2020 MLB Season Thread

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

Early June is a best case scenario for some sort of Extended Spring Training.

I think I've concluded the only reason I am upset is because Mike Trout is losing potentially the last year of his peak. He was literally even money to be MVP this season! They best award it to him.

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The biggest positive out of this is that Robinson Cano's odds of reaching 3,000 hits is dropping by the minute. Needs 430 and it looked like he was going to have to play until perhaps age 41 (4.5 years) with already declining health.

Sadly that comes at the expense of Nick Markakis, the absolute legend who couldn't even be the best player on the Baltimore Orioles to be the All Star rep once in noin years. He too will need to play until 41 at this rate.

Miggy has still got plenty of time to crawl to 3,000 hits / 500 Homeruns but it's going to be very sad to watch it take 3 seasons. Likely will not have another guy reach this plateau until the end of the decade if Trout/Altuve duke it out. (Three very weak hitters are also 'on pace' but this season should sufficiently destroy their odds.)


On the homerun milestone front, I don't think anyone will be completely harmed by the lost season. Giancarlo has already lost multiple seasons on his own. There are a few borderline trajectories just short of the halfway point, but I think most will fall more than one prime season shy (e.g., Arenado leaving Coors seems certain).

(e - wow, CBS had nerds working an article about the same exact topic....)

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https://www.bleachernation.com/cubs/2020/05/10/national-league-expected-to-add-designated-hitter-this-year/

It appears the last professional American baseball game ever has been played. Game 5 of the 2019 World Series. The President was in attendance and stole the show, but no one knew that it would be the last game ever. Breaks my heart. 💔💔💔

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The owners' proposal is a real laugher. You want these men to put their bodies on the line for peanuts? Ownership has no sense of patriotic duty and no sense to do anything to expand the audience for most easily playable sport during an airborne pandemic. Then no season it is! The players don't look like the bad guys at all!

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We avoided the worst case scenario (expanded playoffs which would have destroyed the sport as we know it), but pitchers not hitting and fake baserunners will still disgrace the game. And I don't love the further encouragement of interleague play over league play though I shall make an exception for these circumstances. Also a tad hard to trust a season under 80 games.

I also have no faith that this is going to work. I think college football will be better given how many players will get it far before the season. MLB is going to have so many players missing nearly half the season.

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Fangraphs built their new win distribution. The one at the bottom is the Orioles winning 21 games, which would just surpass their all time abysmal .333 from last season.

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Nick Markakis becomes the 9th player to opt out of the season following his teammate Felix Hernandez. I really thought expanded rosters and universal DH's would be to the benefit of these two beloved players, but we're approaching the end of the line.

Looking increasingly like no more American sports championships through the end of the year. We'll see how long baseball can fake it through a misguided regular season.

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Mad Max vs. Cole is going to be a marvelous matchup, by the end of his career do you guys think Max will be a Hall of Famer?

He's already about one season away from being a No Doubter. I'd argue his accomplishments age age 34 are so strong, that he's already done enough. Especially by the standards of his era, but even by the standards of any person alive today watching the game. Only post-war pitcher with a 'higher peak' not in is Curt Schilling, who a) doesn't have his hardware; and b) is mostly not in because of the Twitter but is still pretty darn likely to get in next year. Every pitcher with 3,000 K's is in (even comparably mediocre Sabathia is considered a virtual lock) and barring career-shortening circumstances that would get him sympathy votes anyway, he will reach that plateau next year.

Who are your 4th and 5th HoF talents? Damon and Inge? (Only kidding on Inge - he has a special place in the hearts of NY Radio). Unfortunately Damon is very short and Maggs is even further (but closer than non-Detrot fans would think?)

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

Mad Max vs. Cole is going to be a marvelous matchup, by the end of his career do you guys think Max will be a Hall of Famer?

He's already about one season away from being a No Doubter. I'd argue his accomplishments age age 34 are so strong, that he's already done enough. Especially by the standards of his era, but even by the standards of any person alive today watching the game. Only post-war pitcher with a 'higher peak' not in is Curt Schilling, who a) doesn't have his hardware; and b) is mostly not in because of the Twitter but is still pretty darn likely to get in next year. Every pitcher with 3,000 K's is in (even comparably mediocre Sabathia is considered a virtual lock) and barring career-shortening circumstances that would get him sympathy votes anyway, he will reach that plateau next year.

Who are your 4th and 5th HoF talents? Damon and Inge? (Only kidding on Inge - he has a special place in the hearts of NY Radio). Unfortunately Damon is very short and Maggs is even further (but closer than non-Detrot fans would think?)

Inge as much as he's beloved by the Tigers faithful was never much of a great player, but he still was pretty dang good. I was thinking of Torri Hunter (5x All Star 9x Gold Glover 2x Silver Slugger) and then either Victor Martinez or Prince Fielder though both of them are longshots I think Martinez was a great ball player especially in 2014. He got 2nd in MVP voting as a DH, he had an OBP of .409 and an OPS .984 which is pretty good for a 36 yo DH.

