2022-23 MLB offseason thread

[DoctorWhom]

At this point I've already accepted the Red Sox are going to blow :censored: up & get absolutely nothing in return. 

Bloom still thinks this is the Rays where he can penny pinch his way to a good team. 

 

I swear he would have let Ortiz walk if he was in charge back then. 

[Digby]

It's not even just the penny-pinching! We have seen cheap teams find their ways to success, even Bloom's own Rays (a philosophy that shouldn't exist in a very wealthy market at the home of the $14 Bud Light, but I digress). It's the overpaying for Trevor Story and an unproven Japan league player while letting these other guys walk, it's giving up on 2022 at the deadline but not even doing a proper teardown, it's having zero prospects to show for any of this nonsense. They've both picked a bad philosophy and also executed it poorly.

 

However, Fenway Park is in high demand as a concert venue and, I guess, hockey rink. So that's nice.

 

Some of the reporting from inside the FO lately also suggests Bloom focus-groups every decision to death with his (no doubt numerous) staffers and hesitates to make big decisions in either direction. 

[Sport]

I've thought for a while about doing a chart where the  Y axis is how much a team spends and the X axis is how stupid they are, but I've been too lazy to execute it. To give you an idea, the Dodgers would be in the top right corner, the Reds would be in the bottom left corner, the Rays would be in the bottom right corner, and the Red Sox would be somewhere in the upper middle. 

[TrueYankee26]

5 hours ago, who do you think said:

doginburningapartment.png

And us Yankees fans like to get on Brian Cashman's case for passing on young stars. Turns out Bloom is worse.

[Sport]

20 hours ago, Dilbert said:

Former Reds pitcher, and the only one to throw a perfect game for the franchise Tom Browning has died. He had just been arrested for DUI back in August.

https://www.mlb.com/news/tom-browning-dies

 

 

 

19 career WAR, 3.94 career ERA, won his start in Game 3 of the 1990 WS, and is one of 23 guys to throw a perfect game. 

 

That kind of messed me up yesterday. Not because I knew Tom Browning personally or anything, but because Browning was one of the first guys I was aware of in sports as a young kid. I liked that a dude that looked like him could be a pro athlete. He's now a lost connection to the last days when the franchise really mattered. It just makes me sad to think that we used to have all these characters come through Cincinnati as part of the Reds, they'd achieve records and championships, and then they'd stay for life and become part of the family and that's not really happening anymore. These old players come back for Redsfest or Championship reunions or the game in Iowa last year and there's a team on the field called the Cincinnati Reds, but there's no resemblance to the franchise the way it used to be when they played. Their old team is gone and we just lost another link to when things were actually good and there's no telling when, if ever, it gets back. 

[Dilbert]

37 minutes ago, Sport said:

He's now a lost connection to the last days when the franchise really mattered. It just makes me sad to think that we used to have all these characters come through Cincinnati as part of the Reds, they'd achieve records and championships, and then they'd stay for life and become part of the family and that's not really happening anymore. These old players come back for Redsfest or Championship reunions or the game in Iowa last year and there's a team on the field called the Cincinnati Reds, but there's no resemblance to the franchise the way it used to be when they played. Their old team is gone and we just lost another link to when things were actually good and there's no telling when, if ever, it gets back. 

Thats what pisses me off about the ownership today. Bob can afford anybody because he is paying the big bucks for Votto, plus they are still paying Junior even though he's retired. As soon as we bring up a guy and he becomes good or a fan favorite, he becomes to expensive and we have to dump him.  All the ownership is doing to get fans to the games is bobbleheads, and milking every penny out of Big Red Machine or Pete Rose. They can only do that so much and while those guys are cool, the novelty is wearing off.

[FiddySicks]

Oh, how wonderful. Giants had Judge for six minutes, then Correa for six days

 

 

 

[Cujo]

When car at the dealership's check engine light is on and you still pay full value -- that's the Giants if they keep Correa and don't modify that insane 13 year contract.

