they still have the final say, they tend to defer to the player's wishes as long as it's not egregious.  Mike Piazza could've gone in as either a Met, Dodger, or blank and the Hall would've been fine with it - but they would've put their foot down if he asked for a Marlins, Padres, or Athletics cap.

Speaking of this, Mets fans hold such an unfair grudge against Carlos Beltran for striking out looking to end the 2006 NLCS, which would make it all the funnier if he goes to Cooperstown as a Met.  The guy was the best everyday center fielder in team history, and he could realistically go in as either a Met or Royal.

[Lowerdeck]

5 hours ago, Buschie Van Wagenen said:

Harper and Machado still being unsigned is ridiculous.  Apparently paying them when they're 35 and 36 is a more terrifying prospect to these teams than winning over the next seven or eight years.  I miss when baseball franchises didn't operate like actuaries. 

 

I don't know if you read The Athletic at all, but Ken Rosenthal was suggesting the Mets should take a run on one of Harper or Machado and try to make a splash considering the down market on those two.

I doubt the Mets actually will go for either, but it's an interesting argument.

Edited January 25, 2019 by Lowerdeck

[Meacon Keaton]

Just suggesting such a thing out loud would give Fred Wilpon a heart attack. 

[The Buscher]

Jeff Wilpon’s already said they will not pursue either player.  “How many teams have two $30 million players?”

Umm....the Nationals.  Also, to call Cespedes a $30 million player is a joke when insurance is gonna kick in a good portion of his contract

It’s kinda deflating really.  The Mets have been active this offseason, but they still feel like the fourth best team in the division and Harper is likely going to wind up in the division.

[Meacon Keaton]

The Mets have basically been the guy that plays the cup game on the boardwalk, where he puts the ball under the cup, moves the cups all around, and it still ends up in the same place. BVW has made so many moves and trades and signings, but yeah, I don't think it actually made the team any better. A whole lot of shufflin' and still in the same spot you started.

Adam Ottavino is going to be the first Yankee ever to wear #0. So that's probably about as exciting as the rest of my offseason is gonna be.  

[The Buscher]

The Mets are definitely improved, provided they stay healthy of course.  As currently constructed, I could see the team winning around 85 games, but in this division that's simply not going to be good enough.  It's enough wins to keep fans coming to the ballpark until mid-September or so, and at the end of the day that's all the Wilpons really care about.

And that's really why free agency is where it's at now.  In today's baseball, there's barely an incentive to do more than marginally improve because teams are raking in cash even without putting out a compelling product.  They don't need to win to see a profit.  The Padres have had higher attendance than the Indians the last several years despite the Indians being playoff regulars and the Padres not even trying to contend.

Why spend money to make money when you're going to make it anyway? That's how most owners now view the sport.

[Draevyn]

16 hours ago, Buschie Van Wagenen said:

The Mets are definitely improved, provided they stay healthy of course.  As currently constructed, I could see the team winning around 85 games, but in this division that's simply not going to be good enough.  It's enough wins to keep fans coming to the ballpark until mid-September or so, and at the end of the day that's all the Wilpons really care about.

And that's really why free agency is where it's at now.  In today's baseball, there's barely an incentive to do more than marginally improve because teams are raking in cash even without putting out a compelling product.  They don't need to win to see a profit.  The Padres have had higher attendance than the Indians the last several years despite the Indians being playoff regulars and the Padres not even trying to contend.

Why spend money to make money when you're going to make it anyway? That's how most owners now view the sport.

Holy shit, baseball has become the WWE.

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

On 24/01/2019 at 15:58, GhostMachine said:

Apparently Halladay is going in with a blank cap, according to his widow. He was one of my favorite pitchers, and I have no problem with that.

 

Toronto fans are being absolutely shitbags about this. We have no idea what Halladay wants or what he talked to his wife about before he died. Would I love to see him go in as a Blue Jay? Absolutely. He even "retired" with the Blue Jays and said he wanted to be remembered as one. But he could have changed his mind. And he was phenomenal with the Phillies. On top of that, it's not like he's wearing a Phillies hat over the Jays. People need to stop being such assholes.

[GhostMachine]

See, that's why I have no problem with him going in as a blank cap. He was equally as good with both of those teams. 

As I said before, he was one of my favorite pitchers. I tried to draft him whenever I could when I played fantasy baseball. In fact, he was more often than not the first pitcher I'd go after. (Except when Chapman was with the Reds.)

 

[RoHitman Reigns]

So, with this new announcement finally confirmed that Under Armour is out and Nike is in for making the uniforms, would that technically make me a Nike employee now since I work at the Fanatics plant that makes the stuff?

[DMN in the House]

1 hour ago, RoHitman Reigns said:

So, with this new announcement finally confirmed that Under Armour is out and Nike is in for making the uniforms, would that technically make me a Nike employee now since I work at the Fanatics plant that makes the stuff?

I hope not, I'm not sure you can survive on a quarter of a bag of potato chips a day or whatever Nike pays it's people.

[RoHitman Reigns]

2 minutes ago, DMN said:

I hope not, I'm not sure you can survive on a quarter of a bag of potato chips a day or whatever Nike pays it's people.

Fanatics actually pays pretty well. It's more so we are the only Union that Fanatics deals with due to MLB Uniforms needing to be made by a union.

 

It's more so my union the way they have stuff set up doesnt pay as competitively as possible. So, with this new contract we are hoping for a definitive pay increase that pleases all of us as VF really made it hard for some prior

[DMN in the House]

27 minutes ago, RoHitman Reigns said:

Fanatics actually pays pretty well. It's more so we are the only Union that Fanatics deals with due to MLB Uniforms needing to be made by a union.

 

It's more so my union the way they have stuff set up doesnt pay as competitively as possible. So, with this new contract we are hoping for a definitive pay increase that pleases all of us as VF really made it hard for some prior

That's awesome. Unions are usually dope, I hope there's some benefits that offset less competitive pay, though.

I was just trying to talk shit about Nike's shitty business practices (not that I don't own Nikes, no ethical consumption and all that, not that it's an excuse).

[RoHitman Reigns]

I wouldnt honestly recommend my union prior to this to anyone honestly. They have it set as pay is equal to your tenure not job. Make it equal for all in those terms. Some who have 10+ years arent even at 15 an hour.

As far as benefits well let's see.

Pizza party after world series. Burgers and dogs once in summer. Two other small cheap meals otherwise in spring and winter.

We also have a company store that alot of rejects go to before being shredded up and can get pretty dirt cheap. Could be a forgotten button, misspelling of a name like Darvish which I got when he went to Dodgers as someone had it as Darrvish. Easy mistake but still. 

Under Fanatics we have seen an increase as we now have some hockey jerseys on there as well at 20 a pop, which is good. Right now we are waiting for our next contract which shall go and show us what really will be better we hope.