Ah - the early 2010's period rather than just 2010. Yes, the 2013 team was quite fun. I'd vote for Hunter because I love him, but it's clear his stats are not up to par by the lofty centerfield standards. The stats look like a consistently weaker Andre Dawson, who did not have an easy time getting in. Nice counting stats are more similar to Dave Parker (if we can go off-position), except with much better defense at more premium position. And unlike either of those comps, no MVP and not even close. Which is weird because in my youth he did feel like one of the most feared players of the American League, but half the players placing higher were cheats. Sixth string CF in the Hall of Very Good :/

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It'll be an extreme bummer if we do not finally get the Yankees-Dodgers World Series after all this, and not just because they are my favorites. I honestly can't ever recall so much stockpiled depth in line-ups. The Yankees literally have 14 batters who you would feel great about at the plate (useful because I would probably pinch hit for Sanchez and Urshela (and maybe Stanton, if he starts) in October with Ford, Frazier, Andjuar or Tauchman). The Dodgers may only have 8-10 such guys, but there is even less reason to be concerned with any of them, barring injury.

I hadn't realized trades were still permitted this season, but I wonder which team might be able to pick up that one last pitcher to up the odds (if anyone is indeed selling in a month....) I don't trust Paxton as the #3 starter for New York, and I think Los Angeles could use another arm in the pen.

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Every team has played three games, and every team has a loss. This 'first round' of the playoffs is going to be the absolute dumbest invention in history when we have a sub-.500 team win the pennant (and that'd be worth it if it would make them get rid of it). At the very least, it should be a 'best of 4', tie goes to the division winner in the first round of the playoffs (for this year only!), much like soccer promotion playoffs. Amazing teams lose three game series all the time, and pitching rotations will be hard to prepare for the real playoffs.

Going to be wild to get a feel for the MVP and Cy Young frontrunners in a couple weeks...Keep is up, Sir Didi, my heart belongs to you alone.

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Rob Manfred should cancel the season theresign

FTFY

No, he should cancel the season first.

Why don't you want the first draft pick?! Afraid the Marlins are going to be even worse than y'all?

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DJ LeMahieu is the greatest hitter of the generation. Every time he swings the bat, it is a thing of beauty, as iconic as Ted Williams' swing. Big fan back to the LSU days. So blessed to have him in the Bronx over Machado. He doesn't walk enough to be considered a premier player, but I wouldn't prefer another player in the league to be the soul of the team. Extend him for ten years, Cash!

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The season is not getting cancelled. The players intentionally signed up for this set-up. There will be multiple positives on every team.

A source told ESPN's Jesse Rogers that if what is happening with the Cardinals had occurred before the Marlins outbreak, Friday's game at Miller Park would still be scheduled.

There is more like a 10-15% chance the season gets cancelled. It will require a much bigger outbreak than 2 players on a team at any given time. Players are largely not concerned and just want to play. The MLB just needs to step in to temper that enthusiasm and prevent players from being too gung ho about their recklessness.

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I've never enjoyed every minute of a baseball season so much. The New York Yankees are so clearly 100% locked in on every moment too. It's pure joy to re-enact my own 7th inning stretch every night and then put the needle on Sinatra, open the window and belt it out in celebratory about an hour after that. Sweep Boston, keep it going, take the series from rusty ol' Philadelphia and we will have fulfilled Master Francesa's sage advice to go up ten games from the get-go and never look back.

So sad that we will be without the legendary Tommy Tightpants, a guy I got to see grow up from A-ball, for the next year or so, but I have no doubt the rest of the bullpen will fill in the gaps where they need to.

Only adding to my glee is seeing the New York Mess blowing a 10-5 lead in the eighth in "Only the Mets" fashion. You're welcome for Betances! And I thought our fans chased Shreve out of town, but I guess it was just the borough. Just terrific stuff.

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Just heard on the radio that TV networks are being told to find alternate programming for next week & that Manfred is going around saying that if this weekend doesn't go well, then that might be it. So yeah, the season is probably gonna be halted or outright canceled.

And if this season stops, then it's over, because there's certainly no time left for a 2nd relaunch with actual protocols & a bubble to become a reality. They better focus on figuring something out for next season, because 1/3rd of this country are proud science-deniers & are still acting like f**king children.

So NBA & NHL it is, I guess! But hey, glad we at least got our 3 games in! What a tease.

Oh, & football is never gonna work either, & I doubt NBA & NHL are gonna play a whole season in the bubble next year either, so let's all hope that a successful COVID vaccine is found among the current candidates, because I don't see how sports successfully navigates all of this without one.

This sounds like literal fake news. Would love to see a source that isn't speculative reports radio chatter, which is right precisely never. The only people on Twitter demanding this termination are nobodies with an agenda to make everything look as bad as possible. The players do not want it. The owners definitely don't want it. Yesterday's words were clearly an empty threat to players to make them stop going to casinos and strip clubs (sounds like this is an America problem, not a baseball problem that dangerous indoor establishments are open). If the players had any respect for their managers and coaches, they would cut it out.

https://twitter.com/JonHeyman/status/1289632548339900416?s=19

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

Another perfect evening! I pranced down the length of JFK screaming when Judge homered as if it was an ALCS winner.

