MLB Season 23

[FreoRicci]

Bohm smashes his bat.
He’s been terrible. Think Phillies may look to move him. Hardly an influential batter

 

[FreoRicci]

Texas Arizona WS.
Not expecting that whatsoever. But even better.

Harper another year no WS. 2019 Nationals WS continues to burn in his brain

 

[Elmer_Judd]

Good to see the Phillies choke again

 

[Dixie Flatline]

My bracket:

American League Wild Card
Texas Rangers @ Tampa Bay Rays
Toronto Blue Jays @ Minnesota Twins

American League Division Series
Tampa Bay Rays v Baltimore Orioles
Houston Astros v Toronto Blue Jays

American League Championship Series
Houston Astros v Tampa Bay Rays

National League Wild Card
Arizona Diamondbacks @ Milwaukee Brewers
Miami Marlins @ Philadelphia Phillies

National League Division Series
Los Angeles Dodgers v Milwaukee Brewers
Atlanta Braves v Philadelphia Phillies

National League Championship Series
Los Angeles Dodgers v Atlanta Braves

World Series
Houston Astros v Los Angeles Dodgers

I don't know much about baseball. Did not get a series winner correct in either the National League or the American League.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

Updating an earlier post, it appears that the Red Sox have offered the role of president of baseball operations to Craig Breslow, who has reportedly accepted the offer. According to reports first in the Boston Globe and subsequently confirmed by ESPN, Breslow (a former major league pitcher, including for the Red Sox in 2006, and then from 2012-2015), accepted the offer from the Red Sox on Tuesday. Breslow joins the Red Sox from the Cubs, where he served as their assistant GM and vice president of pitching. Breslow replaces Chaim Bloom, who was fired after four seasons in the role.

Source: Red Sox tab Breslow to lead baseball ops

Cubs assistant GM Craig Breslow has accepted the offer to become the new head of baseball operations for the Red Sox, a source told ESPN's Buster Olney, confirming a report in The Boston Globe.

www.espn.com

 

[largebus]

Scherzer into the world series, Harper not. What a great postseason already.

Schwarb, Harper and Turner were a combined 1 for 20 on games 6 and 7. Seems like they're still on Nats payroll.

The Philly fans all turning on Harper on Reddit is just typical. What is that, the 4th near miss in 12 months?

Genuinely dont care who wins now, just hope it's as good as these LCS have been.

 

[FreoRicci]

I don't know much about baseball. Did not get a series winner correct in either the National League or the American League.

Did anyone?
Top 5 best records won only once in the post season.
Arizona came from no where and clinched the NLCS.

 

[FreoRicci]

Scherzer into the world series, Harper not. What a great postseason already.

Schwarb, Harper and Turner were a combined 1 for 20 on games 6 and 7. Seems like they're still on Nats payroll.

The Philly fans all turning on Harper on Reddit is just typical. What is that, the 4th near miss in 12 months?

Genuinely dont care who wins now, just hope it's as good as these LCS have been.

Post 2019 Nationals?

At least Turner has a ring.

Glad Harper doesn’t. My favourite player but incredible signing for Phillies. Division rival. How silly can he be.

Schwarber probably batting the worst he ever has, coincidentally. Below .200. HRs 40% of the time though

Phillies should turn on Bohm and Stott. They suck. Genuinely guaranteed two outs every time they bat. If Phillies want to go to WS next season, someone better at third has to come in.

 

[catters078]

Might sound like another fool writing off Arizona, but I'm predicting Texas in 5 or 6.

Seager to get his 2nd MVP

 

[kaiserchief13]

Not a fan of recent mlb play-offs. The best team never wins. It's just whoever gets hotter batting at the right time. The regular season is absolutely meaningless.

 

[largebus]

Not a fan of recent mlb play-offs. The best team never wins. It's just whoever gets hotter batting at the right time. The regular season is absolutely meaningless.

It's never been the best team that wins, statistically 7 games is too small a sample size for a season that's 162 games long. Some mathematician years ago found that if MLB wanted the best team to win they'd need a 25 game World Series.

But they've gone down the route of the NBA of rewarding mediocrity and devaluing the home and away season. The NBA can get away with it because the bottom of the bracket are just cannon fodder anyway, but in MLB every team has a genuine chance of winning it, so the bracket needs to be small and only reward the best teams for it to be meaningful to begin with.

