Play ball! 2019 MLB season thread

[ghost of miles]

1 hour ago, Brad said:

I’m not sure he’s a Hall of Famer but he’s had a long and distinguished career. I’m sure it would help his candidacy if he went out with a championship. 

I’m not sure either, though if CC gets in, surely Andy Pettitte deserves to get in as well—their lifetime stats will be roughly equal (Pettite has 256 wins to CC’s current total of 251 and a 3.86 ERA compared to CC’s 3.71). And Pettitte has a fantastic post-season record too. But my sense is that starting pitchers have a higher hurdle to clear than everyday players when it comes to getting into the Hall.

Edited July 11, 2019 by ghost of miles

[sonnymax]

The Red Sox beat the Yankees three in a row!

[Brad]

1 hour ago, sonnymax said:

The Red Sox beat the Yankees three in a row!

This weekend so far shows two things: Cashman didn’t do a very good job in building a starting staff in the offseason (although in fairness you couldn’t have foreseen Severino being out this long) and sellers will be holding the Yankees up for starting pitching; the price keeps going up.  

[Dan Gould]

On 7/11/2019 at 0:31 PM, ghost of miles said:

I’m not sure either, though if CC gets in, surely Andy Pettitte deserves to get in as well—their lifetime stats will be roughly equal (Pettite has 256 wins to CC’s current total of 251 and a 3.86 ERA compared to CC’s 3.71). And Pettitte has a fantastic post-season record too. But my sense is that starting pitchers have a higher hurdle to clear than everyday players when it comes to getting into the Hall.

Take 250 wins and similar ERAs and add in 3000 Ks and being the best pitcher on two teams for a goodly stretch.

Pettitte was never the best pitcher on his own team once.

[jlhoots]

Check out this guy Hiura on the Brewers.

[Dan Gould]

12 hours ago, Brad said:

This weekend so far shows two things: Cashman didn’t do a very good job in building a starting staff in the offseason (although in fairness you couldn’t have foreseen Severino being out this long) and sellers will be holding the Yankees up for starting pitching; the price keeps going up.  

Enjoy the plethora of prospects the Yankees are about to unload for Syndergaard.  They need the help and apparently still have the depth in the minor leagues. And that will go a long way toward fixing what (presently) ails the Yankees.

[Brad]

13 minutes ago, Dan Gould said:

Enjoy the plethora of prospects the Yankees are about to unload for Syndergaard.  They need the help and apparently still have the depth in the minor leagues. And that will go a long way toward fixing what (presently) ails the Yankees.

I would be shocked if the Yankees and Mets make a major trade; Mets ownership doesn’t have the guts to make that kind of move. They would be worried about the fan reaction if Syndergaard helped the Yanks win a WS or two. It’s more likely that he’d go to the Astros or Twins or not be traded at all.  

You might find this interesting, Mets intensify efforts to deal Noah Syndergaard, must convince Wilpons

Edited July 28, 2019 by Brad

[ghost of miles]

5 hours ago, Dan Gould said:

Take 250 wins and similar ERAs and add in 3000 Ks and being the best pitcher on two teams for a goodly stretch.

Pettitte was never the best pitcher on his own team once.

He was in 1996-97. And he has a much more impressive postseason record than CC—one of the best postseason records, in fact, of anybody who’s retired in the last few years or is still pitching. I think you can make a case that CC’s no HoF shoo-in, but if he does get in, they should open the doors for Pettitte as well.

Re Yankees’ pitching woes, I don’t think it matters who they acquire as long as Larry Rothschild remains the pitching coach. Sonny Gray, who regressed badly as a Yankee in 2018 after pretty much pitching to form upon his late-season 2017 arrival, is once again flourishing with the Reds. James Paxton has now already hit a couple of career worsts in just 2/3 of a season with NY. Happ, who has other issues (aging fastball pitcher), has also regressed badly this year. There are numerous other anecdotes of Yankee pitchers seeking help from outside sources or getting “fixed” by NY’s triple-A pitching coach Tommy Phelps. Whether it’s Rothschild himself or what he’s being told to do, it’s clearly not working. Pitchers who go to the Astros tend to improve; pitchers who come to NY tend to regress. And the “some guys just can’t hack it in NYC” has become a crutch of an excuse that misplaces the blame, IMO.

Last but not least, I don’t think there’s any way Noah ends up with the Yankees. And at this point they’ll be damn lucky to land Stroman.

[Brad]

I saw something on Bleacher Report where the Mets would trade Noah to the Pods for a bunch of prospects and then send some of them to Toronto for Stroman. That doesn’t make any sense to me.

Pitching coaches and batting coaches are in no win situations. They will always get blamed.  

Edited July 28, 2019 by Brad

[Brad]

Mets have acquired Stroman.  For what has not been announced yet. 

[Brad]

The Mets traded a couple of pitching prospects for Stroman, neither of which are rated in the top 100. I'm not sure trading prospects for an area that is not your weakness makes sense but it definitely won't make sense if they don't sign him to an extension.

