2021 MLB Season Thread

[NewYorkExpress]

Assuming a 162 game season, my predictions:

AL East:

1. New York Yankees: 101-61

2. Tampa Bay Rays: 90-72

3. Toronto Blue Jays: 81-81

4. Boston Red Sox: 77-85

5. Baltimore Orioles: 59-103

AL Central:

1. Chicago White Sox: 89-73

2. Minnesota Twins: 84-78

3. Cleveland Indians: 80-82

4. Kansas City Royals 70-92

5. Detroit Tigers: 61-101

AL West

1. Houston Astros: 92-70

2. Oakland Athletics: 85-77

3. Los Angeles Angels: 81-81

4. Seattle Mariners: 69-93

5. Texas Rangers: 66-96

NL East

1. New York Mets: 91-71

2. Atlanta Braves: 90-72

3. Washington Nationals: 90-72

4. Philadelphia Phillies: 87-75

5. Miami Marlins: 79-83

NL Central

1. St. Louis Cardinals: 92-70

2. Milwaukee Brewers: 86-76

3. Chicago Cubs: 78-84

4. Cincinnati Reds: 71-91

5. Pittsburgh Pirates: 62-100

NL West:

1. Los Angeles Dodgers: 110-52

2. San Diego Padres: 90-72

3. Colorado Rockies: 75-87

4. Arizona Diamondbacks: 69-93

5. San Francisco Giants: 55-107

[NewYorkExpress]

For the 1st time since 2013, no players will be inducted to the Hall Of Fame. Curt Schilling was the closest at 71.1%.


https://twitter.com/MLBNetwork/status/1354208372963291139

I'm curious as to which writer gave Barry Zito his lone vote.

[NewYorkExpress]

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/30876960/sources-boston-red-sox-sending-andrew-benintendi-kansas-city-royals-3-team-deal

So, we've got an interesting three-team trade/salary dump today.

The Red Sox send Andrew Benetendi to the Royals for Frenchy Cordero and two players to be named later. They also get minor leaguer Josh Winckowski and a player to be named later from the Mets. The Mets get prospect Khalil Lee from the Royals.

[NewYorkExpress]

Albert Pujols is set to retire at the end of this season, per his wife Deidre's Instagram.

https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1364009457873653761

UPDATE: Diedre later clarified that the post was not an official retirement announcement.

Well, it was a realistic announcement as no one will be willing to pay Albert to play baseball anymore.

I have to imagine the Cards would be willing to give him a small 1-year deal to retire in St. Louis if he wanted to.

Yeah, he probably could have gotten a one year deal on the Major League minimum (or maybe a $1,000,000 or so above that) if he wanted it.

[NewYorkExpress]

He's currently at 662 home runs, 100 away from the record.

If he were 50 away, I could see him trying to play a couple more years to go for the record, maybe as a DH somewhere (Rockies if the NL adopts the DH?), but I don't think it's too out of reach to dream about at 100.

I still think Pujols would get a contract with someone next season. Something in the one year $4 to $6 million would seem about right.

[NewYorkExpress]

Here to plug the official Talk Elections/Atlas Forum Fantasy Baseball League, on ESPN.com

Please PM me if interested.

[NewYorkExpress]

I can't believe I missed it...but the Tim Tebow experiment is over. He retired two weeks ago.

[NewYorkExpress]

Jackie Bradley Jr. signs 2 year, $24 million deal with the Milwaukee Brewers

Center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. plans to sign a two-year, $24 million deal with the Milwaukee Brewers that includes an opt-out after the first year, a source familiar with the contract told ESPN.

That Brewers Outfield looks pretty good right now.

The duo of Lorenzo Cain and Christian Yelich are two of the best in the league, and the pair of Avisail Garcia and Jackie Bradley Jr, might be the best third/fourth outfielder in the National League.

[NewYorkExpress]

Jake Odorizzi signs a two-year deal with the Houston Astros.

Right-hander Jake Odorizzi and the Houston Astros have agreed to a two-year deal with a player option, a source familiar with the deal told ESPN's Jeff Passan on Saturday.

[NewYorkExpress]

After fifteen seasons, Nick Markakis is retiring.

After a 15-year career that came up just short of the World Series, Nick Markakis has retired.

Markakis spent his first nine years with the Baltimore Orioles before moving to his hometown Atlanta Braves for his final six seasons.

The 37-year-old outfielder helped the Braves through a difficult rebuilding process that paid off with three straight National League East titles.

A free agent after last season, Markakis told The Athletic in a story published Friday that he was done playing after accumulating 2,388 hits, earning his lone All-Star selection in 2018 and closing out his career in Game 7 of the NL Championship Series.

[NewYorkExpress]

What on earth is in the water in Kansas City? Somehow the Royals are 14-7, and Danny Duffy of all people has an ERA of 0.39 through four starts. I don't know how they are doing it.

[NewYorkExpress]

If Shohei Ohtani isn't the AL MVP, I might just riot.

[NewYorkExpress]

If Shohei Ohtani isn't the AL MVP, I might just riot.

I can't believe I got him in the 17th round. 

In hindsight, I should have drafted him instead of Kyle Hendricks.