The 2012-21 system was perfect because division winners all got a first round bye and the wildcards had to run the gauntlet.

But Manfred also ****ed divisions entirely by making everyone play each other, so being a division champion is meaningless these days as well.

 

[kaiserchief13]

It's never been the best team that wins, statistically 7 games is too small a sample size for a season that's 162 games long. Some mathematician years ago found that if MLB wanted the best team to win they'd need a 25 game World Series.

But they've gone down the route of the NBA of rewarding mediocrity and devaluing the home and away season. The NBA can get away with it because the bottom of the bracket are just cannon fodder anyway, but in MLB every team has a genuine chance of winning it, so the bracket needs to be small and only reward the best teams for it to be meaningful to begin with.

The 2012-21 system was perfect because division winners all got a first round bye and the wildcards had to run the gauntlet.

But Manfred also ****ed divisions entirely by making everyone play each other, so being a division champion is meaningless these days as well.

It's a tough choice because given it's 162 games only a few teams should get in, but then less games so less money and might be a scenario where a team with a good record misses out. Could they reduce the regular season and have longer playoff series? Would reduce the chance of worse team winning the series the longer each series goes

 

[Dixie Flatline]

After trading for him at the deadline, the Atlanta Braves have extended RHP Pierce Johnson to a two-year, $14.25 million contract, according to the club. Johnson is due for consecutive $7 million per year salaries in 2024 and 2025, and is guaranteed a $250,000 buyout on a $7 million club option for 2026. Johnson had signed a $5 million contract with the Rockies as a free agent last off-season, and pitched to a 6.00 ERA in 38 innings with the Rockies before being sent to Atlanta in a trade that saw minor league pitchers Victor Vodnik and Tanner Gordon go to Colorado.

Johnson was light's out for the Braves after joining, posting an ERA of 0.76 in 23 2/3 innings pitched during the regular season. He added three scoreless appearances in the National League Division Series.

In addition to pitching for the Rockies and the Braves, Johnson has previously appeared for the Cubs, Giants and Padres.

Johnson joins A.J. Minter, Nick Anderson, Tyler Matzek and Raisel Iglesias as confirmed members of the Atlanta bullpen for 2024, while the Braves will need to make decisions on Joe Jimenez, Kirby Yates and Brad Hand in the off-season.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

According to Bob Nightengale, Dusty Baker is set to announce his retirement at a press conference later today or tomorrow after informing Houston Astros owner Jim Crane of his decision yesterday.

Exclusive: Dusty Baker retires after 26 seasons as MLB manager

Dusty Baker, one of the most successful managers in MLB history, wants to remain involved in an advisory role, with the Astros or another team.

www.usatoday.com

 

[Dixie Flatline]

The Boston Red Sox officially announced the hiring of Craig Breslow as their chief baseball officer today, and will introduce him at a press conference scheduled for 2 November.

Breslow will have a busy offseason when he gets his feet under the desk, with decisions to make about the roster. Justin Turner is likely to decline a player option for 2024, while Alex Verdugo is set to enter his final year of arbitration eligibility and could be seen as trade bait around the league. Boston will also look for upgrades at catcher and at second base, while they hope that Trevor Story can return to his form pre-injury.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

The San Francisco Giants held an introductory press conference to introduce their new manager Bob Melvin today. The Giants announced that they had signed Melvin to a contract that run through to the end of 2026. In addition, the Giants indicated that they have agreed in-principle with president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi on terms that would run through to the end of 2026.

The Giants will not provide compensation to the Padres for the hiring of Melvin (he was under contract to the Padres until the end of 2024).

 

[Dixie Flatline]

The New York Yankees will be looking for a new hitting coach, after Sean Casey announced on his own podcast that he would not return to the Yankees for 2024 for "family reasons". Casey was hired by the Yankees mid-way through 2023 after they parted ways with Dillon Lawson during the season and replaced him with Casey.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

The long-speculated move of Craig Counsell to the Mets moved a step closer after the Brewers gave the Mets permission to interview Counsell for their vacant manager role. Counsell has managed the Brewers since 2015, but has had a long relationship with new Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns, whose first move upon joining the Mets was to fire Buck Showalter as manager. Counsell's contract as manager of the Brewers expires at the end of the season and he is expected to consider other opportunities (including a potential extension of his contract with the Brewers), while the Mets are also intending to look at other candidates for their vacant manager position. Counsell is likely to receive some interest from the Guardians, Angels and Padres who are all looking for new managers, while the Astros are also likely to be added to the list once the retirement of Dusty Baker becomes official.

