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2019 MLB Thread

Discussion in 'Other Sports Forum' started by Unlucky 13, Nov 2, 2018.

  1. Boik14

    Boik14 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I’m not surprised it happened when it did. The Cubs have some serious decisions on guys like Bryant and Baez. They could be looking at a rebuild or a heavy roster turnover. Doing it now allows Hoyer to make decisions for a roster he will be overseeing for the foreseeable future
     
  2. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    There's a lot of talk that Bryant is gone if they can find a trade partner. Probably Schwarber also. They've been trying to extend Javy, but haven't made much progress, so we'll see what happens there. They picked up Rizzo's option, but he'll be in the final year of his deal too, and catcher Wilson Contrares is going to be in his next to last year of arbitration. So yeah, there's a chance that they could be almost totally rebuilding on the positional side from square one again.

    Of course, Jason Heyward is tied up through 2023 at 25m a season, so he's not going anywhere. :001_rolleyes:
     
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  3. Boik14

    Boik14 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I’ll be happy to have Contreras on the Mets. Lol.
     
  4. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    Well, if the Mets have a ton of awesome prospects to offer, they can probably make a deal! The Cubs top positional prospect, by far, is catcher Miguel Amaya, whos ready with his glove and arm right now.
     
  5. Boik14

    Boik14 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Actually our highest ceiling prospect is a C also. But Francisco Alvarez is probably 2-3 years away seeing as how he’s 19 and Covid cost him a year. Our farm system I think is better then given credit for. JT Gunn would have been a top 15 pick but TJ surgery dropped him to R2. Thomas Szapucki is now healthy from TJS. Josh Wolf reminds me of Walker Beuhler lite. Matthew Allen, Brett Baty, Ronny Mauricio and Francisco Alvarez are legit top 100 prospects in all of baseball.
     
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  6. Boik14

    Boik14 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Cano suspended for the year. Good riddance. Just retire ya douche. 24 lopped off the payroll just like that. And now Gimenez can play every day like he deserves to.

    And a big up yours to Brodie van dumbdumb for trading Kelenic for a roidhead and Diaz.
     
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  7. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    This is an absurd stat. The Cards haven't finished with the worst record in the NL in over 100 years. Back in 1918, the final year of WWI, there were only eight teams, and the teams played 131 games. They finished the year 51-78, although they lead the league with 27 homers...as a team.

     
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  8. AGuyNamedAlex

    AGuyNamedAlex Well-Known Member

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    I know most people wont agree but I love the early days with funky stadium shapes and less home runs.

    Part of why I dont follow baseball anymore as closely is how offensively minded the game has become. I miss when a HR meant something, even in the 90s it meant a lot more.
     
  9. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    I am absolutely not a fan of the homer/walk mindset that so many teams have these days. Its made baseball boring. there's no question. I want guys who can put the ball in play on most of their at bats and then do something on the basepath once they get on.
     
  10. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    What's your list? Mine isn't long, unfortunately.

    Wrigley Field, PNC Park and Great American Ballpark are the only current ones I've seen games at. Three Rivers and Riverfront Stadium are the former ones. At some point, I'll try to see the Cubs play in DC, but the timing has been bad the last few years. I've also been outside of Camden Yards, but haven't seen a game there.
     
  11. Boik14

    Boik14 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I don’t care about the stadium shapes as that kind of creates uneven playing field. You don’t see that in other pro sports as hockey football and basketball all have standardized fields with no variance in fields of play. The nostalgia of a ball taking a funny hop or getting stuck in the ivory is severely overrated imo.

    The second point I completely agree with. I detest the “3 True Outcomes” ideology. It creates a horrible viewing experience for the fan and limits action. HR, BB or K...sounds like a 3 hour nap broken up by the occasional homer. I was hoping the Royals winning would break that methodology. Maybe the Dodgers can do it since they seem to lean more towards a 90’s Yankees approach rather than that BS.
     
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  12. Boik14

    Boik14 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Cubs non-tendered Almora and Schwarber. I’m pretty surprised about Schwarber.

    Mets signed Trevor May (2/15M...7th in K rate/9) so I’m happy we get some bullpen help though I’m always wary of big contracts for RP’s. Steven Matz was tendered (1yr/5.2) which kind of surprised me but Alderson always liked him. I still have hope for him and want him to succeed since he and Stroman are both Long Island kids who grew up not far from me but Matz has some serious work to do after last year.
     
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  13. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    Last season just absolutely destroyed the trade value of nearly all the Cubs position players, sadly. Cubs blogs have been suggesting that Schwarbs would ne non-tendered all week. He's the poster boy for three outcome himself. Couldn't even get an unknown prospect for him, I guess.

    Almora was always expected to be. Theo's first draft pick was billed as Derek Jeter in center field. Didn't work out that way.

    They're trying hard to move Kris Bryant with massively reduced expectations on the return.
     
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  14. AGuyNamedAlex

    AGuyNamedAlex Well-Known Member

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    I dont think #1 is necessarily valid. Just because something is a sport doesnt mean it has to be like every other sport or should be, each is unique. What you're actually saying is more akin to "Hockey has a small net so Soccer should to"

    The reason I like the odd stadiums is that it forces a team to recognize certain skill sets and build a team that maximizes that advantage.

    It's a natural protection from the type of baseball we see today.
     
  15. Boik14

    Boik14 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Sports can be different in terms of their rules but the premise is the same. The reason we care about it and the reason people compete is to see who is the best and you do that by having a level plying field. A playing field can’t be level of a stadium isn’t somewhat standardized. I don’t want to win or lose based on some silly quirk unique to that stadium.
     
  16. AGuyNamedAlex

    AGuyNamedAlex Well-Known Member

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    I guess we see it differently, which is totally fine I respect that.