[FiddySicks]

Yeah, it’s time for Farhan to go. Until he’s gone, I’m out on this :censored:show. Straight up Sacramento Kings of Baseball kinda :censored: going on with the Giants at this point. 
 

Correa to the Mets.

[BBTV]

So is “medical issue” just a cover-up, or is it legit? And if so, aren’t the Mets taking the risk that the Giants weren’t willing to?  Seems like either the Giants got cold feet, Correa changed his mind, or the Mets are dumb. 

[McCall]

57 minutes ago, BBTV said:

So is “medical issue” just a cover-up, or is it legit? And if so, aren’t the Mets taking the risk that the Giants weren’t willing to?  Seems like either the Giants got cold feet, Correa changed his mind, or the Mets are dumb. 

A little column A, little column C. Giants probably got cold feet (Correa does have a lengthy injury history) and maybe were hoping to lessen the amount of the deal when the Mets swooped in at the first sign of blood in the water. Although they did get him for cheaper than the Giants, so they're not entirely dumb.

[TrueYankee26]

LOL Now Correa's going to to the Mets.

[BBTV]

13 hours ago, Cujo said:

When car at the dealership's check engine light is on and you still pay full value -- that's the Giants if they keep Correa and don't modify that insane 13 year contract.

 

eh... sometimes the check-engine can be really bad, but sometimes you just need to tighten the gas cap.  I'm really curious what they found - I hope it leaks.  As a Phillies fan, I really hope the Mets just overspent for a guy that will only average around 40 games / year, but I'll be really ticked if it's just a gas-cap situation and the Giants simply needed an excuse to back out.

[FiddySicks]

I’m calling this team the PeninsulA’s from now on.  

[SeaTac]

Your Bay Area sports update:

 

Giants (Disorganized)

A's (Dumpster Fire)

49ers (Talented but still coached by Shanahan)

Raiders (Oh yeah, moved to Vegas)

Warriors (Declining)

Sharks (Hot Garbage)

Earthquakes (Hot Garbage)

College Sports (Nobody Cares)

[BBTV]

So is Craig Kimbrel considered cooked at this point?

 

Either way, this was kinda funny.  Hope he gets it even when pitching for the Phillies.

 

 

[SFGiants58]

Being right for the wrong reasons feels weird.

[GDAWG]

 

[DoctorWhom]

5 minutes ago, GDAWG said:

 

"Wild" Guess.  

Angles & Nationals are going to be sold. 

A's getting a stadium in Vegas.  

 

[GDAWG]

1 minute ago, DoctorWhom said:

"Wild" Guess.  

Angles & Nationals are going to be sold. 

A's getting a stadium in Vegas.  

 

 

He says here, it's Angels and D'Backs:

 

UTK Short 12/31/22 - by Will Carroll - Under The Knife (substack.com)

 

Quote

Anyway, the teams from the tweet are the Angels and the Diamondbacks, and it’s related. The Angels have been for sale — or “exploring a sale” in today’s terminology — for a while, largely due to the inability of Arte Moreno to get land concessions. It’s not just a new stadium, but the land development around it that’s the new ask from owners. Anaheim’s situation has been an issue, even creating some political issues, and Moreno after a couple rounds is done.

 

Quote

However, one of those groups also took a hard look at another team, the Diamondbacks. They haven’t been openly for sale, but Ken Kendrick has been more frustrated lately, with both a CBA he didn’t love and no luck getting his own stadium. The key there is that the group thinks they could build a stadium, largely on their own dime, with some infrastructure and tax breaks rather than a large payment like most want. Again, this is about land development more than a stadium and Japanese financial firms are often based in the real estate realm.

 

The Diamondbacks could sell for much less than the Angels, but the NBA Phoenix Suns just sold for $4 billion dollars, so there’s not going to be a big discount for the always rare asset class of “professional sports team.” This is less a Plan B than an opportunity to get in while several teams are potentially for sale. (The Guardians recently sold a minority to majority section to David Blitzer, while the Nationals are also in “exploring a sale” mode. There’s at least one other team, the White Sox, looking for the same type of deal as the Guardians, though that’s been ongoing for years.)