2023 MLB Season Thread

[Glover]

On 7/8/2023 at 6:35 PM, TrueYankee26 said:

He single handedly revived baseball in Southwest Ohio. And stuff like this is why. 

 

I hope he asked Aristides Aquino for permission to use his number! 

[Sport]

1 hour ago, McCall said:

What's scary (for division rival fans such as myself) is that these guys are so young and controllable that the team has plenty of time before they have to start paying them, which delays any firesale for awhile.  

 

I'll say to you what I've been saying to fellow Reds fans - It's exciting (or frightening from your POV) to have our team back, but we all need to pump the brakes and chill TF out. They had a good two months, but they're not the next Astros just yet. Even the most annoyingly optimistic of the performative optimists in Reds Rebuild Twitter didn't think these guys would all outperform their expectations by 30%. I keep waiting for that crash. 

[Dilbert]

1 hour ago, Sport said:

 

I'll say to you what I've been saying to fellow Reds fans - It's exciting (or frightening from your POV) to have our team back, but we all need to pump the brakes and chill TF out. They had a good two months, but they're not the next Astros just yet. Even the most annoyingly optimistic of the performative optimists in Reds Rebuild Twitter didn't think these guys would all outperform their expectations by 30%. I keep waiting for that crash. 

I mean we've now hit the All Star break, this is typically about the time a good  Reds team comes back to reality to crash and burn

[McCall]

3 hours ago, Sport said:

 

I'll say to you what I've been saying to fellow Reds fans - It's exciting (or frightening from your POV) to have our team back, but we all need to pump the brakes and chill TF out. They had a good two months, but they're not the next Astros just yet. Even the most annoyingly optimistic of the performative optimists in Reds Rebuild Twitter didn't think these guys would all outperform their expectations by 30%. I keep waiting for that crash. 

Honestly, I still  believe that the Brewers are gonna end up on top due to the "experience" that they have and just because of how young the Reds are, who, I, too, believe will come back down to Earth. Although, this division is not very good. I still have a sliver of hope that the Cardinals can mount a run, but I'm also realistic. The low quality of the division could actually allow the Reds to come back to reality, yet STILL win the division. But, regardless, they're  gonna be good for awhile... unless ownership says otherwise.

[TrueYankee26]

Legendary HR Derby performance from Julio

[Shumway]

Possible unpopular opinion, but the timed round format for the HR derby isn't as fun to watch. It gets really boring to just see a guy repeatedly swing (and tire out) and not even see where the ball goes while the commentators just talk over it like nothing is happening. 

[dont care]

1 minute ago, Shumway said:

Possible unpopular opinion, but the timed round format for the HR derby isn't as fun to watch. It gets really boring to just see a guy repeatedly swing (and tire out) and not even see where the ball goes while the commentators just talk over it like nothing is happening. 

Agreed, it was much better when it was 10 outs. Also helped having announcers like berman for it, not these jobronis who rather talk about and to players that aren’t even apart of the competition than actually talk about what’s going on at the plate. You would have forgotten julio was even about to break the record if they didn’t start talking about it with 30 seconds left. 

[See Red]

The current format is impossible to broadcast well when there's two or three balls going at a time. The rule where a ball had to land before you could throw the next pitch was a good one but they didn't really enforce it.  Also, not a fan of the head-to-head component.  I say go back to ten outs and figure out a way to keep guys from taking pitches.  That's what killed that format, iirc.

 

The Derby is pretty much the only all-star event I actually enjoy watching and now this format kills it.

 

Does ESPN still do a marathon of all of the past HR derbys on the day of anymore?  I imagine they don't since I haven't seen it in forever.  I used to love watching that as a kid. 

[TBGKon]

7 hours ago, See Red said:

Does ESPN still do a marathon of all of the past HR derbys on the day of anymore?  I imagine they don't since I haven't seen it in forever.  I used to love watching that as a kid. 

I think they used to do that on ESPN Classic.

[leopard88]

12 hours ago, Shumway said:

Possible unpopular opinion, but the timed round format for the HR derby isn't as fun to watch. It gets really boring to just see a guy repeatedly swing (and tire out) and not even see where the ball goes while the commentators just talk over it like nothing is happening. 

 

12 hours ago, dont care said:

Agreed, it was much better when it was 10 outs. Also helped having announcers like berman for it, not these jobronis who rather talk about and to players that aren’t even apart of the competition than actually talk about what’s going on at the plate. You would have forgotten julio was even about to break the record if they didn’t start talking about it with 30 seconds left. 

