2020-21 MLB Hot Stove Discussion

[Matthew]

25 minutes ago, Patrick said:

RIP Don Sutton. Tough month for Dodger legends.

Yeah, that's for sure. I remember what a big deal it was when Sutton got into a fight with Steve Garvey, heaven's above, we're on a street called love, you'd think the world had come to an end in Dodgersland.

[Dan Gould]

Sutton was a bit of a compiler at the end but still a top pitcher in several categories - and never missing your turn should count for something, too. And that yakker sure was fun to watch. RIP.

 

Meanwhile, the Red Sox will probably suck for two more years at least, but it does warm this Yankee-hater's heart if the Jays are really getting Springer.  Three strong teams in one division tends to keep total wins down, making any Yankee run to the Series that much harder.

[JSngry]

I remember when Sutton was considered a decent number three starter. I guess when you have Koufax and Drysdale in front of you, that's the best you can hope for! RIP.

[Dan Gould]

28 minutes ago, JSngry said:

I remember when Sutton was considered a decent number three starter. I guess when you have Koufax and Drysdale in front of you, that's the best you can hope for! RIP.

Well yeah ... he certainly was a 1 or a 2 on a few of those Dodger teams post Koufax and Drysdale. 

[JSngry]

Just thinking back how awesome that  Dodger rotation was...Pitching in 1966 thru 1968, it seemed that that was golden age, at least for some teams.

[felser]

43 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Just thinking back how awesome that  Dodger rotation was...Pitching in 1966 thru 1968, it seemed that that was golden age, at least for some teams.

Koufax (replaced by Bill Singer), Drysdale, Osteen, Sutton.  That works.

[Adam]

On 1/8/2021 at 9:10 AM, Matthew said:

Tommy Lasorda died today. Dang, this guy was involved in so many of my memories of Dodger baseball. A unique personality. I remember how highly he was touted when he replaced Walter Alston (The Dugout Statue), and these young players coming up at the same time. Garvey, Lopes, Cey, Russell, Ferguson, Valentine (sadly injured). It was an amazing time to be a Dodger fan.

That was the team I grew up with in Los Angeles, anchoring my being a life-long Dodger fan.  Garvey, Lopes, Russell, Cey.  Don't forget Reggie Smith and Steve Yeager.  Lopes was my favorite player in those pre-and-early teen years.

[Dan Gould]

So Yankees are saying hello to Corey Kluber and goodbye to JA Happ apparently ... I would guess there is more upside to Kluber if he stays healthy but that's been a question mark for a while, and Happ has (I believe) been as durable as they come. Seems like more of a wash especially factoring in how lopsided the Yankee rotation will be. If Kluber excels in his last "prove I'm healthy so I can cash in" season then maybe its a net positive for them.

[ghost of miles]

On 1/21/2021 at 1:34 PM, Dan Gould said:

So Yankees are saying hello to Corey Kluber and goodbye to JA Happ apparently ... I would guess there is more upside to Kluber if he stays healthy but that's been a question mark for a while, and Happ has (I believe) been as durable as they come. Seems like more of a wash especially factoring in how lopsided the Yankee rotation will be. If Kluber excels in his last "prove I'm healthy so I can cash in" season then maybe its a net positive for them.

Kluber’s a big gamble for sure. Yankees’ rotation remains a colossal question mark and I can’t see them pulling off a World Series run with it at the moment. Toronto’s certainly beefed up their lineup even more, but not so sure about their pitching. The Rays, meanwhile, will do what the Rays do and field a 90-95 wins team with whatever pieces they have. So yeah, quite a bloodbath to come in the AL East. 

Curious to see how the season opens this year. I can’t imagine we’ll be at a point by April where stadium attendance policy is completely open, given the absolute mess of vaccine production and distribution that the new admin’s inherited. But perhaps very limited attendance early on that increases slowly as case #s and deaths decline? (Of course, a number of teams already experience limited attendance even in non-Covid circumstances...)

[JSngry]

NoStox 4 BoSox:

https://www.axios.com/red-sox-public-spac-no-deal-72eb6b14-0844-4156-b03f-3456217083e4.html

[Dan Gould]

12 hours ago, JSngry said:

NoStox 4 BoSox:

https://www.axios.com/red-sox-public-spac-no-deal-72eb6b14-0844-4156-b03f-3456217083e4.html

Oh well but I guess 2021 continues to be weird as 2020, because the Red Sox and Yankees made a trade, and a legit useful major leaguer was sent north.  (Looks like a salary dump by the Yankees.)

https://www.mlb.com/news/adam-ottavino-red-sox-trade

Meanwhile, we find out about the Cooperstown vote tonight at 6 pm and frankly I don't think that Schilling makes it and will go to a 10th try:

https://onedrive.live.com/view.aspx?resid=F2E5D8FC5199DFAF!31002&ithint=file,xlsx&authkey=!AKnsRGrHzGEkOuw

He's barely over 75% in public ballots, and apparently you need a cushion because non-public ballots tend to have fewer players listed. The others near 75% are Bonds and Clemens - of course Schill is the only guy without baggage unless you hold his nut-job politics against him. (And I had no idea he made any comments supportive of the Capitol riot/insurrection earlier but I can't say I'm surprised.)

[Dan Gould]

Happy Retirement to Dustin Pedroia, who is kind of in a Catch-22. He played so hard and missed so much time, is he Hall-worthy? Or would he be Hall-worthy if he hadn't played so damn hard?

Surely should be recognized as an inspiration for every under-sized kid with an overwhelming drive to succeed. 

[JSngry]

Is there a Hall Of Coulda' Been?

[Dan Gould]

https://www.mlb.com/news/andrew-benintendi-trade?partnerId=zh-20210211-156906-MLB&qid=1026&bt_ee=xBgEz4jZYmr8OySIqDeXITRRH47vPhAS%2FV%2Fq8pMJm99ZzNrRxEciQFqU7pAU8RQj&bt_ts=1613046728031

And the Red Sox collapse to total irrelevance continues. Benitendi, cost controlled for at least a couple more seasons, I believe, sent away for ... bare potential talent plus the inevitable "player to be named later". When in the history of major league baseball has a PTBNL turned out to have a decent career??? And the "prospects" they got are incredibly underwhelming, one of whom has nothing to recommend except "raw power", and he just had surgery on his broken hamate bone, proven to rob players of power even post-rehab.

Fucking A this is pathetic.

[GA Russell]

The Toronto Blue Jays will not have radio broadcasts of their games this year.

Anybody want to explain that to me?

Toronto Blue Jays fans furious after team says it's ending radio broadcasts of games (blogto.com)

[JSngry]

I can't explain to you why they're not having radio broadcasts, because they ARE having radio broadcasts.

What they're no longer having is dedicated radio announcers, which I probably could explain. But the explanation would just make me angry. Money talks, and bullshit talks even louder.

FWIW, watching a game on TV with the sound down and the radio up almost always works for me. Or did until split-second time delays started happening to a noticeable extent.

[ghost of miles]

Watched some of the Yankees-Jays game yesterday, with fans in attendance—good to see and hear even a very small crowd again. The players sounded pretty jazzed about it as well in post-game interviews. 

[soulpope]

https://www.mlb.com/news/the-longest-home-run-ever?t=offbeat

Longest home run .... new to me story ....

[soulpope]

https://www.mlb.com/news/seuly-matias-hits-hr-off-palm-tree

Another contribution to the "very long home run" story .... 

[JSngry]