MLB 2018 Season

[C_Miller]

Blue Jays fans are the worst. Nothing personal, you might be fine, but as a whole? The Worst.

I'd argue there are bad fans in every market. Blue Jays fans might get a little drunk and rowdy, but then there's this story... https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/...-slurs-n753811

But anyways, it's more or less due to proximity. Growing up in Western New York, Toronto is the closest baseball team and I've always had a fascination with Toronto as a place. When I started getting into baseball, Toronto was the natural choice. The Twins probably come in as number 2 because Rochester, where I live, houses the Triple A farm team for Minnesota.

My true favorite team is the Brooklyn Dodgers. I grew up becoming a fan through the history of the game and the team I connected to most was Brooklyn... as a life long east coaster, I have trouble rooting for LA and it doesn't feel like they're the same team.

Either way, like I said in my initial post, I'm really just a fan of the game as a whole.

[Comic Book Addict]

Yankees are 3-0 in ST so far.

[The Whovian]

Yankees are 3-0 in ST so far.

And that means absolutely nothing

[Comic Book Addict]

And that means absolutely nothing

I know, I was kidding.

[DungeonmasterJim]

Heard an interesting take on the luxury tax and that it is actually hurting the players. There are some fairly big name free agents out there and even free agents that signed large contracts but contracts that could have been larger if there was no luxury tax. J. D . Martinez got a sizable contract from the Red Sox but there were only a couple of teams trying to sign him. Jake Arrieta is still unsigned among others. So a team like the Yankees signs good or great players to big contracts getting hit by the luxury tax but some teams on the cusp of the tax are not going over it. In the meantime, while the Yankees are paying the tax, teams like Tamp Bay are not taking that money and signing players. Instead, Tampa Bay has traded away some of their better players. Miami isn't signing players either. Looking at a table I found the smaller market teams are in some cases $100 million dollars under payroll compared to even the 11th ranked payroll. Just something I thought was interesting.
http://www.spotrac.com/mlb/payroll/

[Joker]

And that means absolutely nothing

That's not entirely true. The final score/win loss isn't the point of ST but, if your players at all levels are performing well enough to win, even in ST, that's good. That means something.

But yes, your ST W/L is essentially meaningless.

[DungeonmasterJim]

I don't watch spring training games but I do get concerned if a team I like has an abysmal spring training record.

[Joker]

I like the first 2 weeks of ST games, but the last 2 weeks are like ' get to the meaningful baseball already!'

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Hamels: 6-man rotations aren't 'part of baseball'

Could this be seen as a "Get off my lawn!" commentary by Hamels as he rages against the dying of the old school baseball light? I mean, no doubt pitchers griped years and years ago about teams going to FIVE man rotations and the game didn't implode. However, what Hamels didn't address about his dislike of six man rotations but is part of the conversation is the greed factor: Six man rotations means fewer starts; fewer starts means less chances to rack up wins and strikeouts; and fewer wins and strikeouts leads to lower dollar figures come contract time. Anyone who ignores that part of the equation is kidding themselves. Opinions?

[The Whovian]

Heard an interesting take on the luxury tax and that it is actually hurting the players. There are some fairly big name free agents out there and even free agents that signed large contracts but contracts that could have been larger if there was no luxury tax. J. D . Martinez got a sizable contract from the Red Sox but there were only a couple of teams trying to sign him. Jake Arrieta is still unsigned among others. So a team like the Yankees signs good or great players to big contracts getting hit by the luxury tax but some teams on the cusp of the tax are not going over it. In the meantime, while the Yankees are paying the tax, teams like Tamp Bay are not taking that money and signing players. Instead, Tampa Bay has traded away some of their better players. Miami isn't signing players either. Looking at a table I found the smaller market teams are in some cases $100 million dollars under payroll compared to even the 11th ranked payroll. Just something I thought was interesting.
http://www.spotrac.com/mlb/payroll/

Scott Boras and the major free agent baseball players VASTLY over estimated their worth this past off season. If the pitchers don't sign by this week, they're going to have a hard time finding teams to go to (even more so than now) because teams are setting their season rotations starting this week.

I think Jake especially is being ridiculous. No team is going to give him a 6 or 7 year deal worth $200 mil. It's not going to happen.

[MRP]

Hamels: 6-man rotations aren't 'part of baseball'

Could this be seen as a "Get off my lawn!" commentary by Hamels as he rages against the dying of the old school baseball light? I mean, no doubt pitchers griped years and years ago about teams going to FIVE man rotations and the game didn't implode. However, what Hamels didn't address about his dislike of six man rotations but is part of the conversation is the greed factor: Six man rotations means fewer starts; fewer starts means less chances to rack up wins and strikeouts; and fewer wins and strikeouts leads to lower dollar figures come contract time. Anyone who ignores that part of the equation is kidding themselves. Opinions?

I think with the rise of multiple power arms in bullpens (a trend started by KC, a small market team that often cannot dip into the market to acquire a top rated ace nor pay to keep any they develop in their farm once they hit free agency years-see Zach Greinke), we are seeing many teams moving away from a reliance on the ace starting pitcher due to cost factors. Another factor is the vulnerability of a team if a star pitcher gets hurt and the rise of Tommy John injuries (ask the Mets) that can derail an entire season (or more) for a team.

Teams are realizing they need to develop depth in their rotations not just star power on top, and since you need to have 6 or 7 pitchers ready to be starters over the course of the season anyways, why not expand the rotation anyways and lessen the load and reliance on any one given player. Of course this will have an impact on contracts for starting pitchers, which is why a top of the rotation guy like Hamels is against it. Starters going 5 innings and turning it over to the bullpen was once "not a part of baseball" but the game changes over time. It's the nature of the beast.

An alternative would be to shorten the regular season (it is way too long anyways) to put less wear and tear on starters (and bullpens and everyday players) but that impacts the bottom line of franchises by taking revenue off the table too (same reason the NFL won't shorten the season and wants to expand it). Everything in professional sports is about the money and who gets it. Greed is at the heart of pro sports, so of course it is part of the equation in the six man rotation issue.

-M

[BeastieRunner]

Mariners got a decent shot at a wild card this year, if they can stay healthy. Last year had to be an anomaly, right? RIGHT?!

Lifelong Mariners fan here ... they look terrible already. It's gonna be a long season. Gamel and Hanniger are already hurt bad and Seattle has made a move to bring in Ichiro for a 1-year deal.

I live near one of the Padres farm teams and get mini-plan tickets every year. A lot of those guys are getting the call up and doing good. I'm thinking I might become a Padres fan.

Seems more hopefully than Seattle.

The best teams I've seen so far this ST have been the Padres, Red Sox, Royals, Indians, and Yankees. Too early to tell on the rest.

[MRP]

Lifelong Mariners fan here ... they look terrible already. It's gonna be a long season.

I live near one of the Padres farm teams and get mini-plan tickets every year. A lot of those guys are getting the call up and doing good. I'm thinking I might become a Padres fan.

Seems more hopefully than Seattle.

Mariners are already losing guys to injury, to the point where they are in the process of re-signing Ichiro to start in the OF to fill in until some of their guys can get back 6-8 weeks into the season.

-M

[BeastieRunner]

Mariners are already losing guys to injury, to the point where they are in the process of re-signing Ichiro to start in the OF to fill in until some of their guys can get back 6-8 weeks into the season.

-M

I edited my post before I saw this reply.

They still look like junk so far this ST.

[weetomuncher]

I don't see a lot of early season stuff in the UK. What is the general consensus on the Rangers for this year?

They've been a bit cold for the last couple of seasons.