2023 MLB Season Thread

[FiddySicks]

The only thing dumber than pitchers throwing retaliatory pitches at players is fighting in hockey. It’s some sideshow garbage that has hurts the legitimacy of the sport and makes it even easier to not take seriously. I get it “Tradition” and “strategy”, but it’s stupid and is off putting to most people.

[gosioux76]

43 minutes ago, 8BW14 said:

I’ll toss in my $.02 for what it’s worth (as a Cardinals fan). Did mikolas need to hit Happ? No he did not.  I’m not really sure why he thought he had to hit him. Is Happ known for clipping catchers with the long backswing or something? Mikolas obviously hit him on purpose, but it was about as innocent of an intentional HBP as you’ll see, if there is such a thing. At that point, it was over for both teams. Instead of issuing warnings and moving on, the umpires made a mountain out of a mole hill when they inserted themselves into a situation that had apparently already been resolved. They changed the whole outlook of the game and probably created some bad blood that could spill over into games 2, 3 and 4.

 

I don't know if I agree with this. If the umpire crew determines that the pitcher intentionally hit the guy -- I mean, he did the brush back, and then right for him, so it was pretty clear it was intentional -- are they really supposed to let that go? 

 

Was it really resolved if it was clear that Happ's clunking of the catcher was accidental and Mikolas doinked him anyway? You're pretty much asking for the Cubs to come back and continue the beanings. 

 

If the intentionality was clear, then they should get tossed. That's the only thing that ends it. 

[BBTV]

I don't really care about the point of "he hit him as harmlessly as possible".  Even if he took some off of it, it's still in the 80 MPH range, and while he plunked him on the butt, what if it gets away from him?  What if by some fluke he hits some magic nerve spot and causes some serious damage?  Facing a pitcher is dangerous enough when they're not  trying to hit you. 

 

Honestly, in a trained MLB-caliber pitcher's hands, a baseball is a deadly weapon and if someone throws intentionally at someone, they should be able to be charged with assault.

 

Not saying this guy should be charged with assault, but if it's on purpose, then it transcends the rules of the game and kinda is assault (like when the hockey guy swung his stick at the other guy).

 

 

[8BW14]

Shopping Arenado to the Dodgers is exactly the kind of BS I’m tired of seeing from the Cardinals. The management and ownership is so :censored:ing arrogant that they believe they’ll pull one over on the Dodgers and somehow replace Arenado’s production with an aggregate of three  glorified AAAA players and continue to be just good enough to be the third wildcard. Honestly, the way they’re apparently keeping him in the dark with all of the talk/rumors flying around, I hope he gets traded and kicks the Cardinals ass for them next 4-6 years. If he’s not available, shut that :censored: down. Either way, he deserves enough respect to know what’s going on.

[McCall]

16 minutes ago, 8BW14 said:

Shopping Arenado to the Dodgers is exactly the kind of BS I’m tired of seeing from the Cardinals. The management and ownership is so :censored:ing arrogant that they believe they’ll pull one over on the Dodgers and somehow replace Arenado’s production with an aggregate of three  glorified AAAA players and continue to be just good enough to be the third wildcard. Honestly, the way they’re apparently keeping him in the dark with all of the talk/rumors flying around, I hope he gets traded and kicks the Cardinals ass for them next 4-6 years. If he’s not available, shut that down. Either way, he deserves enough respect to know what’s going on.

He said he's not been asked to waive his no-trade. Seems it's mostly just speculation or some writers just coming up with their own ideas and it was taken as a serious possibility or simply the Dodgers asking and the Cardinals just having a general discussion while not really interested in going through with anything just seeing what a trade would look like while discussing separate deals involving Flaherty or Montgomery.

[8BW14]

13 minutes ago, McCall said:

He said he's not been asked to waive his no-trade. Seems it's mostly just speculation or some writers just coming up with their own ideas and it was taken as a serious possibility or simply the Dodgers asking and the Cardinals just having a general discussion while not really interested in going through with anything just seeing what a trade would look like while discussing separate deals involving Flaherty or Montgomery.