The Yankees still have a couple minor problems to work out, but I'm hopeful we identify a few teams willing to play ball (I don't think chasing the 8 seed is going to be a big goal in either league. Depends more how far ahead 7 is).

Yanks only have two SP and maybe Montgomery. Johnny Lasagna and a couple even younger guys have shown flashes, but I don't want them up against the Dodgers except in middle relief. I think Lance Lynn must be at the top the wish list. But if the Mets keep this up, I have to wonder what it takes to steal deGrom. They may have to be so non-competitive that the next two years won't look good without a young FA splash that needs salary space. Bringing Lynn back seems likeliest. Why not both though!

Other than that, just need to get Gleyber back on track. I thought Andujar would be much better, but ultimately, Urshela is overperforming again, so Miggy looks like he should be playing in Queens.

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The Mets, Giants and Pirates are three of the four worst teams in the National League.

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- Fake Safety Squeeze, Wild Pitch Walk-off (thanks to the back-up catcher)
- Coming from five down with two outs and walking it off in extras
- An extra-inning grand slam by a player hitting .130 for the win

There is nothing like playing the Mets when you need to end a losing streak and have half your team on the DL.

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Now that I am actively cheering for Aaron Boone to fail, onto the awards races as my primary focus. The AL MVP race is sparse...Trout has all the momentum but is still behind Lowe and Jose Abreu on the odds. The BA is nearly at the .300 mark, and he's inching towards the OPS+ lead. He's just got to seal the deal. Bieber might be a bridge too far.

Looking like Tatis will hold off Betts in the NL, but big proportion of season to go!

While AL Cy Young is mostly locked up, the NL Race is supremely tight! Yu Darvish is just ahead of Max Fried on the board, but I'm look for deGrom or a dark horse to come around next month!

e: And with that Max Fried goes on the DL the next day. Yu a solid favorite now.

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David John made two more balls go long gone last night to re-insert LeMahieiu into LeMVP debate and arguably straight to the top. He appears to lead the American League in OPS+ (trailing only Nelson Cruz unweighted) and is tied for the batting title at .373 with 11 games to go. What a completely wide open race. Seriously how do you rank these seasons?

1) DJ LeMahieu, NYY
2) Mike Trout, LAA
3) Jose Abreu, CWS
4) Nelson Cruz, MIN
5) Shane Bieber, CLE
6) Luke Voit, NYY
7) Tim Anderson, CWS
8) Anthony Rendon, LAA

Too bad Brandon Lowe and Kyle Lewis fell off their early pace. But I think there is a very strong case for the above, perhaps minus Rendon.

And with Tatis falling off s cliff in the NL and Freddie Freeman coming on strong, there is quite an open race there too.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

Thrilled to have defeated the Cleveland Baseball Team really proving our offense's cajones (though I think the wind helped on one or two homeruns this week). But the way our pitching staff handled a below average offense with a single dangerous hitter in the lineup is pretty pathetic and definitely leaves me concerned for the Tampa Bay series where we should be a sizeable underdog. I still don't think Tampa's lineup is particularly good, but the Yankees have a good way of making average hitters look like worldbeaters. Naturally, Ji-Man Choi and Kevin Kiermaier will probably hit four or five out of Petco Park

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Let me be clear: the new playoff format is dumb as heck.

But the luck of this intradivisional draw makes this the most meaningful ALDS of my lifetime with the complete feel of a semifinal. The Indians in 2017 was a pretty epic ALDS series, but that was more because of the underdog factor. This is a heated battle of evenly matched titanic rivals, much like what makes the NHL playoffs great and similar to all the Yankees-Red Sox ALCS battles from the aughts.

This is so much fun. Could be fun to force the baseball world to choose between the Yankees and the Cheaters in the ALCS as we seek out revenge for 2017 and 2019.

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Tampa Bay 100 percent deserved to win tonight, and it's amazing the Yankees got to swing for the lead in the ninth - but CB Buckner was the absolute worst home plate umpire I have seen in about 15 years. He gave Happ way too many strikes too. Every pitcher was getting it. Just less fun to watch pitchers get every single call without question.

Yankees tried to pull a gimmick with their #4 starter to get favorable match-ups. Appreciate the effort to fake it while a serious underdog against a stud throwing gas. Not a bad time to take the L. Kevin Cash is an elite manager who manages the game the way I wish we would manage it. A+ effort to seal it.

Boone taking a lot of heat for that strategy but for once I do not question him. Idiotic to let Sanchez hit in the ninth against a guy throwing 99, but the pitching decisions were fine given the pieces to work with.

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Man - Lightning, Stars. Lakers, Heat. Rays, Astros. Dodgers, Braves (no ugly Marlins). Tom Brady and Drew Brees. What a time to Prefer the SUNBELT STACK.