    To me the best team is one that can perform in a variety of circumstances.

    Just to see if your view is entirely consistent, do you believe all teams should be forced to play indoors or outdoors exclusively? As in every team in a dome or every team in an open stadium?
     
  17. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    I actually like that MLB stadiums are built differently and have quirks, as long as its nothing too extreme. It makes it fun. The multi purpose circles built in the early 70s were boring as hell.
     
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  18. Boik14

    Boik14 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I hate domes so outdoors. But weather conditions are unavoidable. Stadium construction is an avoidable variance.
     
  19. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    I actually love retractable roof stadiums, so long as its not something old school like the Astrodome or the Metrodome, which are basically Three Rivers/Riverfront with a roof. I love Safeco and Enron, and Chase Field and Miller Park are cool in their own ways. They're a whole lot better than some boring open air newer places like Yankee Stadium or Great American.
     
  20. Boik14

    Boik14 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    And Sunday Night Blockbuster is here... Blake Snell to the Padres for Francisco Mejia, Luis Patino and 2 other prospects.
     
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  21. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    Whelp, there go my hopes of the Cubs selling Darvish off to them when his value was at its peak.
     
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  22. Boik14

    Boik14 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Not necessarily. Apparently the Padres and Cubs are talking Darvish as well! Padres are definitely going for it it seems. Makes sense for them too cause Tatis, Cronenworth, Paddack etc are cheap, Gore is coming up, machado and Hosmer are in their prime. They’re set to win now but getting past LAD is going to be a chore.

    Sandy and Jared Porter better get to work for my Mets. Just seeing what SD is doing, I want Bauer, Hendricks and Springer. And a Conforto extension. I don’t ask for much :001_rolleyes:
     
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  23. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    Good luck. I'm totally down for the Cubs basically tearing things down aside from a few long term pieces and just starting from scratch again.
     
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  24. Boik14

    Boik14 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    And Darvish is gone for Zach Davies and 4 prospects
     
  25. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    That is.....not a good return.

    I've seen Davies play plenty as a Brewer, and he's a run of the mill, #4 or 5 starter. That would be fine, as I guess the Cubs need someone to eat innings with their very green rotation in 2021. But none of those prospects are even in the top 10 in the Padres system! But at least all four are young, and three of them are teenagers. I guess I'll cross my fingers that a few of them pan out eventually, and are at Wrigley in three or four years. All four are probably now in the top 10 in the Cubs system, given how thin its been.

    The other side of the deal is that it frees up money, given that Yu is making 22m, 19m and 18m the next three seasons. In theory, the Cubs can now use that to extend someone like Javy Baez. Or even....gasp.....sign a position player as a free agent next winter!

    There's also talk that teams have been interested in Bryant, but want the Cubs to pick up some of his 2021 salary, which is think is an insult. But even if it is, if it brings a return, I'd do it. Infuse the farm system with as much talent as possible, and ride out the next few bad years. They've been there before.
     
  26. Boik14

    Boik14 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    clearly there’s a salary dump element to the deal. But it’s 4 lottery tickets going back your way from a system that’s produced and is loaded.

    I wouldn’t worry too much about prospect ranking. There’s a story I read when the Mets traded RA Dickey that talked about how badly Sandy Alderson wanted Aaron Sanchez from the Jays in that deal. It was to the point where it delayed the trade because he was trying to get him. But Sanchez was the Jays #1 or #2 prospect along with Travis D’Arnaud at that time and they weren’t willing to include both. He ended up “settling” for Noah Syndergaard who I don’t even think was ranked in the Jays system at that time along with TDA. That worked out. Or I can mention how Matt Harvey, Noah Syndergaard, Steven Matz and Zach Wheeler were all consensus top prospects coming through the Mets farm system but how Degrom being a converted SS never made a top 10 prospect list. Don’t judge the return so quickly as itll probably be 3 years before there any indication how good or bad the return was.

    Davies sucks but my guess is he was included to even out the money somewhat.

    Lastly, speaking as a team that needs a 3B upgrade on D, I would not pay a premium for Bryant. He’s not the player he was 3 years ago. He’s still good but he’s not all star good. That he’s seeing such ups and downs and injuries this early in his career doesn’t give me hope he will age well and he’s an impending FA and Boras client (his clients almost always hit FA) so giving up top prospects for a rental that will be tough to resign and expensive is almost always a no no.
     
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  27. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    Very fair point. Its basically a worst case scenario for the Cubs with Bryant. He hasn't panned out as well as everyone thought that he would, but he's still super expensive, and they can't really either extend him or trade him for any real value. It all traces back to a game at Cincinnati in 2017 when he was diving back to third base and hurt his wrist. From that point onward, he just hasn't been the same player. Best case this year is that he gets hot in the first half and they can trade him for someone that another team wants to dump due to a big salary, I think. But I'm not sure that Cubs brass will do it.
     
  28. Boik14

    Boik14 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Best case scenario is he’s healthy and gets off to a big start. If he starts producing like the middle of the order stud he should be someone will give up something good for him.
     
  29. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    The Brewers are changing their stadium's name from Miller Park to "American Family Field" for some reason. Very, very lame. Apparently, its the name of a Wisconsin life insurance company.

    A weird part of life the last decade or so for me has been continuing to use the name of one corporate sponsor for a stadium when it changes hands to another. Not that I have any real affinity for most of them, but its just the name that I'll always associate with the building. The Brewers will always be Miller, the Mariners will always be Safeco, the Diamondbacks Bank One (aka The BOB), the Giants will always be PAC Bell, and the Astros will always comically be ENRON. This of course in addition to the stadiums that once had non-corporate names.
     
  30. muscle979

    muscle979 Season Ticket Holder

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    Does someone want to start a new MLB thread for the 2021 season?
     
  31. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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