I know that’s probably what’s really going on but it seems like it’s bothering him a little bit. Maybe they have had private discussions with him to assure him he’s not really going anywhere. Why let the speculation and rumors swirl? They made a mess out of the Contreras situation earlier this season and it sure appears that they’re handling this poorly, too. Maybe it’s all a big leverage play, IDK. I can’t tell if there’s really any fire with the fire and I’m having a lot of anxiety over the trade deadline and I don’t trust the cardinals to not outsmart themselves.

[Gary]

Verlander traded back to Houston. Vacation in New York is over

[BBTV]

The Mets are paying the Rangers $35M to take Scherzer.

They are paying the Astros $54M to take Verlander.

 

They didn't even get great prospects back.  That's $90M in dead money, but unlike the NFL, it's real money.  JFC - they're paying twice the A's payroll for guys that are on other teams.  That's freaking insane.

 

Apparently they told Scherzer that they were playing for '25.  That's just mind boggling when you think of all the moves they made and money they spent.  Now they're literally giving away $90M for nothing, and their remaining over-paid players know that they're no longer serious about winning this or next year.

[tBBP]

4 hours ago, BBTV said:

The Mets are paying the Rangers $35M to take Scherzer.

They are paying the Astros $54M to take Verlander.

 

They didn't even get great prospects back.  That's $90M in dead money, but unlike the NFL, it's real money.  JFC - they're paying twice the A's payroll for guys that are on other teams.  That's freaking insane.

 

Apparently they told Scherzer that they were playing for '25.  That's just mind boggling when you think of all the moves they made and money they spent.  Now they're literally giving away $90M for nothing, and their remaining over-paid players know that they're no longer serious about winning this or next year.

 

And all that on top of still being on the hook for the remainder of Bobby Bonilla's salary...

 

At the rate the Mets are going, they gon' need about three or four more ad patches just to break even...(!)

[McCall]

Soon, the Mets' money owed to players not on the team will reach the luxury tax threshold by itself.

[BBTV]

I know the owner is a multi-billionaire who doesn’t give af about money, but weren’t they reportedly going to make a play at Otani this offseason? I wonder if they shot themselves in both feet by acknowledging they’re not playing for ‘24, and writing a near  $100m check for players they won’t even have (though I guess that comes off the books by ‘25… I think).  

[BBTV]

Never seen this before.  Bottom of 10th, Phillies up two.  Marlins zombie runner on second.  Craig Kimbrell intentionally drops the ball, calls his own balk, and directs the runner to third.  Broadcasters said he did it on purpose to prevent the runner from relaying signs to the batter... but they use the electronic thing, so there's no signs.

 

WTF?  It was absolutely an intentional balk.  Technically the run doesn't matter, though you'd like to keep him on 2nd just in case there's a play to be made at 3rd, though that's rather unlikely.

 

EDIT: now they're claiming that even with the pitch com thing, runners can still tell certain things and relay to batter.  Apparently some pitchers have tells after receiving the call.

 

EDIT 2: you can actually clearly see the Marlins relaying the signs.  There's definitely a tell.  It's totally legal (though it's a former Astro doing it, so...) but I'm wondering what the tells could be.

 

Aaaaaaand... Kimbrell promptly blows it.  F him.  Should be retired.  Never had less confidence in a "closer".

[infrared41]

On 7/28/2023 at 3:58 PM, FiddySicks said:

The only thing dumber than pitchers throwing retaliatory pitches at players is fighting in hockey. It’s some sideshow garbage that has hurts the legitimacy of the sport and makes it even easier to not take seriously. I get it “Tradition” and “strategy”, but it’s stupid and is off putting to most people.

 

Agree 100%. If pitchers don't want batters hitting home runs, throw better pitches. The hitters are major league baseball players, do these pitchers actually believe that knocking them down or hitting them intimidates them in any way?

 

I've thought fights in hockey are stupid from the first time I saw one. If there's a strategy to them, I've never figured out what it is.