 

I also dislike the timed format.  It's hard to follow the split screen and really keep up.

 

Do you really have fond memories of Berman calling the Derby?  I would get sick of the "back, back, back, back . . . " call by the 10-12th time I heard it . . . and that's not accounting for the times he would say it only to watch the ball land on the warning track.

 

I also don't like the head-to-head competition in the first round.  Let the Top 4 advance, then maybe go head-to-head in the second round (and I'm not saying this just because Adley Rutschman was eliminated in the first round even though his score that round beat every score put up by Vlad, Jr. in each round).

[mcj882000]

I'd rather there just not be a tournament at all, have everyone go out and do one round, the guy with the most homers wins. You could probably even double the number of entrants and have it take around the same time. 

Seems like every single year the guy who hits the most homers in a round doesn't actually go on to win the entire Derby, even though "hitting the most homers" is supposed to be the entire point.

[TrueYankee26]

 

[DCarp1231]

The finalists for host of the 2025 ASG are Atlanta, Baltimore, Toronto, and Wrigley.

 

I have a strong feeling Baltimore is going to get shafted over again (2016) and the game gets placed in Wrigley.

[McCall]

3 minutes ago, DCarp1231 said:

The finalists for host of the 2025 ASG are Atlanta, Baltimore, Toronto, and Wrigley.

 

I have a strong feeling Baltimore is going to get shafted over again (2016) and the game gets placed in Wrigley.

How would they get "shafted" when they last hosted the game in 1993 and Wrigley in 1990?

[DCarp1231]

28 minutes ago, McCall said:

How would they get "shafted" when they last hosted the game in 1993 and Wrigley in 1990?

Baltimore was intended to host the ASG in 2016. As in pen on paper, but San Diego swooped in last second because “SoCal Vibes” or whatever.

 

I wouldn’t be saying “shafted” if that never happened.

[dont care]

I see them instead going to atlanta to try to make up for 2021

[BrySmalls]

2 hours ago, DCarp1231 said:

Baltimore was intended to host the ASG in 2016. As in pen on paper, but San Diego swooped in last second because “SoCal Vibes” or whatever.

 

I wouldn’t be saying “shafted” if that never happened.

 

Baltimore might not get the 2025 ASG but I can see them getting the 2027 ASG to celebrate Camden Yards 35th anniversary.

[BBTV]

This might simply be local hopeful thinking, but the Phillies just called up their #6 prospect, and the word on the street is that the Padres covet him, and since they're in town this weekend, the Phillies are showcasing him to be a part of a potential Juan Soto deal.

 

Given the Phillies salary situation, I think it's highly unlikely - if not impossible - for this to happen (why would the Padres trade Soto so soon - didn't they extend him?) but it's kind of surprising that they'd call this one particular guy up, when there's other options that probably make more sense right now.

 

Maybe the plane-ride thing didn't mean anything and is perfectly normal for after an ASG... or maybe it did mean something.  Guess we'll find out.

 

But again - why would SD trade him?  

[LMU]

1 hour ago, BBTV said:

This might simply be local hopeful thinking, but the Phillies just called up their #6 prospect, and the word on the street is that the Padres covet him, and since they're in town this weekend, the Phillies are showcasing him to be a part of a potential Juan Soto deal.

 

Given the Phillies salary situation, I think it's highly unlikely - if not impossible - for this to happen (why would the Padres trade Soto so soon - didn't they extend him?) but it's kind of surprising that they'd call this one particular guy up, when there's other options that probably make more sense right now.

 

Maybe the plane-ride thing didn't mean anything and is perfectly normal for after an ASG... or maybe it did mean something.  Guess we'll find out.

 

But again - why would SD trade him?  

Soto has not been extended.  He's a FA after 2024.

 

Which is why a deal has possibilities.  The Padres are going to have to go fire sale with all the money they have tied up and the sudden caving in of their television rights deal since MLB had to take over from Bally.  I don't see where they're going to find more cash to keep signing the insane deals that they have the last few years.

[BBTV]

I didn’t realize that. I’m sure there will be a lot of bidders. The Phillies can make room in their outfield, and they don’t care about money, so I guess as long as it doesn’t cost them one of their top 2 pitching prospects, they can try to work something out. But they don’t have the farm system that lots of other teams have, so I figure there will be better offers. The only thing the Phillies have going for them is the ability to absorb unlimited salary.