Question for Yankees fans. I thought the Yankees farm system was rich with prospects, enough to make this kind of deal. Is this not the case? Apparently, the Blue Jays wanted Glyber and Devi Garcia and the Yankees turned them down. If Madbum or Syndergaard are still on the block, it's going to at least cost something like that. 

Edited July 29, 2019 by Brad

[Dan Gould]

A shut-down rotation is a great thing to have but where does it say the Mets are likely to be serious contenders next year?  If Stroman has another season like this one he is sure to test free agency. 

The prospects may not be top 100 but they were two of the Mets top 10 which says something. About both their minor league system and the logic of this trade.

[Brad]

Nothing this rookie GM has done makes a lot of sense. However, if they can sign Stroman, it makes more sense.  We will have to see if there is another move before Wednesday. 

They seem to think they can contend for a WC. We will see. I have my doubts. 

[Dan Gould]

Speaking of doubts you can just about book it: When you need a big start from Chris Sale this year, he'll suck (and let's face it if they have any dreams of defending the division title they had to sweep the Yankees last night. At this rate they'll be back to 10-11 games by next Sunday).

About the only thing they did this weekend to make Didi Gregorious look a tad premature.

[Brad]

The Mets have a golden opportunity here because for the next 48 hours they’ve cornered the pitching market, including flipping Stroman. If they play their cards right they could come out with a haul that could set them up for the next few years. 

[Brad]

It's believed now that the Mets will trade their closer before tomorrow and that it may be to the Red Sox. The Mets gave up a lot to get him and we'll have to see what the return is before evaluating the original trade. 

[Dan Gould]

20 minutes ago, Brad said:

It's believed now that the Mets will trade their closer before tomorrow and that it may be to the Red Sox. The Mets gave up a lot to get him and we'll have to see what the return is before evaluating the original trade. 

He's also been terrible this season if I'm not mistaken  but is under team control for several years to come.  Honestly it sounds like the kind of guy the Mets who are so budget conscious should hold onto.  But nobody knows what the hell they are doing or thinking at any given time.  

[Brad]

2 hours ago, Dan Gould said:

He's also been terrible this season if I'm not mistaken  but is under team control for several years to come.  Honestly it sounds like the kind of guy the Mets who are so budget conscious should hold onto.  But nobody knows what the hell they are doing or thinking at any given time.  

They apparently have tired of him. Frankly, as a fan I squirm when he comes in. He has blown several games this season that were just killers. He might be better off back in the AL. Of course, if they trade him, I don’t know who the he’ll is going to close. 

[Dan Gould]

So the Indians gave up two months and one year of Bauer for two months of Puig. 

I do not get that.

[Brad]

1 hour ago, Dan Gould said:

So the Indians gave up two months and one year of Bauer for two months of Puig. 

I do not get that.

They finally tired of Bauer, especially after Sunday.  Their return is far greater than Puig. They received from the Padres a player by the name of Franmil Reyes, who is having a very good season, a reliever and two prospects, one from the Reds and one from the Padres. It sounds to me like the Indians came out on top on this one. 

If scouts were watching last night, Syndergaard impressed and Diaz regressed, blowing another save. They need to get him out of there or demote him to setup man. But for all his BS, they might have a winning record. 

[Dan Gould]

1 hour ago, Brad said:

They finally tired of Bauer, especially after Sunday.  Their return is far greater than Puig. They received from the Padres a player by the name of Franmil Reyes, who is having a very good season, a reliever and two prospects, one from the Reds and one from the Padres. It sounds to me like the Indians came out on top on this one. 

I

Reyes seems to be a very mixed bag.  Lots of homers, but only 46 ribbies when he's hit 27 out of the park to date? That's hard to do unless you truly are an all or nothing hitter.

Strikeouts are out of control, BA dropped in his second season, OBP is poor. 

He seems like a swing from the heels kind of player, the epitome of the game today unfortunately.  The one thing he has going for him is being only in his age 23 season, and the fact that Cleveland is more homer friendly than San Diego's park, if I am not mistaken.

I guess when Puig leaves, the Indians may have in Reyes a new Edwin Encarnarcion, who they let go for no particular reason thus creating the need for hitting in the first place. Well him and Brantley being sent away.

[ghost of miles]

Not sure I've ever seen one player charge an entire dugout before:

Reds-Pirates brawl

[Matthew]

38 minutes ago, ghost of miles said:

Not sure I've ever seen one player charge an entire dugout before:

Reds-Pirates brawl

Heaven's above, I'm so sick and tired of Yasiel Puig's act! He, of course, is not the one to charge the entire dugout, but he was the one who charged other players after things had quieted down, knowing full well that there was no way he could get to them, and even if he did get to them, the only thing he'd do is yell at them. And this guy acts like he's so tough! PUKE!

[JSngry]

Have they played the All Star Game yet? Who won?

[Brad]

16 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Have they played the All Star Game yet? Who won?

Yes, the AL won 9-7 and Hubbell struck out some great players like the Babe, Lou and Joe Cronin. 

1 hour ago, ghost of miles said:

Not sure I've ever seen one player charge an entire dugout before:

Reds-Pirates brawl

That was a hell of a fight, as these baseball fights go. The Reds manager has to be in some trouble with MLB for coming back out after he had been ejected.