[BBTV]

and Trea Turner makes yet another error, while going 1-7, and costing the Phillies yet another game.  He's legitimately, without hyperbole, the worst everyday starting player I have ever seen.  He's already been dropped to 7th in the order.  He'll soon be a platoon or bench player.  He even admitted that he's not used to playing on a team where there's expectations to win.  Complete candy-ass loser.

 

He looks like a guy that wants to jump off of a bridge every time he strikes out or weakly grounds out, and especially when he makes any of his 100 errors.  Dude is completely lost, and has no idea how to play baseball anymore.  Time to shut him down completely and hope he can regain his smile between now and next season (and figure out some way to reclaim some of the money he's stealing... though that's obviously not possible.)

[BBTV]

LOL - the NBC guys - who are Phillies employees on a network partially owned by the Phillies - are on a complete rant about what trash Turner is, and saying he should be benched for at least a whole series, or maybe even be a bench player for the rest of the season.  He's costing them game after game after game, whether it's his trash hitting, or his constant errors (the stats don't even show the accurate number of errors due to the hitter-friendly scoring).  The Phillies have a lot of flaws, but Trea Turner has cost them at least 5 games.

 

He's worse this year than Castellanos was last year.  At least Castellanos rebounded for a few months this season before reverting to trash that's been left outside in the rain, but there's no indication that Trea Turner has any clue what he's doing.  He's a great reason why there should be arbitration in baseball contracts so that he doesn't get away with stealing money and sabotaging an entire season.

 

In conclusion, I'm not sure if his issues are mental and he needs a sports psychologist, or if it's simply that he's not nearly as talented as people were tricked into thinking, but he's nothing more than the most overpaid bench player in baseball history.  Based on some of their recent moves, it looks like they're preparing for an eventuality where Turner is a bench player, Bryson Stott or Edmundo Sosa slides into SS, and possibly the guy they just got from the Pirates plays 2nd base until they figure something else out.  He's killed them.

 

 

[Unocal]

Tell us how you REALLY feel about Trea Turner

[BBTV]

3 hours ago, Unocal said:

Tell us how you REALLY feel about Trea Turner

he’s now the highest paid #8 hitter in baseball, and they said “there’s only so many slots left in the order for him”. He seems to care, I’ll give him that. It doesn’t seem to be for lack of effort or anything like that.  By all accounts, he’s putting in the work. It’s just pressure and nerves and maybe some of the yips.  There’s a very real (albeit small) possibility that he becomes a $300m bench player come September, with the hope that he comes back better next year. 
 

for what it’s worth, expect him to get rousing ovations and a show of support when they come back here me tomorrow… if he’s  even in the lineup. 
 

it is telling that a guy that’s won a WS and played on great teams said he’s never felt the pressure of being on a team that expects to win. 
 

 

[Olmec]

I grew up a Yankee fan during the "Core Four" era and haven't watched a game in 10+ years. I'm at a buddy's house and we're watching the game and I witnessed one of the Yankees players just jog from second to home on a base hit and get thrown out by a mile... didn't even attempt to slide. Genuine question for the baseball fans, not trying to start nonsense but is this how the game is played now due to rules and player safety, or did I just happen to catch a little laziness from a particular player? I didn't catch his name or # but I've never seen anything like that before 

[dont care]

23 minutes ago, Olmec said:

I grew up a Yankee fan during the "Core Four" era and haven't watched a game in 10+ years. I'm at a buddy's house and we're watching the game and I witnessed one of the Yankees players just jog from second to home on a base hit and get thrown out by a mile... didn't even attempt to slide. Genuine question for the baseball fans, not trying to start nonsense but is this how the game is played now due to rules and player safety, or did I just happen to catch a little laziness from a particular player? I didn't catch his name or # but I've never seen anything like that before 

You just caught some laziness/probably knew he was going to be out after the turn and knew going back to 3rd would be the same result so he just took it. 

[tBBP]

Tim Anderson has now been checked into Memeland:

 

 

How's that Don Henley line go again?

 

"You can check out anytime you like...but you can never leave".

 

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