 

[FreoRicci]

It's never been the best team that wins, statistically 7 games is too small a sample size for a season that's 162 games long. Some mathematician years ago found that if MLB wanted the best team to win they'd need a 25 game World Series.

But they've gone down the route of the NBA of rewarding mediocrity and devaluing the home and away season. The NBA can get away with it because the bottom of the bracket are just cannon fodder anyway, but in MLB every team has a genuine chance of winning it, so the bracket needs to be small and only reward the best teams for it to be meaningful to begin with.

The 2012-21 system was perfect because division winners all got a first round bye and the wildcards had to run the gauntlet.

But Manfred also ****ed divisions entirely by making everyone play each other, so being a division champion is meaningless these days as well.

Honestly don’t understand divisions in post season when Milwaukee winning theirs only guarantees them WildCard.
Both Texas and Arizona have made WS via WildCard.

Definitely right in that whoever is the hottest batter is more likely going to win

How do you reward best record though? MLB isn’t always about the best players that’ll perform, like NBA.
The top teams straight into CS? Or perhaps top 2 teams in each league playoff and winner goes through to CS with loser into DS.

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

No way a team three above .500 in a 162 game season should be qualifying for the playoffs.

 

[RPCB]

No way a team three above .500 in a 162 game season should be qualifying for the playoffs.

Unless the team is winning the division that is.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

Boog Sciambi is okay, but Mendoza and Perez are awful expert commentators. The trouble is, if I'm working in the office, I'm going to have to put up with this announcing crew to listen to the World Series.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

The San Diego Padres have commenced their search for their new manager after allowing Bob Melvin to join the Giants. The Padres have reportedly interviewed internal candidates Mike Shildt (currently senior advisor) and are scheduled to interview bench coach Ryan Flaherty. It also appears that the Padres will also interview pitching coach Ruben Niebla for the role.

As Bob Melvin is introduced in San Francisco, Padres' search for a new manager is already underway

A.J. Preller says there is lots of interest from 'accomplished' candidates; team's first two interviews are with in-house hopefuls Mike Shildt and Ryan Flaherty

www.sandiegouniontribune.com

 

[Dixie Flatline]

According to reports from Japan, the St Louis Cardinals are interested in signing LHP Yuki Matsui, who turns 28 next week. Matsui has pitched as a reliever in the NPB for the last 10 years, appearing in 501 games over the course of that period, posting a career ERA of 2.40 while recording 236 saves. In 2023, Matsui racked up 39 saves with a 1.57 ERA in 59 appearances. Matsui is a featherweight by MLB standards, coming in at 5'8" and 167 pounds.

Since Matsui has been a professional player for 10 years, he will be a full free agent in the off-season and any MLB team that signs him will not be required to pay a posting fee to his NPB team, the Rakuten Golden Eagles. Matsui would bring to the MLB a four-pitch mix, featuring a fastball, splitter, slider and curveball. He had some issues with the ball used in the WBC (which is closer to the ball used in the MLB).

The 2023 season for the Cardinals was disappointing, and their bullpen was only 23rd in the league (measured by ERA), with their arsenal of left handed relievers not performing particularly well. The Cardinals will need to add pitching to their starting rotation, but they will also need to upgrade their bullpen, so signing Matsui could be a good first step for them.

【楽天】松井裕樹にカージナルス正式オファー決定的　メジャー挑戦へ海外ＦＡ権行使の意思伝えた（スポーツ報知） - Yahoo!ニュース

　楽天・松井裕樹投手（２７）が２５日、海外フリーエージェント（ＦＡ）権を行使する意思を球団に伝えた。連絡を受けた森井誠之球団社長（４９）が都内で取材に応じ、「『まずは海外でチャレンジしたい。年齢的に

news.yahoo.co.jp

 

[Dixie Flatline]

RHP Adam Wainwright has officially retired, according to the transactions tracker at MLB.com, opening a spot on the Cardinals' 40 man roster (which they have filled by claiming infielder Buddy Kennedy off waivers from the Oakland Athletics).