[NewYorkExpress]

Why did I draft Kyle Hendricks again?

[NewYorkExpress]

I had three pitchers on my Fantasy team (Kyle Hendricks, German Marquez and Steven Matz) all posted negative numbers, and Zach Greinke only put up 3 points. If I lose this week, yesterday's pitching is why.

[NewYorkExpress]

The Mets tried very hard to lose, but still won. Alonso, Nimmo, McNeil, J.D. Davis, and deGrom are the only parts of this team working.

I wouldn't be shocked if DeGrom demands a trade sometime soon.

[NewYorkExpress]

Time to move the mound back two to three feet.

[NewYorkExpress]

Albert Pujols DFA.

Disgraceful
Extremely disrespectful

Agreed. What do y'all think happens now? Does he just retire now? Maybe sign with a foreign league?

He'd be a great gate draw in the KBO or in Japan, but I think he just retires.

[NewYorkExpress]

It's only the beginning of May, but we already have four no-hitters this year, as Wade Miley of the Reds, no-hits the Cleveland Indians.

Wade Miley pitched baseball's second no-hitter in three days -- and fourth already this season -- leading the Cincinnati Reds to a 3-0 win Friday night over the Cleveland Indians, who were no-hit for the second time in a month.

....

The left-hander shook off an 83-minute rain delay to start the game in Cleveland and followed Baltimore's John Means, who no-hit Seattle on Wednesday, to continue an early run of pitching gems in 2021 -- quickly becoming the Year of the No-No.

....

This is the earliest in a calendar year there have been four no-hitters since 1917, when the fourth was thrown on May 5 and the fifth on May 6, and only the second season overall in MLB history to have four no-hitters before the end of May, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. It's no wonder: Hitters entered Friday batting a record-low .233 this season.

I'll repeat myself, Baseball needs to do something to swing the balance of power back towards the hitter, be it lowering the mound, moving the mound back, or something more drastic like changing the number of strikes needed for a strikeout (presumably from three to four).

[NewYorkExpress]

Today is the first time in two weeks my Fantasy Team has pitchers other than Gerrit Cole who seem to know how to pitch.

[NewYorkExpress]

Could the days of the A's being based in Oakland be ending soon? The A's are considering relocation out of  the Bay Area, and that could impact the division alignment, depending on where they would end up.


MLB.com:

Concerned about a lack of progress in their efforts to privately finance a new state-of-the-art ballpark in downtown Oakland, the A’s have begun actively pursuing relocation.

The decision comes after Major League Baseball issued a statement on Monday instructing the A’s to explore other markets as they continue to pursue their proposed waterfront ballpark near Howard Terminal in Oakland.

"MLB is concerned with the rate of progress on the A's new ballpark effort with local officials and other stakeholders in Oakland," the league’s statement said. "The A's have worked very hard to advance a new ballpark in downtown Oakland for the last four years, investing significant resources while facing multiple roadblocks. We know they remain deeply committed to succeeding in Oakland, and with two other sports franchises recently leaving the community, their commitment to Oakland is now more important than ever.”

They should move to Portland!

The New York Metro area can totally support a third team. Bring back the Brooklyn Dodgers!

[NewYorkExpress]

I'm going to repeat myself here. Shohei Ohtani should be the AL Cy Young winner and the AL MVP.

He leads the Major Leagues in home runs, and every time he's on the mound, he's the best player on the field (Mike Trout not included).

He's got my vote for both awards.

[NewYorkExpress]

Pujols to the Dodgers

Did not see that one coming

Where exactly is Pujols going to play? Cody Bellinger (when he returns) and Max Muncy split first base, there's only a DH when they play in AL parks, and that probably won't be Pujols (ESPN has it as A.J Pollock). So what's his role going to be? Pinch hit specialist, and primary backup to Muncy, so Bellinger can play the outfield full-time?

[NewYorkExpress]

How many plate appearances will Albert Pujols make with the Dodgers?

I say 15 to 20.

Bellinger's still injured, and I'd guess he won't be back before the end of the month. So I'll guess Pujols starts at first until Bellinger comes back, then hangs around the roster until the roughly the Trade Deadline, when the Dodgers pull off some big heist again and need to make space on the roster. So I'll say 100-145.

[NewYorkExpress]

How many plate appearances will Albert Pujols make with the Dodgers?

I say 15 to 20.

Bellinger's still injured, and I'd guess he won't be back before the end of the month. So I'll guess Pujols starts at first until Bellinger comes back, then hangs around the roster until the roughly the Trade Deadline, when the Dodgers pull off some big heist again and need to make space on the roster. So I'll say 100-145.

Okay, so clearly you know jacks**t about the Dodgers' current lineup. Max Muncy is the everyday first baseman; who can also play third, just in case Justin Turner is not available.

So, in other words, Pujols would play first base ,especially if the opposing starting pitcher were a leftie.

Muncy can play, three different positions, if I'm not mistaken?

I'm well aware Bellinger is currently in the outfield, but the Dodgers did just lose Corey Seager to a broken hand. I'd guess Gavin Lux temporarily moves to shortstop, Max Muncy moves to second (he can play second), and Pujols starts at First.